Update 15, the Upcoming Feature Rework and More

[Bruce G]

Update 15, the Upcoming Feature Rework and More​

Greetings Commanders,

We trust that you have been enjoying Update 14 and all the action the Thargoid War is bringing to the bubble. Amidst everything going on, we are taking a moment to update you on our upcoming plans.

Update 15
Update 15 is set to build upon the narrative and unlock the next major stage of the Thargoid War. This will be among the biggest moments in the game to date and we’re excited to see how you react. To allow the necessary time for development and ensure the update meets expectations, Update 15 will release in May. An exact date will be confirmed closer to the time.

Major Feature Rework
Last year we announced a major update that would rework a long standing feature. This is still being investigated, however a number of changes (not least the Thargoid War itself) have required our attention as a priority. We will share details of this investigation and our plans towards the end of this year.

Player Made Factions: Applications Closing
Player Made Factions have played a key role in expressing your will over the shape of the bubble. This goal is at the heart of our plans for Elite and reflected in the Thargoid War. Our focus is now turning to investigate how upcoming systems will allow every player and player group to have a meaningful impact on the galaxy’s landscape. This means we will be closing applications for PMFs, however we will process any remaining applications.

Console Profile Transfer Portal: Returning Next Month
The introduction of Live and Legacy modes required us to pause the Console Profile Transfer Portal in November last year. However, we’re now ready to begin processing further requests and will re-open the portal in April. We are pleased to announce that this is a far more complete process than we anticipated. We look forward to more console Commanders joining us on PC, especially to enjoy the features offered by Odyssey. To see which elements of your console profile will be transferred, see our forum post.

Live Mode as the Default Download
In addition to the above, we will be making the Live version of Elite the default download. This will encourage new players to try the main version of Elite with access to future updates while keeping Legacy as an optional alternative. Implementing this change will cause an update to appear for all Steam users, and Legacy players will need to re-download that version to continue playing, existing Live players will not require an update. This will have no effect on your save files, so if Legacy is your preferred mode, you can continue playing normally once it is re-downloaded.

While the above announcements outline several major plans for the upcoming year, further announcements will be made in the upcoming weeks and months. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below!

O7

 

[Riverside]

Thanks for the heads up!

Swapping the default download is a good idea, good news about the console transfer process too.

 

[Ozric]

Thanks for the update Bruce.

I had expected Update 15 would slip to May. I'm going to be honest though, the still unnamed feature rework being moved to the end of the year really isn't good. And considering we still don't know what it is, and you're only going to possibly tell us the outcomes of your investigations at the end of the year. I think it would be very easy to it just be forgotten about all together.

It's nice the Console transfer is coming back so comprehensively though.

 

[Alec Turner]

Not surprised at the feature update being postponed. The war narrative has taken over and is so dominating everything at the moment that releasing a feature update in the middle of all this seems kinda inappropriate right now (unless of course that feature update had been a PowerPlay update incorporating the Thargoid war in a significant way ... something which always felt a bit like wishful thinking imho).

Stopping player factions is interesting tho, especially if this fact really is related to the Thargoid war?

 

[Martind Forlon]

Hello Bruce,

closing possibility to create new PMFs means there is not interest to let new players make theirs own "home" in ED? Is a fact that players still can adapt/support any of native MF as theirs own, but imo it definitelly is a quite big difference for player(s) in term of "owning" something.

... I hope that postponing update 15 will give enough time for better technical implementation, fingers crossed to devs team to make it as best as possible. o7

 

[Tyres O'Flaherty]

\o/ hooray for on-foot Thargoid missions/CZs/infested settlements, FC C tritium transfers to depot and ATC with proper CMDR recognition.

 

[stringtheery]

​

Live Mode as the Default Download

Thank goodness! I got tired of seeing streamers brand new to the game accidentally playing the legacy version (and not knowing it).

 

[Frankymole]

Stopping player factions is interesting tho, especially if this fact really is connected to the Thargoid war?

Nearly every inhabited system has a PMF presence in it now, so perhaps they just ran out of room.

 

[ElvisKremmen]

Take your time to get it right, looking forward to the next part of the war. Thanks for the update o7

 

[HeatherG]

It's unfortunate that we don't have the Feature Overhaul in April, whatever it may be.
But, thanks for the update we really appreciate it

 

[MattG]

Pretty disappointing about the feature update but it is what it is.

Can we have improved Tritium mining in U15 to cheer us all up instead?

 

[St0rmFury]

Welp.

 

[rootsrat]

Thanks for the update, it's good to have news. Some more details would be appreciated though.

 

[zimms]

[...]​

Major Feature Rework
Last year we announced a major update that would rework a long standing feature. This is still being investigated, however a number of changes (not least the Thargoid War itself) have required our attention as a priority. We will share details of this investigation and our plans towards the end of this year.
[...]

That's incredible... It was announced for early 2023 then never talked about again. And now at the end of March we learn that production hasn't even started. Not a single word on that in the meantime. Very nice.

 

[Mauxion]

So will steam users will finally be able to get rid of obsolete legacy files and free some of disk space ?

 

[Fnord Velkor]

....... This will encourage new players to try the main version of Elite with access to future updates while keeping Legacy as an optional alternative. .....​

Maybe someone there can sort out why new players (and clear saves) don't start in the noob-zone and don't have the permit for the area. "The Pilots' Federation Administration district" ... another of our amazing features that we managed to completely break by concentrating on shooting stuff instead... you are welcome.

 

[Alec Turner]

That's incredible... It was announced for early 2023 then never talked about again. And now at the end of March we learn that production hasn't even started. Not a single word on that in the meantime. Very nice.

Actually you kinda have a point. My head read "postponed" but .... "investigated"! That really does smack a bit of "not even started", in which case that's not a great look I'll grant you.

 

[metatheurgist]

Stopping player factions is interesting tho, especially if this fact really is related to the Thargoid war?

I can tell you now one of the reasons I don't give a crap about the thargoid war is because I feel no investment in the bubble due to it being overtaken by PMFs.

 

[DarkVoidBoy]

I really don't see my squadron ever returning to this game until Engineering is reworked and improved.

 

[Griff Rogers]

Thanks for the clear update - always appreciated!
I do second the sentiment that improved tritium mining would cheer us up! Though I also wouldn't mind a restoration of at least some of the Colonia tritium supply