Elite: Dangerous Standard Beta (Starting Jul 29th - $75)

Regarding the Throttle/Joystick conversation above, are there even any other stand alone throttle controllers besides the CH Pro?

I couldn't find any even after digging deep on the net, but maybe I'm just blind :P

I bet the CH Pro is a great product but it's just too expensive here in Germany... so are they any other solutions?

Only other thing I've seen is something like this, but that doesn't seem very practical for Space Sims.
 
Only other thing I've seen is something like this, but that doesn't seem very practical for Space Sims.

yeah these flightsim controls are not really the right stuff for space sims...
kind of funny that you can get like 10 different specialized flightsim throttles but only one more "casual" option which should have was more appeal to the average player...
 
2 conflict zones just popped up near Earth in Sol, according to Reddit.

WSwc9xk.jpg
 
yeah these flightsim controls are not really the right stuff for space sims...
kind of funny that you can get like 10 different specialized flightsim throttles but only one more "casual" option which should have was more appeal to the average player...
I have an old stick lying around (one replaced by the lovely t16000m.) I am going to have a go at a DIY job. Taking the top of the stick off, gluing the roll-axis down, removing the tension spring, and mounting a handle. Something simple enough with screw drivers, hacksaw and hotglue gun. I might even try a spot of soldering and see if I can reuse the stick buttons. Wish me luck! (And the persistence to follow through.)
 
so, I have a few Qs, if anyone can help it'd be really appreciated...

1) if I buy this as a gift for my son (for xmas) can I try the demo and still give him the game for xmas (ie I won't lock it to my PC)?

2) can we share one game, so if he's not playing the game on his PC I can on mine?

3) can we have seperate profiles/game saves in any way/shape/form?

Thanks in advance :)
 
so, I have a few Qs, if anyone can help it'd be really appreciated...

1) if I buy this as a gift for my son (for xmas) can I try the demo and still give him the game for xmas (ie I won't lock it to my PC)?

2) can we share one game, so if he's not playing the game on his PC I can on mine?

3) can we have seperate profiles/game saves in any way/shape/form?

Thanks in advance :)

1: Yes, just locks to an account login.
2: Yes.
3: To my knowledge, no. You could however store your separate ships and work out your different loadouts/play styles that way.
 
1: Yes, just locks to an account login.
2: Yes.
3: To my knowledge, no. You could however store your separate ships and work out your different loadouts/play styles that way.

many thanks, regarding point 3 - can you elaborate? are you saying when 'we' can afford another ship we could effectively take the ship for whoever is logged on?

sorry for the noob q!
 
many thanks, regarding point 3 - can you elaborate? are you saying when 'we' can afford another ship we could effectively take the ship for whoever is logged on?

sorry for the noob q!

You can own multiple ships and once and park them in any station you wish. If you both agreed to end your play sessions docked at the same place you could theoretically swap ships. Seems like a pain in the ass though.
 
You can own multiple ships and once and park them in any station you wish. If you both agreed to end your play sessions docked at the same place you could theoretically swap ships. Seems like a pain in the ass though.

yeah, something ok to begin with but eventually not worth it when you begin to 'venture off'.

so how would 'hooking up online' work in this game?
 
yeah, something ok to begin with but eventually not worth it when you begin to 'venture off'.

so how would 'hooking up online' work in this game?

The major grouping element "Alliances" or "Wings" has yet to be added. Currently there's a Private Group mode that allows you to create a group and then have the members be the only players populating the galaxy. You'll start off on your own island but assuming you're all on the same server you'll see each other in supercruise (assuming you're in the same system).

Most reliable method to ensure you're on the same server is to be on some sort of communication software outside the game and have everyone hit Play via the launcher at the same time. The reasoning behind it is that once you hit play, you're assigned a server and it's a much higher chance of being the same if everyone joins at the same time. It's pretty absurd and they might have fixed private groups from the last time I tried in Beta 3.

Anyway long story short, alliance/wing system is desperately needed and absurd it's not in the game for release.
 
"Regarding the Throttle/Joystick conversation above, are there even any other stand alone throttle controllers besides the CH Pro?"

Technically, the "brains" for the Saitek X52/Pro are in the throttle unit, not the stick itself, so you can just look for a used X52 and simply use the throttle by itself.
 
The major grouping element "Alliances" or "Wings" has yet to be added. Currently there's a Private Group mode that allows you to create a group and then have the members be the only players populating the galaxy. You'll start off on your own island but assuming you're all on the same server you'll see each other in supercruise (assuming you're in the same system).

Most reliable method to ensure you're on the same server is to be on some sort of communication software outside the game and have everyone hit Play via the launcher at the same time. The reasoning behind it is that once you hit play, you're assigned a server and it's a much higher chance of being the same if everyone joins at the same time. It's pretty absurd and they might have fixed private groups from the last time I tried in Beta 3.

Anyway long story short, alliance/wing system is desperately needed and absurd it's not in the game for release.

Thanks for the info - much appreciated.

Took this for a very quick spin last night, seems to run ok on my setup (i3 3220 + 560ti) need to get the HOTAS X out of the box and test that too as I hate keyb & mouse ;)
 
I have an old stick lying around (one replaced by the lovely t16000m.) I am going to have a go at a DIY job. Taking the top of the stick off, gluing the roll-axis down, removing the tension spring, and mounting a handle. Something simple enough with screw drivers, hacksaw and hotglue gun. I might even try a spot of soldering and see if I can reuse the stick buttons. Wish me luck! (And the persistence to follow through.)

Good luck! :)

"Regarding the Throttle/Joystick conversation above, are there even any other stand alone throttle controllers besides the CH Pro?"

Technically, the "brains" for the Saitek X52/Pro are in the throttle unit, not the stick itself, so you can just look for a used X52 and simply use the throttle by itself.

Thanks for the info, I will keep my eyes open for a cheap one. Maybe I find one where the stick is broken to get it really cheap.

For the moment I will just use the throttle from my cheapo Hotas X and set the stick awkwardly to the side somewhere (the HotasX joystick really sucks imo, but the throttle is ok, at least better then nothing) and the T.16000M as stick.
 
Got my Thrustmaster!

Sweet, post some pics of it!

I keep thinking I'll one day buy a new HOTAS but my 14 year old X45 still serves me just fine. When I do replace it though I'm going either CH or Thrustmaster. Although first I want to try to convert my very old parallel port CH HOTAS to a USB device. I loved that damn thing, used it for over a decade with all manner of sim games like Longbow 1&2, Falcon 4.0, European Air War, and many others. From what I've read it's possible to convert it to USB but not easily. Still, if I fuck it up then it's not like I'm losing anything, as its just sat in a closet ever since I got the USB X45.

Actually, what I'd love to do is keep the Saitek X45 throttle but wire up my old CH parallel flightstick to work in tandem with it via USB. I love the X45 throttle but hate the stick, while I love the CH Flightstick but am neutral about the throttle. If I could only combine the two....
 
Just finished the Incursion scenario in the tutorial, finally! That Anaconda kept me on my toes for over half an hour, thought it'd never end. I know the tutorial probably isn't a good comparison to the elite player pilots out there, but I'm happy I was at least able to pull this off.
 
Wow, i bought the game only to play with friends. This is not good :P

No, it's not good. They have started to market the game as a space MMO now since axing the offline mode, but it is lacking everything that makes a modern game an MMO, most especially any kind of social or grouping features. People are going to buy this and be very disappointed, and reviewers are going to review this and be very confused and negative.

Hopefully the servers work flawlessly on launch day, because if they have anything resembling a Simcity 2013 situation then it's really going to hurt them hard coupled with the lack of features.
 
Is there an OST available anywhere? The damned music in just the combat simulator is epic as fuck. EDIT: Shit, it's just the menu music? Sooooo good.

Sweet, post some pics of it!

I keep forgetting! I did have a friend over yesterday and he was all, "Okay, I have to try whatever game you bought this for". He is mostly a console gamer, so I just put him through the first combat simulator.

No, it's not good. They have started to market the game as a space MMO now since axing the offline mode, but it is lacking everything that makes a modern game an MMO, most especially any kind of social or grouping features. People are going to buy this and be very disappointed, and reviewers are going to review this and be very confused and negative.

Hopefully the servers work flawlessly on launch day, because if they have anything resembling a Simcity 2013 situation then it's really going to hurt them hard coupled with the lack of features.

Bummer :( None of my friends have this game yet, but still, it sucks when lack of features will potentially cripple an otherwise solid game. Hope they get it updated fast.

Who is doing the OT?
 
Hope they release the demo to the public after launch. I really want to try this game on my aging rig, to see how much of an upgrade its gonna take to get this smooth before I buy in.
 
So I threw together this half hour long vertical slice video for friends:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A202_p9aQ2I

Just me tootling around a couple of systems and getting into some trouble. I noobed it up and shot a fed by accident at one point but make it away relatively unscathed at the end. Anyway, figured I'd share the video, timestamps are in the video's description, and it will be in 720p (downsampled from 1080p) and 60fps.

Enjoy!
 
So I threw together this half hour long vertical slice video for friends:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A202_p9aQ2I

Just me tootling around a couple of systems and getting into some trouble. I noobed it up and shot a fed by accident at one point but make it away relatively unscathed at the end. Anyway, figured I'd share the video, timestamps are in the video's description, and it will be in 720p (downsampled from 1080p) and 60fps.

Enjoy!

Watching now!

I watched Isinona's recent vid and man, it is fun to watch someone who knows exactly what they're doing. His "cold approach" to the station, in order to avoid scanning of his illegal cargo, was like something out of a movie. The ship icing over, hearing his character's breathing, accidentally overshooting his course and having to correct--awesome stuff.
 
Sweet, post some pics of it!

I keep thinking I'll one day buy a new HOTAS but my 14 year old X45 still serves me just fine. When I do replace it though I'm going either CH or Thrustmaster. Although first I want to try to convert my very old parallel port CH HOTAS to a USB device. I loved that damn thing, used it for over a decade with all manner of sim games like Longbow 1&2, Falcon 4.0, European Air War, and many others. From what I've read it's possible to convert it to USB but not easily. Still, if I fuck it up then it's not like I'm losing anything, as its just sat in a closet ever since I got the USB X45.

Actually, what I'd love to do is keep the Saitek X45 throttle but wire up my old CH parallel flightstick to work in tandem with it via USB. I love the X45 throttle but hate the stick, while I love the CH Flightstick but am neutral about the throttle. If I could only combine the two....


i will use a g13 in conjuntion with a flighstick 3 from hori ( its a x45) but i still want a hotas with yaw in the future
 
Should be liberating, you can just go out right now and do whatever you want without any repercussions. :D

Ha, I'm broke and have spent most of my time just playing in the DK2 and learning the controls (got an X55).

So not much I can really do outside of flying around in the stock ship.
 
After having seen the No Man's Sky tech demo video I have a better understanding why Frontier is choosing to wait a bit for its implementation of planetary landings. ..Well, at least in the context of exploring outside planetary stations. In the NMS video there's seems to be a ceiling of how many "ground objects" it's possible to run through the equation before it hits a wall where they have to "fog in" the details in a rather crude way. Frontier already have planetary landings working, so there's a hope they can at least implement on-planet station landings, then add proper exploration later with a capable solution that can handle procedural generation "loading" on the fly without too much fog-in.

Anyway, onward to some Elite Dangerous criticism. As much as I admire the attention to detail in the framework, I've been kind of worried about the anonymous / sterile nature of Elite Dangerous when it comes to interactions / communications. I remember in Frontier Elite II they had simple graphics representing people you communicate with, including smaller face-icons when communicating in-flight.

WkjaeoX.png


As you can see the interactions also were a bit more dynamic..

Has there been any indication from Braben whether this is something that we'll see at release or later patches?
 
Good call on the bb faces, or lack of. I'd also like a return for external camera views, at least whilst docking/takeoff. Also, bring the music from FE2 as well.
 
For those of you who are up to date with the Gamma releases, can you share how stable the current version is? Are things looking good for the 16th or is it still a buggy mess?
 
Good call on the bb faces, or lack of. I'd also like a return for external camera views, at least whilst docking/takeoff. Also, bring the music from FE2 as well.

Well, the music in E:D is pretty ace too! And I don't really miss external cams at all, I think the ship hologram when aproaching the landing pad is a really elegant solution.

As for faces, here's why I think they're not in the game yet: nowadays we expect a much greater fidelity from faces and humans are exceptionally good at recognizing faces and telling when they look too similar or when they feel a bit weird. Now, keeping in mind that they're working on allowing us to walk around ships/stations, I'd say it is very likely that we'll also see an avatar editor. So, wouldn't it be silly to work now on adding a few handcrafted faces if in a few months/years they plan to have an editor of some sort? (Remember these are just assumptions, but it sounds reasonable to me).
 
For those of you who are up to date with the Gamma releases, can you share how stable the current version is? Are things looking good for the 16th or is it still a buggy mess?

From what I've read it seems very stable. The general consensus though is that some features that are missing will be sorely missed by people who will be expecting them on the 16th. The game is stable and playable, but feature light.

The big question is, will the servers hold up with the influx of players on the 16th? We will know in 9 days!
 
For those of you who are up to date with the Gamma releases, can you share how stable the current version is? Are things looking good for the 16th or is it still a buggy mess?
Didn't play enough to give a really good answer ( didn't encounter any general bug ); but I showed the game to a friend with the Oculus DK2 today, and it seems like the oculus support is actually worst/not as good as it was weeks/month ago ?
It's almost imposible to look at the left menu without him disapearing again and again if you go just slightly to much on the left; which really make it hard since you usually have to lean on it to be able to read the text ( please CV1 greater resolution be enough ).
Well on the bright side there is the mirroring on the main screen now, but it also felt like it was harder to have a fluid experience ( stuttering etc ).

I'm kind of afraid since I really don't see myself playing ED without the rift..

As for the game itself, honestly I don't know if I would be happy about my purchase if it wasn't for the rift, it's huge, beautiful, but really sooo empty objective wise.
Even if things like clan was there for a better multiplayer experience, I feel like the game lack long term objective for the player, you would try to obtain and aim to protect with organisation like clan ( control of solar systems, setup of space station/manufacture, etc ).
But to be fair I didn't put enough time into the gamma ( or beta ) to have a good idea of what can or cannot be done, and how it can keep me interested in the long run... if only we didn't have to fear a new wipe..
 
Has DK2 implementation been improved at all?

Funny hearing all this NMS talk and them showing off their galaxy map when I personally think Elite's is more mindblowing.
 
Alright, I took the plunge this morning and pre-ordered.

I just played through the tutorial missions up to the supply strike one and.... I can't keep the grin off my face. It's been, oh, 20 years? since I've played Elite.
 
I took the plunge on this and got the combat training downloaded. Fucks sake its not easy is it? Theres extremely little tutorial in this combat tutorial. Its like the most tutoring it gives you is 'press a couple of buttons and shit happens. Now shoot down a bunch of ships all way better than yours'. lol. I just hope the main game takes the time to explain how it all works a bit better.
 
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