No Single Player offline Mode then?

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Yes i know people can move, but also i know that people are posting comments here stating they have no internet connection, whilst i realise phones etc have not got as stable a connection as other devices i find the concept pretty absurd.

As for boxed versions and no DRM or need to authenticate with an online log in i think this has been the staple of PC gaming for years now and i find the concept of just accepting wholesale piracy a far worse concern than players that for various reasons do not have a decent connection..srry just my opinion.

EXACTLY. Imagine how many people are actually upset, when they find out. If you want to understand *my* position on this: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=58997&page=2&p=1000982&viewfull=1#post1000982

I don't understand your closing paragraph. What is your opinion? You're saying that the DRM free version paid for should not be DRM free? Ok, but that's what was paid for. It still says DRM free on the description in my order that they added to the new store only 5 days ago.
 
If you go back to the start of this thread, Michael confirms it's dead. He doesn't say forever but he doesn't say there's a strong chance of it ever happening in the future either.
 
I'm guessing the premium boxed edition will contain a floppy disk sized install burned to a CD then? - or maybe a sheet of paper with code that we can type in ourselves?

Someone at FD really needs to clarify -ASAP- what they actually meant (not in marketing bullxxxx language) about 'off' and 'online' play before the media create something.....

The same as World of Warcraft Boxed Editions. The version on disk is the version launched (e.g 4.0). Then, regardless of the fact it is on a DVD, you'll download patches & updates like everybody else.
 
The mews letter does not say offline was cancelled. It says that it will occasionally connect to server.

I interpreted this as changes to the galaxy, big events and such will be available offline so everyone can enjoy them.

At no point in the letter does it say offline is gone.

Yes but it's still a change from the public statements made by FD and their representatives, even up until just a few days ago, which are of a mode that never requires a connection.

So whilst the impact for nearly all people may be small\non-existent, it's about the principle that if you change the auspices under which a person has bought something, then the contract is breached and you give a refund. Someone doesn't even need to state why they want a refund, it's just a simple matter of customer service and a point of law.

Many people may wish to leverage this change to simply get out of the pre-order for a game that they believe is vapour, that's up to them. Frontier just have to take it on the chin.

That's all people are saying.
 
You do not appear to understand procedural generation. That's really all I can say. :)
Oh I do.

The fact that you said this...

There isn't a disk big enough to market it and most PCs would crash if you tried to download it in its entirety.

...implies that you don't.

Space Engine, to give an example, fits in 850MB... and simulates not only the Milky Way, but the entire universe (and with more fidelity than Elite: Dangerous, I'd say).

.kkrieger fits a whole first person shooter in 97,280 bytes.

Frontier: Elite 2 fit the whole Milky Way (albeit slightly flattened) in a single 880KB floppy disk (there was a second disk, with a selection of interesting saved games)... with room to spare (the actual file was 400KB).

Procedural generation uses processing power, not disk space. And modern computers have more than enough of that.
 
However it will be possible to have a single player game without connecting to the galaxy server. You won't get the features of the evolving galaxy (although we will investigate minimising those differences) and you probably won't be able to sync between server and non-server (again we'll investigate).

SP Offline was something I looked forward to.

If indeed every transaction would require connecting to server, this excludes people whose connections are prone to dropping.
 
Here's an example of how this can be a problem.

I am very fortunate in that I own several houses in many different parts of the world, most of course have Internet and very good quality at that. One place however, has no Internet, no TV, it does not even have sewerage we have a septic tank. It's in the mountains in Europe. We summer there.

It's entirely feasible that I may wish to play ED while there for 2 or 3 months.

I actually don't as we view this as a retreat from the always contactable situation of modern life and we in fact chose it for having no mobile signal or anything like that. But it's just an example of one such scenario that different people face.

Satellite
 
The fact that you said this...



...implies that you don't.

Space Engine, to give an example, fits in 850MB... and simulates not only the Milky Way, but the entire universe (and with more fidelity than Elite: Dangerous, I'd say).

.kkrieger fits a whole first person shooter in 97,280 bytes.

Frontier: Elite 2 fit the whole Milky Way (albeit slightly flattened) in a single 880KB floppy disk (there was a second disk, with a selection of interesting saved games)... with room to spare (the actual file was 400KB).

Procedural generation uses processing power, not disk space. And modern computers have more than enough of that.

mmm - there is a marked difference between the objects and the content. Seed information takes space... (scuse the pun)
 
As mentioned in the newsletter thread the game has changed a lot since the initial kickstarter. One of the biggest changes is the importance of the the offline component to manage the galaxy and interactions. This isn't something we can translate into an offline experience as we'd effectively have to make a new game world - we couldn't share the same world and that throws out the intent for a shared universe.

Michael

Just quoting this so people don't need to trawl all the way back for confirmation.
 
SP Offline was something I looked forward to.

If indeed every transaction would require connecting to server, this excludes people whose connections are prone to dropping.

It's not just that. There must be a savegame created/transfers online every time you change system, drop out of supercruise, where you are in a system when you do that, when you dock, when you get wanted status, a change in any of your profile information, your bounties, credits, etc, any time you buy, sell anything, and when you dock - and what your ship(s) had in them.
 
Satellite

Yeah, he should get an internet connection to play a game he bought on the premise he could play it there without... What a cheek he has.

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mmm - there is a marked difference between the objects and the content. Seed information takes space... (scuse the pun)

Yes, not the huge amounts quoted, but I frankly couldn't be bothered to try to discuss that when he said he understood the concept, when clearly he did not. :)
 
At no point in the letter does it say offline is gone.

Maybe not very clearly, but Brookes confirmed it:

Indeed and the biggest promise is the game with the vision we set out with. We haven't taken this decision lightly, but having to hamper the game to work offline would have meant that we couldn't deliver the game we're making.

Michael

The online servers provide all of the data and processing for the galaxy, interactions between players and all transactions of value. Without it there isn't a game. We always intended that the way to play the game would be online. We had hoped that we could do an offline variant, but as the game progressed the online requirement superseded that. It wasn't an easy choice to make, but to stay true to the game we set out to make we had to make this choice.

Michael
 
Satellite

Indeed, this highlights the issue here:

Hypothetically speaking I would need to invest in an expensive option to work around Frontier's change of tack. Yes it can be done but your statement underlines why - in the EU at least - constraints of a product need to be made known at the point of contract, otherwise the contract is null because it was made on false grounds. Using your solution I would be pushed from a zero cost Internet option (it doesn't need to exist) to a high cost one by the supplier whim.

And now I am sure you see why some people may be disgruntled because in your own scenario a costly - and not always on - connection method is suddenly required, where one was not needed, so you have now answered your own question.

I couldn't care less as I say, but I am capable of understanding people who do care.
 
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Welp, we all knew this was coming, so obligatory comedy moment as provided by me before I hit the bed.
 
My biggest worry is that now this game, similar to diabolo 3 and SimCity etc. Will not be playable until a week or 2 after launch due to FD's servers overloading. Like every always-online game ever has done.

Still, will have to see how it ends up when the game launches, but I'd hate to have to tell them, told you so.
 
That's another point. If each system requires 1kB data that makes 200.000 GB for 200 billion systems. That's 8000 blue rays or 50000 dvds :D

Its a procedural creation so the data at start at minimal, that what procedural is for. Then it can expand in a database, now we talk in terrabites instead of gigas, maybe it is a problem now but i dont think it will be a problem in the future.
It is reasonable to have word from Frontier saying exactly what happend and why. Its not a simple affair really, people were intended to get offline mode as well as people were intented to get online mode.
People who dont undertand that need to think a bit. As i said in another post : without offline backers this game will not be there.
Thats sure and Frontier know that.
The fact is they have a technical problem or a design problem to give us what was intended.
That dont mean its impossible to do it. That mean they need to put ressources and money to make it. Dunno if they can. Dunno if the have the habillity to plan this.
But its doable. Thats sure cause its only a client server component that cause problem. It can be avoided.
And for the security problem there are many cryptographic solutions that will resolve this. David is an expert at this. He know very well the hardware and the hard coding (Rasperry).
He has the habillity to create a strong code to avoid that for sure.

So there are solutions. Its all in Frontier hand .. if they want or not .. but we need to know the real reasons behind it.
 
For me Offline was essential. Not for mobility of availability of internet connection reasons, but for availability of servers reasons. Online games eventually get switched off. I can still play my Acorn Electron version of Elite any time I like, 30 years on. Will I be able to say the same about Elite Dangerous in 30 years? I seriously doubt it.
I am furious about the removal of this promised feature. I specifically checked for it before buying into the Alpha.
 
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