Don't buy Elite: Dangerous

[Hauldren Collider]

It seemed a bit mad at the time, but as he'd just created the most stunningly innovative and technically impressive game in human history, it felt like he deserved a pass.

I played Elite and Frontier: Elite 2. I can forgive them for their flaws because of the fact that they were groundbreaking in other ways. But in terms of gameplay, Elite: Dangerous has barely improved upon Elite 2, if at all, and that's unacceptable. It's 2015.

The X series of games were like that too. Booooooooring.

Freelancer, on the other hand, was great.

QFMFT. Freelancer is my all-time favorite game.

This game is like the opposite of Freelancer in terms of design decisions. Freelancer had completely ludicrous scale, with a planet being only a few hundred times the size of your little starfighter. It had a small number of systems. It didn't have seamless transit between systems. What it did have were environments with interesting backstory that made exploring rewarding, a main story mode with a plot that was interesting and well-executed if not groundbreaking with characters that you liked, and furthermore set you up at the end with a ship sufficiently powerful to do postgame stuff. This game has none of that. It also had a control scheme that was intuitive and fun, and didn't require some ridiculously expensive joystick with 10,000 buttons. In fairness to that last point, you can play Elite: Dangerous reasonably well with an xbox gamepad, but there aren't enough buttons so you are forced to do certain things with the keyboard.

[Bereta_Eder]

Freelancer and the X-Series are on the opposing ends.
The first is a story driver action oriented game and the other is a sand box complicated space trade micromanagement game.
I'd like to think that Elite Dangerous catches the middle ground.
Haven't played it yet (only the demo) because mass effect trilogy was out for 20 euros and so...

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

It's shocking that the space combat genre has been so neglected. The original TIE Fighter has still never been bettered.

[Bereta_Eder]

Agreed, it was great.

[Dinner]

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/04/review-elite-dangerous-is-the-best-damn-spaceship-game-ive-ever-played/

Ars Technica gave it a great review calling it the best space game ever but also said it was released way to early and even after two large patches it still needs work.

[Dinner]

It's shocking that the space combat genre has been so neglected. The original TIE Fighter has still never been bettered.

I played the **** out of the old X-Wing and TIE fighter series back in the day.

[Hauldren Collider]

Freelancer and the X-Series are on the opposing ends.
The first is a story driver action oriented game and the other is a sand box complicated space trade micromanagement game.
I'd like to think that Elite Dangerous catches the middle ground.
Haven't played it yet (only the demo) because mass effect trilogy was out for 20 euros and so...

I don't know that I agree with this. At least not complete opposite ends. I'd say something like Starlancer or the X-Wing games or Rogue Squadron would be on the other end. Freelancer has space trade, it has sandbox stuff, it just isn't as fleshed out as the combat.

[Hauldren Collider]

If its like the original then you can buy an auto-docking computer. Except that in the original manual docking was extremely hard (on a Spectrum keyboard). So you had a wierd thing where as a new player you had to repeatedly do something really difficult before you could save enough money to not have to do it any more.

I remember getting the docking computer in Frontier: Elite 2. After something like 2 minutes of my ship looping around like an idiot while playing Blue Danube setting up its approach, it ****ing crashed right into the station anyway (I guess because of some bug) and I died. I was so angry I rage quit right there and never picked up Elite 2 again

[MRT144]

you can buy a docking computer cheaply, but it takes up a valuable slot on your ship..

That's so stupid.

"Ah, we have mastered FTL travel but putting docking on a chip the size of our thumbnail, you are a crazy dreamer"

[MRT144]

I don't know that I agree with this. At least not complete opposite ends. I'd say something like Starlancer or the X-Wing games or Rogue Squadron would be on the other end. Freelancer has space trade, it has sandbox stuff, it just isn't as fleshed out as the combat.

Wing Commander Privateer was good for it's era.

[Hauldren Collider]

That's so stupid.

"Ah, we have mastered FTL travel but putting docking on a chip the size of our thumbnail, you are a crazy dreamer"

Especially considering that spaceships are using docking computers to dock with the ISS *right now*.

[MRT144]

Especially considering that spaceships are using docking computers to dock with the ISS *right now*.

Yeah, they had to take out the FTL computer for that, obviously.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Instant gratification generation.

Well some may disagree with HC.

And yet, in spite of how broken the game was at launch and all the ways in which it remains plagued with bugs even now after two major patches, Elite: Dangerous is so damn good that it transcends its problems. When I strap on my Oculus Rift DK2 and look around my cockpit, I am flying my own spaceship.

Blasting through Witch space, docking at stations, hauling goods on long trade routes, hunting for bounties, blowing away NPCs or other players in conflict zones, or exploring a thousand light years away from known space—David Braben and his team at Frontier Developments have built the best, most immersive, most gripping "you are flying a spaceship" experience I have ever played in the 30 years I’ve been playing video games. When I’m cruising in silence above the plane of a gas giant’s rings, banking slowly and looking down for signs of pirates that I can drop down on and crush like the fist of an angry space-god, it doesn’t matter that the game still isn’t fully baked, because I am flying my own spaceship.

My buddy Matt insightfully described Elite: Dangerous as "the best game you’ve ever thought about playing," and he’s right—long after I’ve logged off, I think about what I want to do next. I imagine new weapon layouts for my ship, or new goals I want to hit—gotta gain some Imperial rank so I can get an Achenar permit!—or new things I want to try. And that’s perhaps the key to Elite: Dangerous: it really is the successor to 1984’s Elite, and to enjoy it in the long-term after the new game shiny has worn off, you really need to be the kind of person who enjoys setting and reaching your own gameplay goals. Because there’s not a lot of structure in Elite: Dangerous to guide you.
.
To find Elite: Dangerous a good game, you have to like what it is: the greatest "I feel like I’m flying a spaceship" game that’s ever been made up to this point in the history of computer gaming. Meticulously planning out your trade routes and then hauling cargo for hours at a stretch has to be its own reward. Flying thousands of light years out into the black to see what no human has ever seen has to be its own reward. Blowing up dozens and dozens of criminals to snag their bounties has to be its own reward.

The journey has to be worth it for you, because otherwise, Elite: Dangerous is a monotonous grind-fest with no destination.

Here is a 12 min video, may be boring for some.



This one a bit less boring.



the game is already going in the "great" direction for me, ie about top 5 for me together with Civ series, TF, Elder Scrolls, and it is getting better by the month it seems. Was a bit burned out after initial 40-50 hours, had a two week break and did plenty of hours since.

There is definitely more to do, and more is coming.

Not a game without issues (many of which are being worked on), but flying the spaceship works wonders, if you like this sort of thing, as this is done to perfection.

[MRT144]

Whoa, I thought we took it for granted that HC is the embodiment of a petulant child

[Hauldren Collider]

If I cared about instant gratification, I wouldn't play Civ. I'm more than happy to put in work to get results in a video game. But I'd like there to actually be results. There's nothing to explore--every system is the same. There's no sense of accomplishment from improving your ship, since it doesn't let you accomplish interesting tasks. The interface and controls are frustrating and opaque. That's not a "instant gratification" complaint, that's a "I don't enjoy things that are needlessly repetitive and frustrating". You may as well play progress quest if you find this sort of stuff fun.