Star Citizen vs Elite: Dangerous

So what are the main differences between these two upcoming space sim games? Initially, I was really excited about SC's promising implementation of walking around ships, planets, space stations etc as well as FPS combat apart from the basic space traversing and battles but I understand that Elite: Dangerous will offer these features as well in the form of expansions down the road.

Which one of those two are you guys most looking forward to and why? I'm really excited about the concept so I'm in a dilemma about which one to pick(if I decide so) when the time comes.

I am more excited about elite dangerous because the gameplay looks so good. Also the game is coming out before star citizen which is another reason why I am excited about it.

I'm more looking forward to Star Citizen. I think there's going to be more personality and character etched into the world because the team's creating a single player campaign featuring a supposedly rich story with alien races and a lot of added lore, which in turn should enhance the MMO-side of the game, getting you more involved and attached to the Universe.

That being said, I'm not really sure if Elite features a story or a campaign or how much there is or will be to do in the game, it's a mystery to me until I play it for myself. I haven't seen it from SC either but I know they're definitely striving to ultimately make a genre-defying magnum opus.

What a helpful post...

@johnd13: I'm looking forward to SC more because it's the more ambitious project, but both are shaping up to be great games. As mentioned, Star Citizen will have a campaign/story along with the persistent universe whereas Elite will not. The Elite games have always mostly been about just the pure sandbox experience rather than a story driven space saga like the Wing Commander games, which Star Citizen is a spiritual successor to.

Between the two, Star Citizen plays much more like something out of Star Wars. Combat is fast and challenging, sound effects are loud and it feels more like jet planes in space. Elite's combat is more methodical and feels like you are piloting space shuttles with guns. Ships turn more slowly and it's more about figuring out angles and velocity to win.

Right now, Elite is much further along than Star Citizen so it's hard to compare them apples to apples. Elite currently has a full "mini" version of the game with 55 solar systems you can visit, you can take missions, trade, and fight. Star Citizen right now is more like an extended multiplayer demo. There are multiple modes you can play, but they are all versions of skirmishes or free flight in a small, simulated area. The .9 update that was released yesterday updated the flight model significantly and also added a racing mode with checkpoints that's pretty fun.

Personally, I've already purchased both games. Regardless of your budget, they won't even be out in the same year so why not pick up both?

-Byshop

@Byshop: Thanks for the insightful post. Star Citizen's story-driven and more meaningful universe(like @cyborg100000 also mentioned) does seem like a good enough plus over the methodical Elite. Deep lore and alien races as well as interacting with them will certainly enhance SC's universe. But yeah both games are quite intriguing(and Elite will be available sooner) so we'll have to wait a little longer in order to make a fair comparison.

I was planning to opt for only one so as to actually fully commit myself to it as I reckon both games will be staying and getting stronger for years after their release. But sure by that time, I might actually be able to easily afford both.

I picked up both of them and right now both of them are very enjoyable to fly. They now feel quite different flying, elite seems a bit more fine tuned flying and at the moment star citizen has a faster arcadey feel while being natural and responsive (almost too responsive).

Both feel like they're going to be a ton of fun once the rest of the game systems are implemented.

Personally I'd pick Elite for the time being, it's going to be released soon so you have plenty of time to dedicate to Elite before SC is even near release. The flight model in Elite is quite nice too, it's fun in battle and even fun when doing trading. You really can't go wrong with either choice.

I haven't heard anything about Elite: Dangerous yet.

I hope Star Citizen makes the jump to consoles one day or other.

@behardy24:

Elite might make it to consoles, but Star Citizen probably never will. They've been pretty adamant that they will not dilute the experience for consoles.

-Byshop

These comparisons are always so painful for me to read . I love both games and looking forward to both . I prefer Star Citizen because of its lore , characters , storyline , aliens etc . Both games are going to be amazing and I'm looking forward to release of Elite Dangerous later this year . Hopefully my PC will be able to play it fine on launch , since I don't plan to upgrade until early next year before Witcher 3's release .