Video link (do watch in its entirety): http://www.ign.com/videos/2016/04/11/no-mans-sky-21-minutes-of-new-gameplay-ign-first
Hi guys. I thought I'd share this video and perhaps open up a discussion about what ED can learn from what the No Man's Sky team is doing better than Elite is doing. To use NMS as a muse of sorts to inspire and encourage improvements to our favorite game, Elite: Dangerous. Here are some cliff notes and take-aways that I noted while watching for your consideration. Please add your own notes from your watching and discuss all of these things, which could and couldn't work for ED. [cool]
Just some thoughts and take-aways as someone who is closing in on 1,200 hours into the game and looking for ever more opportunities to improve the game. I think there is always something that can be learned from what others are doing and the best curate those ideas and add them to their own products as often as possible. NMS, Star Citizen, and others are doing admirable things that are in the vein of what ED is working to do as well, so why not grab the best ideas we can, you know?
Oh and as a reminder, Hello Games is a 15-man studio that used to be just 2 guys for half (maybe more than half) of the development of this game. If they can do it with < 15, I believe Frontier can do it with considerably more also talented individuals. [praise]
Charge spelling errors to the head, not the heart.
Hi guys. I thought I'd share this video and perhaps open up a discussion about what ED can learn from what the No Man's Sky team is doing better than Elite is doing. To use NMS as a muse of sorts to inspire and encourage improvements to our favorite game, Elite: Dangerous. Here are some cliff notes and take-aways that I noted while watching for your consideration. Please add your own notes from your watching and discuss all of these things, which could and couldn't work for ED. [cool]
- You *need* alliances in order to get people to sell you things. So there is a consequence to being a space in NMS...unlike in Elite where killing people indiscriminately has no meaningful impact on your game experience with NPCs. Where there is no danger or potential downside. In NMS, one series of attacks on and destruction of faction ships can damage your rep and impact your ability to buy from them. Imagine that.
- Temperature has an impact on life expectancy when roaming planet surfaces. Perhaps this would translate to SRVs by way of an increasing need for repairs to be done back on your ship, based on the temperature and gravity level of the world you're on.
- Weapons modifications and ammo can be synthesized while on foot to unlock additional abilities to the weapon. The ED equivalent would be turret ammo changing what you can do with the weapon. In NMS in this video, the modified gun is able to dig through terrain to discover underground caverns where he could warm up or discover other resources. NMS worlds are littered with underground networks to discover. Imagine underground caverns to drive through in ED!
- Creatures! They give life to a given world. Perhaps adding the opportunity to potentially discover new life forms while exploring atmospheric worlds is something we can look forward to in ED next year? Or whenever they get atmospheric landing in the game. If we want it, seems like a good idea to start talking about it sooner rather than later.
- Seamless atmospheric to space transitions. No loading times of any kind. Perhaps too late for ED to be able to do this, but maybe something that can be looked at in the future along with instancing improvements.
- Big ships with turrets are actually a threat if you're not careful. Even big trade ships. That said, NMS has (1) a larger variety NPC ships that can come in sizes larger than those available to the player. ED currently only has capital ships that fit that description and they're so rare they mine as well not even be in the game at all. Compare to what we see in this NMS video where freighters are seen slowly flying towards space stations. Taken further, (2) note that there are space stations in NMS that are near other things. Near planets, asteroid fields, etc. Compare to ED where stations are generally out in the boonies, far from anything. Imagine if a space station in ED were say 40km from a mining asteroid field/planetary ring. Close enough to simply fly at normal speed to get there...too close to Supercruise closer. Imagine the gameplay possibilities, visuals and experiences that offers. Imagine pirates potentially intercepting you on the path from the mining area to the station, adding to the danger. Imagine police and players patrolling the area keeping everyone safe (and actually being a threat). Picture the opportunity to add big, slow-moving frigates and trading vessels that may be 2x-10x the size of player owned ships (but still much smaller than capital ships), bringing with them a greater sense of scale and a reminder that the CMDR isn't the biggest thing in the galaxy 99 times out of 100. Visualize targeting for whatever their gigantic holds may carry...but only if you want to risk taking on their turret fire, ing off their escorts and drawing police attention in order to get at their loot. Dare I say...making the experience DANGEROUS.
- Advanced interactions with persistent NPCs. We know Engineers are coming, but we don't necessarily know the full scope and scale of our potential interactions with them. Hopefully they will offer some really unique interactions like what we expect to see in NMS...something beyond just being their own little self-contained bulletin board with the same missions and approach.
Just some thoughts and take-aways as someone who is closing in on 1,200 hours into the game and looking for ever more opportunities to improve the game. I think there is always something that can be learned from what others are doing and the best curate those ideas and add them to their own products as often as possible. NMS, Star Citizen, and others are doing admirable things that are in the vein of what ED is working to do as well, so why not grab the best ideas we can, you know?
Oh and as a reminder, Hello Games is a 15-man studio that used to be just 2 guys for half (maybe more than half) of the development of this game. If they can do it with < 15, I believe Frontier can do it with considerably more also talented individuals. [praise]
Charge spelling errors to the head, not the heart.
