David Braben Kickstarts an Elite Reboot 173
An anonymous reader writes "The BBC report that David Braben has launched a Kickstarter for a remake of Elite, the classic space trading game that he co-wrote in the 1980s. It has already received £122,000 in less than a day."
Re:Going to have a hard time topping modern remake (Score:4, Interesting)
What I would hope is that the new Elite game has is a reasonable learning curve so it introduces players in a reasonable manner that doesn't scare them off.
Ultimately Elite 2 was a massive improvement over Elite and Elite 3 was more a refinement of Elite 2. I'm holding back judgement because every Elite game thus far has been great.
Re:Going to have a hard time topping modern remake (Score:4, Interesting)
He's not an idiot [computeran...ogames.com]. Sounds like he was considering an MMO before WOW and EVE existed.
"I was very wary that we would be trailblazing and one of the ways we were planning to do it was to put a piece of hardware in every single phone exchange, so it was a much wider plan to achieve the very short ping times that you need to play the game we wanted to do. So we put that essentially on indefinite hold at that point because I knew it wasn't going to work well. And I'd rather not do it, than do something that didn't work well."
No comments on oolite yet? (Score:5, Interesting)
No comments on oolite yet?
http://www.oolite.org/ [oolite.org]
Its a popular genre... we could post different links to remakes for hours, probably.
Re:Going to have a hard time topping modern remake (Score:2, Interesting)
You should also mention Vendetta Online [vendetta-online.com], which I think is a lot closer to the original Elite series than EVE. It features twitch-based combat and is strongly (player) skill based. Its main problem seems to be its user base, which is very low for an MMORPG, and its economy, which is geared towards PvP and cheap death and does not really reward trading and mining so much.
I've not played X3, but it sounds interesting.
Is anything known about linux support? I think this kind of games has a relatively large user base among linux users, from what I've seen on Vendetta quite a number of the players there are linux based...
Re:Going to have a hard time topping modern remake (Score:5, Interesting)
Once you've made it above Frigate-class ships (Rifter FTW!), you need to spend an exponential amount of time learning skills and making money, and a lot of the skills for serious money-making (industrial skills like mining, research, and production) are not combat-based. Sure, you can make money as a pirate, or hire out your pilot skills as a mercenary or fleet escort, but it's dangerous work. The stress is, IMHO, equivalent to any full time job.
Personally, I like games to be fun. Eve is rewarding, but that's not the same.
Re:Going to have a hard time topping modern remake (Score:5, Interesting)
Dear gaming world;
You cannot recapture your youth and the fun you had on ancient games simply by re-making an old classic for new technology.
It's never the same and it's always ends as a big disappointment. Why? Because gaming isn't the same as it was and neither are you.
Leave it as a happy memory, for pity sake, and move on.
Procedural Generation (Score:4, Interesting)
Braben postulating again..... But nothing to show (Score:1, Interesting)
I often view the Frontier forums.
Braben just doesn't get it or is SOOOOO out of touch with what has already been done - It seems unnatural (or Deliberate!)
These things have been done WITHOUT Braben - As he hasn't even lifted a finger to aid the projects with official support.
We already have OOElite - Af far as I can tell, It's COMPLETE.
Pioneer (Frontier remake) - Is well on the way, And very impressive.
(I believe Ian Bell has been aiding the Pioneer project as well!)
So blow it out your arse Braben.
We (Fans) have been keeping an eye on you - And we are not impressed with your current direction (Kiddy Games Galore).
And any Serious projects by Frontier Studios seem to flounder & not even make it out the gate (aka Outsider).
Frontier studios & Braben just feel like an empty old husk with nothing of substance inside.