|
Page 1 of 2 |
Ankh
Posts: 23266
Location: Trelleborg
|
Posted: Tue, 6th Nov 2012 20:33 Post subject: Kickstarter - Elite: Dangerous |
|
 |
Spoiler: | “Elite” has gone down in history as one of the most successful games of the 1980s. It was the first ‘open world’ game in which the player can freely roam a vast space. It was the first true 3D game too, and set many other benchmarks. Ian Bell and I set out to make a game for ourselves rather than for some imagined market. We were sick of games with three lives then a new life every 10,000 score; we wanted something new.
Mostly Harmless.
The original “Elite” fitted into around 22K of memory, out of a total of 32K on the BBC Micro Model B computer on which it was launched (8K was needed for the screen, 2K for the system). This is less than a single typical email today. In it were eight galaxies each with 256 star systems. Each planet in those systems had its own legal system, economy and so on. Clearly some magic had to happen to fit it into 22K, and that magic was procedural generation.
Competent
“Frontier” followed in 1993 on 16 bit computers, and pushed these procedural techniques further. In it I made a model of the whole of the Milky Way galaxy with all 100,000,000,000 or so star systems, and many more planets and moons, each of which you could visit. It is something I am really proud of, as it was as scientifically accurate as I could make it, and provided a great backdrop for a game. I loved the richness of the galaxy, but with the benefit of hindsight I think the way the ships flew detracted from the joyous immediacy of those in “Elite”.
Dangerous
Imagine what is now possible, squeezing the last drop of performance from modern computers in the way “Elite” and “Frontier” did in their days? It is not just a question of raw performance (though of course these elements will make it look gorgeous), but we can push the way the networking works too – something very few people had access to in the days of Frontier.
Frontier Developments, the company I founded in January 1994 (and whose first product was a version of the “Frontier” game for the CD32 console), is now a very well established game development company with 235 people in the UK and Canada, with its own technology and tools and a great team of game developers. We have a long track record of delivering high quality games on time and to budget, both published by ourselves and through big publishers like Microsoft, LucasArts, Atari, and Sony.
Elite: Dangerous is the game I have wanted Frontier to make for a very long time. The next game in the Elite series - an amazing space epic with stunning visuals, incredible gameplay and breath-taking scope, but this time you can play with your friends too. I want a game that feels more like the original “Elite” to fly, and with more rapid travel (to allow for the multi-player nature of the game) – so you travel quickly using local ‘hyperspace’ travel rather than by fast-forwarding time – but with the rich galaxy of Frontier – and more, so much more.
I’ll be frank - we have had a couple of false starts on this over the years, where progress wasn’t as good as I wanted. Also, understandably, other projects have been prioritised – projects with announced dates or other commitments. Up to now “Elite” has been worked upon by a small team as a ‘skunk-works’ activity in the background as availability permits. Nevertheless, we have been preparing; laying the technology and design foundations for when the time is right. And that time is now.
Why Kickstarter?
We’re using Kickstarter both as a means of test-marketing the concept to verify there is still interest in such a game that extends beyond the individuals who regularly contact me about the game, and raising the funds to do so. There is also the fact that as long as we hit the threshold, it commits us to making the game. From where we are now, $2M/£1.25M will get us the minimum game, but I am hoping we can get more than that as it will allow us to be more ambitious with content and platforms; something the design decision forum members (the £300 reward tier and above) will be part of a discussion about.
We will rely heavily on artist-directed procedural generation, using techniques that are a logical expansion of what was done in the previous “Elite” and “Frontier” games. This will greatly reduce the required budget – bringing it to within reach of Kickstarter. It also means it becomes a viable project to avoid the conventional publishing route – something that I don’t believe can deliver a game like this successfully.
Procedural Content
Procedural generation of content is a technique where content is generated from rules. It abstracts repetitive or arbitrary elements of content creation in a very efficient way. Imagine a medieval landscape. Laying out towns, roads, castles, farm land, forests and so on can be done by a system of rules – putting castles widely spaced out on vantage points, towns near rivers but under the protection of such a castle, roads between them, then with farm land to support them all. An artist can still design the castle, the houses in the towns, but this approach greatly magnifies the content that can be created. “Frontier” did this for the star systems, and planets, and with Elite: Dangerous, we will go further.
The Game
In the game, you will of course begin with a spacecraft and a small sum of Credits. You will be able to trade, pirate, bounty-hunt, explore, and salvage your way to wealth and fame, building on those key elements of the previous games, and with sumptuous graphics only now possible with the performance of today’s machines. Only this time some of the ships out there will be other players like yourself – other members of a secret ‘Elite’ group of space-farers…
· Multiplayer: you will be able to control who else you might encounter in your game – perhaps limit it to just your friends? Cooperate on adventures or chase your friends down to get that booty. The game will work in a seamless, lobby-less way, with the ability to rendezvous with friends as you choose. This technology is already working, using a combination of peer-to-peer (to reduce lag) and server connections.
· Play it your way: Your reputation is affected by your personal choices. Play the game your way: dangerous pirate, famous explorer or notorious assassin - the choice is yours to make. Take on missions and affect the world around you, alone or with your friends.
· Trade: Buy low, sell high and discover the most profitable trade-routes. Keep an eye on the markets, supply and demand may create opportunities for quick profit. Unscrupulous players may even try distorting those markets.
· Fight: take on the pirates, or become one yourself. Engage in combat missions within a rich and dynamic simulation to earn a reputation, or perhaps you want to become a famous bounty-hunter – feared by those that you chase, but staying the right side of the law.
· Travel: Travel across star systems and between them. Risk leaving the relative safety of the Corporate-run space station to explore distant planets or stars. Space is big and you never know what you might find; perhaps a salvageable freighter wreck or some valuable asteroids? There are secrets and startling beauty waiting to be discovered by the intrepid explorer.
· Ships: save your credits and upgrade your ship. Get new weapons, engines and equipment and customize your ship the way you want it. Check out the body-kits and paint jobs on offer, give your ship that personal touch.
The game is planned to be released on the PC in March 2014. Make no mistake – this is a massive game, but by using procedural techniques that we have been cultivating over the years, a new approach to multiplayer, and bringing the raw power of today’s machines to bear, it is astonishing what is possible. This is your chance to help make it happen. Become one of “The Elite” once more.
David Braben
*All names must not be offensive, trademarks, or in any way problematic for us to include in the game, and must follow our naming guidelines.
RISKS AND CHALLENGES Learn about accountability on Kickstarter
Stating the obvious, all projects, whether building a bridge, making a film, studying for an exam or whatever, carry risk. Projects can run out of time or money, people can leave, assumptions that were made at the start may prove to be mistaken, or the results may simply not be as good as expected. Games development is no different.
Looking at all the high quality games we at Frontier have produced, from RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 to Kinectimals to LostWinds to Disneyland Adventures, I think the risk of non-delivery is small. We already have a large team who are very experienced at delivering complicated projects, and the key high-risk components (like networking) are already in place. If necessary then we will delay the release beyond March 2014, but I do not believe we will need to do so.
Fundamentally this is the game I want to make and have wanted to make for a long time. I want to make this game for myself – it is the sort of game I want to play. There are many more like me at Frontier that want this for themselves too, and, I hope, out there in Kickstarter-land. Right at the start, Ian and I took that risk when making the first “Elite” amidst cries that it needed three lives and a score – but we took the risk that others wanted what we wanted – and the result was a great success. If Elite: Dangerous is something you also want, then let’s all take that risk together and help make the fantastic freedom of the “Elite” series return to our screens, in current state-of-the-art glory!
David Braben |
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1461411552/elite-dangerous
shut up and take my money already!
shitloads of new stuff in my pc. Cant keep track of it all.
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
Posted: Tue, 6th Nov 2012 20:37 Post subject: |
|
 |
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Grale
Banned
Posts: 3321
Location: Invert
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Ankh
Posts: 23266
Location: Trelleborg
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
Posted: Tue, 6th Nov 2012 20:45 Post subject: |
|
 |
thinking of pledging £50, both for the reason of supporting such an awesome project but also to get into the beta.
Dont mess with God, he can impregnate your girlfriend/wife without taking his pants off!
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Frant
King's Bounty
Posts: 24596
Location: Your Mom
|
Posted: Tue, 6th Nov 2012 22:36 Post subject: |
|
 |
Meh!
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
"The sky was the color of a TV tuned to a dead station" - Neuromancer
Last edited by Frant on Wed, 7th Nov 2012 00:06; edited 2 times in total
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
Posted: Tue, 6th Nov 2012 22:53 Post subject: |
|
 |
why is it 2 months, are all new projects on ks 2 months now, orthis one is special, no media whatsoever.. name doesnt mean anything to me, so meh no money
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Ankh
Posts: 23266
Location: Trelleborg
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 05:44 Post subject: |
|
 |
What a useful post.
Smikis. wrote: | why is it 2 months, are all new projects on ks 2 months now, orthis one is special, no media whatsoever.. name doesnt mean anything to me, so meh no money |
Check him/the game up on wiki.
shitloads of new stuff in my pc. Cant keep track of it all.
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Grale
Banned
Posts: 3321
Location: Invert
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 11:00 Post subject: |
|
 |
Acer wrote: | thinking of pledging £50, both for the reason of supporting such an awesome project but also to get into the beta. |
I've never pledged to a project before, but i have strong feelings attached to Elite and thinking of the £50 too. Even contemplated £100 for a minute!
Does one get their money back if the target isn't met?
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Werelds
Special Little Man
Posts: 15098
Location: 0100111001001100
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 11:03 Post subject: |
|
 |
You don't pay unless the target is met in the first place, so yes.
And I'm not backing this. I've backed a lot of stuff recently, but these guys aren't even showing any concept art, so fuck that 
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Grale
Banned
Posts: 3321
Location: Invert
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 11:13 Post subject: |
|
 |
Yeah its elite and braben, dont need anything else. Think om gonna do it, shut up and take my money Dave!
Dont mess with God, he can impregnate your girlfriend/wife without taking his pants off!
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 11:37 Post subject: |
|
 |
I'm not sure if there's room for Elite with EVE Online being as evolved as it is. Maybe Elite will give you a more immersive experience with a first person view. Maybe that's the niche that will save Elite. I hope so.
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Grale
Banned
Posts: 3321
Location: Invert
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 12:02 Post subject: |
|
 |
Taffelost wrote: | I'm not sure if there's room for Elite with EVE Online being as evolved as it is. Maybe Elite will give you a more immersive experience with a first person view. Maybe that's the niche that will save Elite. I hope so. |
Thats what im hoping elite will be, very much an eve clone but with direct control of your ship and more varied missions for bounty hunters. Eve is one of the most atmospheric games ever but takes along time to get into.
Dont mess with God, he can impregnate your girlfriend/wife without taking his pants off!
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 12:10 Post subject: |
|
 |
No MMO, some optional cooperative play and more sense of exploration perhaps, and I'll be happy.
I'm on £20 by now but I'm expecting for a big box tier.
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Kaltern
Posts: 5859
Location: Lockerbie, Scotland
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 12:10 Post subject: |
|
 |
Eve is nothing more than a business simulator with some lasers. It is not fun for any newbie, and it doesn't have much 'fun' going for it.
At least Elite you had direct control over your ship, and I dunno, it just felt more 'fun' to me.
I adore space sim games. I adored Frontier, Freelancer and Freespace, all different examples of the genre. But Eve just felt like a chore.
Playing Valheim every weekday at 10pm GMT - twitch.tv/kaltern
Follow me on Twitter if you feel like it... @kaltern
My system: Ryzen 7 3700x|Gigabyte RTX 2080 Super Windforce OC|Vengeance 3000Mz 16Gb RAM|2x 500Gb Samsung EVO 970 M.2 SSD |SanDisk SSD PLUS 240 GB + OCZ Vertex 2 60Gb SSD|EVA Supernova 650W PSU|Logitech G27 Wheel|Logitech G19 Gaming Pad|SteelSeries Arctis 7|Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum Mouse + Logitech MX Master Mouse|Razer Blackwidow Chroma X Keyboard|Oculus Quest 2 + Link|Pixio PX7 Prime 165hz HDR & 1x Samsung 24FG70FQUEN 144Hz curved monitor
-= Word to the wise: Having a higher forum post does not mean you are right. =-
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 12:48 Post subject: |
|
 |
Kaltern wrote: | Eve is nothing more than a business simulator with some lasers. It is not fun for any newbie, and it doesn't have much 'fun' going for it.
At least Elite you had direct control over your ship, and I dunno, it just felt more 'fun' to me.
I adore space sim games. I adored Frontier, Freelancer and Freespace, all different examples of the genre. But Eve just felt like a chore. |
looks like you've only seen the shit parts of eve. when skirmishing in nanofaggotry ships (or generally in frigates), manual piloting is the key to success. yes, it's not first/third person like freespace or freelancer and apart from some exceptions like bombs or high alpha artillery, you don't manually fire your weapons...but honestly, with all the other shit going on (module management and keeping situational awareness), i'm perfectly fine with just having to activate my guns and them tracking the enemy themselves 
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Nidhogg
Posts: 490
Location: Old Europe
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 12:58 Post subject: |
|
 |
And let's not forget there's also Star Citizen. Looks like the market will be over-saturated before the games have even been released. 
http://steamcommunity.com/id/drakhor/games?tab=all
ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z - i5 2500K - Thermalright Silver Arrow - 4x4GB DDR3 G.Skill RipjawsX- ASUS ENGTX570 DCII - Gigabyte M8000X - Logitech G15 v.2/Rumblepad 2 Refresh + Xbox 360 Controller- Iiyama B2403WS + ASUS VW191D - Sennheiser PC350 - Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 13:02 Post subject: |
|
 |
wondering and hoping that you can use a proper joystick for this
Dont mess with God, he can impregnate your girlfriend/wife without taking his pants off!
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 14:59 Post subject: |
|
 |
brand awareness is king on KS
Nexus... who?
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 15:20 Post subject: |
|
 |
Those £300k were reached thanks to the nostalgia feeling.
The top tier at 5K is already sold out.
I'm taking the risk just for the sake that I know that this will be probably the last chance of getting an Elite sequel.
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Grale
Banned
Posts: 3321
Location: Invert
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 15:39 Post subject: |
|
 |
I hope this reaches and surpasses the goal. As you say Roger it's probably the last chance at a sequel. Braben will no doubt not peruse the project again if the funding fails. That's why this is worth every penny i pledged.
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 15:49 Post subject: |
|
 |
yeah i agree, I want this project to happen just to show more people and more old school developers the power of kickstarter. Maybe it'll give us sequals to some golden oldies like a new Planescape Torment game thats not a dumbed down cloen of DA2 etc etc
Also its Braben, doing a new Elite. That in itself should be enough that the project has huge potential not to mention not having a pushy publisher trying to force the devs to make a game that will "sell"
Dont mess with God, he can impregnate your girlfriend/wife without taking his pants off!
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 16:08 Post subject: |
|
 |
By adding multi player this game will never be the same experience as the original elite was.
Per Ardua Ad Astra
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Grale
Banned
Posts: 3321
Location: Invert
|
Posted: Wed, 7th Nov 2012 16:17 Post subject: |
|
 |
I disagree. Can you imagine a 2014 Elite sequel without multi player? It will be so awesome to share the elite experience with other players.
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Page 1 of 2 |
All times are GMT + 1 Hour |
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB 2.0.8 © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
|
 |
|