Oolite Bulletins

Folks, today's update is out.

It's video > http://www.wagar.org.uk/elitereclamatio ... rst-draft/

Cheers,

Drew.

This week' topic is 'Women in Sci-Fi'. Have I done it justice? See for yourself.

http://www.wagar.org.uk/elitereclamatio ... in-sci-fi/

Cheers,

Drew.

The immature attitude (of some) on the E: D forum is sad... and rather tedious!

Today's update looks at the Elite Community at large, with a healthy nod to Oolite in the process!

http://www.wagar.org.uk/elitereclamatio ... f-an-idea/

Cheers,

Drew.

Great update!

Today's update is all about 'points of view' and not the BBC programme.

http://www.wagar.org.uk/elitereclamatio ... s-of-view/

Cheers,

Drew.

I have to say, I've come to expect your weekly updates with great anticipation, Drew. There is always something interesting to read in them, every single week. Keep it up and can't wait to read the finished Reclamation novel once it's out.

another_commander wrote:

I have to say, I've come to expect your weekly updates with great anticipation, Drew. There is always something interesting to read in them, every single week. Keep it up and can't wait to read the finished Reclamation novel once it's out.

I second that. Contrary to some comments on your blog about writing too many updates, I am really happy you do. One per week is perfect for me to keep engaged. Most other KS projects publish much less frequently and leave the supporters to wonder if everything is still going ok. And then there is this crazy obsessed Josh from Limit Theory who writes daily updates in his dev blog. I do read and appreciate them but this is nothing I'd ever expect from anyone.

So thank you, Drew, please continue as you do.

Thanks guys. I find the blog writeup a good way to recharge and re-engage with writing the novel. It's a lot more intense than it was with Incursio and Finis. I guess this is due to the more 'official' nature of things.

It's also quite a bit hard in relation to the background material. Oolite was easy to write in, and nobody would get upset if I took the odd liberty here and there. I don't have that luxury in the 'official' universe!

Cheers,

Drew.

Today's update: Progress, a setback or two and an announcement...

http://www.wagar.org.uk/elitereclamatio ... ouncement/

Cheers,

Drew.

Dicing with controversy again, but suspect I will find it easier on this site...

I take a long hard look at FE2 and FFE and ask... are they any good?

http://www.wagar.org.uk/elitereclamatio ... -frontier/

Cheers,

Drew.

Easier on this site? Forgot about me, eh?

Nah, as I said elsewhere, you were correct in many things. Playing FFE required you to know a few things that made it more immersive and better to play, such as:

- do not use autopilot to approach planets, that will make it easier for pirates to match speeds with your ship - instead, accelerate until halfway and then turn around to decelerate.
- do not use the higher stardreamer setting, as it will teleport the enemies to you (they don't have to spend time matching speeds) and they usually teleport right on top of you and kill you before you can react.
- do not buy the bigger ships and if you do, do not equip them with too many shield units or the bigger weapons (5MW beam is enough, pulse even better) - it will make the game boring.
- turn off autopilot when dogfighting, turn off the engines (so that they don't try to help you as you accelerate to different directions - engines off does not mean that you cannot use them)

etc. etc.

You ARE allowed to hate the Kestrels and other tiny fighters that zip around you like wasps and are really difficult to hit. Those fights got boring quickly as you just tried to hit the little critters...

Not much controversy, at least not when I read the comments.

So, perhaps here's for some controversy:

First, I am like Drew: I have played and loved Oolite, but I never played any of the "sequels". All my knowledge about them is from third parties, and most of it stems from—surprise, surprise—these very boards and the Wiki (and Selezen's site). If I understand and interpret everything I know correctly, I come to the assessment: Frontier is probably a good and captivating game in its own right, but it's not a sequel to Elite, and never was. It doesn't share the same premise (in which GalCop and Thargoids play a big part), and it doesn't share the same universe (apart from some alibi systems). I think that I once read either here on the boards or in some other place that in fact it was developed as a distinct space game and simulation, with no connection to Elite at all. Then David Braben got into it and slapped some superficial Elite material into it (a couple of planet names, a couple of ships), in order to be able to market it as a sequel. So, the name "Frontier 'Elite 2'" is basically a marketing gimmick, in order to appeal to those people who played Elite before.

"Frontier First Encounters" then applied some more of the Elite material (Thargoids) to the Frontier verse. But it's very clearly a sequel to Frontier, not to Elite.

When "Elite:Dangerous" was announced under this name (not under the name "Frontier:Dangerous"!), I briefly had the hope that it would be a sequel to Elite, but the more information was revealed, the clearer it became that this would not be the case. In contrast to what its name suggests it's actually another sequel to Frontier, not to Elite. (Still, I threw a lot more money at it than I should have (but I don't regret supporting you guys, only pledging for the game itself).)

So, that's the situation as I see it. As far as Elite sequels go, Frontier has been sailing under a false flag right from the beginning. Marketing-wise this was probably a smart move. But in my opinion it doesn't really do Elite justice.

However, the story doesn't end here. Actually, there is a true sequel to Elite, and we all know it: it's Oolite. Staying with the premise of the original, and then innovating and expanding it, that's exactly what a good sequel does.

Thus, for me Oolite is the only "Elite 2" that ever existed. In a parallel-but-strangely-connected-(leading-to-much-ugliness-and-confusion)-universe there is also "Frontier" and "Frontier 2", and in a couple of months we'll have "Frontier 3". I would be happier if the distinction was a little clearer.

Commander McLane wrote:

I think that I once read either here on the boards or in some other place that in fact it was developed as a distinct space game and simulation, with no connection to Elite at all.

I've also seen that theory, but if it's true, the decision to make it an Elite sequel must have taken place very early in development. The trading model, the open universe, the heavy reliance on procedural generation, are all extremely Elite-like. It's really just the combat and the setting (and the combat's only a mess because they were ambitious elsewhere)

The setting changes appear a big difference, but the majority of the setting is preserved between the two. Ironically, if they hadn't put the Old Worlds systems in, it would have been a lot easier to explain: Galcop could have been a bunch of colonists who (relatively recently) discovered the galactic hyperdrive, used it, and couldn't work out how to get back to Earth afterwards. They might well be out there somewhere (it's a big galaxy) or they might be off in Andromeda with the Thargoids - but meanwhile, back in the sectors they left behind around Sol...

Commander McLane wrote:

Ironically, if they hadn't put the Old Worlds systems in, it would have been a lot easier to explain: Galcop could have been a bunch of colonists who (relatively recently) discovered the galactic hyperdrive, used it, and couldn't work out how to get back to Earth afterwards. They might well be out there somewhere (it's a big galaxy) or they might be off in Andromeda with the Thargoids - but meanwhile, back in the sectors they left behind around Sol...

Yes it's fine in theory, but where's the rest of Galaxy 1? I mean there's Lave yes, and a few systems around it, but the rest of the G1 map is not.