Planetary Tech with Dr Kay Ross: Recap

[varonica]

But will they appear also for players on Horizons client, without Odyssey?

Yes it's been stated in the previous Q&A's that Horizons players will be able to interact with the new settlements on Horizons planets, they will be able to walk around them, the only thing they can't do is go into the social areas because that requires Odyssey and legs and they will be stuck in the SRV.

(when I said walk of course I meant drive )

 

[RisingPhoenics]

Yes it's been stated in the previous Q&A's that Horizons players will be able to interact with the new settlements on Horizons planets, they will be able to walk around them, the only thing they can't do is go into the social areas because that requires Odyssey and legs and they will be stuck in the SRV.

Can i just clarify, i'm assuming you meant to say drive around and not walk

 

[LKx]

... and it has been confirmed that Odyssey and Horizons players will be able to instance together on Horizons bodies.

Actually it's just been confirmed the opposite, unfortunately:

Twitch link:

Source: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/925472678?t=1h5m38s

Twitch clip: https://clips.twitch.tv/AuspiciousTenuousDumplingsPartyTime-cjc_srGia4cuLdiE

"obviously if it is a 7+ game you cannot see a player getting shot in the face with a kinematic rifle etc etc"


Maybe if the age rating agencies won't allow a menu option for Elite/Horizons CMDRs ("I'm okay seeing higher age-rated content - Y/N"), I wonder if an optional store add-on (50p/£1?) for it will satisfy said agencies as it's a separate purchase, for those CMDRs that cannot purchase Odyssey for whatever reason yet want to instance on planets with their Odyssey-owning friends?

Or buy Odyssey of course

It would still make sense if the tech is being shared though (and it was almost confirmed, he wasn't sure though), both because at least part of it was planned for beyond, and because of the bettter visuals for marketing the base game! (and to get rid of the old code)

 

[Scoob101]

@Scoob101 , @RisingPhoenics : after rereading several Q&As, I get your point. Though I do hope you're wrong.

This isnt my personal view - I`m quoting a direct answer from Frotnier here. But I dont see much if any wiggle room. They are clearly communicating in the post I quoted that if you want to see the new tech, buy Odyssey.

Prior to receiving this new information, I was of the same view as you - that the new tech would be visible to Horzons players in addition to Odyssey Players. But the new information seems quite clear and unambiguous.

 

[starman]

What new grind tech will be added?

 

[aRJay]

Caves?
has anyone talked about caves? isn't weird that we don't have any caves on any planet? (we don't right?)

No caves.
Yes incessantly, in almost every thread about planets.
We can't currently visit planets that have any of the usual methods of producing caves.
The nearest thing to a cave is the corridors inside a Thargoid structure.

The way the planets surface are generated cannot produce a concave curve or even a true vertical so caves or overhangs etc. would have to be hand built every time which would get annoying after the first few thousand.

 

[Mirkila Zerlick]

No caves.
Yes incessantly, in almost every thread about planets.
We can't currently visit planets that have any of the usual methods of producing caves.
The nearest thing to a cave is the corridors inside a Thargoid structure.

The way the planets surface are generated cannot produce a concave curve or even a true vertical so caves or overhangs etc. would have to be hand built every time which would get annoying after the first few thousand.

aah, haven't been that active on forums so forgive my ignorance. I agree with what you said about the work, but "We can't currently visit planets that have any of the usual methods of producing caves".. are you saying frontier is saying that only planets that have atmos, has caves?

or is it more with "The way the planets surface are generated cannot produce a concave curve or even a true vertical so caves or overhangs etc. would have to be hand built every time which would get annoying after the first few thousand." ?

think even a few thousand rare caves here and there would be welcoming.. But i'm sure this must be a natural thing they are looking into at a later date?

 

[aRJay]

aah, haven't been that active on forums so forgive my ignorance. I agree with what you said about the work, but "We can't currently visit planets that have any of the usual methods of producing caves".. are you saying frontier is saying that only planets that have atmos, has caves?

or is it more with "The way the planets surface are generated cannot produce a concave curve or even a true vertical so caves or overhangs etc. would have to be hand built every time which would get annoying after the first few thousand." ?

think even a few thousand rare caves here and there would be welcoming.. But i'm sure this must be a natural thing they are looking into at a later date?

The height model generator used to create planet surfaces cannot produce two heights at the same location so no overhangs or verticals so cannot produce caves.

Natural caves are generally the result of active vulcanism, erosion or other active process, non of the Horizons planets have that in any significant way.

 

[varonica]

or is it more with "The way the planets surface are generated cannot produce a concave curve or even a true vertical so caves or overhangs etc. would have to be hand built every time which would get annoying after the first few thousand." ?

This, the current and new planetary tech can't generate overhangs.

 

[CMDR Deano The Imperial]

Thanks for the recap Zac, great job. And a huge thanks to Kay once again for giving up some of her time to spend with us.




I had been thinking about this and it does raise another couple of very interesting questions. Ones that I really wish could be answered please.

Will users on PC who don't upgrade to Odyssey, see the changes at the same time as those who do?

Previously I had assumed that everyone would get the changes when Odyssey is released, in the same way that adaptive lighting changes affected everyone, even those not running Horizons. But now the updated planets are to do with the changes that have been made to the engine, which must mean that there will now be two versions of the engine running at the same time (let's assume Odyssey vs non Odyssey). This has knock on implications for things like the Issue Tracker. We had been assuming that there would be a clean cut as the new engine would make a lot of the old issues obsolete, or at least no point in trying to fix them on the old engine. But if the engine is now going to be split based on who upgrades and who doesn't. Where does that leave us?

IMO I have a sneaky feeling that people will have to purchase Odyssey to get rid of old Horizons bugs that never got fixed. Bit of a kick in the teeth to players not wanting to purchase Odyssey in the first place.

Want to play a more bug free game then you'll have to pay more money!!!

I hope I'm completely wrong but my gut feeling is telling me otherwise.

 

[Ozric]

I should say that Arf did also say on the stream yesterday that PC players who don't purchase Odyssey, will still see the upgraded planetary tech. They must just be waiting to roll it out to consoles until the launch of Odyssey.

 

[LKx]

I should say that Arf did also say on the stream yesterday that PC players who don't purchase Odyssey, will still see the upgraded planetary tech. They must just be waiting to roll it out to consoles until the launch of Odyssey.

Yes, he did say that, but he wasn't totally sure.

 

[Skizomeuh]

@Ozric [insert "well thank you" meme]

Timestamp?

 

[thistle]

I should say that Arf did also say on the stream yesterday that PC players who don't purchase Odyssey, will still see the upgraded planetary tech. They must just be waiting to roll it out to consoles until the launch of Odyssey.

It makes sense though, the console testing that is supposed to happen after the pc release will surely involve testing the planets in addition to the first person elements. Rolling out part of it probably wouldn't make sense.

 

[CMDR Deano The Imperial]

I should say that Arf did also say on the stream yesterday that PC players who don't purchase Odyssey, will still see the upgraded planetary tech. They must just be waiting to roll it out to consoles until the launch of Odyssey.

Didn't see the stream but it's good to know. Time to put the ant-acids back in the cupboard.

 

[Ozric]

@Ozric [insert "well thank you" meme]

Timestamp?

Source: https://youtu.be/Xq8mEBSD7og?t=3504


Here it is, he isn't 100% sure, but his confidence makes sense as it's what I expected to happen. Although just after he says he might get shot for getting it wrong, there is a Discord ping in the background... Has anyone seen Arf today?

 

[Scoob101]

Source: https://youtu.be/Xq8mEBSD7og?t=3504


Here it is, he isn't 100% sure, but his confidence makes sense as it's what I expected to happen. Although just after he says he might get shot for getting it wrong, there is a Discord ping in the background... Has anyone seen Arf today?

Guesswork from a CM on a stream, contradicted by a seperate forum post by another member of the team.

I could characterise this as "sub-optimal"

EDIT::

They must just be waiting to roll it out to consoles until the launch of Odyssey.

Zak Disagrees in this post below - he specfically ties the tech to the Individual purchase of Odyssey::

Q: Will console users see the changes at the same time as PC users?
No, console players who purchase the expansion will experience the planetary tech changes upon the release of Odyssey on their platform.

I do wish these people would understnad the impact that inconsistent comms has within the playerbase. Perhaps if we had... I dont know... a job role within Frontier which could manage the community interactions and ensure consistent messaging??




I`m sure we woudl all welcome some clarification on this topic given the significant impact it has to the players experience.

 

[thistle]

Guesswork from a CM on a stream, contradicted by a seperate forum post by another member of the team.

I could characterise this as "sub-optimal"

Amazing.

 

[Ozric]

Guesswork from a CM on a stream, contradicted by a seperate forum post by another member of the team.

I could characterise this as "sub-optimal"

EDIT::



Zak Disagrees in this post below - he specfically ties the tech to the Individual purchase of Odyssey::



I do wish these people would understnad the impact that inconsistent comms has within the playerbase. Perhaps if we had... I dont know... a job role within Frontier which could manage the community interactions and ensure consistent messaging??




I`m sure we woudl all welcome some clarification on this topic given the significant impact it has to the players experience.

Umm I think you have grossly misunderstood things.

Zac (with a c) posted that as part of the recap, I then asked

I had been thinking about this and it does raise another couple of very interesting questions. Ones that I really wish could be answered please.

Will users on PC who don't upgrade to Odyssey, see the changes at the same time as those who do?

So I asked Arthur for clarification on the stream and he gave it. What you have done, I think, is somehow completely misunderstood the question that Zac posted the answer for.

Console players won't be able to see the upgraded planetary tech until Odyssey launches on the relevant platform. But PC players, and so by extension console players, who don't upgrade to Odyssey will be able to see the new planetary tech. So as I said they must just be waiting to push any of the front end changes at all to consoles, until Odyssey is released.

 

[Wrecked]

Actually it's just been confirmed the opposite, unfortunately:



It would still make sense if the tech is being shared though (and it was almost confirmed, he wasn't sure though), both because at least part of it was planned for beyond, and because of the bettter visuals for marketing the base game! (and to get rid of the old code)

I'm actually happy about this if it means Odyssey content on Horizons planets. I was concerned that Horizons planets wouldn't get Odyssey content (other than planet graphics) due to Horizons players not having access to the new Odyssey content. Would Horizons players see Odyssey NPCs walking around on settlements, or would Horizons planets not have the new settlements? I think with the hard cutoff between Horizons and Odyssey planet tech, we will hopefully see Odyssey content on Horizons planets.