Elite on Kickstarter...

[Darkflame]

Indeed.
Its still very ambitious, but its looking more and more like they will pull it off.

One thing that is still a vague concern though to me is perception of movement (pom). As space is, like 99% empty, and they are trying to deal with real scales here, theres going to be a lot of time when you can barely see your moving. Even with various warpy things, or other tricks....It seems like they need a pom solution.
But, realism being what it is, they cant just use the "random dots flying past" or the "random bits of debree" effects other games used. Space isn't that dense.
I suggested having a virtual lattice that the cockpit could project (only when needed). Very crude mockup. That would give orientation as well as a sense of speed.

[axel000]

Indeed.
Its still very ambitious, but its looking more and more like they will pull it off.

One thing that is still a vague concern though to me is perception of movement (pom). As space is, like 99% empty, and they are trying to deal with real scales here, theres going to be a lot of time when you can barely see your moving. Even with various warpy things, or other tricks....It seems like they need a pom solution.
But, realism being what it is, they cant just use the "random dots flying past" or the "random bits of debree" effects other games used. Space isn't that dense.
I suggested having a virtual lattice that the cockpit could project (only when needed). Very crude mockup. That would give orientation as well as a sense of speed.

I thought I saw some kind of animated cross-hatching effect in the HUD in at least one of the alpha videos. I figured this could be turned on as an optional HUD effect. Looked pretty good. I saw it in a vid of a 1 on 1 dog fight set in an asteroid field with a Newtonian flight model. Can't seem to find it right now though.

I quite liked the effect, hope it stays to the release version.

[Darkflame]

ah, fantastic, I'll have to look at that vid.

[axel000]

Watch this vid in full screen HD and you can see the effect works pretty nicely

[youtube]4znC7OZ-o08&feature=share&list=PLiQWmceaQmjxi1jzBlpF5QzJWna-Kl3-Y&index=16[/youtube]

[Darkflame]

That have got ye-old psydostars though
I hoped they would avoid that effect.

Still, the rest of the cockpit looks nice. Bobble-head and all.

[F-ZeroOne]

Well, they also apparently have missile vapour trails in space, as well...

[Muttley]

Well, they also apparently have missile vapour trails in space, as well...

Yeah, and (shock, horror) you can see laser beams.

I'd rather it was fun than extremely realistic.

[rowan]

I suggested having a virtual lattice that the cockpit could project (only when needed). Very crude mockup. That would give orientation as well as a sense of speed.

That's not bad as a switchable HUD option, I'd probably prefer that than the constant debris / lights option. Debris & lights in select areas of space & a some subtle indication; switchable HUD cube thingy or big arrow indicator on cockpit or radar or whatever. I'm sure I can live with their solution.

[Darkflame]

Well, of course where appropriate real debree would be nice.
Atmosphere of planets and gas-giants too etc.

For areas of void though, I think you could go quite far with the lattice idea;
1. Relativistic speed effects reflected by the grid distorting.
2. The grid cubes changing color to reflect where crafts have recently passed though. Might be more intuitive "chasing" crafts that have just gone offscreen. (I guess vapour trails are used for much the same thing, however).

Well, they also apparently have missile vapour trails in space, as well...

Well, they could always be venting stuff for whatever reason.

Some nice gameplay can come from realism too, its not necessarily negative. For example, the idea of getting rid of excess heat in a little bit that jettisons from your craft. (think one of the videos mentioned it).

[Muttley]

After watching loads of great footage on YouTube over the last few days I got carried away and upgraded to the Elite: Dangerous alpha last night.... I hadn't even been drinking.





I'm weak.

Now I need a HOTAS setup of course...

[defsdoor]

That first video is awesome. I need to download the multiplayer alpha version - not had chance yet :O

[Xstreme]

This is looking ridiculously good.

[F-ZeroOne]

Theres a good look at it in the latest "Edge" magazine. One slight worry I have - as a below-average ability gamer - is that it might be a touch more "flight-simy" than a general audience might expect, going by that article.

[Muttley]

Theres a good look at it in the latest "Edge" magazine. One slight worry I have - as a below-average ability gamer - is that it might be a touch more "flight-simy" than a general audience might expect, going by that article.

From what I've played so far it can be as flight-simy as you want it to be. You can just play it like spitfires in space if you want (with flight assist on), or you can go full hardcore and turn flight assist off so then you have the full Newtonian flight mechanic to deal with. Or you can go in-between and toggle flight assist on/off occasionally just to give you a little edge to manoeuvrability now and then.

You can also tweak your system power settings and divert energy to recharge weapons or shields quicker, or you can just leave them alone and have it balanced at the default settings.

Really enjoying it so far. It's looking fucking gorgeous as well.

Muttley

[Istar]

You can also tweak your system power settings and divert energy to recharge weapons or shields quicker, or you can just leave them alone and have it balanced at the default settings.

This was one of the things I loved most about X-Wing - the ability to tune the ship on-demand for fight or flight. TIE-protected corvette convoy? Shields, double-front for the first pass, balanced as we burn through the pack, double-rear on exit and then full power to engines for a long sweep around before the next run in.