Elite:Dangerous

[nats]

Is anyone here supporting the development of the future computer game Elite: Dangerous, the sequel to the BBC Elite, Amiga Frontier and PC First Encounters games??

http://elite.frontier.co.uk/kickstarter.html#.UO8hv3fDVNF

http://forums.frontier.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=29

It just obtained its funding on Kickstarter a week ago and is scheduled for release sometime in March 2014. Should be the best computer space sim game ever released. Take a look at it much of the original Elite is rumoured to be based on Traveller.

 

[whartung]

It just obtained its funding on Kickstarter a week ago and is scheduled for release sometime in March 2014. Should be the best computer space sim game ever released. Take a look at it much of the original Elite is rumoured to be based on Traveller.

Meh, I wouldn't get my hopes up. See what comes out, if anything, in Fall of 2014.

There's going to be some very stiff competition from Star Citizen, which "looks amazing", by the guy who did Wing Commander. We'll see what he manages to deliver as well. He appears to have a decent start with a physics engine and some nice models and art.

I think projects such as these are simply too open ended and too complicated to perform well on a fixed budget with hard timelines unless the team is EXTREMELY disciplined. They take a simply insane amount of "tweaking". And I look at recent "failures" from large game companies with deep pockets and vast amounts of time, effectively no excuses, yet they still under deliver.

So, in general, I don't have much hope for any of them and take a firm "wait and see" attitude.

I think KickStarter works OK for, effectively, advanced pre-orders of almost finished work, to bring in capital to take care of the tooling up costs to get in to production (like T5). But things like this, they should get some real investors, frankly. Pockets they can hopefully return to when things go awry.

 

[nats]

There's going to be some very stiff competition from Star Citizen, which "looks amazing", by the guy who did Wing Commander. We'll see what he manages to deliver as well. He appears to have a decent start with a physics engine and some nice models and art.
.

I dont think Star Citizen is anywhere near as developed as Elite Dangerous which has working multiplayer already set up, some ships, some flight characteristics and the startings of a space environment.

And as for Star Citizen being competition for Elite Dangerous hmmm.... I remember Wing Commander and Privateer and they really didnt come anywhere near the gameplay of Frontier and First Encounters. I dont really think there is much competition really. And certainly I trust David Braben far more to get his game out on deadline than Chris Roberts, who is all noise and fluff (which certainly worked with the US Kickstarter pledgers) but has he the required disipline of an established firm like Frontier Developments?

Dont get me wrong I am looking forward to both games. I did play Wing Commander myself for a few months, but I didnt play Privateer much at all and Privateer 2 was terrible. Whereas I played Frontier and First Encounters for years each. They will both improve the decaying PC gaming scene either way.

 

[LiamKerrington]

Awesome. Both games. Am looking forward to getting the games when they are out.

 

[ravells]

I contributed to the Elite kickstarter. The updates look good. I can't wait to play it. I loved Wing Commander too. They were both great games. I'm sure I played Privateer, but I can't remember anything about it apart from the name.

 

[nats]

I contributed to the Elite kickstarter. The updates look good. I can't wait to play it. I loved Wing Commander too. They were both great games. I'm sure I played Privateer, but I can't remember anything about it apart from the name.

I remember going into bars to talk to people about jobs, and the ship arming screen where you got equipment. I also remember the turret the way you could fire on ships behind you which was neat. And the ship cockpits with all the screens and levers - they were really good far better than Frontiers very basic cockpit. Certainly hoping ED will do better on that front. I ended my Privateer game once I found the pirate base. There didnt seem to be anything going on and it was all quite repetitive - although the bases always looked different they were always the same in terms of game mechanics so it all got kind of lame after a while. The combat and the ship cockpits were definitely far better than Frontiers though, although they were in Wing Commander as well. In fact for all the bumph added to Privateer I still hadf a far better time playing Wing Commander - loved the combat action and the fast paced gameplay more than Privateer. Plus the enemy ships looked like Cylons.

But when all is said and done no scripted game will be able to compete with the openess of Elite Dangerous I think - its going to be great now that, for the first time, David Braben has all the money and the time required to be able to do it the way he wants to! I didnt originally like the way the planatary landings were left out of the first incarnation but if it means they will be done properly and really well it can only improve the game considerably.

 

[DaveChase]

FreeLancer was a cool game.

Dave Chase

 

[Frankymole]

Freelancer had some fun elements though the star systems and planets were bizarre - no orbits or any kind of movement really. But since the original 1980s Elite was clearly designed by Traveller players, it's always been nice to play. I contributed to the Kickstarter but I doubt I'll ever have a computer good enoguh to run it!

 

[nats]

But since the original 1980s Elite was clearly designed by Traveller players, it's always been nice to play. I contributed to the Kickstarter but I doubt I'll ever have a computer good enoguh to run it!

David Braben flatly denied any similarity to Traveller during the Reddit session he did recently and said that 'Commander Jamison' was based on the whisky not the person in Traveller as he used to drink that whisky. But when pressed he admitted he couldnt be sure after all this time. I still think it is based on Traveller and that he just got the name wrong and it should have been Jameson. Ian Bell has said he used to play Traveller.

 

[silversides207]

David Braben flatly denied any similarity to Traveller during the Reddit session he did recently and said that 'Commander Jamison' was based on the whisky not the person in Traveller as he used to drink that whisky. But when pressed he admitted he couldnt be sure after all this time. I still think it is based on Traveller and that he just got the name wrong and it should have been Jameson. Ian Bell has said he used to play Traveller.

If he admitted to using or basing it on Traveller, then he has this nasty thing called "license fees" to start paying. I assume that Ian Bell is somehow involved in the game development. If so, then him admitting that he used to play Traveller is essentially inviting a lawsuit for copyright infringement.

 

[nats]

If he admitted to using or basing it on Traveller, then he has this nasty thing called "license fees" to start paying. I assume that Ian Bell is somehow involved in the game development. If so, then him admitting that he used to play Traveller is essentially inviting a lawsuit for copyright infringement.

There isnt much that is similar between the two games. I believe the goverment types might have been taken from Traveller in the original Elite game. And other than the Jameson character thats about it. So I think anyone would have a very tough time claiming any copyright infringement.

Ian Bell isn't involved in the new game. Supposedly they are on reasonable terms now but they had a large falling out and Ian Bell wasnt involved in any of the previous sequels either. He will no doubt get royalties though. I think he spends his time airbrushing nude female partygoers these days, which I have to say is a pretty decent job.

 

[Frankymole]

But when all is said and done no scripted game will be able to compete with the openess of Elite Dangerous I think - its going to be great now that, for the first time, David Braben has all the money and the time required to be able to do it the way he wants to! I didnt originally like the way the planatary landings were left out of the first incarnation but if it means they will be done properly and really well it can only improve the game considerably.

So now Horizons is out (the planetary landings release) what do you think? Have you tried it? It's beyond my machine's capability I think (I don't have the RAM and dual core processors!) but at least I can play the first release.

 

[aramis]

Even with a joystick, it's bloody hard.

 

[Spartan159]

Ironically I've been doing Traveller so hard lately that I've lapsed on Elite. Did a little roving on a small moon, that's about it.

 

[Frankymole]

Fair enough - I've just got back to Elite after a year's gap, doing Traveller maps in 3D!