[Flipside]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20165344

David Braben wants to use Kickstart funding to release a modern version of Elite.

Personally, if this is just a vanity project in this day and age, then I'm not certain of the success factor, but it looks like this is a continuation of the Engine Braben has been working on for years for the next generation of Elite.

[Phantom Hoover]

I'm inclined towards disliking Braben because of the bad blood between him and Bell over Frontier, and AFAICT he's mostly just coasted since then on his reputation as A Famous British Game Developer; I don't have high hopes for this. The Raspberry Pi was an admirable project, but I don't really think he can claim any clout as a maker of great games any more. Also his jaw is slightly too big for his head and it deeply unnerves me

[Flipside]

I will admit that I've always found it weird to see established companies on Kickstarter like Frontier developments, who produced games like Rollercoaster Tycoon and 2 upgrades. Brabens new Elite has been in the works for years, it's been dangled like a carrot in front of people's noses but never actually produced any physical evidence of its existence.

Frontier have been in a position to develop this game for ages, they had plenty of money years ago but did nothing tangible, and now we are in the middle of a recession they want someone else to pay for it.

This just doesn't strike me as what Kickstarter is all about.

Edit : Besides, if it does really well, I foresee a spate of 'Chucky Egg 2013' and 'Q-Bert - in full 3D!'

[Thaeris]

I read, or at least scanned through his kickstarter page, and I was of the impression that this is not in fact a re-make of Elite, but a new game entirely, but with simplified gameplay akin to the original Elite. Correct me if I'm wrong on that front, of course.

Elite is a game I'll need to sit down and really play at some point. I tried GL Frontier a while ago and found it to be really... unreliable. All-in-all, however, I don't see what, despite a new-found budget, makes this worth investing in over the fan-made Elite clones available for free. The said budget promises potentially impressive visuals and what have you, but Breben really failed to emphasize what would be new and worth seeing in a revamped game that can't be achieved either now or in the future with open-source projects.

[Flipside]

To be honest, the page is somewhat vague with regards to what is actually planned, and comments like 'further content is in the hands of the donators' scares me for some reason. There's times where it's a good idea to listen to your fanbase, and there are times when it is a very very bad idea to do so. I don't want to be flying through space listening to Rick Astley whilst shooting at Unicorns that **** rainbows. At least, not in an Elite game, though the idea itself is strangely appealing now I think of it...

[Thaeris]

I never before thought the concept of being Rick-Rolled by My Little Pony was a life-and-death affair... IN SPACE. Consider me a changed man.

[TrashMan]

That imagery...it is pure evil.

[Nuke]

I read, or at least scanned through his kickstarter page, and I was of the impression that this is not in fact a re-make of Elite, but a new game entirely, but with simplified gameplay akin to the original Elite. Correct me if I'm wrong on that front, of course.

Elite is a game I'll need to sit down and really play at some point. I tried GL Frontier a while ago and found it to be really... unreliable. All-in-all, however, I don't see what, despite a new-found budget, makes this worth investing in over the fan-made Elite clones available for free. The said budget promises potentially impressive visuals and what have you, but Breben really failed to emphasize what would be new and worth seeing in a revamped game that can't be achieved either now or in the future with open-source projects.

just go get a copy of oolite. its for all intents and purposes the same game, with a better renderer. the fronteir games were so difficult to play, compounded my the fact that a low res display made the combat sequences a matter of shooting at pixels. though i am looking forward to playing arc elite native on my raspberry pi.

[Phantom Hoover]

Oolite's cool but it's also limited. There's no way to change most of the gameplay without forking the code, and the community is often actively hostile to anyone trying to remove or alter hardcoded limitations. It's always going to be an extension of Elite; there's no potential for radically new ideas in it.