Greetings Commanders,
Last week, we released Dev Diary II - Forging Your Path, and followed up with a Discovery Scanner episode taking a deep dive into the diary. Joining us on the show, we had two special guests from the development team, giving us their insight into Odyssey. As always, during the show you had a lot of questions for us and our guests and we tried to answer as many as possible. We have collected all the messages from the forums and stream and have dropped them here as a recap . There are of course some questions that were asked that are not answered here - we have seen them, but we will share those answers at a later date!
Will Commanders be able to get out and explore smaller stations or just space ports?
At Odyssey's launch, there will be three types of social spaces;
- Planetports, Spaceports and Outposts. Planetports will be in large surface installations, such as survey sights and observatories.
- Spaceports will be found within larger starbases, such as the Coriolis and Orbis stations.
- Outpost social hubs will be located in small orbital stations like mining outposts and trade depots.
Each of these categories will have a unique layout, with a degree of standardisation to help you find your way around. The visuals inside individual installations will be themed around the economy type of the star system.
These social spaces will be the main explorable area, which you will be able to access through the hanger bays. Social spaces will be available to Odyssey players in pre-existing and new locations throughout the galaxy.
Will there being long walks from one area to the next inside starports?
We want our Commanders to be able to enter a social hub and be able to do their business in a timely manner. This is why social hubs will be built for efficiency and quest givers and vendors will be 'roughly' in the same places from port to port. Accessible areas of the starport, such as the hangers where you disembark (and marvel at your ship), are connected by a system of elevators, this will ensure that you won't have to travel for hours to access your ship, to pick up missions or meet contacts - we don't want you to be late for your Apex Interstellar ride!
Can you share more about settlements? Are they controlled by factions?
Settlements are much larger than social hubs, and they will be comprised of multiple buildings which will match the nature of the settlement. There will be different types, such as extraction, agricultural or industrial, including buildings such as power reactors and habitats where workers will be able to stay. Not all settlements will have the same buildings.
Settlements are owned by factions and connected to the BGS, the NPCs in the social hubs will differ depending on which faction is in control of that system, with visual elements inside the social hub reflecting the current BGS. Players themselves won't be able to own settlements but they will be able to support a faction contesting territory - more on this later.
How seamless is the transition into buildings in Odyssey?
We are focused on creating a seamless experience for Odyssey, in the same way we have for the base game, this is why there will not be loading screens when entering or exiting the various buildings and structures. Everything is part of the same live environment, so in the same way you can see ships coming into land through the windows of the starport social hub, you'll be able to look through the windows of buildings and see commanders, starships and SRVs going about their business.
How does mission availability vary through the game?
The missions available from contacts and boards in the social hubs and settlements will depend on the BGS status, this means you will find different missions in different locations in the same way as you do in Elite Dangerous today.
Some missions given by vendors will ask Commanders to visit a certain location, retrieve a specific item, or even kill an NPC. However, you don't need a mission to go to a settlement; you can go wherever you want, when you want - creating your own story. This includes the ability to, if you decide, perform nefarious acts like looting or killing NPCs. Just remember your actions could have a negative effect on the controlling faction, which will in turn affect your reputation with them and the BGS.
How will NPCs react to players and each other?
Odyssey's NPCs will react to players and other NPCs based on a number of factors, from obvious status elements like having a weapon drawn right through to their current BGS affiliations. NPCs have a variety of professionally voice acted dialogue which really adds to the immersion of the galaxy. If you are on good terms with a faction they will be kind to you, if you are not in good terms... start ducking, as they might start firing on sight!
Can you give some examples of the suits that will be available?
Commanders will be able to purchase and switch between multiple suits to help them with different mission types. Outside of the Flight Suit (currently in-game) you will also be able to equip the Exploration Suit, the Combat Suit and the Scavenger Suit. You will also be able to purchase multiples of each suit and give them different loadouts, dependent on your particular playstyle/mission.
The suits we mention above will be geared towards different mission activities. You do not need to own that suit type to take on a specific activity, however doing so will certainly make life easier. Suits can be upgraded in a variety of ways to help improve their capabilities. We will be announcing more on the different suit types and upgrades in the future - stay tuned!
Will suits have shields? If so, how is this managed?
All suits will have shields installed, and they will use up your battery supply. You'll have to make sure you manage your power outlet and distribution between your shields and oxygen (similar to managing the pips in your ship).
Will I have an on foot inventory?
Yes, players will have an on foot inventory and Odyssey will introduce some new materials, which you will be able to gather on foot. This includes organic samples you've collected using the Field Sampler tool for the new Exo-Biologist rank.
Does the Apex Interstellar service now mean that it is viable to travel between systems by way of taxi flights, whilst theoretically never flying your own ship?
Yes exactly, you can now choose to play Elite Dangerous without a ship! Commanders will be able to use their ships, or the Apex Interstellar service, or even both, to move about the galaxy. That being said, there will be areas Interstellar will not take you.
We will continue to answer questions about Odyssey as time goes on, and we thank you for your passion and continued support.
o7 Commanders