spectere.net
The Chatterbox => Gaming => Topic started by: Spectere on October 02, 2017, 02:45:15 PM
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Can't believe I didn't create a thread for this already.
Any fellow Commanders out there?
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I am a space buff with a ship fetish, but the amount of games that can cater to my taste in that space (pun intended) is EXTREMELY limited. Elite is one of them, but I've yet to take the plunge and make the purchase.
Everything I hear about it is very mixed, and for every aspect of the game I see that would make me buy it on a steam sale, there's another that scares me away. Perhaps black friday?
But how is the multiplayer, could I team up with friends at all?
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A lot's changed since the early days (I think I bought it within a month of release?). What are some of the bad things you've heard? Maybe they've been patched out by now.
I don't really do the multiplayer thing. I'd rather be able to make my deliveries and such without Dicks McCocks constantly interdicting me (mind you, you do have to deal with NPC pirates of varying skill even in solo play). There's two ways of teaming up with friends: you can either group up during open play, or group up and do a private co-op game (no other players, just NPCs). I'm not too privy on exactly how the mechanics work, since I don't know anyone else who plays, but from what I understand the wing leader can set the destinations and they'll automatically show up on the other wing members' display.
A few other random notes: the game works surprisingly well with a keyboard/mouse. In fact, that's how I played it for quite a while before I dug up my X52 HOTAS and started using that.
Either I'm just spectacularly good at the game or people are making much ado about nothing, but landing isn't that tough in E:D. It definitely was in the older games, but there's plenty of assists in place so that all you really have to do is line yourself up with the entrance to a station and then the rotational correction is handled automatically. You still have to dock manually, but you don't have to fight against station rotation while you do so.
If you do decide to start playing, the first ship upgrade you should buy is a fuel scoop. Having gotten used to having one, I don't think I'd be able to play without it.
Bookmark the Elite: Dangerous Database (https://eddb.io/). It's a great way to tell what goods are at which stations, not to mention where you can buy certain ships or ship upgrades. The way the game presents that information is far from what I'd consider good.
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I may pick it up black friday or whenever I upgrade my videocard...in the market for one of those but im not sure the right time to strike.
Bu the main issues I hear is not much mission variety, very repetitive and grindey. But if I can set up private lobbies and play my "offline" character with a few bros it might be worth checking out, it has been on my radar for over a year or maybe even two now. I think after x rebirth shat the bed I kinda looked away from the space sim genre.
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The mission variety has improved quite a bit since the game first launched, but it's still admittedly pretty limited. That said, there are definitely storyline elements emerging, namely an alien threat (sorta sounds like they're gunning for the X trilogy as far as that goes), so that might be changing soon. There's a lot more political intrigue now, with a faction-based power play system under the hood. It's kind of weird even thinking about what the game was like at launch.
It's definitely way way waaaayyy better than X Rebirth (I heard that there were a few significant patches that made that a much better game, but there's only so much polishing they can do to that turd).
Not sure if you've played the earlier/good X games, but if you haven't, those still hold up well. The core gameplay loop is somewhat like Elite, with the added ability to automate your trade empire somewhat, and it has a decent storyline on top of all that. I personally found X2 to be the most engaging one, but most people swear by X3.
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I've actually played X3 terran conflict? But damn that game is...people think eve online has a learning cliff? I actually got into eve online for a few months, but X3 was beyond my comprehension. I do fully intend on revisiting it at a later date because it's probably the single coolest space sim I can think of. I NEED CAPITAL SHIPS, im bored of shitty small fighters, I want ships so big that if 100 fighters suicide crashed into said ship, it wouldn't even dent the fucker. Plus having multiple ships and being able to control them remotely, like, im into it.
I have played another small game called darkstar one, and I'd give that a recomendation. It is a bit repetitive, and the story is really cheese and low quality, but the game itself is like a good simple introduction to the genre. Pretty basic, but easy to play and get into.
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Yeah, the problem with the X series, in my experience, is that the game doesn't do a good job explaining its own mechanics, nor do any of the supporting materials. It seems like the only way to defeat the learning curve is to either spend a ton of time figuring everything out yourself or to scour wikis and user forums.
One thing that I'm a bit miffed at X3 for, specifically, is removing the cockpit view. In X2 each ship had a unique cockpit. I'm a sucker for little immersive touches like that. Apparently there's a mod to restore that, but that's something that should be in the base game, dammit.
As far as capital ships go, Frontier have been adding larger and larger ships into E:D over time. I don't think they'll ever get up to the size of the capital ships in the X universe, but it's something at least. I'm more of a small/medium size ship guy myself (my two main ships in E:D are an Adder, a multipurpose ship, and a Dolphin, a transport vessel), so I'm pretty okay with that. I like being able to get out of my own way fairly quickly. :)
I'll have to give DarkStar One a shot. Thanks for the recommendation! It doesn't look like it's super complex, but it seems like it'd be a bit more relaxing than stuff like E:D or X.
Also, renaming the thread to something a bit more general!
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Never played Elite, but I did some play X years ago. Really liked them. Never stuck with them for too long, but I enjoyed being able to control trading ships remotely and shit.
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https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/383217-Frontier-Expo-2017-Recap (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/383217-Frontier-Expo-2017-Recap)
Looks like there are some fun things in store for Elite: Dangerous. Looks like there's going to be more of a focus on cooperative missions coming in Q1 2018, vlad.
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You'll help me shopping for a new videocard next month will ya? :-*
I doubt my...radeon hd 6800 would particularly enjoy that game...
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Why, of course. :D
I've been keeping my ear to the ground with regards to hardware lately (currently planning a build). When you're ready, just let me know how much you're looking to spend and I'll see what I can find.
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It is on sale now. I know I can "run" (https://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/requirements/elite-dangerous/12195/?p=r) the game, but I'm not sure if ye ole HD 6800 will run it at a slog, or playable FPS.
A gamble I'm not sure I should take. New videocard may not be possible due to my income being tied up into something I'll make a post on later, so not sure...
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On one hand, space sims don't typically strain the GPU as much as most games due to them mostly rendering backdrop in a lot of cases, but, that being said, the GPU is used for a lot more than just graphics nowadays. I dunno...kinda tricky. Then again, Elite: Dangerous does tend to target a more niche market than most games do so maybe they took special pains to get the game running on older hardware. After all, if you mostly just play space sims, you're probably either playing X3 or Oolite and neither of those are what I'd call graphical powerhouse titles.
So eeeehhh...I dunno.
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Space Empires III for life!
That was probably the last one I really got into lol. I used to play the crap out of that game back in the day.
I actually almost picked up NMS but for obvious reasons I'm glad I waited to see the reviews. The hype got me really interested.
I don't really seek them out more than other genres but I also enjoy them at the same time. Elite Dangerous has "Mixed" reviews...
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I think a lot of people jump into it (being on Steam and all) without really understanding what kind of game the Elite series has always been. A common theme among the Steam reviews that I've read for it are people either wanting more instant gratification (which E:D most certainly doesn't provide) or failing to grasp why they can't get a single ship that acts as a cargo ship, fighter, and passenger liner all in one package. Then there's ones that look to be based on so much ignorance that it's mind boggling (like someone claiming that they spent 50+ hours working toward a Sol permit and being nowhere close to getting one, while I got mine in an evening).
To prove this, look at the review text. Excluding the garbage reviews (i.e. the single line "this sux!!1" and "this roxx!!1" "reviews") you'll see a common trend: some reviews will praise the slow burn and others with criticize it. It's just different strokes for different folks. You either like that style of gameplay or you hate it.
Another thing is that Elite: Dangerous is a constantly shifting game. It feels radically different than it did three years ago, with plenty of quality of life improvements, added missions, and significantly more content and events occurring as time goes on. Early reviews complaining about a lack of mission variety are still being counted towards these issues more than likely being outdated.
In my eyes it's more that people went into it thinking that it's something different than what it is. If you like old school space sims with a long progression curve and occasionally unforgiving mechanics (hello semi-Newtonian physics!), you'll probably love it. If you want something that's a bit more of a shooter or trading sim, probably not so much. As it stands now, I'd probably give it a 7.5/10, with 5/10 being average.
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I think I may hold off, and it isn't like the game isn't half off every 60 days anyway, black friday sales, christmas sales, spring bullshit sales, easter sales, summer sales...you get the point.
I've been thinking of tackling my backlog head on, and while I will still buy more games(theres always cool new stuff coming out that I won't want to miss), I think I should be buying less games and playing some of the vast library I have acquired. I could probably not buy a single new game for a decade and still have stuff to play to be perfectly honest.
Plus with the huge updates on the horizon, I could just wait for those to rollout, and see the opinion on what that does for a new player before jumping aboard.
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Yeah, it does seem to go on sale quite often. I suspect they figure that most of the hardcore sim crowd already dove in, so they might as well dangle a carrot out to see how many newcomers they can attract.
And yeah, I need to really work on my backlog a bit as well. My Humble Monthly backlog has spiraled completely out of control within the past couple of months, not to mention the sale-fueled impulse buys that I've done here and there.
Speaking of new player experiences, that's actually one of the things that I wish that Frontier would add: multiple commander slots. I suppose they figure that getting one commander in tip-top shape is time consuming enough, but it would be nice to have an extra character that I can put more of a combat-focused spin on.
Also, I wish I could help say what the new player experience is like, but the last time I've gone through that was less than a month after the game launched (almost three years ago...hard to believe it's been that long). I know the tutorials have vastly improved since launch; they used to be pretty threadbare, but since then they've been completely overhauled to be far more useful. It wouldn't surprise me one if they revamped the starting experience to be a bit more newbie-friendly.
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It's hard for me to stray from my "old faithful" games. I'm sure you guys are probably similar. I'll buy games and play them for a bit then end up right back with the same games I play most consistently. Smite, Virtua Tennis 4, 7 Days to Die, and Skyrim.
(http://www.ranallistudios.com/img/s2/v59/p2597838935.png)
I just got Witcher III not long ago I really need to dive into it. Also got Rise of the Tomb Raider in that badass cheap Humble Bundle for like $10.
Not enough time in the day.
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https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/12/its-happening-aliens-are-shooting-up-human-space-stations-in-elite-dangerous/ (https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/12/its-happening-aliens-are-shooting-up-human-space-stations-in-elite-dangerous/)
Oh god. Oh god. This is happening.
I need to start playing E:D again.
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Damn this game looks intense. Can't I just be rich an unemployed so I can play all these games....
So I'm guessing you play EVE online? I only ask because I came across an article (https://kotaku.com/how-eve-players-pulled-off-the-biggest-betrayal-in-its-1806168400)a couple months ago that made me go holy shit this might be the most amazing thing in gaming I have ever seen in gaming, ever.
I'm sure you already know the story but it shows how incredible space sims can be.
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I play EVE off and on, albeit at a very low level (small time manufacturing/mining/trading, etc) but I do follow it in the news for reasons such as that.
What a lot of these stories tend to glance over is the amount of time and effort that it takes to pull off a heist like that. That's the part that's really impressive.
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I play EVE off and on, albeit at a very low level (small time manufacturing/mining/trading, etc) but I do follow it in the news for reasons such as that.
What a lot of these stories tend to glance over is the amount of time and effort that it takes to pull off a heist like that. That's the part that's really impressive.
100%. I mean they even said it all started at the EVE Summit. So they actually got together in person and turned "The Judge" while at the summit. That's some hardcore political badassery right there. The amount of planning and nailing it at the right time. I honestly feel a little bad for GIGX. As the head of one of the top 3 largest federations in that galaxy, I'm sure that was was his entire life. In in a matter of 5 minutes, he lost everything he had ever acquired, and was banned from the game forever. Like whoa.
Granted, he sounds like he was a arrogant piece of shit so maybe he really did have it coming.
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Any sympathy I had went out the window right when he started demanding IRL information about The Judge and threatening physical harm. Besides, with the attitude and arrogance that he displayed it's no wonder someone would want to betray him.
Another highlight (and one that proves that CCP has a sense of humor) is the Bloodbath of B-R5RB (https://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/the-bloodbath-of-b-r5rb/). Included in the losses (which totals 11 trillion ISK, worth roughly $300,000-330,000 USD!) were, in CCP Dolan's words, "lots more smaller ships and probably a bajilion drones and fighters." Yes, he used "bajillion."
That fight was so noteworthy that it, to date, is the only EVE event that has its own Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodbath_of_B-R5RB).
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Any sympathy I had went out the window right when he started demanding IRL information about The Judge and threatening physical harm. Besides, with the attitude and arrogance that he displayed it's no wonder someone would want to betray him.
Another highlight (and one that proves that CCP has a sense of humor) is the Bloodbath of B-R5RB (https://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/the-bloodbath-of-b-r5rb/). Included in the losses (which totals 11 trillion ISK, worth roughly $300,000-330,000 USD!) were, in CCP Dolan's words, "lots more smaller ships and probably a bajilion drones and fighters." Yes, he used "bajillion."
That fight was so noteworthy that it, to date, is the only EVE event that has its own Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodbath_of_B-R5RB).
This gives me such a nerd boner. God damn I love video games...
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7k plus players in one fight. Now THAT lives up the the name "Massively Multiplayer".
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Oh yeah, it's insane. From what I understand about EVE's netcode, they specifically designed it to gradually scale back the update frequency as the number of players in a zone increases.
Kudos to the programmers for managing to build the game well enough to survive that kind of onslaught!
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Time dialation, aka tidi. It makes battles like that painfully slow. You get to watch your death slowly crawl towards you if its not a lazer.
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Just picked up Elite Dangerous and the Pilot Starter pack. Figured I might as well snatch it up on Winter sale.
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Welcome to the fray, Commander. You definitely joined during an interesting time. :)
Hope you like it!
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I had two beers and read your comment Zephlar...I AM SEVEN FIDDY POORER BECAUSE IMPULSE
Now I'll talk in 2-4 years when I install the fucker...it's one thing to impulse buy a steam game, it's another all together to play it.
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I had two beers and read your comment Zephlar...I AM SEVEN FIDDY POORER BECAUSE IMPULSE
Now I'll talk in 2-4 years when I install the fucker...it's one thing to impulse buy a steam game, it's another all together to play it.
Yuuuup. 146 games (http://steamcommunity.com/id/zephlarnation/) and I play like 4-5 of them. It's terrible.
I used to impulse buy a LOT but I've exhausted most games I care about trying out at this point. There really isn't anything new either I care for. Maybe Hellblade and Cuphead at some point but that's about it.
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I...have a couple of Steam games. (http://steamcommunity.com/id/spectere84/) <_<
To be fair, I'm also a Humble Monthly subscriber, so I basically have a tidal wave coming at me every month. And, well, impulse buys...
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Why the hell don't I have you fuckers on steam yet.
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I have you on Steam.
Did you end up getting a new account or something? The friends entry I have for you (http://steamcommunity.com/id/Bobbias2) says that you were last online 2706 days ago (and that you only have Alien Swarm), haha.
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Yeah lost my old account ages ago. Iirc it was tied to my hotmail account which is dead. Added you on my new one.