And I’m sure a lot of you are asking “Where’s the next mini-playthrough?”. Well, please see this blog post.
Anyway, so I’ve been somewhat to strongly considering of getting Elite: Dangerous, and the Horizons DLC. Since I saw the videos back in 2015 about this game, I thought … “WOW!!” My favorite thing was the “jump drive charging!” voice. I so…SO want someone to put that in Space Engineers! Make it a thing! And the second thing is, the game world is freakin’ huge. You can pretty much even go to the Sol system (our system) and visit Earth in the future.
Yet the one thing the game lacked, is being able to land on planets. But that’s were the Horizons DLC comes into play. Not only can you land on landable planets, you can deploy a rover! How cool is that?
Yet there’s been three things that have been stopping me from being all “SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!! 😀 ” And here they are;
1. Price. Both the game and the DLC cost nearly $70, and that’s the normal price. The DLC is more expensive than the full game, which gets me in that bad, untrusting feeling.
2. Reviews. This is ironic. Getting reviews while I’m a reviewer. Most feel the DLC has ‘spat in the faces of the fans’ for being $8 more expensive than the original game. Some say it has the original game with it, but you literally have to pay for the game again (+ $8 more) as it’s a DLC.
And lastly, most say the game is boring. They say landing on planets is boring. I find that completely opposite. Exploring an alien world feels fun to me(in Space Engineers).
And finally, the 3rd thing. The ‘requirement’ to have a joystick, and the reason for this blog post. Most of the videos I’ve seen all say “get a joystick!”, mentioning about theirs costing ohh.. a mere $200+. That’s more than my GPU (though it was on sale at the time on Newegg)!
So I did something I should’ve done back in 2015; made a post in the Elite: Dangerous section of the Steam forums. And the responses have been, shocking to say the least.
Most, if not all, are saying that I can use a keyboard/mouse with this game. They say the keybinds are fully customizable, and even recommend I try it with a keyboard/mouse and see if it’s worth needing a joystick. …If only I was told this MONTHS ago, I would had gotten the game sooner (when it was on sale)!
Anyway, the only way I would be able to get both Elite: Dangerous and Horizons is through something I’ve never done before, which is to buy a Season Pass. I never put that phrase with gaming, as it just sounds weird. But the term “Season Pass” means that the owner has access to pretty much everything available (for that year). Basically, like an amusement park pass to have access to all the rides of that year.
Since when did they pair it with DLCs? Guess sometime after the term ‘DLC’ was created.
But from what I know, a Season Pass gives access to all future DLC for free. Yet, from what I’ve seen, it doesn’t actually include the game. Yet what I read, you will get the game and all future updates of that DLC for free. Made another thread asking about it. Haven’t gotten a response yet. Though I’m confident I will in the morning.
EDIT: Indeed. But I didn’t just get one response…I got four. And they all misinterpreted my question 100%. *facepalm* They think I’m asking if the base game is included in the DLC. I never said this in the OP.
At this time (from reading the section), I can only assume you would get the DLC. But I just want conformation before I slap down $37.99.
But I haven’t said why I want this game, when Space Engineers is fun. Yes, you can build bases, rovers, ships, etc.. but I’ve reached the point where it’s gotten pointless. Pointless as in “why even do this?” Right now, there’s just no real desire. What I want, I doubt Keen can give me. And that’s AI players. Players that will fly ships and dock them at your base (or see a mining ship on an asteroid, or a planet). It would make the game feel much more alive and fresh.
Bringing back cargo ships was a nice touch, but it still doesn’t feel.. real. I want an option for those ships to try to get close to me and attack (instead of me being forced to go off-course and engage).
The closest thing that I could have is a scenario. But it would be scripted. Things like the Cyberhounds, and the bugs.. those are the unscripted encounters I want to see. Make the game feel like it’s breathing.
Yet I doubt I would ever see that. Not with Keen’s fantastic track record of breaking shit after every useless weekly patch. Which…is why… I want this game. Infact, I can use it to get me ideas for Space Engineers. To build bases on planets. To only use a small ship to get around (and find some way to get a jump drive installed in them).
Yet the thing that kills me is… how in the fuck are those tiny ships able to have a hangar bay for a rover?! Those are the things I want to know. And I’m hoping by buying this game (and the Season Pass to get the DLC), I will know these secrets, in time.
.
EDIT2: More into the whole “Season Pass” thing. I’m explained by them that simply put — it’s a bunch of DLCs, that are bundled. But instead of using the proper term ‘Bundle’, the devs are European and decided to use the term ‘Season Pass’ instead.
Either way, I’ll get the DLC if I pay for the Season Pass.
And like that, I bought it. But I bought the ‘Elite Dangerous Deluxe Edition’ for $60. So it saves $7. Gives me the base game, the DLC, and I also got a ‘Pilot Starter Pack’ DLC, which contains four ship skins and a bobblehead that bobbles in your ship. I have read not to do this, but due to the fact I never got the base game (and ways, it was cheaper), I decided to get it.
Though I have this really bad nagging feeling in the back of my head, saying I should had waited for a sale. Oh well. It’s not like $60 is going to put me in the hole. I even made sure with my bank if my balance was still going to be in my ‘comfort zone’ after getting it, and I see no problem.
Plus, hopefully the extra money will help to make the game good in the future. I am hearing more landable planets are possible in the near future.