Elite IV
- Thread starter Dano
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Soldato
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Yeah but it's not going to go into serious production until after The Outsider has been released and that won't be for another year yet. As you say - it will need to be seen to be believed. Still it's good news that they are actually actively working on it.
Soldato
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Got fed up of waiting for this!
Its in the same boat as Duke Nukem, and even then i wont be pre ordering/buying either until reviews say they are the next gods gift, anything less and i'd rather just remember them as great games i played growing up!
Its in the same boat as Duke Nukem, and even then i wont be pre ordering/buying either until reviews say they are the next gods gift, anything less and i'd rather just remember them as great games i played growing up!
Soldato
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I would almost agree if there had ever been a promise of a timeline on the game and as far as I know other than "once The Outsider" has been released there hasn't. Personally I'd prefer they took their time on it and got it right than messed around with it and got it entirely wrong.
The problem with doing the elite for the new age, is that unless its done right its just going to be a major waste of time.
Its pretty much accepted that making it a MMORPG type game is what people want, but in doing so a lot of what make Frontier and First encounters separate was the physics model and distance travel mechanics. This is going to have to be ditched in a MMORPG environment.
They could make it single player, no bad thing in my opinon, and simply make first encounters with up to date tech and story/gameplay.
In any case id rather it take a few more years to arrive than be rushed and not worth the code its made of.
In any case the major problem is this, to have the open ended game play that made the original popular you have to still make it enjoyable. Our tastes and expectations have grown with the technology, and simple randomly generated "take this to planetx and watch out for assasins" wont cut the mustard anymore. So they are going to have to make a lot of thought out gameplay missions and that in itself takes time.
The scope for starting with a rusted hulk and working towards a cutting edge steathed ship with alien tech weapons, and flying in realtime from one planet to another, down through the atmophere-clouds-into the city and landing at a spaceport with no loading screens or autopilots is the holy grail most people want, and that wont be easy to programme!
Imagine a MMORPG set in the elite universe though, with corporations out to destroy the opposition. Assasins working for the highest bidder, smugglers and pirates taking over whole star systems. The police and authoritarian systems ruling with an iron fist and hiring mercenaries to take out troublemakers... and all this in player run guilds.
The possible scope is like EvE on steroids in the "elite" universe, and all with constantly evolving ships and technology. It COULD be a wow beater if done right, but then again frontier developments does not have endless millions of pounds to spend getting it off the ground ( sadly ).
Personally i think that if a game ever does emerge it will be nowhere near what could have been *wipes away a tear*
Let us not forget, the thing that made elite and frontier so great was the imagination it stirred in you. The technology at the time allowed nowhere near the immersion we expect now, and thats what made the game what it was. It was a blank canvas for your imagination.
Its pretty much accepted that making it a MMORPG type game is what people want, but in doing so a lot of what make Frontier and First encounters separate was the physics model and distance travel mechanics. This is going to have to be ditched in a MMORPG environment.
They could make it single player, no bad thing in my opinon, and simply make first encounters with up to date tech and story/gameplay.
In any case id rather it take a few more years to arrive than be rushed and not worth the code its made of.
In any case the major problem is this, to have the open ended game play that made the original popular you have to still make it enjoyable. Our tastes and expectations have grown with the technology, and simple randomly generated "take this to planetx and watch out for assasins" wont cut the mustard anymore. So they are going to have to make a lot of thought out gameplay missions and that in itself takes time.
The scope for starting with a rusted hulk and working towards a cutting edge steathed ship with alien tech weapons, and flying in realtime from one planet to another, down through the atmophere-clouds-into the city and landing at a spaceport with no loading screens or autopilots is the holy grail most people want, and that wont be easy to programme!
Imagine a MMORPG set in the elite universe though, with corporations out to destroy the opposition. Assasins working for the highest bidder, smugglers and pirates taking over whole star systems. The police and authoritarian systems ruling with an iron fist and hiring mercenaries to take out troublemakers... and all this in player run guilds.
The possible scope is like EvE on steroids in the "elite" universe, and all with constantly evolving ships and technology. It COULD be a wow beater if done right, but then again frontier developments does not have endless millions of pounds to spend getting it off the ground ( sadly ).
Personally i think that if a game ever does emerge it will be nowhere near what could have been *wipes away a tear*
Let us not forget, the thing that made elite and frontier so great was the imagination it stirred in you. The technology at the time allowed nowhere near the immersion we expect now, and thats what made the game what it was. It was a blank canvas for your imagination.
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Soldato
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Only in their most distant dreams. EVE is a vapid great yawning bore fest with no soul.
+eleventybillionandone.
And yet it's still better than pretty much any other MMO out there. Whether they like it or not, it's what any MMO version of Elite will be compared to.
If Elite turns into a point and click game it'll be the biggest fail of all time.
The *only* similarities between EVE and Elite are they are about space. That's it.
Has potential. With Braben on side it can't not be better than EVE. All they have to do is not make a monotonous grindfest.
Really hope they don't make it too complex. All they really need to do is take Elite, add a bunch of missions, make it multiplayer and make it look nice. That right there is a winning formula. None of this rep grinding/waiting days for ship upgrades toss.
Really hope they don't make it too complex. All they really need to do is take Elite, add a bunch of missions, make it multiplayer and make it look nice. That right there is a winning formula. None of this rep grinding/waiting days for ship upgrades toss.
When you can take off from the surface of a planet with 20 odd coppers chasing you, I'll agree. Until that moment, I'm afraid Elite is still the King of all space sims.
Enjoyed Frontier Elite II though Encounters was bugged to hell and I never really did much with it.
Can't say I'm thrilled by the prospect of Elite IV being primarily MMO, fair does if that floats your boat but I'm more interested in a decent SP game.
The X games have similarities but are set in a fictional universe and don't utilise orbital mechanics etc. Freelancer was too short and wasn't nearly as open ended as it was made out to be. So the prospect of Elite IV is certainly a compelling one but it has the reputation of being the biggest vapourware title ever announced so i'll believe it when I see it!
Can't say I'm thrilled by the prospect of Elite IV being primarily MMO, fair does if that floats your boat but I'm more interested in a decent SP game.
The X games have similarities but are set in a fictional universe and don't utilise orbital mechanics etc. Freelancer was too short and wasn't nearly as open ended as it was made out to be. So the prospect of Elite IV is certainly a compelling one but it has the reputation of being the biggest vapourware title ever announced so i'll believe it when I see it!
Soldato
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From what I understand the intention is for it to be single player with the possibility of some form of multiplayer interaction. As far as I know David Braben and Frontier don't intend for it to be MMO but then things change...