My couple of questions..
First off, thank you so much for many years of gaming fun and history... I still own Elite for the C64, Amiga, and PC.. (As well as Frontier and First Encounters for both Amiga and PC)..
I've been patiently waiting for many years for what Elite IV would or could be..
With that, here's my questions:
In the past, I've heard/read rumors that Elite IV might be a two part game system.. a single player (offline) game and a multi-player (online) game. Somehow these two would be developed with overlapping schedules and they would be released as stand-alone entities. Is this still the plan, or will Elite IV be a single release? With the way today's Consoles/Games are being developed, that may make the concept of Downloadable Content (DLC) a perfect fit for things like additional ships, mission packs, etc. Has that been considered as a means of either extending the game, the 'life-cycle' of the game, or as a planned rollout of functionality that may not be ready at launch?
Secondly, there has been a growth in the 'elite' experience over time.. from the original 'star and planet' to a whole galaxy with planets and cities... The big question would be .. can we finally LEAVE the ship and explore the planet on foot? And not as a gimmick for entering a shop or something that could be done easier and quicker via a UI, but as an integral part of the game.. for taking place in combat situations 'hand to hand' or doing mining for gems or gold in mountains and creeks? With the power of today's graphics engines, combined with the seeded generation of planets and landscapes, this seems possible in a single player environment (unlike the impact of shared resources in a mutli-user environment)... is this on the table as possible, or will we still be restricted to ship-board life forever?
Third, (this is a major crystal ball question) if there are multi-platform releases (PS3/360/PC), could they be interoperable or will there be fundamental differences between them preventing that? One example I see is that the PC platform is easier to extend from both a programming space perspective as well as a hardware platform. If I need 8gb of ram to play, I can go get more. With a console, the limit is set to be what it is. I'm concerned that by aiming at consoles, that may limit what Elite IV 'could be'... Difficulties with extra controls (not enough buttons without a keyboard or some sort of chatpad), memory limitations, graphics throughput, etc.. all could play a factor in limiting either size, performance, or multi-player. I'd rather be 'forced' to play it on a PC rather than get a watered down experience on a console. However, there is the opportunity to reverse this and use this to an advantage. Still consider interoperability, but limit 'sections' of the game to the console version. I would be happy to fly around and 'shoot stuff' on my 360, maybe wander about the virtual worlds on the PS3, and then come back to the PC to tie it all together and manage my virtual empire.
Fourth and final question... There have been other titles which have attempted to do some 'Elite Style' games.. The X series (X-Beyond the Frontier, X-Tension, X2, X3, etc.), EVE Online, and many others have introduce the idea of building stations, owning planets, fleets, and resources, and other things that 'fit' with the idea of what I feel Elite represents as a game. Any chance of incorporating some of these ideas into the 'final' design of the game?
