Main Menu

Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 07:13:46 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Elite Dangerous

Started by Alberon, July 22, 2014, 09:19:25 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Alberon

Well, it turns out I'm wrong. There will be an offline single player mode, but there isn't one in the Beta at the moment. A developer apparently said this at one point.

QuoteOffline SP means you won't get the server driven features. So any galaxy advancement would be limited and the economy less featured. The exact split isn't known yet.

NoSleep

Quote from: Alberon on July 31, 2014, 10:35:43 AM
I don't know the whole answer to that one, I'll have a look on the forums, but I expect one part of it is trading. Prices do fluctuate and will crash if everyone floods the market with the same item.

Anti-piracy?[nb]Hypocrites.[/nb]

NoSleep

Quote from: Alberon on July 31, 2014, 10:56:16 AM
Well, it turns out I'm wrong. There will be an offline single player mode, but there isn't one in the Beta at the moment. A developer apparently said this at one point.

There's probably little to worry about in beta, other than running the whole thing online. Either that or they wanted to make sure all the beta players didn't retreat to single player as default.

HappyTree

Ok thanks for the info!

Zetetic

Quote from: RickyGerbail on July 30, 2014, 02:11:42 PM
it's a very atmospheric ... game.
Sounds like a pretty major bug to me, HA!

Alberon

Not got it myself yet, but I will as soon as I can afford it - The Docking Computer. And yes, of course it plays the Blue Danube when you switch it on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDdYRdL8Rds

Yesterday I got back to playing the game, though the first time I lifted off from the launch pad inside the station I accidentally jettisoned my cargo rather than retracting my landing gear, and got a fine in the process. After that poor start I'd managed to double my 1000 credits in an hour doing the usual runs between industrial and agricultural worlds.

There are basic missions in the game now, and I'll give some of them a go later, as only having 4 tonnes of cargo space in the Sidewinder I'm currently flying is rather limiting.

Alberon

Well, Elite Dangerous went live yesterday and there have been quite a few updates since I was last playing it a couple of months back. The main ones being, obviously, the whole galaxy has been opened up and there are more different types of ships available and stations to land them on.

Before launch though fans kicked up a big fuss when it was revealed the offline play mode had been binned.

QuoteHundreds of comments have been posted to Elite's forums saying its creator has "broken" promises made by the firm.

Many say they only backed Elite on Kickstarter because of the plan to let people play even if they were offline.

...

Mr Brookes said the mechanics of the galaxy which players explore, trade and fight in, sit on servers that are online.

"The data set and processes are huge and not something that would translate offline without considerable compromise to the vision," he said.

"A fully offline experience would be unacceptably limited and static compared to the dynamic, ever-unfolding experience we are delivering," said Mr Brookes, adding: "Trust me we didn't sit down and think, What would annoy people the most?'"

He said Frontier had only made the announcement now because it had been looking at ways to make a workable offline version. However, he said, it had now become clear that it did not have the resources to produce what would be, in effect, two separate versions of the same game.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30097229

I personally didn't want to play it offline, but there are many that do.

The interface has been tidied up and there is now a system view that shows the stations, planets, moons and stars in each system lined up in an easy to view mode. You do not automatically see all planets and stars in a system even when you jump into it. There is an exploration feature in the game that lets you scan and discover the stars and planets in some systems (usually the less lawful ones). Once you get beyond 20 light years from that system you can sell that information for a few hundred or thousand credits. I believe there are enhanced scanners you can buy that allow you to get more (profitable) information you can sell. You can also buy some system and trading information from the galaxy map.

Mining is in the game, and you can buy a refinery to process the ore you get. It's also possible to track people who jump and drag them out of hyperspace. It's also possible to escape this interdiction, as it is called, and avoid being attacked, which I've managed a few times.

I'm still in the basic Sidewinder I started the game in, and I'm looking to upgrade to a freighter of some kind, before getting to a Cobra Mk III before I start investing in new defences, docking computers and the like. I've run a few missions, which are the most profitable things to do in a ship with only 4 tonnes of cargo space. As you complete missions you build up influence with the factions you've run the mission for, which leads to more profitable/more dangerous tasks.

Since I've restarted with the game I've only been in one battle with another computer controlled Sidewinder. He attacked for my cargo, and we both battered each other's hulls down to about 50% before he managed to escape. So I don't have a kill to my name just yet.

The most important thing to me is it feels like Elite. Each system feels vast and, unlike many other space going games, not like you're in a series of small invisible boxes, if that makes sense. I'm not heading in any particular direction at the moment, though I do plan on visiting Lave and Sol eventually.

HappyTree

A kickstarter going back on what it said it'd do is absolute sin.

"Trust me we didn't sit down and think, What would annoy people the most?'"

Well no. First of all, I have no reason just to trust you. Secondly, anyone who uses "trust me" as an excuse cannot be trusted. Thirdly, you did not set out to annoy people, granted. You decided this would make you more money. The annoyance is a by-product you don't care about.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: HappyTree on December 19, 2014, 04:14:20 PM
A kickstarter going back on what it said it'd do is absolute sin....

There's a standard clause in Kickstarter campaigns, though:

QuoteWhen you back a project, you're helping to create something new — not ordering something that already exists. There's a chance something could happen that prevents the creator from being able to finish the project as promised.



thraxx


Oh dear God, I cannot be allowed anywhere near this game.

Jim_MacLaine

Meanwhile Star Citizen recently released some spaceships which were still only in concept stage (as in not modelled yet) for $2,500 each. A limited edition of 200 they sold out within 5 minutes.

Fucking nerds[nb]with more money than sense[/nb]


Hangthebuggers

Very tempted to start playing. However I've allowed myself to be swept up by Eve online again.

thraxx

Quote from: Jim_MacLaine on December 19, 2014, 04:51:08 PM
Meanwhile Star Citizen recently released some spaceships which were still only in concept stage (as in not modelled yet) for $2,500 each. A limited edition of 200 they sold out within 5 minutes.

Fucking nerds[nb]with more money than sense[/nb]

I'd happily pay that cash for a giant cock and balls ship with a laster that squirts all jizz out of the front.

Jim_MacLaine

Quote from: thraxx on December 19, 2014, 05:27:17 PM
I'd happily pay that cash for a giant cock and balls ship with a laster that squirts all jizz out of the front.

Consider it done.

NO REFUNDS.

BPFHAY

Quote from: HappyTree on December 19, 2014, 04:14:20 PM
A kickstarter going back on what it said it'd do is absolute sin.

"Trust me we didn't sit down and think, What would annoy people the most?'"

Well no. First of all, I have no reason just to trust you. Secondly, anyone who uses "trust me" as an excuse cannot be trusted. Thirdly, you did not set out to annoy people, granted. You decided this would make you more money. The annoyance is a by-product you don't care about.
I'm torn on this, because doggedly sticking to your original idea when it doesn't work in practice is a game development sin (I'm all for not over-designing before you actually have something prototypical to test it all in). But removing *features* like this that could conceivably be in there and not affect the "real" online part of the game is shitty.

Alberon

It does seem a mistake. An offline mode would lose a lot of the economic ebb and flow, as PCs can significantly alter supply and demand. And, possibly, political change as well as there is a possible war storyline starting up.

But if that's what a lot of people want they should be doing more to deliver it.

HappyTree

Quote from: Ignatius_S on December 19, 2014, 04:34:34 PM
There's a standard clause in Kickstarter campaigns, though:




Oh yeah, they're covered legally. But then there is "fool me once". I backed another project that has since gone a bit pear-shaped. So I say ok fair enough, good luck with your next game.

Thursday

So who else is in the dilemma of "Hmm, I think I might like this, but I'm not sure and the steam sale is on now, so why would I spend £40 on a game?"

BPFHAY

Is there much content? It never sounds like there's much more the game than Frontier, which is a bit sparse by today's standards.

Thursday

It's difficult because it seems like the kind of game where it might be exciting being one of the first people to discover something, but it also might be the kind of game that's better in a couple of years time when they've patched some other stuff in. Not really sure how it's going to work.

BPFHAY

(This will sound smug but I don't mean it that way)

As a developer I get less excited by empty vastness as some people do, because spacing things out really far isn't really that much of a trick when you know how it's done. The curtain has been pulled back. That's why I love GTA: SA so much (and presumably GTA V when I get around to really playing it), there's so much detail. As soon as Elite starts showing its algorithmically-generated nature it's going to lose its sheen for me.

I feel certain that a really truly vast space game where you can always feel like you can get to something genuinely new will be my most bestest ever thing ever, but I just don't feel like this will be it. I'll give it a chance of course. It just really needs to be beyond Frontier considerably, because I'm not in my early teens anymore and that experience was magical enough.

Big Jack McBastard

Quote from: HappyTree on July 31, 2014, 07:27:11 AM
I have to be connected to play single player? Ah ok. It coulda been a contender.

Unless the universe is only accessible on their side it'll (eventually) be possible to fool a cracked version of the game that it's connected to a server by either running a pseudo server/emulation thingy on your puter alongside the game or, hopefully a bit more simply, by just adding a clever wee file or two in the right places to tell it to shut the hell up complaining and just run the fucking game. I am about to do this with Dragon Age 3 to bypass its poxy 'Origin' bollocks.

I fear games where the environment is held/run on servers separately from player's puters are gonna get more and more common as time marches on, they already try to force you online with games that are complete in your hands.

Won't be long before the standard model changes to greed driven/technically sensible gouging where they own and run the environment/world/sandbox that a given game is played in entirely on their servers so they can charge all players for access to an account within them. So installs will be minimal to non-existent, but you'll have no control over their content bar what you can effect with your character. This is unless someone can snapshot the contents of the game server at some point(s) and dodgily release old versions of what was going on last week/yesterday in the legit game. It's the only way to ensure every player is coughing up for a game. Currently, releasing a game-world to the public means some useful swine will crack it open and bypass anything that might try to hinder access to the delicious digital meat inside, once they've done away with the notion of letting us have the world games are gonna get a bit more irksome to pirate with abandon.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: BPFHAY on December 19, 2014, 06:00:08 PM
I'm torn on this, because doggedly sticking to your original idea when it doesn't work in practice is a game development sin....

They have stuck to the original idea, though - what was billed as per the original Kickstarter pitch is what's been shipped.

The offline single-player mode was added in the second-half of the Kickstarter campaign, due to people saying they wanted one. After mention of the mode was made in an update to the FAQs, they continually pushed the online mode and FWIW, I thought by the way they talked about it, an offline mode would either be bodged or dropped entirely.

It's a cunt's trick, getting people's cash then delivering significantly less than promised. Braben is an arsehole.

wasp_f15ting

Any of you playing this, played EVE? Is it similar or is it more fun?

I'm starting to think I'll get this. I don't have any money, and if I do get it, it's going to be the only game to last me the next 8 months, as I'm going to be utterly skint and destitute, save landing a few higher paying freelance gigs or getting some full time work. This sounds really cool though.

Is it the kind of thing you should play with a keyboard? I can't be arsed fucking about with flight stick stuff. Again, it's more money, and I'll just never use it ever again except for this. Or should you play it with a gamepad?

Benevolent Despot

I really miss the days of demos. I don't want to spend £40 on something I may not like. Most indicators point to 'like', though. (I'm also a traditionalist in that I don't want to play betas and all that nonsense. Just give me a finished game, I don't want to be an unpaid QA analyst, thanks.)

How does it run on minimum spec? My graphics card is about 10% less powerful than minimum spec, and I'm missing 2 of the 4 cores recommended for Mr. Processor.

Cold Meat Platter

I'm loving this. May be prejudiced due to a lifelong elite fanaticism but it's totally living up to expectations. Running well on a 6 year old CPU and 4 year old GPU.


popcorn

Is this actually good then? I used to work at Frontier and back then Elite 4 development consisted of a new lead designer hired and then fired again a few months later.

Once a new guy (we were working on another project) said to me "Wow, Elite 4 looks great" and I was like wait, what? They've got something playable? He took me over to show me and the devs were sitting around playing Mass Effect 2.

Cold Meat Platter

Quote from: Bored of Canada on December 28, 2014, 09:52:56 AM
I'm starting to think I'll get this. I don't have any money, and if I do get it, it's going to be the only game to last me the next 8 months, as I'm going to be utterly skint and destitute, save landing a few higher paying freelance gigs or getting some full time work. This sounds really cool though.

Is it the kind of thing you should play with a keyboard? I can't be arsed fucking about with flight stick stuff. Again, it's more money, and I'll just never use it ever again except for this. Or should you play it with a gamepad?

Play it with a gamepad with 2 analogue sticks. You'll still need the keyboard for some shit. Totally configurable though.