Polygon and Twinfinite interviews - more Odyssey details, unknowns, and Walking-In-Ships not at launch

[VR SenseiMatty]

Thanks!
Yes the 0.02 atm of Ovid A6 indicates that this planets has a "thicker" atmosphere than mars (0.006 atm), so clouds and weather effects should be applicable there.

 

[thistle]

The reason Mars has clouds is because of the dust which is in the air, around which water can condense:

The wispy clouds in Mars’ middle atmosphere, at about 18 miles (29 km) altitude and similar to cirrus clouds on Earth, are formed at least partially from what is called “meteoric smoke,” icy dust created by space debris slamming into the planet’s atmosphere, as also happens on Earth. According to Victoria Hartwick, a graduate student at CU Boulder:

We’re used to thinking of Earth, Mars and other bodies as these really self-contained planets that determine their own climates. But climate isn’t independent of the surrounding solar system.

Just as on Earth, clouds can’t just form spontaneously out of nowhere. They need some kind of “seeds” to start, particles around which water molecules can condense. On Earth – because we have a denser atmosphere – those particles might include grains of sea salt or dust, carried upward by winds.

On Mars, however – with its vastly thinner atmosphere – there is a lack of those kinds of particles in the middle atmosphere. So how do the clouds form? That’s where meteors come in. When small meteors hit Mars’ atmosphere, they burn up, just as they do in Earth’s atmosphere. As a result, a lot of fine dust is created – the “meteoric smoke” – the particles of which can serve as the needed seeds for clouds to form. Hartwick’s team used computer simulations to test this hypothesis, and indeed, clouds did form after such meteor strikes.

| EarthSky

Scientists have been trying to figure out how clouds form in Mars' thin atmosphere, and thanks to new research, the answer seems to be ... meteors.

earthsky.org

 

[thistle]

Also

These clouds are too tenuous, and the atmosphere too thin, for rain to ever occur, but the Phoenix lander did observe snow falling from high above its location near the north pole in 2008. Fog is also common on Mars, often filling valleys and craters, and frost has also been observed on the ground, condensing from the thin air at night. This is all part of a water cycle on Mars that in many ways mimics that of Earth, despite the minuscule atmosphere and lack of surface water.

 

[Wolf Starslayer]

The planet they showed has 4x the atmo of Mars and Mars has dust devils, clouds etc..

Yes and it would be great to see any evidence they have done these things , we can hope but I don't believe till I see it .

 

[Flin]

They haven't said anything about a PUBG/Fortnite game mode. If fact all they've confirmed so far is more like No Man Sky gameplay. We know there's going to be First Person Combat in but putting in a forced PUBG mode goes against everything Elite Main game (CQC is another thing).

It will be like the Buggy Races. There's no official support for the races (i.e. race tracks on planets or even the ability to fly round installations) but people still organise and run races. So, there might be a group of players that decide they want a FPS Battle Royal, there's nothing you can do to stop them but then your not forced to join in either.

I seen nothing that resembles PUBG or fortnight in the announcements.

To clarify, my bad in referencing PUBG. I wasn't thinking about the PUBG battle royale game mode when I made the reference. I was thinking the ARMA (tactical shooter) and Fortnite (fun and easy to get into shooter).

The lack of clarity about other elements like 'how to achieve that Neil Armstrong moment' (likely only in VR) or the flight model in tenuous atmosphere just suggests they haven't given it any clear thought or a lack of a clear creative direction on these fronts.

The only thing clear about is 'legs' in enhanced environments.

It just looks like we'll be doing whatever we're doing now, but with the new wrinkle of doing it on foot: shooting and gathering pretty much the same stuff (hey, look new xeno specimens), using pretty much the same mission engine, using 'tele-presence' to get friends spread across the galaxy together on foot, etc.

I personally wouldn't mind a combined arms tactical shooter gameplay in ED universe. A base assault where 1) a Corvette keeps defending ships occupied, 2) a FAS is firing dumbfires at base defenses, 3) a FDS is dropping SRVs into the base against heavy fire, 4) SRVs caring a squad into the hearts of the base, and 5) the squad entering the interiors to complete the objective. All this under time constraints.

Wouldn't this sound like a better expansion?

 

[Drelthar]

I personally wouldn't mind a combined arms tactical shooter gameplay in ED universe. A base assault where 1) a Corvette keeps defending ships occupied, 2) a FAS is firing dumbfires at base defenses, 3) a FDS is dropping SRVs into the base against heavy fire, 4) SRVs caring a squad into the hearts of the base, and 5) the squad entering the interiors to complete the objective. All this under time constraints.

Wouldn't this sound like a better expansion?

Considering they COULD have implemented things like this into the game a very very long time ago, even without legs - I'm dubious that they are even considering anything on this level.

 

[Keanson]

The reason Mars has clouds is because of the dust which is in the air, around which water can condense:

| EarthSky

Scientists have been trying to figure out how clouds form in Mars' thin atmosphere, and thanks to new research, the answer seems to be ... meteors.

earthsky.org

So Pluto's a shoo-in then? Hopefully they'll craft something seasonal like this into its makeup:

Pluto has a thin, tenuous atmosphere that expands when it comes closer to the sun and collapses as it moves farther away—similar to a comet.

Astronomers have long known that Pluto’s atmosphere expands as it approaches the sun and contracts as it recedes. When the sun heats its icy surface, it sublimates, releasing nitrogen, methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. When it moves away, the atmosphere is thought to freeze and fall out of the sky in what must be one of the most spectacular ice storms in the solar system.

 

[Arioch]

Hopefully they'll craft something seasonal like this into its makeup:

Seeing as Pluto’s orbital period is 248 years and the ice storm happens when it’s heading towards aphelion, we might be in for a bit of a wait

 

[Linnunrata]

I personally wouldn't mind a combined arms tactical shooter gameplay in ED universe. A base assault where 1) a Corvette keeps defending ships occupied, 2) a FAS is firing dumbfires at base defenses, 3) a FDS is dropping SRVs into the base against heavy fire, 4) SRVs caring a squad into the hearts of the base, and 5) the squad entering the interiors to complete the objective. All this under time constraints.

Wouldn't this sound like a better expansion?

Yeah, probably, depending of the execution but it also sounds somewhat utopistic and a nightmare balancewise.

 

[Keanson]

Seeing as Pluto’s orbital period is 248 years and the ice storm happens when it’s heading towards aphelion, we might be in for a bit of a wait

Yeah, though hopefully there will be more planets/dwarf planets that have this similar behaviour, so we'll likely come across them in full ice storm swing.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

To clarify, my bad in referencing PUBG. I wasn't thinking about the PUBG battle royale game mode when I made the reference. I was thinking the ARMA (tactical shooter) and Fortnite (fun and easy to get into shooter).

The lack of clarity about other elements like 'how to achieve that Neil Armstrong moment' (likely only in VR) or the flight model in tenuous atmosphere just suggests they haven't given it any clear thought or a lack of a clear creative direction on these fronts.

The only thing clear about is 'legs' in enhanced environments.

It just looks like we'll be doing whatever we're doing now, but with the new wrinkle of doing it on foot: shooting and gathering pretty much the same stuff (hey, look new xeno specimens), using pretty much the same mission engine, using 'tele-presence' to get friends spread across the galaxy together on foot, etc.

I personally wouldn't mind a combined arms tactical shooter gameplay in ED universe. A base assault where 1) a Corvette keeps defending ships occupied, 2) a FAS is firing dumbfires at base defenses, 3) a FDS is dropping SRVs into the base against heavy fire, 4) SRVs caring a squad into the hearts of the base, and 5) the squad entering the interiors to complete the objective. All this under time constraints.

Wouldn't this sound like a better expansion?

Not to sure why you think that when we have seen so little. I'm not expecting ARMA or Fortnight gaming either. I have seen nothing so far to think anything like that is in Odyssey.

 

[Sysmon]

Not to sure why you think that when we have seen so little. I'm not expecting ARMA or Fortnight gaming either. I have seen nothing so far to think anything like that is in Odyssey.

I think the term used by one of the devs was "traverse"; Odyssey could be delightfully pedestrian with absolutely stunning visuals and a measured-pace and interesting, slow-burn gameplay.

S

 

[Ignition]

I like exploration more then ever since they trashed the ADS, far more then NMS.

Its a decent framework but it still needs more complexity, players were exploring pressing 1 button for 4 years.
Planetary scan, Datalink scan and composition scan are super boring. 0 gameplay.

 

[[DOOK] Droogie]

taken at face value...I think CoD, Battlefield/BattleFront, Apex Legends, Fortnite, PubG, etc as FPS. I don't consider games like Fallout as FPS despite having elements of it. I would feel confident in applying the same to Elite Dangerous.

Fallout 3+ is most definitely an FPS, but it isn't just an FPS. It's an FPS/RPG (though 4+ tends to forget the RPG part).

Portal is technically "FPS", but it's also a puzzle game and 3d platformer.

PUBG and Fortnite aren't just FPS, either. They're Battle Royale. I wouldn't classify them as the same "genre" as CS:GO. I personally hate Fortnite and PUBG (or anything like them) , but I play CS:GO and Rainbow Six: Siege (which are similar in genre).

I don't think "FPS" stands alone as a genre any more.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Its a decent framework but it still needs more complexity, players were exploring pressing 1 button for 4 years.
Planetary scan, Datalink scan and composition scan are super boring. 0 gameplay.

Complexity doesn't always equal fun. I don't find the planetary scan super boring. In fact I don't find any of it super boring unless that's all I do. But it's not all I do. Could they be better, sure. I'm hopeful that the sample collector has some similar gameplay to the deep core mining and that it's not just point and shoot.

 

[Einar Donarsson]

Frontier developments: Our constant is dissapointment!

 

[Torres]

sigh… welp, after watching the developer diary, reading the two articles, and spending hours going through this thread... CAUTIOUSLY optimistic is an understatement.

 

[Drelthar]

Dave said during the run up to Horizons that they could've released planetary landings sooner but they did it when they felt confident that they could implement it well.

But... (in my opinion) they didn't implement it well.

They implemented it, technically.

You could land on planets, and drive around but.... it was a height map- with frankly, very little on it. (there's a quote from Braben saying this is exactly what he wanted to avoid!)

They added some things later (thargoid bases and gaurdian stuff)

but... the bases you could assault were always very poorly designed gameplay wise - even though it LOOKED like they had ideas for them, that just seemingly never got fully implemented.

Those "skimmer control" data links? be nice if that swapped the skimmers over to your side, or allowed you to "neural link" (original term for using the turret on the SRV) into them and control individual ones - activating others things, shooting at other skimmers.

There's a load of other things like that, that seem to either do nothing, or do something so unintuitive or poorly telegraphed, no one really cares.

It was also designed without really thinking about the fact people had ships... It was like the developers assumed people would just use the SRV because... why wouldn't you? the SRV is a cool new thing!!! (not realising players are fully aware their ship has massive missiles and stuff and can just nuke everything from orbit - so they are gonna do that)

(Also Remember the blue circle scanner thing for ships which dissapears the closer you get to the ground, so that you HAVE to get out and use the SRV's wave scanner? - the wave scanner is cool! but... why do your ships sensors get less accurate the closer you get to something... - it's purely to force use of the SRV, not a clever design in which SRVs are useful because of what they are...)

The turrets "auto repair" after a while (with poor telegraphing of it happening leading to unintuitive situations) - skimmers were changed to instantly drop ship shields and knock out thrusters if they were rammed as a quick fix to patch over a poor design idea, some turrets were made exceedingly powerful against ship shields to dissuade players from using ships to assault bases (ignoring the fact this would have been immense fun in multiplayer to have air support - and could have been great if multicrew hadn't been botched regarding SRV use) in order to force them into the SRV so they could get the "intended experience"

It's almost as though the design team get given a single specific thing to design, and aren't asked to take the rest of the game into account when they make stuff. I'm sure it was a great design if it was purely an SRV game - but it aint.

So... I mean, I guess what I'm saying is.

Ok...

 

[Drelthar]

Ok

Agreed.

 

[Drelthar]

I don't accept.

Well I concur so... what now?