Elite Dangerous FAQ: Difference between revisions

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

==== Release Schedule ====

''Star Citizen'' is projected for a general [http://starcitizen.wikia.com/wiki/Anticipated_Release_Schedule#Star_Citizen release in late 2016.]

Both ''Elite: Dangerous'' 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.

''Star Citizen'' comes with a [http://starcitizen.wikia.com/wiki/Squadron_42 single-player focused cinematic scripted campaign] and is projected for general episodic releases starting from mid 2015, which will later be updated with [http://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/1zjv88/stupid_question_dont_upvote_has_there_been_any/cfubctr paid DLC expansions.]

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]], with capital ships in the [http://elite.frontier.co.uk/images/newsletter_2013_09_06/schematic_flat_FEDCAP.png 2 km range] and atmospheric capable ones are engineered 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 1:1 scale planet atmospheres at hypersonic speeds.

In ''Star Citizen'' the ships are less aerodynamically streamlined and carry their weapons outboard, some are [http://starcitizen.wikia.com/wiki/Scythe asymmetrical.]

Landing on planets in ''Star Citizen'' will use [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIK6g3Ql7rs&t=533s scripted in-game cinematics] and will be limited to several star ports.

''Elite: Dangerous'' has freeform (manual pitch/yaw/roll) [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#How will we travel those vast distances in such a huge glaxy.3F|interplanetary fast travel]] with combat maneuvering. 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]], up to 2000 times the speed of light (2000C), to make travel times practical with [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#Will there be detailed ship managment and avionics.3F|very long range sensors and combat interaction]] and you will be 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 to another star.

''Star Citizen'''s interplanetary fast travel will allow a speed of up to 20% the speed of light (0.2C), which necessitates [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5M5DXzcMmg&t=1066 scaled down] star systems to compress [http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=dcbf6b86b4b0c7d1c21b73b1e&id=f9f6f99d01#4 spatial distances] to make travel times practical. It also won't be freeform (Autopilot Only) nor have combat maneuvering in this mode, [http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/12grru/i_am_chris_roberts_creator_of_wing_commander/c6uxa22 so you will not have the ability to specify an exact random location in space. You can navigate to known locations or tag a ship they want to track or ambush.] Also you must fly through [https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/1738871/#Comment_1738871 wormhole-like jump points (which will allow some interactivity) at fixed locations to other star system.]

In ''Elite: Dangerous'' the [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#How big will planets and star systems.C2.A0be.3F|galaxy will be scientifically accurate]] and include around a 100 billion star systems (around 400 billion stars considering most systems contain multiple stars). The ''Elite'' Universe is modelled 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.

''Star Citizen'''s galaxy will have [http://starcitizenreview.com/star-citizen-star-systems-review 120 star systems] at launch, with [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXqoyZxI_GE&t=1286 time compressed to 2 hours for each day (1:12 scale time)] and a more [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5M5DXzcMmg&t=1066 casual take] on [http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=dcbf6b86b4b0c7d1c21b73b1e&id=f9f6f99d01#4 spatial size and distance of celestial bodies], meaning [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwTsSkUhQhU&t=482 planets won't be properly scaled] and they might also not orbit. To give an example, ''Elite: Dangerous'' will have [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_known_stars stars] alone that can engulf whole star systems of Star Citizen multiple times. Also see [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEheh1BH34Q this video] to give a sense of scale.

Given what we know about our [http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/venus/q89.html solar system], the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_exoplanet_extremes#Orbit_characteristics orbits of exoplanets] and the fact that the maximum speed in ''Star Citizen'' will be 0.2C, with a targeted travel time of [http://www.squad42.com/pages/mmorpgint around 30 minutes] to cross a star system, it is calculated that the [http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=dcbf6b86b4b0c7d1c21b73b1e&id=f9f6f99d01#4 size of ''Star Citizen'' star systems] will be compressed to around [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf2_9-6Fmyc&t=1765 1:100] up to 1:2500 scale.

''Elite: Dangerous'' has lightspeed pulse and [[Beam Laser|beam lasers]] on all ships fitted with energy weapons, as opposed to ''Star Citizen'' which has [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE_xZdeakEw&t=873 slow moving beam weapons] only on capital ships. The remainder of the ''Star Citizen'' fleet will have [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE_xZdeakEw&t=883 slow moving laser bolts] like one would see in Star Wars.

''Elite: Dangerous'' will have [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#Can I walk around the ship.2C planets and space stations.3F|freeform (go wherever you want) planetary exploration]] on full 1:1 scale planets.

In ''Star Citizen'', planetside movement will be restricted to specialized locations, such as star ports, bars and FPS arenas, while the rest of the planet is off limits.

In ''Elite: Dangerous'' there is [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4-gyDLRMXg&t=219 no artificial gravity], so [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#Will landing and docking be seamless in .22Elite: Dangerous.22.3F|space stations]] are [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6AxOoBF7SM&t=34 designed to rotate] as opposed to ''Star Citizen''.

There are major differences in how each game handles close combat flight (as you can see from [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY5x85F-DKM this video]). There is an [http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showpost.php?p=123326 inherent flaw] with the premise of close combat space flight leading to endless turreting and circle-strafing especially in PVP multiplayer due to the lack of terrain features in mid space.

''Elite: Dangerous'' deals with this by limiting the yaw rate and enforce an optimum corner speed by by way of [http://elite.frontier.co.uk/media/walls/03_Ship_Cobra.jpg thruster placement] and limits in the [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#Will there be newtonian physics.3F|flight control computer]], forcing to roll and then pitch to get the most efficient turn rate (less efficient, but [https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/144997/urgent-devs-have-fundamentally-misunderstood-yaw-g-forces-and-the-human-body most comfortable] for a human pilot), in addition there is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-LOC G-LOC] system, a preliminary version can be seen [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQGRKuOtrPg here.]

In ''Star Citizen'' ships can be pointed more intuitively in a fashion akin to FPS, requiring a strong yaw (most efficient, but [https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/144997/urgent-devs-have-fundamentally-misunderstood-yaw-g-forces-and-the-human-body discomforting] for a human pilot). 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], but it is less critical due to the lack of lightspeed lasers on the smaller ships.

==== Multiplayer ====

Multiplayer is handled with a [[Elite: Dangerous FAQ#Is .22Elite: Dangerous.22 an MMOG.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''.

==== Additional Links ====