OMG. I just found out about: 'Elite: Dangerous'

[lcmgadgets]

I used to say I needed these things to complete my life: To be able to play Cliff Hanger, Dragon's Lair, & Space Ace at home. To be able to do a 1 foot spin on my roller skates. & that 'Elite 4' be released, & I play it. Everything but 'Elite 4' has happened. Periodically, over the years, I've checked in on what Frontier Developments was up to. There have been lots of rumours & false starts over the years, & I'd all but given up hope (although 'X3: Reunion' was a decent substitute).

& now I see this: http://elite.frontier.co.uk/about/

& it supports the Oculus Rift. I've seen lots about the 'Rift here. It looks like the overal consensus is that its a fun toy.

I've harked on for years about Elite. I remember discovering it--friends of mine had Commodore 64's way back in the 80's, & I tried some of the games that played on them: Impossible Mission, Archon, etc. For the most part, I was unimpressed--all the games I was seeing were arcade knock offs, or played like arcade games.

Then a friend introduced me to Elite. I quickly saw how different it was. Was it the 1st video game that took advantage of the differences between a home computer & an arcade cab? David Braben seems to think so (heard an interview of him once discussing it--can't seem to find it now). Cab's are intended for an arcade--a place where you would go & pay a small fee to play games that were fast paced & short (I laugh now how you have 3 minutes to finish a round in Bogey Manor--1 of my favourite unpopular games). A home computer allowed lengthy, even indefinite play. In Elite it took days (at least) to achieve anything significant. & it was about exploring! Elite was the 1st game that I ever played for more than 12 hours straight. I loved Elite Frontier even more--real physics (yes, I'm 1 of the few who liked that), real star charts, real stellar distances! I imagined how a sequel might allow an option to update the game with real data from NASA--real planets & other stellar objects would be added to the game as they were discovered. Still waiting for that feature  . I was, like many, disappointed with First Encounters--too damn buggish!

Anyway, enough of that! I'm actually considering getting a new computer just to play this game, & an Oculus Rift to go with it.

[DaveMMR]

That's pretty cool: doing a one-foot spin on roller-skates. 

[Generic Eric]

That looks so awesome I can't stand it!

[ark_ader]

Chris Roberts Citizen One is another space trading similar I backed last year.  Both Braben and Roberts had an interview lately discussing the genre and how current technology will bring games like elite 4 and citizen one into a huge audience.

Just as long as it isn't technical like Eve and waiting forever for your parts and ship to install, and the learning curve.

[Generic Eric]

I read the kickstarter page and at the end (bottom of the page) it mentions March 2014 as a release date.  I wonder how far on track it is.  I watched the first video linked here, but there was some background noise in the room I was in and I didn't hear the release date mentioned.

[knave]

I read the kickstarter page and at the end (bottom of the page) it mentions March 2014 as a release date.  I wonder how far on track it is.

It is in Alpha right now. The last update I recieved was on Feb 5 and they said there are two more phases until they move to the Beta.

That's when I finally get to play. March timeframe seems reasonable But I've waited on enought software releases to not hold my breath.

I'll let you know how it is...

Here's what they said in the last newsletter:

Many of you have been asking us when we will be releasing the Beta.
 
It will be released when each phase of the Alpha has been released and we've acted on the feedback we get from it. As David mentioned in Dev Diary #10 after next week's Alpha 2.0 we still have 2 major Alpha releases to roll out before we reach the Premium Beta stage; Outfitting, Travel & Trading.
 
When we are happy with each phase, we will move to the next one. Don’t worry if you are still planning to join the Alpha, we will announce a Beta release date when we are getting close to the end of the Alpha phase.
 

[Drnick]

I really really hope for good things from this. The only problem may be that Elite was such a beloved game that any kind of sequel just won't live up to expectations.

[EssexMame]

Yes, I saw it recently too - looks amazing - adding the things the original Elite didn't have (as it couldn't on a 32K BBC or Electron :-). I spent hours and hours getting to Dangerous, starting again and then to Deadly due to a horrific save-to-tape accident. The spec of Elite:Dangerous is/was quite hefty though - I didn't have the hardware for it. BUT, like the PS2 and Gran Turismo 3 this might be the game that makes me buy new hardware on its own :-)

[lcmgadgets]

I really really hope for good things from this. The only problem may be that Elite was such a beloved game that any kind of sequel just won't live up to expectations.

Yeah, that scares me, too. I'm actually a little afraid to go looking into it too deeply.

Chris Roberts Citizen One is another space trading similar I backed last year.  Both Braben and Roberts had an interview lately discussing the genre and how current technology will bring games like elite 4 and citizen one into a huge audience.

How'd I miss this 1?! I'm definitely looking into that game! I loved Privateer, was disappointed by Privateer 2, & liked X3: Reunion a lot. But I've always been waiting for something far more open ended; ie: Elite.

That's pretty cool: doing a one-foot spin on roller-skates. 

  why, thank you! Thought I might get some minor flaming for that 1! I was a big roller skater back in the 80's. I stopped skating in the mid 90's, & just went back to it in Oct. 2012 (just after my poor wife died--it's become a sort of self-therapy for me). The moment I glided out onto the floor, I wondered, in amazement, why did I ever stop? Now, at the ripe age of 49, I'm way more into it than back then. A 1 foot spin, of any kind, had become the bane of my existence in the 80's; I used to say that I could not call myself a good skater until I'd mastered 1. I started taking lessons (yes, figure skating lessons) about a year ago. My trainer immediately started pushing me to do figures, & pushed other things like posture, 'proper' stroking, all that fairy stuff (so I'd thought of it back in the 80's) you see competitive figure skaters do. I resisted at first--I'm, to be honest, a disco skater at heart. But then, as I listened to my trainer, & to other skaters, I began to realize that mastering those skills made all the stuff I wanted to do way easier to master.

&, finally, 1 day I broke my 1 foot spin barrier. In competition, for a spin to 'count', a skater has to complete at least 3 revolutions. I'd been getting close for a while (1 rev, 2 revs), & then 1 night...

I've since developed an altered version of that spin, & am close to getting a 1 foot spin on my right heel (I think I may have gotten a couple of 3 revolution 1's in, but its hard to count them yourself when the world's blurring around you). My toe spins are, really, not very good--I hit the toe stop way too much, & my trainer is not at all impressed with them. But they ARE 1 footers. I'm also working on jumps. Haven't gotten any good 1's down yet, still can't complete a full revolution. But it'll come (the bulk of the problem is getting the gonads to dare trying that extra (at least) half rev in the air--the floor is a lot harder than it was back in the 80's  , even through the pads I won't skate without).

...which leads me to a related, insane question. My trainer is a real skating fanatic, even more than me. Has been his whole life (hes 71 now). I've fantasized for years how, if I won a huge lottery, I'd build a massive roller rink, with, of course, a huge arcade. It'd run non-profit, or even at a loss (if that lottery was big enough)  ! It would be a great mecca of rollerskating. Well, my trainer has had the same dream for a lot longer than I have, & has flushed it out way more--there'd also be a smaller training rink with a jump harness, a derby track, & an indoor skateboard park. He has dimensions & knows way more about what the building would have to be like--where it would need to be, how much it would cost, appropriate laws to be concerned about, etc. He's the right guy to own & operate a rink, too--his family owned 1 of the now long closed rinks here in London, Ontario; he even lived in the building for a while. The way skating seems to have taken off again here (we're skating now in a community center facility), the time seems perfect to open a dedicated rink.

He's even found a good, available building. He's not just dreaming, he's trying to make it happen!. The floor is concrete, & can be laminated, which is fine, but we may even have a line on a hard wood one (the ideal skating surface)--it depends--can you salvage a hard wood floor?). If we can get enough investors it can happen. We need $250,000. I've (gulp) offered $10,000 (for which I'll get 10 glorious years of unlimited skating if...).

Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions?

& sorry for the thread derailment.

[Drnick]

Yeah you can salvage a real wood floor.  We did it once on a room about 50ft x 20ft. Boards were about 8ft long by 6 inch wide.  One strip in the middle will be the sacrificial strip. Make 2 Cuts full length on this piece, this allows you pull the rest out of the tongue and groove.  From there its a slow careful job.   Expect to lose about 20 to 30% of total floor coverage to damaged boards.  There are a few guides around online to help.  Personally I much preferred the parquet flooring that we also removed, much easier to work with.

[lcmgadgets]

Yes! Thanks! I asked because there's a rink in Ohio with a hardwood floor that's closing, & the owner's willing to sell the wood (for 50 cents a square foot, is what I think I heard. Cost comes to about what it would be to smooth & laminate the concrete floor). Of course, Ohio's a fair way from Ontario. We still have to look at the shipping, & any costs associated with bringing it across the border. But that's a good start. I'll talk to Doug (my trainer).