When I first saw the initial pitches for Elite: Dangerous, and saw the idea of being able to walk around in your ship bandies about, my initial reaction was "cool"! It sounded brilliant, as I've always fancied pacing up and down the corridors of my own vast starship.
But the more I thought about it, what would I actually do with that functionality? What would it actually add to the game? This got me thinking...
For something to be in a game, it actually has to have a reason, a compelling game mechanic, a loop of playability that's enjoyable and adds to the mechanics of the game. For the life of me I couldn't think of a damned thing we can't already do in-ship or in an SRV that would add to Elite as a space exploration/trading/combat sim, (at least without turning it into Skyrim in Space and building a hole new set of NPC/PC player interactions)...
EVE Online had a feature where you could walk around stations, but killed it off. Apart from sitting down in front of a TV, you couldn't actually do much with it.
X Rebirth had you wandering around space stations chatting to NPCs to try to get missions and work. Frankly I'd rather have the quick missions board and not bother with having to leave the ship and walk round a procedurally generated space station.
I think, for me the only way it would have much value would be if it was tied to a kind of hunting/mining/crafting/photographing-and-scanning-flora-and-fauna mechanic, like No Man's Sky, but even then we have the SRV already which could handle that side of things.
So my view is that I honestly couldn't care less one way or the other if FDev brought Space Legs in, providing there was a great, satisfying and engaging game mechanic that actually required it, and fitted into Elite Dangerous as a game. I don't want them just added for the sake of it, because the 'gosh Wow!' factor wears off after a few hours... In fact, I'd simply rather they didn't add it without a good reason.
What are your thoughts and suggestions for Space Legs? Supposing FDev granted your wish to get out of the cockpit or wander around, what do you see yourself doing with that freedom? What kind of 'gamey stuff' would require it?
But the more I thought about it, what would I actually do with that functionality? What would it actually add to the game? This got me thinking...
For something to be in a game, it actually has to have a reason, a compelling game mechanic, a loop of playability that's enjoyable and adds to the mechanics of the game. For the life of me I couldn't think of a damned thing we can't already do in-ship or in an SRV that would add to Elite as a space exploration/trading/combat sim, (at least without turning it into Skyrim in Space and building a hole new set of NPC/PC player interactions)...
EVE Online had a feature where you could walk around stations, but killed it off. Apart from sitting down in front of a TV, you couldn't actually do much with it.
X Rebirth had you wandering around space stations chatting to NPCs to try to get missions and work. Frankly I'd rather have the quick missions board and not bother with having to leave the ship and walk round a procedurally generated space station.
I think, for me the only way it would have much value would be if it was tied to a kind of hunting/mining/crafting/photographing-and-scanning-flora-and-fauna mechanic, like No Man's Sky, but even then we have the SRV already which could handle that side of things.
So my view is that I honestly couldn't care less one way or the other if FDev brought Space Legs in, providing there was a great, satisfying and engaging game mechanic that actually required it, and fitted into Elite Dangerous as a game. I don't want them just added for the sake of it, because the 'gosh Wow!' factor wears off after a few hours... In fact, I'd simply rather they didn't add it without a good reason.
What are your thoughts and suggestions for Space Legs? Supposing FDev granted your wish to get out of the cockpit or wander around, what do you see yourself doing with that freedom? What kind of 'gamey stuff' would require it?
