This is better than Frontier

MikeB

MikeB
In frontier, the manoeuvrability of a ship was largely irrelevant, it certainly made a little bit of a difference, but nobody could argue with a plasma accelerator... Now the smaller ships really are so much fun to fly and you can fly circles around the bigger ones... My maxed out Viper, is, well, bloody awesome. The flight model actually rewards skill, not simply credit-based-punching-power. I had my reservations, I really wanted the Frontier model, and hated this flight model, now I'm happy to admit I was wrong... Good job well done.
 
Last edited:

Hell Razor5543

H
As I upgrade the kit my Asp is getting better and better. A5 FSD next, followed by A5 thrusters, as she is already mainly A class. Yes, an Eagle can fly rings around her, but 6 beam lasers soon stop that!
 
Last edited:

[VR] Mad Mike

[VR] Mad Mike
MikeB said:
In frontier, the manoeuvrability of a ship was largely irrelevant, it certainly made a little bit of a difference, but nobody could argue with a plasma accelerator... Now the smaller ships really are so much fun to fly and you can fly circles around the bigger ones... My maxed out Viper, is, well, bloody awesome. The flight model actually rewards skill, not simply credit-based-punching-power. I had my reservations, I really wanted the Frontier model, and hated this flight model, now I'm happy to admit I was wrong... Good job well done.
Click to expand...

There are a lot of things I love about ED, and a few things I would like to see fleshed out.

but for me personally the flight model is THE single best thing about it, the largely atmospheric-like flight model, combined with the 1 button press to make it more Newtonian-like (albeit still with restrictions), but still similar to, if simpler than Frontier/1st Enc.

Frontier and 1st encounters for me were decent games, but neither had the fun factor of the original game. It is my view that ED combines the best of both. Glad you are enjoying it.
 
Last edited:

streki

streki
Yeah, my combat encounters in frontier were generally from a 3rd person perspective if I remember rightly.
Operating the turret in my clipper.
 

Sparkie

S
Whilst I like Elite Dangerous a lot, it was not too hard to avoid the front large weapons on NPCs (e.g. 20MW Beam on Couriers or Plasma Accelerator on Panthers) in Frontier while manual piloting a small craft like a Krait. Large craft simple couldn't do loops or spin horizontally fast enough to align.
 
Last edited:

KillaALF

K
MikeB said:
In frontier, the manoeuvrability of a ship was largely irrelevant, it certainly made a little bit of a difference, but nobody could argue with a plasma accelerator... Now the smaller ships really are so much fun to fly and you can fly circles around the bigger ones... My maxed out Viper, is, well, bloody awesome. The flight model actually rewards skill, not simply credit-based-punching-power. I had my reservations, I really wanted the Frontier model, and hated this flight model, now I'm happy to admit I was wrong... Good job well done.
Click to expand...

Hear, Hear! Flew a pimped Sidey the other day and couldn't stop grinning like an idiot.
 

hjd_uk

hjd_uk
+1

The game-play in 'Dangerous is way better than Frontier IMO: The combat and sense of immersion is loads better than E:F ever was, the dynamic galaxy and factions actually make the systems feel 'alive', the combat zones and capital ships are a great addition. The only thing thats missing are the in-the-works planetary landings and related missions, but I fully expect them to turn up eventually.

Great job guys at FD!
 

jabokai

jabokai
Graphics, sound, flight model - all are shining stars of the product. The rest of the game is in short supply, but if they ever deliver the bulk of what was in the design discussion archive then we will have a great game in total!

I still love playing it, but only because of the GFX/SFX/flight model combined with the Oculus Rift.

IMHO.
 

Hydrino

Hydrino
jabokai said:
Graphics, sound, flight model - all are shining stars of the product. The rest of the game is in short supply, but if they ever deliver the bulk of what was in the design discussion archive then we will have a great game in total!

I still love playing it, but only because of the GFX/SFX/flight model combined with the Oculus Rift.

IMHO.
Click to expand...

Friday's dev update should give us a glimpse of what is coming up. They have clearly said development will continue and that means both on tweaks and enhancements to current mechanics as well as the two announced big expansions of planetary landing and EVA.

I surely hope (and do think) the intent is to keep hammering away at the design as written in the DDA. That should still be the "guiding light", albeit subject to collision with what actually will work in code. So much awesome stuff in there. Would have been unbelievable to see all that done in two years.
 

DWorth

D
I do love the flight model. I also had my reservations at first, since it isn't realistic, but it does reward skill (and especially the ability to juggle throttle and power settings in a fight to get the advantage). I also the love the general 'feel' of the ships. The handling and the soundscapes really help you believe that you're flying a huge, powerful piece of engineering and not just a collection of polygons with a stat line.
 

Ydiss

Ydiss
I watched a YouTube video of someone playing frontier the other day. As brilliant as that game was, watching five minutes of combat in that game makes me wonder how I enjoyed it so much.

I can't understand how anyone can actually think that was better than this.
 

Captain Breton

Captain Breton
MikeB said:
In frontier, the manoeuvrability of a ship was largely irrelevant, it certainly made a little bit of a difference, but nobody could argue with a plasma accelerator... Now the smaller ships really are so much fun to fly and you can fly circles around the bigger ones... My maxed out Viper, is, well, bloody awesome. The flight model actually rewards skill, not simply credit-based-punching-power. I had my reservations, I really wanted the Frontier model, and hated this flight model, now I'm happy to admit I was wrong... Good job well done.
Click to expand...


That's a pretty big statement, perhaps especially to my ears as, Frontier has been perhaps my favourite game of all time (even after all that time). I would strongly disagree with some parts of that claim, yet agree elsewhere.
.
Elite Dangerous is very enjoyable, and once you get into the Controls, at least I have gotten much of the good feeling I had in Frontier. The thrill of making it to certain starsystems, earning your first big ship..
Also I do agree control of your ship have improved quite a bit. In Frontier trying to enter stations were difficult ,as you didn't really have truster control. The added Control over your thrusters have improved maneuvering quite a bit, even if I might like to see seperate Control over trusters some time in the future (like in modern-day ships, where you can use bow/stern trusters seperatly)
.
Landing in Frontier also required patience (and quite often saving/loading) as you needed to line the ship exactly right compared to the horizon. External camera helped a lot here.
.
Opinion : Though as a game? Elite Dangerous doesn't even reach Frontier's knees.
Things that pull down the experience include ; l
- lacking options when comes to camera,
- the always online DRM'inness, with the resulting lack of pause/save options , the lack of interaction with planets
- the lack of things like Autopilot (understandable as you now often travel FTL between planets)
- the music (It's okay, but have anyone of you hummed the familiar Elite Dangerous theme?) Quite a few people run their own
Soundtrack on the side. That said, the use of music in ED is nice ,in that it's not very intrusive or over the top. But at times?
The music's forgettable :(
- The lack of playable ships in the game, compared to the predecessors (even though, I give you the new and remade ships are
-far- better designed, and tend to be quite unique from one another. All felt the same in Frontier. Also realize more is on the
way.
- That the ED is being updated, where Frontier had faults that were never patched or repaired (save new Versions release for x86 PCs and the Amiga CD32) is certainly a good thing, but, it does bother me that ,this system allowed them to release a game without half the promised (and some sorely missed) features.
.
If you take the time to read some of the points I added here, you'll probably realize that a lot of this won't be true in months and years to come, Elite Dangerous is going to grow and get better. Where Frontier was never-changing Elite Dangerous Will change for the better. ED is a -good- but far from complete game. ^-^ Imo ,it's not going to knock Frontier (or Saints Row 4 )http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/saints-row-iv-game-of-the-century-edition-confirmed-for-europe/ away from the Game of the Century pedestal

Imagine an Elite Dangerous after 4 - 5 years of development?
 
Last edited:

lilikin

L
My Fanbois meter is going mad, ED has a massive advantage over Frontier and that is the immersion. I'm not a graphics junky my favourite game ever is Baldurs Gate/Baldurs Gate II but this type of game immersion is everything and that is what ED gives you.

I don't feel not adding more would be a rip off for £40, it would be a damn shame but when you are sitting there in your bucket seat with a proper HOTAS and Joystick with a decent monitor/Rift and the gorgeous sound in the game you quickly see why it's so much better.
 

Larash

Larash
While I wholeheartedly agree with the OP on the flightmodel (which is really great), I have to disagree that E: D ist a better game overall. What I loved most about the previous two installments of the game (Frontier, FFE) is, that I can experience the vastness of space as a player. I really miss this feeling in E: D.
Let me explain why: E: D feels unrealistic to me. Not the visuals of space, but the way you move through it. In E: D you aren't able to fly fast. You can reach up to 400m/s (roughly 1500km/h) maximum speed. What I can experience in E: D is cool, but mostly subsonic flight. Supercruise feels removed as if flying outside the real galaxy. When I approach a station I click a button, when I'm 1M km away and suddenly I am within 10km of my destination. This feels quite arcady and unrealistic to me. Where is that great feeling of Frontier, when I viewed backwards and saw earth disappearing quickly while accellerating at 15gs? Where are the real approaches to stations? I (speaking stricly for myself) would have gladly sacrificed all multiplayer and online stuff for a believable experience of travelling through/being in space.
I am really interested in the solution FD has for planetary landings. With the current speeds, there will be no seamless landings, because it would take an hour of game time, just to make planetfall from 1000km height...
 

OVMorat

OVMorat
Larash said:
While I wholeheartedly agree with the OP on the flightmodel (which is really great), I have to disagree that E: D ist a better game overall. What I loved most about the previous two installments of the game (Frontier, FFE) is, that I can experience the vastness of space as a player. I really miss this feeling in E: D.
Let me explain why: E: D feels unrealistic to me. Not the visuals of space, but the way you move through it. In E: D you aren't able to fly fast. You can reach up to 400m/s (roughly 1500km/h) maximum speed. What I can experience in E: D is cool, but mostly subsonic flight. Supercruise feels removed as if flying outside the real galaxy. When I approach a station I click a button, when I'm 1M km away and suddenly I am within 10km of my destination. This feels quite arcady and unrealistic to me. Where is that great feeling of Frontier, when I viewed backwards and saw earth disappearing quickly while accellerating at 15gs? Where are the real approaches to stations? I (speaking stricly for myself) would have gladly sacrificed all multiplayer and online stuff for a believable experience of travelling through/being in space.
I am really interested in the solution FD has for planetary landings. With the current speeds, there will be no seamless landings, because it would take an hour of game time, just to make planetfall from 1000km height...
Click to expand...

Interesting. I never loved Frontier like I did love Elite. It was just too clunky for me. I prefer ED but I wish it had gone MORE multiplayer. I guess this is just another illustration that you can't please everyone! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom