The cult of the Space Legs

[Muetdhiver]

A lot of things that were added during the Horizons season are being improved with the Beyond update. Likewise EVA would be improved over time as well.

Good point. Still, I fear that the initial release will end up being a big nothing burger in terms of gameplay and replayability.

IMO a good starting point for legs would be :

zero-G in ship + EVA with a focus on repair and space wrecks investigations with a strong tie with exploration/survival.
Limited scope, with well defined gameplay.

Not the SC "EuroCommuter 2018" thing.

 

[B1rdy]

A lot of things that were added during the Horizons season are being improved with the Beyond update. Likewise EVA would be improved over time as well.

Horizons was seriously delayed and needed another year to be fleshed out and it is still lacking despite it mostly used existing mechanics. Now with space legs the almost is no basis, it is like a new game. Have a look at CIG, how easy it is to pull off.

Edit:

I want space legs, but I do NOT want Star Citizen. I'd be happy to just have space legs as an alternative to an SRV. Let me walk around a Guardian Ruin, take a selfie of my pilot standing under my ship, walk around the cockpit, etc. Frontier could add this simple interaction in the next update if they so wished. Heck, VR players already have this, and from what I've read, they enjoy this extra freedom.

Do they? The only thing VR provides is having a different pov at things, like the camera suite already does as well.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

VR users don't have spacelegs, they have Spacehead!.



See what I did there?

I'm not fussed at all about spacelegs.
Being able to walk around my ship and poke things would be interesting for all of 5 minutes.
Walking on a planet would be slow, and I'd just drive my SRV right up to the door of a base instead.

Walking around inside a base would be fun, particularly creepy abandoned/alien/guardian bases.

Anywhere FPS PvP insta-death could occur would keep my bottom firmly in my seat. I do not want space CoD.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

 

[Vorxian]

If I wanted to go fishing or drink in bars, I would go fishing or drink in bars. I can do that IRL why would I want to pay to do it in a video game?

Like, I drink coffee in the morning, but I don't want to have to do it again with a virtual avatar after I already drank my own coffee in the morning. That is ridiculous.

Interesting take on my post

Elite for me is all about space ships, exploring the galaxy and blazing my own trail. if sitting in a bar at Jaques (famous bar?) sharing a virtual drink with fellow explorers / crew during needed respite before heading back out into the dark is possible.... I call that immersion. Not interested in 'sims' in space, but feeling like a person in the galaxy has scope and a lot of it.

Sometimes in warcraft, it was nice to just vanish for a while from raiding, and go virtual fishing. Sure I can go fishing irl, but, there's something scenic about having the option to do it in games, especially on an earth-like, with the cats paw nebula lighting up most of the night sky..

 

[Sergio Smegolia]

To the OP, would it be possible to be a barking lunatic and still join your cult?

If so sign me up!

 

[Old Duck]

Being able to walk around my ship and poke things would be interesting for all of 5 minutes.

It would be more accurate to say, "would be interesting to me for all of 5 minutes", "me" being you in this case, because I would get way more than 5 minutes of enjoyment out of this, assuming it's done right. Again, I'm thinking Subnautica.

Walking on a planet would be slow, and I'd just drive my SRV right up to the door of a base instead.

I would land my ship close to the base door and walk up to it. There's no reason to park 5000 meters away from POIs. And for those of us who care about immersion, "slow" is not a bad thing. Half the reason everything feels small in this game is because most of it is too fast (Corvettes that maneuver like fighter jets, for example).

Also, Frontier could give us an open-seated "moon buggy" for our EVA, so we can drive somewhere fast, and then get out and walk around if we wish.

Walking around inside a base would be fun, particularly creepy abandoned/alien/guardian bases.

Agreed!

Anywhere FPS PvP insta-death could occur would keep my bottom firmly in my seat. I do not want space CoD.

I agree with this too, but it seems Frontier does have some sort of FPS plans (defending our ships against boarding parties) for down-the-line. I suspect if that does come to the game, it would be years from now. I just hope that space legs aren't being held off for FPS gameplay...

As I said before and will say again, I would be happy with an EVA suit that basically acts as an SRV with walking mechanics (and a jetpack like NMS). It really would be trivial for Frontier to add to the game, and I bet even the "I hate space legs" crowd would get some enjoyment out of it, even if for only 5 minutes

 

[Han_Zen]

Personally I'm much more interested in atmos(and of course orrery) than legs. Flying in the atmosphere of gass giants, is a dream for me. I hope we get the chance.

Legs are cool enough, but I don't know what I need them for. Any game play I could imagine wanting to do with legs, could easily be solved with a robotic arm on the SRV.

I really don't get the enthusiasm. :|

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

It would be more accurate to say, "would be interesting to me for all of 5 minutes", "me" being you in this case, because I would get way more than 5 minutes of enjoyment out of this, assuming it's done right. Again, I'm thinking Subnautica.



I would land my ship close to the base door and walk up to it. There's no reason to park 5000 meters away from POIs. And for those of us who care about immersion, "slow" is not a bad thing. Half the reason everything feels small in this game is because most of it is too fast (Corvettes that maneuver like fighter jets, for example).

Also, Frontier could give us an open-seated "moon buggy" for our EVA, so we can drive somewhere fast, and then get out and walk around if we wish.



Agreed!



I agree with this too, but it seems Frontier does have some sort of FPS plans (defending our ships against boarding parties) for down-the-line. I suspect if that does come to the game, it would be years from now. I just hope that space legs aren't being held off for FPS gameplay...

As I said before and will say again, I would be happy with an EVA suit that basically acts as an SRV with walking mechanics (and a jetpack like NMS). It really would be trivial for Frontier to add to the game, and I bet even the "I hate space legs" crowd would get some enjoyment out of it, even if for only 5 minutes

I've not played subnautica.

Having watched some SC, I can see the appeal for space legs, but I can also see it becoming annoying. Lol

And I certainly don't "hate spacelegs", just don't see much of a need right now.
Plenty of things, IMHO, need to come first to support it better.
More NPC interactions, atmospheric planets, and something else I forget.... Probably more robust C&P.

I personally don't ever want boarding parties to be a thing. Last thing I want when flying along are some 12 year old CoD experts somehow boarding my ship in some meta suit, and sniping me in the back of the head before my computer has finished saying "warning, intruder alert!", then running off with my ship. Lol

Going EVA would be cool though. No arguments there.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

 

[S3B4ST13N]

I've not played subnautica.

You should.

 

[Muetdhiver]

Everytime I think of legs I imagine a MC session with you know, actual crew (instead of holome).

Engineer type player in orange EVA suit repairing the reactor damage in Zero-G. Pilot boost. Orange guy transforms into spaghetti sauce against the back wall [haha]

 

[Tarman]

You should.

This is the truth. Subnautica is of greatness. Amazing person-scaled gameplay.

 

[TrailBlazer 143]

Personally I'm much more interested in atmos(and of course orrery) than legs. Flying in the atmosphere of gass giants, is a dream for me. I hope we get the chance.

Legs are cool enough, but I don't know what I need them for. Any game play I could imagine wanting to do with legs, could easily be solved with a robotic arm on the SRV.

I really don't get the enthusiasm. :|

TL: DR It's because we all think differently, that's why.

It's vice versa for me. I see atmosphere planets like Airless planets with a skybox, but I do think it'll still be interesting to see regardless as I like airless planets

Legs, on the other hand, gives me a perspective of scale, (I gush on ground shots in movies like Pacific Rim). Seeing the interior/exteriors of ALL my ships is going to be an all new experience for me. Not to mention seeing the airless planets from the ground, and possibly fighting skimmers and using gold canisters as cover.

The possibilties Space Legs can give is mind blowing, and the fact that I'll take the bare minimum and still be able to crown Elite Dangerous as the Best Game Ever should say how much Space Legs means to me. Unfortunately, I can't speak for others that want Space Legs, but there are a large number of players that prefer Space Legs over Atmosphere Landings.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

TL: DR It's because we all think differently, that's why.

It's vice versa for me. I see atmosphere planets like Airless planets with a skybox, but I do think it'll still be interesting to see regardless as I like airless planets

Legs, on the other hand, gives me a perspective of scale, (I gush on ground shots in movies like Pacific Rim). Seeing the interior/exteriors of ALL my ships is going to be an all new experience for me. Not to mention seeing the airless planets from the ground, and possibly fighting skimmers and using gold canisters as cover.

The possibilties Space Legs can give is mind blowing, and the fact that I'll take the bare minimum and still be able to crown Elite Dangerous as the Best Game Ever should say how much Space Legs means to me. Unfortunately, I can't speak for others that want Space Legs, but there are a large number of players that prefer Space Legs over Atmosphere Landings.

When you mentioned using canisters for cover, I just imagined the amount of times they just roll away... Lol

 

[B1rdy]

TL: DR It's because we all think differently, that's why.

It's vice versa for me. I see atmosphere planets like Airless planets with a skybox, but I do think it'll still be interesting to see regardless as I like airless planets

Legs, on the other hand, gives me a perspective of scale, (I gush on ground shots in movies like Pacific Rim). Seeing the interior/exteriors of ALL my ships is going to be an all new experience for me. Not to mention seeing the airless planets from the ground, and possibly fighting skimmers and using gold canisters as cover.

The possibilties Space Legs can give is mind blowing, and the fact that I'll take the bare minimum and still be able to crown Elite Dangerous as the Best Game Ever should say how much Space Legs means to me. Unfortunately, I can't speak for others that want Space Legs, but there are a large number of players that prefer Space Legs over Atmosphere Landings.

The thing is, expanding our already very large playing field even more, though many people think mechanics are already kind of shallow, rather amplifies the problem than remedying it. Given FDev's track record, I would rather not have them add shallow feature, that might be extended, if people used it.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

I want to give gold for this post.
Good stuff, OP!

 

[S3B4ST13N]

This is the truth. Subnautica is of greatness. Amazing person-scaled gameplay.

Indeed, really looking forward to the expansion as well.

 

[killerofstars]

People spend tens of thousands of dollars (each!) on Star Citizen because it completes the fantasy. It's not just about flying around in space. It's about believing that's the life that you can live. It's a sci fi universe simulator, where you LIVE on board your starship.

When I was 10 years old and playing space simulator games, I wanted so desperately to be able to see the different areas of the ship. To feel like I really lived there, that it was my own personal millennium falcon.

I still want that in Elite. I want to explore my Krait, and my Anaconda, and my Corvette. I want to see the insides of the spaceships I'm flying. I want to land at a station, and visit a pilot lounge area, and see passengers milling about like the station is some kind of gigantic airport.

I want to buy a house in the ring section of one of those big space stations. I want to take a tram back to the core of the station. I want to go shopping for new guns, and armor, and drones to accompany me on my next mission.

I want to walk up the gangramp of my ship, thread through corridors and step into my cockpit. Then I want to blast off into space.

When Elite first launched, it was all just disembodied space stations. Sure, you traveled, but you never really felt like you had arrived somewhere new or different. When Horizons first landed, it added something vital, even though it's still limited to airless planets. It gave elite so much more context. Suddenly it felt like you were going SOMEWHERE. Completely independent of any gameplay added by planets surfaces, this was an important addition.

I can't wait till they add more to that. I don't just want a fantastic space flight simulator, though I want that too. I want a space future simulator. I want to be able to pretend I am living my life in 3304-5-6 and beyond.

That's why space legs matter. Elite isn't just about fun gameplay loops where you press the button, fire the laser, kill the guy, rebalance pips. It's a vehicle for a dream.

 

[S3B4ST13N]

[awesome]

Quoted for the absolute damn truth. Well said.

 

[Kethriss]

Spacelegs are a very tricky thing.

Yes, it would be amazing to see in Elite, but the game has to be designed from the ground up to support it, and i'm not talking about engine and animations and whatnot, but how the game is structured.

Take this gameplay from the recent Star Citizen keynote speech:
[video=youtube;OThWkuq_iTQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OThWkuq_iTQ[/video]

It's rough as the game is in active development, but take a look at what's going on: the game isn't designed as a space-ship game, it's designed as an FPS game with spaceships in it. This means that, while yes ships do play a major role in the game, the structure of traversal, missions, and gameplay loops can all seamlessly include on-foot mechanics without issue.

In Elite, everything is designed on the macro level. You interact with the universe purely through your ship and that's it, and the game is designed and balanced around that.

In order for Spacelegs to be developed and implemented in a way that doesn't feel taped on as an afterthought, it will require a complete and total rework of how the core gameplay loops are structured in Elite, and that will take a lot of time and a lot of effort.

I'd rather them overhaul the rest of the gameplay mechanics like they're doing exploration and mining and get us atmospheric planets in first before they start worrying about Spacelegs, though if they scrap it all together I, and many other people will be .

It CAN happen, it SHOULD happen, but not right now.

 

[S3B4ST13N]

..

lol, SC is going to be something else entirely; good grief. That train scene was epic.

I agree though, legs can come later (Frontier already said it would be like creating a new game); but that doesn't mean we can't hype on it and have fantasies about it.