5861

I’ve said it before (in this thread), but I think Elite Dangerous is best enjoyed by those who have a predilection for sims and who tend to be a bit of a geek for space stuff. Others might find it a bit cold or sterile, or grindy, or way too opaque. It’s OK. Different strokes, and all that. I think reading a couple of reviews and watching a couple of videos would give those people a good sense of things, absent a demo.

That said, I also think it’s also one of the best space combat engines in space sim history for those folks who enjoy pew-pew but aren’t (like me) happy to sit in their moon buggy admiring the view.

5862

Yeah, on the PC there are training scenarios for both training and taking off. Guap, seriously, if my fiancee can fly this thing, so can you. ;)

Start at 50 minutes in if the embed doesn’t do it properly.

5863

Guap, out of curiosity do you have a hotas setup? This is a game where that is really useful. I don’t know if I could play without my hotas and trackir.

5864

I believe he’s on the Xbox if I’m not mistaken.

5865

You’re right, that slipped my mind. Oh well, someone should make a hotas setup for the xbox! :)

5866

I’m surprised there isn’t something like a Hotas X available for it.

5867

I believe the Microsoft licensing or other interface bullshit makes it more expensive to create peripherals. I might be thinking of the 360.

5868

You’re likely not wrong.

5869

Picked up this game on a whim. Got an itch for some space sim and keeping a barge pole between me and No Man’s Sky.

So. I remember a luke warm reception to this but it was generally ok. Have they patched up most of the flaws?

5870

hmm… really tempted to go all in on the lets be an asshole to the asshole tone…

but. If you boot up the game, does it show a menu? in there should be options. in options you can delete your save and start afresh. besides options there should be training scenarios that put you in the cockpit and guide you through (press this button to target, press that one to go pewpew).

This game is great. It also has its roots firmly planted in the great simmery of the 90s. It does take a bit of an effort from the user but just because of that it gives it back in a big way. Learning is fun, right? :D

5871

Ouch.

I was just asking… :-(

5872

He was replying to Guap, not you, quarryman.

To answer your question, last time I played, Elite Dangerous was a lot of fun. If you like Euro Truck Simulator 2 or something similar, you are almost guaranteed to have a great time with the game.

5873

I hate Euro Truck Simulator 2, but I love Elite: Dangerous for the way it puts me in the cockpit of a space ship, and all the ways in which it makes it feel like an awesome experience. The visuals and sounds of the cockpit, along with the music make for such an exciting kick-in-the-pants. It also does a great job of capturing the loneliness and vastness of space.

What it doesn’t do is provide any kind of bigger universe with characters and personality and a larger sense of the kinds of people that live in the 26th century, or whenever the game takes place. It might show the loneliness of space, but it also shows the loneliness of an isolated pilot who doesn’t talk to anyone else. So if that sort of thing is important to you in your space sims, then Elite is definitely not for you.

Swinging back towards the positive though, I just get a grin every time I fire it up because of the sound effects and little details and mechanics of actually having my guns come out with that sound effect, the landing gear having to be manually retracted with the touch of a button and an accompanying sound effect, or the way I feel like I have to strap myself into my seat to go into hyperspace.

5874

heh no that wasnt for you man. I love elite, but then, i am one of the freaks who derive great satisfaction from greasing a landing in a flight simulator.

Elite is not very much of a game if you compare it to say an elder scrolls title but it is a truly great big piece of SciFi dream-realising imo.

Its also soooooooo fucking good in VR. So good.

Currently I am slowly making my way from Jaques Station to the Great Annihilator (the black hole in the center of the galaxy, sagitarius A*). Loving every samey samey jump of it. (and listening to some choice podcasting while underway)

5875

I shouldn’t be the one responding, since my role in this thread is to occasionally pop in and be all fanboy, but I’ll do it anyway.

Flaws: the big one you’ll hear is the “mile wide, inch deep” complaint. It’s a big galaxy, they’ll say, but there’s nothing to do but grind for money and ships, and it’s boring and lacks much in the way of a personality or fun. Personally, I don’t agree with this complaint, but I can see their point of view if I crane my neck and squint a bit.

To that complaint, I think Frontier has continued to enrich and deepen the gameplay. Opinions will be mixed, and there’s a fair bit of drama when a new feature pops up, but mostly I approve of what they’ve done and where things are headed. There’s a ton of stuff there, really. Some of it will be to your tastes and some not. The game will only get better over time (albeit mostly through paid expansions every year or two, along with incremental “quality of life” improvements for everyone).

The foundation is eminently solid. The flight model is fantastic. Combat is terrific and challenging. The way they’ve dealt with travel across vast distances strikes a nice balance between scale and speed. The sound design is, full stop, some of the best stuff ever in a game. The graphics are beautiful and convey the cold, bleak beauty of outer space. The ships are cool and varied and there’s a ton of stuff you can do with selecting and optimizing your build. It’s all got a very British, understated, polite vibe which I dig.

Despite all of that positivity, it’s also a game I don’t play constantly. Sometimes I’ll take a break for a few weeks. Sometimes I’ll wipe my save because I like the early-game and starter-ships experience. I haven’t engaged with perhaps 80% of the stuff that’s in there (haven’t mined a single rock, haven’t futzed about with factions or trying to grind my faction ratings, for example). It’s just, in my experience, the best game ever at representing the experience of some unimportant pilot in the cockpit of a spaceship trying to survive in the ass end of nowhere. That pushes all my buttons. For others, not so much.

There’s your wall of text. No charge.

5876

There’s the best statement about Elite I think one can make about it. If you enjoy listening to podcasts while doing something else, you’ll likely love Elite. If you listen to podcasts because you’re stuck doing something unenjoyable (ex. The History of Rome and Dan Carlin are one of the few reasons I can tolerate my commute), you’ll likely hate Elite.

5877

Dan Carlin, Fuck yea! His history audiobooks are the best.

Scharmers I think you hit the nail on the head. I love listening to people tell interesting things. I love talk radio. Hell I chose driving trucks over teaching because I prefer talk radio over talking myself :P

I play World of tanks and warships a lot. With a cast on. I play elite with a cast on. Witcher on the other hand, that needs all of the audio channel. In my palate theres room for both kinds of games. And sometimes I prefer one, sometimes the other. Perhaps the gaming press should drum up some common terminology for this. McLuhanesque Hot and Cold games perhaps?

That way it could say so on the box and kids like Guap wont be so disappointed when they find out that they got a very cold game when all they want is a nice hot bath of ‘press X to kick ass and save the universe’.

5878

Heh. I had a feeling that post wasn’t for me :)

So as it happens, my very last post before this one was how I was playing a ton of American Truck Simulator, and loving it. Game of the Month – June 2016

And yes I’m all about the podcast/audiobook background soundtrack. I don’t have the concentration levels for FPS or even RPG these days, hence my leaning towards ATS etc.

Well, the game is bought. Working my way through the training missions with an xbox controller and a glass of whiskey as support.

To boldly go to infinity and beyond?

Wait, that doesn’t sound right…

5879

Welcome to the game! If you’re on PC, don’t forget to join te Veloxi private group!

Also, we invite you to Tombaugh Station in Orcus to help out the Imperial Federalist Union of Veloxi’s Vixens faction. ;)

5880

Anyone using the app ED Traderpad Pro, or what is the best website for trading info and routes these days?