The Planetary landing and planetside missions discussion Thread

[Calebe]

Landing on a planet and walking around it is a must have. I find it hard to believe some would not want this feature. Well I can if they want the game to stagnate and fail eventually. We have billions of planets and we have heard they want the landscape to vary, to have animals on them so it is not just a landscape but one alive with different animals and who knows what else. The thought of flying down to a planet, flying over it, exploring from the air, eventually landing and taking a look around is something I can't wait to have happen. Imagine finding the ruins of some ancient and long gone civilization as a possibility? No idea if it will happen but I hope it does. Just the thought of finding that will have people landing on any planet to be the fist to find them.
.
Is it needed? Hell yes it is needed.
.
Calebe

 

[Olrik]

You need to go back and play Frontier/FFE (or better FFED3D, link in my sig) to get the idea maybe?

Exactly ..

 

[Jordan Cobalt]

Planetary landing could be cool if done well, it would also make the universe feel bigger, but i could take it or leave it. personally i'd rather have more ships, more missions and more stuff to do besides planet landing and walking around. I'd be perfectly happy never leaving the pilot's seat or space as long as there's plenty of stuff to do.

 

[Armon]

I have yet to see a well implemented 'get-out-of-ship' feature. It's always just a gimmick and a poor version of a third person mmo. To do well, it would require enormous resource, it's almost it's own game. So no thanks.

Planetary landings on the other hand... Elite already had them in previous installments, I would not be surprised if mechanics would be very similar when the expansion comes out. Definitely looking forward to it.

But personaly, I would like to see more things to break the monotony, just like few other said.

More varied stations.
Different docking sequences
Group play (coming in jan aparently)
Things to do as a group. bounty hunting, piracy etc
Reworked friendly fire mechanics - possibly at the top of my priority list i'm sure most can relate
Improved management of ship internals - it's little over simplified right now.
Crafting - commodities exist currently simply for making money via trade. same for mining. However given the way things work now with ship manufacturing etc, I think it'll be a challenge to squeeze that in.
Guns! more guns! - there were some overcharged/focused guns in beta, but they're all gone since release for some reason.

I have full faith in FD, i'm sure they have a lot planned for us.

 

[Cheapchips]

Looking forward to what they do as well. FD obviously put a massive amount of thought into spaceship combat. Its awesome work and hope they can hit the same bar with first person mechanics.

Since ED isn't a competitive fps they're at liberty to do something new. Particulary in zero and low g.

Given how rampy the preproduction interior view of the viper was, I also think a bmx for every ship is essential.

 

[Zplintz]

I think the OP is making a lot of assumptions about FDs development plan without any evidence to support his/her statement.

Walking around and landing on planets is an important future development (for release in a chargeable upgrade for those who weren't covered to receive them free as part of the KS). There are a great deal of aspects that will be developed and introduced between the main upgrades.

 

[Windscreen Smudge]

Oh I don't know.... Do you need to learn to walk before you learn to run?....
|
Walking and planetary landings are just the framework for a bunch of other content that will be built around it. You're focused on the wrong thing. Focus instead on what you'll be able to do WHILE you are on the surface of a planet, or walking around in your ship or the station.

 

[agent1138]

Yes THIS!; talk about expanding the content in the game! The missions could easily be multi-tiered; -just one: On an earth like planet supporting the (local) major faction in recovering from a System take over by the 'Crimson State'; This implies more subterfuge then shifting System economics through stations...

Something I found odd was you could get missions considered Illegal Activity off the bounty board, it would make far more sense if you had to go to a dark dingy bar and talk to a shady character to obtains these surely?

 

[Windscreen Smudge]

Something I found odd was you could get missions considered Illegal Activity off the bounty board, it would make far more sense if you had to go to a dark dingy bar and talk to a shady character to obtains these surely?

Around here we call it craigslist.

 

[Mikey2305]

I would expect some of this walking on planets malarkey to link with level 2 and 3 discovery...

But yes, i would like to see different spaceports and interiors

 

[starjump]

Looking forward to it although in my head its just like station landing but on planets. Nothing new content/feature wise that is. Maybe different missions, but still a landing pad and a services screen.
|
Wings expansion is what i look forward to the most. I want to enjoy ED with friends grouped up earning money together shared. And hopefully it comes with some other features as well. But to hang out in a station and have a large trader (player) ask if someone would escort him/her to another system since they have very valuable cargo onboard would be epic. Some form of payment possible there. Maybe a slider (percentage) that goes to the others in the group when the player trader sells his/hers commodities off. And of course with this FD also implements more NPC pirates and bad guys that hang in the outskirts of stations and other places, and they speed after you to scan you or even just tell you to stop (or they'll shoot) so they can scan your cargo. That would add more drama and have an incentive to join with players as you head out and coming to stations. Yeah, im looking forward to Wings, big time.

 

[Jason S]

FD have said they won't do something unless they can do it the right way. They won't add either feature unless it has a reason.

In short, the answer is "you don't know enough".

So perhaps they will decide not to do it then.

 

[Flavio]

At the moment we have large stations that accept all ships and platforms that only accept small and medium ships, we need more variety and the easiest and most logical way of doing this is to have planetary landing so that only atmosphere capable ships can take missions there and some places will only accept either large ships for industrial sized cargo transports (the way our ports that accept container ships wont let dinghies near etc ).

Walking around the station will make smuggling info and making some deliveries more interesting as a waring faction may ask you to sell them the info instead. Hiring crew will become possible and possibly replacing a damaged component on your ship with a spare that you are carrying will be useful if only rarely done but will make exploration more varied.

 

[Robert Maynard]

So perhaps they will decide not to do it then.

Unlikely as planetary landings and EVA are stated as being the first planned expansions and have been for a long time now.

 

[Jason S]

They specifically promoted on Kickstarter it´s coming "12 months after release", not 11 or 13 or 24 months after release, and they already presold expansions passes.

Stop endorsing more backpeddling.

They specifically promoted several things on the kickstarter which never happened.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Unlikely as planetary landings and EVA are stated as being the first planned expansions and have been for a long time now.

Yes but they also said only if the game is successful enough. Which means if it will be a financially wise thing for them to do. And the core cost way more than they were expecting.

I think it will happen but not a certainty by any means.

 

[Iskariot]

Do we REALLY need planetary landings and ship/hangar walkabouts

Planetary landings are an absolute must I feel. Frontier had them too and it ads a new dimension and scope to the game.
I would be ok with limited freedom on highly populated planets, but landing on an alien planet and discovering alien life, or just seeing incredible unimaginable alien landscapes would be so cool.
I salivated when I saw that concept shot of a cobra landing on a planet. I also want to experience atmospheric entry and seeing a landscape zipping by below me.

Walking around ships could be very cool. I would like to see actual cargo stored in my hold for example. But there have to be things to do to make this really work.
I also dream about standing behind a window in a space station and seeing ships entering the docking cylinder. I also would like to see people walking about and having to meet some of my contacts on a station.

Don't forget space walking. I want to stand on the hull of my ship and do some manual repairs, or gaze at the stars.

The game needs a human face. In Frontier we could see portraits of our contacts. In this day and age that would be very minimalistic, but I would love that.
Being able to leave your ship, walk into a station and actually meet a contact would be awesome.

 

[kartonick]

every1 is talking about how massive the expansions will be, does that mean the base is just a tech demo of flight combat and trading compared to the expansions?

 

[Flavio]

every1 is talking about how massive the expansions will be, does that mean the base is just a tech demo of flight combat and trading compared to the expansions?

No, what we have just now is the necessary and basis of the game, the rest of the expansions expand on what we have.

 

[Abomination]

Not for me. City scape lights on dark side of planets and other signs that planets are indeed populated is more important for immersion imo.
Let them add more ships, more mission types, better multiplayer support and more thrilling story elements.
After that's done, then... nah not even then. Don't care about landing on planets at all unless there's something completely different to do over there, otherwise it's just another trade post.
.
And ship hangars? Yes please!!
Why? Because I'm planning to own a whole fleet of ships and would sure love to walk around them and take pictures of the content of my garage

 

[Connatic]

Planetary landings are an absolute must I feel...

...after they, FINISH THE GAME!

People need to stop hyping tertiary content before the core content of this space sim is even implemented. How about Wings/Groups? Factions that actually have gameplay significance. Missions that actually evolve and scale better. The 30 ships we have been promised. Giving something for bigger ships to do besides trading without going broke.

Sure, I would love this game to have it all, but I rather they focus and actually finish the content they started on before trying to add new stuff. I would much rather have less features fully fleshed out, than tons that are half done and broke.