Ok so I've prompted some absurdly in-depth truffling from more knowledgeable types, and it does seem likely that some of the above vid is using in-game assets, featuring some actual Legs prototyping. A sneaky bit of hype engendering by Fdev then. (And possibly a way for those pour silo souls who've been working on it to get some feedback love )
The main tells are:
The way the pilot's knees raise up when the involved chair assembly takes place is all way too much work for an incidental moment in a promo vid. Much more likely it's a combo of a rigged avatar interacting with functioning chair asset than a mocked up scene.
Has made me flip-flop back to thinking Legs could actually be their punt for the big 2019 expansion DLC. I assumed it was just too much for them, and Atmos had more scaffolding in place. But now I'm opting for: 'Volumetric clouds & liquids in proc gen landscapes could do with next-gen tech / & Legs really would sell the game to whole new market...'
But hey, today is 3.1. And they've reduced the grind massively for the sexy anti-Tharg weapons. Got things to do in the meantime
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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here
Yes, it is amazing, it's gone well. This has been its best year both in terms of players, and also in terms of how well it's doing for us, because these things aren't about money but we can spend more on development. There are a lot of dedicated people that just making it better and better, and we've got some exciting things to come - not just talking Beyond. We're in a really good place to be.
Bought a Krait II in the update, as it was a pretty painless swap in the end. Sold my neglected drifty FAS, gained a large hardpoint and some Millennium Falcon stylings...
The cockpit is strangely awesome, although the only shot I took was of this prong and enthusiastic greebles...
Seems its main selling points are it's a mid-size jack-of-all-trades with straight line speed, the 3 large + 2 medium firepower, an SLF bay, 2 crew seats, & a lower smuggling profile (IE they've just fiddled the 'how much do cops stare at you' metric for it - it doesn't run that cold. Bring on proper smuggling mechanics )
The downsides are apparently 'speed over defences'. So I'm guessing from the shape its shields barely stretch over the hull. I couldn't find out because the launch servers gave up on me...
Krait II is fun. Definitely looking good as a medium 'multi-purpose' fighter. The extra large & SLF definitely push it above the FAS (although the slim armour is a worry...). Boost is super short, but it's capacitor is so generous you can just consta-boost.
But I'm not using it, coz I'm out on a distant Guardian rock, collecting materials to give me a longer jump range . (Ok, and some special Tharg-smacking weapons too).
It was kinda chill and atmospheric to nose around the main two sites, figuring out what you're supposed to do and getting the layout. Fairly dull to do it multiple times though, especially once you realise it doesn't vary and the defences are pretty incompetent. (The closest I came to death was when I ran out of fuel and wondered why I was asphyxiating )
What's completely fricking ludicrous is that they expected people to do the same procedure 8 times to unlock one module previously. Just... nuts. It's like asking people to hate your game. (Even just doing 5 loops of each site to grab 5 modules + weapons has been a test of my grind tolerance . Worth it to juice up the Tharg battles though )
Oh dammit, that's the first time in a while that a paintjob pack has tempted me. Cheesy flame on for the Krait? Maybe :/
Although I'm mainly thinking no bonus cashflow for the devs until the next expansion drops (and doesn't plop...). (A ludicrous Krait kit will doubtless test this. And will come first. They know their market :/)
On future stuff, alongside the Legs semi-cinematic, they've definitely re-entered tease mode...
^^click for vid bit^^
I suspect some form of DLC announcement will be built to, they say they're having their Expo again later this year.
(On stupid prognostications, it's occurred to me that they might bundle Horizons into the next DLC, rather than into the core game. So, the core game stays cheap, the playerbase and code fragmentation still stays workable, but the combined expansion 'justifies' a AAA £40 price? Would be them, very them... But I reckon they'll find a way to price gouge a bit regardless )
After much traditional grind, extensive loadout tinkering, profound veteran errors, & mild panic at the number of explosive buttons at our command... we finally got to the fight...
And it was ace . We've deliberately not looked up all the guides, so figuring out why certain hits weren't hurting, and what the hell it meant when the Tharg flashed yellow, and flipping from 'we've got it on the run' to 'oh god all my systems are dead and I'm going to lose everything' throughout the two fights was properly grand
And this is just the starter big gun. There are others with more hearts, more defences, and more likelilhood of doing evil things (like launching a missile at you, then cancelling out your defences, as happened to me ). We ended the second fight with our gear in tatters (my mate's drives shot out completely, my guns reduced to a stuttering wreck and my cargo bay unable to pick up any loot)... but I'd definitely do it again
VR definitely adds loads, making moments like splanging into the 'arm' you've just shot off as you desperation-boost out of the Tharg's line of sight all the more engaging
And I'm pretty sure they're evil. Yeah... yeah, definitely. They look evil anyway...
Not quite the rush of xeno tangling, but did some co-op mentoring:
It is fun viewing the beginner experience from the outside. (The first time was just pure audio as they shouted at keybindings in the protected starter zone. Which brought back memories ). Second sesh was more fun though, taking them out to kill-steal Anaconda bounties from the cops. He shot the cops, got insta-popped, and I got out of there with about 14% hull. This too felt traditional
Cool to have more VR-cross-platform though. And we got him his first quarter mil, and some new shields, in the end
This could be pure fluff, but a recent Galnet 'article' tips another tuppence onto the 'Legs next' pile...
Basically new handheld and projected UI being foreshadowed...
New Computer Designs Announced
16 AUG 3304
Federal Times journalist Harlow Nassry has highlighted two new personal computer designs currently in development:
“For a long time, the Sirius and Achilles corporations have been the main suppliers of personal computing devices, but two smaller companies are aiming to challenge that monopoly.”
“The first company, Supratech, is working on a revolutionary design called the Torc, a flexible ring that coils around the user’s wrist or neck. It uses high-resolution holographic projectors to surround the user with illuminated displays and motion-sensitive interfaces.”
“The second company, Herculean Machines, has taken a more down-to-earth approach. The Duradrive is a chunky, durable tablet designed to withstand rough handling. Herculean has promised a range of peripherals, allowing users to custom-build their own version of the device.”
“Both companies plan to reveal prototypes of their designs at a technology expo in October. But can the market support two rival products? We’ll no doubt be hearing more about the Torc and Duradrive in the near future.”
***...Enhance Foolish Long-Term Hype...***
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Although if I wanted to be genuinely foolish on the hype, I could suggest that the touch panel bits speaks to VR support . (And lord knows they could / would be mad to actually support VR in a multiplayer / cross-play / multi-vehicular game. It'd be pretty much a 'first', very hard to execute and balance, and come with an almost certain monetary loss in the short-term as far as dev costs & maintenance to player & unit uptake. But..... I do wonder if they'll try and keep hold of their pole position in the niche... Plus they are prone to eccentric calls )
From about 6.30 on you can see how the in-game stick animations work as a guide once you 'grab' it. Plus like Minority Report screens, and 'buttons on the ceiling' for your lights and landing gear and stuff. Ideal
In theory he's going to expand it for other games.
I don't see myself giving up the hotas just yet, but this a cool path. Hopefully they'll do an official version...
Commanders will have the opportunity to take on planetary Wing Missions, further increasing the mission types you can take on with your friends.
Planetary base assaults have been begging for 'You sneak the SRV in while I provide air support' gameplay since launch in, um, Dec 2015. Bloody hell :/
EDIT: Oh actually the large missiles should be fun. Ever since they moved to externals damage only they've been the right sort of silly excess. Raking a ship to see what falls of can be a daft distraction
"A while ago, our development went from pre-production into full production on our next major milestone of Elite development"
"I can say that this is something that will be scheduled to release a considerable time after the final update in the Beyond series."
"Content such as Ice Planets and Fleet Carriers for squadrons will not be coming as part of the Beyond – Chapter Four update"
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Their annual financial report can be simplistically styled out with the somewhat surprising:
It is worth noting that Elite Dangerous achieved its highest annual revenues to date in FY18 following a successful launch on PlayStation 4 in June 2017.
So it ain't going anywhere just yet at least.
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And the community stoically waits for promised lands...
The system scan now returns an aggregated display of how energetic the electromagnetic emissions are in the system. Signals are sorted on a low to high scale by their apparent energy. For example, emissions from rocky clusters will appear at the lower end of the scale, hot gas giants at the upper range. This information requires some interpretation as signals can overlap.
You are able to tune the focus of your sensors to a particular point on the scale, making emissions from objects at this range much clearer, at the cost of filtering out signals returned from bodies not emitting at this range.
As you move the view around, you are aiming your discovery scanner sensors. To aid you, the discovery scanner view also features a repeating sweep of gravitational disturbance detected in the system. You can use this sweep to narrow your search for stellar bodies, as well as start your search around the star's orbital plane, which is revealed by the initial system scan.
Emissions that come close enough to your view’s focus are represented by signature patterns around a central reticule. If you are tuned to the correct point on the energy scale the signal will show as a symmetrical pattern clearly showing the direction towards the origin of the signal, allowing you to locate it. The further away your energy tuning, the more distorted and asymmetrical the pattern becomes, hiding the precise direction and location.
Need to see it in action, but it might be neat.
PROS:
I do like that they're using the variety of the proc gen systems as a base again. Could keep it varied.
Not having the fly to potential explo goldmines, only to find an ammonia bust after 8 mins, is a major plus. Yay for telescopes.
They're adding detectable 'deterministic' USSes on top of the drive by ones. Could be a step up.
CONS:
You now have to honk the Nav Beacon to reveal planets for non-explorey missions in human space. Bit of a step back from current insta-scan.
The 'align the pointy arrows' doesn't look super sexy.
Auto displaying all of the planetary sites once you've done your sensor trick shots seems a bit underwhelming. Further breadcrumbs mighta been nice.
Game kinda good at the moment, in small pieces. Quiet ship-lit moments (while scuttling around doing ludicrous grind in the otherwise-fun buggy ). Co-op carnage in the alien killing fields.
The Guardian fighter turned out to be pants though. Practically evapourates under fire. Think it might be cool for player use, tactical suicide strikes and that to distract the beast maybe. Having it just mirror your targets or fly defence as an NPC just sees it as wisps though.
Also I kept neutralising my precious lightning-proof armour by accidentally ramming the mothership
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Some vaguely promising buzz about 3.3 from a player/dev meet. Although all NDAed, so just vibe. Def the biggest update of the year, however it turns out.
With much anticipation, we’re pleased to announce that the beta for Chapter Four will be available to all PC Elite Dangerous and Elite Dangerous: Horizons players on Tuesday 30 October!
In order to focus the public testing on specific aspects of Chapter Four, we will be unlocking different content over a number of different weeks. You can find out the schedule that content will be added to the beta here:
We are expecting beta milestones to go live on the Tuesday of each week. However, we will update you in the News and Announcement forums as each update is made available.
As always we welcome your feedback on our dedicated beta and bug report forums. These reports, and the data provided, by these beta tests are incredibly valuable and useful in the development of Elite Dangerous. You can find a breakdown of Chapter Four’s features below:
Exploration
The Analysis Mode with the improved Exploration Discovery Scanner and Detailed Discovery Scanner, is a game-changing, brand new way for all Commanders to explore the Milky Way galaxy. After the initial scan of the system, you will then be able to tune your scanners to find stellar bodies and other phenomena. Unidentified Signal Sources and conflict zones will also appear as dotted lines within this mode, allowing you to easily track down interesting or important things within the system. Not only is this new system a more realistic, satisfying and engaging exploration experience, but now you will be able to make more informed decisions on where to look next, and you will be more rewarded for your time spent exploring. Commanders will now have probes at their disposal to map the planetary surfaces, and planetary rings, in detail, to locate points of interest and leave your mark on the galaxy in a different way.
All of the above, in addition to the new in-game codex where Commanders will see a new way of recording their findings in both a collaborative and individual way, are just a few things coming with the changes to exploration. We're barely scratching the surface here with the changes to exploration, so make sure to tune in to the livestream on 18 October, to find out more.
Mining
Asteroid belts and planetary rings are about to get very busy. New tools and mechanics will provide a fresh, exciting and lucrative mining experience for all Elite Dangerous Commanders. Using new exploration mechanics, miners can investigate rings to locate the best spots to start their mining sessions, and then the best specific asteroids to probe and excavate for rewards. With the right amount of skill and expertise, the new Abrasion blaster, Sub-surface displacement missile, and Seismic charge launcher, will provide some exciting and explosive results.
Want to go deeper with these features and learn more about mining? Tune in to the livestream on 1 November, to find out more.
Squadrons
Squadrons is a new in-game way of uniting like-minded Commanders to support factions of their choice, take part in Community Goals together and compete for top spots in seasonal leader boards. New communication tools, including in-game chat channels, will help you blaze trails together, and leave your Squadron's mark on the galaxy.
Learn more about Squadrons in our livestream on 30 October.
...and more!
There's a number of other huge changes coming to Elite Dangerous, including visual improvements, background simulation updates, and (yet to be revealed) cockpit interface changes, and other features that we can't wait to tell you about.
Prior to the introduction of the content on the beta, we’ll be hosting a number of deep-dive livestreams with developer guests, where we showcase the content and you have the chance to voice your questions and comments.
The Chapter Four content reveal livestreams will be on the following dates:
Exploration, Codex and Visual Improvements – 18 October (19:00 BST)
BGS and Scenario Interactions – 25 October (19:00 BST)
Squadrons – 30 October (19:00 GMT)
Mining – 01 November (19:00 GMT)
The Ships – 8 November (19:00 GMT)
If you’re not able to catch the streams, don’t worry! We will be posting a recap of the all the content unveiled shortly after each livestream.
This started seeming better the more they used it. Liked the different ways you could discern hints. Not suuuper deep mechanically, but cute with how it uses the system info. Could see it being chill to use, yet a lot more involved than the current system.
WARNING: "Speeded up 'reverse god rays' in asteroid ring fog" spoilers below
The Codex:
The Encyclopedia Galactica style section can be read out (proper audiobook style, not autobot style) etc, and there's stuff like an index of everything you've discovered filtered by megaships / alien sites or whatever, plus stuff like initial hints then confirmations of exotic stuff in each of the 42 (yesss) galactic zones. Plus loadsa stats etc etc.
Been bumming around in the Beta. Got a slight classic '2 steps forward, 1 back' vibe on some of it, but positive on the whole, and think the kinks could be knocked out on some of the sticking points.
Good Impressions:
The new lighting: Systems feel more 'personable' due to their central star, and your distance from it. Touches the look of almost everything in a subtle way.
The new persistent Signal Sources make systems feel a lot busier, in a good way. You see them clustered from afar and can nose scan them from range with ease.
The voices: Add to the old familiar tasks and make combat scenarios that bit more 'alive;
Scenarios: The 'stages' in Combat Zones, although simple (protect the dignitary, take out the Alpha wing etc), add more shape. And the top tier ones are tough! There seem to be more scenarios generally, and more around Megaships and Installations (again with 'attack this section' style staged mini missions)
Negative Impressions:
The new Exploration mechanics: Are the only real game mechanic added so far, and they don't really shine compared to the technical steps on. Lots of overly fussy controls but fairly simplistic gameplay from what I can see. Probes are fun for a bit though.
The new Analysis View in cockpit: Is ultimately promising, but currently firewalls controls and doubles work needlessly. (Want to use the scanning tool you've got sitting there ready? Sorry, you have to switch to Analysis...). More clunky fussiness and control bloat. (May make more sense if Analysis mode gets more functions?)
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They've just previewed the new Mining, coming in the next beta update. The money shot it pretty much this:
As always they've bravely stashed some of their content way out in the middle of nowhere . (As the Codex entry for 'The Mysterious Raxxla' confirms they've been doing for a while...). Some of the space discoverables have now been stumbled upon...
WARNING: "Discoveries in the Deeps" spoilers below
The location of the 'space clouds' seem to be at Lagrange points, which is a cool nod to science and such. They've upped the ante with some fiction too though, in terms of lifeforms VIDEO SPOILER
The location of the 'space clouds' seem to be at Lagrange points, which is a cool nod to science and such. They've upped the ante with some fiction too though, in terms of lifeforms VIDEO SPOILER
Got to try some mining, and I like the core of what they've done
There's a lot of faff, and it could do with ironing out, but at its heart it's about using flight skills to nail your shots on a rotating, irregular target, with one retro little mini-game thrown in...
The scan has a neat-ish trick of bleeding false-positives onto nearby rocks, so you have to zone in on your target when you see a hotspot.
Surface crystals etc can be pure eyeballed without even prospecting the rock, and are just a case of leading your shot (without a reticule to help), and making sure the surrounding geometry doesn't mess with the execution.
The burrowing missiles need to aim down the length of the holo-projection of the buried goodies (shown above - it only appears briefly when locking on). Pretty tricky on a fast and reckless rock! (I found lying in wait for them come around again could work, but some were at devilish angles). You hold the trigger down the whole while as it burrows, releasing when a peak mineral load coincides with a 'you can fire now' pulse. It's a snazzy golf swing basically, but I found my greed made it involving
Explodable rocks are still totally eluding me, so no idea on those
It needs balancing (payouts, discovery rates etc), and the amount of tools required is beyond absurd, but on the whole I'm liking
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