Enjoying the Beta so far

AmazingAvery

Having played other frontier games back in the day I felt compelled to take a look at this game so much so 4 days ago I brought it along with the beta access. So far I'm pretty happy. I wanted something to help keep me going till Star Citizen comes and I'm not regretting my purchase and having good experiences.

Granted I've only got nearly 5 days under my belt and about 20 hours of play but I'm liking what I'm seeing.

I play with the generic joystick setup (and keyboard) using the mouse to look around.

I've still got the cheese wedge starter ship and been running errands from the bulletin boards with about 15k under my belt.

Died about 4-5 times all from crashing. (crashing my ship) Game crashes are about the same. There is a bit of lag here and there when leaving stations or systems but nothing too bad.

Attempted some more dangerous assignation attempts unsuccessfully but it was a fun experience. I like how there are bounties on you for 24 hours.

I can see the economy working well in Elite Dangerous. I often find myself in one system taking pics on my phone and comparing to the next systems goods pricing.

The learning curve is I would say a medium experience. Would be nice to have a bit more in depth tutorial / help that is currently available and found myself checking some youtube vids out from randoms for insights.

The graphics are pretty neat, but I would prefer the sound effects to be a little better in that the voice side of things could be changed up a bit.

If this game is supposed to come out this year then I would say it's definitely on track.

Lastly I just want to say that the random people met have been pretty fun to talk to. Usually the new guys like me tend to hover over the entrance to star bases waiting for some good timing to not screw up going in and there is often some good chatter going on. Good tips being shared and appreciate that.

There is much more to figure out but I just wanted to stop by and share some initial thoughts.

Cheers

chryses

I joined up this week and my thoughts are:

 

- loving the landing and take off as it really feels like a full blown space opera

- I'm playing with mouse and keyboard and it took a good 2 hrs to get comfortable and it still feels a bit whacky so I hope we don't get forced to use a joystick and mouse and keyboard is a viable option.

- still trying to work out the warp thing and travel dont know why I find it difficult

i started to enjoy it the 2nd day but I am still trying to kill something in the open world but I seem to get owned easily.

Has massive potential and excited at the future of it

 

 

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mayito7777

I have a question for those playing this game, I am more into mining, trading, exploring than combat, is this game for me or not?

rpmcmurphy

Currently they are encouraging player focus on certain on aspects of the game, as such trading is nerfed, missions are buffed etc. People are hoping mining will be in beta 3 (end of this month). Combat certainly isn't a necessity.

As to joining now, personally I would say unless you have a serious space itch that needs scratching or are an Elite fan, your best bet would be to wait and let them flesh it out some more. Perhaps see what is implemented in Beta 3.

mayito7777

Originally posted by rpmcmurphy

Currently they are encouraging player focus on certain on aspects of the game, as such trading is nerfed, missions are buffed etc. People are hoping mining will be in beta 3 (end of this month). Combat certainly isn't a necessity.

As to joining now, personally I would say unless you have a serious space itch that needs scratching or are an Elite fan, your best bet would be to wait and let them flesh it out some more. Perhaps see what is implemented in Beta 3.

Cool, thanks, I will wait until Beta 3.

Gibbonici

Originally posted by mayito7777
I have a question for those playing this game, I am more into mining, trading, exploring than combat, is this game for me or not?

 

Like previous Elite games, Elite: Dangerous offers a number of ways to progress, and you can get to Elite status in four different ways, only one of which involves combat. The final game will have trading, mining and exploring, as well as missions that develop relationships with factions (large and small) and NPCs, which in turn open up more involved and lucrative missions (as well as access to special ships and equipment).

 

The current beta (2.05) includes the first pass on the exploration mechanics and missions, and trading is already well established. It's worth mentioning too that this is an actual development beta rather than a stress test/early access thing that marketing departments pass off as betas, so there are bugs, unfinished features and gaps in the gameplay. These are being fixed and filled in as development progresses. Mining isn't in yet, but that'll come in a future build.

 

Personally, I don't mind a bit of combat but I'm an explorer at heart, and even in the first pass of those mechanics the potential for pure exploration gameplay is amazing. You can make a living from it rather than it being some kind of mini-game. Add to that the 400 billions star systems that are just sitting there waiting to be explored and you've got the biggest, most focused exploration game that has ever been made.

 

Not only that, exploring will have a direct impact on the gameworld. As new systems are explored, the NPC factions will begin to colonise them by building space stations to exploit the resources in them, which creates more missions, more markets and expands civilised space beyond the initial frontiers. Of all the playstyles possible in Elite: Dangerous, exploration will have the most direct and profound impact on the gameworld.

 

But, as I said, exploration and other non-combat, non-trading mechanics are in their early stages of development (and some aren't in the beta at all yet), so if you're not interested in proper beta testing and putting up with bugs and unfinished features, it might be worth waiting until release later this year, or possibly early next year.