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

GeoGonzo

Member
Grabbing my post from the previous thread. Can anyone fill me in with a profitable trade route? Trying to get some money going. Absolutely terrible at the combat.
Well, the first ship is kind of terrible for trading with no way of fixing it till they allow us to customize ship specs (planned for later during the beta) while simply buying a second gun makes it an okay fighter...

Even more importantly: it is very likely that the game will reset everyone's progress during the beta (maybe more than once): so it may not be very wise to spend too much time simply earning money unless its really what you want to do for fun.

But if you are dead set on trading do keep in mind that there's a natural supply and demand chain: in the galaxy map stars are tagged with a description like agricultural, mining, or industrial. Like in every trading game the trick seems to be buying cheap as much as you can (items with low demand) and selling it where you think the item will be in high demand. You can either use educated guesses (industry will need minerals, farming will want fertilizer), previous experience from past visits (pen and paper helps) or downright "cheating" by using one of the many available trading calculators available, such as:
http://www.elitetradingtool.co.uk

Be VERY mindful about pirate players preying on traders, often just outside stations! Check your radar and remember: hollow icons are other players, square icons are "safe" but triangle means they have their weapons deployed. When in doubt, divert power to system and engines and run, boosting as much as you can.
 

DrBo42

Member
Thanks for taking the time to write that up. I've managed to farm a few thousand just going through and making a spreadsheet of a decent route but yeah, really worried about time investment vs progression reset.

Really love the atmosphere of the game. It nails the loneliness of space in the fringes. Wonder what a super populated system is going to look like when they really push the NPC and player amounts.
 

GeoGonzo

Member
Thanks for taking the time to write that up. I've managed to farm a few thousand just going through and making a spreadsheet of a decent route but yeah, really worried about time investment vs progression reset.

Really love the atmosphere of the game. It nails the loneliness of space in the fringes. Wonder what a super populated system is going to look like when they really push the NPC and player amounts.

Who knows, but the game seems to be targetting a generally less populated look than other MMOs, since it uses instanced hubs (like Guild Wars, I believe) and of course a ridiculously large galaxy... so maybe the game will often look rather empty.

As for the reset: I've been a backer since the alpha but I'm sitting out the premium alpha, progression-wise (I still play for fun here and there but wont attempt to save cash and such). I think that regular beta (29th) may be worth diving deep into, though: they've already announced a new law enforcement system and I' keeping my fingers crossed for new stars and possibly mining. Can't wait till the next newsletter.
 

pottuvoi

Banned
Made classic version of their papercraft spacestation.

Sk8hGQm.jpg
 

kch

Member
Here's some footage from the Beta synced to music, looks fantastic.

Would have been even better without music, just the ambiance, shipsounds and weapons. The sounddesign in this game seems out of this world. I have yet to play it myself but watching streams was enough. Audioporn all over. That footage was quite awesome regardless!

Also, as someone who never played flightsims nor used a proper joystick setup, what would you experianced flightpeople recommend for this game? Browsing around for joysticks is so confusing and I have no idea what kind of setup I would need to fully enjoy this type of game. And yes VR in E:D looks like a must down the line but I'm worried as I have lazy eyes. Hoping I can manage VR devices, haven't tried any yet. Time will tell on that issue..
 

DrBo42

Member
I think the Saitek X52 is fantastic. Personally I'd go with the Pro for the metal parts but it's probably not that big of a deal.
 
First I've heard of that. They may have lowered the price then. I got in via Premium Beta so not sure of the prices beforehand.

Here's some 1440p screens I took of the new starport. Looks soo good and David stated the game will look even better closer to release since they'll be implementing new types of AA and such.

XaU.png

VaU.png

If somebody in 1987 had shown this images to me being 12 years old and playing Elite on C64 all night through...

I get shivers seeing this..
 

Osiris

I permanently banned my 6 year old daughter from using the PS4 for mistakenly sending grief reports as it's too hard to watch or talk to her
Couldn't help myself, dived in with the Standard Beta, gives me two weeks to learn to fly before the online mode unlocks, yay! :D

Now just gotta find a cheap HOTAS, leaning towards the Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS X, which I can get for £30

Any impressions on this stick with E:D?
 

Klyka

Banned
Couldn't help myself, dived in with the Standard Beta, gives me two weeks to learn to fly before the online mode unlocks, yay! :D

Now just gotta find a cheap HOTAS, leaning towards the Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS X, which I can get for £30


Any impressions on this stick with E:D?

My friend bought this stick and mine should arrive today.
he (and many others) say for that price it works absolutely amazing. You need to configure your buttons around the way you like it,caus eit's not like you have tons of them, but apparently that's no problem.

My friend also says the stick feels way more high quality than he expected for that price.
Can't wait to try mine today.
 
Goddamn. $50 for what is essentially a season pass for DLC content whose scope isn't even all that well defined yet and potentially might not come out for years? I backed Elite in the Kickstarter but holy crap that is expensive.

Great that the base game seems to be coming along, though. Looks sweet.
 

Soi-Fong

Member
Couldn't help myself, dived in with the Standard Beta, gives me two weeks to learn to fly before the online mode unlocks, yay! :D

Now just gotta find a cheap HOTAS, leaning towards the Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS X, which I can get for £30


Any impressions on this stick with E:D?

T Flight is perfect for those wanting a good HOTAS for a not killer price. The amount of buttons is a bit small, but pair it up with a program called "voice attack" and it should be no problem after you're in the rift.

I myself got an X55 Rhino just because I'll be spending a lot of time with this game and the amount of buttons, hats and switches on the Rhino is just mind boggling. When I'm in the Rift I don't want to have to use a mouse and keyboard. Love also being able to map out my landing and scoop gear onto the toggles on the throttle base.
 

Krejlooc

Banned
What bothered me in No Man's Sky trailer was that there was some kind of Wily Coyote / Star Trek Generations logic going on with perspective and size of planets. I'm hoping they just cut it down for the trailer but the way it looked there was that it took like 5 seconds to go from high orbit to skimming the surface of the ground, and then another 5 seconds to leave and be in orbit again.

Such issue would be even more apparent in vr, too.
 
So is there a good video that goes through just how much there is to do in the game at this stage? I'm a huge space exploration fan, and Privateer, Freelancer, and Star Control 2 are some of my favorite games of all time.
 

AJLma

Member
This game has taken up a lot of my free time since last night...

Just flying around the asteroid belts and learning how to maneuver is fun. I'm stuck on the mission where I have to dodge the Merc and take out the 3 fighters without being seen. Stealth is still elusive to me.

Playing with a 360 pad with plans to buy one of these eventually. Are there any other good joystick alternatives for a low budget?
 

Skunkers

Member
The price is still ridiculous. With no demo? Nope.

The Neogaf OT for a game is not created until (a week before) the game comes out. So at that point it will cost $50 MSRP, not including any discounts/sales. I don't think there has been any indication that a potential demo has been vetoed either. So try to drop the hyperbole, eh?
 

DrBo42

Member
I had no idea you could enable newtonian physics by flipping flight assist off. That's such a huge feature to miss.
 

Osiris

I permanently banned my 6 year old daughter from using the PS4 for mistakenly sending grief reports as it's too hard to watch or talk to her
I had no idea you could enable newtonian physics by flipping flight assist off. That's such a huge feature to miss.

Not just huge, but crucial.

The very best and most dangerous players are going to be those that master switching this on the fly in battle, without question.
 

DrBo42

Member
Not just huge, but crucial.

The very best and most dangerous players are going to be those that master switching this on the fly in battle, without question.

Agreed. Any idea when fuel consumption is going to come into play? Will make that feature doubly important.
 

Soi-Fong

Member
Not just huge, but crucial.

The very best and most dangerous players are going to be those that master switching this on the fly in battle, without question.

Already been doing this by mapping it to my pinky switch. You can do some crazy maneuvers with it.

I've actually tried to dock with FA off the whole time and I've been succesful. A bit difficult though.
 

Boogdud

Member
Well, I finally bit and bought access to the beta. Downloaded the launcher, double clicked it to start downloading the client and I'm immediately met with "Elite Dangerous Launcher has stopped working". Can't even get it to open. 30 seconds after purchasing I'm already opening a support ticket. $75 well spent!
 

DrBo42

Member
Well, I finally bit and bought access to the beta. Downloaded the launcher, double clicked it to start downloading the client and I'm immediately met with "Elite Dangerous Launcher has stopped working". Can't even get it to open. 30 seconds after purchasing I'm already opening a support ticket. $75 well spent!

Sorry man, didn't run into that.

Possible solutions:
- Run as admin
- Run in compatibility mode
- Turn off any anti-virus software
- Reinstall launcher
 

Boogdud

Member
Sorry man, didn't run into that.

Possible solutions:
- Run as admin
- Run in compatibility mode
- Turn off any anti-virus software
- Reinstall launcher

Yeah tried all of that. I found a few people that had the same issue, only one that had any luck fixed it by reinstalling sp1 (win7 64) for some reason. So I'm trying that while waiting for them to get back to me. Oh well.


Edit: and uninstalling/reinstalling sp1 did nothing. Damn, pretty disappointing.
 

DrBo42

Member
Had a full cargo load of expensive materials (cost my entire balance to purchase @ around 16k), murdered by a pirate sitting outside the safe zone of Aulin Enterprise. Lost everything.
 

Soi-Fong

Member
Had a full cargo load of expensive materials (cost my entire balance to purchase @ around 16k), murdered by a pirate sitting outside the safe zone of Aulin Enterprise. Lost everything.

Yeah.. Right now, the measures taken to combat piracy and such aren't in yet. They're doing a big overhaul of the system when standard beta starts.

I usually try not to load my cargo to the brim and I always make sure to have enough for insurance to cover my ship at least before every run.

Edit: This game sure is pretty.

iqU.png


Here's a screenshot of the Oculus Render the game does. It's pretty demanding unsurprisingly. Can't wait to get the DK2! lol

jqU.png
 

DrBo42

Member
Yeah.. Right now, the measures taken to combat piracy and such aren't in yet. They're doing a big overhaul of the system when standard beta starts.

I usually try not to load my cargo to the brim and I always make sure to have enough for insurance to cover my ship at least before every run.

I didn't even realize there's insurance. Does that only take into effect when you buy the next tier of ship or am I missing it somewhere?
 

Soi-Fong

Member
I didn't even realize there's insurance. Does that only take into effect when you buy the next tier of ship or am I missing it somewhere?

Right now insurance is automatic. So after you die, there'll be a menu that pops where it says free sidewinder or insurance. For the sidewinder, insurance costs about 1500 credits.
 

Krejlooc

Banned
Welp, I bought another wheel stand pro. I already had one for my G27 and really liked the quality, and I've been looking far and wide for a stand that would fit my Saitek X52 Pro. They make a Wheel Stand Pro for the Thrustmaster Warthog but not the x52 Pro. So I saw a bare bones G25 wheel stand pro on ebay for half the price a wheel stand pro normally goes for and snatched it up. I'm gonna have to figure out a way to bolt my stick and throttle to the thing, but it shouldn't be too hard.

I'm gonna shoot off an email to the wheel stand pro people and see if I can order the piece that connects some Saitek rudders to the thing separately. Having a proper stand for my G27 made me appreciate racing games a lot more, and I've found myself playing them with the wheel more often than ever before. I bet I'll find similar appreciation for having a stand for my flight stick, too.

Next up: actually buying a buttkicker, although not for a while.
 

Soi-Fong

Member
Pretty sure that guys pissed off at me.. lol I was entering the airlock at Aulin, then a lag spike hits and I suddenly pummel right into the arse of an Anaconda. Suffice to say, both of us blow up...
 

AxeMan

Member
Played 15 or so minutes and finished the first 'mission' in the beta.

I gotta say I enjoyed it a lot more than Star Citizen.

I think it's going to be an excellent game
 

Zaptruder

Banned
Avoid SLI.

One of my favorite things to do in Elite when in VR is to go to the center of an asteroid belt, align myself so that the asteroid belt is running vertically to my ship, then pull the hat on my throttle, making me ascend without tilting my ship upwards. It feels like you're in a space elevator. Looking around and seeing these monolithic boulders slowly falling past you is amazing. It'll only look better with DK2.

Also, the menu system in Elite is amazing with a rift. So fast and easy to use. Other games, like that Lunar Lander game, have used similar menus. They are context sensitive depending on where you're looking. Look to your left, and you'll see a screen pop up with missing info. Suddenly your hat on your stick controls this menu. Look over to your right and another menu pops up, and just by diverting your gaze, you are now controlling this other menu with the same hat controls.

My favorite thing about Elite in VR, though, is how the statistics are showing that people who play in VR have a very clear and decisive advantage over people without VR when it comes to multiplayer. I like it because it provides concrete evidence that VR isn't a "gimmick" as some say and that it really does afford you much better control and ability than a conventional monitor.

Well it's also quite likely that the early VR adopters are the equivalent of space combat grognards. I just watch videos and can clearly understand what's on offer. I want to do this game right with CV1, headphones and HoTaS.

VR definetly gives you a huge advantage in positioning and tracking. Biggest point is that when ships fly off your forward view cone on the monitor, keeping track of them can be tricky. In VR - you just look up or up and to the left or right... or wherever its gone. More to the point you can immediately see their positioning vector and point your ship to intercept... all intuitively without much training or thought.

Also, changes to cockpit design can affect your piloting performance significantly. The horizontal slit of the trader becomes a combat liability (as it should be), while the bubble canopies in the smaller fighters and traders allow you to actually maneuver properly.

Biggest con of VR right now is the low res and unreadability of text and the drift that occurs. Other than that, you're not going to go back once you experience VR on the DK2 or above.
 

GeoGonzo

Member
Is there something in the game players can buy to delay the charge rate of your jumps?
I don't think so. But honestly I don't fully understand how it works when used during combat, since it does seem much slower. Is it due to being close to the station/planet or does the distance to (and/or mass of) the enemy ship actually cause a slower charge?
 

DrBo42

Member
I don't think so. But honestly I don't fully understand how it works when used during combat, since it does seem much slower. Is it due to being close to the station/planet or does the distance to (and/or mass of) the enemy ship actually cause a slower charge?

Yeah it's pretty clear when the mass message pops up but if I'm leaving a station sometimes it's incredibly slow. Am I being targeted? Is there another player too close to me? No idea.
 
Was waiting for the proper beta to start to buy in, done so now

£50 is about the price of a full priced game and I get to play from today so easily worth it imo!
 

sfried

Member
It's funny how people keep harping about No Man's Sky, while Frontier: Elite had been doing it for sometime.

And now the king has returned to its throne...

(God I'm being torn to pieces by some midget Federation Fighter. Is it just me or has dogfighting gotten alot harder with this latest Beta?)
Now just gotta find a cheap HOTAS, leaning towards the Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS X, which I can get for £30

Any impressions on this stick with E:D?
The best deal you can get for $30. Be wary that it has no second hat, so you might need to remap your stick switches for thrusters, with the 3 buttons on the throttle as Shield/Engine/Weapons, and the bottom 4th as reset. Likewise, I've seen some alternatives of using the slider plus the two buttons on the front to do lateral and vertical thrusters respectively.
 

Buggy Loop

Member
Played 15 or so minutes and finished the first 'mission' in the beta.

I gotta say I enjoyed it a lot more than Star Citizen.

I think it's going to be an excellent game

If you liked that, you'll be in for a surprise (good one) when the beta hits. The difference between the scenarios and the multiplayer is huge now.

One thing i cant wait for in beta is going single player. Although its very interesting to have pvp, until all implementations of security/bounty are in place its a bit too chaotic right now. I believe some of the security measures will be in place in beta though so if everything is good i'll continue pvp. Bounty hunting is actually what i wanted to do mostly :D

I hope they open up the space bubble a lot more too. I want to get lost in all the possible space pathways. I hope they have an awesome newsweek letter today.

(God I'm being torn to pieces by some midget Federation Fighter. Is it just me or has dogfighting gotten alot harder with this latest Beta?)

Yes, the difference between alpha AI and premium beta is huge. I hope they continue this way all the way to the retail version. Well actually i hope that AI flightskill reflects his bounty/rank. But there's tricks to it and it'll actually make you a better fighter. Such as when you are pitching your ship to catch up to the enemy in a dogfight, use the vertical thruster (i believe the up one), it'll help you catch up to them. If they boost (cobras like to do this), they you have to catch up to them, boost too! If you ever find yourself in a head to head situation, strafe with the horizontal thrusters.

Know when to give up too, when you go silent and cold, they typically have to manually lock you with the crosshair, they lose computer assist, much easier to pull off manoeuvers where you completely lose them (at a certain range i believe) and preferably in asteroids.

Also, even thought frontier said we shouldnt do this because it can fuck the game up for everyone if you were host, when you die, if you force the game to quit after dying, you'll come back with all your gear and cargo. I believe this wont last long though, it'll most likely become server side and if you quit, you'll most likely die (ala EVE online).
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
It's funny how people keep harping about No Man's Sky, while Frontier: Elite had been doing it for sometime.

And now the king has returned to its throne...

Being able to seamlessly land on and explore planets is a pretty huge differentiator in NMS's favor, and something that makes it perfectly reasonable to be more interested in that game right now. I know Elite will supposedly be getting that stuff at some point in the future, but that's just words right now. With NMS we've already seen this, and it looks amazing.
 
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