Elite: Dangerous - first impressions

[Commander Mick]

Cool, It looks like it works....

[Pleb]

I played Elite Dangerous for some time and although I found it visually stunning, its lack of depth and somewhat toxic player-base (outside of certain private player groups) to be a massive turn off. As I had (at the time of it's public beta release) just invested in a new PC dedicated to playing games on, I then felt the need to start playing other 'visually appealing' games and it's taken me a long time to realise that just because you can run a game in 4K at over 60FPS doesn't mean that a game is entertaining (obviously some of them are, I'm just generalising here).

So even though I've made several upgrades to my PC and it still runs most modern games in 4K at around 60FPS (or at least it maintains that framerate range if I drop the resolution down to 1440p or 1080p) I've found myself playing games now that probably aren't as visually stunning but have much more depth, gameplay and are customisable to keep things fresh. And now, I find myself returning to Oolite because even though the game does not and cannot compete E:D on visuals; the depth, gameplay and options for customisation in Oolite are far greater than anything E:D could ever hope to achieve!

[Cholmondely]

For those interested in trying E:D, it's free in the Epic games store till November 26 2020.

Did you think it is any good?

[Killer Wolf]

Just realised September was the 40th anniversary of Elite's release!! damn, i'm old.

[Commander Mick]

By my own reckoning, Elite Dangerous isn't such a bad game, but I just don't think it's the most suitable to follow in the footsteps of the classic Elite game of 85, it's sequel and the one that got taken off the shelves...

Oolite, seems to be more related to the earlier games than Elite Dangerous ever will be and that what disappoints me the most about it. I still play it, but it's just not Elite, and it's really just money where Oolite didn't need the money. Sorry if that offends the developers here. I meant that in the best possible way.

[Killer Wolf]

not played it but i must admit i had/have a chip on my shoulder over it. a massive fan of the games since that original release, we were begging for YEARS for Elite IV, they even teased animation tests on the website and mentioned leaving your ship to explore etc. Then, they did nothing. Year after year it was cac like roller coaster sims, and they showed no interest in Elite fans until Star Citizen jumped out from behind a bush, then they decided they would leap on the bandwagon to farm some cash i guess. And then it seems just as it was becoming something we'd dreamt of for decades, they decided to eff it up and then virtually abandon it again. always wanted to try it but following threads elswhere it's become a stagnant grindfest w/ developement dead in the water.

[UK_Eliter]

Well, that sounds grim. Are you saying ('grindfest') that the game is barely playable in its current form?

[Cholmondely]

So how goes it on the E:D front?

Is it still fun?

Has it improved?

[Killer Wolf]

Well, that sounds grim. Are you saying ('grindfest') that the game is barely playable in its current form?

that quote was from 2024. playing now, it CAN be a grindfest, depending what you want to do. Building/colonisation can involve a load of hauling materials, engineering components can take a lot of running about to collec them etc. Other aspects of the game - trading, combat etc - are just like other iterations of the game.

[Cholmondely]

Well, that sounds grim. Are you saying ('grindfest') that the game is barely playable in its current form?

that quote was from 2024. playing now, it CAN be a grindfest, depending what you want to do. Building/colonisation can involve a load of hauling materials, engineering components can take a lot of running about to collec them etc. Other aspects of the game - trading, combat etc - are just like other iterations of the game.

But for those of us who know virtually nothing about E:D, "Other aspects of the game - trading, combat etc - are just like other iterations of the game." refers to E:D, Oolite, or Classic Elite?

[Killer Wolf]

Well, that sounds grim. Are you saying ('grindfest') that the game is barely playable in its current form?

that quote was from 2024. playing now, it CAN be a grindfest, depending what you want to do. Building/colonisation can involve a load of hauling materials, engineering components can take a lot of running about to collec them etc. Other aspects of the game - trading, combat etc - are just like other iterations of the game.

But for those of us who know virtually nothing about E:D, "Other aspects of the game - trading, combat etc - are just like other iterations of the game." refers to E:D, Oolite, or Classic Elite?

in a basic sense, all of them, in that trading is shifting between planets and combat is getting out there an shooting stuff. the technicals of it might be more involved, in combat especially given the way the ships handle ~ flight assist makes the ships fly mostly like you'd think from the other games, flight assist off adds a whole other dimension of manoeuverability

[mcarans]

I purchased ED a few months ago. I only started it briefly but didn't like the whole walking around on the planet training part and haven't played it since. It looks like it needs a serious investment in time for me to learn the controls. I couldn't figure out what I needed to do to open a door lol.

[Cholmondely]

I purchased ED a few months ago. I only started it briefly but didn't like the whole walking around on the planet training part and haven't played it since. It looks like it needs a serious investment in time for me to learn the controls. I couldn't figure out what I needed to do to open a door lol.

But then Oolite required a serious investment from me too... I remember printing out the OoliteRS and spending hours going over it.

[Griff]

I really hope they get to implement some of the Kickstarter concept art in this game someday. Flying through gas giant clouds rendered at some imaginable scale or sitting parked at the elite2:frontier star port feeling the wind and rain rock the ship whilst looking up at the gas giant (merlin?) and the biosphere dome in front of you!
I haven't really kept up with the game much (PC can't cope with the walking about stuff), I just don't think I could be bothered to put the time in to learn the new gameplay systems, after playing 8-bit Elite so much where everything was pared down to the essentials because of technical limits, all the 'realistic' complications added to trading and combat just seemed more like a hassle than fun, I backed it for Elite with modern graphics and got multiplayer Frontier:Elite 2

[Zed]

I purchased ED a few months ago. I only started it briefly but didn't like the whole walking around on the planet training part and haven't played it since. It looks like it needs a serious investment in time for me to learn the controls. I couldn't figure out what I needed to do to open a door lol.

It's been a good long time since I've touched E:D but, unless Frontier got around to changing it, you could pretty much ignore the on-foot stuff. One of the biggest complaints about Odyssey / "Elite feet" is that it was disconnected from the stuff that you do in space. Getting the ship controls set up might take some time though.