No Single Player offline Mode then?

[mbabbs]

No due offense, but that is all information that can be gained from reading his posts in this thread, he was simply posting it there as well, (the fact that he responds to individuals while doing it is nice however, more of a personal touch)

Oh and the talk about "more information soon" that you posted, without posting the context was in response to this

"@Ed I think it's time for a damage control newsletter. The longer you let this wait the more damage is done to FD's reputation and to the future of ED. This needs to be nipped in the butt before it consumes you."

Its not about the possibility of an offline mode, just damage control

No offense taken and yes I agree with you that the decision won't change. Fortunately I can play online.

However you said they won't be saying anything more which is incorrect so I thought I'd post the above for folks who think that the company isn't going to say any more on the matter.

But yes, the information coming will mostly be about refunds I would have thought.

 

[Juniper]

haha (experienced) developers always do that. Its their way of setting expectations so that they can get away with a large time estimate.

True, but I thought at the time when it was released and I watched... wow... he's absolutely bricking it.

 

[ianf2k14]

I've put my request in for a refund. I work abroad and need an offline mode. I *feel* like I was promised an offline mode, I feel like I've been hoodwinked. I'm waiting for my money back. I'll let you know how I get on

 

[Toscaner]

Even if the rest of the game was in the state it was implied the release version would be, even if they had actually finished all 25 ships planned for release, even if all the network/multiplayer bugs are fixed.... They still are having to cut offline mode, therefore the game is not ready as per its original goals therefore releasing now is a rush. As it happens I strongly suspect it will be a lot more than just the folks who wanted offline who will be dissapointed with the release build.

So yeah, I think you'll find it hard to muster up a lot of support for the notion that ED has not been rushed to release before its ready.

it's a cross over of possible and necessary

it's in a good enough state that it's possible to release and it's necessary because they need resources

 

[Drexen]

Can we get some MOD to start suspending trolls? And I don't mean people who are unhappy because they cannot play offline, I mean the ones who have a full history of flame baiting,trolling and SC-fanboying and are taking advantage of this situation to dspread alarm and incite people.

Cleanse! Cleanse!

No point, they'll only create another account.

 

[noodle]

True, but I thought at the time when it was released and I watched... wow... he's absolutely bricking it.

How do you mean?

 

[Ilseroth]

No offense taken and yes I agree with you that the decision won't change. Fortunately I can play online.

However you said they won't be saying anything more which is incorrect so I thought I'd post the above for folks who think that the company isn't going to say any more on the matter.

I apologize, I should be more specific, I was talking purely regards to the offline potentiality, which they have assured time and time again, is not coming.

Based on what you posted it does seem as though they are prepping to inform us more specifically why they can't do it, which hopefully will quell some of the discontent (probably not)

 

[noodle]

Can we get some MOD to start suspending trolls? And I don't mean people who are unhappy because they cannot play offline, I mean the ones who have a full history of flame baiting,trolling and SC-fanboying and are taking advantage of this situation to dspread alarm and incite people.

Cleanse! Cleanse!

I really miss having the post count next to avatars. I generally just scrolled past all troll-like posts coming from users with suspiciously low post counts.

 

[mbpoblet]

Putting this in a very simplistic way, Elite has 400 billion star systems. So assuming each system has 1 sun, which has an X, Y Z co-ordinates plus it's size, orbit, type plus lots of other data.

Starting with that fact, anyone want to work out the offline storage requirements before adding in planets, moons and space stations?

For the procedurally generated stars, planets, and so on?

Merely whatever the algorithms that generate them occupy, so a few megabytes at most.

For the ~150,000 pregenerated stars (from stellar catalogues)? Depends on how many information they have for each of them (coordinates, type, name, description, and little else, probably)... we can probably safely assume way less than 1KB per star, so way less than 150MB in total.

Frontier: Elite 2 already simulated the Milky Way (with less fidelity than Elite: Dangerous) on an Amiga twenty years ago, and it fit on half a floppy disk.

Space Engine, for instance, simulates the entire ' universe on your run of the mill PC and it takes less than a gigabyte in your disk.

Both are completely offline, of course, as are most astronomical simulators.

I wrote a bit of a diatribe on how a dynamic offline galaxy could work, if you're interested and don't mind getting bored.

 

[Juniper]

How do you mean?

Did you watch the video? Look at his eyes and facial expressions when he starts talking about planetary landing, knowing that he is one of the main guys tasked with implementing it. He looks like he's been waking up in the night with cold sweats about it... poor guy.

 

[jabokai]

They have been perfectly professional to this point. They haven't been posting antagonizing the community, they have stated time and time again what their principles are.

The only thing they are *not* doing is caving to the vocal demand.

Bit weird calling it "caving" when it was a promised feature. How about wording it "The only thing they are *not* doing is reversing their decision and reinstating the promised feature, despite the vocal demand"? Sounds much better, no?

 

[RGS]

They have been perfectly professional to this point. They haven't been posting antagonizing the community, they have stated time and time again what their principles are.

The only thing they are *not* doing is caving to the vocal demand.

Sorry, but I can't agree with you about this. Think how big a deal this feature is to many people (even if it's nothing to you), that it was promised at KS level and nothing mentioned about any possibility of it not happening until last Friday, just weeks from launch. Now also consider exactly how FD chose to tell people about the fact that it wasn't going to make it in (as though it were no big deal, tucked away in the news letter).

 

[Obsidian Ant]

True, but I thought at the time when it was released and I watched... wow... he's absolutely bricking it.

Exactly. There's a difference between the smile at the end of his clip (which is a smile of politness mixed with hope), and the expression where he blinks and his face goes blank (which was a genuinely uncontrolled expression).

 

[Jim Chapman]

They have been perfectly professional to this point [snip...] they have stated time and time again what their principles are.

Hmm ... some 'principle' - misleading people (albeit I accept at the time they thought they were telling the truth) then letting them down at the eleventh hour.

 

[WeirdWizard]

Did you watch the video? Look at his eyes and facial expressions when he starts talking about planetary landing, knowing that he is one of the main guys tasked with implementing it. He looks like he's been waking up in the night with cold sweats about it... poor guy.

Yeah, I imagine DB strolling up to him and saying in a boss voice "PARRY!" like bosses do "PARRY!" slap on the back "HOWS THAT PLANETARY LANDING STUFF COMING", "yeah about that sir", "GREAT! HAHAHA" DB strolls off. Ben Parry has a little cry then gets back to work.

I know doesn't sound like David from the interviews I've seen but its thought anyway. Probably what happened with offline mode too

 

[Muthax]

I really miss having the post count next to avatars. I generally just scrolled past all troll-like posts coming from users with suspiciously low post counts.

Yeah,you have to go and look at the profile, but I can guarantee that if you check, most times it will be a 2-3 months old account.
Tell-tale signs: game is , there is nothing to do, etc all things tha thave nothing to do with the actual issue

 

[Obsidian Ant]

Hmm ... some 'principle' - misleading people (albeit I accept at the time they thought they were telling the truth) then letting them down at the eleventh hour.

I'm not saying Frontier (or the guy in the video) are being misleading. What I am saying is that planetary landing might be a bigger challenge than they are admitting...that guy is certainly very worried about something...

 

[Adept]

In some cases, yes, it's the smell. Not looking at anyone in particular, of course...

More generally speaking though, as I said in another post, it's all about different gaming philosophies. In a purely solo game, the player gets to be the star, the main character, everything around them fits the atmosphere and the general feel of the game perfectly, and imagination does the rest. In a purely single player game, I get to be Luke Skywalker, or Indiana Jones, or Marty McFly, and everything around me contributes to that illusion.

In an online game, that illusion is gone, you're just another ordinary Joe, in a universe populated by (or influenced by) other ordinary Joes. It is no longer a science fiction epic, but just another space flight simulator with some elements of trading and fighting thrown in.

I get that for Wing Commander, but isn't Elite a harder Sci-Fi experience. You are a space jockey in a cold and uncaring galaxy, working to earn a living. To me it's a whole different atmosphere, and you are not the hero resquing the space princess / prince / handsome alien ambassador...

 

[Skizomeuh]

Frontier was happily pocketting money from people chosing Elite over Star Citizen

What. Are. You. Talking. About??!?

 

[Herne]

Yeah, I imagine DB strolling up to him and saying in a boss voice "PARRY!" like bosses do "PARRY!" slap on the back "HOWS THAT PLANETARY LANDING STUFF COMING", "yeah about that sir", "GREAT! HAHAHA" DB strolls off. Ben Parry has a little cry then gets back to work.

I know doesn't sound like David from the interviews I've seen but its thought anyway. Probably what happened with offline mode too

Is it weird that I picture Stephen Fry playing DB in your little scenario above ?