Proposal Discussion Why does Elite need to be released on console?

[fed up gamer]

So I backed Elite Dangerous as I was excited for the franchise but also because I thought it would be nice to have a game developed for the PC and the PC only. Now after spending £100 to partake in a beta I hear David talking about porting to next-gen consoles?.


This I am deeply unhappy with and I wish this was mentioned before the kick starter so people can understand exactly what it is they are funding. See I "thought" I was funding a PC title and now I find out that I have paid £100 to fund a multiplatform game when PC already had thousands of "multiplatform" games that cost £25 at launch. I am deeply dissatisfied with this as I like exclusive game built around the unique strengths of a certain platform which is why I bought WiiU to play it's exclusives and so on.


So now I know that I have paid £100 to beta test a game I feel like I have just paid David and Frontier money so they can buy expensive license fees from Sony and Microsoft so they can port a game they were working on.

So from now on I am NOT going to buy Early Access games or Kick starter games as I naively thought I was supporting PC gaming and funding PC titles designed around the unique platform that is PC and NOT funding a multiplatform game. I also wonder why David never said from day one that he wanted a "multi platform" title funded?. Is it because he knew console gamers get lots of games so wouldn't kick start a game?. Or was it because he knew PC gamers were familiar with the franchise?

Surely had he said from day one that it would be a multiplatform game then he would have had the potential of more money from more gamers?.

Anyway sorry for any negativity but I am deeply upset by this news and feel that consoles have far too many games as it is , I was wanting to support PC gaming, so now I will never pay for another kick starter. If a developer wants money to make a game then let them show it to Sony or Microsoft and see if they will fund it and I will just buy it when it's finished instead of spending 4x the amount of cash to be a beta tester.

 

[ohanluain]

I think you're going to be pretty much alone on this one, bud. Especially since all the devs have said is that they're "open to the idea"of putting it on consoles.
Also you should have done some research on the game before paying for the early beta

 

[Gwyvern]

It sounds like you oppose this on the grounds that you dont want a portion of people to have nice things, rather than any legitimate concern about quality, which there shouldnt be any of.

In which case I second the notion that you will be quite alone here.

 

[Rhaedas]

I supported it for the game itself. I really don't care who is able to play it, so long as the game stays true to its vision. If anything, if I was a console player, I'd worry about getting the same game, and not a dumbed down version solely for them.

 

[Mobius]

I wouldn't worry about it to much, David has said in the past the Consoles could see ED, its only because the media heard him say it that your seeing many gaming websites mention the possibility.

the game is being developed for the PC and Mac and as such is being created with these platforms in mind, if ED was to appear on the consoles you can bet that it would be a big dumbed down version as the peasants only have the controllers as a input device.

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

I dont know about you but i backed soi i could play a new version of Elite, and the more platforms it ends up on the more money it will make for longer meaning more investment and more content via expansions.

I dont see it as losing anything if ED is ported to next gen consoles, if anything it will gain from the extra revenue.

 

[MARPATdroid]

Honestly as long as it is a port to the consoles (which we can see that it will be) I am not concerned, I just hate when PC games get dumbed down to the lowest common denominator and the PC is an after thought. If people want to buy a stripped down version of the game for consoles let them, as long as I get the full glory game on PC that supports all of the extra options a pc can handle.

 

[Zaptruder]

Talk about selfish!

Why deny the joy of Frontier to more people?

Having said that, given the preponderance of gamepads for PC users, it's essential that the game plays well on at least gamepads if it's to reach out to a larger than niche audience.

And if the game is going to play well on the gamepad, maybe it can play well on consoles as well.

If that's the case, then the quality of the console versions don't really impact upon the PC version - so long as the PC version is maintained as the lead platform with a healthy lead time.

The problems with PC franchises going to the console and then causing significant limitations in design are well documented. Elder Scrolls for example.
On the other hand, the PC version still came out better - especially once mod support was considered.

So hopefully this is the issue that F can avoid going forwards with Elite. I suspect with Oculus VR and extensive flight sim controller support, the lead platform will always remain on the PC just because F seem serious about having this be the most immersive game it can be.

 

[Slawkenbergius]

This I am deeply unhappy with and I wish this was mentioned before the kick starter so people can understand exactly what it is they are funding.

The first question/answer from the Kickstarter FAQ, which was available during the campaign, was:

Can you release “Elite: Dangerous” on the (iPhone/iPad/Console/Mac/Linux/Oculus Rift/Raspberry Pi) platform?

Yes. It would be great. The PC version comes first though, and then we will look at the demand for other platforms. If the game exceeds its target, then there will be scope to increase the number of platforms. We will discuss with the backers in the design discussion forum, and how to address the issues that will arise, but I have every hope that we will cover some or all of these platforms.

Frontier were pretty upfront and honest about everything. What David Braben said recently is what was said during the campaign, and they've kept to their word. The PC version is the only one in development at the moment, and next up is Mac. After that console versions will probably be released.

I was mildly concerned directly after the Kickstarter that designing with consoles in mind could lead to a dumbed down experience. Having played alpha/beta can't say that it's a concern any longer for me.

 

[Rhaedas]

A reduced features console version would mean that they have their own galaxy, as it would somehow lead to problems mixing the two. And that'd be okay with me.

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

A reduced features console version would mean that they have their own galaxy, as it would somehow lead to problems mixing the two. And that'd be okay with me.

no necessarily and if so not completely, they could still contribute to the overall background economy of a single universe even if 2 different platforms never meet in the same instance.

 

[Hikurac]

It sounds like you oppose this on the grounds that you dont want a portion of people to have nice things, rather than any legitimate concern about quality, which there shouldnt be any of.

In which case I second the notion that you will be quite alone here.

Well he referred to the "unique qualities" of the PC platform, so it seems rather obvious that he doesn't want them to downgrade the PC version to fit into consoles. That's a legitimate reason as any. Many developers do this, they sell out, and ruin the quality of the game in the process. You can argue that it will be two separate products but they are almost always identical in the end. The result will be the same as the Elder Scrolls, downgrade everything, even the PC versions. The only thing keeping them afloat is the modding community, and I doubt we will have that luxury in Elite Dangerous.

 

[Devidien Pace]

As long as it is a PC to console port and not a console to PC port I don't really care

 

[Hammre]

I'd love to have a version to play on my Xbox One. There's plenty of buttons on the controller for a decent version. They could easily supplement with voice controls for less used functions. I just played through the single player combat missions and rarely had to take my hands off the joystick.

 

[Crystles]

Well he reffered to the "unique qualities" of the PC platform, so it seems rather obvious that he doesn't want them to downgrade the PC version to fit into consoles. That's a legitimate reason as any. Many developers do this, they sell out, and ruin the quality of the game in the process.

This is the most prevalent issue when porting any PC designated title to consoles, theres very rarely instances in gaming history where a game was DESIGNED for one platform, and worked equally well on others. Even when hardware isnt the issue (example: console ports), the design philosophies are so much different that basic things like UI elements wind up feeling clunky and terrible, even if they were buttery smooth before. Things as simple as how a mouse interacts with the screen is vastly different than a controller.

Which does 1 of 2 things.

1) The dev company can re-design a portion of the game to make it work better/more fluid, even after they've spent dozens of hours just concepting and working out the initial game design to be efficient, they have to do that work all over again if they care about making a cross platform title not feel like a cheap port. This is everything from control schemes, to menu layouts, even simply interacting with the world.

2) Devs can take the easy rout out (like so many others) and leave a game that was painfully obviously never designed to run on your platform, which will drag the game down as a whole.


All this is even before basic hardware considerations. ED is no punk, its got a lot of stuff packed under a pretty small hood. The whole game would have to be re-engineered to work on a console, leaving whats basically a cut down version of Elite. Again this does little more than give a bad image of Elite Dangerous.

People think console porting is just an easy thing, when to do it properly is a HUGE investment of time and resources. Maybe some time else down the road when there is little else for FD to do, but right now they have a heaping ton on their plate. When your working on a cross platform game, your essentially working on multiple games just with the design phase already done. I'd rather them make one GOOD game on the platform it was designed for initially, rather than have them trying to iron out multiple versions of it.

 

[Dr Wookie]

I have been playing ED for the last 7 months with a 360 gamepad and hooked up to my TV, basically a console experience (though my pc is quite a bit more powerful and expensive than an XBONE or PS4). With the right bindings, there is no need for me to touch the mouse or keyboard, so there's no ergonomic reasons not to port to console.

For me, one of the most impressive things about ED is that it IS so scalable, so performance should not be an issue either.

If you want to be part of an exclusive club, then I think FD would disagree with you... it should be accessible to as wide an audience as possible; after all the original Elite was release on the SNES as well as home computers.

There's no way that FD would have put up with the restrictions placed by Sony or Microsoft even if those guys stumped up the cash... the only way that they are able to make the game they want is by being (largely) independent.

 

[Hermit]

The only problem I forsee with any proposed console port is that we could get an influx of teenage gamers as you do on other console MMOs. It's one of the many reasons I don't play the various console MMOs out there. The last thing I want is to listen to some annoying child blurting out a string of expletives because he thinks it's big to do so.

But then you get such gamers on PC MMOs as well. Star Conflict started out well before it was released on Steam. Once it was available there, the message area on it suddenly exploded with annoying bratchat. The game dumbed-down almost overnight (not sure what it's like now, though). So I reckon a Steam release for Elite Dangerous would probably be a much bigger problem than a console one.

If the game is ever released on console, I doubt it would suffer much in quality. If it plays well on a current standard PC, then it's a prime candidate for a console port. I've always thought that the way Frontier continues to optimise the game to play on more "off the shelf" PCs and laptops will do it good in the longrun whilst Star Citizen continually pushes for the very latest high-end PC setups. Not everyone's got the kind of money to buy such hardware, so Elite Dangerous becomes a good choice for the average PC user who feels left out.

The same goes for console players. Let's just hope that if there is ever a console release that the brats don't bother with it and stick to their FPS CoD clones.

We can only hope.

 

[milkyway_dingo]

Personally I prefer PC games.

I've always had PC's, opposed to others who had consoles and played games on them.

I only have a PS3 because I won it, and I played a few games, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare when it was "the thing" at the time, and it was pretty good.
Aside from that it had most of its use as a media centre and blu ray player, a job which it is performed remarkably well.


Whatever peoples preferences are I reckon.

As long as it doesn't mean they have to compromise on Elite because of a decision to put it on consoles.

I think the new gen consoles would be fine enough anyway, and as Wookie had pointed out it scales well.


Just the only thing I thought personally, was that (what I know to be the typical console gamer) it wasn't the sort of game that they would want to play.
That's just the people that i know anyway, who only play games on consoles and never PC's.

I'm sure theres plenty of people out there who would want to play it though! Hardcore console gamers, or people who play on everything.
Elite is going to be such an awesome game, we want as many people to be apart of that as we can. More people means more will happen in the Galaxy.

More people means more profits!

 

[ElGuappo]

Well Elite was released on the NES, so there's precedent. Regardless, I really don't understand why anyone would object to this.

 

[Valkyrie]

I don't see a problem with this so long as the game is not designed around the limitations of being on a console. I'm sure if they can, they will release a version on consoles and revenue from that will be good for everyone. I want to see Elite V in 2024