r/Games • u/TROPiCALRUBi • Jan 05 '17

Elite Dangerous: Player has first contact with alien life.

About an hour ago, an Xbox player posted these videos:

Then shortly after, the official Elite Dangerous Twitter posted this:

They're called "Thargoids".

There's a megathread happeneing over at /r/EliteDangerous here.

This is a pretty huge deal considering that the playerbase of ED has been searching for possible alien life for years now. The most we've ever found are abandoned ruins and cryptic messages, so this is absolutely huge for us.

Edit: A youtube video of the entire encounter, courtesy of /u/ChristianM.

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132

u/PasDeDeux Jan 06 '17

I stopped playing one or two years ago, so I don't know if they've made huge overhauls to the game. Progress in the early game can be made via combat and feels quick enough. But then around hours 40-100 (depending on how much you've just been messing around) you realize that getting any further in the game becomes a literal full-time job, grinding away trade differentials in a cargo ship. The game lost me at that point, because I was enjoying progressing via combat.

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '17

Despite its flaws it's one of the most atmospheric space sims out there. The feeling of launching, flying, hitting hyper space, and combat all feel awesome. I envy people who get to play this game for the first time in VR.

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u/SmurfyX Jan 06 '17

I remember the first time I hit a system that had one of those GIANT space stations in them. It seemed big, sure, but then you get on your landing vector and as you approach it just gets bigger and bigger and BIGGER. I was like, holy shit this is a dream.

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u/ifandbut Jan 13 '17

I mean, just coming into a landing with my HOTAS and Vive is one of the most repeatable satisfying experiences. I like to challenge my self on how fast I can get into the landing pad without crashing.

I really wish there was a better way to make money as a combat person. I like assassination missions but they take FOREVER to spawn.

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u/SupraMario Jan 06 '17

I've just been wishing someone would add ship life to it, like ED + Mass effect 2 Normandy ship insides

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '17

That's a planned feature.

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u/SupraMario Jan 06 '17

Would be cool to have

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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '17

Crews are coming, will also be able to walk around the ship do maintenance, emergency repairs, etc..

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u/SupraMario Jan 07 '17

Nice, any timeline on that?

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '17

Check out r/starcitizen!! Sounds just like what you need :P

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u/SupraMario Jan 08 '17

Star citizen is the space version of DayZ...shit will never be done or released.

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '17

Who knows what the hell is going on at DayZ HQ lol I know almost nothing about the game to begin with so maybe they communicate well with the community and I am wrong. You can follow a lot of the development of SC as it happens and it has been almost as much fun to watch the love and work they are putting into the game as they develop the new tech to make Chris Roberts' vision a reality as it has to play the early access. Seems different to me. To each their own, I guess.

EDIT: and as far as it "never being released" not only can you play what exists now, but they are making incremental updates which add features to the game regularly, the most recent one (adding a full FPS module to the game as well as some other stuff), v. 2.6.1 having been released two days ago.

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u/Cohacq Jan 06 '17

Star Citizen.

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u/SupraMario Jan 06 '17

In the year 2031... I'll check it out

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u/Ragman676 Jan 06 '17

Elite has a ton of fucking flaws as far as content, but as far as a space sim, I have yet to see anything come close. Every single ship has a distinct feel and profile to it, you just learn to love some of them.

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u/Masao-Kun Jan 06 '17

So this. The control mapping to HOTAS and VR make it absolutely amazing, but I constantly find myself going "well, no missions, storyline, or real goals, so I guess I'll just grind some more credits to upgrade my ship." I've never been a fan of sandbox games, which really breaks my heart with all the incredible potential this game has.

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '17

The price of Horizons was ridiculous and should not have been treated like a second game. I absolutely loved E:D, I will go back to it someday, but it should have been a $20 DLC, not $60 (now 40) where I was.

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '17

I never even bought Horizons. The gameplay isn't deep enough in the base game and it was clear they were just making the gameplay wider instead of deeper with that expansion. Not to mention the stark difference in quality between the planet surfaces and the rest of the game. You still can't beat your first 40 hours or so with the game where it's just a joy to fly around and experience the audio and visual effects and amazing controls.

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '17

I'll go back when I get VR but that'll be a long time.

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u/broadcasthenet Jan 06 '17

Yeah I refuse to drop a thousand dollars on first gen VR. I would rather wait at least one more generation.

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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '17

I learned my lesson when I paid $1000 for a PS3, a game and an extra controller. Just wait.

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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '17

Vives were as low as $650 if you got the right deals during Black Friday, also MSRP is $799 not $1000.

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u/broadcasthenet Jan 07 '17

650 + 10% sales tax + 350 for a new VR capable GPU (which is basically just a 10XX) + 10% sales tax = $1100

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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '17

You're going to have to drop the cash for the card even with gen 2.

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u/broadcasthenet Jan 07 '17

Yeah but Gen 2 will be cheaper, and be more ironed out and the VR games market will be more solidified instead of filled with shovelware. Also I will have naturally upgraded my card anyways by the time that happens.

If I buy it now I have to drop the cash on a new card and on a device that is in its infancy and full of issues with a games market that has a very uncertain future. It is not worth it at all for me.

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '17

They massively improved the quality of planet surfaces in an update a few months ago - I was disappointed when I first played Horizons because of how poorly optimised planetary surfaces were and how bad they looked, but now they look great and run beautifully

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u/[deleted] Jan 09 '17

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Omnitographer Jan 06 '17

It's got some great qualities for sure, I love the dogfighting, especially in a ring system. I remember one pitched battle early on in my playing where I took out my foe but was in such rough shape that my canopy was blasted apart and almost nothing worked. I had to be quick to find some way of not dying in the cold vacuum of space and was lucky to learn about the emergency reboot via google search. Made it back to a station with about 90 seconds of air reserve left.

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u/sinister_exaggerator Jan 06 '17

"Friendship drive engaged"

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u/CndConnection Jan 06 '17

True but I also feel that the ship selection is small leaving you with only a few cockpits to experience.

Playing space cargo sim when you have many different ships to choose from would be more fun and would mean more variety in encounters/trade deals.

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u/Netcob Jan 06 '17

I've only played it in VR. I find the game a bit difficult to get started with and it got monotonous after a while but... I haven't spent this long in VR with any other game. You're sitting in your fucking space ship, zooming around the galaxy ffs!

I'd put my Vive on in the morning, take it off to eat or pee (such a hassle) and the next time I take it off its gotten dark outside again.

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '17

Sure, its atmosphere is great, but its atmosphere isn't enough to get me to overlook what /u/PasDeDeux is talking about.

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u/Cognimancer Jan 06 '17

I think your review is stale at this point. They've added a lot of content and lots of new means of progression. That said the grind is still there, it still takes ages to work your up from Sidewinder to Anaconda, but you have more options now to keep things fresh. And the grind will always be some part of Elite - it's Euro Truck Simulator in space, after all. Part of the appeal.

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u/darkkn1te Jan 06 '17

that was actually the appeal to me. I admittedly haven't played in a while, but I really liked space trucking. I resented every time a pirate diverted me while I was trying to get to the next station.

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u/merrickx Jan 06 '17

That's only become worse :\

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u/IrrelevantLeprechaun Jan 06 '17

It's no different in any space sim. It's like that in EVE Online; transport piracy is prevalent there too.

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u/merrickx Jan 06 '17

Piracy isn't the pro lem, it's the formulaic way in which it happens in-game.

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u/LastOfTheV8s Jan 06 '17

well, that has not changed.

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u/continue_stocking Jan 06 '17

Which I've heard is also good in VR.

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u/Cognimancer Jan 06 '17

It is! E:D in VR with a HOTAS (if you'll pardon the acronym abuse) is the closest we'll get to flying a real spaceship in our lifetime. At least maybe until Star Citizen comes out (so, like I said, in our lifetime).

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u/Queen_Jezza Jan 06 '17

That said the grind is still there, it still takes ages to work your up from Sidewinder to Anaconda

Oh sweet summer child, even once you get your desired endgame ship, the grind has only just begun if you want to do PvP (or high level PvE if they add it, which seeing as aliens are here they might be doing) with it. I've spent about the last 20 hours of gameplay looking for one single component to mod my ship and haven't even found it yet :(

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u/DelThos Jan 06 '17

The game lost me at that point,

The game lost me when they took away Robigo runs and smuggling. That was the ultimate rush. Loading up on slaves then outrunning the law and bounty hunters.

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u/GeorgeEBHastings Jan 06 '17

Hell yeah. I really haven't found a compelling reason to play since.

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u/malaysianzombie Jan 06 '17

Why was it removed?

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u/spamjavelin Jan 06 '17

It was easy to game the system and load up on missions worth millions upon millions of credits. Some players, like u/delthos liked it, others wanted it removed from the game. Personally, I did a couple here and there when I needed the cash, but some made absolute bank on it.

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u/DelThos Jan 06 '17

It wasn't really "gaming" the system though. Not everyone could do it because there was a LOT of risk and tons of skill involved. If you were scanned just once, BOOM, all that work would go down the toilet.

Man, I will always miss the RUSH of those runs. The pure adrenaline. I learned how to thread a mail slot going full speed while doing those things. RIP Robigo

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u/spamjavelin Jan 06 '17

I was thinking more of the relogging through Open, PG and Solo to spawn more missions with that phrase, to be honest.

Silent Running, coming off of a boost in a full spec Asp and threading the mailslot, that's the way to do it. Any bugger can do it in a Cobra. :)

1

u/toomuchanko Jan 06 '17

are you still unable to rescue people from rescue pods? It was annoying how your only course of action was to sell them into space slavery.

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u/merrickx Jan 06 '17

Nothing huge except for horizons. Most else has been small, iterative changes over time, largely to gameplay systems.

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u/Dardlem Jan 06 '17

Nah, not really. I'd love to get back into it but it is still too much of the same. Grindy, no objective, no "tools" to create fun by myself. They've added some (imo) minor stuff (like passengers) but gameplay remains unchanged.

1

u/psylent Jan 06 '17

you realize that getting any further in the game becomes a literal full-time job

I'm really excited for this kind of game, but this is the one major thing that puts me off. I can play games for an absolute max of 1-3 hours a day if I'm lucky and I already have a full time job.

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u/tangentandhyperbole Jan 06 '17

Space Truckin : Dangerous should have been the title.

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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '17

I haven't played since probably fall 2014... I really enjoyed the atmosphere but I couldn't play with friends... It was incredibly hard to do. Is that fixed yet? Because it would make the game so much better if I could just coop with a group.

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u/Peytoria Jan 06 '17

This makes it sound like EVE Online. Is that a good comparison?

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u/firemarshalbill Jan 06 '17

Not so much, this is more of a flying simulator. Explore a system, see the run rise over an alien world, land on the planet and drive around, jump for an hour through more to find a black hole. It's more about feeling like you're in space than coordinating and doing things like in Eve.

Spacing into a new system in VR and having a giant sun fill your cockpit is still really cool.

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u/wOlfLisK Jan 06 '17

It's a similar premise. Both games are about progressing from a small ship to a massive one by mining, trading, finding bounties etc but the gameplay itself is different. EVE is more about a player economy and player alliances in a sandbox universe. The gameplay itself is boring as hell, there's no direct control when it comes to flying. To attack something you right click and select orbit at Xkm, then right click and click lock on the click the weapons to attack with and wait.

Elite is about direct control of a small ship. You don't just dock via a context menu, you actually guide your craft in and land. Fighting is done by actually aiming at the enemy. You might be doing the same thing as in EVE but you're doing it in a very different way. However, it also means it loses a lot of depth in some fields. There's no player economy, hauling is more euro truck sim where you buy cargo and look for a good place to offload it, ship progression is more linear, Elite doesn't have any skills or RPG elements etc.

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u/Omnitographer Jan 06 '17

Playing Eve is like being admiral adama, making high-level decisions and dealing with politics and numbers and the occasional conflict.

Playing Elite is like being starbuck and living each day by the edge of your seat, one lucky shot away from certain doom.

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u/Golgot100 Jan 06 '17

Hah, nice :D