Roadmap after release

[Nauht]

You sure are negative. It's a fact that they are working on it, its the details that are foggy.

Working on what? All they've talked about is wings and new ships. Nothing else pretty much.

My main one is about the background sim - which was meant to include auto flipping of systems, stations being auto created and expanded as gold rushes happen, the emergent gameplay.

But you're probably right - they are probably working on it, or will be after 1.2 but it just reinforces my point that there's still heaps to do for the current state of the game than even thinking about new features/expansions.

 

[Aussiedroid]

This I can agree with. At least we have 2 new ships and wings to tie us over until they can give us something bigger to sink our teeth into.

True it is something for the immediate timeframe.

To put it another way though .. FD give us some reasons to hang around and keep following the game

 

[reverendK]

Don't underestimate how complicated, difficul and unpredictable game development is.

It would be wildly irresponsible to promise us anything at this point. (peter molyneux anyone?)

trust that they're working, that they want to make this the best game they can and we'll know more when they have something safe to tell us about.

 

[SirKiwi]

Working on what? All they've talked about is wings and new ships. Nothing else pretty much.

My main one is about the background sim - which was meant to include auto flipping of systems, stations being auto created and expanded as gold rushes happen, the emergent gameplay.

But you're probably right - they are probably working on it, or will be after 1.2 but it just reinforces my point that there's still heaps to do for the current state of the game than even thinking about new features/expansions.

Yeah, I agree that there is, but development doesn't work like that. I'm no expert, but I do know that not everyone is capable of working on bugs, and not everyone knows anything about the background simulation. Is there anything wrong with having the art team working on the expansions while the bug and background simulation teams work on the current game?

 

[Ruskodisco]

i got to agree with alot of you here in not giving out specifics! i'm talking about a "we are working on ______, it will be out when we are done"
but i have not seen ANYTHING lately about it, and its getting me a little worried.
and for those that keep saying that there is still plenty to fix with the current game and its not even finshed...i agree but most of the things you guys are asking for are minor things, and could be fleshed out during the process. and planetary landings will only bring bigger profits and a MUCH larger customer base, meaning more money which equals more staff working on content....
i really never thought i would say this about a game...but they are "under hypeing" it....they need to "re"-"hype" with the planetary exploration....

 

[Ruskodisco]

i cannot be the only one asking for a roadmap

just a general non specific none dated "we are working on this and we will be done when we are done"
cause as much as wings is very needed indeed but its not very exciting news.
i mean is new starports on the way? is planetary landing coming this year or the next?
what about ship interiors?
starport interiors?
a teaser trailer.....
another "future for elite"
anything but this dreaded silence which is making people very anxious and annoyed by there sheer non communication aside from bug smashing....

 

[gingermegs]

Fixing the background simulation and fully implementing the DDA should be top of the list, all the wings and groups down the track not being able to get the universe to responde in a dynamic way will lead to lots of frustration

 

[Ruskodisco]

Fixing the background simulation and fully implementing the DDA should be top of the list, all the wings and groups down the track not being able to get the universe to responde in a dynamic way will lead to lots of frustration

background simulation can be fixed on the way. and obviously wanted by the community
and isnt going to keep this game going.

 

[gingermegs]

background simulation can be fixed on the way. and obviously wanted by the community
and isnt going to keep this game going.

no but a working back sim works by allowing all other gameplay to be plug and played , its the glue that links everything up, without it it doesnt work properly

 

[Ruskodisco]

no but a working back sim works by allowing all other gameplay to be plug and played , its the glue that links everything up, without it it doesnt work properly

you can have all the background simulation you want but if there is nothing to do in the game aside form visiting four different starports then whats the point?

 

[Tarman]

you can have all the background simulation you want but if there is nothing to do in the game aside form visiting four different starports then whats the point?

If the sim works, all the other game elements will work better and feel integrated; the things you want to do will exist and make sense. The majority of interesting gameplay can be drawn from it if done properly. A deeper system around the legality of cargo alone would enrich the gameplay of many players; smuggling, trading, piracy, law enforcement all get better with a robust legal system in place. Good underpinnings first, then more gravy.

If the sim is weak or fails, the game is in serious trouble on a fundamental level because so much of their conceptual design is based around a relatively functioning galaxy. Adding in lots of disconnected things to a failed background will be pretty much just that, a lot of disconnected things. Content without context, if you will.

Note that this is the idealist concept of how it could or should go, and in no way reflects Frontier's actual ability to either do this well or to crash and burn.

 

[Ruskodisco]

If the sim works, all the other game elements will work better and feel integrated; the things you want to do will exist and make sense. The majority of interesting gameplay can be drawn from it if done properly. A deeper system around the legality of cargo alone would enrich the gameplay of many players; smuggling, trading, piracy, law enforcement all get better with a robust legal system in place. Good underpinnings first, then more gravy.

If the sim is weak or fails, the game is in serious trouble on a fundamental level because so much of their conceptual design is based around a relatively functioning galaxy. Adding in lots of disconnected things to a failed background will be pretty much just that, a lot of disconnected things. Content without context, if you will.

Note that this is the idealist concept of how it could or should go, and in no way reflects Frontier's actual ability to either do this well or to crash and burn.

ok i can agree to that.
but they shouldn't just concentrate on that, they should also be developing planetary landings and ship interiors and station interiors to highly broaden their customer base.
cause right now this is a "niche game" when planetary landing comes out and all the the stuff to make it a "space gta" then this games sale would skyrocket.....but only if they implement this correctly.
i mean look at "no mans sky" and how badly people are demanding a seamless planetary landing game. it really is the beginning of the true space genre that can actually become reality. and frontier has to get on top of this before another company does this.

 

[Tarman]

ok i can agree to that.
but they shouldn't just concentrate on that, they should also be developing planetary landings and ship interiors and station interiors to highly broaden their customer base.
cause right now this is a "niche game" when planetary landing comes out and all the the stuff to make it a "space gta" then this games sale would skyrocket.....but only if they implement this correctly.
i mean look at "no mans sky" and how badly people are demanding a seamless planetary landing game. it really is the beginning of the true space genre that can actually become reality. and frontier has to get on top of this before another company does this.

I was looking at NMS and also Limit Theory. I think Elite might already have lost the big race in seamless planetary landings after watching NMS behind-the-scenes stuff. Elite's landings are gonna have to be super smoking hot and interesting to beat the stuff I've seen in NMS as far as depth and scope of their procgen. Just some phenomenal work going on there. NMS is also console friendly so it's got major market jump over Elite already.

Elite is in a weird spot to me; it's offering me cool things eventually, but other offerings do each of the cool things waaaay better. Elite has to be decent-to-great on a number of fronts at once; or it isn't giving the economic zap you get from EVE, the rich and diverse planetary landings from NMS, or the highly integrated and highly interactive and moddable underpinnings of Limit Theory.

Also, I have no idea what they're working on over in FD or what their priority list looks like. Could be making more pizzabox station clips.

 

[Whiterose]

just a general non specific none dated "we are working on this and we will be done when we are done"
cause as much as wings is very needed indeed but its not very exciting news.
i mean is new starports on the way? is planetary landing coming this year or the next?
what about ship interiors?
starport interiors?
a teaser trailer.....
another "future for elite"
anything but this dreaded silence which is making people very anxious and annoyed by there sheer non communication aside from bug smashing....

I agree, we need some communication about what and when 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5 will be.

 

[Stein]

Could it be that FD hasn't published a road map simply because ... they haven't got one? They don't know what they want with the game? Or maybe the road map simply says to sell as many copies as possible of the current game, then stop further development.. Who knows, maybe the devs have looked through the code, made a few sketches on how much effort is needed to fix the numerous bugs and malfunctions, ran it over with the board and financial department - and come to the conclusion that a complete make-over would cost more than the potential earnings.

 

[Genus]

No, you are not the only one. Difficult to provide directions when you don't know where you are going.

 

[affel]

ok i can agree to that.
but they shouldn't just concentrate on that, they should also be developing planetary landings and ship interiors and station interiors to highly broaden their customer base.
cause right now this is a "niche game" when planetary landing comes out and all the the stuff to make it a "space gta" then this games sale would skyrocket.....but only if they implement this correctly.
i mean look at "no mans sky" and how badly people are demanding a seamless planetary landing game. it really is the beginning of the true space genre that can actually become reality. and frontier has to get on top of this before another company does this.

sorry mate, but i wholeheartedly think that this whole planetary landings and walking around stations thing would kill the game entirely.
elite is after all a space sim. if you try to build such things in, you make the game something it is not. and it adds to the complexity to such a vast degree that i strongly believe it will end up in everything being just a little better than bad (if we are lucky) rather than the core piece being great.

if I am looking for a FPS, i go for a game that has its entire focus on that piece - and what comes out is a great and enjoyable game such as BF, UT, HalfLife, you name it.
But when I am looking for a space sim... I want the developers to focus all their attention on THAT.

i know your feeling - wanting the ultimate do-it-all-in-one game, but as things stand at this point in time (2015), this is an unrealistic hope.

 

[Nutter]

Well clearly you will never see a roadmap and many have asked for it. Communication needs some work, I don't mean in these forums either, that's a bonus!

Underneath it all there are politics and hidden agendas, I've been working in the software industry a very long time and I see all the sign posts.

One thing that seems apparent is the management of the product is not ideal, everyone with a vested interest seems to be sticking bits in here and there in silos.

Each Silo is managed... but the silos are not, so we end up putting bugs in other people's work, cause conflicts with other features. Just needs someone to grab the rains and tie it all together.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

FD have said closest to roadmap is Dev Update every Thursday. I actually enjoy them, they are very detailed, and Michael sticks around answering rather important questions.

Check out News and Updates section https://forums.frontier.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=39
Latest Dev Update https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=116449

 

[CMDR Anakin Solo]

i know your feeling - wanting the ultimate do-it-all-in-one game, but as things stand at this point in time (2015), this is an unrealistic hope.

I disagree that it is unrealistic, I think that if we keep giing good feedback, we can have both an amazing space sim that includes the space on planets as well. Some pretty crazy things are possible now I have no doubt that we could see a game far beyond our original expectations. And on a side not if you really just want a space sim, never land on a planet, no one is making you go dinosaur hunting with you beam rifle, but I for one (I don't thing I'm alone in this) really want to.