Interesting:
QuoteClassic video game Elite is getting a 21st Century makeover.
David Braben, one of the creators of the original, is seeking £1.25m ($2m) via Kickstarter to fund the updated version.
Called Elite: Dangerous it will involve the same mix of interstellar travel, trading, piracy and spaceships as the original 8-bit game.
Those who pledge cash to the project will also get a chance to shape the development of the updated version.
"Elite is a game that I've wanted to come back to for a very, very long time," Mr Braben told the BBC. "It's the sort of game that I would very much like to play today."
Full BBC story here. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20165344)
Much easier just to make Oolite multiplayer. Hahaha! More seriously, this is great, but how did they get on BBC news? They should make their target in about two days, talk about blanket coverage.
They're british and Braben's a bit of a legend to certain type of person over here.
I'm in for this.
Yeah i think im gonna pledge for this aswell, ive wanted a new elite game for years so hopefully this one proves to be the right one to back.
Kind of hoping there is something else besides tradin' and shootin'. I was not happy with Frontier (the combat was dreadful, but beyond that, there wasn't all that much to do). Crunchiness I want.
1 and a quarter million quid?
What's he doing, building the Prometheus?
Quote from: Ghost Whistler;598011What's he doing, building the Prometheus?
If he's being serious, he might want some content in there, in addition to all the procedural wonderfullyness.
£273,231 in a single day means it's going to make it unless something goes horribly wrong. What amazes me is how small the original was: you can really fit all that into 22k? I never played it, but Elite was always a legendarily expansive game.
Quote from: Melan;598068£273,231 in a single day means it's going to make it unless something goes horribly wrong. What amazes me is how small the original was: you can really fit all that into 22k? I never played it, but Elite was always a legendarily expansive game.
Procedural generation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_generation)! Why build the universe, when you can just give the game the seed and let it to it for you? It takes advantage of the ways that computers generate random numbers (Basically, they have a list of random numbers that they go through); by picking a number from a specific point each time, and then applying your universe-generating algorithm to it, you'll get the same result every time, and you can concentrate on particular bits of it that the player is interested in.
A recent game that did the same thing was Asobo's FUEL, an open-world post-apocalyptic racer, but also see this nifty SWN sector generator (http://www.emichron.com/swn/).
Quote from: Ghost Whistler;5980111 and a quarter million quid?
What's he doing, building the Prometheus?
Rolling out a full bells and whistles game can cost a lot more than that. I'll be surprised if he manages on that budget actually.
Quote from: Ladybird;598080Procedural generation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_generation)! Why build the universe, when you can just give the game the seed and let it to it for you? It takes advantage of the ways that computers generate random numbers (Basically, they have a list of random numbers that they go through); by picking a number from a specific point each time, and then applying your universe-generating algorithm to it, you'll get the same result every time, and you can concentrate on particular bits of it that the player is interested in.
Yeah I use a similar method to generate arbitrarily large dungeons (http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=24231) without losing much and gaining some significant advantages in the process, resulting in a dungeon stretching under a continent spanning several million square kilometers. Now that's a megadungeon.
Interesting post on RPS. I don't know how to link to an arbitrary comment there, but...
Quotemelnificent says: (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/11/06/elite-returns-with-massive-kickstarter-goal/#comment-1125670)
Copied from my EG post……
I love elite, but I want to raise some concerns about this kickstarter and the company behind it.
It’s been in development for over 10 years (14 years at present), like duke nukem forever.
It is being made by a proper commercial entity, like duke nukem forever.
The company has produced a couple of good hits (lost winds) amongst a sea of mediocrity (generic kinect stuff), like duke nukem forevers parent company.
There are no screenshots, concept art or any assets at all. Unlike Duke nukem Forever, which did have concept art and a trailer video.
As it stands at the moment it’s on course to be even more vapour like than DNF. It’s already past the same timescale.
Ask yourself, why would a company that has been around for years suddenly need money upfront without proof of anything. Especially, after promising the game from as far back as 1998.
http://uk.gamespot.com/news/qanda-david-braben-from-elite-to-today-6162140
This is a cash grab to keep the studio going for a few more months. Traded on the back of a promise, looking at nostalgia.
The company accounts show that from 2009 they have blown through almost £5m in 2 years (down to £1m) and at that rate will be bankrupt by next year.
The shares have dropped £4m in a year. And the liabilities have more than doubled.
This £1.2m kickstarter is to make sure they can get through to the next financial year. Nothing more. The expected delivery date is AFTER they have run out of cash even with kickstarter backing.
http://companycheck.co.uk/company/02892559
Most damning of all their last game (announced 2008) has yet to materialise. Beyond a trailer from a few years back.
I really do want to be proven wrong as I’d love another elite, but I’m afraid the writing is on the wall. This will most likely be a high profile kickstarter failure. And the collapse of a company to boot.
Hmm. £1.2m, after all, isn't a huge amount of money, and 15 months isn't very long to develop a game these days. I do want an Elite 4, but...
Quote from: Ladybird;598087Interesting post on RPS. I don't know how to link to an arbitrary comment there, but...
Hmm. £1.2m, after all, isn't a huge amount of money, and 15 months isn't very long to develop a game these days. I do want an Elite 4, but...
Seems to me they shoudl release Elite as a Facebook game. Its perfectly suited to it.
nah then they'd have to pack it with pay to play crap and nobody would play it anymore.
Quote from: Ladybird;598087Interesting post on RPS. I don't know how to link to an arbitrary comment there, but...
What a pity. Do they own an exclusive licence to the name of the game?
Quote from: The Traveller;598304What a pity. Do they own an exclusive licence to the name of the game?
It's their IP; as to the trademark on the name, that isn't my area of expertise, but I think so, maybe (http://www.trademarken.co.uk/trademark/2518889?i=ELITE-Frontier_Developments_Limited#.UJrcwDCOrD4).
Still, maybe we can start a kickstarter to pick it up in the event of their collapse.
Quote from: Broken-Serenity;598254nah then they'd have to pack it with pay to play crap and nobody would play it anymore.
Peple play the other crap they add and pay to play is the perfect model for Elite
Sure you can get this ship but if you pay me $1 you can give it armour, upgrade its drives etc etc
Aaaaand now funded.
Quote from: The Traveller;597893but how did they get on BBC news?
Quote from: Ladybird;597894They're british and Braben's a bit of a legend to certain type of person over here.
Actually it's a bit more than that. When the game was launched, it was launched for the BBC B microcomputer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro).
People that whine that their Steam game is taking a long time to launch clearly never played a computer game on cassette. :D
Quote from: Motorskills;622306People that whine that their Steam game is taking a long time to launch clearly never played a computer game on cassette. :D
Or listened to one. What music they make! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsbRAV-CSCQ)
Quote from: Motorskills;622306Actually it's a bit more than that. When the game was launched, it was launched for the BBC B microcomputer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro).
Now that, was a good machine.
So I upgraded my KS pledge to Beta 1 access. Here's my thoughts after like twenty minutes.
It looks good, flight feels good. My reflexes are rusty as fuck - not having flown a Sidewinder in over a decade and a half - but I reckon this is going to turn out a winner. The cabin view is very neat, I can see how amazing an Oculus Rift version would be.
I really need a flight stick. Using the mouse to fly feels wrong. Using an xbox pad would just be WIERD.
I do feel like a liiiiiiittle bit of a fraud though, because I played Frontier : Elite 2, not the original, and that's not the game getting the nostalgia. Oh well! I'm sure Mr Braben et al will cry all the way to the bank with my money.
Now for my first proper dogfight...
...and thus endeth my dogfight.
The visual effects are good - once you start taking hull damage, your windshield starts to crack. Gets low enough, and your ship starts to lose oxygen, then it goes boom.