Elite: Dangerous

[Tradesonred]

Anyone playing this?

Bought it 2 days ago, only regret it slightly, although i paid 80$

My main gripe so far is that it seems like online was put as a DRM measure as the economic system doesnt seem to be anywhere near the interactivity you get from Eve online. Also would like more depth with the cartographics as so far ive seen just a grind in putting the buyer for the stuff you gather info at an arbitrary 20 LY away from where it was gathered. Im sure down the line itll have its use but seems kinda meh forcing people to go online with what seems at first glance as a pretty shallow experience (trading and cartographics commerce)

It also means that people cant mod the fuck out of it since the small company is probably gonna move with content at a snails pace.

I love how you fly though, but im already seeing myself getting bored out of that soon unfortunately if they dont add more depth.

[dafier]

Originally Posted by Tradesonred [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Anyone playing this?

Bought it 2 days ago, only regret it slightly, although i paid 80$

My main gripe so far is that it seems like online was put as a DRM measure as the economic system doesnt seem to be anywhere near the interactivity you get from Eve online. Also would like more depth with the cartographics as so far ive seen just a grind in putting the buyer for the stuff you gather info at an arbitrary 20 LY away from where it was gathered. Im sure down the line itll have its use but seems kinda meh forcing people to go online with what seems at first glance as a pretty shallow experience (trading and cartographics commerce)

It also means that people cant mod the fuck out of it since the small company is probably gonna move with content at a snails pace.

I love how you fly though, but im already seeing myself getting bored out of that soon unfortunately if they dont add more depth.

I played Eve for 6 Months. The learning curve was the worst I've seen in a game in a long time, but it was a really fun game.

I joined the UK forums for Elite Dangerous and watched MANY MANY videos before release. I read a lot in the forums and decided it's not the game for me due to the time sink.

It looks like a great game and has a TON of potential but at release there was limited things you can do, imo.

They had a lot of Online issues at release because supposedly there are 'instances', so if you join up with someone and are in their instance, finding them was very difficult even if you were in the same place (exact spot in space). I don't know if they fixed that.

The commerce seemed pretty cool and but again the time sink running around was stupid. Literally flying from one space station, to another sector and docking in another space station takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour (Maybe that is round trip).

At any rate the graphics are amazing and it looks like it's very fun. You can actually have an effect on the environment (Local governments, commerce, cause civil uprisings/unrest) and keep moving on. There are thousands of star systems and more.

Star Citizen looks like it's going to be better, in a way.

[Pyrion]

Star citizen will be great i think but it is still a long time off. And it's really a different type of game. In ED you have a simulated universe that totally does not care about you. In SC you have a campaign and an arcade feel, sacrificing a realistic universe.

ED is not for everyone that is for sure. There is a grind (like in EQ). At the moment you can grind by trading or by fighting and to a lesser degree, exploring. Mining is only a bare bones implementation... though that will change in the coming weeks with the 1.3. update. If you don't want to grind, you can try to influence politics. That's already possible. You can directly support factions with your actions, driving them to expand. In the 1.3. update this will be pushed to a new level, introducing super factions that you can directly ally with. This will push PvP a lot i think.

If you are an astronomy geek, ED is already a "must have". The galaxy is beautifully modelled. There are really amazing star systems with all kinds of weird orbits. Systems can have a lot of suns (although that is rare). There are double and even triple planets. Very nice planetary rings, neutron stars and black holes.

ED does not take you by the hand, it has a steep learning curve for beginners. If you like a real sandbox, try it.

[Tradesonred]

Im having trouble with how alpha the whole game feels, like not being able to keep the weapons i buy in a station somewhere, so i can have loadout A B and C for my cobra. Like if i wanna go mining in a system, thats it, i have to sell my loadout and never see it again after i just did a 10 LY + run to reach a system that sells them.

[-TK-]

I picked this up the other day and have only put a small amount of time in it. I got my flight stick and pedals setup, did two tutorials to test my settings, and jumped into the game. I picked up a contract to destroy two transport vessels and headed out. I found a couple ships and blew one up which then put a bounty on me. I had to log out abruptly so that's where I left off. Not sure what to expect when logging back in from that.

I've talked to a couple people with 300+ hours in this game and they've all said the game is boring in it's current state and the reason they have so many hours is because they have a solid core of friends playing. I picked it up primarily because I'm a flight simmer and I want to explore so I imagine I'll get burned out because the MMO aspect seems non-existent and I don't know anyone playing but I wanted to give it a shot.

[MrSparkle001]

I've been doing a lot of bounty hunting in a Vulture. I make millions doing it.

I'm Powerplay will add a lot to the game especially with missions. I'm intrigued by the background simulation that's constantly running but so far it doesn't have a lot of effect overall.

There will also be planet landings and I think walking around on stations but it could be a long way off. I don't know how large the dev team is.

[Tradesonred]

Originally Posted by MrSparkle001 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I've been doing a lot of bounty hunting in a Vulture. I make millions doing it.

I'm Powerplay will add a lot to the game especially with missions. I'm intrigued by the background simulation that's constantly running but so far it doesn't have a lot of effect overall.

There will also be planet landings and I think walking around on stations but it could be a long way off. I don't know how large the dev team is.

Thats all interesting in the long run, i hope they come through with that, but right now i feel like it would be like working on the expansions when the Classic content is barely into beta.

Would love to explore just a few systems and find stuff there. For example, a hidden pirate base in an asteroid field. Hoping to find more than "resource extraction point" at gas giants, as i keep scratching the surface to see if theres more under.

Skimming through feedback, i see alot of annoyances at eve comparisons but to me Eve got alot of things right and at first glance seems economy and player interaction (cant even sell shit to other players i think?) is really lacking compared to eve. The excuse for not making the game play in single player was that there was gonna be this fantastic multiplayer aspect to it that they just couldnt do with a single player game. So far it feels more like DRM just to make sure the only way to get the game is to gamble 80$ on it. We would have gotten a shit ton of mods probably if it was available in single player too.

[MrSparkle001]

I didn't spend anywhere near $80. Wow.

[Tradesonred]

Originally Posted by MrSparkle001 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I didn't spend anywhere near $80. Wow.

Did you back it?

I mean its forty pounds, converted into Can dollars, 78$.

Its a bit frustrating to see 20$ paint jobs getting sold already when theres so little content it seems in-game.

[Kevris]

TL/DR:

Size, scope and scale are difficult concepts to convey. For example: I’m writing this from Palm Springs, California in the United States of America, on the western hemisphere of the planet Earth, in the Sol system, in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, located in the Local Group of galaxies within the Virgo Supercluster, which itself is part of the Laniakea Supercluster within the observable area of the Known Universe. That’s about 28,000 Megaparsecs, or around 46,000,000,000 light years. I can say that; I can “think” I know the meaning of these numbers, but never before have I had the ability to “feel” what that much distance means. Elite: Dangerous is a game that, in its’ current form, models the space from the solar system level through the galactic. It is able to (especially when paired with a Virtual Reality device) convey the feeling of a slice of that 46 billion light-year distance like no form of media before. It’s a game that has layered real scientific data on top of a procedural generation system to produce the most accurate recreation of our galaxy to date. While there is absolutely no doubt this is a technical triumph, the question must be asked: does it make for a good game?

The answer to this question is: “Well, it depends…”

To start, it must be stated that Elite: Dangerous is not “complete.” The game available right now, that costs sixty of your hard-earned dollars, is not what will be available to players who purchase it next year, or even next month. Creator David Braben, and his company Frontier Developments, have committed to producing content for this title for a long, long time. Some of that content, such as the upcoming “Power Play” expansion slated for release in June, will be free. Some of the promised content, such as the ability to land your space ship on one of the (literally) billions of planets found in in the game’s representation of our Galaxy, will be sold as paid expansions. Many players find themselves asking if the game, as it stands today, is something they would be interested in. Many other players are incredibly happy with the game that is available right now and find the additions to be icing on an already incredibly delicious cake.

It should also be stated that while Elite: Dangerous can be played with any combination of devices from a basic mouse and keyboard up through an expensive Hands-on-Throttle-and-Stick (HOTAS) setup, it is “meant” to be played with a HOTAS.

Finally, this is not a game that feels like it was designed for mass-market appeal. You will not find any magic compass pointing you on to your next objective. There are no cut-scenes, quick-time events, dialogue wheels or quick-saves. It provides a basic tutorial on how to maneuver your ship, dock and fire your weapons, then releases you into an incredibly large (and often times cruel and unforgiving) galaxy with nothing but a tiny ship and 1,000 credits to your name. If you’re accustomed to games telling you exactly where to go and exactly what to do, this will come as a huge shock and may cause you to turn the game off and never play it again. Rather than cast you as the dashing hero saving the day on a daily basis, Elite: Dangerous puts you into the work-boots of an everyman. You’re not Luke Skywalker; you’re “Red Eleventeen” who’s not named when the credits roll. You are a small cog in a galactic machine that keeps turning whether you are playing or not.

Elite: Dangerous can be distilled into three basic gameplay modes: trading, exploration and combat. With no quick-save, and no way to simply reload if something goes awry, these three core gameplay modes frequently overlap with exciting and serious repercussions. Hauling a load of valuables that cost the entirety of your fortune has real risk: if you are destroyed by pirates on the way to your destination you can’t simply reload and go a different route.

Trading in Elite: Dangerous operates on a simple principle: buy low and sell high. The populated area of the Galaxy (which is tiny when compared to the galaxy at large, more on that later) consists of space stations that produce commodities. To produce these commodities, they require other commodities. For example a station that produces Battle Weapons will need metals to make the weapons, food to feed the population of workers, entertainment for those workers and so on. Star systems are defined as Industrial, Extraction, High-Tech, etc. and by learning which types of economies rely on each other players to create their own trade routes. This is akin to a 34th century Silk Road, with player-merchants buying and selling goods along the way for profit. Complicating this seemingly simple concept is the fact that space is a vast, open area governed by many different forms of government sprinkled with areas of true lawlessness. Much like the ancient trade routes from our own history, these roads are populated by opportunistic pirates, both human players and NPC’s that will attempt to intercept you, steal your cargo and end your life. Further complicating matters is the myriad of star systems have their own governments. That load of Tobacco you bought in System A may be illegal in System B, and if the local authorities scan your ship and discover it they’ll be more than happy to dispense justice from business-end of a rail-gun. While the idea of playing “space-trucker” may not sound appealing, it is incredibly fun and without the gaming trope of save-scumming to back you up it is incredibly exciting. In addition to simply buying low and selling high, players can engage in various black-market activities. Remember that tobacco you bought in System A before? Well, it’s still illegal in System C; however System C has a thriving black market that is always paying good money for packs of Parliaments.

So about that galaxy: 400,000,000 star systems. Of which a tiny handful have been mapped, and from that tiny handful, another tiny handful have been settled. The rest of these stars are where the second gameplay mechanic, Exploration, comes in. Every star on the (truly enormous) Galaxy Map has some basic information on it: its type and location for example. With this information, players are able to jump into unknown systems and scan the system by flying close to it. Anyone with a basic appreciation for astronomy will find this experience rewarding and enjoyable. Let’s face it: we will personally never be going to space, and especially not space outside of our own solar system. The experience in Elite: Dangerous is the closest thing I have ever felt to discovering something new, and the fear and trepidation I felt edging closer to my first black hole (so I could observe the accurately modeled gravitational lensing) was as real as it gets; this is especially true when paired with an Oculus Rift. I would imagine it’s the almost the same feeling explorers here on Earth had hundreds of years ago upon discovering that the world was not flat. Data gathered on these exploration trips is sold to space stations with rewards scaling to the value of the planets found: you’re going to be paid a substantial amount more for discovering an Earth-like world than you will be for lifeless rocks in space. Compared to the other means by which to make money in Elite: Dangerous, Exploration is not the fastest way to achieve wealth. With that said, the people drawn to the explorer role are not the types of people who are playing the game to be the richest man in the galaxy. The fact that this exists in the game as an option for those kinds of players is a very welcome change and one that the community appreciates.

The final way to make money is through various forms of combat. These include: fighting in war-zones (which are generated by the underlying political simulation), assassinating persons of interest to the games countless number of small local governments, or hunting down and dispensing vigilante justice to wanted criminals through the bounty system. With artificial limitations on the yaw axis intentionally in place, combat in Elite: Dangerous feels a great deal like World War II air combat. For people who grew up on games like X-Wing, Wing Commander and Descent this is a highly enjoyable white-knuckle seat-of-your-pants thrill ride. While other space simulation games such as Eve Online offer combat, the experience does not compare to a fully manual hands-on simulation. This is not a matter of standard MMO rock-paper-scissors balanced hotkeys, this is a truly skill-based affair and experienced pilots who are out-classed and outnumbered can still achieve victory through superior tactics and good piloting. It is a welcome change to the genre: one that rewards players who are able to adapt on-the-fly, think fast, and react quickly. And when paired with an Oculus Rift, or even a limited and simple head-tracking device such as Track IR, the joy of space combat has never been greater.

So, do these systems make a great game? The answer is one that varies on personal taste: If you’re the kind of person who enjoys a slow pace peppered with moments of intense excitement, you will enjoy Elite: Dangerous. If your idea of the quintessential space movie is 2001: A Space Odyssey rather than Star Wars, you will love Elite: Dangerous. If you are looking for something that is good now, but will be truly great in time, you should buy Elite: Dangerous. While it could stand to improve in some areas, it is the most enjoyable space simulator to date and is getting better with every patch.