I have not taken the Odyssey leap. I wasn't sure I would enjoy some of the game aspects like Exobiology, SRV shooting at shards and stuff bored me silly, so I am not interested in walking around to shoot at stuff or folks. Other than being able to stroll in my Fleet Carrier is there anything else I would need it for? I think I understand that the new SCO ships will only be available in Odyssey. Thanks for any other clarity!
Pros and cons of Odyssey from experts please
- Thread starter T I M
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Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
If you are playing Horizons 4.0, and you want access to the new ships, it's going to be cheaper to buy Odyssey and wait out any ARX-4-Access period as I understand that Horizons players won't be able to buy the ships for credits unless they unlock them in the store - noting that there are four new ships planned and each one would cost a player who does not own Odyssey c.16,000 ARX each.
Unless you get off your ship you won't notice much difference
I thought Spire sites are in thin atmosphere worlds that require Odyssey? As well as missing out on the Spire sites, doesn't that make it considerably harder for Horizons-only players to acquire anti-anti-guardian engineering?
If you're not interested in walking around then there's still not a lot there but there is a bit.
- you get to land on/fly on tenuous atmosphere planets. That opens up a few more stations in most systems as well as some good scenery
- you get the new ships without having to pay ARX if you're willing to wait 3 months for them (so Python 2 available now, Type-8 in November). Ship unlocks cost about £10 of ARX each, Odyssey costs £10 (and if you use Steam, is often on sale for 25-35% off) and will include all four, so if you want any of the new ships (and especially if you want more than one) it's the cheap way to get them.
- the Thargoid Spires are only on tenuous atmosphere planets so if you're interested in AX combat or gameplay they're quite a major scenario (they do have a walking component but there are also plenty of things you can do from the ship)
- it does involve a little bit of walking but if you're not going for the "I keep everything on my FC when not in use" approach the Apex shuttles can be a more convenient way to transfer to another ship at times
- Exobiology is good if you enjoy driving the SRV (no need to shoot at anything from it) and requires minimal actual walking; if you didn't like the SRV at all either you probably won't find exobio very interesting.
Broadly I'd say:
- interested in walking: buy it, obviously, why are you asking us?
- wanting to take a full part in the Thargoid war: buy it, maybe wait for a sale
- not interested in walking, interested in new ships: buy it in the next sale
- not interested in walking or new ships or AX: you can probably still skip it
Thanks for the the great info. I'm in the third category but open to walking around, it might turn out to be fun. I bought through Steam so I'll watch for a sale. I have time since the Type 8 won't come off early access until November. Probably be a Christmas sale shortly after that. I am curious to find out how a SCO designed ship flies with that feature but I can wait. The SCO I have on one of my Type 9 ships is ... interesting. This game has come so far from the Commodore 64 days it's fun that it is still around and shows what a great original concept the OG had! Playing ED is a nostalgia thing for me. Bought my first copy off the software shelf at a Sears store way back.
the only thing i can add is that every doubter that said "hurr durr, why would i need legs in my spaceship game" and eventually bought the odyssey ended up saying that its great... wait for a discount and buy it for a price of a sandwich
Overall i'd say there are no cons to Odyssey, but that comes with a big caveat in that some of that stuff that was added with it were disappointing, underdeveloped, or poorly implemented.
I waited a very long time after the Ody release to buy Ody. I do not do alot of on foot stuff, but I do some, and yes I like it. Wait for a sale at Frontier, or Steam, the Humble store(steam key) or Epic games for Ody. The sales happen every so often.
It will help support keeping this great game around
It will help support keeping this great game around
Expert (eks spurt: a has been drip under pressure)*
A definite plus if you do want to dabble in on foot activities is that suits and weaponry can be bought from Pioneer Stores already engineered to grade 3 and with extras fitted, there is a helpful thread pointing at some of these for those with fast reactions. This means that you can leave the challenge of unlocking engineers until you are sure it is worth the effort.
*as defined by the late Derek Macintosh (Blaster) Bates
A definite plus if you do want to dabble in on foot activities is that suits and weaponry can be bought from Pioneer Stores already engineered to grade 3 and with extras fitted, there is a helpful thread pointing at some of these for those with fast reactions. This means that you can leave the challenge of unlocking engineers until you are sure it is worth the effort.
*as defined by the late Derek Macintosh (Blaster) Bates
Pro? It's the only DCL/overhaul you ever seen in ED. Ever. Frontier is fine enough to milk Goid "pew pew" as much as they can, and sell "new imrpoved" ships for ARX (= your real money).
Con? Its a disaster since its release. UNTIL TODAY the "foot on the ground" stay THE SAME without a single relevant upgrade or improvement. No new missions, not a single lore happening on ground (only the endless Goid and boring superpower struggles), no relevant improvement in exobio or planet exploration: not interesting new discoveries, or lore mysteries, no exo-animals, not a single Biome on the planets, NOTHING. It's everything the same boring stuff SINCE THE BEGINNING.
That's it.
Con? Its a disaster since its release. UNTIL TODAY the "foot on the ground" stay THE SAME without a single relevant upgrade or improvement. No new missions, not a single lore happening on ground (only the endless Goid and boring superpower struggles), no relevant improvement in exobio or planet exploration: not interesting new discoveries, or lore mysteries, no exo-animals, not a single Biome on the planets, NOTHING. It's everything the same boring stuff SINCE THE BEGINNING.
That's it.
It was a disaster at launch.
It has been getting better in terms of how the game and graphics run since then.
Endless goid and power struggles can be said of Horizons too, and subjectively some people will find those boring.
No improvement in Horizons exploration in the same time period.
Keeping in mind we are visiting planets as viable to complex biomes as Earths moon you are surprised at this? We need to be able to reach much better environments to have a chance at that that doesn't shatter any remaining belief.
Even if you are not at all into On-foot stuff, Odyssey is still worth it for being able to land/dock at bases located on tenuous atmospheric planets.
Some of them are really a visual treat
However, Odyssey will also bring free access to all the new ships - paying for those ships with Arx to be able to use them in the base game (Horizons 4.0 only) is more expensive than getting Odyssey so why hesitating?
I was referring to the question about button configurations, i.e. all the ship controls are the same. I could have been clearer!
I feel like calling the on-foot activities "walking" is to undersell it just a little bit. Most of the travel to do Exobiology can be done in a ship or an SRV, but you need to actually get your boots on the ground in order to get those sweet, sweet genetic samples. Personally I enjoy the opportunity to get out of the vehicle and stretch my legs while enjoying the views on some distant uninhabited planet, but your mileage may vary on that.
But within inhabited space, planetary surfaces offer places where one can get up to various kinds of mischief:
1) I think the on-foot Combat Zones are fun, although if you're a skilled FPS player then they might be on the easy side.
2) There are both legal and illegal takedown missions in which you have to find an individual in a settlement and then relieve of them of the burden of existence. The mission may specify that it be done "clean" or "professional", which requires being sneaky and/or not hurting anyone else, but if not you can just kick the front door in and start blasting. I prefer the latter.
3) Shutdown/sabotage missions. Go to a settlement and mess about with their infrastructure. I think these mostly require one to be discreet, but I'm not sure since I'm more of a shooty-shooty type and haven't tried them yet.
4) Re-activation missions. Go to a shut-down settlement and re-activate its reactor. Good for collecting materials since you swipe anything that isn't nailed down, without any locals round to get annoyed at your sticky fingers. You may encounter hostile scavengers whom you can freely blast.
5) Crash site/stash retrieval. Go to a nearby planet and recover something. You may or may not be assaulted by ne'er-do-wells in the process.
6) Courier missions. Take an object to someone, or go to someone and retrieve a package from them. Basically space postman, except you may be asked to move contraband to provide some excitement. With the recent increases in material rewards for completing missions, these are now good for things besides sight-seeing and role-play.
That's what I can remember off the top of my head, there may be things I have missed out.
You can still fly through systems without a ship
