I'd imagine its more than a year behind Elites features, specifically an economy and universe scale. At the same time, Elite is a mere shell of what SC is doing, but its going to take a couple more years till many of those features are fully fleshed out because they wont be tacking it on or having things done simply by pressing a button.
As an example, theres a ship intended to act like a 747 transporting people around the universe. As well as needing a crew to fly the ship, theres a need for 'trolly dollys' and such to serve the passengers needs. One of the mini-games is receiving drink orders to a service station and you'd create the drinks & mixes to their requirement and the better the accuracy of what they get, and the quality of the drinks used, results in a more favourable review of your services which can help you demand higher ticket prices, or fill the ship easier.
Now, im not saying everyone should buy SC because how amazing will it be to be a trolly dolly in a game, i love this example exactly because of how boring the role of flying people around could well be, but CIG have found ways to make that profession interesting and involving. You could be a pilot and hire NPCs for everything else, but the role has depth, and having someone skilled in a manual role (player or NPC) will be beneficial in many jobs. Now imagine what they can do for professions such as exploration, science & research, repair, salvage, mining etc etc which are what most people are likely to get involved in.
99% of games would say mining is going up to some rocks, press a button, and you've got minerals. CIG are turning professions into skilled gameplay elements, where understanding and experience are worth something, and feel rewarding. Thats obviously going to take a lot longer to implement and balance to get it feature complete compared to pressing a button to do an action. None of the professions are in really (combat is combat), so theres a long way to go.
I'd still say the game is a working tech demo of the available game mechanics, not a game. Its an insight, and IMO when people accept it as such, they can see its potential. The problems come when people expect a game, and start comparing games with 3yrs work behind closed doors (and likely an existing engine and story/universe to build upon) and thats out 2yrs after hearing about it at E3 etc, with a game that was announced when there wasnt much more than an idea, and are incredulous that SC isnt finished yet. Im not even sure if SC is at a stage where its comparable to early access games.
As an example, theres a ship intended to act like a 747 transporting people around the universe. As well as needing a crew to fly the ship, theres a need for 'trolly dollys' and such to serve the passengers needs. One of the mini-games is receiving drink orders to a service station and you'd create the drinks & mixes to their requirement and the better the accuracy of what they get, and the quality of the drinks used, results in a more favourable review of your services which can help you demand higher ticket prices, or fill the ship easier.
Now, im not saying everyone should buy SC because how amazing will it be to be a trolly dolly in a game, i love this example exactly because of how boring the role of flying people around could well be, but CIG have found ways to make that profession interesting and involving. You could be a pilot and hire NPCs for everything else, but the role has depth, and having someone skilled in a manual role (player or NPC) will be beneficial in many jobs. Now imagine what they can do for professions such as exploration, science & research, repair, salvage, mining etc etc which are what most people are likely to get involved in.
99% of games would say mining is going up to some rocks, press a button, and you've got minerals. CIG are turning professions into skilled gameplay elements, where understanding and experience are worth something, and feel rewarding. Thats obviously going to take a lot longer to implement and balance to get it feature complete compared to pressing a button to do an action. None of the professions are in really (combat is combat), so theres a long way to go.
I'd still say the game is a working tech demo of the available game mechanics, not a game. Its an insight, and IMO when people accept it as such, they can see its potential. The problems come when people expect a game, and start comparing games with 3yrs work behind closed doors (and likely an existing engine and story/universe to build upon) and thats out 2yrs after hearing about it at E3 etc, with a game that was announced when there wasnt much more than an idea, and are incredulous that SC isnt finished yet. Im not even sure if SC is at a stage where its comparable to early access games.
or rather.. stretching timescales..
