Elite on Kickstarter...

[Whiteball]

I think Star Citizen will end up beating itself really.

1)From what I can gather, they are targeting machines from a few years advance of now as being just 'middle spec' for the games requirements.
2)Really realistic physics and AI
3)So much detail that you can go anywhere and do anything to the minutest detail (get lost in a sea of dull pointlessness)
4)Relying on many players working together to fly bigger ships including doing the mundane tasks and bits (strangers co-operating even when bored shitless?)
5)Expectations are so high from all they've said and promised, plus the huge amount of cash they have (people will/are expecting 'the moon on a stick').
These things ofter do not a good game make.
I think it is also going to be a long drawn out development where pieces are released piecemeal with lengthy delays in between to the point where interest will die off.

Whereas Elite on the other hand looks great, plays great (according to the alpha/beta players) and is moving along in development at a rapid pace.
So glad I backed Elite

[axel000]

The full release of Star Citizen is at least a year off, and is the single player Squadron 42. The multiplayer component is a separate and later release. When you look at MMOs like WoW, a couple of years is nothing. That's been running for over a decade.

We should have a good idea re: specs with the release of the DFM, but they are right to target tech a year or so away seeing as the main game is a year out and the multiplayer is likely two years out.

However, there has been a lot of misinterpretation over developer comments over on the star citizen site, comments related to the horsepower to run Occulus VR at 1080p with no visible lag were confused with specs needed to just run one 1080p display.

[Muttley]

I'm absolutely bloody loving it. Even with the tiny section we have to fly in currently there's so much cool emergent game-play occurring.

For example, last night I finally earned enough money to buy a second pulse laser (there was a complete wipe before the beta went live), and as I was currently in the anarchy system I decided to head out the the miners in the ring system and do a spot of bounty hunting.

I got interdicted on the way by a pirate who rapidly learnt to regret his choice of profession, and then when I arrived I started patrolling the area looking for wanted targets. I found one and chased him down, and when he got destroyed there was a cargo canister in the wreckage which I promptly scooped up to sell later.

The patrol continued and I spotted another wanted ship, so I engaged and after a bit of asteroid dodging I managed to take him down. Unfortunately it seems he had a mate and suddenly my shields were getting a hammering from a fast and manoeuvrable Eagle.

He rapidly took my shields out and I failed to manoeuvre well enough to get him in my sights long enough to take him out, or at least give him pause for thought. My shields were down, and my hull was now down to 50% as well, so I decided it was time to bug out.

Cue a frantic cat and mouse chase through the asteroids with me desperately trying to keep an asteroid between us whilst at the same time trying to climb out of the asteroid belt so I could FSD out of there. I eventually managed to get enough distance between us and was far enough away from the belt that I could jump away, but not before he'd taken my hull down to 35%.

Breathing a sigh of relief I headed back to Freeport, but just as I was getting close I was interdicted again, and this time it was not a pirate, but another bounty hunter in a Cobra Mk. III who attempted to scan me. I then realised I had a cannister of stolen goods in my hold and so hit the emergency boost and attempted to keep enough distance so he couldn't scan me as I couldn't attack him without attracting a bounty on my own head, but I would also get a bounty if he found stolen goods on me.

Thankfully I managed to outrun him and eventually could jump back to the station, sell my illicit cargo on the black market, fix my ship up.

I think I'll stick to a nice bit of quiet trading for a while longer until I can upgrade my weapons.

[Muttley]

However, there has been a lot of misinterpretation over developer comments over on the star citizen site, comments related to the horsepower to run Occulus VR at 1080p with no visible lag were confused with specs needed to just run one 1080p display.

The current support for Oculus Rift in Star Citizen is utter gash. It barely works and they will seriously have to do something about all those player character animations where they completely take control of the camera. Even without the rift on it makes me feel queasy in first-person mode (the only game to have ever had that effect on me), but with the rift on it's almost immediately pass-the-bucket time.

Contrast that with the Rift support in Elite: Dangerous which not only works beautifully, causes no feelings of nausea at all (I've played for up to 2 hours with it), and is pretty much the best demo to show of the benefits and sheer immersion of VR that I've seen.

[Whiteball]

Contrast that with the Rift support in Elite: Dangerous which not only works beautifully, causes no feelings of nausea at all (I've played for up to 2 hours with it), and is pretty much the best demo to show of the benefits and sheer immersion of VR that I've seen.

So, not only having a great time with Elite (as above), but playing with a Rift as well....you...you...lucky person

[Barney]

Contrast that with the Rift support in Elite: Dangerous which not only works beautifully, causes no feelings of nausea at all (I've played for up to 2 hours with it), and is pretty much the best demo to show of the benefits and sheer immersion of VR that I've seen.

Right, I've had enough of this. I need to know where you live, and and you need to know that I'll be there shortly. Fire up the rift.

[axel000]

I spent some time with the premium beta today, how are they doing the instancing ? I am barely finding any human players in game so far here in the US.

Landing so far is proving challenging.

[Muttley]

I spent some time with the premium beta today, how are they doing the instancing ? I am barely finding any human players in game so far here in the US.

Landing so far is proving challenging.

Instances work like this.

Each player has a sphere of presence surrounding them, any players who's spheres intersect are grouped together in a dynamic instance which one player becoming the authority. Currently up to 32 human players can be in the same instance, but if there are more players than that then another instance is created. Eventually the grouping will take into account friends, missions, etc. to ensure you're instanced with your friends or the person you're hired to kill, etc.

Currently the networking is still not completed and so stuff like Geoip and connection health is not taken into account. Also though there are multiple match-making servers they don't appear to talk to each other yet.

[Muttley]

Contrast that with the Rift support in Elite: Dangerous which not only works beautifully, causes no feelings of nausea at all (I've played for up to 2 hours with it), and is pretty much the best demo to show of the benefits and sheer immersion of VR that I've seen.

So, not only having a great time with Elite (as above), but playing with a Rift as well....you...you...lucky person

Currently using the rift in ED is only really workable if you either sightseeing or dogfighting. The DK1 resolution is too low to make the trading screens useful. Roll on the consumer version.

[Darkflame]

hmm...my local Fablab has a Rift. Me thinks I'll be paying them a visit sometime.
Gota check what version they got.

[Yak]

I actually have a HD Prototype Rift .

But I only paid for standard beta which doesn't start for ages .

From what I am reading I'm going to have to spring for a HOTAS anyway before I do start.

[Muttley]

I actually have a HD Prototype Rift .

But I only paid for standard beta which doesn't start for ages .

From what I am reading I'm going to have to spring for a HOTAS anyway before I do start.

Cool! How much of an improvement is the new one?

HOTAS is a good idea. It is possible to play on gamepad (or even keyboard/mouse), but it feels much more natural using my X52 Pro.

[Yak]

what I have isn't the full DK2 (I do have one of those ordered), it's basically DK1 with a much brighter, full HD panel. Makes a huge difference in games where you have to read text/gauges and such - whereas before in ETS2, for example, road signs were pretty much a blur and you couldn't read the dashboard instruments at all, with the higher rez it's actually all quite usable. I would imagine it'd be great for Elite from what I've seen in videos.

Is it possible to play the game entirely from in Rift in terms of controls, or do you still have to come out to do some things on the keyboard?

I'll probably end up picking up the x52 as well. what's the difference between the basic x52 and the pro?

[Muttley]

Is it possible to play the game entirely from in Rift in terms of controls, or do you still have to come out to do some things on the keyboard?

Pretty much everything so far can be controlled directly from the joystick and/or mouse. For example, although there are keyboard shortcuts for landing gear, cargo scoop, hyperspace jump, etc. You can also toggle/select these through the HUD, which is a joy to use in the Rift as you just look to where the panel should be and up it pops.

I'll probably end up picking up the x52 as well. what's the difference between the basic x52 and the pro?

Apart from cosmetic things, the key differences between the Pro and the normal are (from the Saitek forums):

1. Tri-state LEDs (which are also accessible by the SDK)
2. Dual spring centering mechanism - provides incremental stiffness as you move the stick away from centre
3. Dual hall effect sensors for increased accuracy of the stick axes
4. Metal shaft and centering mechanism for increased durability
5. Selected metal parts

[t0ne]

Is it possible to play the game entirely from in Rift in terms of controls, or do you still have to come out to do some things on the keyboard?

Pretty much everything so far can be controlled directly from the joystick and/or mouse. For example, although there are keyboard shortcuts for landing gear, cargo scoop, hyperspace jump, etc. You can also toggle/select these through the HUD, which is a joy to use in the Rift as you just look to where the panel should be and up it pops.

I'll probably end up picking up the x52 as well. what's the difference between the basic x52 and the pro?

Apart from cosmetic things, the key differences between the Pro and the normal are (from the Saitek forums):

1. Tri-state LEDs (which are also accessible by the SDK)
2. Dual spring centering mechanism - provides incremental stiffness as you move the stick away from centre
3. Dual hall effect sensors for increased accuracy of the stick axes
4. Metal shaft and centering mechanism for increased durability
5. Selected metal parts

I couldn't find a x52 pro anywhere a few weeks ago, every place I looked was out of stock so I ended up going for the Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS which is a lovely bit of kit although a bit on the expensive side.