Elite Dangerous FAQ: Difference between revisions

The differences are predominantly in issues surrounding scale, complexity of background simulations, adherence to recognized science of the universe and release schedule.

 

 

''Elite Dangerous'' is the ''4th'' instalment in the legendary [[:Category:Elite series|Elite series]] dating back to 1984.

''Star Citizen'' has some commonality with other games like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Roberts_%28game_developer%29#Biography ''Wing Commander'' / ''Privateer'' / ''Starlancer ''/'' Freelancer'' series dating back to 1990]. However, it's a new and separate franchise. It's not a continuation of those previous games.

 

 

''Elite Dangerous'' was initially planned for release in March 2014, but was delayed and later released on December 16, 2014.

''Star Citizen'' was initially planned for release in 2014, but was delayed to 2016 and then delayed indefinitely. No new release date has been announced as of November 2017.

 

 

Development of ''Elite Dangerous'' began in 2012. A private alpha version was released to Kickstarter backers in December 2013, followed by a beta in May 2014. The game was officially released in December 2014, but was somewhat limited in terms of features. Notable features such as [[Planetary Landings]], [[Wings]], [[Multicrew]], [[Ship-Launched Fighters]], [[Engineers]] and [[Holo-Me]] have been added by the post-launch [[Elite Dangerous: Horizons|Horizons]] expansion, and more updates are planned in the [[Elite Dangerous: Beyond|Beyond]] expansion.

People have wondered whether all the crowdfunded money actually went towards Star Citizen, because the developer Crowd Imperium Games' Foundry 42 UK has a loan with the National Westminister Bank PLC (January 2015)<ref>https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08703814/charges/G09qg6Mo3GrwjGkM3-Z0rwEQjMY</ref> They took another lone from the bank Coutts on 15 June 2017.<ref>https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08703814/charges/AHMo7d0tVN50wGM-FC6tbyhYlss</ref><ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen_refunds/comments/69i5to/what_do_we_know_about_cigs_loans_or_investments/</ref>

 

 

''Elite Dangerous'' has and ''Star Citizen'' will have an on-going [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#I have heard that the .22Elite.22 series have no actual storyline. Is that true.3F|background story]] which will be influenced by the players and augmented with developer injected events. Elite Dangerous takes place much further into the future (34th century). As such the technology is more advanced with a more futuristic science fiction setting. The universe of Elite is generally grittier and more realistic in the sense that there are no clear Hollywood style good and bad guys.

''Star Citizen'' comes with a [http://starcitizen.wikia.com/wiki/Squadron_42 single-player focused cinematic scripted campaign] called ''Squadron 42'' and is projected for general episodic releases starting from late 2016, followed by [https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/31pk2q/for_those_confused_about_squadron_42_and_what/ two DLC sequels in the future]

 

 

In ''Elite Dangerous'', the [http://i.imgur.com/vXLnJea.png ships] are relatively [https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/33305725/Elite/comparison.jpg larger] for [[Ships#Faction Ships|their class]], and atmospheric capable ones are modeled to be [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#Why are the ships simpler in design compared to other games.3F|aerodynamically streamlined and symmetrical]], and therefore carry their weapons within a bay. This provides ships with hulls that are able to enter and [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#Will landing and docking be seamless in .22Elite: Dangerous.22.3F|freeform (manual pitch/yaw/roll)]] fly through planet atmospheres at hypersonic speeds. Capital ships are in the [http://elite.frontier.co.uk/images/newsletter_2013_09_06/schematic_flat_FEDCAP.png 2 km range]

: Landing on populated planets in ''Star Citizen'' will use [https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/3zhc6c/10_for_the_chairman_episode_74_notes/ virtually guided paths] to point you to a dedicated landing zone. Unpopulated planets, or planets with no landing zone, will allow for [https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/3zhc6c/10_for_the_chairman_episode_74_notes/ freeform flight and unrestricted landing].

 

 

''Elite Dangerous'' has freeform (manual pitch/yaw/roll) [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#How will we travel those vast distances in such a huge galaxy.3F|interplanetary fast travel]]; aka Super Cruise. Due to the [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#How big will planets and star systems.C2.A0be.3F|realistic 1:1 scale galaxy]] with proper distances, it necessitates [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#How will we travel those vast distances in such a huge glaxy.3F|faster than light speeds]], specifically up to 2001 times the speed of light (2001c). These high speeds make travel times practical with [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#Will there be detailed ship managment and avionics.3F|very long range sensors and combat interaction]]. Players are able to seamlessly enter [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#How will we travel those vast distances in such a huge glaxy.3F|hyperspace]] to travel from anywhere in a system to another star.

''<nowiki>Star Citizen'</nowiki>''s interplanetary fast travel - Quantum Drive - allows for speeds up to 0.2c (20% the speed of light) across a solar system. This limit is for realism reasons, [https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/3yhcx1/can_i_ask_why_02c_was_chosen_to_be_the_maximum/cydjw8m as there is no lore explanation for radiation shielding beyond 0.25c]. Due to this, distances between planets are [https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/3yhcx1/can_i_ask_why_02c_was_chosen_to_be_the_maximum/cydhde1 scaled down] in order to make travel times practical. QDrive allows for freeform travel within a solar system, although[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HvTwW055KE only in a straight line.] Travel between solar systems requires [https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/1738871/#Comment_1738871 wormhole-like jump points (which will allow some interactivity) at fixed locations]

 

 

In ''Elite Dangerous'' the [[galaxy]] is scientifically accurate and includes around&nbsp;a 400 billion star systems. The ''Elite'' Universe is modeled on current galactic charts. [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#Will planets rotate and orbit around stars.3F|Planets and moons will rotate and orbit in 1:1 scale real-time]], therefore constantly changing a system's environment. As such Elite Dangerous is more hard science fiction than Star Citizen.

''<nowiki>Star Citizen'</nowiki>''s galaxy will have [https://robertsspaceindustries.com/starmap 120 star systems] at launch, and an unknown number of explorable, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69ck049Bg_I procedurally generated] systems. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXqoyZxI_GE&t=1286 Time is compressed to 2 hours for each day (1:12 scale time)]. Due to QDrive speed limits, distances between planets are [https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/3yhcx1/can_i_ask_why_02c_was_chosen_to_be_the_maximum/cydhde1 scaled down] to around 1/100th scale. Gravity & Orbits will be [http://imperialnews.network/2016/01/reverse-the-verse-january-subscriber-edition/ simulated where practical].

 

 

''Elite Dangerous'' has lightspeed [[Pulse Laser|pulse]] and [[Beam Laser|beam lasers]] on all ships fitted with energy weapons, along with missiles, railguns, cannons, and other [[:Category:Weapons|weapon types]]. Weapons are kept inside hardpoints when not in use and turreted weapons are remote-controlled from the cockpit/bridge when manually operated.

''Star Citizen'' has a mix of slow-firing lasers (akin to Star Wars), missiles, gatling guns, railguns and ballistic weapons [https://robertsspaceindustries.com/voyager-direct/weapons available]. Weapons are exposed on the wings and fuselage of the ship and a crewmember needs to enter the turret to manually operate it.

 

 

In ''Elite Dangerous'' there is [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4-gyDLRMXg&t=219 no anti-gravity] or gravity generators, so space stations are [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6AxOoBF7SM&t=34 designed to rotate].

In ''Star Citizen,'' space stations and ships use [https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/spectrum-dispatch/14287-LORE-BUILDER-TWENTY-ONE-ARTIFICIAL-GRAVITY artificial gravity.]

 

 

The [[Flight Model|flight model]] of Elite Dangerous has Newtonian physics with a fly-by-wire layer applied over the top to make the combat feel visceral and seat-of-the-pants, rather than [[Frontier: Elite II|Frontier]]'s jousting at huge distances.<ref name=":0">[https://www.pcgamesn.com/elite-dangerous-will-have-100-billion-star-systems-plus-thargoids-braben-reveals-whats-next Elite: Dangerous will have 100 billion star systems, plus Thargoids — Braben reveals what's next]

In ''Star Citizen'' ships can be pointed more intuitively in a fashion akin to FPS, requiring a strong yaw. It deals with turreting by having a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-LOC G-LOC] system [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY5x85F-DKM&t=191 as seen here], but this alone [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY5x85F-DKM doesn't alleviate the problems completely], and it's up to the pilot's skill to deal with it correctly. Star Citizen features a [https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/engineering/13951-Flight-Model-And-Input-Controls fully simulated IFCS] that translates pilot input to thruster/gyro activation on the ship.

 

 

Multiplayer is handled with a [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#Is .22Elite: Dangerous.22 an MMO.3F|grouping system]] in ''Elite Dangerous'' and a [http://starcitizenstuff.wordpress.com/tag/pvp-slider/ PVP-PVE slider] which doesn't completely control engagements in ''Star Citizen''. [sentence needs clarification]

 

===What are differences between Elite Dangerous and EVE Online?===

 

Another major difference is that in ''EVE'' everybody within a star system is in one big instance and when there are too many people within it they slow down the update rate of the game.

 

Due to a lot less network traffic, this allows ''Elite Dangerous'' to have twitch based action instead of classic MMO click 'n' roll (where actual world updates are comparatively slow depending on server load and all attacks are calculated on servers using modified D&D system) which is used in ''EVE''. That means that ''Elite Dangerous'' combat is twitch skill based.

 

An important difference is that ''EVE'''s economy is totally player driven - so to have ships and weapons in the game have to be manufactured by players themselves, by collecting resources and providing them to factories. ''Elite Dangerous'' [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#I have heard that the .22Elite.22 series have no actual storyline. Is that true.3F|uses an economic model that drives NPCs to simulate the flow of products, which also have all player trades as input to the shared universe]].

 

Another important difference is that ''EVE'' has a lot of empire building and RTS elements, while ''Elite'' is what it would be like to be a spacefarer in a galaxy from a first person’s perspective. PVP also has some differences.

 

The ''Elite Dangerous'' galaxy is based on the real Milky Way planets will rotate and orbit their stars, thus constantly changing a system's landscape and adding lot of depth - and it has around 400 billion star systems, as opposed to ''EVE'' where the planets are static and don't move. Additionally, EVE is not set in the Milky Way Galaxy but in a star cluster named New Eden in an unknown part of the universe, far away from the Milky Way.

 

''Elite Dangerous'' has freeform (manual pitch/yaw/roll) interplanetary fast travel up to 2000 times the speed of light (2000C) and you are able to seamlessly enter from anywhere to another star. ''EVE'' on the other hand has point & click travel and you must fly to a jump gate to enter another star system.