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[Dreams-Visions]

FWIW, Thrustmaster is about to release a new product or set of products in the Flight sim world. Unless you're in a hurry, I'd recommend waiting for their announcements.

 

[Burny]

HIP empire grind has you stacking the cut the power/performance evaluation generator bombing and and skimmer destruction. I don't feel like I'm being punished by putting in effort, just in the sense of how little it moves the bar.

I was under the impression this was discovered more or less recently? Is there a Federation equivalent? Not to mention that season 1 players are left out. :-/

 

[DrBo42]

I was under the impression this was discovered more or less recently? Is there a Federation equivalent? Not to mention that season 1 players are left out. :-/

They're a few months old or so. I'm not sure if there isn't a Federation version or it's that the donation version is so much more accessible for the Federation. There are 3 major ground mission empire grind systems I know of but none I can't think of for feds though.

 

[Person]

I want to get a HOTAS; I was looking at either the Trustmaster T-Flight Hotas X http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CXYMFS/?tag=neogaf0e-20

or Saitek X52
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LQ4HTS/?tag=neogaf0e-20

for its addition of buttons. Plus it looks pretty nice! But then I read some reviews and saw that Saitek is more looks than quality... Anyone point me in the direction for a lightweight user? I play Elite Dangerous casually and might expand it to other Flight sims if the stick works out.

if this is your first HOTAS I'd get a T-flight Hotas X

I have a X-55, tried my friend's X-52 and while they're not inherently bad, they won't work how you want them to for long.

But if you're willing, there's a lot of people who stand by Dual-stick setups, and for that, I would recommend the Thrustmaster T-15000m. For it's price, it has a Hall-effect sensor, which means less moving parts and will last longer, a lot of people like this stick.

If you don't mind having a single-unit HOTAS, I would also take a look at the Speedlink Blackwidow. It has very good reviews, and is well built.

Anything else I wouldn't really recommend to anyone who hasn't tried a stick/HOTAS before

FWIW, Thrustmaster is about to release a new product or set of products in the Flight sim world. Unless you're in a hurry, I'd recommend waiting for their announcements.

This too

 

[Serrato]

Hey guys, it's been a while since I played, did they resolve the AMD issue while supercruise?

 

[DrBo42]

Obsidian Ant video on the home system of the Neo Galactic Adventure Force, Apam Napat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSQOdFxyPu0

Hey guys, it's been a while since I played, did they resolve the AMD issue while supercruise?

I've heard people say yes IIRC. I know it's been a "recent" bit of chatter. Recent being within the last 2-3 months.

Edit: Tomorrow my HP 980ti machine shows up. Will be the first time playing this above 720p on low via a 650m. I expect magic.

 

[Burny]

Hey guys, it's been a while since I played, did they resolve the AMD issue while supercruise?

Yes. New AMD drivers resolved this about two months ago.

 

[Serrato]

Thanks guys for the answer. Means I can finally play at a stable 60FPS when Supercruising, FINALLY!

 

[DouglasteR]

Oh hell.

Just got myself a shiny BOX of money to buy the Cutter.

Then, and only then i found out that i need to be a #@$FD# DUKE to be able to obtain it.

So now i have to farm reputation.

Anyone know any good spots =/ ?

 

[bloodydrake]

My Hotas X showed up yesterday and its great! Definitely worth 65bucks.
Elite really is awesome how it lets you use the hat switch for multiple functions.
Ive got it set for default Power Management, toggle to head movement and landing thrusters when the landing gear is deployed. Once the Vive arrives I'll be able to remove the head movement and the toggle key to activate.

I think I'm gonna change the throttle to be full range forward with a toggle for reverse. I can't seem to get comfortable with centered being no thrust and only having half range for forward..which you end up at about 1/4 for optimal turning. I think having centered being around 50% forward will work better.

There is only a few keys that I don't have room to a key for, landing gear, sensor range, reverse thrust and galaxy,system maps. For now just binding those to keyboard.

Was watching some ObsidianAnt videos and came across this William Shatner voice attack addon..Man thats so cool sounds like Brent Spinner is doing one as well.
Gonna have to get those this weekend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yX5nhBQ2XI

 

[thelatestmodel]

Obsidiant Ant video on Elite's development. Nice video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elc04JxJKas

This is a really great overview of the current state of the game. A nice companion piece to the recent discussion on Reddit.

I really hope Frontier can inject some fresh excitement into the game, I've put hundreds of hours in and it's still the best feeling I've ever got from flying a virtual spaceship. Just need more human elements and more things to do.

 

[E-flux]

Those voice packs sound amazing, has the engineers update dropped yet? I have been a bit out of loop for the past few months.

This is a really great overview of the current state of the game. A nice companion piece to the recent discussion on Reddit.

I really hope Frontier can inject some fresh excitement into the game, I've put hundreds of hours in and it's still the best feeling I've ever got from flying a virtual spaceship. Just need more human elements and more things to do.

Ah found my answer.

 

[Person]

My Hotas X showed up yesterday and its great! Definitely worth 65bucks.
Elite really is awesome how it lets you use the hat switch for multiple functions.
Ive got it set for default Power Management, toggle to head movement and landing thrusters when the landing gear is deployed. Once the Vive arrives I'll be able to remove the head movement and the toggle key to activate.

I think I'm gonna change the throttle to be full range forward with a toggle for reverse. I can't seem to get comfortable with centered being no thrust and only having half range for forward..which you end up at about 1/4 for optimal turning. I think having centered being around 50% forward will work better.

There is only a few keys that I don't have room to a key for, landing gear, sensor range, reverse thrust and galaxy,system maps. For now just binding those to keyboard.

Was watching some ObsidianAnt videos and came across this William Shatner voice attack addon..Man thats so cool sounds like Brent Spinner is doing one as well.
Gonna have to get those this weekend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yX5nhBQ2XI

you can set modifiers for elite

hold X button with Y to get down landing gear, etc

 

[DrBo42]

Going from Low 720p to Ultra 1440p is a religious experience. Now I'm even more pissed at the lack of content. Haha.

 

[Reckheim]

Good news everyone, the new update is gonna be in beta sooner than anticipated and they are finally gonna start talking about it. See below for the latest.

https://community.elitedangerous.com/theengineersbetadate

That shield healing laser seems kool.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Good news everyone, the new update is gonna be in beta sooner than anticipated and they are finally gonna start talking about it. See below for the latest.

https://community.elitedangerous.com/theengineersbetadate

That shield healing laser seems kool.

Nice!

I am delighted to announce The Engineers (Elite Dangerous 2.1) will be available to players with beta access in the week ending 8th May.

Our second big announcement today is that Elite Dangerous 1.6, available to all players of Elite Dangerous, not just those with Horizons, delivers significant changes to the core gameplay experience for all players, headlined by a completely re-vamped mission system and having its own vast number of additions and changes, and it will go into closed Beta and be released at the same time as The Engineers.

^ this is actually really exciting for me. I was (and still am) worried I'd be underwhelmed by the Engineers update--crafting weapons that simply add damage or reduce heat, or something like that. A regeneration beam essentially adds a completely new combat role to the game, which is pretty significant.

If NPCs can utilize them, it could add another layer to big ship battles. Maybe an Anaconda or Corvette can deploy a small fighter with the purpose of keeping its shields up.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Agreed. A healer class pretty much changes the landscape of the game. Depends on how effective the healing capabilities of those lasers are, of course, but they may have a big impact on the rail/alpha strike meta.

It's very exciting to see where this goes, what classes these can come in, and what other ideas they have in their heads.

It's also interesting to me that this sort of thing is purely a PvP upgrade.

 

[DrBo42]

A support class? Now we're talking.

They really needed to start talking. Bring on the newsletters and streams.

 

[Reckheim]

A support class? Now we're talking.

They really needed to start talking. Bring on the newsletters and streams.

They are going to have to crank it up if they plan to release the beta the week of May 8th. I'm pretty excited for tomorrow.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I wonder if they're gonna go full TF2 medic and add a beam version that increases the damage of the targeted ship.

 

[DrBo42]

They are going to have to crank it up if they plan to release the beta the week of May 8th. I'm pretty excited for tomorrow.

I don't expect anything tomorrow. They'll probably just recap today's announcement. They've done that bs before.

 

[Burny]

I don't expect anything tomorrow. They'll probably just recap today's announcement. They've done that bs before.

Yep, regularily, when they had nothing left to say after the dev update. Although there's hope this time:

In the next three week’s Newsletters (starting this Friday) we’ll be going into both 1.6 and The Engineers, with articles written by Executive Producer Michael Brookes about all of the new features coming to the game, artwork, in-game images and much more.

 

[DrBo42]

Yep, regularily, when they had nothing left to say after the dev update. Although there's hope this time:

Good thing Burny is here to actually read the info. Lol.

 

[~Cross~]

FWIW, Thrustmaster is about to release a new product or set of products in the Flight sim world. Unless you're in a hurry, I'd recommend waiting for their announcements.

They really need a mid tier hotas. Something with a t16000 and a better throttle, package it for like 90 bucks and they'd have a lockdown on a lot of the different price markets for the things. HotasX is already the value startup king, the warthog is the whale tier. They need something in the middle.

I hope engineers adds enough things to shake up the current meta of the game. There is a lot of emergent gameplay happening right now with people competing for territory but its mostly just to troll each other. They need to formalize something like this but with rewards if they want people to have something long term to do, that doesn't require a lot of maintenance.

 

[Mengy]

I hope engineers adds enough things to shake up the current meta of the game. There is a lot of emergent gameplay happening right now with people competing for territory but its mostly just to troll each other. They need to formalize something like this but with rewards if they want people to have something long term to do, that doesn't require a lot of maintenance.

I hope the engineers adds more than just combat related improvements. As of yet we've not heard nor seen anything related to the engineers that isn't directly tied to combat.

 

[DrBo42]

I hope the engineers adds more than just combat related improvements. As of yet we've not heard nor seen anything related to the engineers that isn't directly tied to combat.

I'm sure there will be FSD overclocking for you shutter bugs. I mean explorers.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I hope the engineers adds more than just combat related improvements. As of yet we've not heard nor seen anything related to the engineers that isn't directly tied to combat.

surely a number of these engineer upgrades will be or FSDs, scanners n shit.

right?

 

[Michael Armbrust]

I hope the engineers adds more than just combat related improvements. As of yet we've not heard nor seen anything related to the engineers that isn't directly tied to combat.

At least 1.6 adds a lot of non combat changes.

 

[SmartBase]

Nice!

^ this is actually really exciting for me. I was (and still am) worried I'd be underwhelmed by the Engineers update--crafting weapons that simply add damage or reduce heat, or something like that. A regeneration beam essentially adds a completely new combat role to the game, which is pretty significant.

If NPCs can utilize them, it could add another layer to big ship battles. Maybe an Anaconda or Corvette can deploy a small fighter with the purpose of keeping its shields up.

Bah this is next to worthless for solo (not solo mode) players, where are the custom internals at?

 

[bloodydrake]

you can set modifiers for elite

hold X button with Y to get down landing gear, etc

yep i have been doing that its working out great.

I just made my way over to Frey with a Cobra MK3 to learn some mining.
Found out you can't port between ships at stations and they were Selling Viper MK3's at the station in Frey..so bought that and couple upgrades and flew it back to Yakabugai and sold the Eagle and upgraded the Viper as best I could and now gotta get it back to Frey.
Figure i can start doing bounties there at REP as well as mining, see about getting a ship for exploration next.

Game is really fun, I know alot of people are frustrated but coming in new still seems like lots to do.

 

[Burny]

surely a number of these engineer upgrades will be or FSDs, scanners n shit.

right?

Around 30 engineers, all with various requirements (e.g. ranks and alignments) to use their services. And each one has some specialisation. I'd be highly surprised if there wasn't one for non combat modules.

I doubt they'll sell straight up upgrades though. It seems to me that Frontier almost always attaches a notable downside to things...


Edit: I'm hoping for a big info blowout now. 2.1/1.6 seems like the most significant update to date for me, due to NPCs and a number of the smaller things which they revisit. Like giving NSC beacons a purpose and doing away with randomly spawned mission targets over time.

 

[DrBo42]

Around 30 engineers, all with various requirements (e.g. ranks and alignments) to use their services. And each one has some specialisation. I'd be highly surprised if there wasn't one for non combat modules.

I doubt they'll sell straight up upgrades though. It seems to me that Frontier almost always attaches a notable downside to things...


Edit: I'm hoping for a big info blowout now. 2.1/1.6 seems like the most significant update to date for me, due to NPCs and a number of the smaller things which they revisit. Like giving NSC beacons a purpose and doing away with randomly spawned mission targets over time.

Don't hype it up. I can't go through disappointment after this wait.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Bah this is next to worthless for solo (not solo mode) players, where are the custom internals at?

I think it might be a little short-sighted to think this is only a PvP addition. Like I said, having NPC ships in support/healer roles could make combat more interesting...but I get the gist of what you're saying.

If anything, this gives me hope that they are bolstering the breadth/depth of existing combat and other systems. Combat is easily the best part of ED (IMO) but it can still be improved.

Around 30 engineers, all with various requirements (e.g. ranks and alignments) to use their services. And each one has some specialisation. I'd be highly surprised if there wasn't one for non combat modules.

I doubt they'll sell straight up upgrades though. It seems to me that Frontier almost always attaches a notable downside to things...


Edit: I'm hoping for a big info blowout now. 2.1/1.6 seems like the most significant update to date for me, due to NPCs and a number of the smaller things which they revisit. Like giving NSC beacons a purpose and doing away with randomly spawned mission targets over time.

Yup. People complain about the lack of content in ED but that really isn't the case--it's depth and meaning that we need for existing content that would go further than adding "new bases to raid" or even new vehicles to use.

 

[Faith]

Anyone already playing with the Rift or Vive?

 

[Burny]

Don't hype it up. I can't go through disappointment after this wait.

Oh, don't worry. You see, all the non combat modules may seem on paper like great additions, but they'll be counterbalanced by their dowsides into uselessness. Like rockets and torpedos. Which are btw. supposed to get an overhaul as well.

As for the other things, I summarized them a while ago and I think it's very much worth it to go through the list to see what non crafting related changes will come with 1.6/2.1. There's good stuff in there, even if individual points may seem minor at first.

Edit, but again, the Beta annoucement makes it clear it's not just weapons. Reading and all that! ;p

...able to improve and upgrade the stats on every module of your ship, and add rare, experimental effects to your weapons for some special outcomes

Edit2: I'll just repost the list of announced/expected changes here

What's available to all players what is exclusively available in Horizons?

• "The Engineers" update is "2.1", adds loot & crafting and Engineers, Horizons (season 2) exclusive, <Beta date announcement>
• 1.6 available to all Elite Dangerous players, contains "re-vamped mission system", its "own vast number of additions and changes", closed Beta and release together with 2.1 <Beta date announcement>

General changes:

• Persistent, mostly generated NPCs will be added: mission givers + engineers, will have some form of mug shots based on the future commander creator/character editor
• Relationship with minor faction will determine which character will be mission giver
• NPCs will give feedback about the situation of a minor faction and ways to support them
• Options screen will have collapsible sections for easier navigation
• Adding new huge and large weapons (concept for large+huge multicannon shown) <NL #111>
  • huge beam laser
  • huge pulse laser
  • huge multi-cannons
  • large multi-cannons
• Missiles getting revamp, won't penetrate, but can damage multiple external modules (drives, utilities, hardpoints), minor increase to shield damage <quote>
• Asteroid graphical fidelity improvements
• Star light has been fixed so that it retains its colour over distance
• Bookmarks will be added
  • Systems/planets/stations/asteroids can be bookmarked
  • Bookmarks have a custom text, can be edited and deleted
  • Bookmarks will be visible on the galaxy map and can be selected as navigation target in route planner
• SRVs will leave tire tracks on planet surfaces <NL #116>
• Community goals will be marked on the galaxy map and system map, will also appear on any bulleting board regardless of system <NL #116>
• Community goals may have multiple commodities involved. <NL #116>
• "Revamp" of outfitting screen, different classes have different purposes, will become more clear <exploration livestream>, <synopsis>

The Engineers, loot & crafting:

• Engineers have their own backstory and specialization
• Engineers are spread throughout human space (initially ~30 engineers)
• (using loot) with engineers "you will be able to improve and upgrade the stats on every module of your ship, and add rare, experimental effects to your weapons" <Beta date announcement>
  • Example: Laser that recharges Wing member shields upon friendly fire <Beta date announcement>
• Player ranks/alignments/other parameters affect options offered to them by engineers
• There is a minimum requirement for player ranks/alignment/stats for using an engineer's service
• Engineers are found on isolated surface facilities <concept art, NL 117>
  • "Most Engineers are very secretive... and so you need an introduction, and need to find out how to find them" <Beta date announcement>
  • Missions can lead to introductions to Engineers
  • Some Engineers will introduce you to others
• Wrecks will be added (unclear if surface only or space as well), loot and crafting gameplay will be associated with wrecks, concept art of SRV scanning data recorder in wreck was shown

AI changes/fixes:

• Flatter difficulty curve for low rank NPCs, more challenging high rank opponents
  • effective missile + torpedo usage at high ranks (when opponent shields are down)
  • Increased damage avoidance by high rank AIs
  • High rank AIs flee for recharging shields before attacking again
  • High rank AIs will try to counter players who use the reverse thrust tactic
• AI can't use energy weapons when overheating anymore
• chaff spam decreased, only using chaff when taking damage from turrets/gimbals
• AI doesn't get stuck rotationg in one place anymore
• No more hatch breaker spam
• Better pip management for fleeing and pursuing
• Scan & ram: "As far as I am aware, the fix for this issue should be included with 2.1." <quote>

Changes for/to missions grouped by broad high level concepts (dev updates from January to March):

Personalisation

• persistent mission givers, treatment of player depends on player ranks/reputation/alignment
• Docking greeting messages change depending on alignment/rank
• NPCs remember having had contact with the player before
• NPCs inform player about the status of a faction (civil war etc.)
• NPCs inform player about the effects their actions are having (status changes for minor factions)
• Mission selection improved depending on a factions status

Progression

• One additional positive alignment level will be added to faction alignment (Hated, Disliked, Neutral, Liked, Allied, +?)
• The mission board in station services replaces the old bulletin board
• Expanding the functionality of the inbox so that messages will persist

Variety

• More missions are available at the neutral reputation stage
• Rank requirement for missions are removed - the rank will now be an indication of difficulty + rewards
• Missions will be generated around players's Pilots Federation rank
• Three stage hierarchy governs mission generation:
  • Minor faction state
  • Market type at the port (e.g. mining missions in extraction economies)
  • Government type of minor faction (e.g. dictatorships => overt assassinations)
• Missions will provide description why they have been offered and what effect their completion will have
• "Barrier of inconvenience" for some of the mission elements reviewed e.g. "not having to drop out of supercruise to listen to alternate offers"
• "The time limits for missions as well as which elements make them easier, or more difficult are being reviewed and addressed."
• The cockpits will receive a clock
• USSs for missions will now generally be located at specific bodies within a system, not randomly spawned as time goes by
• Bodies with USS can be detected with the discovery scanner, normal range limits apply
• Nav beacons can be scanned (in normal flight) to receive system exploration data and to reveal mission locations
• USS placement depends on specific places like "traffic lanes" and "hubs" in a system
• USS can be scanned from supercruise to reveal more information about them!

Consequences

• Exact indication of influence isn&#8217;t (!) part of the mission changes (only indicates positive/negative impact) as of 2.1, unlike reputation and state changes, which are indicated
• "With minor faction states we&#8217;re intending making their effects more noticeable on available missions, ship traffic and composition, and markets." (Less subtle changes)
• "authority response if they are attacked will be sharper."

Rewards

• "treasure" locations as new additional mission reward type (missions may lead to cache with vouchers/other items => crafting! )
• Crafting materials as additional mission reward type as well as hard to obtain commodities and "salvage only items". Some commodities possibly only obtainable through missions.
• "varying rewards for effects on minor factions which are getting a balance pass to make changes in state more likely as well as more noticeable"
• "rewards will be balanced to scale better with difficulty and also be more lucrative if you&#8217;re well regarded by the minor faction"
• "conducting a pass through the mission templates to make them more reliable and address issues seen in the current build"
• "adding more scenarios for the various mission types and also to better reflect the active states in the system"

Release

• Beta release aiming for May <NL #114>
  • Available the week ending 8th May <Beta date announcement>

 

[Mugen08]

Bookmarks will be added - Systems/planets/stations/asteroids can be bookmarked

FINALLY! Hopefully external trading tools will become redundant.

 

[Effect]

Anyone already playing with the Rift or Vive?

I wish I had spent more on my graphics card to be able to actually use one of these. Have a 960. The cut off for VR is a 970 though. Ugh. I keep hoping someone tries either of these with systems below the requirements to see what the performance is like. Anyone hear anything on this front?

 

[Reckheim]

Some updates are coming out for the xboxone version as well.

https://community.elitedangerous.com/xboxonenews

 

[Ravager61]

Anyone already playing with the Rift or Vive?

I have been playing on my dk2 and I really love the experience. It is my preferred way to play at this point.

I have a CV on order but the delivery estimate is August right now.

 

[Burny]

NEWSLETTER 120

Mostly smaller new details. All welcome nonetheless. More NPC ships on planet surfaces!

Many small things compared to the game's scope and vision, some big ones as well though. They're going to town with this update.

 

[DrBo42]

That's a fantastic newsletter. This is what you need to be doing, FD.

The thermal shock and force shell augments are very interesting.

With the overhaul of USS I really hope they make changes to surface POI's. Has to be a better solution than transparent blue discs.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Time to update that summary, Burny

Excited for the new weapon types. Those new seeks could really mix up the combat, both for strafing and circular combat engagements. Could also help combat rammers!

 

[Mengy]

The newsletter has some good info in it but AGAIN it's all combat oriented. I'm happy for all of you combat types, but man I wish FDev would think of other players more often. I'm beginning to think that almost all of the 30 engineers will be focused on combat stuff afterall.....

 

[Sinatar]

Edit2: I'll just repost the list of announced/expected changes here

Guess I'll be returning to ED when these happen.

 

[DrBo42]

The newsletter has some good info in it but AGAIN it's all combat oriented. I'm happy for all of you combat types, but man I wish FDev would think of other players more often. I'm beginning to think that almost all of the 30 engineers will be focused on combat stuff afterall.....

I know FD is pretty brain dead when it comes to providing non-combat updates/changes but there's no way they're dense enough not to include module changes.

Get ready for a hacking device that allows me to steal your exploration data when you come back to the bubble.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

NEWSLETTER 120

Mostly smaller new details. All welcome nonetheless. More NPC ships on planet surfaces!

Many small things compared to the game's scope and vision, some big ones as well though. They're going to town with this update.

Everything looks great.

 

[Anton Sugar]

I hope the surface ships have good pathfinding. I want to lose them/make them crash in a canyon chase.

 

[Michael Armbrust]

Force shell looks awesome. That could be really effective on high gravity planets.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Force shell looks awesome. That could be really effective on high gravity planets.

Oh man, good thinking. Fly in from above the target, hit the nose with those shells, causing them to get pushed nose-down towards the surface.

 

[E-flux]

I visited my first Black hole last night. It was an amazing sight when the nebula went past the hole.link
Are there only dormant black holes in the game at the moment?