I just gave Odyssey a good go, here are my thoughts...

Oh, did they? When was that as I missed it (obviously)?

So... I guess we'll get... uhm.. I'm actually out of ideas what Frontier would realistically come up with. Maybe opening up further the galaxy in terms of landable planets? Not sure I'd pay for incremental fleshing out of existing content (unless they come with brand new mechanics/gameplay loops, content) unless it's cheap (~10-15 Euros maybe).
It was around the alpha / launch time. (I think there were a couple of occasions when the same question / answer came up)

I'll try and find the comment and point you in its direction.
 

Deleted member 182079

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"Currently no..." is a way to say "never say never"
Plans can change.
This is a genuine question now (hand on heart) - did Frontier ever change plans where something that wasn't considered before (and stated as such) was actually implemented in the end? I feel it's always been the other way around so far but could be wrong of course.
 

Deleted member 182079

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It was around the alpha / launch time. (I think there were a couple of occasions when the same question / answer came up)

I'll try and find the comment and point you in its direction.
Cheers - I wonder if that comment was just in the context of Odyssey ("will we get base building as a free update to Odyssey later on", something like that) or more general.

PS - I personally don't actually want base building (rather flesh out fleet carriers instead as they're a better version already given they're mobile homes basically), but to me it may make commercial sense for Frontier to go down this route.
 
This is a genuine question now (hand on heart) - did Frontier ever change plans where something that wasn't considered before (and stated as such) was actually implemented in the end? I feel it's always been the other way around so far but could be wrong of course.
Well, not exactly the specifics you mention, but they did changed the carriers, from squadtron assets to player assets and from having support ships to the current carrier outfitting

I will also expect for them to change from "there are currently no plans for a native ED version for XB Series and PS5" to an actual native version for the said consoles.
 
Cheers - I wonder if that comment was just in the context of Odyssey ("will we get base building as a free update to Odyssey later on", something like that) or more general.

PS - I personally don't actually want base building (rather flesh out fleet carriers instead as they're a better version already given they're mobile homes basically), but to me it may make commercial sense for Frontier to go down this route.
Personally, I have no interest in either ship interiors nor base building, so if they never made it into the game I wouldn't miss them. But, there are a number of players who have expressed a desire for either or both - because we are a diverse bunch - so they pop up in the odd thread or two. ;)

NMS has both (sort of interiors as Freighters can be wandered around a little) so no doubt that influences ED players a little too.

I don't have any idea where Frontier could take ED following EDO, additional atmospheric planets would hardly be a PDLC candidate (ELWs would need considerable variety to be interesting after the first dozen) and with the complaints over EDO daring to have a foot-combat component I don't see further conflict rooted content being 'acceptable' to some of the longer-term players... Whatever content Frontier decide to introduce in the future, if any, is going to be difficult to call, so I'll patiently wait and see. (or not, particularly if I have to wait too much longer for Odyssey to be 'fixed'!)
 

Deleted member 182079

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Well, not exactly the specifics you mention, but they did changed the carriers, from squadtron assets to player assets and from having support ships to the current carrier outfitting

I will also expect for them to change from "there are currently no plans for a native ED version for XB Series and PS5" to an actual native version for the said consoles.
True - although the carriers were a downgrade overall (I was quite disappointed how they turned out when they were revealed pre-beta, though they grew on me in the end) - whether the single player asset point is an improvement or not I guess depends on each individual (I like it that way because I'm not a squadron player, but I also see the downsides with this, not that making them squadron-only would've changed much, we'd just end up with lots more squadrons probably).

Consoles are an interesting one - I was always surprised that they would not move to current gen consoles - the only thing this suggests to me is they think it's not worth it, and why would that be... possibly because the game is nearing its EoL.
 

Deleted member 182079

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Personally, I have no interest in either ship interiors nor base building, so if they never made it into the game I wouldn't miss them. But, there are a number of players who have expressed a desire for either or both - because we are a diverse bunch - so they pop up in the odd thread or two. ;)

NMS has both (sort of interiors as Freighters can be wandered around a little) so no doubt that influences ED players a little too.

I don't have any idea where Frontier could take ED following EDO, additional atmospheric planets would hardly be a PDLC candidate (ELWs would need considerable variety to be interesting after the first dozen) and with the complaints over EDO daring to have a foot-combat component I don't see further conflict rooted content being 'acceptable' to some of the longer-term players... Whatever content Frontier decide to introduce in the future, if any, is going to be difficult to call, so I'll patiently wait and see. (or not, particularly if I have to wait too much longer for Odyssey to be 'fixed'!)
I can see the draw base building has in other games - be that Fallout 4 (where I never really could be bothered with that aspect but you can lose yourself in it all the same if you're so inclined), it's pretty decent in NMS from what I've seen other players manage to do, and in X4 you can build stations, which I find pretty fun because they are real, tangible places just like the stations that come with the vanilla game, can serve a purpose (you can build your own shipyard, or good xyz factory, which contributes to the wider economy and of course your own pocket) and are much bigger than what we get in Elite, and more versatile. I don't really feel the need for it in Elite though; what will you be doing there (if we assume planetside base building, given we already have 'space' ones with FCs)? Though I'd remain open to them just like I did for Elite Feet, another feature I was always luke warm about at best.

Ship interiors like most people probably would want them (highly detailed, possibly with gameplay mechanics such as boarding etc.) I was never really keen on, but playing X4 softened my stance because there interiors are quite simple, but they really do add to the immersion (there's no long trotting through corridor after corridor like in NMS's freighters, it's 1-2 rooms at best including bridge/cockpit). What I would like though, and what I've experienced recently in X4, is exploring derelict stations/ships - megaships would be a prime contender for this, imagine exploring the generation ships etc. Would I pay for that alone? Most likely not. So what else they could add... it may have to be a potpourri of different content, but that takes effort and time to come up with, and looking at what EDO contains after years of development... hmm.
 
Base building doesn't appeal to me at all. There is a ~500ly inhabited bubble, where I move around between objectives, and beyond that another 400 billion stars in an entire galaxy. Why would I want to lock myself into place in a planetary base ? At best I'd make temporary outposts when staying somewhere for longer, but why would I even do that ? I have mobile home, and I've embraced it as a means to have all my ships in one place while the place itself can easily be in different places. A permanent base would only take away from that freedom again.
 
Base building doesn't appeal to me at all. There is a ~500ly inhabited bubble, where I move around between objectives, and beyond that another 400 billion stars in an entire galaxy. Why would I want to lock myself into place in a planetary base ?

Indeed, i see little use for planetary on-foot activities in a 400 billion star systems (with trillions and trillions of planetary bodies) and i see little use for planetary bases.
However, it boils down to options.
Now people have the option to do on foot stuff. And i wouldn't mind people being given the option to build a planetary base either.
Of course as long the FD does not kill the game in the process (by investing too many resources in something that will not sell very well)
 
"Currently no..." is a way to say "never say never"
Plans can change.

Ship interiors can be rather easy to implement if they resume only to the cockpit and living quarters and completely ignore the actual layout of core and optional internals in the ship (no visiting the shield gen, pp, pd, cargo racks, fuel scoop or afmu etc)

Assuming they will take into consideration the Life Support Size for ships (unlikely tho) they can implement several types of living quarters based on Ship/LS size.
Pretty much like we have only several types of concourse and only a relatively small number settlement building types

Firstly, good on ya' for managing to continue the discussion without resorting to insults.
I genuinely mean that. (y)

Like I said, we can only form opinions based on 1) information we're given and 2) our own hopes.

Sure, we've got DBs 10 year old comments about how ship interiors are "mapped out" with a view to creating them at some point, so that there could be piracy and ship-theft.
Personally, I tend to consider most of the stuff from the dev-diaries as mere "spitballing" now.
I dunno if DB is still actively encouraging the dev's to implement stuff from the dev-diaries or not but, clearly, that stuff isn't a "priority" cos, let's face it, it's been getting on for ten years now.

OTOH, we've got Arthur, a couple of months ago, saying that the dev-team is currently NOT working on ship interiors and have no plans to do so.

That being the case, it seems a little unnecessary to insult people simply for accepting what Arthur said at face value and, frankly, I'm starting to get a bit hacked-off at comments about "internet nerds" and "dress up dollies".
If people want to continue to hope that ship interiors will happen, that's great but, based on the most recent information we have, it is just a "hope" and NOT something with any significant basis in reality.


As I've said elsewhere, I'd be quite happy to see ship interiors implemented as a cockpit/bridge, a living space and some kind of control-room.
You'd be able to repair/service things in the control-room to optimise your ship's operation.
You'd be able to view and interact with all your "stuff" in the living quarters.
You'd be able to do ship-related stuff on the bridge.

Speaking as, primarily, an explorer, most of my "walking around" is only ever likely to be done on uninhabited planets.
The only other place it could be done is aboard my own ship so I'd be quite happy with gameplay that encouraged that; to be able to take samples to some kind of scanner to analyse them, to go and collect tools and supplies and then use them to repair and service my ship and to twiddle stuff to optimise my jump-range or recalibrate my sensors etc.

That is just me, though.
I don't expect or demand those things to happen any time soon and I'm not going to insult or demean anybody who has other hopes and priorities.
 
OTOH, we've got Arthur, a couple of months ago, saying that the dev-team is currently NOT working on ship interiors and have no plans to do so.

Yes, but as i said, this is valid only now.
Now they are not working on ship interiors and Now there are no plans to do so.


Next year when they will draw the line over the FY2021, they may conclude that player housing (ship interiors and maybe planetary bases) can be something they can sell.
And will draw plans and will start working on them.

Pretty much the same way they can conclude that EDO is a total and complete flop, beyond the current capabilities of the Cobra Engine.
And move for closure with another 1-2 years of a nice story arc to wrap things up and maybe prep the game to be able to sell as a proper standalone solo game

🤷‍♂️
 

Deleted member 182079

D
Maybe one more example of judging future prospects by what's been delivered so far is - the blue circle of entering ships.

We have a decent (and enjoyable imo) animation for both the SRV and the SLF, yet a major expansion that costs a significant amount of money (as far as DLCs go) simply dumps a - quite frankly really poor and cheap looking - blue circle in lieu of a boarding animation.

Yes yes, 38 ships (though many of them mere variants) with different entry points bla bla, well if you decide to go with on-foot abilities in a game that was previously tied to cockpits, it would've been fair to be at least consistent with what your existent game has already in place (in the form of the aforementioned animation sequences). Even if they didn't create a bespoke animation for every single ship, they could've designed, say, 3 variants (since they like that number so much) between ships with direct access, medium and large ships with no direct access (i.e. a lift/set of stairs would be needed). Anything really.

When the blue circle was presented during the Alpha I genuinely thought, ok so they aren't ready yet, fair enough, but I felt pretty deflated once I realised that this is it.

And since it's not been brought up in any of the dev updates I guess this really IS it, a low effort, tacky blue circle, well done. Each time I board the SRV or SLF I cringe when I remember what they implemented for Feet. But yay, emotes. Suppose those are more likely to encourage Arx sales for dressing up your avatar.
 
I can see the draw base building has in other games - be that Fallout 4 (where I never really could be bothered with that aspect but you can lose yourself in it all the same if you're so inclined), it's pretty decent in NMS from what I've seen other players manage to do, and in X4 you can build stations, which I find pretty fun because they are real, tangible places just like the stations that come with the vanilla game, can serve a purpose (you can build your own shipyard, or good xyz factory, which contributes to the wider economy and of course your own pocket) and are much bigger than what we get in Elite, and more versatile. I don't really feel the need for it in Elite though; what will you be doing there (if we assume planetside base building, given we already have 'space' ones with FCs)? Though I'd remain open to them just like I did for Elite Feet, another feature I was always luke warm about at best.

Ship interiors like most people probably would want them (highly detailed, possibly with gameplay mechanics such as boarding etc.) I was never really keen on, but playing X4 softened my stance because there interiors are quite simple, but they really do add to the immersion (there's no long trotting through corridor after corridor like in NMS's freighters, it's 1-2 rooms at best including bridge/cockpit). What I would like though, and what I've experienced recently in X4, is exploring derelict stations/ships - megaships would be a prime contender for this, imagine exploring the generation ships etc. Would I pay for that alone? Most likely not. So what else they could add... it may have to be a potpourri of different content, but that takes effort and time to come up with, and looking at what EDO contains after years of development... hmm.
Base building doesn't appeal to me at all. There is a ~500ly inhabited bubble, where I move around between objectives, and beyond that another 400 billion stars in an entire galaxy. Why would I want to lock myself into place in a planetary base ? At best I'd make temporary outposts when staying somewhere for longer, but why would I even do that ? I have mobile home, and I've embraced it as a means to have all my ships in one place while the place itself can easily be in different places. A permanent base would only take away from that freedom again.
One thing base-building provides in games like NMS and Space Engineers (and Minecraft for that matter) is other player bases to discover and explore. I'm really not that creative when it comes to building bases, but some people playing these games are genus creatives who produce amazing works of art and architecture. Of course one could argue that Frontier's own devs do this with the current outposts, but they can only provide so much variety, whereas players can multiply that variety a hundredfold.

Me personally, I could see building little outposts on different planets, especially if there was gameplay attached like automated planetside mining. However, if I had to choose between this and ship interiors, I'd rather have ship interiors first, especially if we can customize those interiors. For example, make a outfitting screen that's similar to equipping hardpoints but focused on the interior of the ship. Let me lay out my interior similar to a Sims house, and include a bunch of extra "cosmetic" modules like labs, cafeterias (think Firefly), captain's quarters, and other things with "I'm living on my ship" in mind, along with the standard modules like cargo bays and passenger quarters. I would have an absolute blast with that.

Whether it's building a base or customizing our ship interiors, there is a social aspect this adds to the game. Much of the social side of Space Engineers is our "Ship Shows", where we gather together and give tours of each other's ships. It's fun to see how people have been creative in designing and layout out their ships, which includes interiors.

I'll end this utopian dream on a down note - I don't think ship interiors will actually happen in Elite. Adding a simple little concourse to Stations killed performance, so I can't imagine Frontier unlocking the magical algorithm to allow a dozen ships to gather, each with their own unique interiors. Base building would likely be less demanding - it's a static object on its own plot of land, and even if it does kill framerates, a framerate hit in a "I'm walking around my cozy house" simulator is way less impactful than it would be in space combat with a bunch of ships each possessing their own interiors. I'm not saying ship interiors are impossible (many space games actually pull it off), but I don't think Frontier can do it with the current Cobra engine.
 
When the blue circle was presented during the Alpha I genuinely thought, ok so they aren't ready yet, fair enough, but I felt pretty deflated once I realised that this is it.
It was quite a surprise when the 'released' EDO (yeah, right...) continued with the blue cylinder, particularly when Arf was busy gee'ing us all up on stream telling us of the stuff not mentioned because they were supposed to be a surprise for us all... The surprises we got were certainly not positive ones, and being blunt (bar emotes, yay) nothing being 'added' in the coming updates is stuff we didn't already expect to be in the 'released' DLC...
 

Deleted member 182079

D
It was quite a surprise when the 'released' EDO (yeah, right...) continued with the blue cylinder, particularly when Arf was busy gee'ing us all up on stream telling us of the stuff not mentioned because they were supposed to be a surprise for us all... The surprises we got were certainly not positive ones, and being blunt (bar emotes, yay) nothing being 'added' in the coming updates is stuff we didn't already expect to be in the 'released' DLC...
Yeah, I remember that 'surprise' bit very well and it hyped me further throughout the run up to release. What a load of ... disappointment that was in the end - WYSIWYG after all.

Even later during one of the streams, when Zac responded to a question about further content - he said something along the lines of "there's more to come don't you worry" in this very confident manner that sort of suggested there's going to be something big coming our way.

I always thought it'd be the Thargoid stuff he referred to but... who knows when that's going to land and quite frankly I care less and less about that with each day that passes I'm afraid (and I like my Goids content usually).
 

Deleted member 182079

D
One thing base-building provides in games like NMS and Space Engineers (and Minecraft for that matter) is other player bases to discover and explore. I'm really not that creative when it comes to building bases, but some people playing these games are genus creatives who produce amazing works of art and architecture. Of course one could argue that Frontier's own devs do this with the current outposts, but they can only provide so much variety, whereas players can multiply that variety a hundredfold.
Yeah, same here. I'm not very slick nor creative when it comes to building stuff, as much as I would love to be - and I experience this regularly in my current favourite building game (Cities Skylines) but that doesn't stop me from trying I guess. It's cool to see what is possible though, especially without modding.
Me personally, I could see building little outposts on different planets, especially if there was gameplay attached like automated planetside mining. However, if I had to choose between this and ship interiors, I'd rather have ship interiors first, especially if we can customize those interiors. For example, make a outfitting screen that's similar to equipping hardpoints but focused on the interior of the ship. Let me lay out my interior similar to a Sims house, and include a bunch of extra "cosmetic" modules like labs, cafeterias (think Firefly), captain's quarters, and other things with "I'm living on my ship" in mind, along with the standard modules like cargo bays and passenger quarters. I would have an absolute blast with that.

Whether it's building a base or customizing our ship interiors, there is a social aspect this adds to the game. Much of the social side of Space Engineers is our "Ship Shows", where we gather together and give tours of each other's ships. It's fun to see how people have been creative in designing and layout out their ships, which includes interiors.
I would also rather have ship interiors over base building - I just think Elite should flesh out its roots (ships) first before doing so for the rest of the environment.
I'll end this utopian dream on a down note - I don't think ship interiors will actually happen in Elite. Adding a simple little concourse to Stations killed performance, so I can't imagine Frontier unlocking the magical algorithm to allow a dozen ships to gather, each with their own unique interiors. Base building would likely be less demanding - it's a static object on its own plot of land, and even if it does kill framerates, a framerate hit in a "I'm walking around my cozy house" simulator is way less impactful than it would be in space combat with a bunch of ships each possessing their own interiors. I'm not saying ship interiors are impossible (many space games actually pull it off), but I don't think Frontier can do it with the current Cobra engine.
I think about this often, and while I have no clue about the technical in's and out's of course, I reckon it's important that the vision for the game in terms of scope (such as on-foot gameplay) is set at the beginning. In X4 it's visible, walking around on stations and ships feels natural and gels really well, because it was designed with it in mind from the ground up. In Elite, feet feel tacked on because that's what happened.
 
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One thing base-building provides in games like NMS and Space Engineers (and Minecraft for that matter) is other player bases to discover and explore. I'm really not that creative when it comes to building bases, but some people playing these games are genus creatives who produce amazing works of art and architecture. Of course one could argue that Frontier's own devs do this with the current outposts, but they can only provide so much variety, whereas players can multiply that variety a hundredfold.

Me personally, I could see building little outposts on different planets, especially if there was gameplay attached like automated planetside mining. However, if I had to choose between this and ship interiors, I'd rather have ship interiors first, especially if we can customize those interiors. For example, make a outfitting screen that's similar to equipping hardpoints but focused on the interior of the ship. Let me lay out my interior similar to a Sims house, and include a bunch of extra "cosmetic" modules like labs, cafeterias (think Firefly), captain's quarters, and other things with "I'm living on my ship" in mind, along with the standard modules like cargo bays and passenger quarters. I would have an absolute blast with that.

Whether it's building a base or customizing our ship interiors, there is a social aspect this adds to the game. Much of the social side of Space Engineers is our "Ship Shows", where we gather together and give tours of each other's ships. It's fun to see how people have been creative in designing and layout out their ships, which includes interiors.

I'll end this utopian dream on a down note - I don't think ship interiors will actually happen in Elite. Adding a simple little concourse to Stations killed performance, so I can't imagine Frontier unlocking the magical algorithm to allow a dozen ships to gather, each with their own unique interiors. Base building would likely be less demanding - it's a static object on its own plot of land, and even if it does kill framerates, a framerate hit in a "I'm walking around my cozy house" simulator is way less impactful than it would be in space combat with a bunch of ships each possessing their own interiors. I'm not saying ship interiors are impossible (many space games actually pull it off), but I don't think Frontier can do it with the current Cobra engine.
Having played/enjoyed both NMS and Space Engineers, can safely say that Elite isn't like either. While it'd be interesting/fun to explore certain gameplay in Elite (maybe carrier interiors soon?), the basics need to be iterated on and addressed first. Stable software deployments (regression testing), making changes to the game easier (for instance changing a particular station/settlement), bug fixes, performance, data storage, etc.
 
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It's more the fact that a CMs have stated, on multiple occasions, in livestreams, on podcasts, on social-media and on the forum, itself, that there are currently no plans to introduce ship interiors because FDev believe it doesn't provide a justifiable amount of new gameplay.

That being the case, it's probably not very useful to expect it any time soon.

But, y'know, if dismissing something FDev have said, very clearly, as "DOOM" helps you sleep at night, go for it. (y)
It only becomes DOOM-saying if it is the same critiques/complaints said over and over...and over again.
 
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One thing base-building provides in games like NMS and Space Engineers (and Minecraft for that matter) is other player bases to discover and explore. I'm really not that creative when it comes to building bases, but some people playing these games are genus creatives who produce amazing works of art and architecture. Of course one could argue that Frontier's own devs do this with the current outposts, but they can only provide so much variety, whereas players can multiply that variety a hundredfold.

See, this is the kind of thing that makes "pointless" features interesting.

Back when FCs were first announced, my first thought was to get one, take it out and park it somewhere remote for anybody to use for repairs and re-equipping.
But then the final iteration of FCs made that kind of impossible... plus I also found the FC to be more useful than I thought it'd be.

As long as the base-building mechanic allowed it, I could happily spend my ED time constructing a series of outposts all over the galaxy, for explorers to use in whatever ways were possible.
If, OTOH, FDev decided that we could only build one base and then we'd also have to pay rent on it and/or pay staff wages it'd be a lot more meh!
 
Am I the only one thinking that some kind of Odyssey review is a bit premature when the OP has only barely touched on the major new feature, the on foot gameplay ?
That's not a review, it's a personal opinion. And he clearly stated that he's not interested in the other features so everything's fine so far..
 
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