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[StonedRider]

Do we have any other X55 Rhino users here? I'm hoping to get some binding tips. I got it right before I stopped playing ED on PC for a bit (distracted by ED X1 and other games) and never really full configured my bindings--I previously had a Thrustmaster HOTAS X.

Any guides or recommendations for bindings? The main problem I have is that Saitek uses letters to identify inputs on the actual HOTAS, but ED uses "JOY 1" "JOY 2" etc. It's not always apparently what is bound by defaul, so I figured I'd just rebind everything.

I have X55, I can send you my custom.binds file (email? PM me you address). You can use http://www.mcdee.net/elite/ to get a graphical reference sheet of your X55 bindings.

 

[Zaptruder]

I wonder if it's possible to combine hand-crafted assets and procedural generation? I mean, more than just "here is the procedurally generated planet, now hand-place some art assets" but rather, that Stellar Forge could be programmed to place these more complicated assets in areas that make sense, geologically?

Of course... you just build the pieces in a modular manner, and design a few cities from those pieces and figure out the pattern you're using and capture that as an algorithm (a set of layered rules defining how you approach the task of building the city from pieces).

Voila. Procedurally generated content using hand modelled pieces.

If you want some particular niceties, then just create those pieces as modules as well, and selectively vary them by hand.

 

[Burny]

And having consumers pay $60 for the promise of a year of "good" content is an easy way to lose a customer base.

They should then just have postponed the game for a year or two and continued developing it with their immense kickstarter starting budget of 1.578.316 £ and the own financing they had. Maybe scaling to 200 people working on it in the process, so this was a more full featured release. That would have surely gone well without additional funding. We've also had the "Elite is doomed" comments - their Kickstarter comment section from the last weeks is a secret goldmine in that respect - as well as a lot of enraged negative reviews and the game is still going.

The game feels just straight unfinished. They added features with Horizon, but they don't amount to anything.

There is literally 0 player agency in ED.

Those are fitting criticisms of the game. And I've still had ridiculous fun with it and will have going forth. Should I then request to get updates for free until they have remedied these shortcomings? Should I if I hadn't as much fun? Playing the entitled customer card, I could of course.

Being more of a space sim enthusiast and seeing all the many GTA-level pay-60$-once-get-everything alternatives on the space game horizon (none, Star Citizen is also build on people's trust + willingness to spend 100s of $s on virtual ships and promises), I chose to pay for the updates and thus help development. In return, I occasionally go on their forums and rant about the missing features - in a mostly constructive way of course.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Good bit of ED news: Elite hit 1 million in sales!

Alongside the launch of Horizons, recently sales of Elite Dangerous (the basegame) have surpassed the one million mark, sometime during the past week/month.

A breakdown of the known* figures:
825k+ sales, by August 31st, as reported in FDev's 2015 financials
Before the Black Friday sale there were 420k Steam CMDRs
Since then 190k new Steam CMDRs have joined
825k + 190k = 1.015m!
*Note that these figures don't include the new CMDRs that bought direct from the FDev store (either ED or Horizons pre-order), nor Steam Horizons-only CMDRs, nor Xbox CMDRs (edit: since August 31st). Therefore the total CMDR accounts will be likely much higher

Massive congratulations to David Braben and the whole Frontier Developments team for their continued efforts, especially the Community & Support crews for providing help and information when they can.
I assume this milestone will be highlighted in tomorrow's newsletter, or an even higher one if 1m was reached a while back

Now I hope you'll give us some solid information and details as to what feature-improvements, depth and content will be coming to both Horizons and the basegame during 2016. Videos of prototypes, concept art of weapons/ships/structures, design discussions of developing features - the community love reviewing them! After all, we know that development takes time, so consequently you're already working on them
Cheers for a great year! o7

Week's dev update:

Hi everyone,

This week has seen the release of the first of the Horizons’ releases – with plenty more to come in 2016! We’ve also released another major update for Season One on all three platforms. This changing of the seasons also brings this final dev update for the year (worry not – they will return in the New Year!) and I want to reflect on the some of my personal highlights for the year.

Before doing so I’ll shout out for the heroes of this year’s achievements and that is the team. A few of us are fortunate enough to deal with the fans directly on our forums and through other channels, but we are the public face of a much larger team who’s talent and dedication has pushed the game’s development. Switching to publishing our own titles has expanded the company in many ways and so it’s not just the development team I’d like to shout out for, it’s all the other areas of the company like admin, marketing, tech and customer service that have helped make the game a success.

With so much happening over the past years it’s hard to believe that the base game release was almost exactly a year ago. There have been a number of major releases in that time and I’m not going to talk about them all, but the few that have stood out for me, not just for what they added to the game, but what they enable us to add in the future.

The first was Community Goals back in the early part of the year with the 1.1 release. When I joined the project during the kickstarter, two fundamental pillars separated this game from its predecessors and they are the multiplayer and the evolving galaxy. In truth the two go hand in hand and the community goals added a mechanism to help guide players together with a common purpose.

They’ve also added to our arsenal for involving players in the events of the galaxy, a particular favourite of mine was the Cerberus Plaque. Here we had dedicated pilots battling to prevent the spread of a horrible disease and the players involved brought a richness to the experience.

We’ve seen a similar effect with community inspired CGs, notable examples are the Battle for Lugh and the Hutton Orbital mugs. As well as continuing our story threads we’ll continue working with the community and player groups to involve them in areas of the galaxy.

Community goals are also a superb framework for expansion. Like many features in game, they are a tool that allows us to inject activities into the game and the library of activities associated with community goals is something we plan to continue expanding. Along with other actions we track, these community goals help us develop storylines and the direction they take and that player impact is something we will continue to support and expand further.

Powerplay was another highlight release for me, although it does seem to be a bit of a marmite feature! For me it works on two levels. There’s the more obvious level of working for and against the powers, but there’s also the second benefit of the dynamism it brings to the galaxy on a grander scale. There are benefits to being in certain regions as well as downsides.

It’s also a high level framework that we can develop further and here there are two approaches that I see as strengthening Powerplay. The first is on a personal level to make interacting with the powers more interesting and more diverse, adding powerplay mission is an example of this. The other is building more of a connection with the galaxy simulation both in being able to resist powers and developing minor factions into powers.

As part of season 2 we will be elevating a minor faction to a power, we’ll reveal more on this early next year. For fun here are the most influential minor factions in game:

Sirius Corporation
Alioth Independents
Dukes of Jotun
League of Amemait
CD-44 10336 Industries
The Dukes of Mikunn
Eta Draconis Gold Vision Co
Nagii Union
Workers of Manite Labour Union
Marquis du Ma'a

The development of influence is a key function of the galaxy simulation and also one of the more complicated aspects to the game. In my opinion one of the biggest issues is one of communication, there are a range of subtleties that aren’t immediately obvious which is no doubt causing frustration. This is something we shall be tackling as well as addressing any core issues and developing the system further to support more interaction.

My penultimate highlight was the Xbox One release. It was an incredible achievement to get the game working on the console and it looks marvellous on my home set up! It also brought CQC Championship which is a lot of fun for a quick blast as a change of pace for my journey to Sagittarius A* - over halfway there now

And we end with our most recent launch – Horizons. Considering all the other releases we did during the year this was a phenomenal achievement. I think the name is most apt as I love just driving around and seeing some of the vistas. Chasing people in a ship as they drive around is amusing too! And it’s only the start of the season – there’s so much more to come!

So I will end this post with a big thank you to all of you. Thank you for playing the game, your community spirit and the feedback. Merry Christmas to you all!

Michael

Not much there (new Power isn't exactly exciting) BUT he does say that Powerplay will be revised this season in two ways that we all seem to want:

The first is on a personal level to make interacting with the powers more interesting and more diverse, adding powerplay mission is an example of this. The other is building more of a connection with the galaxy simulation both in being able to resist powers and developing minor factions into powers.

I have X55, I can send you my custom.binds file (email? PM me you address). You can use http://www.mcdee.net/elite/ to get a graphical reference sheet of your X55 bindings.

Thanks, I'll shoot you a PM. I appreciate it!

 

[Serrato]

Congratulations FD!

 

[owlbeak]

Say what you will of the game, but I love it. It's the game I've dreamed of since I was a teenager and bought Microsoft Space Simulator. No other game has had me play it regularly for a year and I am constantly finding new and cool things while I play. With the release of planetary landings, that fun has increased. One of my favorite things about Mass Effect was exploring the planets, even if they were completely void of anything. It was about exploring. What's over that hill? Horizons has amplified that and has really increased the amount of fun you have exploring. Add that to all the other game systems, and there is a lot of fun to be had here, but you have to make your own fun. Games like this are not for everyone.

 

[fred]

Updated the game yesterday and did my first landing despite having just about hour of playtime. It's great so far! That feeling of huge empty space, the scale of the game is much more evident when you can go out of your ship and drive in SRV sitting just couple of meters above ground. I think I can drive the whole day and do not get bored of it.

Is there any way to refuel your SRV besides crafting? I did not pay close attention to materials yet and spent half of my fuel tank just driving around small crater near my landing place. What should I do if I've ran out of fuel and lack of materials to refuel? Can I refuel SRV on a station?

Just recall your ship, board it and select the other SRV. If I remember correctly all of the SRVs refuel when you refuel your ship.

 

[hepburn3d]

I've changed all my internals to class D on my Adder from class A? It seems to give me a huge jump distance. Is this right? Seems odd that D is giving me better results than A. This is all at max class to

 

[Serrato]

I've changed all my internals to class D on my Adder from class A? It seems to give me a huge jump distance. Is this right? Seems odd that D is giving me better results than A. This is all at max class to

You probably got a bigger Class instead of Quality like Class 4 instead of Class 3.

 

[RadioactiveLobster]

I've changed all my internals to class D on my Adder from class A? It seems to give me a huge jump distance. Is this right? Seems odd that D is giving me better results than A. This is all at max class to

Class D stuff is weights the least (lowest tonnage) so it increases your jump range. It's a trade off though, Class A stuff will work better for other situations.

 

[Anton Sugar]

I've changed all my internals to class D on my Adder from class A? It seems to give me a huge jump distance. Is this right? Seems odd that D is giving me better results than A. This is all at max class to

In terms of overall quality of functionality, A class is always better. From OP:

Generally most modules (not weapons) come in five variants per class and those variants are rated from E to A. "E" is the lowest rated variant, but also the cheapest. "A" is the highest rated variant, but is much more expensive than the other variants (sometimes costing millions of more credits). The variant rated "D" often weighs less than the norm while the variant rated "B" often weighs much more than the norm.

Some equipment (the combat oriented equipment primarily) only come in one class (the scanners) or one variant (the defensive utilities).

D rating is usually the lightest components you can get, which is great for maneuverability, jump range, fuel consumption, etc., but again, they're lower quality. You have to find a combo that works best for what you want. An A rated FSD will be a lot heavier than D rating, but will let you travel much farther. So maybe if distance is your goal, A rated FSD is required (you probably need some more power, too) but a lot of other components (like a shield generator, even if you even want one as you explore) can be D rated.

Take my Vulture--these things are never going to be distance travelers, traders, explorers, etc. I may equip a great FSD, fuel scoop, etc. in order to reach a far destination, but once I get near and get ready for a conflict zone, a RES, or whatever, I usually sell or downgrade anything that isn't essential to combat. This means a D rated FSD, selling my fuel scoop, etc.

 

[hepburn3d]

Class D stuff is weights the least (lowest tonnage) so it increases your jump range. It's a trade off though, Class A stuff will work better for other situations.

For the stuff I downgraded I just seem to lose integrity like on thrusters. I'm happy with that trade off while I'm trading. Got me a lot of money back and boosted my jump range massively which I'm happy about

 

[Reckheim]

Say what you will of the game, but I love it. It's the game I've dreamed of since I was a teenager and bought Microsoft Space Simulator. No other game has had me play it regularly for a year and I am constantly finding new and cool things while I play. With the release of planetary landings, that fun has increased. One of my favorite things about Mass Effect was exploring the planets, even if they were completely void of anything. It was about exploring. What's over that hill? Horizons has amplified that and has really increased the amount of fun you have exploring. Add that to all the other game systems, and there is a lot of fun to be had here, but you have to make your own fun. Games like this are not for everyone.

Honestly, no one I know enjoyed the Mako sections in Mass Effect but that was probably my favorite part of the game. ED is not perfect, but its a game I always wanted.

 

[MickeyKnox]

Honestly, no one I know enjoyed the Mako sections in Mass Effect but that was probably my favorite part of the game. ED is not perfect, but its a game I always wanted.

I have a special place in my heart for that thing

The planetary lander gives me similar vibes of barely controlled chaos

 

[Soi-Fong]

Some Elite Dangerous fun at work with the HTC Vive. Looking at some headless bodies.

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[kvk1]

Whoa! How was the experience man?

Can you compare it with the DK2, if you've tried that?

 

[Soi-Fong]

Whoa! How was the experience man?

Can you compare it with the DK2, if you've tried that?

Wider FOV, text is easier to read and overall, the 90 hz refresh rate is noticeable compared to the DK2 which I have at home. Also, being able to walk around the cockpit is pretty cool. Wish I had a Cobra to try it on. haha Overall, it was real fun for the studio.

No flying around. Didn't want my co-workers crashing my precious Courier. lol

 

[kvk1]

Wider FOV, text is easier to read and overall, the 90 hz refresh rate is noticeable compared to the DK2 which I have at home.

Music to my ears.

 

[Soi-Fong]

Music to my ears.

I think Elite fans will enjoy it overall. There's a definite improvement with these new headsets.

 

[HelloMeow]

I wonder how the fov compares to the DK1 and consumer version. I've been trying to play it with my DK1, but SteamVR doesn't seem to have the right fov or distortion.

 

[Wreav]

That locker room bench for a desk!

 

[Reckheim]

I


The planetary lander gives me similar vibes of barely controlled chaos

Honestly, after a few hours using that thing and realizing how to use the thrusters to your advantage i'm really liking it.

Thrusting right before you land so you don't take any damage is too damn satisfying.

 

[Mengy]

Honestly, after a few hours using that thing and realizing how to use the thrusters to your advantage i'm really liking it.

Thrusting right before you land so you don't take any damage is too damn satisfying.

I was having difficulty driving the SRV with my CH HOTAS, but now I've switched to using my 360 pad for the SRV and it works bloody fantastic. Steering on low gravity ice worlds can be cagey though, feels like DiRT Rally on light gravel in the rain!

Say what you will of the game, but I love it. It's the game I've dreamed of since I was a teenager and bought Microsoft Space Simulator. No other game has had me play it regularly for a year and I am constantly finding new and cool things while I play. With the release of planetary landings, that fun has increased.

Yep, me too. I'll be playing Elite for many years to come I think.

 

[Soi-Fong]

That locker room bench for a desk!

People kept on running into the desk we originally put inside the room. haha

 

[Wreav]

I was having difficulty driving the SRV with my CH HOTAS, but now I've switched to using my 360 pad for the SRV and it works bloody fantastic. Steering on low gravity ice worlds can be cagey though, feels like DiRT Rally on light gravel in the rain.

I was having HOTAS difficulty too until I switched to using yaw to turn instead of roll. Perfectly fine now, only thing that sucks is using a HOTAS throttle with that -0 speed bug.

 

[Serrato]

Im using my 360 Controller too for the SRV. No way i'm using a Joystick for a wheeled vehicule, it just doesn't feel right.

 

[MickeyKnox]

I was having HOTAS difficulty too until I switched to using yaw to turn instead of roll. Perfectly fine now, only thing that sucks is using a HOTAS throttle with that -0 speed bug.

Might give that a shot.

I'm using a HotasX, in conjunction with a Logitech extreme 3d pro and the pedals from my G25 wheel. i have vehicle control on the left stick and turret control on the right, with the peds for gas. Buuuuut..... the wheel IS hooked up since the pedals run through it..... I dunno might be too much

 

[charpunk]

Im using my 360 Controller too for the SRV. No way i'm using a Joystick for a wheeled vehicule, it just doesn't feel right.

I switched to this as well and it greatly improved my SRV experience.

 

[flyinpiranha]

Anybody using a Steam Controller? Think I might switch back and forth between HOTAS and the controller.

Damnit, why family this weekend!

 

[hepburn3d]

Anybody using a Steam Controller? Think I might switch back and forth between HOTAS and the controller.

Damnit, why family this weekend!

I am! It's epic. Rear grips for sideways movement i.e. Q and E and switch the left stick to the left pad and visa verca. Make both pads "stick move" not "stick look" (erghhhh) and set the advance options to 'relaxed'. It's lovely. I can land with ease and attack aggressively. When I'm not using chat I switch the 'back' button to screenshot mode by combining button presses. The stick makes a good d-pad replacement with haptic feedback on. Haven't figured out a great use for gyro yet working on that still.

 

[HowZatOZ]

So I've logged in after not playing for quite a few months to find that I'm stuck in a random port and have only 26 credits to my name. How should I go about making sweet credits to actually fund an upgrade from my Sidewinder?

 

[MickeyKnox]

OMG the WHEEL.

Fuuuuuuuuuck this awesome.

I keep messing up the face tracking cause I start smiling and laughing like an idiot at how fun it is to drive around.

I have officially gone crazy.

 

[Mr. Luchador]

I had a fun time driving like an idiot around the starting planet.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Pretty cool, y'all: Elite: Dangerous advert playing in UK cinemas ahead of The Force Awakens.

Wish they played in the US

 

[Felix Lighter]

I finally I'm home and able to play be I'm too tired. Must power through...

 

[Easy_D]

More stuff throughout the year--check the last part of OP 1.

Oh man, I hope ship boarding makes it the next 12 months somehow, seems like a big undertaking though, but still! Hype for some aliums at least.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Oh man, I hope ship boarding makes it the next 12 months somehow, seems like a big undertaking though, but still! Hype for some aliums at least.

I really have no idea what's coming in Season 3. No one expected planetary landings for Season 2, so who knows?

 

[Jijidasu]

I had been wanting to pick this up for a long time and finally jumped in earlier in the week. It’s a lot different from what I was expecting with how slow you move relative to the planets (I haven’t spent a whole lot of time in it yet due to work, but SC only until so far and then automatically pops me out.), which kind of prevents me from going down to see the surface. I have a lot to learn!

I started with a controller and it was confusing and complicated, and I felt restricted so I ordered a HOTAS X off Amazon.jp, a bit more expensive than those sold abroad but I’m looking forward to trying something new.

I believe my CMDR name is Chatoran, if anyone would like to chat sometime in game!

 

[flyinpiranha]

I am! It's epic. Rear grips for sideways movement i.e. Q and E and switch the left stick to the left pad and visa verca. Make both pads "stick move" not "stick look" (erghhhh) and set the advance options to 'relaxed'. It's lovely. I can land with ease and attack aggressively. When I'm not using chat I switch the 'back' button to screenshot mode by combining button presses. The stick makes a good d-pad replacement with haptic feedback on. Haven't figured out a great use for gyro yet working on that still.

Awesome! Will probably even give my wheel a shot lol

 

[DrBo42]

Can't believe how little interest I have in playing Horizons at this point. Still hard to digest that I saw everything this expansion had to offer in 3 days of the beta. What an absurd thing to release with no content.

 

[Wreav]

Can't believe how little interest I have in playing Horizons at this point. Still hard to digest that I saw everything this expansion had to offer in 3 days of the beta. What an absurd thing to release with no content.

Pretty much my Elite cycle...get excited for new thing, play for a day or two, realize how shallow the update is, shelf the game for 3 months and go back to the PS4.

 

[Jedi2016]

Is it wrong for me to want to buy the alphabet bobble head pack just so I can spell "FUCK OFF" in bright colorful letters on the dashboard of my murdered-out FDL?

 

[Dizzy-4U]

Travel a quarter of the galaxy to get to SOL and now I need a goddamn permit to get in. Screw you SOL, I'm gonna look for Borg debris in Wolf 359 instead.

 

[Burny]

I was having difficulty driving the SRV with my CH HOTAS, but now I've switched to using my 360 pad for the SRV and it works bloody fantastic. Steering on low gravity ice worlds can be cagey though, feels like DiRT Rally on light gravel in the rain!

Didn't get round to trying the SRV with that HOTAS. Which mapping were you using? I thought about the throttle's mini stick for the steering and the pedals for acceleration/brakes. Leaves the stick for air control and aiming in turret mode.

So I've logged in after not playing for quite a few months to find that I'm stuck in a random port and have only 26 credits to my name. How should I go about making sweet credits to actually fund an upgrade from my Sidewinder?

Go to a nav beacon (near the sun) scan ships if they're wanted and help system security get rid of them. If there are RES (resource extraction sites => in planet rings that aren't ice asteroids, avoid the hazardous ones ) in your system, go there. Hand in the bounty vouchers under contacts in a station. Only quick alternative: take available smuggle missions if you can find them. But the starting jump range of the sidewinder is pitiful, so avoid them before a FSD upgrade.

Oh man, I hope ship boarding makes it the next 12 months somehow, seems like a big undertaking though, but still! Hype for some aliums at least.

They won't. It was confirmed that there would be no "space legs" in Horizons. However, let's wait and see what they have to announce at Gamescom next year and at EGX (?) a bit later. Walking in ships and stations seems like a good progression from multi crew that will come some time next year.

 

[xJavonta]

Pretty cool, y'all: Elite: Dangerous advert playing in UK cinemas ahead of The Force Awakens.

Wish they played in the US

they did! i just saw TFA today and an elite ad came up

 

[8bit]

I have a special place in my heart for that thing

The planetary lander gives me similar vibes of barely controlled chaos

Cosigning the Mako love, especially enjoyed how horrified the crew were when I started running over a planet full of monkeys by accident.

 

[The_Super_Inframan]

Did some searching...

So there is still no fix/update for the AMD/Win10 supercruise framerate problem?

It's really no fun when the FPS drop to like 14FPS in supercruise :/

 

[JambiBum]

Did some searching...

So there is still no fix/update for the AMD/Win10 supercruise framerate problem?

It's really no fun when the FPS drop to like 14FPS in supercruise :/

They stated in their last video/ a forum post that AMD found the issue and are working on getting a fix sent out and it should be ready with their next driver update. Was an AMD issue the entire time that they just needed to find and fix.

 

[The_Super_Inframan]

They stated in their last video/ a forum post that AMD found the issue and are working on getting a fix sent out and it should be ready with their next driver update. Was an AMD issue the entire time that they just needed to find and fix.

good to hear, thanks for the info

 

[Anton Sugar]

Interesting--from a wreckage site (via reddit):