Odyssey Ship and Station Interiors Speculation

[TScal12]

Interesting newsletter from way back. Their thinking at the time is that Ship and Station Interiors, including ship boarding game play would come first, only then will it be expanded on walking on planet surfaces. Maybe they didn't tease ship interiors in the trailer because they assumed we knew it was a given, and that planetary surfaces is supposed to be the thing to show off and impress us with? Anyways, it's an interesting read for those who haven't yet.

Elite: Dangerous Newsletter #32 - From Frontier Developments

Elite: Dangerous Newsletter 32

 

[Xious]

Talk is cheap... obviously.

If there's anything more than just walking on planet surfaces, I'll be shocked.

 

[Dutchman141]

Talk is cheap... obviously.

If there's anything more than just walking on planet surfaces, I'll be shocked.

You and me both.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

Talk is cheap... obviously.

If there's anything more than just walking on planet surfaces, I'll be shocked.

There'll be running too.

 

[TScal12]

I feel you guys, however don't you think it's highly plausible since you only need the base game to play Odyssey and not Horizons (Planetary Access), therefore what would Non Horizons players get from Odyssey if the entire update revolved around planetary game play? I know we don't know anything yet, but I'm trying to add a little positivity and hope to this topic until we get more official info.

 

[Andro]

I feel you guys, however don't you think it's highly plausible since you only need the base game to play Odyssey and not Horizons (Planetary Access), therefore what would Non Horizons players get from Odyssey if the entire update revolved around planetary game play? I know we don't know anything yet, but I'm trying to add a little positivity and hope to this topic until we get more official info.

Odyssey will either include Horizons or the update itself (that everyone gets regardless) will roll Horizons into the base game.

 

[Sic Mundus]

Talk is cheap... obviously.

If there's anything more than just walking on planet surfaces, I'll be shocked.

Agreed. I may still be new to the game, but I've paid enough attention and done enough research to surmise that Frontier seems to really put forth the bare-minimum. More so, their attempts are making anything feasible seems to come at the cost of breaking something else in the process.

 

[Azakel]

i'm pretty sure what it is is that for people who don't own horizons but get Odyssey they can walk on the planets we get for od but simply won't be able to land on the horizon worlds they just simply block access cause you don't ow it which a lot of games will do sorta like in total war warhammer 2 if you don't own a race dlc you can still see the races ai on the world map and fight them but if you want to play them pay for them something similar to that

and when it come to ships/stations well i think right now the best we can realistcally expect is being able to go into certain places so for like stations that social hub they mentioned awhile ago maybe an office space to talk to mission givers and authority people and a market place to buy from in person instead of only on the ship screens but actually walking around the stations 1 to 1 like the planets even though they said years ago they would i kinda doubt fd have the ability to do that and if they do they'll work it in over time i don't expect them to do it at release same with ships they might give us some rooms with function first then maybe expand them to 1 to 1 cause that would be easier then stations

 

[Rubbernuke]

Think Rebel Galaxy Outlaw stations, interaction etc for hubs.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

I feel you guys, however don't you think it's highly plausible since you only need the base game to play Odyssey and not Horizons (Planetary Access), therefore what would Non Horizons players get from Odyssey if the entire update revolved around planetary game play? I know we don't know anything yet, but I'm trying to add a little positivity and hope to this topic until we get more official info.

Horizons only gives you planetary access to none atmospheric planets. I would assume that getting Odyssey gives you access to the tenuous atmospheric planets that comes with that update, even if you don't have horizons.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Agreed. I may still be new to the game, but I've paid enough attention and done enough research to surmise that Frontier seems to really put forth the bare-minimum. More so, their attempts are making anything feasible seems to come at the cost of breaking something else in the process.

They don't do the bare minimum. That's what people say when they don't get what they want. The main issue with most of the updates is; that they don't concentrate in one area. They will introduce a lot of features which could have been a whole lot more. None of them have been bare minimum, but they could have been a lot better with more time spent on them. But then we would have had less features, and then there would likely be complaints about that too.

 

[Sapyx]

Maybe they didn't tease ship interiors in the trailer because they assumed we knew it was a given, and that planetary surfaces is supposed to be the thing to show off and impress us with?

You must be new here.

Back in 3.0 when they introduced the Codex, the exploration community was excited. Finally, there'd be a way for us to see, in-game, without relying on external tools, bits of paper, spreadsheets and screenshots, a comprehensive list of all the things we'd seen and discovered in ED. The few sneak peaks and teasers they gave us didn't explicitly say that the Codex would be doing this, but many people assumed that they wouldn't possibly give us a specifically Exploration-oriented tool without including this basic exploration functionality, and that the other things they were show-and-telling to us were just bonus extra things the Codex could do.

Nope. We were wrong. FD never intended the Codex to do this.

Now, "walking around in ships" is different, because of those early expectations and design announcements that specifically stated that walking around in spaceships was indeed a goal. But it may not be a goal for Odyssey. Or it may be a goal, but it ends up not being an actually achievable goal.

I believe the folks in FD are frantically working to get as much as possible crammed into Odyssey: as many different new landable world types as possible - including Earth-likes. As many different places to walk around in as possible - including space stations and ship internals. But if they only complete the work for, say, a dozen of the ship internals before the deadline, then ship internals aren't going to make it into Odyssey at launch, because ship internals really have to be an all-or-nothing update. Just like I'm sure there are people frantically working on Odyssey VR for a future update, though they must know enough to be able to state categorically that Odyssey VR won't be ready in time.

This is why the reveals have been so sketchy on details about exactly what will be included in Odyssey. They simply don't know which bits will be ready in time.

 

[CMDR Yates]

I'm fairly convinced Horizons (after the initial planetary landings update) was fumbled because they promised the content of each "quarterly" update up-front, then hit technical snags with instancing on stuff like SLFs and multicrew. That meant they were forced to delay and release compromised solutions to meet their overambitious promises, the results of which we're living with to this day (connection issues, half-baked multicrew, fighter lag).

I believe everything since Horizons has been produced concurrently with the next paid update, Odyssey. They have kept very quiet about what's actually in Odyssey precisely because they don't want to write any more cheques they can't cash.

With Beyond, I believe the team was split 50/50 between Beyond and early work on Odyssey. With the 2019 and 2020 updates, the vast majority of staff were working on Odyssey, with only a small handful finishing off FCs and bug fixing (and bug-making, apparently).

To me, this is a fairly credible reason why things have felt "minimum viable product" for a long time (it wasn't really the case until about halfway through Horizons, but that's still 4 years!).

I think this means Odyssey could go either way. If it's a correct assessment it means the last four years of Elite Dangerous updates might not be an accurate guide on what to expect in Odyssey. It could be a total bust or it could deliver a lot more than we expect.

I know a lot of people can't bring themselves to even imagine the latter outcome, either because they're extremely invested and are scared of being disappointed after being burned on other updates (understandable), or because they peaked at the "cynically tearing everything down is cool" phase. But IMO the jury is 100% out on what's actually coming.

I would not be surprised if ship interiors did appear in the update. The amount of time they've spent working on this is closer to the time spent on production the base game and Horizons than Beyond or Fleet Carriers. But I won't be salty and upset if they're not.

Let your speculation fly free, but keep your expectations grounded.

 

[Jellicoe]

It's arguable that walking around ships and stations has already been teased in the last of the 'cinematic shorts' they did during Beyond

 

[Rubbernuke]

For the sake of your own sanity don't presume any interiors until you see them or they are announced properly.

 

[Drelthar]

For the sake of your own sanity don't presume any interiors until you see them or they are announced properly.

This.

There is literally zero to suggest these will be in Odyssey

 

[CMDR Yates]

For the sake of your own sanity don't presume any interiors until you see them or they are announced properly.

There will very likely be walking in interiors of some kind, because the Odyssey concept art, released specifically to promote it, included a space bar, a taxi booth, and a security room. The last was definitively on a planet, the latter two could be on a planet or in a station. The question is only whether walkable areas are accessible at all bases/stations, or if it's only at the teased "social hubs", and how many of these there will be.

Also, my sanity isn't at risk from being wrong about computer game speculation Let's hold ourselves to a higher standard than that

 

[Rubbernuke]

There will very likely be walking in interiors of some kind, because the Odyssey concept art, released specifically to promote it, included a space bar, a taxi booth, and a security room. The last was definitively on a planet, the latter two could be on a planet or in a station. The question is only whether walkable areas are accessible at all bases/stations, or if it's only at the teased "social hubs", and how many of these there will be.

Also, my sanity isn't at risk from being wrong about computer game speculation Let's hold ourselves to a higher standard than that

Don't- its just as likely FD go the Rebel Galaxy Outlaw route for interiors. Speculation is great, I don't want to crush those dreams- but the hard truth is, whatever you imagine will always be better than what is released. Its better to wait and see, otherwise its a short walk along Disappointment Avenue.

 

[thistle]

I'm fairly convinced Horizons (after the initial planetary landings update) was fumbled because they promised the content of each "quarterly" update up-front, then hit technical snags with instancing on stuff like SLFs and multicrew. That meant they were forced to delay and release compromised solutions to meet their overambitious promises, the results of which we're living with to this day (connection issues, half-baked multicrew, fighter lag).

I believe everything since Horizons has been produced concurrently with the next paid update, Odyssey. They have kept very quiet about what's actually in Odyssey precisely because they don't want to write any more cheques they can't cash.

With Beyond, I believe the team was split 50/50 between Beyond and early work on Odyssey. With the 2019 and 2020 updates, the vast majority of staff were working on Odyssey, with only a small handful finishing off FCs and bug fixing (and bug-making, apparently).

To me, this is a fairly credible reason why things have felt "minimum viable product" for a long time (it wasn't really the case until about halfway through Horizons, but that's still 4 years!).

I think this means Odyssey could go either way. If it's a correct assessment it means the last four years of Elite Dangerous updates might not be an accurate guide on what to expect in Odyssey. It could be a total bust or it could deliver a lot more than we expect.

I know a lot of people can't bring themselves to even imagine the latter outcome, either because they're extremely invested and are scared of being disappointed after being burned on other updates (understandable), or because they peaked at the "cynically tearing everything down is cool" phase. But IMO the jury is 100% out on what's actually coming.

I would not be surprised if ship interiors did appear in the update. The amount of time they've spent working on this is closer to the time spent on production the base game and Horizons than Beyond or Fleet Carriers. But I won't be salty and upset if they're not.

Let your speculation fly free, but keep your expectations grounded.

I'm a cynical sod so the glass tends to be half empty with me, but I do HOPE you're right. They have said it's their largest update ever, and it has been in development for a comparable time to a new release, longer in many ways.

We'll see. I'm more inclined to stop thinking about it at this point, rather than build up any hope or expectations

 

[CMDR Yates]

Don't- its just as likely FD go the Rebel Galaxy Outlaw route for interiors. Speculation is great, I don't want to crush those dreams- but the hard truth is, whatever you imagine will always be better than what is released. Its better to wait and see, otherwise its a short walk along Disappointment Avenue.

The fun of being able to speculate outweighs any disappointment, for a lot of folk. It's fun to imagine what might be, but if it doesn't live up to that... shame, on to the next thing.

I think it's reasonable to speculate that what's been shown in the concept art that's been specially cherry-picked to promote a specific update is coming in that update. It's less safe, but also not unreasonable, to imagine that maybe the interiors that are already modelled and can already be explored in VR (ship bridges, presumably not whole interiors), can be walked around in the walking update.

If not, hey ho!

Like I say, the disappointment of an underwhelming game update isn't something that would loom particularly large for me. I've lived through a few!

I promise not to come on here complaining about it if there is no walking around indoors. Ultimately, I think we'll get whatever was achievable in the development timescale considering the spaghetti that is the underlying code.

I think we have to be able to speculate without baking that in as a baseline expectation.