The Single Player/Offline Discussion Thread

[Sir.Tj]

As there's a thread for Multiplayer on here I thought it might be a good idea to have a single player thread to discuss what people would like to see in the single player version.

For me it would be n part a continuation of the previous games.

Lots of hand coded missions giving you the opportunity to explore the galaxy as a trader, miner, courier, pirate or assassin etc.


It's the aspect of FFE I enjoyed the most and hope that it continued in one form or another in ED.

 

[Rollo]

Yes I agree with that T.j. A continuation with additional stuff to do and of course better graphics. I also hope the newtonian physics and the star dreamer is present. Doing the sling-shots and speeding up time to watch planets and moons doing their orbits, was part of the things that made it a great experience to play.
I'm almost 100% sure I would only play a single player version anyway.

 

[DrBaggy]

As there's a thread for Multiplayer on here I thought it might be a good idea to have a single player thread to discuss what people would like to see in the single player version.

For me it would be n part a continuation of the previous games.

Lots of hand coded missions giving you the opportunity to explore the galaxy as a trader, miner, courier, pirate or assassin etc.


It's the aspect of FFE I enjoyed the most and hope that it continued in one form or another in ED.

Hi TJ yes single player is the only thing I feel really strongly about in a wish list for E4. Most stuff I just trust DB to get right, and just want it to happen!

One thing I would really like to see that wasn't in the predecessors however is the exploration/discovery element: outer systems more dangerous but with hidden treasures.

Ashley will Frontier take any notice of us? I realise that influencing the game needs to be an incentive for backers, but we have been around a while here and there have been some good threads for an E4 wish list

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

Hi TJ yes single player is the only thing I feel really strongly about in a wish list for E4.

A recent quote from DB on the KS comments implied that you are basically playing a SP game with save / reload functions and that you have the ability if you choose to open your game up to other players - friends or strangers - your choice. Exactly how the MP would work we don't know (yet) but that at least SP as an option is encouraging to learn.

 

[nOmArch]

One thing I would really like to see that wasn't in the predecessors however is the exploration/discovery element: outer systems more dangerous but with hidden treasures.

Yes that would be very cool, Alien Cities, Wormholes, Rogue Smuggler Bases, Dyson Spheres, Palyar Commanders Brother in Laws Original Ship crashed into an all green planet Maybe some little nods to the original like a spaceship graveyard full of cobras

I'd also really like to see Generation Ships, Space Dredgers and other cool stuff that was hinted at in the first few games actually make it into this one.

Not specifically related to the SP game though is that I would love to see Oculus Rift support.

 

[Styggron]

Yes that would be very cool, Alien Cities, Wormholes, Rogue Smuggler Bases, Dyson Spheres, Palyar Commanders Brother in Laws Original Ship crashed into an all green planet Maybe some little nods to the original like a spaceship graveyard full of cobras

I'd also really like to see Generation Ships, Space Dredgers and other cool stuff that was hinted at in the first few games actually make it into this one.

Not specifically related to the SP game though is that I would love to see Oculus Rift support.

Wow.... a graveyard full of Cobras.
Generation ships would be fantastic.

I hope my laptop will be able to handle all this.

 

[The Space Pirate]

In-system courier runs would be good as well, like you get in Pioneer. Let's face it, the early game can be a bit of a grind: Frontier was start on Ross 154, buy a tonne of Fish or Animal Meat, sell at Barnard's Star, buy Computers/robots, sell at Sol, rinse and repeat until able to buy a better ship. At least the in system courier missions in Pioneer enable you to make money a bit more quickly, and break up the constant jumping between systems.

 

[Jack Nova]

I'd like to see the ability to add player content and a place to share it.
I can't think of a better way to keep the game relevant as a long term classic

 

[Kipper]

Frontier but bigger and better and with combat that's both more fun and more of a challenge - make it so that you really do need to pick your fights.

From an economic point of view I'd like to see a lot, lot more tradeable items with a real dynamic economy that rewards varying your trade routes and working out new ones.

I'd really like to see it kept 'real' with regards to the trade goods too. There's no need to invent mad stuff that you're never quite sure of what it is - we have a perfectly good and well understood periodic table for base elements which can be traded, and there are plenty of descriptions we might think up today that I'm sure would be relevant in the future and that we can all imagine. "Farming machinery", "Engine components" etc.

 

[Winterdyne]

Possibly worth spinning off tradable commodities to their own thread for discussion, as it's not something exclusive to the single player experience.

I'd like to see subcategories of goods, with a primary and secondary trait. For example, Arcturan Brandy is a Luxury Good primarily, but it is also an alcoholic beverage. Some systems might outlaw alcohol (making the brandy contraband). Some might outlaw or not acknowledge luxury goods (say a religious society of sorts). The value of the same item could then vary on a number of factors and possibly be traded in a number of different ways, either explicitly (we deal in Arcturan brandy!) or implicitly ('we like booze and don't care what it is!' vs 'we like fancy stuff, that's got a pretty bottle')...

 

[Sir.Tj]

No doubt the game will stay open without following set storyline, but I did love the missions, would be great if you ended up spying for the Thargoids

 

[The Space Pirate]

Frontier but bigger and better and with combat that's both more fun and more of a challenge - make it so that you really do need to pick your fights.

Perhaps 'dogfighting' would have no place in a 'realistic' space battle, but it's far more fun than what we had in Frontier (lock target, engage autopilot(?) and hold space). For me whenever reality gets in the way of fun, it's reality that has to give way. Remember the fights in the Star Wars games? Or even the fights in Oolite? That's how Elite: Dangerous fights should be - or at least have an option to have them like that.

 

[Capt. Hook]

Perhaps 'dogfighting' would have no place in a 'realistic' space battle, but it's far more fun than what we had in Frontier

Absolutely agree with this sentiment.

I think Freelancer got it about right (if a little light) in terms of space combat with a mouse/keyboard.

 

[deej]

My repressed memories!! Look what you lot have done.... it's all coming back now.... weeks of cursing "#*#^# turn tighter...turn tighter..S$%#.. just a little more!..." only to see the target snap back into another direction.

 

[DraQ]

I'd really want stardreamer and no in-system jumps in SP.

Full Newtonian mechanics with ability to disable pretty much all automation would also be a must, but SP/MP distinction doesn't matter here.

 

[Steve O B Have]

I'd really want stardreamer and no in-system jumps in SP.

Full Newtonian mechanics with ability to disable pretty much all automation would also be a must, but SP/MP distinction doesn't matter here.

I agree - I'd deffo prefer to retain that sense of enormous distances being covered. In multiplayer I can see the need for an absence of star dreamer but I always thought that it was a great mechanic however I can see the need to have a consistency within gameplay. Getting used to Stardreamer and then losing it to play multiplayer could well be a put off.

 

[DraQ]

I agree - I'd deffo prefer to retain that sense of enormous distances being covered. In multiplayer I can see the need for an absence of star dreamer but I always thought that it was a great mechanic however I can see the need to have a consistency within gameplay. Getting used to Stardreamer and then losing it to play multiplayer could well be a put off.

So could getting used to saves - I wouldn't make this kind of consistency my high priority.

Speaking of saves, optional iron-man mode where saving is automated and on exit, there are no reloads and save gets overwritten on death could be neat - better have that escape capsule.

 

[Sir.Tj]

I'd really want stardreamer and no in-system jumps in SP.

Full Newtonian mechanics with ability to disable pretty much all automation would also be a must, but SP/MP distinction doesn't matter here.

Just would'nt be the same without either. you need that vastness of space and in-system jumps would in my mind take that away. Star dreamer would be a more realistic way of travel.

I'm hoping that the single player will be more of a updated FFE, or what FFE could have been.

I'd probably dabble with the MP but spend most of my time in SP.

P.s Nice to have you back DraQ, always enjoy reading your posts.

 

[shrapnel]

From all my readings around the interwebs, it strikes me that the FE2/FFE newtonian physics gang and the "played original Elite mainly" gang are at loggerheads when it comes to physics.

To say "want newtonian physics but with proper dogfighting" is oxymoronic, realistic flight physics in space are not condusive to re-enacting "Spitfire Vs ME109" business. Spitfires fly in air, and their flight dynamics are governed by aerodynamics (and you can get this nicely in Cliffs of Dover).

It all depends on the "simulation" aspect, and I think FE2 and FFE did a good job of being "space sims", the further you drop away from that then the game ceases to be a realistic simulation of a vehicle in the simulated environment. Just as docking and landing should be challenges, the challenge of fighting another ship in space is not easy, and maybe not even fun. One would imagine that in some techno-future it would be managed by auto-targetting and even less fun than it was in FFE.

But it depends really on what you want. I come from a simulation background, I enjoy vehicle simulations and enjoy a focus on realism. Combat, for me, in Elite is not why I play the game. For many, it will be, so for FD they have a BIG challenge in trying to please simmers, and also the "action" players that want fun and involving combat.

The only way to make combat work like aircraft operating within an atmosphere, and still realistically claim accurate space flight physics, I think, would have to involve some sort of odd witch space concept or something. I'm not keen on the idea, but it doesn't matter much what I think.

 

[synchromesh]

Just to be able to click from SP to MP would work for me...Better still if when i enter MP in exactly the same location ?