Elite on Kickstarter...

[Dio]

The trouble with a lot of procedural planet demos I've seen is that they look pretty but they are basically water and mountains. Having thousands of procedurally generated planets is bit pointless if they all look like uninhabited mountain ranges. There needs to be some signs of habitation at various levels of technology. Doing roads and stuff is a lot hard than clouds.

I would have thought US-style cities acceptable for moderately low altitude flyby quality would be rather easy. I don't have the spare time to take a bet on the subject, though.

[merman]

Elite did not have cities. You went to the space stations to trade. You did not even go into the atmosphere of planets.

[Istar]

How close is Unknown to TNK?

I don't have an iPhone so haven't tried Unknown. However, looking at the screen shots it looks like it is based on TNK but heavily enhanced and modified. The local star chart and data on planet are unmistakably from TNK, no other version of Elite does them exactly like that.

Christian.

Did you see Elite on the Atari ST? Because as I'm playing Unknown, I'm seeing that. It might be that memory is blurred between Elite and Frontier (both on ST) but even so, given that Frontier is 'a version' of Elite, I'd say Unknown is a remake/clone/homage/whatever of the 16-bit implementation of the game.

[Istar]

You did not even go into the atmosphere of planets.

Yes you did. And your hull temperature went up until you popped. Admittedly the only indicator of atmospheric ablation was the temperature gauge, but it was there.

[merman]

You did not even go into the atmosphere of planets.

Yes you did. And your hull temperature went up until you popped. Admittedly the only indicator of atmospheric ablation was the temperature gauge, but it was there.

Yes, but that was a bad idea and there was nothing to do. With fuel scoops fitted you could harvest fuel from a star's atmosphere, but getting close to a planet served no purpose.

[TFO]

Hmm. At time of writing, they're still not at half way.

[funkstar]

Can't someone just remake Wing Commander with a new soap opera plot and some online elements for a mobile phone, without turding it down with in app purchases?

By "Wing Commander" you mean "Tie Fighter", right?

[Darkflame]

There was a wing commander kickstarter - it got funded very well.
I prefer a Tie Fighter style game too though..

[Flojomojo]

Can't someone just remake Wing Commander with a new soap opera plot and some online elements for a mobile phone, without turding it down with in app purchases?

By "Wing Commander" you mean "Tie Fighter", right?

That works too. Disney has the resources to do this, I believe. I wouldn't mind if they snuck in references to Episode 7, just as Rogue Squadron buried a Naboo Starfighter in their code.

[Flojomojo]

There was a wing commander kickstarter - it got funded very well.
I prefer a Tie Fighter style game too though..

That's Chris Roberts's game, but that bloated vapor ware is no Wing Commander.

The much more modest "Starlight inception," also on Kickstarter, is way closer.

[Muttley]

There was a wing commander kickstarter - it got funded very well.
I prefer a Tie Fighter style game too though..

That's Chris Roberts's game, but that bloated vapor ware is no Wing Commander.

The much more modest "Starlight inception," also on Kickstarter, is way closer.

Bloated vaporware? Have you not seen the in-engine videos? They have far more actually working than most Kickstarters (including Starlight Inception which I've also backed).

[Flojomojo]

Bloated vaporware? Have you not seen the in-engine videos? They have far more actually working than most Kickstarters (including Starlight Inception which I've also backed).

Yeah -- bloated, because from what I have seen, it is relying on technical prowess and visual fidelity at the expense of fun. Vaporware, because he's promising the moon and taking everyone's money. A technical demo is not sufficient at the price he's asking.

His breathless hype, as well as his disdain for consoles and mobile, really leaves me cold.

[Muttley]

Bloated vaporware? Have you not seen the in-engine videos? They have far more actually working than most Kickstarters (including Starlight Inception which I've also backed).

Yeah -- bloated, because from what I have seen, it is relying on technical prowess and visual fidelity at the expense of fun. Vaporware, because he's promising the moon and taking everyone's money. A technical demo is not sufficient at the price he's asking.

His breathless hype, as well as his disdain for consoles and mobile, really leaves me cold.

Wow! Such negativity! Who pissed on your cornflakes?

[defsdoor]

Wow! Such negativity! Who pissed on your cornflakes?

Chris Roberts I suspect.

[Flojomojo]

Wow! Such negativity! Who pissed on your cornflakes?

Chris Roberts I suspect.

Indeed. The chump who is "sad and angry that PC gamers get no respect." Consoles and mobiles are better than ever. They're more than capable of delivering the fun, playable, and accessible experiences that *I* like, but he's still wanking over next year's video card. In 2012. While wearing a flightsuit.