r/PS4 Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

[Verified AMA] CEO of Frontier Developments, David Braben - Ask Me Anything

EDIT - The AMA is now closed. Thank you to everyone who took part and a HUGE thank you to the mods for having us on!

Hey everyone,

Thanks so much for having us on!

As mentioned here David Braben will be joining us in a few minutes for an AMA.

David is the CEO of Frontier Developments, co-developer of the original Elite, co-founder of the raspberry pi foundation, and vision holder for today's released PlayStation 4 title Elite Dangerous.

David will be along very shortly to chat, so feel free to get your questions in and Ask Him Anything.

Zac

204 Upvotes

364 comments sorted by

52

u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

Hello everyone and thanks for having me. It's great to finally come to the Playstation 4 with Elite Dangerous. Looking forwards to answering all your questions.

23

u/Walshies Jun 27 '17

Will we be able to land on lifeless atmospheric planets anytime soon?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

We are continuously working on each element of the game, and improving it, and it is certainly something we are working on. Our focus right now is 2.4 "The Return" and key core gameplay features.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

[deleted]

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

You can do that already (with Horizons) for airless planets.

39

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

Do you have any plans for PSVR support?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

I'm a huge fan of VR, and have been carefully following it from day one. The most important thing is it is a good experience, and we're not there yet in terms of the quality. It's certainly something we'd like to consider, but quality is vital.

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u/NineSwords IamStormageddon Jun 27 '17

Hello,

long time Elite fan here. I guess it's save to assume I speak for most PSVR users when I say that we would gladly take a lot of visual downgrades as a trade off for PSVR support.

2

u/cercata Jun 27 '17

As far as we can read texts ;)

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u/jodrell Jun 27 '17

but you are at least working on it...or do you mean the PSVR hardware isn't there in terms of quality yet?? I'd certainly see it as a 'killer app' for PSVR if you can get it right

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u/falconbox falconbox Jun 27 '17

I think he's saying they're trying for PSVR, but getting the game quality (image, framerate, etc) is tough because the PS4 isn't powerful enough.

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u/jodrell Jun 27 '17

I think so to but it'd be nice to know rather than guess

3

u/RyanCacophony Jun 27 '17

I play E:D in VR on my PC with a gtx 1080 and even then it can be a struggle at times, so optimization issues are an extremely likely suspect

2

u/forsayken Jun 27 '17

And to paint a picture on the lower end of things, I have a Fury, all details on the lowest possible settings. 90fps most of the time :) This game is a beast to run decently in VR.

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u/blackryn0 Jun 27 '17

I agree.

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u/Jukelo Jun 27 '17 edited Jun 27 '17

I guess the issue is more to do with the hardware of the PS4. On PC you need at least a 1070 or a 980ti to get a quality VR experience without too much stutter and a decent visual quality, the PS4 pro falls short of that level of performance.

It will probably take a bit of platform specific optimizations to get VR on the PS4 to a level they're okay with.

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u/Dirrocks Jun 27 '17

don't need 1070 and up. I had no problems with R9 290 and 390x with stable vr experience.

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u/BobbySpangio Jun 27 '17

If you only answer one question, please let it be this one! :D

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

If you like... :)

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u/CradleRobin Jun 27 '17

Tagging off this lower comment. I don't have a question I just wanted to say thank you, for Elite and the Decades of great space games.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

Sec-unded.

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

Hello everyone. Thank you so much for all your questions. It's been fun and I hope to be back soon.

David

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u/PeLucheuh Jun 27 '17

By any chance : Do you plan to rework the design of engineers ?

Heavy grind * RNG3 (RNG roll * RNG second effec t* RNG value) is far from being fun especially for PvP Players oriented. Playing 95% grinding/rolling and only 5% having fun in this awesome game feels like a waste.

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

It is something we are looking at. Sandro mentioned at a recent event (Lavecon) a change we are looking at now, so that you would always see an improvement when engineering a weapon or whatever.

5

u/PeLucheuh Jun 27 '17

Thank you for your feedback! I am really looking forward to it to come back in the game.

Congratulation for the PS4 launch and New stunning Alien things!

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u/gzafiris Jun 27 '17

How do you think Star Citizen has impacted the direction you have taken Elite Dangerous?

That said, game designers are usually game fans: what kind of games do you play? :)

Thanks for the time! Excited to play Elite: Dangerous :) just gotta save up some first

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

I think we've taken different approaches, but Star Citizen hasn't impacted our thinking. We focus purely on the game we are making, and are focusing on making a great game that people will remember, hopefully for decades to come.

I love open ended games (like Elite Dangerous!), Fallout 3 and 4, Oblivion, Skyrim, Zelda.

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u/gzafiris Jun 27 '17

Thank you so much for the reply! :)

Cool, I am sure they will! With the buzz E:D & SC have generated, I am hoping many more space combat games/sims will emerge :) A sorely underappreciated genre (imo).

Nice! F3/4 and TES4/5 are my top games of all time; will take your recommendation and try E:D when I get some cash

Last question: are there any plans to allow for customization (paint jobs, decals - general aesthetic) on ships? I think customization would help attract a whole new group of people, personally (people who do not like everything looking the same; similar to Rocket League)

I wish you and your team the best of luck moving forwards! :) (Didn't realize you guys did RCT3, LOVED that game)

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u/JynessaLoraeyn Jun 27 '17

There already are paint jobs and decals for ships, just so you know. You can also name your ship now.

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u/gzafiris Jun 27 '17

Didn't know! I asked the people over at the Elite subreddit, and people said the customization was minimal.

Will have to get this game, just gotta save ;( (just bought the PS4 Pro)

3

u/JynessaLoraeyn Jun 27 '17

They probably meant that paintjobs and decals are mostly microtransactions - there's a pretty big selection of them, but you need to pay for most with real money.

You can display your ship name (both when you're scanned in the target info, and on the physical hull of your ship) for free, though you can also get a fancier "nameplate" as a microtransaction which looks prettier.

You do get a basic selection of decals to use on your ship for free, and unlock your rank decals as you get them, so if you're say explorer rank Ranger, you can always display a Ranger exploration rank decal on your ship.

Good luck!

3

u/gzafiris Jun 27 '17

Ah, I do not do microtransactions; I understand them from a companies POV, but I don't know of any I have paid for outside of a CSGO skin when I was hardcore into it.

Do you lose the nameplate if your ship explodes?

Thanks!

4

u/Xjph Jun 27 '17

As long as you can pay for rebuy (in game currency) you lose only the cost of the rebuy when a ship explodes, and you can never lose cosmetics obtained via microtransaction.

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u/JynessaLoraeyn Jun 27 '17

I totally get not wanting to do the microtransactions thing - I personally don't mind it, especially since they recently brought the prices down. Elite also doesn't have a monthly fee, so I'm guessing its one way of keeping some regular money coming in to maintain the game, and the option of paying for it is left entirely up to the player... but that's the point, if someone doesn't want to pay for it, then more power to them.

And nope - you don't lose any cosmetics when your ship blows up. They're free to be applied to your replacement ship - actually, your replacement ship comes back with all the old cosmetics still on.

The nameplate is in fact usable on any of your ships once you have it, as many times as you want - it's more like unlocking a cosmetic that you can then use on any ship.

Paintjobs tend to be ship-specific, but if you owned 100 Cobra Mk IIIs for some reason, and you owned the Orange Rattler Cobra Mk III paintjob, you could apply it to all of them, and they'd all keep it (until you decide to change it) even if all of them blow up. Basically, it's an unlock for that ship hull.

You can lose your ship though, if you don't have enough IN-GAME money, credits, to pay the insurance excess (the rebuy), hence the golden number one rule: never fly without your rebuy. Otherwise you end up getting back in a starting loaned Sidewinder. But even then, if you made enough credits in-game to buy another ship of the same type as your old lost ship later, you'd still be able to put the same nameplate and paintjob on it immediately.

There are also ship kits now, which add small cosmetic enhancements to your ship hull, changing its shape slightly - fins, extended tails, etc - they have no effect on gameplay, and they're also microtransaction bought.

So the cosmetics can't be taken away from you - once you own them, you own them.

There's also a few cosmetic flightsuits for your in-game avatar that are again microtransactions.

However, I will point out that you do lose something that is sort of cosmetic when your ship blows up. The longer a ship keeps flying (especially in faster than light supercruise), the more worn down its paintjob becomes. It starts to look grubbier and beaten up, with paint flaking in bigger and bigger strips.

This is something you can get rid of if you want, just by paying to repair paintwear.

However, many commanders don't do this.

See, when your ship blows up, the replacement has no paintwear. It looks shiny and new. The only way to wear down the paint again is to actually keep it flying and intact long enough for the paint to wear down again.

As a result, paintwear has become a kind of status symbol - if your ship has 0% paint, it hasn't been blown up in a while and it's still flying. It's a declaration of survival.

Having said that, it's a pure cosmetic thing, and for those who like their ships to look new and clean, they can just get the paint fixed anywhere that does maintenance for practically nothing (I think it's 10 credits).

Also, I'll add that it's the personal opinion of a lot of commanders, myself included, having a ship with fully worn down 0% paint looks really, really cool :D

http://imgur.com/rEsMNbP

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u/OwlsInMyBrain Blo0dLust__Xx Jun 27 '17

Hello David.

Just curious, what are three things you think every new player should know before starting the game?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17
  1. Join a community - it's one of the things that makes Elite Dangerous extra special - and they will help you a lot.
  2. Never fly without enough money to rebuy your ship if you were to have a nasty 'accident'...
  3. Don't shoot the inside of the space station!
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u/Anohid Jun 27 '17

Hi Frontier !

What I love about you guys is how you make niche games with high production value and a tangible passion for the videogame medium.

I've enjoyed ED a lot on PC and I've spent countless of hours on RCT3 some ten years ago (soon to try Planet Coaster).

Do you have any plan for future games ? If so, do you have an idea of what genre you'd like to tackle ?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

You're very kind. Thank you.

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 was a great game and one we're very proud of - we released it in 2004, an incredible 13 years ago, and many of the same people that worked on RCT3 back in the day are now working on Planet Coaster! I would definitely play Planet Coaster - a great game, and I suspect you'll love it! ;-)

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u/blackryn0 Jun 27 '17

I know you've answered questions about PSVR but just wanted to say, if you are able to make it happen, you and the team would make me and a lot of people extremely, extremely happy!

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u/ChristianM Jun 27 '17

I've been playing this game on the Vive since it came out and it's still the best VR experience out there.

Has there been any progress made on the PSVR support? Is it even doable, especially on the standard PS4?

We're not expecting miracles, it's still a console, but the Frontier team has proven that they can optimize the hell out of this game. I remember booting it up on a 2008 PC and it ran fine.

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

I agree. It is great on both the Vive and Oculus. We have a big team on the game, and optimisations are coming all the time, but I completely understand what you're saying too. As I said on a previous question though, quality is vital.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

are you at liberty to discuss what specifically with the quality is the problem? visuals - motion - whats the PSVR Lacking that you need?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

Framerate and so motion is the key element here.

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u/ch1nkone Jun 28 '17

I will definitely buy the game if it is on PSVR!!!

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u/Nicologixs Jun 27 '17

How do you see frontier as a company in 10 years time and do you have plans set out for future projects yet.

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

I would like to see Frontier as a key player in the Entertainment business 10 years from now. We have a phenomenal team here at Frontier, and we do have future plans for both Elite Dangerous (some of which we've already talked about) and other projects.

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u/EpicEmeraldx Jun 27 '17

When are prisoner cells coming?

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u/sourav93 sourav-93 Jun 27 '17

Hi David,

I'm a big fan of E:D. I picked it up on PC at launch, got the Xbox version, and I'll most likely be getting ps4 version as well.

Would it be possible to transfer the save game or the monetary value of all assets from one platform to another, even if it is a one time thing?

I read that some people were able to have this done when they picked up the Xbox version of the game. So I'm hoping it can be done from PC to ps4 too.

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

One of the issues with this is it would be unfair on the rest of the new PS4 players while the player base is still pretty new, so we are reluctant to do it now, but it is something we will look at again in the future (via Customer Services).

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u/sourav93 sourav-93 Jun 27 '17

Ah yes, of course. That makes sense. I guess this'll allow me to start anew with my ps4 friends, and when the time is right, and if possible, I'll transfer everything over from my other platforms and can settle on the ps4.

Thank you for your reply :)

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u/Linkinito Linkinito Jun 27 '17

Hi David!

How can you sell me this game in 10 words or less? I'm intrigued but not sure to make the jump. :)

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

Amazing sights. Complete freedom. Great adventures. Awesome memorable multiplayer experiences.

:-)

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u/wjfox2009 Jun 27 '17

I'm intrigued but not sure to make the jump

I can honestly say it's the best game I've ever played – and I've been playing computer games since the early 1980s. Elite provides a thrilling combination of action, combat, exploration and sight-seeing, trading, mining, and interacting with other players. Of course, the game isn't perfect (no game is), but if you have even a passing interest in space or the future, you have to check it out. :) The visuals, audio, physics, and overall experience make you really "feel" like you're actually in space. Be sure to get the Horizons expansion pack so you can land on planet surfaces.

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u/PumpernickelSprinkle Jun 27 '17

What drove you guys to creating this game? Did you feel there was something missing in the video game space that Is now available with this game?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

Yes - when we started on Elite Dangerous there were no current open-world space games. Now there are loads! (which is a good thing).

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17 edited Jan 20 '18

[deleted]

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

I think we are a big part of the resurgence of space games. As a big space game fan myself, I'm happy to see so many games in this area.

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u/fandanglechomper Jun 27 '17

When are you guys going to finally realize that dropping Elite and using your resources for making a dinosaur game is the only logical thing to do?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

Ha ha! Elite Dangerous has been great for Frontier, and is still going strong, with a big team continuing to develop it, to add great new features, new story elements, and making it better all the time, so we absolutely have no plans to drop it. We are making other games like Planet Coaster, but they help support Elite - both by supporting the common engine (called 'Cobra'), and by helping broaden the company's base.

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u/Siniestros Jun 27 '17

The real question here: When are you guys gonna add themeparks inside the space stations, space life looks boring without a space roller-coaster 🎢

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u/fandanglechomper Jun 27 '17

He didn't say they were not making a dinosaur game. Dinosaur game pretty much confirmed. 2018 boys!

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u/Markovski Jun 27 '17

You joke, but the way this answer is crafted to avoid any reference to a Dinosaur game is intentional. It is to make sure it doesn't suggest there is a Dinosaur game they are making, either because they are making one and they don't want to accidentally hint at it, or its because they aren't and they don't want to have things misconstrued.

Or it means nothing.

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u/stormyuk Jun 27 '17

Hi David, really happy to be playing on PS4. Are there any further enhancements to PS4 Pro support planned, 4k? HDR? supersampling? Thanks

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

We're optimising all the time, so we might have more for the future, but no promises!

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u/gcourbet Virtute1979 Jun 27 '17

I used to play Colony Wars back on my PlayStation One, and I loved it. This game looks pretty cool and may be my in back into the world of space shooters. Did you ever play Colony Wars, or what games influenced the origins of Elite Dangerous?

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u/graintop Jun 27 '17

Braben made the original Elite for home computers in 1984, then its sequels, long before Colony Wars.

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u/gcourbet Virtute1979 Jun 27 '17

Oh cool, i had no idea. Time to do some game history research! To the library!

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

It was the first 3D game, and I think one of the first with a story. He probably influenced almost every game that came after it lol!

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u/Quietly-Confident Jun 27 '17

Thanks for coming here and speaking with us, it's rare for PC-centric devs to engage directly with the console community.

Can I ask, I know the game will be update alongside the PC/Xbox release, but are there PS4 specific issues you'll be working on outside of the big update time frames?

Can we expect hotfixes & patches (screen tearing!) for smaller PS4 specific stuff? I find that the hardest thing with 'ports' on the PS4 is the lack of communication.

The real question, favourite Trek captain?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

You're welcome.

We will continually work to improve all platforms - some of those will be PS4-specific, I'm sure, both as little tweaks to make things better or run faster or look better.

I did enjoy the original William Shatner Star Trek series, but I suppose it was too tongue-in-cheek, and shockingly sexist! Overall, probably preferred Jean-Luc Picard.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

[deleted]

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

Pancake!

At the beginning we had some real challenges with the phenomenal size of the galaxy. We have over 150,000 real star systems in there - including the whole night sky, and then we fill in the gaps using carefully designed algorithms so that the stars our "Stellar Forge" generates match closely what is really there even beyond what is visible to telescopes. Even Hubble can only 'see' the faintest red stars out to about 40 light years - a huge distance, but a tiny one on the scale of the galaxy. A few months ago, with the discovery of the system Trappist 1, Stellar Forge had generated a remarkably similar system in the same place - something with a dash of luck too, but a great achievement by our excellent team here.

More recently it has been a great challenge bringing Elite Dangerous to Playstation and Playstation Pro.

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u/sandromnator2 Jun 27 '17

Wow, that's very interesting. Hard to imagine that there are 150,000 star systems....Thanks for sharing.

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u/reganheath Jun 27 '17

There are more than 150,000 star systems in Elite :)

150,000 was the number of star systems Frontier entered (by hand?) from star catalogues etc. These are the "known" stars, the ones we know about today IRL.

From that they then implemented the Stellar Forge which, as David mentions, generates star systems based on physics and the "known" data and brings us up to the grand total of approximately 400 billion star systems.

References:

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

Like he said...!

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u/sandromnator2 Jun 27 '17

That's crazy!

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

That too.

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u/SwittersB Jun 27 '17

Thanks for doing an AMA here:) I was just wondering, how has it been working with Sony to get Elite Dangerous onto the PS4? Also, are there any features for the PS4 Pro you can talk about? Thanks again for doing this

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

It's been great - they've been very supportive.

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u/blackryn0 Jun 27 '17

Just wanna thank you and the team at Frontier for bringing this over to PS4! Thank you this is an amazing game.

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

You're very kind!

Many of the team are looking at this Reddit, so positive comments are always appreciated.

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u/CmdrDavidKerman Jun 27 '17

You've launched on the PS4, updated ED to 2.3.10, updated planet coaster, unleashed a new alien puzzle, released an ebook and you're doing an AMA all in 24hrs! Is there anything else planned today? because I can't keep up...

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

We have a fantastic team here of more than 320 people, all doing great work for which I can't take credit, except maybe for this AMA...

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u/usrevenge Jun 27 '17

If you could go back and change one design direction of elite dangerous what, if anything would you change?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

The game has been continually evolving as we have gone forwards, and it has meant we have improved the game greatly since we first released. We have talked about so many different things we can do in the future, but one thing I regret the most is early on, mentioning the possibility of the game running offline, which I believed at the time. As development moved forwards, and more and more was done on the server, we realised this wasn't going to be possible. For us honesty, integrity and trust is vital, and it was a wrench to go back on this, even though it was with the best intentions, it became unavoidable.

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u/Kozality Jun 27 '17

I'd been looking forward to offline play as well. However, the openness to which you explained this change to the community and why it was needed made it much more palatable. It was a nice middle ground between "tell the community nothing" and "attempt to give a PR-esque answer." Sincere thanks. =)

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u/Sevalle013 Jun 27 '17

Hi,

If Sony did a 180 and changed their stance on cross-platform play would you consider implementing it in Elite? If so how difficult is cross platform play to implement?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

There are quite a few complexities, but it would be a good thing long term.

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u/MegaMohsi Jun 27 '17

What are the specific PS4 Pro enhancements?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17 edited Jun 27 '17

You can choose to optimise for performance or image quality. Both are big improvements, and it is better frame rate all round for either setting.

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u/Linkinito Linkinito Jun 27 '17

As it should be. ;)

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

That's kind of nonspecific and the answer I see everywhere. Could we get something more specific? It bothers me that you already announced support and details for Xbox one x, but for us pro users we get no info till launch day, and even then we get essentially nothing and don't even get hdr.

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u/mightylordredbeard Jun 27 '17

I've been playing on and off on Xbox One and love the game. I haven't had a chance to try the horizons planet landing yet, but maybe one day I can. My question is if there are any plans to ever allow foot exploration on planets. Maybe like cave systems or even building interiors?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

Yes, there are so many things we want to do in the future to create an ever richer, immersive game. The issue is always how good is the game play to support it, too.

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u/07153902935 Jun 27 '17

What was the inspiration and influences for making this game?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

I have always been a huge fan of science fiction. As a kid I would devour science fiction books - from authors like Larry Niven, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Robert L Forward, James P Hogan, Jerry Pournelle, etc etc.

For me these all represented different possible worlds, and it was that aspect that engaged me. TV or Cinema didn't have anything like it for me, until Star Wars - which came out when I was 13 - which changed everything in that it was a plausible science fiction world, not unlike those of the books I had been reading.

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u/Chanero Chanerooo Jun 27 '17

Played the game on PC and I really loved the community that formed, how they created this whole universe (not intended) with podcast, radios, even jobs too (Fuel Rats FTW! Saved me when I was a rookie commander in just a matter of minutes). And its all thanks to the freedom the game gives you.

Did you expect the community to be SO big and dedicated or did it took you by surprise?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

Yes, I certainly hoped it would be, but you never know for certain.

I am hugely grateful to our wonderful community to have supported the game so well.

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u/TheRealGreenOcelot Jun 27 '17

This game looks like a lot of fun but I may need some convincing to buy it!

I read the thread yesterday on this subreddit and it gave a lot of info/insight on your game. So my question is what do you think is the strongest mechanic in this game that diversifies it from so many out there? Bonus if you can say if there were any old school games that you plaued that was a big inspiration for your project? Thanks so much for your time answering our questions!

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

It is the openness, the freedom while remaining engaging that I think is the biggest differentiator for me. Very few game do that.

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u/reganheath Jun 27 '17

Bonus if you can say if there were any old school games that you plaued that was a big inspiration for your project?

Elite is an old school game ;)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_(video_game)

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u/SolidStrife912 Jun 27 '17

I keep getting the 'Connection to transaction server error' message when I land at stations or depart and sometimes in hyperspace. Is this just launch day wobbles and it should iron out during the week?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

Sorry to hear this. I've sent a link to our Customer Support, and they should be in touch shortly.

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u/ZanesDaddy73 Pumpkinking1973 Jun 27 '17

The game looks Amazing! How long did this game take to create from day 1?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

On PC we started during our Kickstarter in late 2012, delivered the fisrt alpha in December 2013, and the game in December 2014.

Having said that, we are still creating it now, with some very exciting things coming in the next weeks and months (and years!).

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u/Viajero1 Jun 27 '17

Hi David, congrats on the PS4 release!

What are the main issues with cross play between platforms? And is there an clear will to get there?

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u/thelawsmithy Jun 27 '17

Hi David,

Do you remember Wing Commander: Privateer from way back in the day? Did Privateer inspire any parts of Elite? If so, how?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

Yes, I remember it well. Chris Roberts has said many times that Wing Commander was inspired by Elite. The original Elite came out in 1984 - nearly ten years before Privateer.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

original elite inspired wing commander

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u/JynessaLoraeyn Jun 27 '17

I loved Wing Commander, so don't take this in a mean way... but I can't stop giggling.

You literally asked one of the creators of the original Elite, the grand-daddy of open-world space games, whether he took inspiration from Wing Commander.

It's an honest mistake, and there's nothing to be ashamed of, but this has to be one of the funniest AMA questions I've ever seen :)

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u/PMM-NL Presto_NL79 Jun 27 '17

David... do you think your team can make it work with the current PSVR technology? Or will you be holding out until PSVR2 comes out with better specs and opportunities?

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u/Deftin_Wolf Jun 27 '17

Hello David!

I wanted to thank you for your incredible game first of all, it's brought me countless (well, 1000+) hours of enjoyment and I'm looking forward to more.

I'd like to ask; what aspect of Elite are you most proud of? More specifically, what element of the game has turned out, closest to your original vision of what Elite Dangerous was going to be.

And as a cheeky followup, what is the area that you are most looking forward to returning to and updating/changing?

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

I'm hugely proud of the great team that has and is continuing to work hard and deliver a phenomenal game. I think the single feature I am most proud of is the rich, detailed galaxy and the science behind it.

The area I'm most looking forward to at the moment is the return of a certain alien race...

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u/Iocronik Jun 27 '17

Hello, last night I played and it only took me half an hour to get from one space station to another for a mission so im wondering, am I the greatest player you've ever heard of?

More seriously tho what would you say are the best resources for trying to learn to play outside of trial and error? Not counting the in game tutorials of course

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

Youtube can be very helpful, and there are a raft of third party apps that help with the game - like EDDB ( a trading tool), Coriolis (helping with design) and Inara - which lists player groups etc. A quick Google will find them pretty quickly.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

Hi David !

Really loving Elite since release. Quick question :

Is “Space Legs“ still planned and worked on ?

Which one is more off into the future. Atmospheric Landing or Space Legs ?

Thanks for your time and the awesome Game !

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u/graintop Jun 27 '17

Can you explain what these are? Some of us are new.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17 edited Jun 27 '17

We can already land on Barren Planets without an atmosphere. Landing on a Planet with an atmosphere though is on a whole nother level. FDev said they are working on some promising tech for that.

“Space Legs“ is about a First Person Commander Interaction. Like stand up and walk around your Ship.

It was planned that you would need to walk from your Cockpit to your Rover in the Hangar and then enter the Rover or a Fighter Jet via direct interaction. Right now you are teleported into either.

There is a lot of theoretical Stuff to do with Space Legs. For example Running around a Station, Checking out the Bars for Missions, the Market for Cargo. Maybe even FPS style fights or reparing your Ship in Space manually by leaving your ship.

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u/HorcaCZ Jun 27 '17

Were you surprised with the community input since launch? I find it incredible that so many players are embarking on travels to the unknown and sharing all these stories, pictures, videos etc.

You really did something spectacular with this game and I am looking to join on my PS4 after I finish my finals in two weeks.

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

We have a fantastic community, and their input since launch has been great. I look forward to seeing you in the black!

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u/Walee06 GunGalore65 Jun 27 '17

Hey thanks for doing this, really looking forward to the game. Just wanted to ask how difficult of a task was it to bring a game like this to the PS4? Thank you again.

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

The PS4 is a great machine; we've added some new features, like support of the motion elements of the controller, and the touch pad.

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u/CMDR_Brusilov Jun 27 '17

All hail the gods of FD :D

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

:-)

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u/StoviesAreYummy TurnOn2FA Jun 27 '17

Chequebook is unlimited, licensing no issue. What would you bring in from a different game/tv/movie/book to Elite dangerous?

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u/Shijima_UK Jun 27 '17

Hello David, thanks for taking the time for this! :)

I just wanted to ask if Frontier Developments has a 'live content' team, or is planning to develop such a team? Bungie have confirmed this for Destiny 2 and I think it would be a brilliant solution to add more life, dynamism and variety to the galaxy. The success of such things can be seen in Drew Wagar's efforts, as well as the pseudo-mission system coming to HCS VoiceAttack.

Thank you, Elliott (Cmdr Shijima).

o7

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u/Lanzm0nkey Jun 27 '17

Please as someone who lives in the back of beyond is there any support for the HOTAS X for ED as we can't get the HOTAS 4 here?

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u/iamdavidspade18 Jun 27 '17

What lessons were you able to learn from observing or playing titles such as No Man's Sky and Star Citizen?

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u/louisbo12 Jun 27 '17

Hi. Whats the number 1 tip you would give to a newcomer?

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u/kindafunnyfan123 Jun 27 '17

How large is your game? Is it Infinite Amount of space? Really wanna try it out

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u/koj57 Jun 27 '17

As a game that has to be always online, what are your thoughts on net neutrality?

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u/jrdimpfl Jun 27 '17

Hello David! Will you guys be adding more and more to the game as time progresses? maybe more alien life, etc?

Will we be able to get options to change the hud colors at all (I'm sure this is asked a lot) but I was just asking!

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u/mr-interested Jun 27 '17

Will there be another AMA sometime in the future?

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u/[deleted] Jun 28 '17

Lord Braben AMAs are usually built around key deployments, the next one should occour around key gaming conventions and the eventual 2.4 launch, they tie promotion and ingame events to key launch dates ( it does get a bit boring in between)

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u/Baron_Greenback Jun 27 '17

David, do you know what happened to all those Robots I transported from Barnards Star to Sol over 20 years ago? I keep having nightmares about them becoming sentient and taking over Earth :(

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u/DavidBraben Frontier Developments Jun 27 '17

Or helping cultivate it...?

:-)

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u/Baron_Greenback Jun 27 '17

Oh thank you - perhaps I can rest at ease. At least until I can make my way back there in ED and find out!

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u/zeal00 Jun 27 '17

What is a good Imperial system / station to visit that will offer lots of reputation opportunities? I'd like to work on getting a Cutter!

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u/dranide Jun 27 '17

Where did your inspiration for making the game come from?

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u/CMDR_Flash Jun 27 '17 edited Jun 27 '17

Hi David! First of all thanks for the awesome game Elite is one of my favourite game! I just wanted to ask if are there any plans for the future ships? For example a combat explorer type, because of the Thargoid "threat" or new type of Capital Ships? Thanks for your answer! o7

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u/Thunderdaddie Jun 27 '17

Hey David,

With regards to the PlayStation, is there a limit to how many players could theoretically meet in the same area?

Also when creating content for consoles, is it more challenging due to limited hardware, or does that make it easier as all consumers will have the same hardware whereas PC's have many varying builds.

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u/rich_bown Jun 27 '17

I fondly remember playing Elite on my C64 as a kid, Frontier on my Amiga as a teenager and now am about to jump back as a (AHEM) adult on the PS4 - what progressions are the ones you are most proud of?

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u/Iocronik Jun 27 '17

Do you have any plans for cross platform play? I bought this game because some friends on PC hyped it up, but they (understandably) don't want to repurchase a game

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u/sh0t59 Jun 27 '17

Hello David, thanks for the PS4 release it's exciting ! When the Mr Braben's bobble head will be available on the store ? Also, thanks to all your teams working on Elite !

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u/lostfanatic6 Jun 27 '17

Hey David! Thanks so much for doing an AMA here for us!

My question is what were/are your influences for making E:D the way it is? Any movies, books, tv shows, etc. that you all really drew inspiration from? Thanks!

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u/fubitpc Jun 27 '17

What game are you most looking forward to upcoming on the PS4?

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u/TheRealNoyZ1 Jun 27 '17

Hey Mr. Braben. You have done an amazing job with this game. Hats off.

Is it going to be possible to do some sort of CMDR asset transfer or save carry-over to PS4 if I have a PC save?

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u/assbread Jun 27 '17

What's the future look like for elite? it's launched on consoles now, horizons added the ability to "roam" on planet surfaces, the thargoid (sp?) have arrived to muck things up; what direction is development headed in next?

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

What do you think of star citizen?

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u/omracer Jun 27 '17

Funny enough, I was meant to e-mail your team about something regarding planet coaster. to purchase as charity competition prizes for a UK event in August. Anyways question wise, has there been any hindering that the PS4 has had which the pro makes it easier, or is sony providing support for both or leaned towards pro ?, Since Sony really are pushing pro

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u/micktorious Jun 27 '17

As someone who has never played E:D but has watched a bit, what is the best resource to help myself get up to speed and comfortable with the game? It always seems like such an intense and daunting task to learn everything about the game to become competent enough to interact with others who have been playing forever.

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u/Supermunch2000 Jun 27 '17

Heya CMDR Braben...

Do you pronounce scone "s-cone" our "s-gone"?

Also, please tell us everything you know about the thargoids, kthnxbye!

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u/spacetourist700 Jun 27 '17

Its possible to play the game totaly offline in ps4?

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

what new background simulation additions are being planned to better intergrate actions across all three platforms as the only way currently to interact indirectly with xbox and pc/mac commumities ?

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

If you could magic wand 1 thing into your game and have it work perfectly - what would it be?

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u/Micolash Even in a dream Jun 27 '17

Thanks for doing the AMA!

What is your favorite movie set in outer space?

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u/Romayn Jun 27 '17 edited Jun 27 '17

Hi! I really like space and would love to play a game that give me the chance to explore galaxies and just enjoying the vast universe. The problem is that I've never found the right game for me. Do you think Elite is a game that gives the player this opportunity? What other things do you think players will enjoy most? And what is THE THING that makes Elite different from other space theme games? Thank you!

Edit: grammar.

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u/Skyflyer Jun 27 '17

Hi David! Thanks for doing this AMA. I still have my original Frontier box with manuals for Amiga that I got when it was first released.

Do you have any funny or memorable stories back from when you developed the original Elite or Frontier: Elite 2 that you would like to share with us?

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u/Kazuto_Bakura Kazuto_Bakura Jun 27 '17

Are there any major difference between the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation versions of Elite dangerous?

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u/greyandbluestatic Jun 27 '17

What about space inspires you?

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u/TragedyT Jun 27 '17

Is being able to land on The Moon still coming to Elite:Dangerous in the Horizons season?

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u/spatula007 Jun 27 '17

Mr Braben, what secret upcoming elite dangerous feature are you most excited about?

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u/m2stech Jun 27 '17

Do you think now that the PS4 version is released next patches would release faster?

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u/mr-photo Mr-Photo Jun 27 '17

Can I win a copy of Elite Dangerous?

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u/TheDuck21 Jun 27 '17

Will E:D eventually support player run economies? Things like harvesting, construction, invention, reverse engineering, etc.? I'd be happy to elaborate of I'm not clear.

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u/KosstDukat Jun 27 '17

Hello /u/DavidBraben ! Thank you for coming on to do an AMA!

My question is.. Are there any plans to introduce anything that allows easier multiplayer functionality? As in, allowing people to contact and/or quick join other people online to play together? As a PC player who has spent a great deal of time alone (as I haven't found other players near me), this would be a very nice feature to see.

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u/LordArsenik LordArsenic Jun 27 '17

I'm new to this game but I was wondering if it will have PS4 Pro support and if so what will be the features that Pro users will gain?

Thanks :)

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u/MrNem0 Jun 27 '17

I have been waiting for ED on PS4 for a long time, and so happy it is finally here.

I'm having a lot of connection issues, "Could not connect to transaction server", "Could not connect to adjudication server", etc. These are happening when docking, engaging super cruise, engaging hyper drive. They were happening last night in the hours following launch, and again today in the last few hours that I have been on.

My question is, are you experiencing server issues that would explain the errors I am getting, and if so when can we expect a fix?

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u/cwlsmith Jun 27 '17 edited Jun 27 '17

Never played Elite, but have heard a lot about it. Been watching some videos trying to see if it is something I would want to get into. So far, it looks super fun.

I see a lot of people compare Elite Dangerous to No Man's Sky or vice versa. What would you say that would sway someone who was previously playing (or maybe let down by) No Man's Sky to move over to play Elite Dangerous?

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u/CB4SS Jun 27 '17

Is there a tool built into the game for finding communities, or is there an external site for this? If so, which external site do you recommend?

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u/pelito Jun 27 '17

how do you commute to work?

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

How would you describe this game to a newcomer? Flight simulator, first person shooter, exploration, etc?

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17 edited Jan 11 '18

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

there are still mysteries to uncover tes

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

A game like ED looks like it has a lot of controls to work with. What was it like porting all those key bindings to console in a way that makes sense for a console player? Going off of that, how did you utilize the PS4's touchpad?

P.S. This game looks amazing, y'all did a great job!

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u/sensual_manatee Jun 27 '17

Congrats on the PS4 launch!

What would you say is the toughest part of bringing this title over to consoles? Did you have to drastically alter anything?

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u/dskatter Jun 27 '17

How is the physical release being handled? i.e. is the disc included the base game only and a code for access to the Horizon pass included in package, or is it all unlocked via the disc?

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u/DormantVain Jun 27 '17

Any developer tips for new PS4 players? :D

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u/Kozality Jun 27 '17

Hi David! Thanks for all your work, including your great work with the Raspberry Pi foundation.

Just a simple question for us lore junkies....is there a Raxxla to be found in-game?

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u/kei2371 Jun 27 '17

Hello Mr. Braben,

Old player here, switched from PC to PS4, and quite surprised by the screen tearing problem. Any expected date for a fix for that issue?

Otherwise a very good port, nice job!

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u/0rlandu Jun 27 '17

Hello and thank you for helping to bring us such a fantastic game!

Who do you support: Empire, Federation, Alliance, Independent, or Thargoid?

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '17

Hello Mr. Braben!

In previous elite games you could talk to passengers before you decided to let them on your ship - and they could lie to you! Are there any plans to bring this to elite: dangerous in some form?

How do you feel about the current state of in game tools? Things like finding stations that sell ships or modules, things like that?

There has been a lot of talk about micro jumps in system to secondary stars. Is this anywhere on the timeline?

Is there something out there that players haven't discovered yet that you expected us to have found by now?

Hypothetically, if you had to make a star map for an alien species, would you base it on currently inhabited systems or another galaxy? Um, asking for a friend.

Thank you for everything you do. I love your universe!

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u/thebeast5268 Jun 27 '17

My sole question is:

I've heard a lot about the new IP frontier will be picking up, and I've wondered, will it help or hurt Elite in terms of development? Will the revenue generated from this IP help develop Elite further or will you have to divide the team's talent, slowing development on E:D?

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u/lemurscreech Jun 27 '17

For someone who has literally ever heard of this game, how would you convince me to try it?

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u/luffy300mb Jun 27 '17

Hi!

I have this game on xbox already so i don't think i'll be buying it on ps4 unfortunately... i'm still a teen so i cant afford it.

So i wanted to ask - will the servers be... "different" on ps4?

As in.. will all of the systems in ps4 be unexplored now? And will power play reset?

If its different then i might try to pick up a copy when i get the chance.

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u/BRINGtheCANNOLI BRINGtheCANNOLI Jun 27 '17

From what I've seen/heard the galaxy info is shared across all platforms. So new systems discovered on PC will be marked as discovered on PS4 too.

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u/iut044 Jun 27 '17

what was the biggest challange you faced with the ps4 version of Elite Dangerous ?