Newcomer / Intro What's Odyssey got to offer me - I've no interest in FPS and engineering suits/guns?

[CMDRQuainMarln]

I'm a spaceship pilot. It's why I play Elite Dangerous. Landing on planets and exploring in an SRV is a worthwhile addition and it's fun looking back at my ship and returning to it. Getting out of the commanders chair, exploring inside and around my own ships and meeting NPCs face to face to talk missions with some story depth/realism than they have in Horizons would be a welcome addition.
What I'm not interested in is first person shooter or grinding materials for suit and gun engineering improvements - I don't even want to start down that road. If I played Odyssey, I'd want to ignore all that.
If I got Odyssey, can I avoid most/all the on foot stuff?
Do I get to keep my current small fleet of ships plus all their engineering improvements?
What has Odyssey got to offer me?
Improved graphics and improvements to the ship based missions and presentation of them could be worth it.

 

[Tyres O'Flaherty]

You've answered your own question I think.

But you could pursue a career in gardening bios for another elite discipline or bask in the graphical glory that is planetary visual improvements*

* if your PC can handle it without melting.

 

[Dommarraa]

A slightly more modern, but more buggy UI.

Oh, not having to restart the client to get updated BGS data. That's a genuine improvement, but that's about it.

 

[StanleyDunkan]

If you own it on Steam, you might want to get it on Sale. No point in paying full price if you not interested in ground combat.
Since they will add new Planet Tech to Horizon for free, it make Odyssey just Ground combat for 40$, that has little intereset to you.

 

[Para Handy]

...
What has Odyssey got to offer me?
.......

When winter comes (or now if you are in the Antipodes) - it lets your PC double as a space-heater. GPU at 100% all the time so card fan is in constant high(ish) speed.

I have just set up and switched on my Dalek air conditioner as it is too hot for me in my apartment (I have a dodgy thyroid) so no Oddity testing for me until the weather turns.

P.S. I concur with @StanleyDunkan - if you run Elite via Steam, wait for Oddity to be at sale price. (Unfortunately the frontier store never seems to have sales any more.)

 

[Demonlord79]

Horizons is a must, great addition, and still love it despite what is currently a tiny bit messy given what Odyssey did to it but still very good expansion.
Odyssey? Well, there are a few ways to look at it....!

1. If you blink your eyes slow enough it might seem like the frame rate isn't too bad on foot with improved graphics, as mentioned above, if you don't melt your Vcard trying first.

2. You get to wait and watch the "Loading Simulation" every time you enter a system for 1 to 500 seconds, I imagine, depending on your computer of course. Having a rather higher end platform built for gaming I still get to see a very fast system loader instead of instant, seamless, seeding systems as before Odyssey. I Can only imagine how long lower end platforms have to wait which is really stupid given those whom meet the requirements and then deal with that. I know..."facepalm"

3. New materials for Odyssey's engineering suits and weapons, which I guess is cool as I've yet been able to figure out why do you need mats to unlock slots when you can buy suits and weapons that already have open slots, not sure what types of things you can engineer yet. I think..."shrug"

4. You get to walk around on a planet at 1mph or just use your SRV and do 30+mph at the expense of a rough expansion, Odyssey. Rather weird I guess..."shrug"

5. Odyssey you have the choice to take missions that pay on average 100k, if you're lucky, instead of taking similar missions, (Horizons) with your ship that pay 4x more. I guess...."shrug"

6. You get a UI that is a mix of radial or a non-needed upgrade to replace the old. I guess...."shrug"

7. Remember, if it's not broke you don't need to fix it, which is why parts of Horizons that have nothing to do with Odyssey are messy or replaced. Kind of weird..."still shrugging"

I'm sure Frontier will eventually get everything fixed to running good again here in a month. I hope...."shrug with hope"
So now? You might as well buy both if you can due that Horizons is still very much worth it even with slight problems that most are already fixed but will still run great despite Odyssey's problems but everything will get fixed anyway. I guess...." still shrugging and hoping"

Good luck with the decision and I hope the info helps. I guess..."shrug"
o7 Commander

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

Oh dear.
Clearly Elite has gone in a direction I don't want to flow and even made the Horizons part of the game I do want worse to play in some ways.

 

[Darkman Returns]

I'm a spaceship pilot. It's why I play Elite Dangerous. Landing on planets and exploring in an SRV is a worthwhile addition and it's fun looking back at my ship and returning to it. Getting out of the commanders chair, exploring inside and around my own ships and meeting NPCs face to face to talk missions with some story depth/realism than they have in Horizons would be a welcome addition...

Amen. FDev gave us a tantalising glimpse of that with the Commander Chronicles - Lift-Off video, then went off and did an FPS bolt-on.

I finished all the unlocking / upgrading / engineering of my feet a couple of weeks ago and I have no desire to go back there any time soon. There is no doubt that FDev put a lot of work into the new settlements and the on foot gameplay but it still seems very much a work in progress, particularly with the AI, which I know is one of the most difficult things to code well, but which currently is a little too rigid and predictable to offer much challenge or long-term enjoyment for me.

For the last few days though, after taking a week off to get over the disappointment of Update 5, I've been playing EDO exclusively as a pilot and have been enjoying it much more. I've noticed numerous graphical and sound changes which just incrementally improve the experience. The planets of course are much more detailed. The UI is now arguably better in some areas that Horizons, the Galmap & Sysmap especially, with Outfitting much improved but still a bit buggy.

To answer your other questions, yes you can continue as you were in Horizons, with your fleet and their engineering unchanged. The "foot stuff" is optional. The ship missions haven't really changed, though the Station UI has changed to the Fleet Carrier flat screen look. And of course ship based EDO is much smoother and less affected by bugs at the moment.

 

[Tyres O'Flaherty]

EDO is... OK. Ish. Well, y'know, you can play it if you want.

I've given up on engineering as the mat cost is frustratingly high with their availability frustratingly low. I suppose that, if you are heavily invested in the on-foot experience, chasing that stuff is worth it. It's not for me though.

I'll play Quake 3 Arena if I want to shoot bots in a first person shooter.

The stealth side of things looks interesting but I haven't looked into or tried it.

I do like the planetary look... well, perhaps I'll appreciate it more when my new PC arrives. Overall, EDO has slowed everything down in terms of FPS and I find myself going back to EDH when I want to do more "classic" Elite stuff.

So... I'll give it 7/10.

Here's to hoping future updates will nudge that figure higher.

 

[aRJay]

I'm a spaceship pilot. It's why I play Elite Dangerous. Landing on planets and exploring in an SRV is a worthwhile addition and it's fun looking back at my ship and returning to it. Getting out of the commanders chair, exploring inside and around my own ships and meeting NPCs face to face to talk missions with some story depth/realism than they have in Horizons would be a welcome addition.
What I'm not interested in is first person shooter or grinding materials for suit and gun engineering improvements - I don't even want to start down that road. If I played Odyssey, I'd want to ignore all that.

1. If I got Odyssey, can I avoid most/all the on foot stuff?
2. Do I get to keep my current small fleet of ships plus all their engineering improvements?
3. What has Odyssey got to offer me?
4. Improved graphics and improvements to the ship based missions and presentation of them could be worth it.

1. Yes you could, it would be like Horizons with some extra planets thrown in. Almost as easy would be to avoid the on foot shooty stuff which would add give you some other things to look at.
2. Absolutely.
3. A different perspective on things and an appreciation of scale.
4. -

The good thing about suits and weapons in Odyssey is you can find them in a partially engineered condition in the shops and buy them for credits, it is a great incentive to visit more stations if like me you don’t bother with missions much.

 

[Kissamies]

Prettier screenshots with more kinds of perspectives than before. As for the on-foot gameplay, I've found the First Person Sneaker gameplay most rewarding. Not brilliant, but pretty fun.

 

[Para Handy]

Horizons is a must, great addition, and still love it despite what is currently a tiny bit messy g...
....You might as well buy both if you can due that Horizons is still very much worth it e...

I gave up trying to decide if you were just making a totally sarcastic post...

... but I wanted to point out that Horizons is now not a separate expansion but is part of Elite Dangerous the game so "buy both" is not a good counter to: "Oddity is pants unless you want a FPS, so wait for a sale".

 

[Tyres O'Flaherty]

...

So... I'll give it 7/10.

...

I've just deducted a point as:

1) My ADC just smashed me into one of those huge beams sticking out of a noobhammer Coriolis
2) I keep hitting invisible rocks at speed
3) it's too damn hot to be playing today - my rig is screaming for mercy and to play EDH instead of EDO. What's that sound? Someone screeching? Oh, no, it's just my GPU fans.

I'll add a 1/2 point back though as I've just been promoted to "Cataloguer".

 

[Demonlord79]

Oh dear.
Clearly Elite has gone in a direction I don't want to flow and even made the Horizons part of the game I do want worse to play in some ways.

I would recommend Horizons, it is well worth the price and gives good content to ED even though I mentioned some discretion with Horizons but it is pretty much polished and is on a very good track. I think I could say that Frontier is in fact holding Horizons content as primary as any slight fixes, not that there really is as of now.
If you love ED you would most likely enjoy Horizons as you can do everything in ED but Horizons does provide a good amount of new options, mainly engineering to enhance your current ships to make them more efficient and such. Odyssey on the other hand will get fixes but as of now you don't need to participate in either but content is there if you wanna try them.
Oh and thank you Commander @Para Handy with helping with some of the things I didn't clarify enough info... o7

Again I hope everyone has helped you out with good information on both ....o7 Commander

 

[Florenus]

If I got Odyssey, can I avoid most/all the on foot stuff?

Yes. You can practically ignore it all, because it's like a separate game (which I think is really bad design). At no point being a spaceship pilot reqires you to do something on foot (even if it was optional)- nor will you befit from doing on foot stuff as a spaceship pilot. You must specifically go to concourse and select some kind of on-foot mission to receive rewards that you will only need to do on foot missions (actually you don't even really need to upgrade anything, because everything is perfectly doable with basic equipment, or things you can find in stores). Or you can just walk around planetary outposts and steal stuff you will not need unless you want to do on foot missions.

I got Odyssey to be able to walk around and get new perspective. Being able to do that is fun (if we forget about bugs and performance issues for a moment). Is it worth it? Not really. Not at current price.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

I would recommend Horizons, it is well worth the price and gives good content to ED even though I mentioned some discretion with Horizons but it is pretty much polished and is on a very good track. I think I could say that Frontier is in fact holding Horizons content as primary as any slight fixes, not that there really is as of now.
If you love ED you would most likely enjoy Horizons as you can do everything in ED but Horizons does provide a good amount of new options, mainly engineering to enhance your current ships to make them more efficient and such. Odyssey on the other hand will get fixes but as of now you don't need to participate in either but content is there if you wanna try them.
Oh and thank you Commander @Para Handy with helping with some of the things I didn't clarify enough info... o7

Again I hope everyone has helped you out with good information on both ....o7 Commander

I started on Horizons in May this year and I'm well down the road of engineering a Krait Phantom explorer, Krait 2 combat / multi-role and Anaconda long distance armed freighter / passenger transport / laser miner. I swap engineered modules between ships as much as I can.
Engineering ships is grindy at times, but the results are fun and I love being able to personalise ships this way. I think the trick is to engineer a bit, do some general missions and exploration, before doing some more engineering progression. You get to appreciate the benefits of engineering more this way - at least I do.

Good information here that confirmed by suspicion that Odyssey is not for me yet. I would probably go for it if/when walking inside your own ships becomes possible - depending on how well it's done. Will you be able to see the passenger cabin / cargo rack / refinery / whatever in that module slot you just fitted?
That would be cool.

 

[Tyres O'Flaherty]

I started on Horizons in May this year and I'm well down the road of engineering a Krait Phantom explorer, Krait 2 combat / multi-role and Anaconda long distance armed freighter / passenger transport / laser miner. I swap engineered modules between ships as much as I can.
Engineering ships is grindy at times, but the results are fun and I love being able to personalise ships this way. I think the trick is to engineer a bit, do some general missions and exploration, before doing some more engineering progression. You get to appreciate the benefits of engineering more this way - at least I do.

Good information here that confirmed by suspicion that Odyssey is not for me yet. I would probably go for it if/when walking inside your own ships becomes possible - depending on how well it's done. Will you be able to see the passenger cabin / cargo rack / refinery / whatever in that module slot you just fitted?
That would be cool.

When I first heard we were getting legs, I was hoping to be able to walk around my ship.

I was also thinking - naively- that we would be able go anywhere we wanted on stations.

I suspect, like stations, if we ever get legs on our ship, where you can actually walk will be restricted.

 

[Demonlord79]

Yes, Horizons is a never ending expansion, thought you were coming from the ED vanilla.
I'm not really into combat much as I love exploring, mining, trading, and discovery. Never was able to get a team to fight Thargoids but was able to unlock all the tech minus the bobblehead LOL. Combat I used to farming mats , but I do believe at this point as @Tyres O'Flaherty mentioned about space legs, though I'm not sure Frontier plans on giving us access to walk around ships due to, last I heard anyway, it wouldn't be worth the time to code it as you walk around 2 times and you're pretty much bored already...lol. I know I would and care less to see where I sleep, take a dump, or get a good view of my nice new coffee cup holder....lol (IMO anyway)

But I'm also one of those players that thought Carriers were the stupidest thing they've done. Having a base on a planet would have been a much better addition as the planet seeding is gone now and permanent surface structures were introduced, hidden bases unless seen with 1.5k POI sensors of course, instead of the space trash "Carriers" but this is just what would make better sense given that Odyssey was going to switch to a permanent planet system, now that POI's, planet skimming, and sensor ranging are useless now. "shrug".
Best of luck and they won't take loo long with fixing Odyssey's optimization as Horizons fixes are pretty much done now.
But we'll see what they do next...o7

 

[Dragsham]

Foot combat zones.

Absolute scream. I had to try the quake rocket launcher tween the legs up you go thing. Didn't work I died.
But the rpg does work a treat vs the enemy when I'm spending alot of my time in mid air camped near the ammo crate popping the L6 at anything that moves.
Cz ends abruptly cos their all dead or it can go on till reinforcements are depleted.
But they need to be harder. Specially the highs.

 

[Demonlord79]

Foot combat zones.

Absolute scream. I had to try the quake rocket launcher tween the legs up you go thing. Didn't work I died.
But the rpg does work a treat vs the enemy when I'm spending alot of my time in mid air camped near the ammo crate popping the L6 at anything that moves.
Cz ends abruptly cos their all dead or it can go on till reinforcements are depleted.
But they need to be harder. Specially the highs.

LMAO, now that sounds like fun. Despite you not recommending it just urges my even more to try it.

o7 Commander