Posted - 2006.07.12 00:59:00 - [32]

 

frontier WAS the storyline, it is far superior to its buggy counterpart. If u think frontier had no storyline u missed the whole game.... i pity u

Posted - 2006.07.12 01:25:00 - [34]

 

1000000000 systems all with there own planets systems stars moons

thousands and thousnads with stations to trade in pirates to fight people to kill missions to run, u literaly had the whole galaxy to explore, and remember the wormhole bug it became part of the game i had a wormhole book lol.

u could land on every planet,watch saturn rise through titans hazey atmosphere or go other stars all with the correct names in the vecinity to sol.. yea it was truley a great game and all the physics were bang on, not like flying thru water like most space games if u turned ure engines of u coulf fly forever provided u didnt get caughtin the gravity of the plenets.

u could even with practice do a sling shot manuver used by scientests to propel real probes thru space thats how accurate it was

all this in one floppy disc !!!!!

imagine if today they put as much effort into the resources available wow games would be great again

Posted - 2006.07.12 02:02:00 - [36]

 

Edited by: Vetur on 12/07/2006 02:04:00
I don't believe in Elite IV any more. I've lost my faith. It's a shame - I'd really have loved to see a new incarnation because I was very fond of FFE. If it wasn't for the fact that the graphics look so poor now, I'd still be playing it. Yes, graphics DO matter, and anyone who says they don't... obviously doesn't agree with me.

But in a new Elite, I would like to see a playing area the size of FFE's. All those millions of systems and billions of worlds - plus moons, asteroids, comets, suns, nebulae, satellites, space stations and so on.

I'd like a flight model based on proper physics - sort of like something halfway between Orbiter for in-space and Flight Simulator for atmospheric travel. I'd like the game to track orbits accurately, like Orbiter does, so that you can settle into a stable orbit and leave your ship there while you go off and do something else for three days if you want to. I could never get a ship in FFE into a steady orbit - they always seemed to drift off somewhere. Of course, you'd have computers on board to make control easier and run some of the bread-and-butter sequences for you - but computers can always break...

And you should still be able to land on planets and moons - even on asteroids, if they're big enough to generate enough gravity. FFE was heading towards decent planetary landscapes - imagine what could be done now. Couple that with some slightly more realistic scaling (the planets always looked too small in FFE), lighting, clouds and sky over planets; engine flares, laser fire... atmospheric lensing and distortions... detailed textures, ship customisation, and so on...

I'd want to see intelligent AI-controlled ships going about their business - I've always thought a good traffic control system would be a nice touch. You know, get clearances to dock, to leave the station, to warp - at least until you're out of controlled space. If Flight Sim can do it...

Detailed systems operation would be good. Sensors, weapons, communications, energy, propulsion - all managed in their own screen or screens and with lots of bells and whistles.

Randomly-generated missions to keep on providing a challenge - EVE and FFE show that you don't NEED a set, linear sequence of missions to do.

That's my perfect space game. So, anybody want to write it?

Posted - 2006.07.12 13:46:00 - [38]

 

Originally by: Nev Clavain

---

I play EVE because of Elite, but its a different game to me really. An Elite with today's graphics sound and physics has the potential to be awesome.

---

Very true. I'd love to see an updated version of Elite with the same universe but updated graphics etc, it would be about as realistic as you could get, given the Sci-fi aspect of course. I was kind of hoping that Eve was like that but I guess having unlimited expanse of space isn't something that appeals to the masses.

After playing FFE for so long, I decided to do some modding and I was the first real modder of that game and my findings appeared in the Crash magazine (Sinclair Spectrum) showing how cargo space, agility and jump distances could be altered for any ship. I also managed to do the same on the Atari ST version since the data tables were similar and these featured in the ST Gamer magazine with my name as the author. Not bad since FFE was my first ever attempt at modding I carried on hacking into games after that for years, ending only when data sizes got far to big to manage easily.

Incidentally, the CD version of FFE on the elite fan site is the patched version with far less bugs than the original.

Elite is what started me on space sims in general and Eve is a natural progression from that. I have most titles of both MMO and single player space simulation games. I won't even entertain the starforce protection so unfortunately X3 isn't among that collection. It's a shame cos I'm told it's a good game. The last Starforce protected game I installed left me with about 4 days of problem hunting with crashes and programs not running and 3 more without a computer at all. Maybe they will take the protection out when it goes on to the white label like they normally do.

Posted - 2006.07.12 14:25:00 - [40]

 

I miss Thargoids.

Posted - 2006.07.12 18:44:00 - [42]

 

They did finally provide the source code but for some reason, it has since been removed. It was only there a short while though.

I have been searching through my emails for the reply from Frontier Developments regarding E4. Andrew Gillett, one of the developers replied:

Quote:

---

The game has not been abandoned (as some people have speculated), but has been delayed a lot in comparison to our original plans. Currently no release date is scheduled, and it will be a long time before we will be able to announce one. We have made the mistake in the past of announcing details of Elite 4 too early, so our policy now is not to give out any info on it until we feel it is the right time to do so.

---

Delayed? < understatement of the century!

Posted - 2006.07.13 08:54:00 - [44]

 

Originally by: Zafon

---

I miss Thargoids.

---

Me too. I don't miss manual docking though, can anyone picture the carnage at Jita IV/4 CNAP if everone had to dock manually and it was possible to trash your ship by crashing into the station?

Actually, now that I think about it a little more, I do miss manual docking


PS: BBC Model B ftw.

Posted - 2006.07.14 20:47:00 - [46]

 

I did follow the events of the lawsuit and IB was trying to prevent DB from making further versions of the game. As DB was the main name behind Elite, they overruled it and DB had full rights just as he did with the lawsuit against the software company who produced Elite on their label. From what I understand, DB wrote the original Elite by himself and IB joined the team when Frontier was being designed.

DB owns full rights to the game but looking at the web page for Frontier Developments, it appears there's more interest in no brain platform games for Nintendo and such.

What is really more of a slap in the face for the Elite fans is that DB decided to name the company Frontier Developments which hinted at making more along the same lines as Elite, maybe different games but using the same space and Sci fi themes. 6 years down the line and we see that there has been absolutely nothing developed by Frontier that is even remotely space based.

Posted - 2006.07.17 13:22:00 - [48]

 

Edited by: babyblue on 17/07/2006 13:23:13

Originally by: Drizit

---

I did follow the events of the lawsuit and IB was trying to prevent DB from making further versions of the game. As DB was the main name behind Elite, they overruled it and DB had full rights just as he did with the lawsuit against the software company who produced Elite on their label. From what I understand, DB wrote the original Elite by himself and IB joined the team when Frontier was being designed.

DB owns full rights to the game but looking at the web page for Frontier Developments, it appears there's more interest in no brain platform games for Nintendo and such.

What is really more of a slap in the face for the Elite fans is that DB decided to name the company Frontier Developments which hinted at making more along the same lines as Elite, maybe different games but using the same space and Sci fi themes. 6 years down the line and we see that there has been absolutely nothing developed by Frontier that is even remotely space based.

---

No wrong way around. IB was 50% of the team that made the original Elite and it's variants. DB made Frontier without IB. In fact, I suppose Frontier would have been called Elite II if IB hadn't started threatening to sue.

DB has been very successful in paying the bills, which is number 1 priority for a video-game company. As such, creating titles for handhelds, mobile phones and such like is an excellent idea, because it's a regular income. Now, once you have secured your income as a studio, you don't neccessarily need some idiot publishing house to come in and direct your efforts for you.

With Elite IV, here's how it's going to work: DB and Co. have an idea of what they want in the game. For example: proper crowd and behvarioural dynamics. The hardware to do this hasn't been around until relatively recently. Games like Rollercoaster Tycoon and, to an extent games like Sim City show what may be possible. Next up you want a living, breathing universe, not just the odd dumb NPC floating across space. Frontier are experimenting with this kind of technology in their forthcoming game, The Outsider. Really, the issues of rendering and drawing realistic environments is pretty much solved, it's the actually immersion and "life" in the game that needs work.

So, Elite IV hasn't just got to be an upgrade to the original, or frontier, it's got to have that original "wow" factor. It's entirely possible it will never be completed - on the other hand, you can see the technological advances being made on a monthly basis by looking at the possibilities other products introduce.

Posted - 2006.07.17 13:37:00 - [50]

 

yea elite 2 ftw, I have it on my pc and yes, it works 100%. I play it from time ot time when I'm bored with eve

Posted - 2006.07.18 15:24:00 - [52]

 

i gotta try it out soon, sounds cool