There has been an outcry towards the ambitious space trading and combat simulator, Elite: Dangerous, following the revelation that its promised offline mode will not be included in the final version of the game.
According to David Braben, the CEO behind Frontier Developments (Elite: Dangerous’ developer), leaving in the offline mode “would be unacceptably limited and static compared to the dynamic, ever unfolding experience we are delivering. […]being online lets us constantly both curate and evolve the galaxy, with stories unfolding according to the actions of commanders,” the CEO explained.
Needless to say, this announcement caused a fair bit of upset, especially among those who initially backed the game, some even so much as saying that they were no longer interested in the title.
In an interview with Eurogamer, Braben looked to further explain why the decision was made to cut out Elite: Dangerous’ offline mode. As it turns out, it wasn’t a decision even made recently (which refutes the speculation of the offline mode being cut due to time constraints, as the game is scheduled to release next month) and it wasn’t made lightly either. Whilst there will still be a singleplayer for the game, the singleplayer itself won’t be offline.
“We announced shortly after we reached the conclusion that it wasn’t possible to create an offline mode without unacceptably compromising the game,” Braben told Eurogamer. “Some people have thought this means there wouldn’t be a single-player mode – to be clear, the single-player game is there, but it requires an online connection.
Back during the Kickstarter, we were clear about the vision, to make a phenomenal new sequel to Elite in an online world, which we believe we are about to deliver. At the time we believed we could also offer a good single-player experience, and base an acceptable offline-only experience off that. As development has progressed, it has become clear that this last assumption is not the case.“
Braben also admitted that Frontier Developments should have notified the Elite: Dangerous community a lot more sooner about the issue, especially since the studio was struggling with the development of the game’s offline component.
“In retrospect we should have shared the fact that we were struggling with this aspect with the community, but we were still trying to find a solution. As features were implemented, for the best results we chose to prioritise delivery of the online single and multiplayer experiences, with a view to providing the offline version later in development. We had to make a decision for the good of the game, and that is what we did.
We have developed a multiplayer game with an unfolding story involving the players, and groups collaborating with specific objectives and taking account of all players’ behaviour. This is what the game is about. Without this it would not be the rich gaming experience that we will deliver, and would be a great disappointment to all players.“
Braben concluded that “any offline experience would be fundamentally empty” compared to what the game’s online experience would offer. “The offline experience we could deliver now is unacceptable to us. To make this acceptable would be close to a whole new game development, so with heavy hearts we have made this decision.“
You can read Eurogamer’s full interview with David Braben via the source link below. Elite: Dangerous is slated to release on Tuesday, December 16 for PC. We’ll bring you more news on the game should further information reach our ears.
[ Source(s): Eurogamer ]