Monday , March 18 2024
Elite Dangerous has tapped into that freedom but added mechanics, gameplay, scenarios and a truly organic galaxy that really pulls you into the game and universe.

PAX East Preview: ‘Elite Dangerous PlayStation 4’

Elite Dangerous is not a new game; it has been around for a few years on PC and Xbox One, but the team at Frontier Developments is constantly evolving the game and their next big step is launching the title on the PlayStation 4 in line with the upcoming 2.3 update to the game.  At PAX East I had a chance to chat with the development team and find out what Elite Dangerous is all about, why update 2.3 is a big deal and what to expect when the PS4 version is launched.  What struck me most when chatting with the the team (both on the show floor and socially later at an event) is how passionate they are about their game and the community members that play it.  They have a genuine interest in delivering a better product each and every day and work with the community to tweak, change and add features with every version they release.

For those who have not experienced Elite Dangerous it is a space adventure, trading, and combat simulation video game set in an open world 1:1 scale galaxy modeled after the Milky Way and set thousands of years in the future.  You start the game with a small ship and the galaxy is yours to explore at your whim as you trade, battle, escort and try to thrive in the dynamic and complex world Frontier Developments has created.  The truly interesting thing about Elite Dangerous is how you can choose your path in a truly customized way. If all you want to do is be an intergalactic trader you can do that, if you want to be a bounty hunter that is an option as well, a space courier, feel free to go that path as well.  In Elite Dangerous there are so many options it can often feel overwhelming, but if you stay focused and work with the community resources a very compelling experience is at your disposal. Despite the game being quite complex the developer has expertly translated it to a console experience on the Xbox One (and soon PS4) as well as a hardcore Space Sim option with Joystick controls on the PC.

Elite Dangerous started with a deep experience when it debuted a few years ago, but it continually evolves with each Seasonal expansion.  The current expansion is called Horizons and it launched with a great deal of features such as planetary landings and ground exploration but over the course of the year they also added further ship customization via discoverable engineers, looting and crafting of materials, ship launched fighters, passenger transport missions and new galaxy options such as neutron stars, capital ship dockyards and civilian installations.  All of these features add to an already compelling experience, but they are not stopping there.  The upcoming 2.3 patch will add multi-crew starships allowing you to share duties with other real life players.  Imagine being the captain while one friend controls the guns and yet another controls the deploying ship launched fighters.  The team has mentioned that they are planning huge ship designs that allow large groups to share crewing duties in a way that has never been seen before in a game. They are also adding Commander Creation options, currently you are always a generic faceless captain (with a helmet) once the new update drops you can make your avatar unique which will make multi crew sessions that much more interesting.  This is not even the end of the season, there is still an unannounced 2.4 version that the team hinted would bring some amazing concepts to the game.

Elite Dangerous is a game designed to be played either Solo or with a Wing in multiplayer servers where you are impacted by other players, but regardless of your playstyle the overall Galaxy is affected by the entire community even if you prefer Solo play.  There are always Galaxy wide scenarios occurring, whether it is the incredibly cool Alien encounters that are happening right now or a massive starbase being built. These events are shared across all platforms – meaning that Aliens are in the Xbox One and PC versions and if a base is being built and it needs a million units of metal to complete the disparate versions contribute towards the goals even though they don’t ever encounter each other while playing.  This cloud based infrastructure concept is one that is common in the business world, but exceedingly rare in the gaming world.  I was very impressed at this feature as it enables the developer to link the Galaxies together in a way that is substantial and completely in their control as Console ecosystems tend to be very controlled by Microsoft and Sony.  I was also told that when the PS4 version is released it will be part of this global ecosystem and benefit from the current state of the mature game.

I spoke to Frontier Developments about the upcoming PS4 release and it is obvious they are excited to reach this new audience and continue to expand the game on that platform.  They told me that right off the bat the PS4 version will have access to everything released thus far, meaning they will have the core game and the Horizons expansion materials and will benefit from the continuing work on that expansion.  They also leveraged the work they put into the PS4 version and relayed it back to the Xbox One and PC versions in the form of optimizations and continued graphical tweaks.  The PS4 version is going to look stunning they assured me and will be comparable to higher end configurations on the PC thanks to the power of the PS4 and in particular the Pro version of the console.  Controls will match the established ones on the Xbox and the Galaxy will be as deep as can be thanks to the established history over the past few years the game has been available.

My time with Elite Dangerous at the show and in particular my chats with the developers has opened my eyes to this game, I had not jumped into it in the past, but have since started playing on PC and will explore the PS4 version once it is available.  It is clear from my playtime and the sheer passion from the devs that there is something special in this game that evokes a sense of discovery and ownership of the universe that even great titles like Wing Commander and Freespace did not achieve. One of my favorite Space Sim titles was Wing Commander Privateer due to the freedom to play as you want.  Elite Dangerous has tapped into that freedom but added mechanics, gameplay, scenarios and a truly organic galaxy that pulls you into the game and universe in a way I was not expecting but greatly appreciate.

 

About Michael Prince

A longtime video game fan starting from simple games on the Atari 2600 to newer titles on a bleeding edge PC I play everything I can get my hands on.

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6 comments

  1. Michael, you’ve been drinking way to much Frontier PR Kool-aid.

    For example the only “alien encounters” in the game are a couple of short recently added unplayable cutscenes.

    And ED has no solo mode. Though Frontier took over £1m from backers on the promise of a solo mode, they famously reneged on it.

    ED’s “cloud-based infrastructure” is far from anything common in the business world. It uses a cheap and nasty peer-to-peer network model with many problems plus a Frontier server which frequently crashes booting players out of the game.

    The game is plagued by hacks and cheating and Frontier have failed to solve it, even been caught red-handing lying to players when claiming the investigated the problem.

    Worst of all, the game code is a bug-ridden junk heap. Frontier’s expansions of over a year ago still have major bugs unfixed, and Frontier adds new bugs with every new addition to the game.

    In total, Frontier’s list of broken promises on this game is as long as your arm. Rather than put in badly needed work to fix the game, they are piling on a ton of micro-transaction cosmetics.

    • This game (ED) offers quite allot of fun no matter how some ppl hate it 🙂 and works surprisingly stable for a game of its size and look. Also game overall performance is with every new version going better.

    • You seem a little bitter…

      I’ve experienced none of these ‘bug-ridden junk heap’ issues. I play solo all the time – you’re just referring to always online which is a very different story. Also why are you comparing a business networking infrastructure with a game network? Cloud simply says that it has an internet based infrastructure which it is. Finally you are being entirely disingenuous in saying that what they are delivering is micro-transaction cosmetics, the additional content and making sure that it fits within the ingame engine has been, for the majority of the content, part of the season passes. Goodness knows when you compare it to the fiasco that is SC, ED is an entire universe ahead of the game and it speaks for itself regardless of your attempts to paint it as something it is not.

      • The big difference between SC and ED is that no-one’s claimed SC has yet delivered the game people paid for, whereas Braben claimed delivered the complete ED game, and then went on to try and charge players again for features they’d already paid for.

        > I play solo all the time – you’re just referring to always online which is a very different story.

        Crap. What Frontier no call solo mode IS always online. Whether you’re playing multiplayer or not makes no difference. When the Frontier servers go down, you can’t play ANY mode of the game. Period.

        > I’ve experienced none of these ‘bug-ridden junk heap’ issues.

        Then you aren’t playing Elite Dangerous. Just look at the last expansion, Guardians. Even after three bug-fix patches, it still has hundreds of reported bugs https://forums.frontier.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=105 .

        > > Finally you are being entirely disingenuous in saying that what they are delivering is micro-transaction cosmetics,

        I said they are piling on a ton of microtransactions cosmetics, and they are. Hundreds of skins etc. in their own store and despite Braben’s original promise to backers none of them can be got for in-game credits, only real-world cash. The cosmetics Commanders Pack http://store.steampowered.com/app/475180/ has a Steam review score of 23%, ‘Nuff said.

        • Did you ever consider just not following news about Elite? It seems to me you get yourself way to worked up over a game you don’t seem to like.

        • A) Where has Braben ever claimed that he delivered the complete full game?

          B) No-one else is in my instance when in solo mode and therefore it is a solo game. You’re confusing your own arguments, they gave a solo mode, just not an offline mode – not the same thing.

          C) Really a game with bugs? Who would’ve thought… Is the game unplayable? Does it crash out all the time? No, moreover FD are constantly rolling out updates and fixes. Hardly the dire bug ridden mess you’re representing… Hyperbolic much?

          C) You’re actually having a whinge about cosmetic items that make exactly zero difference to gameplay. No-one is forcing you to hand over your money unless you absolutely can’t live without your gold ship… get over yourself.

          You have no arguments, you’re just throwing out hyperbole as fact because it’s not the game for you. If you don’t like it, you know where the door is.