What is ED ? It is an exploration sim with combat added

[catanonia]

Remember the 1st time you appeared in the civilised area of the galaxy. That great big red thing in the distance that we all wondered what it was ? Would it change, get closer, move, what was it ?

Well we all know it is now Bernards Loop and Orion, but remember when you 1st saw it, always there and constant in the sky ?

Elite 1984 was a combat game, with places to go that all looked the same and really meant nothing other than their tech level.

ED 2014 IMHO is build around DB's love of science and mapping the real galaxy, with a bit of combat thrown in to give it the Elite name.

I have been exploring for the last 4 weeks, getting more than 10,000ly away from Sol and WOW !!!! It is just amazing the depth and content out there. How they have done this is unbelievable. I am cruising home waiting for my 1st sight of Barnards Loop that I have not seen for over a month. Yes that BIG red thing in the sky I wondered what it was all that time ago.

I believe that combat, piracy, trading is secondary to FD and ED (only in name) and will eventually catch up with the quality of exploration and the galaxy model.

If they do 1/2 as good a job on combat, role play etc as they have and are planning to do on exploration, this game will be epic.

If you haven't ventured more than 1000ly out of the Sol area, I urge you to just give it a go and see what FD have created other than the in progress phew phew that everyone seems to concentrate on.

ED is not Elite 84, it is growing and growing with the galaxy basis already there to expand into. I really am in awe of what FD could do with this game in the next 2 years.

TLDR : Have Patience - Bored of whining about phew phew, go and explore and give FD time to get the other trades 1/2 as good.

Thanks

Cat

 

[stocko1111]

I really like this post. It wasn't until fairly recently that I stripped down my Asp and headed out exploring. Finding life on other worlds, being alone and feeling the risk of having one mistake eliminate all you've seen and worked for just disappear in the blink of an eye! You have to have the right mindset for it, but exploration is an incredible part of this game.

 

[GibMeister]

I really like this post. It wasn't until fairly recently that I stripped down my Asp and headed out exploring. Finding life on other worlds, being alone and feeling the risk of having one mistake eliminate all you've seen and worked for just disappear in the blink of an eye! You have to have the right mindset for it, but exploration is an incredible part of this game.

Just had a great idea....Gonna put a fuel scoop on my Vulture...Muhahahahah!
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Yes....right mindset....ur not kidding...! its not the real galaxy, its ones and noughts....there's nothing out there...just more empty computer generated pictures....sheesh, keeps the weirdos off the streets I suppose...

 

[bossbrigand]

I feel like FD released Elite too early. I'm glad they did - I've enjoyed the game - but when you start critically picking it apart its weak points are pretty clear. It would have been wise to stay in 'playable beta' for a while yet.

 

[PotatoOverdose]

I like exploration, but honestly once you've seen a a hundred or so stars, about as many planets, a dozen black holes, one neutron star, and one white dwarf you've pretty much seen everything there is to see.

The trouble with exploration is that, aside from beautiful scenery, there isn't much to find out there. No ruins (be it human colonists gone mad/explores/alien), no artifacts, no cosmic anomalies, no strange technology or weapons, no hostile alien probes, no giant space whales or space t-rex, nothing. Just spheres, in space. Trouble is, if you want a scenery simulator, it already exists: Space Engine - and it does scenery simulation really, really well.

Tbh I'd call it a combat/flight sim with exploration & trade added. No one (but the euro-trucker fans) would bother with trade if combat wasn't amazing, and no one would bother with exploration if the spaceflight experience wasn't superb (because Space Engine does scenery better).