How Complete and Functional is the Game

With these space sims they are always 'bolting on' or 'fixing' systems, so at this point with it having been out on PC for several months, is the game complete and stable?

My computer rig sits between the minimum and the recommend for specs, so I don't anticipate a problem, but is there anything I should think about? I'm getting a Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas X Flight Stick. Sure there are better Hotas you can get for sure, but I'm not a flight nut. I figure that stick would be the most flexible for an average game at the least cost. I hear you have to adjust the dead zone "in game" for this stick because the stick 'add t'o the dead zone already in game, does anyone have a recommended lower setting?

I picked it up during the steam summer sale and bought myself an X52 Pro (because fuck it), and I've been having a blast. I'm not super deep into it, so I might not be the best person to answer your question. I'm not sure what you mean by "complete" though. What are you expecting to be in the game?

Stability of the game itself usually isn't a problem, but I've had some trouble with me losing connection to the game's server and getting stuck in the warp animation until I forced the game to quit.

It's also worth mentioning that the reason I enjoy this game is precisely because it is sometimes kinda boring, or at least quiet. I like just kind of being in space. Trading and shooting stuff is fun, but the intervening monotony is kind of what I like about it.

I found this game super playable with a xbox controller and a keyboard. I would suggest trying it with a gamepad before you buy a flight stick. Regarding the dead zone, there is a slider. I moved it one notch higher than the lowest to deal with the slight drift on the sticks. Its fun, though I have only spent about 25 hours in it and 2 hours of that was travelling about a light-year through space.

I've barely touched the main game but have like 15hours practicing/setting up gamepad and it works really good once you get it how you want it. Only would need the keyboard for typing. I find that it has performance and graphics issues though, often times it'll stutter out of nowhere and the planet resolution look really, really bad for me. As far as stuff to do, I haven't gotten far into it yet but i'm looking forward to the expansions they promise. Once i get good i really want to start up a pirate crew or something as that seems like the most fun way to play the game judging from online videos.

So sort of a mix bag of reactions, but mostly positive which is nice to see.

@nicolenomicon I sort of like some quite boring bit myself, I like to explore or poke around places at my own pace. And yeah stability was my main question, or that thing thing promised in development showed up and now work.

@s80007 I bought the flight stick already ist was like $50, so not really a huge outlay, but good advice all the same that a joypad can work.

@monkeyking1969: Well, I didn't really follow the game's development, so I wouldn't really know about any promises they made, but as far as I can tell it's pretty feature complete. It's got a decent economy system, missions involving sourcing or couriering goods, finding remains of destroyed ships, or just killing people. You can engage in piracy and bounty hunting. There's also mining, exploration, and a big faction metagame thing that I haven't engaged with at all, so I have no idea how that works.

Hopefully that helps.

@monkeyking1969: Here are the things you can do. First is deliver cargo from one port to another, smuggle stuff etc. Secondly you have a scanner fitted so you scan every unexplored region by default, increasing the scanners range is the upgrade. In the end you sell them for credits at a port more than 20 light-years from the explored location. And you can fight others by bounty hunting or if you are feeling lucky attacking a transport ship with escorts. Additionally you can mine but I have not tried it. You can also pick up cargo jettisoned in space. I personally play it like I played Euro Truck or Marvel Heroes, while listening to podcasts. Also an ever present danger of flying into a sun whenever you jump from location to location.

Make sure the first upgrade you buy is the auto docking thing, that would help a lot and it plays the blue danube while it docks your ship.

Make sure the first upgrade you buy is the auto docking thing, that would help a lot and it plays the blue danube while it docks your ship.

I'd recomnd a fuel scoop for your first upgrade it will save you a lot of money in the long run and if you fly smart you'll never be in danger of running out of fuel

I'm using a mouse & keyboard with Elite: Dangerous and I find the controls perfectly intuitive and easy to use. I don't have a flight stick, and an Xbox controller just didn't have enough buttons for me.

This game is so much fun, but only if you're into sandbox games that you make your own story in. PVP is also a little difficult to find, I've been doing a bit of piracy lately and even in systems where there is a current community goal, they can be deserted. Elite: Dangerous needs a way for players to be able to see how much human traffic is currently (or was recently) in any given system, so that people looking for others to play with or against can actually find them.

I think the fact that people can choose to play in Solo mode and yet still make credits for the Open game is a major design flaw. Piracy is a valid profession in the game - there are even tools for players to blow open the cargo hatches of other ships and take their cargo. But there is no incentive for traders to run their routes in open, because they can do the exact same thing in Solo without fear of getting stopped by another player.

I could go on, Elite: Dangerous does have it's problems but it is also a ton of fun, especially if you are open to doing a variety of things and aren't someone that needs a game to hold your hand throughout the entire thing in order to have a good time. Just be prepared to do some outside research and reading wikis and stuff to figure parts of the game out, because a lot of it is explained poorly in-game, or sometimes isn't explained at all.