I’m not sure that’s true.
I’m trying to think of some. The X series was way too enclosed and slow as molasses. The closest I can think of in spirit is probably FTL!
Oolite is pretty good but seeing as it’s an actual clone then I’m not sure that counts.
It’s funny, I have a lot more faith in Braben being able to deliver than Roberts. I’ve happily backed both, but some of Roberts’ promises look like pie-in-the-sky shit.
As a kid, Elite was the game that really blew you away. No simple platform/shooter game, something so vast it made you think why wasn’t everyone else using the tech like this? 32kb of rarely beaten awesome(still).
So yeah i’ll back it, BUT i’m not sure it will reach it’s goal for the reasons many have said here. Maybe the worst professional kickstarter pitch/page ever. Which is disappointing IF David loves this game so much as he says, if it were my IP i’d have made sure to present something that would blow everyone away, it’s been worked on by a small team for years, we had all the elite 4 rumours for…decades, and this is what is pitched? really?
Someone needs to fire a kickstarter-rocket up David’s arse before this just fades away to the back-burner. Very disappointing, but backed anyway as i have history with this game series.
Heh, I was actually quite fond of FFE, except like it’s storyline felt like 5% complete - I don’t think I ever actually finished it, but I remember reading a list of all events involved and it was pitiful.
I always played “independently” anyway, just trading and occasionally fighting at my own pace. I was never particularly good at the game, but played long enough to actually have a high rank in the military (at lest the imperial one, iirc) and be easily able to afford the biggest ships. I ended up purchasing an Imperial Explorer at one point, but switched back to an Imperial Trader equipped as a (very) heavy fighter eventually.
Maybe I could’ve done the same in the original Elite, but - call me a graphics whore - I couldn’t stand the wireframe-only graphics.
Anyway, how was the original Elite more exciting?
That said, the current Kicktraq looks quite promising - far more so than I would’ve anticipated for a game like this. But I do realize this one might be heavily frontloaded.
Finally, the multiplayer focus and designing / removing features accordingly might be a bad thing … dunno.
rezaf
Star Citizen is certainly ambitious, but at least Roberts had a working prototype that showed him climbing into a ship and fighting some AI in space. Braben’s wall of text (that says very little) just looks bad in comparison.
And even Roberts “demo showing” was heavily critized for not showing enough for what he was promising, as PA said, he is “promising everything” to deliver something, this one, as much as I like/d elite, this is “promising something” to deliver something :/.
I almost funded Robert right away but could hold my finger off and am now waiting for what he can show within the kickstarter time. That he made his goal is already good but for this one, it’s so bad executed and timed I almost have no hope.
I don’t Kickstart things expecting an alpha to already be in place. He’s asking for funding to make an updated version of something he’s created before, with the addition of multiplayer. It’s ambitious but not overly so.
Roberts on the other hand is promising the kitchen sink and I’m dubious of how many of those features he can actually deliver.
The difference is that Roberts has worked hard to show off a prototype and detailed plans and gives off the impression that he’s enthusiastic about delivering the game to the best of his abilities.
Braben’s Kickstarter however just basically says “give me money” and leaves it at that. That’s pretty pathetic.
Braben’s always seemed like a solid guy to me and I’d trust him to deliver something good, if this works. His Raspberry Pi project certainly seems to be a success.
It’s hard to resist old heroes…
I don’t disagree with any of that. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s an amazingly ambitious set of features.
Braben’s Kickstarter however just basically says “give me money” and leaves it at that. That’s pretty pathetic.
“Hey guys, we’re remaking Elite for modern systems with multiplayer”
gives them money
It’s a 60 day kickstarter. I’m sure they’ll spend some time adding to it.
Could someone that has already pledged add these requests on my behalf on the kickstarter comments?
Seriously improve the kickstarter pitch, there are dozens of examples they can use to guide them in this (have a look a Roberts WingCommander one even).
Ask them to provide more payment options. Paypal, Amazon payments etc.
Having spent countless hours in the Elite universe (Elite on BBC first, then Amiga, then PC - all versions, Oolite included) I would back this just based on all that, but sadly i don’t just chuck my credit card info around the internets, so some more secure payment options is a minimum standard these days. I was all set to give my £40, but erm…no.
So i hope folks are giving advice on what needs improving to see this prospect become a reality.
Then they will get my money when they do.
Roberts is also redoing something he’s done (several times) before. But he put in the effort and made sure that we had footage to sink our teeth into, information on the mechanics and what he wants to achieve (even if it’s very ambitious), …
Even Roberts’ launch wasn’t perfect. We had to wait quite a while to get more concrete information on the reward tiers (the ships). Oh, and launching on a website that went under because of the traffic wasn’t cool either.
But it’s a very well run campaign with plenty to read, AMA’s and lots of enthusiasm shown by the devs.
If Braben does the same, he will get my money. If not, he won’t. I love Elite and would love to see a new game. But I’m not backing anyone sight unseen.
Wendelius
I’m right there with you. I loved Elite, but there’s no way I’m pledging to this as it is now.
Apparently pics and video are coming:
Still, this is by far the worst high profile kickstarter pitch ever. The video at least should be mandatory.
They really screwed up the Kickstarter launch. It boggles my mind that they would start a Kickstarter with no images or video.
I agree. It’s sad, I’m one of the biggest cheerleaders I know for space games and this launch even rubs ME wrong.
Feels like he is putting all the blame on “us” than “himself” for the launch of that kickstarter when he goes into “You develop thick skin after years” etc in that interview when talking about the feedback he received.
“I’m David Braben, I made a game in the 80s, give me 1.25m and I’ll make a new game” is what it amounted to. At least Double Fine had a video to beg for money when they launched their fundraiser.
Oh whell.
Checking if there is a market for a Elite/Frontier type of game, isn’t that basically what X games have been the past 10 years?
Looks like a lot of folks don’t share the concerns of you guys, though - he’s already broken £200k after a single day. That’s 20% in a single day.
I’m surprised and impressed.
rezaf
Oh, I backed it too. I mean, c’mon, this is me we’re talking about. I’d just like some assurances is all.