The Planetary landing and planetside missions discussion Thread

[nicomak]

Im banking on Christmas. If its landings Im asking santa, if it walking about my ship. naaa.

they did say they'll try to make it within the first year after release, that's 2015, but it's a 'try' and that dates back to 2014, possibly 2013?


04/04/2013

There are of course some updates that we have already announced will be coming. The most notable and anticipated of these is of course seamless planetary landings. Whilst it wouldn’t be sharing anything new with you to confirm this feature post-launch, I can confirm that we hope to implement it within a year of release, if possible:

Sandy: Definitely yes. Hopefully (barring issues) within the first year post-release
Michael: Yes, we’ll be looking to add landings in updates after the game’s intial release. We’ll provide more details nearer the time.​

I think there is no doubt that it is "being seriously considered for release at some point".

They talked about it "too much" in the Kickstarter videos, in interviews, in here, in (one of the)dev updates, or in newsletters(29 & 32) not to be serious about it.
But You should know by now that Frontier is not quite of the "talkative type" when it comes to future additions, and it may even be more true for paid content.
We'll know eventually, but when we get closer to it being actually released.

 

[dumbo]

I think the appropriate quote is this one (from 15 Jan):
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=99493&p=1544180&viewfull=1#post1544180

As you all know we’re also working on paid expansions for the game and these will have their own beta periods as well, we’ll again make details available of how this will work as we near their release.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

PErsonally I am hjappy that they are concentrating on fleshing out the base game at the moment, after all, I do not think it is unfair to say the game is still pretty bare bones in terms of ship & space station numbers and intertiors, lack of factories and places to visit and over all lack of "life".

All of this takes time (and I hope is coming). IF we keep getting point updates every month or so like we have been then imo the 1st DLC update on the 1 year anniversary of the game could be nice..........

All that being said, 1 info update I would like, as it may affect how i play the game now, is,

will there be any new "ranks" to build up or will they be tied in to the existing ones? ie if landing on a planet exploring and finding stuff will just add to our existing explorer rep then i may not power on to get to elite in exploration.

but if we will get new trees such as possibly "archeology", "prospecting/mining", "hunting", terreforming on top of the 3 we have now then I need not worry about going for elite in the 3 tiers we have now.

 

[WlLL0W]

they did say they'll try to make it within the first year after release, that's 2015, but it's a 'try' and that dates back to 2014, possibly 2013?

I think there is no doubt that it is "being seriously considered for release at some point".

They talked about it "too much" in the Kickstarter videos, in interviews, in here, in (one of the)dev updates, or in newsletters(29 & 32) not to be serious about it.
But You should know by now that Frontier is not quite of the "talkative type" when it comes to future additions, and it may even be more true for paid content.
We'll know eventually, but when we get closer to it being actually released.

a ....... related question if i may?

when do the seasons change?... like what month does summer start and what month does it end?

for me, spring is march till june.
summer, june till august etc...

so from FD's perspective, when does summer begin.... and end?

cheers

 

[SteveLaw]

a ....... related question if i may?

when do the seasons change?... like what month does summer start and what month does it end?

for me, spring is march till june.
summer, june till august etc...

so from FD's perspective, when does summer begin.... and end?

cheers

Frontier is based in the UK so our seasons are those of the Northern Hemisphere (the same as yours). http://www.calendar-365.com/seasons.html

 

[munkor]

was it decided which was first? Planetary or Walking?

 

[5AnaHalfHatsize]

DBOBE talks about it - its an old vid but still an interesting overview of their aims:

[video]https://youtu.be/EM0Gcl7iUM8?t=2m18s[/url]

Jump to 2:18 if the link doesn't take you there.

That brings up some interesting points, especially how DB talks about PL being gradually introduced.

And when it became clear we weren't going to be able to scoop gas giants I always thought that would be the first step towards landing on the planets, especially after he gave TED talks about flying through procedurally generated Jovian clouds.

But there's been no mention of that sort of stuff in ages.

I get the points made about them not wanting to promise something too soon, but what concerns me is they *were* talking quite a lot about this stuff and then went quiet on it. I'm not asking for a delivery schedule here, just someone from FD to say "yep, still working on it".

- - - Updated - - -

Who's Al?

He's Georges brother.

 

[Insomnia]

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=130538
My thread on the topic.


I'm guessing the first DLC will arrive after the release on the XBone.
A guess is that the EVA will come first, then the FPS module, and lastly Planetary Landing as it will probably require the first two expansions.
However PL will likely not be released until maybe 2017. Just a guess.

I also asked Braben in the AMA if any DLC are into any form of production stage, but didn't recieved any answer.

I sincerely hope we will get some form of confirmation about DLC.

 

[Joe Spivey]

... Did I read something about Frontier contracting the 1st person expansion to an external company or dev group, at least in the early development ? I might have my wires crossed on this one.

FD allready have their own first person game (the Outsider) which uses the same Cobra engine used to make ED. Although the game was never released I think it will provide a very firm base on which to build the FP elements of the game.

 

[slashgoh]

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=130538
My thread on the topic.


I'm guessing the first DLC will arrive after the release on the XBone.
A guess is that the EVA will come first, then the FPS module, and lastly Planetary Landing as it will probably require the first two expansions.
However PL will likely not be released until maybe 2017. Just a guess.

I also asked Braben in the AMA if any DLC are into any form of production stage, but didn't recieved any answer.

I sincerely hope we will get some form of confirmation about DLC.

2017? No man's Sky (if they are still alive) will arrive sooner than 2017, so ED and it's DLS will have to compete with other games.
On the other side, No man's Sky seems not to be an accurate simulation like ED

 

[Insomnia]

2017? No man's Sky (if they are still alive) will arrive sooner than 2017, so ED and it's DLS will have to compete with other games.
On the other side, No man's Sky seems not to be an accurate simulation like ED

It's only guesses...
I don't think that No Man's Sky will compete with ED on PC. On consoles it will of course.
The real threat is Star Citizen, and SC will most likely be released next year.
ED might be a little too late.

 

[dumbo]

was it decided which was first? Planetary or Walking?

Nope, and it's quite an interesting choice.
"Avatars (and crew/NPCs)" vs "planetary landings (and planetary survey missions etc)".

Personally, I tend think avatars should come first, but it could be either.

 

[Tinman]

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=130538
My thread on the topic.


I'm guessing the first DLC will arrive after the release on the XBone.
A guess is that the EVA will come first, then the FPS module, and lastly Planetary Landing as it will probably require the first two expansions.
However PL will likely not be released until maybe 2017. Just a guess.

I also asked Braben in the AMA if any DLC are into any form of production stage, but didn't recieved any answer.

I sincerely hope we will get some form of confirmation about DLC.

According to people who talked to devs on the release party we will probably get the first version of planetary landings first (still from the cockpit) since it's "easier" to get done in terms of development. Planetary landings won't be a single thing BTW:

Planetary landings won't be a single thing. I think I've said before - it is what is down there that makes planetary landings compelling - and please remember all of this will be after first release of the game.

I imagine we will start with landings on airless moons. You would be able to see heavy industry, craters up close, and ultimately be able to deposit things on the surface (stash cargo or mining machines). Atmospheric worlds are a bigger challenge - whether rocky or gas giant in nature - and a key element there is the atmosphere. They should have rich cloudscapes with lightning, turbulence etc.

The biggest challenge is with what we call 'outdoor worlds'. I would want rich and varied vegetation, wildlife, and so on.

If we are suppose to be able to stand up from our seat in the cockpit and get out of the ship there is LOTS of things that needs to get done. Things that goes beyond the mechanics we have in the game currently where we are always seated inside our ships.

• Interiors of ships needs to get modeled. These also need to be modular since we can change out our internal modules. Making a system that works across all current/future ships and all the modelling work required for this is immense and will take a long time.
• Character models and animations of players and NPCs needs to be made. A character creator is also needed unless we all want to look like identical clones. This is also a huge undertaking.
• Actual gameplay to for these enviroments and meaningful things to do there needs to be created.
• If we are suppose to get out of our ships then these environments (stations) needs to be fleshed out and also be given a purpose in terms of gameplay.
• Equipment/weapons needs to be modeled/rigged

The list could go on forever basically and of course not everything needs to be there from day one, but this type of gameplay still requires completely new game system to be developed by the devs. A first expansion with planetary landings in some form could still take place from inside the cockpit as now though, thus making it possible to reuse a lot of the current ways of interacting with the world.

To get a rough planet they need to take the already existing code that generates the heightfields and instead of applying them as normalmaps as they do now they will instead use these as displacement maps on top of a dynamically subdivided mesh. That will get them the rough terrain. Then there is of course a whole bunch of other stuff to do obviously, but this is still less work compared to "walking around". Interesting things could still be experienced while still "stuck" in the ship while being able to visit airless moons/planets as David described above:

You could fly over craters, volcanoes on Io, ice fields on fronzen moons with water geyser spewing out organic matter for you to scoop up. Bombing runs or spy missions (taking photos) on pirate moon bases. Placing mining rigs or firing off probes into the ground for measurements. You would also be able to land on pressurized outposts/bases on these worlds.

But...this is of course just me speculating!

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

It's only guesses...
I don't think that No Man's Sky will compete with ED on PC. On consoles it will of course.
The real threat is Star Citizen, and SC will most likely be released next year.
ED might be a little too late.

You are assuming SC will be better than Elite, and imo that is quite the assumption.

Even if SC is out by the time Eltie gets its DLC together, imo both games will be different enough to warrant having both in your collection (the existence of COD does not scupper releasing battlefield etc)

 

[Comintern1919]

It's only guesses...
I don't think that No Man's Sky will compete with ED on PC. On consoles it will of course.
The real threat is Star Citizen, and SC will most likely be released next year.
ED might be a little too late.

Well, even for guesses, 2017 is extremely pessimistic. I at least hope it is . I think we can agree that both of us hope you are wrong, right ?

But I think it would be stupid for FD to wait too long for the expansions. Right now, ED is very popular and has much attention, but can anyone guarantee it will still be so next year at this time, let alone 2 years? Especially if major things like Planetary Landings aren't available yet. After all, those promised features were one of the main reasons I, and I am quite sure many other, bought the game in the first place.

I will wait that long, but I am so sure the majority of player will.

 

[slashgoh]

It's only guesses...
I don't think that No Man's Sky will compete with ED on PC. On consoles it will of course.
The real threat is Star Citizen, and SC will most likely be released next year.
ED might be a little too late.

SC not seems at the moment as good as ED. But this is my opinion.
No man's Sky could be more immersive and attractive for newcomers and it is on PC too, not only on console

 

[Comintern1919]

You are assuming SC will be better than Elite, and imo that is quite the assumption.

Even if SC is out by the time Eltie gets its DLC together, imo both games will be different enough to warrant having both in your collection (the existence of COD does not scupper releasing battlefield etc)

Well, I don't see where he implied SC will be better. A Game does not need to be better to compete with another game. Just look at Saints Row and GTA, both compete with another in the Wide Open Sandbox Genre, but both are popular and good. Even if many people buy both games, they can still compete. If only for the arbitrary title of "best Space Sim".

 

[Crank Larson]

According to people who talked to devs on the release party we will probably get the first version of planetary landings first (still from the cockpit) since it's "easier" to get done in terms of development. Planetary landings won't be a single thing BTW:


If we are suppose to be able to stand up from our seat in the cockpit and get out of the ship there is LOTS of things that needs to get done. Things that goes beyond the mechanics we have in the game currently where we are always seated inside our ships.

• Interiors of ships needs to get modeled. These also need to be modular since we can change out our internal modules. Making a system that works across all current/future ships and all the modelling work required for this is immense and will take a long time.
• Character models and animations of players and NPCs needs to be made. A character creator is also needed unless we all want to look like identical clones. This is also a huge undertaking.
• Actual gameplay to for these enviroments and meaningful things to do there needs to be created.
• If we are suppose to get out of our ships then these environments (stations) needs to be fleshed out and also be given a purpose in terms of gameplay.
• Equipment/weapons needs to be modeled/rigged

The list could go on forever basically and of course not everything needs to be there from day one, but this type of gameplay still requires completely new game system to be developed by the devs. A first expansion with planetary landings in some form could still take place from inside the cockpit as now though, thus making it possible to reuse a lot of the current ways of interacting with the world.

To get a rough planet they need to take the already existing code that generates the heightfields and instead of applying them as normalmaps as they do now they will instead use these as displacement maps on top of a dynamically subdivided mesh. That will get them the rough terrain. Then there is of course a whole bunch of other stuff to do obviously, but this is still less work compared to "walking around". Interesting things could still be experienced while still "stuck" in the ship while being able to visit airless moons/planets as David described above:

You could fly over craters, volcanoes on Io, ice fields on fronzen moons with water geyser spewing out organic matter for you to scoop up. Bombing runs or spy missions (taking photos) on pirate moon bases. Placing mining rigs or firing off probes into the ground for measurements. You would also be able to land on pressurized outposts/bases on these worlds.

But...this is of course just me speculating!

While I agree that these are complex, thankfully FD have a head-start on most of them from many other games they have produced (e.g. Zoo Tycoon), so there are a lot of mechanics that they won't have to write from the ground up, especially as their engine is fairly platform independent.

But I wouldn't really expect any further comment from FD until release is much closer. They've said they are doing it, and that it is intended to be the first expansion. That's good enough for me, it's just a question of patience now.

 

[Comintern1919]

They've said they are doing it, and that it is intended to be the first expansion. That's good enough for me, it's just a question of patience now.

Wait, where did they say it is intended to be the first Expansion? You mean Planetary Landings, do you?

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

Well, I don't see where he implied SC will be better. A Game does not need to be better to compete with another game. Just look at Saints Row and GTA, both compete with another in the Wide Open Sandbox Genre, but both are popular and good. Even if many people buy both games, they can still compete. If only for the arbitrary title of "best Space Sim".

maybe I missunderstood the point then, but it seemed to me that he was saying IF SC is already out then Elite releasing content then would be too late (presumably because no one would want to play elite once SC is out?)

either way, time will tell, but I am actually not expecting star citizen PU to be out for a good while yet anyhow. (S42 is coming 1st i think)