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Elite Dangerous: Horizons |OT| Just scratching the surface

Reckheim

Member
Ok, dumb question time.

If I wanted to buy a VR headset, solely for the purpose of playing Elite (no need for controllers and other stuff that would usually come with a head set). What would be my cheapest option?
 

DrBo42

Member
Ok, dumb question time.

If I wanted to buy a VR headset, solely for the purpose of playing Elite (no need for controllers and other stuff that would usually come with a head set). What would be my cheapest option?
Think the rift touch package at $399 is the cheapest.
 

DrBo42

Member
Someone was talking about lifetime expansion pass owners getting a shit value due to the free Beyond season and this was the reply by Frontier:

"In addition to all the content talked about at Frontier Expo, we also have some pretty cool things in the works which will be available to purchase. We're not ready to talk about them just yet so we can't give you any details but rest assured that the lifetime expansion pass owners will be looked after and will be getting their hands on premium content as part of their lifetime expansion pass before the end of 2018 and the Beyond series of updates."
 

Burny

Member
DrBo: Intriguing. I wonder what kind of payed, unannounced content they have to release alongside the set of four announced "Beyond" updates. For something like planet Coaster, "DLC" is pretty canonical. They can make a new pack of themed assets and sell them. As it's a park building game however, assets have value as game "content". In Elite, monetized assets are cosmetics. They're also being sold, but aren't made available to LTP owners.

My speculations would go into the direction of something like a mission sequence, essentially being a DLC mini campaign or similar? A full sized expansion adding basic game mechanics, e.g. space legs seems unlikely to be released alongside the four "Beyond" updates. That'd be a major enough novelty, that I'd have expected an announcement alongside "Beyond".

Could you provide a direct link btw.? I guess it's buried in the Frontier Forums thread, where the OP whines that they're unhappy with the value they got out of the LTP and wants Frontier to offer refunds, but keeping up is tedious.

Having bought a LTP, too, I felt they come over as a bit of an ass. While I generally think that asking for a refund for an undelivered product is entirely ok, this veers into the territory of discussing what delivered means, crystal ball territory because a "LTP" for a game designed as evolving service rather than a one time offering where we're just about at one third of the game's "life span" - even taking the often cited "ten year plan" Frontier touted as a basis for evaluation - is pure speculation and a whole lot of misplaced entitlement:

"I paid 180€, therefore I'm special. Give me stuff others have to pay for. Why are others getting free stuff, too? I don't want them too! Gimme mah money back at least, it's not been worth it (and I think it should pay off after three of ten years already)!"
 

DrBo42

Member
DrBo: Intriguing. I wonder what kind of payed, unannounced content they have to release alongside the set of four announced "Beyond" updates. For something like planet Coaster, "DLC" is pretty canonical. They can make a new pack of themed assets and sell them. As it's a park building game however, assets have value as game "content". In Elite, monetized assets are cosmetics. They're also being sold, but aren't made available to LTP owners.

My speculations would go into the direction of something like a mission sequence, essentially being a DLC mini campaign or similar? A full sized expansion adding basic game mechanics, e.g. space legs seems unlikely to be released alongside the four "Beyond" updates. That'd be a major enough novelty, that I'd have expected an announcement alongside "Beyond".

Could you provide a direct link btw.? I guess it's buried in the Frontier Forums thread, where the OP whines that they're unhappy with the value they got out of the LTP and wants Frontier to offer refunds, but keeping up is tedious.

Having bought a LTP, too, I felt they come over as a bit of an ass. While I generally think that asking for a refund for an undelivered product is entirely ok, this veers into the territory of discussing what delivered means, crystal ball territory because a "LTP" for a game designed as evolving service rather than a one time offering where we're just about at one third of the game's "life span" - even taking the often cited "ten year plan" Frontier touted as a basis for evaluation - is pure speculation and a whole lot of misplaced entitlement:

"I paid 180€, therefore I'm special. Give me stuff others have to pay for. Why are others getting free stuff, too? I don't want them too! Gimme mah money back at least, it's not been worth it (and I think it should pay off after three of ten years already)!"

Of course. I think you're probably right about it being mission content with their use of "storylines" multiple times at the expo.
 

Burny

Member
Of course. I think you're probably right about it being mission content with their use of "storylines" multiple times at the expo.

Thanks!

Granted, my speculation above is mostly wishful thinking. I can easily imagine a short campaign ala Tie Fighter embedded in Elite to be amazing. Even more so, if it's playable cooperatively with friends. We'll see I guess. Even if it turns out to be something like this, there are so many ways it could end up underwhelming. Yet, so many ways it could end up amazing, too... (*¬*)
 

DrBo42

Member
Thanks!

Granted, my speculation above is mostly wishful thinking. I can easily imagine a short campaign ala Tie Fighter embedded in Elite to be amazing. Even more so, if it's playable cooperatively with friends. We'll see I guess. Even if it turns out to be something like this, there are so many ways it could end up underwhelming. Yet, so many ways it could end up amazing, too... (*¬*)
It's always underwhelming.
 

Volimar

Member
Did a little exploring last night and the new route planning is pretty nice. Seeing the amount of jumps in total is a bit daunting though.
 

Burny

Member
Also touched on the ice planet concept and Adam says he's already seen pieces of the framework for that and they're trying their best.

Mhhhh.... I really hope they up their game in the respect of surface details. The "game"/tech demo to beat in terms of generated surface detail imo is still Outerra. And I don't grow tired of re-posting a couple of my old screenshots:

screen_1449354293gmknj.jpg

screen_1449354556p0j6z.jpg

screen_1449354688kzk4l.jpg

screen_1449354893rxkyl.jpg

screen_1449354909u0k4g.jpg

screen_1449355544bik33.jpg

"Atmospheric planet", sure. But it's not hard to see that Outerra's generation of details in the steep or vertical surfaces easily beats out Elite's planet surfaces. I'd like to see Elite approach this more closely. If they even managed to surpass it, I'd be a happy camper, at least in terms of planet surfaces.
 

Xcell Miguel

Gold Member
The in-game time is an hour behind, is there any way to fix it? It's confusing me :s

The in-game time is universal, everyone playing the game on the planet has the same exact time (GMT).

I think it's logical in the game lore, as you're not tied to a part of the planet the time has to be the same everywhere in the galaxy.

Here in France, with daylight saving time the game is two hours behind, and without it's only one hour behind.

You can't change it but you can hide it (in the ship's settings in the right panel).
 
I'm pondering upgrading my second hand X52 to something better. I'm leaning towards just buying a whole set of CH Products stuff... The Warthog looks cool but I think the CH stuff is a little more versatile and I'll probably still be playing more space sim than flight sim. And the throttle ministick seems really good with CH for ED thrusters. The higher end Saitek stuff all seems to get crucified on Amazon for reliability reasons.

I hate basically just guessing what's going to work best for me, but in 2017 you're not exactly going to walk into a Best Buy and get to play with all the different HOTAS options.
 

Burny

Member
I'm leaning towards just buying a whole set of CH Products stuff... The Warthog looks cool but I think the CH stuff is a little more versatile and I'll probably still be playing more space sim than flight sim.

You could wait for the Virpil throttle (and see if it turns out any good):


But that's another price range. Still, if it turns out good, the promised option with mini stick ought to provide both, a flight sim and space sim fix. The CH Pro Throttle is great in terms of the available number of inputs and the stick is perfectly placed. But recommending it now, I can only do it with the disclaimer that the electronics are outdated (256 values on the throttle axis and half that on the stick's) and mechanically it's very, very basic.

Only the next best space sim options are either the Thrustmasters FSC throttle or the X56 from Saitek.
 

Mengy

wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Was the power limit being exceeded a bug or did you really not have enough power?

I don't know, I have the AFMU set to 4, the fuel scoop set to 3, and the SRV bay to 2. I usually keep the SRV bay, AFMU, distributor, and cargo hatch all unpowered which keeps me at like 75% power usage. When I turn on the SRV bay I still only sit at something like 83% power, so there is plenty to spare. If I turn on the AFMU then it still won't power up unless I turn something else off first, usually I'll kick off the fuel scoop, but I have to do it manually. I double checked my power priorities before I left Jameson Memorial, they looked normal to me, and I haven't had any issues with landings for the past 14,000 lys.

No idea what happened. Maybe it was a bug, maybe I goofed something up somehow by accident along the way. If the power settings were goofed though then the ship wouldn't have lifted off at all, so I'm thinking it's more of a bug or something.
 

Volimar

Member
I don't know, I have the AFMU set to 4, the fuel scoop set to 3, and the SRV bay to 2. I usually keep the SRV bay, AFMU, distributor, and cargo hatch all unpowered which keeps me at like 75% power usage. When I turn on the SRV bay I still only sit at something like 83% power, so there is plenty to spare. If I turn on the AFMU then it still won't power up unless I turn something else off first, usually I'll kick off the fuel scoop, but I have to do it manually. I double checked my power priorities before I left Jameson Memorial, they looked normal to me, and I haven't had any issues with landings for the past 14,000 lys.

No idea what happened. Maybe it was a bug, maybe I goofed something up somehow by accident along the way. If the power settings were goofed though then the ship wouldn't have lifted off at all, so I'm thinking it's more of a bug or something.

You passing it along to Fdev? Maybe it was a bug. Maybe they can respawn your ship? I dunno if they can do that, but it'd suck to lose all that exploration data along with the rebuy.
 

Mengy

wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
You passing it along to Fdev? Maybe it was a bug. Maybe they can respawn your ship? I dunno if they can do that, but it'd suck to lose all that exploration data along with the rebuy.

Yeah I submitted a ticket to support along with the journal log file. Now I just wait the couple days to see if they can do anything for me. I've seen stuff like this happen to others, it's just never happened to me before, lol! Support is usually pretty helpful though.
 
You could wait for the Virpil throttle (and see if it turns out any good):



But that's another price range. Still, if it turns out good, the promised option with mini stick ought to provide both, a flight sim and space sim fix. The CH Pro Throttle is great in terms of the available number of inputs and the stick is perfectly placed. But recommending it now, I can only do it with the disclaimer that the electronics are outdated (256 values on the throttle axis and half that on the stick's) and mechanically it's very, very basic.

Only the next best space sim options are either the Thrustmasters FSC throttle or the X56 from Saitek.

FSC looks kinda cheesy. I can't deny the reviews are pretty glowing and you can't go wrong with the price point. But is it really going to feel like much of an upgrade from an X52?

The X56 looks great from a features perspective but the Amazon reviews are dire. Like 2.5 stars. And I wonder about the extra thumbstick on the joystick. The description implies it's for controlling gimbals but... I don't know if I buy it... I'm going to be fine-aiming with my thumb while piloting with the rest of my hand? I guess maybe I could do thrusters there and gimbals on the throttle... but where does this really apply. Star Citizen maybe eventually? When chances are I'm going to perform better in that game playing it m+k like an FPS anyway? I just think there are too many ways an X56 purchase goes wrong.

I like my X52 for the most part. Enough to where I considered getting the Pro version. But the stick is a little large for my hand. The hats have gone to shit on mine and frankly they weren't that nice to begin with.

Warthog is a ton of money which maybe I could stomach, but then you end up with no analog thruster controls.

CH Products seems overpriced. Each component runs $120-ish. And like you said outdated tech. But at the same time I'm not convinced you need more than 8 bit precision. People seem to be pretty loyal to the brand which is usually a good sign. Back in the early 90s I never really liked the look of CH Products stuff (I ended up with Thrustmaster Mk1 which I actually kind of loved for X-Wing and early Wing Commander games). It looked like it was from the 80s. It still does. But now I actually do kind of dig it. And hey turns out they're actually a local company to me. But they seem to be paying zero attention to the gaming market.

But $360-ish for the whole set seems a bit much. I can save maybe 30 bucks getting a Combatstick instead of a Fighterstick... and with all the hats on the throttle I feel like maybe I would prefer more actual buttons on the stick anyway. But it seems people mostly go for the Fighterstick.

Back to what I like and don't like about the X52. The throttle is actually pretty good. I like the detents. The button placements are pretty wack tho. The little mouse stick is totally useless. Some of the buttons don't feel good, on top of being awkwardly placed. Still the index hat works pretty well for thrusters.

As I said the stick feels a little large. The adjustable hand rest is a nice idea, but it feels like there's a setting where it's still too low, but the next setting is squishing my fingers together. I modded it with extra magnets to make for a smaller deadzone and generally I like how it feels with that change. I'm kind of over twist rudder and I'm leaning towards purchasing something that specifically omits it.

The toggle buttons at the base of the X52 stick kind of suck. I think they'd be more useful on the throttle. I'm better off moving my left hand to my keyboard for extra functions than going all the way over to my stick, or even worse taking my right hand off the stick just to fuck with those switches. I really don't get it.

I'm not going to build a cockpit or anything extreme but I do kind of like the idea of having the joystick on the floor with extensions to get it in an ideal position. I don't know how plausible that is. I'm not going to be bolting anything down or doing any carpentry. But if there is something off the shelf that I could put aside when not in use I'd strongly consider it.

Budget-wise I don't think I want to push it past a Warthog + Pedals which is already getting to like $600.

I can't say I've really ever regretted going for higher end hardware. Whether it's a mechanical keyboard or a nice monitor, it always seems to pay off in the end. I've got a GTX 1080, TrackIR 5. Oculus Rift. At this point why not spring for something good.

And now I'm going down the rabbit hole and researching Virpil. Dammit.
 
You could wait for the Virpil throttle (and see if it turns out any good):

.

My concern with this is how forward the throttle is to the buttons, meems like your arm would obscure it. Love the flap lever though

So here is something that's never happened to me before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ii5kajuoBg

I'm now stranded in my SRV with no ship on a planet 14,000 lys from Sol, LOL!!!!!

Mengy's AI ship pilot

JIgEXb5.gif


The X56 looks great from a features perspective but the Amazon reviews are dire. Like 2.5 stars. And I wonder about the extra thumbstick on the joystick. The description implies it's for controlling gimbals but... I don't know if I buy it... I'm going to be fine-aiming with my thumb while piloting with the rest of my hand? I guess maybe I could do thrusters there and gimbals on the throttle... but where does this really apply. Star Citizen maybe eventually? When chances are I'm going to perform better in that game playing it m+k like an FPS anyway? I just think there are too many ways an X56 purchase goes wrong.


I have the X56 (my X55 went belly up literally a week from warranty expiration and I got them to replace it with the X56). Build quality is the biggest worry on the Saitek/Logitech sticks. There has been a lot of issues (luckily none for me). Otherwise the throttle switches are in convenient and not very ergonomic. Love the stick though even through I miss having the cannon button on the thumb instead of the stick. The thumb stick does depress but I don't feel good pressing it down too forcefully. In ED I use the stick ministick for radar range on the scanner and use the stick on the throttle for strafe, for DCS I use that stick ministick for the BVR designator or the detection cone.
 

Burny

Member
...

And now I'm going down the rabbit hole and researching Virpil. Dammit.

I share most if not all of your misgivings of the X52 (Pro in my case), only I hated the detents. Went for the CH setup. And a nice set of MFG Crosswinds pedals. The outdated electronics on the CH don't impact me playing - there's no helping me in any case, but the ever so slightly jittery nature and sporadic need for recalibration would make me wish there'd be updated versions. The nearly 300€ I had to pay for them at my country's reseller are also rather overpriced for something mechanically so basic and outdated. That would've practically gotten me a Warthog. Before I get another stick with plastic on the inside despite metal for show on the outside (which even actual plane joysticks don't seem to have...) and sporadic reports of it breaking, I'll get the unabashed plastic option with a reputation of being near indestructible. The thumbs stick being a dream for 6dof controls seals the deal.

The Thrustmasters FCS throttle would probably be a straight upgrade from the X52 throttle in terms of functionality, but not necessarily in how it feels. On the outside they're both plastic. It can easily be paired with a CH Combat stick though.

If you're looking into Virpil, also have a look at VKB. Like Virpil, they're eastern European and new to the market. Like Virpil, they're just starting to introduce their range of controls and don't offer a throttle, yet. But they said they'd produce one eventually so it may look different by the time Virpil's is available. Like Virpil, they occupy the same niche: High end (combat) flight sim peripherals. While you're at it, also have a look at the Slaw Device pedals, the Baur pedals and of course the MFG Crosswinds if you didn't already know them.

Just keep in mind: You'd be perfectly fine playing with the FCS throttle, the Fighterstick and a pair of pedals.

Concerning the removable mounting to the desk, have a look at the Monstertech HOTAS mounts. You can also build something very similar yourself, e.g. you'd have to import the mounts adding all the shipping costs or really don't like free time. With a couple of angles, wood pieces and clamps, you could also just as well build something that works the same but is considerable cheaper. Edit: Nearly forgot to mention the Virpil mounts. Much cheaper than the Monstertech ones, a bit less convenient to attach and detach, but the principle behind them is the same. I'd also recommend the HOTAS reddit for some crafty DIY solutions and general HOTAS discussion.
 

DrBo42

Member
Yeah I submitted a ticket to support along with the journal log file. Now I just wait the couple days to see if they can do anything for me. I've seen stuff like this happen to others, it's just never happened to me before, lol! Support is usually pretty helpful though.

Should have tried loading the non-horizons version. Theoretically it would put you back in your ship outside of orbit.
 

Jedi2016

Member
Should have tried loading the non-horizons version. Theoretically it would put you back in your ship outside of orbit.
Or self-destruct your SRV while the ship is in orbit. It should send you back up.

I don't have a very big power plant in my Asp, but I don't think it could hit 100% even if everything were turned on (which it normally isn't, especially when I'm exploring).
 

edgefusion

Member
i decided to take part in the Remembrance Week campaign as I'm a new player and it seemed like a great way to make some good money. I make the long, long, long journey to George to buy some prayer sticks - in the process spending all the money I have on them. No big deal, I think, once I get back to Kauruk I'll make bank off the event.

Fly too close to a star, cargo hatch malfunctions, all the prayer sticks get jettisoned into the fiery abyss. :|
 

DrBo42

Member
i decided to take part in the Remembrance Week campaign as I'm a new player and it seemed like a great way to make some good money. I make the long, long, long journey to George to buy some prayer sticks - in the process spending all the money I have on them. No big deal, I think, once I get back to Kauruk I'll make bank off the event.

Fly too close to a star, cargo hatch malfunctions, all the prayer sticks get jettisoned into the fiery abyss. :|

As they should.
 

Volimar

Member
Should have tried loading the non-horizons version. Theoretically it would put you back in your ship outside of orbit.

Or self-destruct your SRV while the ship is in orbit. It should send you back up.

I don't have a very big power plant in my Asp, but I don't think it could hit 100% even if everything were turned on (which it normally isn't, especially when I'm exploring).

Hindsight is a bitch.
 
FSC looks kinda cheesy. I can't deny the reviews are pretty glowing and you can't go wrong with the price point. But is it really going to feel like much of an upgrade from an X52?

The X56 looks great from a features perspective but the Amazon reviews are dire. Like 2.5 stars. And I wonder about the extra thumbstick on the joystick. The description implies it's for controlling gimbals but... I don't know if I buy it... I'm going to be fine-aiming with my thumb while piloting with the rest of my hand? I guess maybe I could do thrusters there and gimbals on the throttle... but where does this really apply. Star Citizen maybe eventually? When chances are I'm going to perform better in that game playing it m+k like an FPS anyway? I just think there are too many ways an X56 purchase goes wrong.

I like my X52 for the most part. Enough to where I considered getting the Pro version. But the stick is a little large for my hand. The hats have gone to shit on mine and frankly they weren't that nice to begin with.

Warthog is a ton of money which maybe I could stomach, but then you end up with no analog thruster controls.

CH Products seems overpriced. Each component runs $120-ish. And like you said outdated tech. But at the same time I'm not convinced you need more than 8 bit precision. People seem to be pretty loyal to the brand which is usually a good sign. Back in the early 90s I never really liked the look of CH Products stuff (I ended up with Thrustmaster Mk1 which I actually kind of loved for X-Wing and early Wing Commander games). It looked like it was from the 80s. It still does. But now I actually do kind of dig it. And hey turns out they're actually a local company to me. But they seem to be paying zero attention to the gaming market.

But $360-ish for the whole set seems a bit much. I can save maybe 30 bucks getting a Combatstick instead of a Fighterstick... and with all the hats on the throttle I feel like maybe I would prefer more actual buttons on the stick anyway. But it seems people mostly go for the Fighterstick.

Back to what I like and don't like about the X52. The throttle is actually pretty good. I like the detents. The button placements are pretty wack tho. The little mouse stick is totally useless. Some of the buttons don't feel good, on top of being awkwardly placed. Still the index hat works pretty well for thrusters.

As I said the stick feels a little large. The adjustable hand rest is a nice idea, but it feels like there's a setting where it's still too low, but the next setting is squishing my fingers together. I modded it with extra magnets to make for a smaller deadzone and generally I like how it feels with that change. I'm kind of over twist rudder and I'm leaning towards purchasing something that specifically omits it.

The toggle buttons at the base of the X52 stick kind of suck. I think they'd be more useful on the throttle. I'm better off moving my left hand to my keyboard for extra functions than going all the way over to my stick, or even worse taking my right hand off the stick just to fuck with those switches. I really don't get it.

I'm not going to build a cockpit or anything extreme but I do kind of like the idea of having the joystick on the floor with extensions to get it in an ideal position. I don't know how plausible that is. I'm not going to be bolting anything down or doing any carpentry. But if there is something off the shelf that I could put aside when not in use I'd strongly consider it.

Budget-wise I don't think I want to push it past a Warthog + Pedals which is already getting to like $600.

I can't say I've really ever regretted going for higher end hardware. Whether it's a mechanical keyboard or a nice monitor, it always seems to pay off in the end. I've got a GTX 1080, TrackIR 5. Oculus Rift. At this point why not spring for something good.

And now I'm going down the rabbit hole and researching Virpil. Dammit.
Look for better prices around Black Friday or buy used off of EBay. CH stuff is bulletproof and will last a decade+.

I've put 1800 hours into my CH stuff so far and it runs like new and gives me no issues.
 

Burny

Member
My mind is weak... I managed to get two used Dell U2415, which go well with the one I already had:


Now the desk needs rearrangement and de-cluttering as well as an upgrade to the cable management. But the "I-won't-get-anything-done-today" setup is nearly complete.

Does anybody know if there is any way to have the games render the multi monitor image more like a panorama image stitched from multiple images taken by rotating the camera? It looks like the goto method for rendering in the two games I very briefly managed to try so far (Elite/War Thunder) is to render the image as if taken by a single very wide-angle camera lens. Which means the image on the outer screens is very much stretched,

Edit: Ugh... Seems the problem with the stretched multi monitor image is pretty much just being solved by recent hardware/software. Simultaneous Multi-Projection. GTX 1080...
 
I first tried a triple wide setup for gaming almost a decade ago now. With SLI GTX 460s. It ended up not being the greatest idea. Though it still kind of worked pretty well for a couple of things.

First of all Nvidia Surround was atrocious in its earlier days. Switching between productivity and surround was a multistep nightmare. I'm not sure it's really gotten better but it almost had to since it was so bad.

SLI is of course crap. I bought into some hype regarding how well two GTX 460s ran together in those days, getting similar results to SLI of higher end GPUs and giving much better 'pound for pound' performance.

Since then I've replaced my middle monitor with the Asus 27" 165hz 1440p GSync model. The flanking models are still old 1920x1200 60hz samsung screens. They're angled more steeply than yours, almost but not quite 45 degrees. That multi-projection stuff sounds cool. The way that previously there was no way to account for the angle was very obvious and annoying. The stretched image looked horrible if you ever actually looked directly at it. Though it was passable for peripheral vision. I remember when I ran Battlefield Bad Company 2 on my setup that occasionally I'd notice some movement in the corner of my eyes and get an easy kill on a guy who otherwise would have snuck up on me. Though there was a pretty massive frame rate hit in that game that maybe wasn't worth it.

I kinda feel like at this point maybe drivers should support Surround with mismatched monitors such as mine. At worst just super sample the ones on the side, no? It seems like something that should be able to work.

Most games have zero support for it anyway. I remember Borderlands you couldn't get your FOV up at all. It was like they took the center third vertically from a one monitor setup and just zoomed in all the way until it filled your three screens. It was completely unplayable. And HUD elements were universally trash. Dreams of say ultra-wide Civilization were completely shattered because of the HUD and also the stretchiness from the sides. Each monitor would really need its own camera perspective for a game like that.

Overall I have very few regrets about abandoning triple wide for a single nice monitor. TrackIR helps a ton in that regard as well. I'm more looking forward to super high res VR over resurrecting the triple-wide dream at this point. I've even been hesitant to try 21:9 gaming because of my experiences. I know the stretchiness thing would be mitigated as 21:9 is nowhere near as wide as I guess it was 48:10 but I know games are bad at supporting wide aspect ratios in general.
 
So I last played this from beta to September 2015 and then stopped. I now picked it up again with Horizons and really enjoying the game again more than I thought I would. I stopped playing initially because of how simplistic the mission system was but now it's way more diverse than it used to be.

I also always preferred to fly small and medium ships in the game because I like to play in Open and PvP and be able to pick my fights and disengage easily when I can (and sometimes annoy much larger ships) so I am also happy that every ship can fit a planetary vehicle and stuff.
 

Burny

Member
... triple monitor concerns...

The technological issues are undeniable and annoying. Nevertheless, the effect of triple screens for cockpit based games is tremendous. It feels like going from a 17'' CRT to a 24'' widescreen HD monitor. Even from the short testing and despite the annoying wide-angle stretching, the setup completely liberates the view. In some aspects, it even beats VR sets in their current incarnations. The horizontal field of view and the ability to still use mouse + keyboard whithout having memorized the keaboard layout for blind usage. It's of course even better when combined with head tracking. The Nvidia solution for the stretching seems to require the actual game to support it. I'm not in the market for a new video card, but whenever I get one, I hope that solution is widespread for sim games.

Specifically for Elite the second and third screen will be handy for having browser tools or youtube videos on the side.

For other games, like first or third person character based games, I don't expect to get much mileage out of the setup. I may even turn off the outer screens for those. More likely than not, I'll play those in the living room anyway.

Edit: I just realized that there is a simple solution to the stretching issue. Align all screens in a row, making for an ultra wide, flat image. It won't work for racing sim rigs with some 40'' screens or so and of course the "surround" feel of the image is lost. But it makes the wide-angle image rendered by games supporting these resolutions absolutely natural and bearable. On the other hand, that monitor configuration is only useful for games, because you want the outer monitors angled toa ctually use them for any kind of work...
 

DrBo42

Member
The slow rollout of 2.4 really is a bummer. Something needs to happen. Can't believe they're actually going to keep players in the bubble that don't want to be bothered excluded from the conflict. Not to say that traders and explorers should be forced into combat but they should be given something they can do to help in the war or run. Still think they should have taken the powerplay system and converted it into a system for tracking and responding to the war. Showing areas under attack, where to fortify and help evacuate, where to run supplies to etc. Non-human USS? Lol.
 

Mengy

wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
The slow rollout of 2.4 really is a bummer. Something needs to happen. Can't believe they're actually going to keep players in the bubble that don't want to be bothered excluded from the conflict. Not to say that traders and explorers should be forced into combat but they should be given something they can do to help in the war or run. Still think they should have taken the powerplay system and converted it into a system for tracking and responding to the war. Showing areas under attack, where to fortify and help evacuate, where to run supplies to etc. Non-human USS? Lol.

That's what I really expected and hoped 2.4 to be like. So far it's been about the worst implementation of the Thargoids that most people feared it could be: a bunch of CG's and a new signal source to find the aliens in. Pretty shallow game design sadly enough.

Frontier has a pattern of this though. Their art and sound teams are exceptional and do incredible work time and time again, but their game mechanics teams barely seem to put any effort forward at all. Look at multicrew and it's combat only implementation even without SRV utilization. Or wings without any wing missions to accompany it. Or the engineers developed as simple gambling slot machines. Or the incredible looking mega ships which came with no new gameplay at all. Or the passenger mission system which is basically just cargo in a new UI with no new passenger satisfaction or interaction mechanics at all. There are countless examples over the past three years where the game mechanics teams simply did the bare minimum of effort.

It's why I'm a bit skeptical of 2018 and it's core improvements. The Beyond updates will by their very nature require heavy mechanics redesigning and improvements, which historically Frontier has done miserable work with. Will they step up their game for Beyond? Or will it mostly be a lot of graphical and sound improvements with little to no mechanics development at all? We'll know one year from now....
 

Volimar

Member
My interest dropped like a stone when they started "adapting" the aliens to our tech. Why even take part in the CGs if the tech is going to be obsolete within two weeks.
 
I know this is totally random, and I know I didn't read the thread yet, and I know it's probably preaching to the choir, but:

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This game in VR, even if you don't know what you're doing and just do the VR tutorial run, is stunning and should convert people into VR true believers. Granted, most competent space simulator games should do the same, but Elite is something else.

Just even being stationary on the outside of a space station, looking up at the control tower looming nearby, ready to take off -- that moment alone -- is SO GRAND. Without VR, it's just so normal; it's like looking at a (very nice, high-definition, large) photograph of the scene. In VR, everything is HUGE, and YOU ARE THERE. Ugh!!!!!!!!!

And when the VR tutorial did the hyperspace jump. My god. Grammar and semantics are failing me. You know what it was like? No bullshit; to me, it was like the Star Wars (1977) hyperspace jump, to people in 1977 seeing it for the first time. Like, I was concerned for my safety.

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P.S. Oculus Rift + K/M + GTX1070 + 3770. (I have Touch also -- the first and only motion detection gaming peripheral that truly works in practice IME -- but not relevant here.)
 

lefty1117

Gold Member
Frontier has proposed making Powerplay an Open-only activity, and the forums are having a glorious meltdown over it. Anyone else here keeping tabs?
 

Trogdor1123

Member
Looking at getting into this game as it totally fascinates me. Is now a good time to jump in or should I wait for the next dlc ?

Ps4 Version
 
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lefty1117

Gold Member
It's a good game. There is a bit of a reckoning happening, right now the game supports multiple play modes, and there's a war brewing between the Open (multiplayer) advocates and those who want the game to focus more on Solo gameplay. As far as the game itself goes, yeah it's a fun game that becomes grindy after a while, but those first 60 hours or so are going to be quite enthralling. It does some things you don't see anywhere else, but it also has unfulfilled potential which can be frustrating at times. Overall I heartily recommend it.
 
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