Elite: Lore

03 Mar 2018, 4:48am
Maybe Farraguts are propulsed by impeller drive and have to follow Honorverse rules of combat?
03 Mar 2018, 5:07am
Interesting that Patrick O'Brian kept insisting Lord Nelson said that, because that's a good way of getting your T crossed, not a position the real Nelson would put himself into on purpose.
03 Mar 2018, 5:14am
True or not, I like the sentiment.

;)
03 Mar 2018, 5:34am
For those of you who see ships in science fiction with broadside style weaponry and think, "Wait, that makes no sense", congratulations, your brain's logic center is working. You're right, it does make no sense. Space is three dimensional, weapons should have clear lines of sight in all directions. Anything not in line with that is simple rule of cool.

However, some sci fi authors like bringing antiquated styles of combat into futuristic settings. Fans of David Weber's Honor Harrington novels know this all too well. The sublight propulsion method in those books makes it so ships on their dorsal and ventral sides are protected in such a way that mounting weapons in those areas pointless and unnecessary. So weapons are mounted in broadsides, with chase weaponry mounted on the ends of ships as well; also, ships look like flying barbells. Once you sift through all the technical detail, because if there's one thing David Weber loves it's his info-dumps, you'll find this is solely because the author wants to use Napoleonic-era naval warfare tactics in a 41st century setting.


Last edit: 03 Mar 2018, 5:57am
03 Mar 2018, 8:22am
GaaveraIve noticed someting about the Farragut class cruiser: all of its major weapons systems are mostly concentrated on the sides. How does it fire and adversaires in front of it?


It's supposed to have an entire barrage of guided weapons, at least lorewise.
03 Mar 2018, 8:30pm
Still, I think there is a level of willing suspension of disbelief you must have with Elite. I personally appreciate the level of real-world science it brings to the table compared to similar sci-fi space games. But, like others pointed out, you still need to make game mechanics that are fair and work.

I just imagine the laser weapons are limited somehow that's never explained. Perhaps they're deliberately designed to be snuffed out or locked at a certain range, to minimize friendly fire in major conflicts, and to minimize the heat draw on the ship.

Septimus RavenI appreciate the feedback and i am also sorry about any misspelled words and so on and so forth

However, that does not change the fact that some things happening in the only viable 1:1 scale simulation of our galaxy currently available on the market are somewhat daft. And let's be honest with ourselves for a second, some weapon ranges could be improved a lil' bit. It's not crazy to think that a laser could be effective at 10 km and coupled with computer assisted tracking, could land a successful hit on a moving target situated at the afore mentioned range. But that's just wishful thinking, and same could be said about the idea of being able to gradually empty a haz res for example, by slowly nudging asteroids left and right between fights. I dunno, it just sounds like a neat little trick you could do if you're like me, and dislike accidentally bumping into them when your shields are low and you're fighting a 2 elite anaconda team (that actually happen today as a matter of fact)... y'know.. every once in a while, after a fight, waiting for the shields to charge and then you notice an asteroid and you just want to push it out of the field... but you can't... because the engine isn't programmed to handle the asteroids, just the ships.. and even then, weird things happen. Anyway, be that as it may, we all have our preferences. I've said my bit about my hopes and expectations, even made a few spelling errors (not a native english speaker, so sorry ) and to top it all off, i'm not even an expert in astrophysics... am i? Given that i lack some very basic notions regarding heat propagation and the way it influences propulsion or the lack of, and by extension, range.

But you don't need to be a scientist to notice some very protruding mishaps when it comes to realism in the game, and how they may be alleviated. If only. Don't hate me, i just like nitpicking.
03 Mar 2018, 8:39pm
Frontier themselves have stated that in any conflict between what makes for a more realistic game and what makes for a more fun game, they'll choose fun every time. This was evidenced in their rollout of the more visually interesting planet textures.

And don't get me started on the capital ships sitting there point-blank broadsiding each other...
03 Mar 2018, 8:49pm
Precisely. If all fiction was conformed to real-world laws it wouldn't be very interesting then would it?

And as far as the broadside argument goes - I think the Wikipedia article sums it up. There is a level of real-world strategy in that tactic - you do a shit ton more damage then if you just fired a few forward facing cannons.


M. LehmanFrontier themselves have stated that in any conflict between what makes for a more realistic game and what makes for a more fun game, they'll choose fun every time. This was evidenced in their rollout of the more visually interesting planet textures.

And don't get me started on the capital ships sitting there point-blank broadsiding each other...
03 Mar 2018, 10:12pm
The Rule of Cool is an important rule in games and other media. I think a lot of people try to lore-ify mechanics that only really exist because video game.
04 Mar 2018, 1:04am
Great responses. im glad to have discovered this game series. Not only is the gameplay and lore excellent but the community is great and imaginative. Another lore question: as you know, both the empire and the federation base their military commands outside their capitol planets with the Imperial command on Facece, and the Feds on Eta Cassiopeia. would that be a little "strange" or "dangerous" to give the military its own "domain, rather than having everything based on the capitol?
04 Mar 2018, 7:54am
GaaveraAnother lore question: as you know, both the empire and the federation base their military commands outside their capitol planets with the Imperial command on Facece, and the Feds on Eta Cassiopeia. would that be a little "strange" or "dangerous" to give the military its own "domain, rather than having everything based on the capitol?


Not at all - nations rarely if ever use their capital cities as military bases.
04 Mar 2018, 8:00am
Like I wrote before: Frortier does things as realistic as possible (no artificial gravity, Newtonian physics, even the FSD is affected by mass of the objects despite being device of pure SF magic) BUT the rule of cool is still a thing.

And in response to Gaavera:

It's not even about the military itself. Powerplay Powers likely have their own sort of PMCs. Heck, even every single system has their own local fleets but in case of Powerplay Powers we are speaking of big fleets that exists outside of ICC, FSS and Alliance Police(?).

Myself, I'd risk the statement that Alliance has the biggest force to be reckoned with. They may be loose confederation of systems but I think if all gathered the fleets, it could be able to overpower either Feds and Imperials. (Not counting Pilots Federation whose numbers and funds are technically infinite.)
04 Mar 2018, 6:38pm
Does anyone know how onion head is injested? Snorted, injected, swallowed, smoked?
04 Mar 2018, 6:46pm
Marra Morgan
GaaveraAnother lore question: as you know, both the empire and the federation base their military commands outside their capitol planets with the Imperial command on Facece, and the Feds on Eta Cassiopeia. would that be a little "strange" or "dangerous" to give the military its own "domain, rather than having everything based on the capitol?



Not at all - nations rarely if ever use their capital cities as military bases.


Hmm. List of US military bases in and around the Washington DC metro area:

-Marine Corps Base Quantico
-Henderson Hall
-Marine Corps Barracks Washington DC
-Naval Air Station Patuxent River
-Naval Support Facility Thurmont (which you'd know as "Camp David" )
-Washington Navy Yard
-United States Naval Research Laboratory
-Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division
-Bolling Air Force Base
-Joint Base Andrews
-Fort McNair
-Fort A.P. Hill
-Fort Belvoir
-And last but not least, The Pentagon

Not to mention that the US's largest naval fleet concentration is only 2.5 hours drive away in southern Virgina, with:
-Naval Station Norfolk
-Naval Air Station Oceana
-Damneck Annex
-Joint Base Langley-Fort Eustis
-Naval Weapons Station Yorktown
-Joint Base Little Creek-Fort Story

And off in the other direction about the same distance you have Fort Meade.


Last edit: 04 Mar 2018, 6:52pm

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