More Hints to Space Legs

VR Golgot

VR Golgot
Cervantes01 said:
Elite Dangerous is the red headed step child of FD and will never be as loved by them as their other products.
Click to expand...

It’s seemingly got better post-launch support than some of the other franchises. Planet Coaster was scheduled to drop from its pre-launch peak of 75-100 staffing. ED seems to have 100 dedicated devs still. Not the least-loved offspring, that suggests...

It’s fine to be cynical. Being factually cynical is even better though ;)

Personally I still see grounds for quiet optimism in the shift away from Seasons. It suggests some of the lacklustre aspects of post-launch dev may be improved. Guess we’ll see ;)
 
Last edited:

Cervantes01

Cervantes01
Golgot said:
It’s seemingly got better post-launch support than some of the other franchises. Planet Coaster was scheduled to drop from its pre-launch peak of 75-100 staffing. ED seems to have 100 dedicated devs still. Not the least-loved offspring, that suggests...

It’s fine to be cynical. Being factually cynical is even better though ;)

Personally I still see grounds for quiet optimism in the shift away from Seasons. It suggests some of the lacklustre aspects of post-launch dev may be improved. Guess we’ll see ;)
Click to expand...

Fair enough but if FD lives up to their past you will be disappointed. I don't judge FD by their words but by their track record as the best predictor of future output.

Also I haven't seen any evidence to support the 100 devs claim.
 

sandkid

S
Cervantes01 said:
Fair enough but if FD lives up to their past you will be disappointed. I don't judge FD by their words but by their track record as the best predictor of future output.

Also I haven't seen any evidence to support the 100 devs claim.
Click to expand...

As has been shown by both the indie game space and many other highly successful (and spectacular failures), dev count is a terrible predictor.

Hello Games (No Man's Sky)
Blizzard Entertainment (Diablo 3 Initial Launch vs. Today)
Egosoft (X2 vs X3 vs X4)

How does the old saying go? Quality versus Quantity.

That said, I agree in track record as a strong predictor. Which is why the plight of Bioware makes me quite sad, but also doesn't surprise me. Big turnarounds don't happen because of windfalls in resources or dev counts. They happen because someone pulled their head out of their butt and understood:
  • All games are dying. Ours doesn't have to die so fast.
  • Reputation is worth infinitely more than marketing. Diablo 3 sold millions of copies because of Diablo 2, not Diablo 3. Diablo 4 will have stunted sales because of Diablo 3 until reviewers verify it isn't Diablo 3, again. Destiny 2 had this problem. Anthem had this problem. X4 had this problem. The next Elite game may have this problem.
  • Choosing to rebuild and redesign existing systems, while harder and more time consuming, is still cheaper than starting all over again. You can't always get it right the first time. You can always try to make it right the second time. It is always easier to make it right a second time than trying to make it right the first time.

The pitch on our current drought of content is that Frontier plans to 'fix' the existing game. That's well and good. Really.

Their reputation, though, implies they will not. This could be false, but that doesn't change most of us think it isn't. Primarily because we're all asking the same question: why did it take you this long to realize the game needed a tune-up? Really, really, hooray - you're doing the thing you should have done a long time ago - better late than never and all that.

But still. You expect us to be hopeful? To 'trust' it will be ok? We're past the point of Frontier deserving that trust. So a quick amendment to an earlier point about 'easier the second time'...

It is not easier to build trust the second try when you didn't build it on the first.

And this is far from the second try.
 

VR Golgot

VR Golgot
flankengott said:
Is there any official statement from the developers that space legs will come?
Click to expand...

There’s old launch stuff like this:

Newsletter 32: 'To Launch, and Beyond with the Lifetime Expansion Pass'

We also plan to allow you to get up out of your seat and walk around your ship. You can see the level of attention and thought that has already been given to the ship interiors from these ship cockpit views in this video:

Of course walking round your ship will be nice, but it is the just springboard for a very significant expansion of gameplay – you will be able to experience the inside of starports and interact with other players and AI characters, and even board other people’s ships in space and take them by force, as shown in this concept piece.

Flightsuit_combatsketch01.jpg


Of course this will be further expanded to include walking around on the surfaces of planets too.

Alpha and Premium Beta customers, and those who have already bought the £35 Lifetime Expansion Pass alongside either Beta or the full game, will have access to all these features and updates for as long as we create them at no further cost.
Click to expand...


Elite: Dangerous Development Plan (hosted on Kickstarter page - Dec 2014)

You will be able to walk around the spaceport, you will be able to see gold being loaded into someone else's ship, you will be able to sneak in and hide in amongst the cargo. All of those things are phenomenal game play opportunities where that ship might actually be the ship of another player, so just think where that all ends.
Click to expand...


Elite Dangerous Expansion Pass Store Page - [IE the point of sale] (circa July 2014):

We intend to continue expanding the game both with new content and new features. A good example of this is planetary landings. We have an ambitious goal for landings to include new gameplay and a rich variety of worlds to explore. To achieve our goal we want the planets to come to life. We also want to add leaving the ships so you can explore space stations or board enemy vessels or even just to look around your own. We intend to release small, free updates after launch, but major expansions including rich new features will be charged for, unless you have bought the expansion pass
Click to expand...


Newsletter 29: Lifetime Expansion Pass - to be withdrawn from sale

For example, our current roadmap is to add (in no particular order):
  • Landing/ driving / prospecting on airless rocky planets, moons & asteroids
  • Walking around interiors and combative boarding of other ships
  • Combat and other interactions with other players and AIs in the internal areas of star ports
  • Accessing richly detailed planetary surfaces
  • Availability of giant ‘executive control’ ships to players
Alpha and Premium Beta customers, and those who have already bought the £35 expansion pass alongside either Beta or the full game, will have access to all these features and updates for as long as we create them at no further cost.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

And more 'recent' affirmations of intent like this:

Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Nothing official on what the big 2020 DLC is yet though. (Just the ‘leak’ suggesting heavily that it is Legs related...)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom