It's fine solo but you're absolutely right. At first I found the humor in the LAN parties for it but having now tried it — you're spot on.
Portal bundle for 2 bucks is amazing. I prefer to play em on xbox, but if you haven't played them before this is an amazing deal.
Xbox controller on PC FTW!
My man!
Upvoted for Stardew. I have it on all my devices. Great game
But what do you actually do in the game?
Whatever you want, within the confines of the functions of the game. Unless you have mods, then you may be able to do more.
You can farm whatever you like, go to the mines, whatever. You don't even have to complete the overarching quest.
I'm a completionist so I had to do it all the right way but my kids just fart around doing nothing and using the cheat menu to get around.
It's harvest Moon, but improved.
Goodness. I've only ever played it on an android tablet. I can't believe how much I'm missing the auto-switching tools!
I have 1,638 hours in Elite: Dangerous (my favourite game, obviously). Can confirm Commander Deluxe edition is the best version to buy. It has all current content.
If you like the idea of a sandbox simulation of the entire Milky Way galaxy set in the year 3305 (400 billion star systems you can visit, accurate to the best of our knowledge today, but with the complex politics and technology of 3305), it's a steal at this price. You can switch between playing solo, in a private group, or as an open PvP MMO and continue your progress because all those modes take place on the same servers.
Happy to answer questions about the game.
Is it better to play with friends? And is there much grind to make new ships (if you can), lastly what happens when you log out in terms of griefing?
Yes it is apparently better to play with friends, but none of my friends play the game. I only know other players through the game (you can join a squadron, which is a guild - I'm in an explorers' squadron). You can also form a wing, a group of up to 4 ships that has bonuses for working together. I am a very solo player however. Currently exploring empty star systems on the far side of the galaxy.
New ships are purchased with credits (in-game currency). It is currently fairly easy, mostly due to mining being very profitable, to quickly make enough credits to buy any ship you want, apart from a couple of faction-locked ones (join the European-style Empire or the US-style Federation and gain rank to unlock those). However, you then have to equip them with things like engine upgrades, weapon upgrades, the ability to do much bigger hyperspace jumps, etc (a newly purchased ship has only basic modules and can fly like a brick in comparison to a fully upgraded one). Once you've afforded all those upgrades, you then need to visit engineers in remote star systems who can further upgrade your modules in a kind of crafting game (gather resources, unlock the engineer, level up with the engineer, then do the engineering). The engineering side of things is a real grind and most people concentrate on the modules that suit their playstyle most (e.g. I've engineered things that can help me travel and explore better, but not weapons). If you like PvP, you need to do a lot of engineering.
When you log out, you're gone from the game and cannot be harmed. If you're in danger at the time there's a countdown timer for logout. You can be suspended/banned for disconnecting when you're losing a PvP battle. If you're being griefed you can just switch to Solo/Private Group and fly out of danger.
Do you play with keyboard and mouse or a joystick?
Also any recommendations on how to get started?
I've play a few hours (maybe 3 or 4) but it was at least a year or 2 ago…Just grabbed the DLC bc it was so cheap, but i just remember being a bit overwhelmed and struggling with the take off/departure and i guess generally 'what to do'. I think there were speed limits in areas and i didn't realise, wasn't sure on landing properly, and how to start making any coin
I play with keyboard and mouse (but with a 4K TV as my screen, and a Roccat Sova couch gaming keyboard). This works for my relaxed exploration and trading play style. It's better to invest in a HOTAS if you want to do anything serious like combat. The game was always designed with VR in mind (e.g. Oculus Rift), and although you don't need it, VR with a HOTAS is said to be the best way to play the game. Those who try it never go back, and people rack up thousands of hours in VR due to this game alone.
The learning curve (more like learning cliff) is steep. However, they have just introduced a revamped "new player experience" which is supposed to be excellent. Apparently there's a tutorial star system now where you can remain until you feel ready to enter the galaxy. People say it is a much better introduction to the game, so I think I'd start from scratch again if I were you. And yeah, take-off and landing are insanely difficult at first. But soon you don't even need to think about it. There's a docking computer (ship module) you can install to automate landing if you continue to find it annoying. The only speed limit is inside a space station, but you can get away with exceeding it as long as you don't crash into anyone (AI air traffic control can do anything from heavily fining you to killing you).
A YouTuber called Obsidian Ant makes the best videos about the game, and has a soothing radio voice to go with it. It's worth googling his introductory videos.
Awesome, thanks!
I have a Vive and HOTAS, can confirm it's definitely more immersive than pancake mode.
Funny, I've heard people say that using KB+M is the way to go if you are 100% serious about combat - it's more accurate. But it's definitely less fun than feeling like you're in the cockpit yourself with a HOTAS.
Oh, I should also add there is a new tutorial that explains things a lot more clearly, so I hope the game doesn't overwhelm you this time around if you decide to try it.
I recommend joining the Elite Dangerous Community group on Facebook. Lots of newbies asking questions there, and also the reddit Elite Dangerous sub is good too but I find the FB group a bit friendlier.
I have about 1000 hours in the galaxy so feel free to PM me any questions. Merry Christmas!
Both of the DLC have overall terrible reviews. Better to just buy the base game for ~$8?
If you want to play Elite: Dangerous properly, buy the Commander Deluxe Edition.
There is really only one DLC which is Horizons, a major update to the game that includes the ability to land on planets, to use the engineers (see above) and much of the recent in-game content. The Commander Deluxe Edition is the base game plus Horizons.
Any other DLC is basically a pack of paint jobs for ships you may or may not use. You're better off buying paint jobs from the Frontier Store than buying them as a pack on Steam. If they come bundled as an alleged extra DLC with Commander Deluxe Edition, consider them irrelevant extras.
Reviews for this game (like many MMOs) are often from people who have played heaps of hours and got annoyed with something and want to air their grievances. There's a large community playing and enjoying the game, but many people are currently unhappy that it's taking a long time for the next DLC or expansion to be developed. The existing content for a new player is vast.
But yes you could buy the base game and play it and add Horizons later in another sale if you want the full OzBargain experience.
Horizons will allow you to land on planets and give you access to Engineers.
I'd say it's a huge chunk of the game, so I would recommend you to get it.
Yeah definitely get the Commander Deluxe edition, you can’t engineer your ships without the DLC so it’s pretty mandatory. I guess the bad reviews come from folks expecting it to be more of a space shooter, but it’s more of a space sim, and combat is only one part of it. It’s quite a unique experience!
Fractured Butt Hole was like 9 bucks the other week. Not a deal.
I'll give you a fractured butt hole for free
Haha what say you Fergy1987?
holy shit.
Andard would you also like to join the A Party?
![[PC] Stardew Valley $10.19 | Elite Dangerous: Commander Deluxe $16.99 | Portal Bundle $2.18 | FTL $3.62 @ Steam](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/86/507086.jpg?h=0be918fc)
Grabbed Stardew when I got my Switch lite recently. Lots of fun but I prefer it with multiplayer. Seems a but lonely solo, but that's my opinion.