David Braben on reddit.com

One of the greatest joys in Frontier was the physics. Slingshotting, manual landing, manual docking... this was the core experience for me. Will these continue to be part of the game mechanic? For those that you plan to release later, such as planetary landings, might they be some of the expansions (DLC) mentioned on the Kickstarter page?

Overall – yes, but slingshotting was always a little hit and miss, and without FFwding of time will be hard to achieve in ED, I'm afraid, so probably will not feature.

After my Amiga days, I became loyal to the Microsoft camp starting with Windows 95. Now, however, I am on the verge of jumping ship to Apple. Many games are released on OSX via a Wine wrapper – it works, but not an ideal solution – rather than as native apps. What are your plans for OSX?

We plan to support OSX natively, as a stretch goal.

I love modding games, despite rarely releasing anything. I particularly enjoy tweaking game mechanics, and writing custom scripts which I did for Civ4 and Egosoft's X-Tension game. What modding support do you plan on providing? If you are, will they be cosmetic (textures, models, et al) or more in-depth with scripting and parameter modifications? If you are NOT, would you at least provide easy access to the game's data files?

I want us to provide modding support, but it will not be there at day 1

After numerous mishaps and false starts, I have grown extremely averse to multiplayer as a whole, outside of a private LAN. In my current situation, such LAN parties are out of the question, unless it's Starcraft... which I detest. I realize that Multiplayer is a big financial incentive, but do you intend to apply the same amount of effort and energy into the Singleplayer experience?

A hard one to answer. Almost all of the game world work applies to both single and multiplayer. Exploration is very nearly a single player experience, though much of the fun comes from the fact of the multiplayer world. We do not see these as separate experiences.

In most open world games I like to occasionally sit back and go wild, by antagonizing the police just to see how long I would last. Games like GTA will magically teleport fresh troops and send them in with no sense of self preservation. How realistic will the police presence be? Will they be finite, and can a system run out of military might?

Police presence is also there to ensure people behave, so I suspect it will be infinite

Crime rarely pays in games because the moment you do something wrong, everyone knows about it. How will notoriety and crime be handled? Will each system have their own records? Will there be a galactic record, which might take time to access after you enter a system?

Police records will largely be system by system.

Regarding Q&A 6 Do you see (at least) two levels of system policing ie police records local to a system (so there is a low overall penalty from the "county cops" if on a multi-hop delivery run and you just fancy causing havoc in a place you won't return to on the way through) and a federal level (for all the systems aligned to particular power blocs) so that the persistently anti-social have a hostile welcome from the Feds wherever they go in the space controlled by the block?

Yes, certainly different grades of crimes will be treated differently. Don't forget the bounty (for player kills) are provided by the pilot's federation so that will be near universal...

Are you considering multiple in game currency – or the ubiquitous all encompassing Credits?

Yes. It also has interesting gameplay opportunities when it comes to rigging stock markets, though having too many currencies will be annoying for the player. So we are considering it, but have not decided how many to have (if any other than credits).

Why is Jameson so important ? Who thought up the name and why ? Will David be Jameson ingame ?

Jameson wasn't all that important at the start, but has become so as he has become part of the Elite lore. The initial reason was I wanted a 7 letter commander name that would work as a filename on both the BBC micro and Acorn Atom. Ian an I discussed a few possible names. I liked Jameson as it is one of the best blended whiskys!

I plan to be pretty anonymous, as otherwise people won't be able to resist killing me! (though I may try going as Commander Braben in the Betas)

Kickstarter backers vs traditional consumers: Are you expecting the 20,000 or so Kickstarter backers to be a significant percentage of the players when the game is finally finished, or do you think many more will join in once it's released? Will the Kickstarter pledges continue to be available once the goal is met, or will you be selling the completed game by more traditional methods by then?

I hope we will have very many more than 20,000 players. All Frontier's released games from the last few years have exceeded 2M players (Coaster Crazy has had over 500,000 users on our servers at the same time).

Non Player / Computer Generated Characters:

Will the NPCs develop (like human players) as individuals / groups and be involved in shaping the universe? Will the NPCs be consistent, playing while we all sleep (not that I'll get any sleep once the game's released!) Would that give them an unfair advantage? Will NPCs also have "Harmless" to "Elite" levels like human players, and if so, will that already vary from NPC to NPC from the start, as if we're all joining a long established Universe, or will there be a "Big Bang" start where NPCs and human players alike have to build up their reputations, skills and credits from scratch?

NPCs will be inferior and not members of the pilots federation. This means the game will not react so strongly to the killing of such a non-member. Jury is out as to whether they will have ratings. Probably not.

Space is big: Due to the size of the Elite: Dangerous Universe, isn't there a danger of playing for weeks and not seeing another soul (except for NPCs)? Perhaps that's not necessarily a bad thing?

you will tend to see other players in the central systems. If you go out exploring, I suspect it will indeed be pretty rare – but the lack of law will also bring a frisson of danger!

Persistent Universe: With a game that can be shaped so much by the players, if you haven't played for a while, might things be very different when you return ("go to sleep" in a space station in a friendly system and "wake up" in an anarchy!)?

Galaxy will only change slowly, and the changes will tend to be additive. But yes, it can change under your feet.

Music: Can we have a full blown orchestral version of The Blue Danube for docking? Or perhaps we can rename our own MP3 to "docking-music.mp3" (bypassing royalty issues!) The old (perhaps remixed or even orchestral) version of the Frontier music might be good for fight scenes?

Yes – I would hope for the former. The music for the Blue Danube is out of copyright, so it is only the performance that is an issue. I would hope to get it re-performed, budgets permitting.

What features are you most looking forward to that perhaps haven't had the airtime yet? Also, what aspects of the two Frontier games were you most disappointed with and how will these be overcome in E:D?

I was most disappointed by the loss of immediacy in the combat – it just wasn't much fun (effectively jousting).

I am most looking forward to the social aspects of the game, and ways people find to 'game' some of the systems. I find that sort of thing intriguing.

Will you be using procedural generation in any interesting ways not yet discussed?

Yes. We are already using procedurally generated textures. Aging and dirtying up of surfaces will also help make a new ship look shiny and an older ship look travel-worn. I like the idea of being able to get an idea by looking at a landed ship how much experience the pilot is likely to have. I love the idea that a battered ship is a sort of 'badge of office'.

How much interaction will players be able to have with NPC ships? Will we be able to hail them, ask where they're going, what they're carrying?

We will have some way of doing this as NPC ships should feel like they blend in – but details need to be decided.

Will NPC ships have their own purposes? Will we be able to follow NPC ships to their destinations? Will their cargo and destinations "make sense" (i.e., carrying cargo that would make a profit)?

At a simplistic level, yes.

Will NPC ships fight among themselves (as in ArcElite)?

Yes – we will have encounters between NPCs that you may come across (and of course NPC vs player) and you can choose to get involved (or not) however you like.

An oddball question to David. In the mid 80's (I figure it could have been mid 85 or 86). My father had to visit and speak to the house at the house's of parliament (I said this was an odd one); due to the first buy out of a publicly owned bus company of all things. I remember waiting in the corridors as a kid and looking through a door that had glass panes. I distinctively remember there being several machines (can't remember if BBC or C64) playing Elite. I knew as soon as I saw them, that it was Elite. Can you confirm whether all our government were playing the game or did you have some presentation or something more sinister go on?? I do recall there were some disputes/problems with getting the game onto other systems. I've always been curious as to what I had seen that day (or am I just making it up)?? I'd love to know if this jogs your memory and whether you knew what I refer to???

I don't think it was particularly sinister (though the C64 version was published by a public company – British Telecom – just before it was privatised so in effect it WAS published by the government). It may have been a demonstration of British games at the time.

Alternatively it was simply that a great deal of computing in the early 1980s was done on BBC Micros and they were being used to play Elite in their down time. People may not realise but the BBC was the only machine at that time that supported networked data.

Ian and I appeared on ITN news in the UK in November 1984 because John Taplin, the the editor, was amazed that all his journalists in the newsroom were playing Elite, so decided to make a story of it!

Astrophysics question. We know you are modelling various star types, planets, moons, asteroid belts and rings. Will you also be modelling any of the following?

Comets – yes

Kuiper belt – yes, to some extent ( though a bit far out to be compelling)

Oort cloud (just an extension of the Kuiper Belt, really)

Quasars – no. These are almost certainly (yes, I know what Harlton Aarp said...) very much extra-galactic bodies, so modelling them within our galaxy would not make sense.

Black holes – yes

Protoplanets and protosystems – yes, ideally.

Active binary star systems where one star is pulling hot gasses of the other into an accretion disc? – yes, as it is a graphical spectacular. I think the nearest is Beta Lyrae (wanted to include this in Frontier, but time ran away with me...)

Pulsars – yes – I hope so as these can affect gameplay too, but there is not one terribly nearby...

With all of these, some may or may not make first release, but I want to see most at some stage...

I've always thought the Elite logo was a Phoenix but have since been informed its a Griffin. Is that the case and can you tell us why that design?

The Elite logo took a while to get right. The inspiration was a mix of pilot's wings and logo. The Griffin thing was Philip Castle's idea.

What part of E:D are you personally most looking forward to creating/playing? (Suggest you don't say planetary landings:-)

The emergent social aspects that will come out of multiplayer. I am really not sure what to expect – but that is why it is exciting.

Could you give us some examples of how you would like to see the Design decision Forum working during development?

We will openly discuss design issues we need to address, and the options of how to do so. DDF members may well suggest other options. This will continue beyond the release of the game, as design issues will continue to come up. Pre-release examples might include how we deal with ships in dock. Can they use their guns on other ships while landed? Should there be an automatic interlock, or do we rely on penalties to discourage? Post release examples might include how we change a system through time.

Will permits be required to enter certain systems, like Van Maanen's star, in Elite: Dangerous? I seem to recall you could obtain these by carrying certain parcels or passengers. Presumably this taxi-driver profession will still be a viable option in Elite: Dangerous?

Yes, we will have something similar. We will also reserve areas for future elements.

Hi David / Michael. Just wanted confirmation on the ship recognition chart and star map not being in the premium box. If this is the case – would it be possible to have them as digital add-on's for those of us who live outside the UK? I think it would be very helpful to the game play. In addition, is there a manual that comes with the game, or do we need to purchase that as a digital add – on as well? Thank you so much – your game looks fantastic and I am really looking forward to playing it and will see you in the Alpha !

The star chart is included in the premium boxset, that and the ship chart are also available as concept art in the pledge add ons. We'll look into making digital versions available.

There will be a manual, but you won't have to pay for it, it willcome with the game.

Do you think we will be able to have a seamless transition from Single Player to Multiplayer? Or are the difficulties too great and you will have to keep SP & MP distinct. Issues like hacking of SP save files. Mining and traveling in SP mode, then switching to MP to sell goods.

I expect it to be seamless, BUT the issue, as you say, is resuming MP after a long SP session, and the problem with cheating. It is a thorny one. Worst case, once you go SP you will not be able to play with that save on MP.

Hi David. Will the docking computer/Blue Danube be making a reappearance in Dangerous? Will we get the original BBC laser sounds?

Yes. The Blue Danube has already made a very minor appearance, at the end of the teaser-trailer...

I like the idea of the laser sounds sounding like the BBC Micro version... I'm sure our sound guys will not though.. Hmmm....

Hi David, sorry if this has already been asked, I haven't had time to read through all the questions yet. Will there still be 'buyers' on the bulletin boards that pay over average for products or would this unbalance the economy too much? I am sure most players will remember that satisfying feeling when you land and see a buyer for the goods you have on board!

It will work in a different way, but the spirit will be there. You should certainly be able to 'game' the stockmarkets, and missions will be part of that (and indeed triggered by wild stock market excursions)

Can you give us a little detail on how you structure a development project like this? Are you using a RAD/Agile development methodology? How do you QA, test and manage change?

We use a combination of Agile and waterfall. We have our own QA department, and we regularly test builds against test plans so we can spot failures or issues as they come up. We have a version control database where changes are stored (and can be rolled back), just like any software development.

The only "disappointment" I had with previous Elites was the lack of police support when I, an innocent trader ("Honestly, your Honour!") was being attacked by thieving pirates in a supposedly civilized and well policed system. It would have been nice for the boys in blue to appear and shoot the bejasus out of the pirates before the pirates did it to me?

Local police will be responsive according to the capabilities of the local system. Piracy in a core system may get a military response.

A question regarding procedural generation. I understand that it will be used in the generation of planetary environments (land masses, clouds etc.) but now I understand that the galaxy itself will be crafted to accurately represent the milky way – as far as our science can perceive it. Will there be any content on a solar system/galactic scale that will receive the procedural treatment?

Yes, most of the galaxy will be procedurally generated, but the mechanism used will create a galaxy similar to our own. Where needed we can override this to handcraft systems and worlds.

When the game comes out, and it will, I would like to rebuild my old Cobra III cockpit (pilot's seat with joystick and control panel, forward view-screen, etc. This time, however, I would like to have two extra monitors, one each side of the forward screen, to act as side screens. Will it be possible to have forward, left and right views simultaneously, given such a hardware configuration? ... and if so, how about installing a rear-view sub-screen (like a rear view mirror) on the main screen, as well?

This is something we have been asked a few times. As long as your hardware supports it at a good enough frame rate, it would be a good thing to offer – not just for side views, but for 45 degrees etc, to get an all round view. I would like it in the first release, but we need to consider priorities, but I imagine it would be on the list to do, and would not be too hard.

Hi Michael, Can you give us some information about the musics and sounds in the game? Who is going to compose? How the music or sound ambiance will changer over the actions of the users (landing, fighting, etc). Is the universe will look like more like the Civilization books of Isaaz Asimov or something like the Terran Trade Authority (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terran_Trade_Authority)? Can you describe what a Design Decision Forum Member will have to do with the team? Thanks!

We have our own in-house audio team that will be responsible for the music and audio design. We would expect that to reflect what the player is doing at any given time.

You can see what look we are using in the cocept art we've released, but the major factions will have their own styles.

On the design forum you will be helping us shape the game, provide input on design decisions and be closer to the game's development.

Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/15od2s/i_am_david_braben_cocreator_of_elite_creator_of