Personally I would think EVAs would be fairly easy feature to implement and a hell of a lot of fun. Easy because the ship models are already done
Walking around stations may be a bad idea
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Personally I would think EVAs would be fairly easy feature to implement and a hell of a lot of fun. Easy because the ship models are already done
It would be nice if they did another sort of DDF. Though only the original backers that had access to the first one should be allowed in again (the community could go nuts in the general forums).
They would present a vision and get a feedback.
I'm personally on the fence about walking around. I would like to walk around the ship, maybe even have some combat/repair included. Walking around station...what for? Best I could picture would be having some sort of menu in the ship with destinations so you could visit a bar, casino, local gardens, dock, shop, bulletin board etc. Other part is that they could include missions that you would need to deliver in person. Either actual delivery or shooting someone in the face would work.
I'm looking forward to planets lot more tbh, but the possibilities are exciting
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They would present a vision and get a feedback.
I'm personally on the fence about walking around. I would like to walk around the ship, maybe even have some combat/repair included. Walking around station...what for? Best I could picture would be having some sort of menu in the ship with destinations so you could visit a bar, casino, local gardens, dock, shop, bulletin board etc. Other part is that they could include missions that you would need to deliver in person. Either actual delivery or shooting someone in the face would work.
I'm looking forward to planets lot more tbh, but the possibilities are exciting
.That isn't really how game development --when done properly-- works. You have a team dedicated to the FPS part, you have a team dedicated to the space part. They work with each other, but throwing all the FPS guys on the space part isn't going to just magically make the space part better. Ask Ubisoft and their 1,000+ people working on Assassin's Creed. More chefs does not a better meal make. What makes a quality product is putting the right talent on the right team and giving them enough time, and SC isn't a game being rushed out the door to meet some arbitrary anniversary like some other game I know...
To the OP,
No...just no...
I am so happy that the developers have stated whole heartedly that walking in stations, on planets, and derelict ships is being added to the game. It will help with immersion and take this game to another level that few space sims actually reach. EVE Online promised us WIS and then snatched it away from us players, and that lack of vision for what WIS would have brought EVE is why I left. I don't want to be stuck in a spaceship all the time - and my character is not my ship. That is one of the reasons that EVE hasn't really caught on. People have a hard time associating with the concept that your character is this ship. I hope that Elite and Star Citizen bring back playing a character and not a ship.
There are tons of opportunities for game play aspects that can be done with characters. It's fine if all you want to do is fly a ship. The game will allow it, but there are those of us that want to see David Braben and Chris Roberts push the boundaries of computer gaming and give us more than just a simple space sim - but a total sci-fi virtual gaming experience.
No...just no...
I am so happy that the developers have stated whole heartedly that walking in stations, on planets, and derelict ships is being added to the game. It will help with immersion and take this game to another level that few space sims actually reach. EVE Online promised us WIS and then snatched it away from us players, and that lack of vision for what WIS would have brought EVE is why I left. I don't want to be stuck in a spaceship all the time - and my character is not my ship. That is one of the reasons that EVE hasn't really caught on. People have a hard time associating with the concept that your character is this ship. I hope that Elite and Star Citizen bring back playing a character and not a ship.
There are tons of opportunities for game play aspects that can be done with characters. It's fine if all you want to do is fly a ship. The game will allow it, but there are those of us that want to see David Braben and Chris Roberts push the boundaries of computer gaming and give us more than just a simple space sim - but a total sci-fi virtual gaming experience.
I'm more interested in moving around inside (and I hope, outside) my ship than I am in station-walking. There is some potential there for doing repairs in deep space, like having to do an EVA to repair dead thrusters. Or get into the engine room to repair or mod the engine for better performance. Eventually, maybe some interaction with either an NPC or player co-pilot in the multi seat cockpits. Those empty seats have to be there for a reason.
I know some people are excited about the multiplayer potential for station-walking, but it could easily turn into the kind of thing you see in MMO's like WoW, with people bunny hopping and dancing everywhere. I dunno, doesn't sound that appealing to me.
Since there is a sizeable percentage of the player base using Solo mode, and their money will be just as important for selling the DLC, it means the NPC environment will also have to be believable. It's difficult to pull off a living station environment with just NPC's unless you have a Bioware-sized budget for something like the Mass Effect stations.
We might see just a limited expansion at first, where we can walk (or float) inside our ships, and walk around station hangers to ogle our ships and buy upgrades, without full access to the rest of the station. Maybe a Starbucks kiosk or dive bar next to the hanger for limited player-to-player conversation.. That's probably something a studio the size of FD can pull off. Getting inside the rest of the station... I'm skeptical about that.
I know some people are excited about the multiplayer potential for station-walking, but it could easily turn into the kind of thing you see in MMO's like WoW, with people bunny hopping and dancing everywhere. I dunno, doesn't sound that appealing to me.
Since there is a sizeable percentage of the player base using Solo mode, and their money will be just as important for selling the DLC, it means the NPC environment will also have to be believable. It's difficult to pull off a living station environment with just NPC's unless you have a Bioware-sized budget for something like the Mass Effect stations.
We might see just a limited expansion at first, where we can walk (or float) inside our ships, and walk around station hangers to ogle our ships and buy upgrades, without full access to the rest of the station. Maybe a Starbucks kiosk or dive bar next to the hanger for limited player-to-player conversation.. That's probably something a studio the size of FD can pull off. Getting inside the rest of the station... I'm skeptical about that.
Rebirth permanently cured me from any desire I may have had to walk on stations. It could be cute if done right, but I don't play a space game to walk around. If they fix every issue this game has and bring in a ton of actual spaceship content, they can add walking on stations as extra fluff down the line, but please, there are much more pressing things to be working on for now.
Here's another cautionary example besides the disaster that was X:Rebirth.
Does anyone here remember what happened with the Silent Hunter series? For years, players pleaded with the devs to let us walk around inside the submarine, interacting with crew members, helping with engine repairs and damage control instead of having a simple menu-based command interface.
Well, we got that in Silent Hunter 5 and it killed the series.
The one good thing about it was that yes, we could finally move around inside a 3D environment from one end of the sub to the other. But the crew interaction was badly designed, the controls were clumsy, and so much time and effort was spent on that aspect that the rest of the game was a horrible, broken mess. Silent Hunter 5 would have been a far better product if they had ignored what the players wanted for full submarine interior interaction, and focused more on the rest of the game.
That can't happen to ED, at least to the same extent, because we already have a core game engine that works without the walking around stuff. And since it will be sold as an expansion, it shouldn't be possible to harm the core game the way SH5's focus on interiors did. But it's still another object lesson in what can go wrong, especially with smaller studios and limited budgets.
Does anyone here remember what happened with the Silent Hunter series? For years, players pleaded with the devs to let us walk around inside the submarine, interacting with crew members, helping with engine repairs and damage control instead of having a simple menu-based command interface.
Well, we got that in Silent Hunter 5 and it killed the series.
The one good thing about it was that yes, we could finally move around inside a 3D environment from one end of the sub to the other. But the crew interaction was badly designed, the controls were clumsy, and so much time and effort was spent on that aspect that the rest of the game was a horrible, broken mess. Silent Hunter 5 would have been a far better product if they had ignored what the players wanted for full submarine interior interaction, and focused more on the rest of the game.
That can't happen to ED, at least to the same extent, because we already have a core game engine that works without the walking around stuff. And since it will be sold as an expansion, it shouldn't be possible to harm the core game the way SH5's focus on interiors did. But it's still another object lesson in what can go wrong, especially with smaller studios and limited budgets.
In a video David Braben explains that planetary landings will be delivered in stages, firstly airless planets before moving onto other more challenging environments and I don't see why walking around won't be too different. Start with getting out of the chair and walking around and interacting inside our ships to make that part worthwhile, then move to EVA before expanding into outposts and stations.
The real question is not whether they should do it, they have already been working towards this since day 1, but the manner in which they will achieve good results.
The real question is not whether they should do it, they have already been working towards this since day 1, but the manner in which they will achieve good results.
Definitely, it will add nothing to the game and simply distract from improving the core dynamics of the game. Just a gimmick that best case scenario will wear off all too quickly. Worst case scenario will actively detract from the experience.
I guess that Frontier could update the "Solo/Group/Open" to allow different settings in different locations. e.g. Opt for group play inside stations, but solo when you leave into space.
Yes please.
I've played that "other" game and while neat and improving, the identical stations is frustrating. So give us procedurally generated interiors. That'd be pretty impressive. And then give us to the ability to interact with other humans on station, smuggle good--do things above and beyond what you can do in the ship with greater risk/reward. And things like taking control of a station by force in FPS mode--with FPS combat. You could get in the control tower and turn on/off defenses/the door/whatever. Make it yours.
Make other players... take it back.
The possibilities... they are limitless. They'd add huge depth to the game, too. It'd easily be worth an expansion price if they included planetary landings/bases/roaming, etc., too.
I think it's safe to assume we know a bit about computers.
I saw what you did there! ;o)
On-topic: I'd like to be able to walk in stations, and especially my ship, but it's low on the priority list for me.
from my understanding of procedural generation it would be easier to do planets then the interior of ships. terrain fits a pattern.
in fact, I think being able to fly around a planets surface would be fairly easy. landing and walking around not as much. EVA I think would be easy to, given the assets are already created..
Here's a radical idea. Frontier could crowdsource the NPC assets. Ask the community to supply voice samples for the general phrases, then they could pick and choose those that they thought were of sufficient quality to use in the game. This would give a pool of multi-nation/gender on a limited budget.
Pointless to argue about this, they already stated that it's going to happen.
Planetary landing is definitely going to happen because that is what Braben himself is most excited about, I personally can not wait for it because it's going to be awesome, regardless how shallow it might turn out to be I'd like to step out of my ship and stretch my legs have some down time from flying, play some poker in some station, sit in a bar somewhere talking to some new made friends about my adventures and theirs. This is a space sim and it shouldn't limit itself to flying alone.
Planetary landing is definitely going to happen because that is what Braben himself is most excited about, I personally can not wait for it because it's going to be awesome, regardless how shallow it might turn out to be I'd like to step out of my ship and stretch my legs have some down time from flying, play some poker in some station, sit in a bar somewhere talking to some new made friends about my adventures and theirs. This is a space sim and it shouldn't limit itself to flying alone.
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