Hi Folks,
Here is a summary of the latest Q&A David did yesterday.
This is always a problem. Server moderation is our first line of defence, but sadly some hacking will inevitably go on. Some hacks are easy to detect, some much harder. Deciding what to do is also tricky too - either forcing single player, or ultimately banning depending on what it is seem like sensible options.
----------
Yes, he did.
On the galaxy map, I would love for their to be uses in education - I think there inevitably will once it is a bit more accessible.
----------
The render guys here are working on improving effects continuously, both in terms of performance and the look/quality. There is a lot more to come!
----------
Not sure the hardworking people here would like to be called 'minions'! ;-)
They are the people that deserve the praise.
Answering the question more directly, yes, it is coming close in terms of space, and space combat to me feels good. There are still more elements I am looking forwards to too, for post release. Particularly the human interactions - inside ships, planet surfaces etc.
----------
You're very welcome.
Two-way voice comms is coming in Beta 1 (29th July) if you have a microphone and speakers on your PC.
In terms of controls, Voice Attack is quite fun - and voice control is something we included in past games, so we will look at it.
----------
Yes, there will. We have already discussed gold rushes - those will be triggered by specific players. Other events too.
Certain notorious players may get named on the news feeds if they have particularly high bounties too!
----------
It should be automatic. If your friends are on your friends list, then you should meet them. This is one of the features coming for Beta 1 on 29th July.
----------
True. That's one of the reasons we want to phase the deliveries of such things. Having said that we also have quite a few things working in our favour. In the fiction we already have the Earth of 3300 having changed quite significantly - just imagine travelling back to the year 700 - ie the 'Dark Ages' - that is the same distance away in time...
The coastlines will be similar, but significantly changed due to rising sea levels. Many coastal cities will have long gone and some new cities with similar names (in Frontier "New San Francisco" was a few hundred miles inland of where San Francisco is today) popped up on the higher land nearby.
So we will not recreate today's cities or today's Earth, but something that might be possible in 1300 years time.
----------
We are trying... ;-)
----------------
Your shields should stop such radiation - but it may well drain them...
-----------
We may well do this as a way to police griefing.
-----------
The Eagle was a ship that was made by both the Federation and Empire in Frontier: Elite 2 and it is the same with the Mk 2. We haven't shown the Imperial variant yet.
-----------
That's a good point. System names are currently searchable, but this doesn't cover stations or planets. We'll work out a way.
-----------
It is fully supported (ie we support head movement etc), but there are things that do not work well with it yet, like the galactic map.
-----------
Yes - I think I mentioned this during the Kickstarter - including the results of weather in the atmosphere of gas giants.
This is something we have been looking at recently. The trouble is 'straight away' is not well defined. It causes problems if another player buys the good in the meantime. Having said that we have closed the separation between 'buy' and 'sell' prices to make this less painful.
----------
They will come and go, and each will have a mini-story or mission behind them. What we have now is static to test the system.
----------
1. Yes - not sure of the date, but during beta.
2. I'm sure we will - I don't have a 'when' just now.
3. We wanted to standardise the HUD layout for ease of switching between ships, but this is something we will look at for the much larger ships.
Sorry - pressed 'submit' prematurely...
4. Hyperjumping - there are changes being made to this, but it will be different to that. The effect in the video at the time was a prototype.
5. Yes - this is being improved continuously. More to come... ;-)
----------
Yes. The very large ships will be able to carry the smaller ships in the game, by sacrificing cargo space. Similarly we will have the ability to fit shield generators, larger engines etc out of cargo space. This should indeed lead to a good deal of variation.
----------
There is a single world - all trade data, world changes etc affect everyone. Some of the more crowded areas of the game are split into islands, where only a subset of players can see each other. For Beta 1 we have friends lists coming, which will mean that friends get to go into the same island.
-----------
Not quite sure what you mean. We have seamless docking with stations now. There are more station types to come. I don't expect there ever to be a loading screen, except when you first fire up the game or restart it.
-----------
That is coming soon (ie friend's groups)... ;-)
-----------
They are all working together. The blockades will be largely AIs, and that will still exist.
Gimballed weapons are great I think - but mustn't unbalance the game. I think their powers were too high, but the principle is sound - trading some power for those who don't have quite the same pin-sharp aiming ability.
----------
It is on the lists of the things we need to improve. I'm afraid I don't have a date for you.
---------
I'm afraid it has to be the Cobra...
---------
Not seen that. We have auto-turrets in the game now, but manual turret control only really makes sense on the larger ships.
---------
Yes, I think so - but we haven't planned the detail of that yet.
---------
Sorry - last answer...
No, sadly you won't.
Thank you everyone for all the questions. Sorry I only scratched the surface of those questions.
Here is a summary of the latest Q&A David did yesterday.
This is always a problem. Server moderation is our first line of defence, but sadly some hacking will inevitably go on. Some hacks are easy to detect, some much harder. Deciding what to do is also tricky too - either forcing single player, or ultimately banning depending on what it is seem like sensible options.
----------
Yes, he did.
On the galaxy map, I would love for their to be uses in education - I think there inevitably will once it is a bit more accessible.
----------
The render guys here are working on improving effects continuously, both in terms of performance and the look/quality. There is a lot more to come!
----------
Hi David, and many thanks for chatting to us. Congrats on the OBE, btw. With what I've seen with ED so far, I'll stand you pint next time you're in North Yorkshire. Jolly well done to you and your minions
My question: how close are FD in presenting your vision of ED, and has mp (and comments within the forums) exceeded your expectations of how ED will evolve
Not sure the hardworking people here would like to be called 'minions'! ;-)
They are the people that deserve the praise.
Answering the question more directly, yes, it is coming close in terms of space, and space combat to me feels good. There are still more elements I am looking forwards to too, for post release. Particularly the human interactions - inside ships, planet surfaces etc.
----------
You're very welcome.
Two-way voice comms is coming in Beta 1 (29th July) if you have a microphone and speakers on your PC.
In terms of controls, Voice Attack is quite fun - and voice control is something we included in past games, so we will look at it.
----------
Yes, there will. We have already discussed gold rushes - those will be triggered by specific players. Other events too.
Certain notorious players may get named on the news feeds if they have particularly high bounties too!
----------
It should be automatic. If your friends are on your friends list, then you should meet them. This is one of the features coming for Beta 1 on 29th July.
----------
Hello David.
I have been wondering about the capabilities of procedural generation in the Cobra engine.
Now the creation of a 1:1 galaxy is a huge achievement, but a galaxy is a macroscopic entity that can be approximated by use of relatively simple rules. I'm not saying it's easy, just saying that it's not necessarily complex.
( Feel free to tell me i'm wrong
The question is, how will procedural generation manage to create a 1:1 Earth, populated by billions of people and animals, with huge urban cities in many different styles, and all this meanwhile being believable, immersive and high quality?
There seem to be an enormous amounts of variables that come into play here that need to be tweaked.
In many ways, i would find such a 1:1 seamless recreation of Earth where we can walk around an even bigger achievement than a 1:1 galaxy.
True. That's one of the reasons we want to phase the deliveries of such things. Having said that we also have quite a few things working in our favour. In the fiction we already have the Earth of 3300 having changed quite significantly - just imagine travelling back to the year 700 - ie the 'Dark Ages' - that is the same distance away in time...
The coastlines will be similar, but significantly changed due to rising sea levels. Many coastal cities will have long gone and some new cities with similar names (in Frontier "New San Francisco" was a few hundred miles inland of where San Francisco is today) popped up on the higher land nearby.
So we will not recreate today's cities or today's Earth, but something that might be possible in 1300 years time.
----------
Thank You for making the most important game I have ever played.
With all nostalgia involved, I am not sure anything can top original Elite for me, but if ED even comes close in re-creating the feeling of wonder, I'll be ecstatic.
Thanks again and do Your best, please.
We are trying... ;-)
----------------
Your shields should stop such radiation - but it may well drain them...
-----------
We may well do this as a way to police griefing.
-----------
The Eagle was a ship that was made by both the Federation and Empire in Frontier: Elite 2 and it is the same with the Mk 2. We haven't shown the Imperial variant yet.
-----------
That's a good point. System names are currently searchable, but this doesn't cover stations or planets. We'll work out a way.
-----------
It is fully supported (ie we support head movement etc), but there are things that do not work well with it yet, like the galactic map.
-----------
Yes - I think I mentioned this during the Kickstarter - including the results of weather in the atmosphere of gas giants.
This is something we have been looking at recently. The trouble is 'straight away' is not well defined. It causes problems if another player buys the good in the meantime. Having said that we have closed the separation between 'buy' and 'sell' prices to make this less painful.
----------
They will come and go, and each will have a mini-story or mission behind them. What we have now is static to test the system.
----------
Hi David I know ur busy & stuff
& members on here that u know will more likely get a reply..
That's understandable..
My questions was
1). Panther Clipper when will we see this work horse?.
2). Forcefeedback will it be supported?.
3). The ships Huds layout will we see other layouts of huds
Rather than the one from the sidewinder?.
4). Hyper jumping will we see the approach to a system like in the battle video?
Instead of just going through hyperspace.. Then just appearing in a system without seeing it in the distance.. Then it getting closer.. Etc.. Would be better if this was put in later..
5). Super cruise will it be made so we just don't see main bodies.. In S/C..
That we an see asteroids & stations when slowing down..
So they just don't appear.. In front of us.. It's not that nice.. I know it's a beta..
So these things are not final yet.. But would be good if you can answer thx
1. Yes - not sure of the date, but during beta.
2. I'm sure we will - I don't have a 'when' just now.
3. We wanted to standardise the HUD layout for ease of switching between ships, but this is something we will look at for the much larger ships.
Sorry - pressed 'submit' prematurely...
4. Hyperjumping - there are changes being made to this, but it will be different to that. The effect in the video at the time was a prototype.
5. Yes - this is being improved continuously. More to come... ;-)
----------
Originally Posted by EidLeWeise View Post
Is there any chance of larger ships swapping out cargo space for some 'fighter bays' which small ships could dock at and be launched from? This would be especially interesting when we get multi crew ships as well as having NPC pilots...
good question
Not only this but will there be add ons to the ships like in frontier which take up cargo space such as better shield generators, engines ect ect so making your load out a decision and leading to 100's of individual styled ships?
Yes. The very large ships will be able to carry the smaller ships in the game, by sacrificing cargo space. Similarly we will have the ability to fit shield generators, larger engines etc out of cargo space. This should indeed lead to a good deal of variation.
----------
There is a single world - all trade data, world changes etc affect everyone. Some of the more crowded areas of the game are split into islands, where only a subset of players can see each other. For Beta 1 we have friends lists coming, which will mean that friends get to go into the same island.
-----------
Not quite sure what you mean. We have seamless docking with stations now. There are more station types to come. I don't expect there ever to be a loading screen, except when you first fire up the game or restart it.
-----------
That is coming soon (ie friend's groups)... ;-)
-----------
They are all working together. The blockades will be largely AIs, and that will still exist.
Hi David - great vision that's really coming together now
There's been a lot of discussion regarding the effectiveness of gimballed weapons on the forum, with some players wanting them less effective, and others saying they preferred the way they worked in the first beta 2.00
What's your own view on this, and do you use them ?
Gimballed weapons are great I think - but mustn't unbalance the game. I think their powers were too high, but the principle is sound - trading some power for those who don't have quite the same pin-sharp aiming ability.
----------
It is on the lists of the things we need to improve. I'm afraid I don't have a date for you.
---------
I'm afraid it has to be the Cobra...
---------
Not seen that. We have auto-turrets in the game now, but manual turret control only really makes sense on the larger ships.
---------
Yes, I think so - but we haven't planned the detail of that yet.
---------
Will we be able to play the original Elite on an arcade on a station?
(In 'Day of the Tentacle' you could play 'Maniac Mansion' on a computer in one of the rooms).
Maybe just the first docking to the lave station.
Sorry - last answer...
No, sadly you won't.
Thank you everyone for all the questions. Sorry I only scratched the surface of those questions.