Its good to sometimes go back and see how the visions of years past compare to what we see now.
Found an old Elite fan site here which stored some old data from the newsgroups days. Here a few good quotes from some poster named David Braben ... well I assume it was him
The year .... 1999
The reasons for ED's combat model >>
"It is true that Elite IV will be more Elite-like in the combat, but mainly [FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]because we want combat to be (at least potentially) between loads of ships, not one spec in the distance. We will do our best to retain as much of the nice aspects of Newtonian flight as possible, and the underlying flight model is likely to still be Newtonian. - David Braben"
The prophetic wait for crowdfunding, and the console release teaser >>
"Elite IV has to be vastly superior to any competition, in order to revive the [FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Elite name after the FFE debacle. To be honest, the biggest problem I see is the number of ideas we have already, and that to do them justice, even with a large team will take a long time to bring to fruition.
This time around, I am very reluctant to sign with a publisher too early, as that is when things start getting out of hand. I know this from bitter experience. We would rather not receive ideas, because of the danger that later we will be accused of ripping those ideas off. Please bear in mind this is something we have been thinking about for a long time. We have a number of really significant ideas that will set this game apart like no other. Please don't email asking about these ideas, as we really can't give these out. I will look at putting a FAQ up on our web site, and post here when it's done.
For the moment though, in an effort to reduce the emails - a few answers:
1. We will support hardware render etc on PC through DX7
2. We will have multi-player
3. We will support a wide range of formats including high end consoles.
4. We will probably support Playstation 2 rather than Playstation
5. We will consider other formats like Linux, etc"
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]Elite flight physics debates never get old >>
"The real problem is that a very wide audience expects the flight models of films like "Star Wars", and don't realise the issues. In turn a game gets highly criticised for it and dies a death because it is unplayable. A few games have tried this and because of the cumbersome nature of the controls have failed. People simply can't cope with a completely separate direction of travel and facing if they have to control them both. [FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]
This is even true in 2D (eg driving a tank while the turret is rotating). Having said that, I also prefer Newtonian physics from an aesthetic point of view, but I think it is important to have a feel more like "Elite". So the current plan for Elite IV is a Newtonian flight model (but with hyperspace etc) with thruster corrections (like Frontier, except better) to give an Elite-like feel. (This way, Frontier fans can still hurtle sideways out of control in to a planet for old time's sake, by turning the fly-by-wire off.) - David Braben"
The depth of ED's development >>
"[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Elite IV is the one in the design stage. - David Braben" [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]The first DDF seeds ? >>
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]"[/FONT][/FONT]I have learnt a great deal from the Elite/FE2/FFE experience, not the least [FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]is the value of a team effort, as this gives the opportunity to bounce ideas around and appeal to a wider group. Especially given the time delay, and (ironically) people's lower expectations because of FFE, I truly believe Elite IV (or whatever we call it) will be a world beater. - David Braben"
The reasons we always hear the "Getting it right" clause >>
"Elite benefited from a tremendous amount of faith from the publisher, [FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Acornsoft, and we took a great deal of time getting it "right". This side of things is very much in the background these days - and games more often than not rely on the graphical image or even release dates over all else. There have been many notable exceptions (like Zelda, that spent something like an additional year in perfecting it despite the political grief it cause Nintendo in the short term), but it does seem to be the general rule.
I don't deny the Elite sequels suffered this way too, to some extent, Encounters much more than Frontier (see announcement here shortly), and many were gravely disappointed (me included). Frontier nevertheless was best selling game in 1993 (according to Gallup), so possibly the accountants felt vindicated.
[/FONT]I also think people's fond memories of Elite are a very hard act to follow.[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] We hope to do so with Elite IV, with much trepidation, and intend to use the experience of the good and the bad to ensure that Elite IV is as good as it can be.
For this reason it is a long way off! - David Braben"
The year .... 2001
One small step for Jameson, one giant leap in expansions >>>
"[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I note that a number of people are concerned about what Elite 4 will be, after seeing the concept art which depicts a human character rather than a spaceship.Of course, it should go without saying that spaceflight will be a major part of Elite 4. However, one of the central strengths of the Elite series has been the freedom the games give to the players - the player is not constricted to a set path, and can go anywhere he/she wants. In the previous games the technology was not sufficient to give the player total freedom. In Elite, you couldn't fly over planet surfaces, but that was rectified in Frontier. In Frontier you couldn't get out of your ship, but we aim to rectify that in Elite 4."[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]A time when the SP version was free from it's MP shadow >>
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]"We plan to make both a single and multiplayer version of Elite 4. The single player version will have a persistent world in single player mode (as with Elite and Frontier), and a limited (probably non-persistent) multiplayer mode. The multiplayer version will feature a fully-fledged online persistent world."[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
Found an old Elite fan site here which stored some old data from the newsgroups days. Here a few good quotes from some poster named David Braben ... well I assume it was him
The year .... 1999
The reasons for ED's combat model >>
"It is true that Elite IV will be more Elite-like in the combat, but mainly [FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]because we want combat to be (at least potentially) between loads of ships, not one spec in the distance. We will do our best to retain as much of the nice aspects of Newtonian flight as possible, and the underlying flight model is likely to still be Newtonian. - David Braben"
The prophetic wait for crowdfunding, and the console release teaser >>
"Elite IV has to be vastly superior to any competition, in order to revive the [FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Elite name after the FFE debacle. To be honest, the biggest problem I see is the number of ideas we have already, and that to do them justice, even with a large team will take a long time to bring to fruition.
This time around, I am very reluctant to sign with a publisher too early, as that is when things start getting out of hand. I know this from bitter experience. We would rather not receive ideas, because of the danger that later we will be accused of ripping those ideas off. Please bear in mind this is something we have been thinking about for a long time. We have a number of really significant ideas that will set this game apart like no other. Please don't email asking about these ideas, as we really can't give these out. I will look at putting a FAQ up on our web site, and post here when it's done.
For the moment though, in an effort to reduce the emails - a few answers:
1. We will support hardware render etc on PC through DX7
2. We will have multi-player
3. We will support a wide range of formats including high end consoles.
4. We will probably support Playstation 2 rather than Playstation
5. We will consider other formats like Linux, etc"
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]Elite flight physics debates never get old >>
"The real problem is that a very wide audience expects the flight models of films like "Star Wars", and don't realise the issues. In turn a game gets highly criticised for it and dies a death because it is unplayable. A few games have tried this and because of the cumbersome nature of the controls have failed. People simply can't cope with a completely separate direction of travel and facing if they have to control them both. [FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]
This is even true in 2D (eg driving a tank while the turret is rotating). Having said that, I also prefer Newtonian physics from an aesthetic point of view, but I think it is important to have a feel more like "Elite". So the current plan for Elite IV is a Newtonian flight model (but with hyperspace etc) with thruster corrections (like Frontier, except better) to give an Elite-like feel. (This way, Frontier fans can still hurtle sideways out of control in to a planet for old time's sake, by turning the fly-by-wire off.) - David Braben"
The depth of ED's development >>
"[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Elite IV is the one in the design stage. - David Braben" [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]The first DDF seeds ? >>
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]"[/FONT][/FONT]I have learnt a great deal from the Elite/FE2/FFE experience, not the least [FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]is the value of a team effort, as this gives the opportunity to bounce ideas around and appeal to a wider group. Especially given the time delay, and (ironically) people's lower expectations because of FFE, I truly believe Elite IV (or whatever we call it) will be a world beater. - David Braben"
The reasons we always hear the "Getting it right" clause >>
"Elite benefited from a tremendous amount of faith from the publisher, [FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Acornsoft, and we took a great deal of time getting it "right". This side of things is very much in the background these days - and games more often than not rely on the graphical image or even release dates over all else. There have been many notable exceptions (like Zelda, that spent something like an additional year in perfecting it despite the political grief it cause Nintendo in the short term), but it does seem to be the general rule.
I don't deny the Elite sequels suffered this way too, to some extent, Encounters much more than Frontier (see announcement here shortly), and many were gravely disappointed (me included). Frontier nevertheless was best selling game in 1993 (according to Gallup), so possibly the accountants felt vindicated.
[/FONT]I also think people's fond memories of Elite are a very hard act to follow.[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] We hope to do so with Elite IV, with much trepidation, and intend to use the experience of the good and the bad to ensure that Elite IV is as good as it can be.
For this reason it is a long way off! - David Braben"
The year .... 2001
One small step for Jameson, one giant leap in expansions >>>
"[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I note that a number of people are concerned about what Elite 4 will be, after seeing the concept art which depicts a human character rather than a spaceship.Of course, it should go without saying that spaceflight will be a major part of Elite 4. However, one of the central strengths of the Elite series has been the freedom the games give to the players - the player is not constricted to a set path, and can go anywhere he/she wants. In the previous games the technology was not sufficient to give the player total freedom. In Elite, you couldn't fly over planet surfaces, but that was rectified in Frontier. In Frontier you couldn't get out of your ship, but we aim to rectify that in Elite 4."[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]A time when the SP version was free from it's MP shadow >>
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]"We plan to make both a single and multiplayer version of Elite 4. The single player version will have a persistent world in single player mode (as with Elite and Frontier), and a limited (probably non-persistent) multiplayer mode. The multiplayer version will feature a fully-fledged online persistent world."[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
