The Old Elite IV speculation thread

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DaMaGe007 said:
GTA's imaginary and humouous companies are the way to go, they suit the game, but drop the humour side for Elite4.
I also think owning fleets of ships and building your own bases/farms/businesses on lonely planets and large asteroids would be cool.

I agree, it would be better to have the Eliteverse brands rather than actual real world ones. It would be quite cool to build a business and earn profits of that, but there is that fine line where it stops being a space sim and becomes an artificial stock market game - I still wanna blow stuff up :)
 
I was just over at DVDLard cmmenting that I'd love to see an Elite type game come out on the XBox 360. Not all console gamers want the quick games, I think all formats need variety in the games available and I'm sure that if Elite IV was releases on the next gen consoles it would be a HUGE hit as it would offer something that no other game on that platform could. As such it would stand out. Add to that the fact that I recently read a thread over at AVForums I think where they asked the age of the gamers on the forum and there were loads of people in their 30s that remember the original Elite and spent many hours on BBCs or ZX spectrums trading and battling thargoids and would love to get their hands on a modern re-working on a console.

I really hope Frontier do create a console version of this, I for one would definitely buy it.
 
It kinda depends on what they do with the game, some consoles dont have Hard drives and this may be a problem if the game needs to store large ammounts of data on the gamestate. I think it might be a PC/Mac/Linix game for this reason.
am I correct that not all Xboxes have them ? and PS3 doesnt have one at all...?
This is of course being very optomistic that the game will even come out in this generation of consoles.
 
WIP reviews of Thrillville are praising the usability factor - and creating a complex, detailed theme park editor that can be built using just a gamepad is the kind of problem that could challenge the implementaion of a console version of E4. So by the time they get round to it they'll probably already have refined their interface techniques enough to cross that hurdle.

The save file size, I'd have thought, wouldn't need to be that big - i was banging on about "timeline buffering" in another thread, but even then we're still talking about a smallish data set. I'm guessing you could probably record a hundred hours game play in a compressed file under 1 meg - it's just a bunch of vectors and coordinates, shirley?
 
DaMaGe007 said:
It kinda depends on what they do with the game, some consoles dont have Hard drives and this may be a problem if the game needs to store large ammounts of data on the gamestate. I think it might be a PC/Mac/Linix game for this reason.
am I correct that not all Xboxes have them ? and PS3 doesnt have one at all...?
This is of course being very optomistic that the game will even come out in this generation of consoles.

they could make HDD required for xbox360, but remember oblivion did it withoud HDD support, and all PS3 have HDD
 
Elite4 into

Post your ideas for the intro/credits of the game.

Mine would be this

Begins with a C64 loading screen (rockstar did this for Vice City, neat imo)
Great to reminise (sp) about the old days
then the fronier development logo as a high quality "blue danube" begins to play (old elite docking music if I remember correctly)
old wireframe grapics of an cobra mark III, extrenal views cinematic, at a certain point in the music (when it builds) the graphics change to the magnificent graphics of the game as the credits roll by (movie like)
You get the idea :p

Bah typo in the thread title sorry bout that.
 
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Nice idea, but how about when you see the wireframe Cobra spinning on the screen. The view moves back and the Cobra is spinning on the screen of a video game in the lobby of a spaceport. Out of the window, about 20 meters away is a real Cobra, parked up on a landing bay, steam venting and landing lights flashing.

Also I don't think the C64 loading screen is appropriate, it wasn't the best version, probably better to have a BBC master screen if anything!
 
Crayfish said:
Nice idea, but how about when you see the wireframe Cobra spinning on the screen. The view moves back and the Cobra is spinning on the screen of a video game in the lobby of a spaceport. Out of the window, about 20 meters away is a real Cobra, parked up on a landing bay, steam venting and landing lights flashing.

THAT is a cool idea.

How about, instead of a video game in the lobby, its on a palm/handheld device and as the view zooms out the holder is on a train thingy heading out to the docking ports, and the real cobra comes into view, and you get a first person perspective of the ship being boarded, all the checks done (just nice animations of all the ship interior),you hear all the radio traffic, then it leaves the base and kicks into hyperspace.
 
Perhaps to take the classic to modern intro thing a bit further from what's been said previously:

Loading screen from antiquated computer system be it the BBC micro for EU release or the C64 for the US release or whatever... doesn't matter something as approrpriate. Then from there the classic intro with the wireframe Cobra Mk III, which then zooms out to a pedastal display in a Museum on Earth, where a group of school children are standing at an exhibit of real Cobra Mk III, and various other ships out of focus in the background exhbits etc. On the markings of the Cobra perhaps making out the name "Jameson" somewhere, and then the scene cuts to that same Cobra Mk III in space dated 60 years ago (or however long would be approrpriate.) Space folds over itself and a Hyper-space cloud forms on the fringes of the Lave system, and the Cobra pops into real-space from the Cloud... and goes through some dramatic sequence featuring space pirates, or maybe even Thargoids or something fantastic, and through some narrow escape Jameson makes it planet Lave, and does a flyby of Old Lave station under construction, and makes Planetfall on planet Lave.... and then cuts to the game menu. :eek:


Pretty typical but enough to whet the appetite... :D
 
What would be be good would be black and white pics of david and ian programming elite and then a pic of them showing it (ive seen one on google) and then a movie style video of some random chump (casually dressed) picking up FE2 and pans to him playing it on his amiga 500 with his house liek they had it back in the 90's. Then it goes to an office with david programming first encounters and then it goes to a Gametek board meeting with david in it and he is having an argument with some fatcat and then you see the same guy and hes a little bit older, and hes playing first encounters experiencing all the bugs in it.

and then it fades out and we get a big drumroll and then it explodes with grand music and wee see a cobra and a mirage in a big fight and the mirage wins, and then it just flys past loads of planets and space stations.
 
m1rkd1rk said:
What would be be good would be black and white pics of david and ian programming elite and then a pic of them showing it (ive seen one on google) and then a movie style video of some random chump (casually dressed) picking up FE2 and pans to him playing it on his amiga 500 with his house liek they had it back in the 90's. Then it goes to an office with david programming first encounters and then it goes to a Gametek board meeting with david in it and he is having an argument with some fatcat and then you see the same guy and hes a little bit older, and hes playing first encounters experiencing all the bugs in it.

and then it fades out and we get a big drumroll and then it explodes with grand music and wee see a cobra and a mirage in a big fight and the mirage wins, and then it just flys past loads of planets and space stations.

No, that can't be right - the Cobra is a 'hero ship' destroying such a piece of gaming history would be just wrong. It'd be like sending someone back in time to blow up the Wright Flyer just because an F16 is better. Face...nose...cutting off...
 
Excellent ideas above. I just hope it continues the tradition of showing off the game engine a bit, none of your FMV tat.

Aside from the intro, it would be nice to have a random (prodedural) screen-saver-type demo when the game's on standby. Operation Flashpoint did something similar, roaming camera shots with panoramic sweeps and zooms, and various assaults, ambushes and big set pieces. If a 'net connection is available then maybe a spectator mode or an automatic theatre mode showing real-time action involving other real players or NPCs...
 
I would like an intro showing the steps of mankind towards space mixed with Elite storyline.

The intro begins like Frontier, with the shadows forming a ship which becomes the word "Frontier" (or the new title).
The planet in the background is Earth. As the logo dissolves, you see Sun dawn from the night side.
As fast as light lit everything, you see a rocket puts in orbit the Sputnik.
As the satellite exit from view, the camera follows it but instead it locks on Apollo spacecraft, as it flies toward the Moon.
Then, the camera flies in free space, reaching a spaceship (maybe a terraformer one, i.e carrying huge mirrors, or strange machines) on route for Mars.
The view is now on Mars (not red but pink and cloudy, due of terraforming process). You see Mars High during construction, with Phobos passing by between you and the station. When the station is visible again, it's completed and Mars is a little more greeny.
A strange spaceship launches from Mars High bays. The camera follows it for a while, then the screen flash and you're nearby Pluto and you meet the same ship firing retro-thruster for a complete stop. The ship after rumbling and humming opens a cloud and slowly enters in hyperspace.
The view is now in another system with a blue supergiant star.
You see a blue exit cloud. Camera zooms back and you see several jump clouds in row, some small and some huge. At the same time a vaste fleet (with settler ships) emerge from clouds and fly toward Achernar 6d.
From planet orbit (Capitol), you see squadrons of Imperial Couriers, Asps and Ospreys come from planet surface.
A space battle between Federation (with finally some LR Cruisers in action) begins.
Suddenly, Thargoid ships appears from nowhere attacking everyone.
Fed. and Imps join their forces to fight the new enemy.
While Thargoids are destroying almost everithing, the action focus on a Cobra MkIII escaping from a Thargoid fighter.
The Cobra jumps in hyperspace.
In deep space you see a strange Thargoid ship firing in nowhere.
Soon after, a deformed exit cloud forms in the place and the Cobra emerge roughly from it.
A swarm of Thargoid fighters surround and destroy the poor Cobra in a matter of seconds.
The camera orbits around debris and the game menu appears (maybe with Thargoid hyperspacing in background).

This may sounds like a long intro, but I think it is longer to describe it than actually play it.
Obviuosly, an improved version of Frontier theme is required ;)
 
If ships are going to be actual 3d models I would like the tools to be released to the community to import .3ds (or whatever) so we the community can create and share our own content. Elite 4: Babylon 5 mod :)

If ships are going to be created procedurally then of course there should be a contral place we can upload and download.

If nothing else the community - given modding support can greatly extend a games lifespan.
 
I just got an Xbox 360 and I have to say that I am very pleased with it. At the moment I have Project Gotham Racing 3 that came bundled with it and bought the two Halo games from ebay. Its better than what I thought it was to be honest and I was going to wait for a PS3 but I went into Woolworths one day and noticed the bundle with the game and extra wireless controller and just could not resist. Although I did ask myself what the (smeg ?) was I doing as I parted with the cash.

I just wanted to say that I would like to see Elite IV released for this console and I think it would do great on the PS3 as well. I still like the idea of owning a PS3 one day so I'm not going to start putting it down just because I own a 360 ;) :D .
 
Karl speaks the truth.

I will never stop playing games on PC because mouse/keyboard and all that business is just more intuitive, faster, and better for the sort of games I play. We're talking strategies, wargames, simulations and the like. I don't use a joypad on the PC (tis the work of satan) and the mouse gives superb control.

I'm just playing battlefield 2142 atm, and control wise, you point - and you shoot. I have experienced the clancy games on the xbox and its so hard to aim, because the joypad isnt designed for direct movement - its linear and its digital. The analogue mini stick doesnt help much - because it still doesnt go where it needs to be as quick as a mouse arrow will - and with nowhere near the presicion needed for trying to shoot snipers out of windows!

If I want an arcadey experience, or a driving experience, or football - i'll go for the PS2 because it does that extremely well - digital controls work well because i dont need the precision, and the ability to play on big screen TV is superb :)

Come on, if it was out - play a session of Rome: Total war on the PS2/Xbox if you can, without wanting to mash it through the window.

Consoles can never replace PCs - but PCs *could* (but won't) replace consoles.

EDIT: And thats before going into upgrade issues.... I can keep my PC current, but my PS2 is yesterdays technology, today.
 
I always used to think the Asp Explorer on the spectrum version of elite (wireframe) looked like a giant pair of interstellar Y-Fronts.
 
mbrookes said:
I've had a 360 since launch and (touch wood) haven't had any problems with it. Speaking personally I think a game like Elite would do well on console. And I'd go for the 360 version.

Michael

I too am very impressed with the 360 and also agree that Elite would be great on it, but I seriously seriously hope that it's not going to be an only Console game.

I understand that it is easier to develop for a console and that the dev costs are significantly cheaper, but for the game to be truly great in my personal opinion, there needs to be scope within the game structure for innovation post release.

I firmly believe that with a really good solid structure for post release modding the development, that the lifespan of such a game can be greatly expanded - I also believe that there is an opportunity to create a community that could be guided by the game creators, allowing it to grow in a way that we'd all love to see it. I would dearly love to see a way to harness imagination of the players involved to enrich the galaxy/universe that the game exists in.

I think that in the development of the game solely for consoles the opportunity to make the game more involving would be partially lost. Between you and I, I feel that in the development of a game for consoles, whilst it makes the Dev easier, it also makes the end product somewhat dumbed down - personally I don't want to play the game on an XBox360 controller or on a PS3 controller - My PC is my interface into the game world, and it's so much more versatile than a consoles controller.
 
Elite 4 multiplayer.

Is Mr Braben still planning to take Elite online?

I really hope he does, as I've always thought Elite to be ideally suited to online play. Imagine thousands of players all dog fighting and trading across the universe. A worldwide ranking system, you could be the worlds best pilot!

What ideas have you guys got for online play?

(please note, I still think the single player game should be a priority, I just think it has huge online potential)
 
Henry Krinkle said:
Is Mr Braben still planning to take Elite online?

I really hope he does, as I've always thought Elite to be ideally suited to online play. Imagine thousands of players all dog fighting and trading across the universe. A worldwide ranking system, you could be the worlds best pilot!

What ideas have you guys got for online play?

(please note, I still think the single player game should be a priority, I just think it has huge online potential)

It is that - but I'm not entirely sure that I want to exist in a universe where I am directly measured against people ranked by the amount of time that they can afford to play online. Especially since I have a day job and a social life. My personal feeling is that it should definately have a level of online interaction but 'my' game should be my game.
 
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