Elite: Dangerous

[J_C]

i switched to it after having the Logitech 3D extreme yaddayadda for ~2weeks

Are you talkinga about this one?
http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/extreme-3d-pro-joystick
Did you have a bad experience with that? Because a hardcore sim friend of mine recommends it wholeheartedly as a basic joystick.

 

[praetor]

Are you talkinga about this one?
http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/extreme-3d-pro-joystick
Did you have a bad experience with that? Because a hardcore sim friend of mine recommends it wholeheartedly as a basic joystick.

i bought it after your recommendation (or rather the endorsement by your friend via yourself ) and after looking at reviews online. it's a really good stick, but it's still cheap plastic shit just like that cheap plastic thrustmaster HOTAS, but the latter actually offers much much better control of your craft (i wish i had the money for some proper hotas... but jumping from ~40 jewros to ~150-200 for 1-2 games of which one may never properly become a game while the other may never come out, is way waaay too deep for my pockets), with the only downside compared to the Logi or comparable Saitek sticks, is the lack of buttons on the stick itself and the stick is perhaps slightly less ergonomic/comfortable

 

[Whiran]

How is the persistent universe stuff working out now that the game is released?

Does the always online stuff add anything noticeable to the play experience or do you feel that the game wouldn't lose anything if it had an offline mode?

I'm trying to get a sense of if their grand plan of always being online combined with their proclamations as to how their universe -needs- to be online and that there are so many calculations being done by their servers to create a living, breathing, changing universe has succeeded or not.

Thanks!

 

[APGunner]

Does this man speaketh the truth?

 

[Trash]

Not for me. Game installed in about ten or so minutes. Only had problems linking my KS account to their store thingie but that worked out in the end. Also never had any connection problems. Persistent online has been almost unnoticeable apart from some random messages, some idiot opening fire on me in a station* and an interdiction that led me to blowing up the chump.

*Probably was trying to grief or something? I dunno. I simply landed and went into the hangar while listening to the station go nuts at him.

Spoiler

Seriously? Old fart with a youtube channel, atheist tee and hippy hair who starts screaming half way through. Pathetic.

 

[J_C]

I also never had an install problem. Maybe at the very start of the beta there were such problems, but I joined right before gamma, and by that time, it was an easy install.

i bought it after your recommendation (or rather the endorsement by your friend via yourself ) and after looking at reviews online. it's a really good stick, but it's still cheap plastic shit just like that cheap plastic thrustmaster HOTAS, but the latter actually offers much much better control of your craft (i wish i had the money for some proper hotas... but jumping from ~40 jewros to ~150-200 for 1-2 games of which one may never properly become a game while the other may never come out, is way waaay too deep for my pockets), with the only downside compared to the Logi or comparable Saitek sticks, is the lack of buttons on the stick itself and the stick is perhaps slightly less ergonomic/comfortable

Got it. The thing people should keep in mind that although the cover might be cheap plastic for most joysticks, but it is the inner built quality that matters.

 

[Mortmal]

Does this man speaketh the truth?

It took me a very long time to get the game the first time, the uploader pausing all the time with 0k0/sec , but i was playing other games and had it on background forgetting it till it was done.

 

[Duellist_D]

Heh, in terms of actual spaceflight mechanics and the layout of the universe, ED is so far beyond Space Factory Simulator that it's not even funny.

Supposedly good spaceflight mechanics don't do shit if the rest is boring as hell.
And honestly, if it all boils down to "whoevers stuffs the most shielding into his craft wins" anyways, you can put the rest of the mechanics into the oven, since its all meaningless shittery anyways.
Especially since at least to me it looks like there is no reason to NOT go this way if you fight vs Human Pilots.


Regarding the layout:
Uh, no.
Procedural boringness <<<<<<<<<<< Manually placed stuff.
Makes me sometimes wonder which of the X3s you actually played.


W/e:
Any of you having some recent experience with Vega Strike?
Its supposedly modelled after Elite and was sort-of fun to play.
Last time i checked it out was several years ago though and especially the economy had some serious flaws.

 

[praetor]

How is the persistent universe stuff working out now that the game is released?

it isn't. plenty of failure from players to change anything by trying to increase influence. Ho Hsi is just the latest of the bunch (there was one occasion where it supposedly worked and the faction even expanded in a neighbouring system but...). anyway, those percentages currently mean next to nothing so...

Does the always online stuff add anything noticeable to the play experience or do you feel that the game wouldn't lose anything if it had an offline mode?

it doesn't (unless you mean that disconnects that kick you out of the game completely for no good reason are "noticeable additions"). it could easily be offline and it would only gain from it

I'm trying to get a sense of if their grand plan of always being online combined with their proclamations as to how their universe -needs- to be online and that there are so many calculations being done by their servers to create a living, breathing, changing universe has succeeded or not.

just idiotic excuses for the stupid always online DRM and bad game design

 

[Bradylama]

Regarding the layout:
Uh, no.
Procedural boringness <<<<<<<<<<< Manually placed stuff.
Makes me sometimes wonder which of the X3s you actually played.

All of the manually placed stuff in X3 meant next to nothing, because none of it actually changed hands. The only thing to tie everything together were the story missions, and the story was shit.

Complaints regarding E: D apply equally to X3. It's a big world with nothing interesting or meaningful to do, other than to make more money and build bigger ships. The economic model may have been more complex, but that doesn't mean it actually worked, and it ultimately added a greater timesink towards achieving the player's economic goals. The game was barely even playable until the expansions came out, and even then there was still nothing meaningful to the core gameplay. Systems wouldn't even change hands without a later player made mod.

I'm willing to grant that E: D has a lot of problems right now, but being inferior to X3 is definitely not one of them.

For one thing, actually flying and fighting in E: D is way more fun and intuitive than in X3, where you were more often than not flying a floating brick.

 

[Morkar Left]

For one thing, actually flying and fighting in E: D is way more fun and intuitive than in X3, where you were more often than not flying a floating brick.

Huh? The sidewinder is as nimble as a X3 transporter.

 

[Bradylama]

Was it? I couldn't tell how nimble it was traveling in straight lines with time acceleration cranked up all the time.

 

[Duellist_D]

For one thing, actually flying and fighting in E: D is way more fun and intuitive than in X3, where you were more often than not flying a floating brick.

Now thats simply not true.
Or are you talking about X3 Reunion?

The different Ships in X actually fly very different, depending on race and model, so generalizing here doesn't really help with being credible.
If you don't want to fly a brick, just pick a Split.

Also: Could you please elaborate in what way the Economy in X3 "isn't working"?

And please again, specify which X3 you are talking about.
Because Reunion and Albion Prelude play quite differently.

 

[Bradylama]

The expansions play quite differently you say.

The different Ships in X actually fly very different, depending on race and model, so generalizing here doesn't really help with being credible.

None of the ships in E: D fly the same either, which makes me wonder again why you think it's a contrast.

Also: Could you please elaborate in what way the Economy in X3 "isn't working"?

NPC manufacturers will never produce strategic components to construct your own private navy. That's all left up to the player. It makes sense that the player would have to construct his own factories to produce on a sufficient scale, but not that literally nothing is available on the market. On top of that, the player is the only person in the galaxy who constructs new factories, so the manufacturing economy lacks any dynamism whatsoever.

 

[Quatlo]

This game just keeps having my attention but mixed feedback makes me confused.
Is this x3 the mmo?
Can I fly around and gank people in my split m4 or I'm going to get fragged all over the place because lol mmo progression?
How is the pvp?

EDIT:
Will I be happy in this game as Freespace psychofanboy?

 

[J_C]

This game just keeps having my attention but mixed feedback makes me confused.
Is this x3 the mmo?
Can I fly around and gank people in my split m4 or I'm going to get fragged all over the place because lol mmo progression?
How is the pvp?

You could fly around and gank people, but you will rarely meet human players, because the galaxy is god dammed huge. PVP is just finding someone and shooting the bastard.

 

[cvv]

I really like to try out this game but looking at YT for 60 bucks I haven't seen much yet. Watched trading - boring as fuck. Watched combat - looked fun actually only then the guy said it's best enjoyed with a 200 bucks joystick. Right. And after a while combat looked pretty repetitive anyways. Kill pirates, turn in bounties, buy better weapons, kill pirates...

The only part that's really holding my interest is the exploration. I've read something about cataloguing stars, prospecting planets and even looking for mysterious alien civilizations which sounds pretty damn . So how does it work? Is it entertaining? Can you make some decent money? And what about dem ailens?

 

[praetor]

The only part that's really holding my interest is the exploration. I've read something about cataloguing stars, prospecting planets and even looking for mysterious alien civilizations which sounds pretty damn . So how does it work? Is it entertaining? Can you make some decent money? And what about dem ailens?

no aliens yet (though they will be in... not sure about ancient alien civilization as i haven't read anything that pointed to that), money is decent, but first you'll have to do some trading (quite a bit, actually) to afford a decent ship with decent upgrades to make exploring not retardedly obnoxious. is it fun? eh... you go to a system, fire up the scanner to detect objects, and then stare at everything until your scanner says they're scanned. you can find some really cool systems, so i guess that's fun

 

[cvv]

no aliens yet (though they will be in... not sure about ancient alien civilization as i haven't read anything that pointed to that), money is decent, but first you'll have to do some trading (quite a bit, actually) to afford a decent ship with decent upgrades to make exploring not retardedly obnoxious. is it fun? eh... you go to a system, fire up the scanner to detect objects, and then stare at everything until your scanner says they're scanned. you can find some really cool systems, so i guess that's fun

About those civilizations - I've read something like a year ago about the centre of the galaxy being a home for an alien civilization. Could've been a fan hype tho.

And by fun I meant just that - a chance that you discover alien ruins for instance, then you can find artifacts and sell them Gateway style. Coz that would be so awesome I don't even. But I guess as of now it seems to me to get to the centre of the galaxy equals like a realtime week of jumping. So pass for now.

 

[Bradylama]

The Thargoids are an ultradimensional species that they've hinted will factor in much more heavily later down the line. It could already be possible to encounter a Thargoid by chance, but it hasn't happened yet. There might be other aliens out there, but Thargoids are the only ones they've confirmed. They also said that alien life in the galaxy is primarily non-sentient, and encountering a sentient species won't be very likely, let alone a civilization of them. The only other significant sentient species in the lore aside from Thargoids were wiped out by the Empire a long time ago. I'm willing to bet there's a chance that remnants of a long dead civilization could be found, but an actually existing one probably won't happen.

Exploration just isn't very fun at all right now, unless you're traveling out to see the sights of the galaxy. Functionally you just search for celestial objects, then point your ship at them until they're scanned. Maybe it'll get more involved with planetary landing and the FPS expansion, but that might be a while.

 

[dbx]

Is this x3 the mmo?

More like X3-Not-quite-MMO-with-everything-else-dumbed-down-but-cool-gfx.

And I say this as someone who really dislike X3.

Only thing it has that current X3 hasn't is exploration, but that gets boring easily after mere minutes. Download space engine and you will have something similarly boring.

Now combat.
People says it's a lot better than X3, I'd say its even more retarded than X3.
I don't mind sci-fi tech. I don't mind sci-fi tech that makes piloting space ships similar to airplanes
(it's still plausible with powerful sci-fi RCS and fly wheels),
but I really can't stand a game that doesn't even have basic newtonian phys at it's core.

 

[Morkar Left]

Watched combat - looked fun actually only then the guy said it's best enjoyed with a 200 bucks joystick. Right.

That's as much true as having a fully homemade cockpit you can sit in. It's pretty cool to have but not necessary at all. A cheap joystick for 30-40 bucks and a keyboard will be enough, You could even use your mouse wheel for your left hand as a throttle.

There are even cheaper alternatives around for sticks which will do the job good enough I guess. Just don't expect them to function for years under heavy use:
Not sure if available in your country

 

[J_C]

looked fun actually only then the guy said it's best enjoyed with a 200 bucks joystick.

As Morkar said, never believe this bullshit. A cheap joystick is more than enough to enjoy the game.

 

[Bradylama]

I would argue that the most enjoyable way to play the game is with a full HOTAS setup, maybe with rudders. Gittin gud doesn't take much more than a single joystick+Keyboard combo and is still highly enjoyable. If a simulationist experience isn't more enjoyable with peripherals that emulate actual flight controls, then it's doing something very wrong. I'm looking at you, Star Citizen.

Anyway, I finally worked my way back up to the 20 million fortune I had a couple weeks ago and I have a couple words of advice for those of you who reach the Large ship classes:

1. Invest in a docking computer. You'll probably want to fit an extra cargo rack or a shield bank instead, but trust me, in large ships you can very easily misjudge your own ship's orientation to the docking port. I just recently tried to exit a starport in my Lakon 7 and ever so slightly misjudged my orientation, and nicked the top of the bay going at full speed, but that nick was enough to wipe out my shields and drop me to 3% hull. So don't be too hasty to leave a starport, and invest in the docking computer so that your ship will follow traffic laws, instead of being tempted to just squeeze past that incoming Lakon 9 and causing a catastrophic collision in the docking port. Cheating traffic rules is strictly for Medium and Small class ships.

2. Large ships need large docking pads, which means you can't land at outposts. All outposts have one medium landing pad, and two small ones, so if you want to run trade between outposts you'll need a Lakon 6 or an Asp.

 

[praetor]

Now combat.
People says it's a lot better than X3, I'd say its even more retarded than X3.
I don't mind sci-fi tech. I don't mind sci-fi tech that makes piloting space ships similar to airplanes
(it's still plausible with powerful sci-fi RCS and fly wheels),
but I really can't stand a game that doesn't even have basic newtonian phys at it's core.

that's absolute 100% horseshit. other than the capped speed, with FA off it's as newtonian as pretty much every other newtonian game out there (if not more than most)

1. Invest in a docking computer. You'll probably want to fit an extra cargo rack or a shield bank instead, but trust me, in large ships you can very easily misjudge your own ship's orientation to the docking port. I just recently tried to exit a starport in my Lakon 7 and ever so slightly misjudged my orientation, and nicked the top of the bay going at full speed, but that nick was enough to wipe out my shields and drop me to 3% hull. So don't be too hasty to leave a starport, and invest in the docking computer so that your ship will follow traffic laws, instead of being tempted to just squeeze past that incoming Lakon 9 and causing a catastrophic collision in the docking port. Cheating traffic rules is strictly for Medium and Small class ships.

not after seeing how the AI handles docking. plus, i've seen on the net how the docking computer fucks up just like the NPCs do so it's just as likely you'll get killed because of it 'cause it decided to loiter or other dumb shit

2. Large ships need large docking pads, which means you can't land at outposts. All outposts have one medium landing pad, and two small ones, so if you want to run trade between outposts you'll need a Lakon 6 or an Asp.

just another example of the dumbfuckery with ship balance: the best combat ship in the game right now (Python) has more cargo space than the medium transport ship and can fit on smaller pads (afaik)