Very excited by this game but...

[filip]

I watched over an hour of alpha gameplay videos on youtube and already this game looks and feels amazing, however there are some things I wish to know before backing it:

-will you be able to get out of your pilot chair at any point you want and move around your ship and interact with various parts of the ship in a meaningful manner or with your crew?
This is important because I've always felt that the main flaw of space-sims is that they felt like space window FPS, when you have the freedom to walk on your ship or stations/planets you land on you get a very powerful contrast that enhances the gameplay experience and the main mode- space sim- itself.

-I am concerned that the system requirements are too low meaning that graphics will be dumbed down for the wider variety of systems, like Diablo 3 which in 2012 still bizarrely doesn't have dynamic lighting. Will you also allow to be dragged down by the lowest common denominator?
Especially if this game will support Oculus Rift so the visual fidelity will have larger impact.

-will you be able to land on the planet and have land missions that bring amazing experiences such as this? With options to buy a variety of weapons, armor or even buy a drone and control it from the ship itself(remember that amazing mission in Mass Effect 2 Arrival DLC where you controlled the robot)?

 

[Yaffle]

I watched over an hour of alpha gameplay videos on youtube and already this game looks and feels amazing, however there are some things I wish to know before backing it:

-will you be able to get out of your pilot chair at any point you want and move around your ship and interact with various parts of the ship in a meaningful manner or with your crew?
This is important because I've always felt that the main flaw of space-sims is that they felt like space window FPS, when you have the freedom to walk on your ship or stations/planets you land on you get a very powerful contrast that enhances the gameplay experience and the main mode- space sim- itself.

-I am concerned that the system requirements are too low meaning that graphics will be dumbed down for the wider variety of systems, like Diablo 3 which in 2012 still bizarrely doesn't have dynamic lighting. Will you also allow to be dragged down by the lowest common denominator?
Especially if this game will support Oculus Rift so the visual fidelity will have larger impact.

-will you be able to land on the planet and have land missions that bring amazing experiences such as this? With options to buy a variety of weapons, armor or even buy a drone and control it from the ship itself(remember that amazing mission in Mass Effect 2 Arrival DLC where you controlled the robot)?

Both landing on planets and walking around have been scheduled for later updates/expansions.

I cannot give specifics on the graphics, however it is usual in PC games to have sliders to set the quality from "rubbish" to "jaw droppingly awesome" and you set it according to your PC's capability. So the experience will differ on differing PCs.

 

[filip]

So, we are talking about 2017. for the full game experience and that only if everything goes well? You're saying that you will first have to play a half-finished game that will feel like another space-window FPS?

 

[Lorenzo]

I watched over an hour of alpha gameplay videos on youtube and already this game looks and feels amazing, however there are some things I wish to know before backing it:

-will you be able to get out of your pilot chair at any point you want and move around your ship and interact with various parts of the ship in a meaningful manner or with your crew?
This is important because I've always felt that the main flaw of space-sims is that they felt like space window FPS, when you have the freedom to walk on your ship or stations/planets you land on you get a very powerful contrast that enhances the gameplay experience and the main mode- space sim- itself.

-I am concerned that the system requirements are too low meaning that graphics will be dumbed down for the wider variety of systems, like Diablo 3 which in 2012 still bizarrely doesn't have dynamic lighting. Will you also allow to be dragged down by the lowest common denominator?
Especially if this game will support Oculus Rift so the visual fidelity will have larger impact.

-will you be able to land on the planet and have land missions that bring amazing experiences such as this? With options to buy a variety of weapons, armor or even buy a drone and control it from the ship itself(remember that amazing mission in Mass Effect 2 Arrival DLC where you controlled the robot)?

After the game release we will have our first expansion witch is landing on planets and walking on stations and ships witch is a very big expansion cause there will be millions of planets out there.

About the graphics, you can have great graphics with low requirements when there is good optimization on the engine, but to play this game on max settings you will need a pretty good pc to keep high fps for sure.

 

[jabokai]

After the game release we will have our first expansion witch is landing on planets and walking on stations and ships witch is a very big expansion cause there will be millions of planets out there.

I believe that, from what we know so far, they will be two separate expansions. From what FD had said in the past it seemed like we'd get planetary landings first (within a year of release) and walking around after that. But they've since said that they hadn't made any official announcements so it looks like they're keeping their options open. I would not expect both those in one though, that is really asking too much if they're going to do them right.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

I watched over an hour of alpha gameplay videos on youtube and already this game looks and feels amazing, however there are some things I wish to know before backing it:

-will you be able to get out of your pilot chair at any point you want and move around your ship and interact with various parts of the ship in a meaningful manner or with your crew?

This is important because I've always felt that the main flaw of space-sims is that they felt like space window FPS, when you have the freedom to walk on your ship or stations/planets you land on you get a very powerful contrast that enhances the gameplay experience and the main mode- space sim- itself.

Yes, walking and seamless landings/atmoshperic flight are planned for expansions (which schedule yet remind to be released, but they are officially hinted here http://elite.frontier.co.uk/about. For initial release in March will have crews for bigger ships, but you won't interact with them directly in first person mode (you will issue commands trough holographic interface) until walking expansion.

Btw current price for expansion pass is 35 pounds so maybe it is worth to check it out.

-I am concerned that the system requirements are too low meaning that graphics will be dumbed down for the wider variety of systems, like Diablo 3 which in 2012 still bizarrely doesn't have dynamic lighting. Will you also allow to be dragged down by the lowest common denominator?
Especially if this game will support Oculus Rift so the visual fidelity will have larger impact.

Don't worry, those are not *recommended* system requirements, but *minimal* system requirements. Their engine is very versatile and scalable, thus allowing ED to be played by much more people, while not sacrificing nothing of visual fidelity. If you turn all settings to max, you will get very beautiful visual experience if your machine allows that. Don't take my word for it, check out some videos around Youtube.

 

[natte hond]

removed:
by my self

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

I believe that, from what we know so far, they will be two separate expansions. From what FD had said in the past it seemed like we'd get planetary landings first (within a year of release) and walking around after that. But they've since said that they hadn't made any official announcements so it looks like they're keeping their options open. I would not expect both those in one though, that is really asking too much if they're going to do them right.

http://elite.frontier.co.uk/about this is as official as it can get before more concrete official announcement (with ETA and other details of course).

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

Please don't link KS page, it has lot of outdated information, especially FAQ part.

Better way to get info is unofficial FAQ http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Elite:_Dangerous_FAQ
And Official About page on website http://elite.frontier.co.uk/about

 

[Crystles]

About the graphics, you can have great graphics with low requirements when there is good optimization on the engine, but to play this game on max settings you will need a pretty good pc to keep high fps for sure.

The game can actually be played on max right now if your using current gen hardware (the Haswell processor and a 7xx card/amd equivalent). I dont consider that too high really. In the most intensive segments during alpha (both in the asteroid field stealth mission and the factions battle) my FPS doesnt drop below 58 (and thats because its capped with Vsync). My current gear is the i5 4670k and the Nvidia 770. Basically a 1000$ overall brand new computer.

That being said, from what I've seen of this engine its VERY flexible, and scales nicely. I wouldnt worry about the "min" specs, as they are totally unrepresentative of the overall quality. The game looks phenomenal.

Everything else you desire is in the works, but wont be a launch day thing. Planet landing is probably going to be last, but the game is already being designed with ship/station walking in mind. Just take a look at some of the pics that show cut aways, the interior is modeled out already.

 

[Hamerstein]

So, we are talking about 2017. for the full game experience and that only if everything goes well? You're saying that you will first have to play a half-finished game that will feel like another space-window FPS?

We don't know. As Jabokai says above, the Planetary landings were estimated by FD to be within the first year of release - so that's late 2014 into 2015. For the EVA (extra vehicular activity) expansion we've no estimate, but late 2015 into 2016 would be a fair guess.

As for being half finished, it depends on your perspective. ED is a sequel to Elite, and that was a totally ship based combat/trading game. If you read the Design Decision Archives, you'll get a feel for how accomplished even this element will be, it's rather more complex than a space-window FPS.

 

[Neo-ST]

Did you call it a space-window FPS ??

Look what you've done!

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

So, we are talking about 2017. for the full game experience and that only if everything goes well? You're saying that you will first have to play a half-finished game that will feel like another space-window FPS?

Not exactly. Seamless landings will be close to 2015 spring, also they have started to work already on avatars as walking part (you will see your hands and legs if you will use head look, Oculus Rift or Track IR. My guess "complete" game (with both walking/landing expansions) will be ready at the the end of 2015.

 

[filip]

Not exactly. Seamless landings will be close to 2015 spring, also they have started to work already on avatars as walking part

Well, at least that's good, I remember being really bothered when in Half Life 2 you had no hands on the steering wheel or turrets, and that was back then when no one even thought about immersion.

I guess with Oculus Rift, which I will definitely buy and only play with, space window FPS becomes less of an issue, although it's still there.

 

[SAB380]

So, we are talking about 2017. for the full game experience and that only if everything goes well? You're saying that you will first have to play a half-finished game that will feel like another space-window FPS?

It shouldn't be considered a half finished game if the launch product is bigger than any other game ever produced in terms of scale.

And FYI - the planets are already in there from launch, they are just locked. This is because they want to add interesting content to the planets, not just have millions of planets with nothing to do.

But don't worry about things needing to go well. Planets are guaranteed to be 'unlocked' and content there in 'under 1 year' according to the developer.

Past that, the interiors of your ships are also there right from launch, but again are locked at the moment to give them time to add content. At the very least, it would be no work at all to make a first person view where you can move around your ship ....but again they want to do everything right.

So I wouldn't worry about the promised additions not appearing ...since they are basically already there.

 

[Shishakli]

-will you be able to land on the planet and have land missions that bring amazing experiences such as this? With options to buy a variety of weapons, armor or even buy a drone and control it from the ship itself(remember that amazing mission in Mass Effect 2 Arrival DLC where you controlled the robot)?

I think you have a weird definition for "amazing experience". It's going to be hard for any dedicated space sim to make FPS enjoyable (Don't know of any that have done it yet), but if that was what was added to Elite Dangerous I would be ed. No way I'd pay money for that.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

So, we are talking about 2017. for the full game experience and that only if everything goes well? You're saying that you will first have to play a half-finished game that will feel like another space-window FPS?

LoL .. Half finished game

When ED is released it will be complete - Planetary Landing is not required (nor welcomed by some, like myself) so it's addition later is irrelevant.

 

[sp33dy]

So, we are talking about 2017. for the full game experience and that only if everything goes well? You're saying that you will first have to play a half-finished game that will feel like another space-window FPS?

Oh dear. I think 99% of original Elite players are happy with the space-window FPS! For that is the Genre. I personally am not wanting all the wondering around in a cockpit/ship, but do wish for landing on planets. If we wonder around a ship, you are relying on NPC's to do the flying; that to me is no FUN.

 

[sp33dy]

I think you have a weird definition for "amazing experience". It's going to be hard for any dedicated space sim to make FPS enjoyable (Don't know of any that have done it yet), but if that was what was added to Elite Dangerous I would be ed. No way I'd pay money for that.

ROFL, why are you even bothered posting? Have you *ever* played the original Elite or Final Frontier? It's not just about a FPS type style game. The missions, trading and general freedom is somewhat like GTAV in space. Ok, without the wondering around for now. However, if that is released, it'll blow people's minds. However, you can't have a Universe on a stick from day 1. You have to be patient and accept a Galaxy.

[EDIT] Sorry Shishakli, that was aimed at filip and others.

 

[MortVader]

The missions, trading and general freedom is somewhat like GTAV in space.

Actually it's the other way around

Elite came first. GTA is like Elite, but in a city!