Elite Dangerous
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Braben on Elite's GTA successors and friendly competition with Star Citizen
Space sims are in vogue again, thanks in large part to crowdfunded darlings like Elite: Dangerous and Star Citizen. Prior to the past couple of years, though, the genre was basically dead in the water aside from occasional indie gems. Elite mastermind David Braben says the lull happened because game devs and publishers lost sight of the freedom that defines space sims. "The true successors to Elite and Frontier were the Grand Theft Auto games. For me, the setting is secondary to the feeling of freedom," Braben recently told Tech Radar. "The success of the Elite series has always been based on the freedom that players are given. It's all about individual choice in an open world -- you don't select 'pirate' or 'bounty hunter' or 'trader' from a list, you simply do what you want and events will unfold accordingly." Braben also addresses the "friendly competition" between Elite and Star Citizen, saying that he and Chris Roberts are "both alpha backers of each other's games and both want the other to succeed."
Elite newsletter talks star systems and an unofficial dangerous rating
It's Friday, which must mean that there's an Elite: Dangerous newsletter winging its way across the universe toward my inbox. Yep, there it is now. Issue #22 covers everything from Pilots Federation lore and rankings to capsules on the three power blocs (Empire, Federation, Alliance) you'll encounter whilst adventuring through ED's vast virtual universe. There's also a blurb about the five star systems centered around the Bootes constellation as well as a shout-out to Commander Starwind, who is the first player to reach the coveted -- and currently unofficial -- "dangerous" rating with over 2000 confirmed alpha kills.
Elite: Dangerous newsletter clarifies alpha and beta phases
In the latest edition of the Elite: Dangerous newsletter, David Braben and crew refine the game's alpha and beta schedule. "The final stage of the Alpha [Alpha 4] will be released on May 15th and will be followed two weeks later by the first stage of the Premium Beta on May 30th," the letter states. Until then, Premium Beta purchasers are able to download the single-player combat build. Frontier also talks up Alpha 4's 400 billion star systems, discusses its proprietary Cobra software tech, explores the Boötes constellation, and dishes on the game's three modes of travel: conventional drives, frame shift drives, and upgraded frame shift drives that permit full hyperspace jumps. [With thanks to Cotic for the tip!]
Elite: Dangerous goes in-depth on trading
Elite: Dangerous' 20th newsletter is out, and the team has dedicated the lion's share of its space to talking about the upcoming space sim's trading game. The developers explain how Elite's thousands of systems will help to create a huge economy once the MMO goes live: "Each star system has a different basic type of economy –- for example agricultural, industrial, hi-tech, extraction, refining or service, and some have a mix of these basics –- such as extraction and refining are often (but not always) in the same system. From a commodities perspective all but a service economy produce items for consumption. This creates an active trade network." The newsletter also gives a sneak peek at planetary rings, informs fans that today is the last day to buy into alpha access, and says that the game will update its galaxy configuration based on any major discoveries that may occur in our world. Give the newsletter a read and check out a video of the trading system after the break!
Elite's latest newsletter talks hyperdrives, the Cobra MK III, and more
Frontier has sent out issue #19 of its Elite: Dangerous newsletter. As usual, there's plenty of interesting info on the upcoming space sim sandbox, from how heat (and heat management) factors into Elite's gameplay to the design philosophy behind the iconic Cobra MK III. This latest letter concludes with more "mostly harmless questions" from the community, including bits about Kepler data and traversing Elite's mind-bogglingly big playfields. There are two modes of super luminal (faster than light) travel. Super cruise (or frame shifting) is used for travel inside systems. It was originally conceived as a sub-luminal drive, but based on the fantastic collaboration we have been having with our Design Decision Forum backers it was re-worked and is now itself a super luminal system to allow relatively rapid travel within systems. Hyperspace drives are used to travel between star systems. Hyperdrives with different ranges, charge up times and fuel consumption parameters are available, and so your particular model of hyperdrive governs your specific ability to move around the galaxy. Both will make their debut in Alpha 4 (not counting the early version of hyperspace in Alpha 3).
Elite's premium beta starts today, expands May 30
Frontier has announced that the premium beta for Elite: Dangerous "effectively starts today." Backers may download a single-player combat build and play around with it until the full testing phase starts on May 30th. Prior to that, the devs will roll out the fourth and final phase of Elite's alpha, wherein the sci-fi sandbox title will expand with two new modes of faster-than-light travel as well as the full Milky Way galactic map featuring 400,000,000,000 star systems. You can read the full press release after the jump. [Source: Frontier press release]
Elite newsletter talks alpha progress, to-scale celestial bodies, and more
Frontier has released Issue #18 of its Elite: Dangerous newsletter. It's a good 'un, too, especially if you like development progress updates, videos, and answers to interesting questions. There are bits about the state of the game's 3.0 alpha client, a docking tutorial video, and a look at the redesign of the iconic Coriolis space station from the original Elite title. One of the more interesting fan questions relates to the size of celestial bodies. "Celestial bodies and the distances between them will be correctly scaled wherever possible [and] real astronomical data is being used," Frontier says. "To give you an idea we're currently at 116,000 stars from various catalogues and [that] includes pulsars and black holes as well as main sequence stars. Exo-planets are the other big import which we're about to start working on." We've embedded the alpha progress video after the cut.
GDC 2014: A video interview with Elite: Dangerous' David Braben
GDC 2014 in San Francisco is a great time to catch developers and ask them burning questions about their games. And that's exactly what one fan of Elite: Dangerous did, sitting down with Frontier Developments' CEO David Braben for a long chat about the upcoming MMO edition to the Elite franchise. The nearly 25-minute video interview includes information about the game, Braben's history in the gaming business, and footage of the interviewer playing the game using an Oculus Rift. Braben revealed that "the original Elite was never conceived initially, in [his] opinion, as a space game." Instead, it was all about the freedom, being an open world. How did it come to be in space then? According to Braben, that setting was ultimately chosen because "it was easier to render." Hear more of his thoughts in the video below.
Elite's 3.0 alpha is here, as is docking and a new video
Frontier has officially released version 3.0 of the Elite: Dangerous alpha. If you've backed Elite or bought alpha access previously, you can update your client immediately and begin testing the new update. "After successfully proving out the moment-to-moment combat gameplay and multiplayer technology in Alpha phases one and two respectively, phase three starts to move towards building out the game by adding docking, an early version of hyperspace jumps between multiple locations, and ship outfitting within an iconic Coriolis space station," explains the latest Elite press release. The firm has also released a 3.0 trailer, which you can view along with the full press release after the break.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding March 2 - March 8, 2014
Crowdfunding news was lighter than normal for the week ending March 8th, but we nonetheless learned a bit more about space sim sandboxes Elite: Dangerous and Star Citizen. The Phoenix Project also updated us on the status of its City of Titans spiritual sequel, which now boasts a new president and a new board of directors and is "deep in pre-production." Click past the cut for the rest of this week's crowdforged notables.
Perfect Ten: Game franchises that became MMOs
Popular franchises have been known to jump between various entertainment media, from games to television to movies to comic books and even to pogs. We should not gasp in utter amazement that this is also the case with many of our beloved MMOs; we should nod sagely and accept the terrible truth. There are several video game franchises that have culminated in -- or at least have taken a detour through -- the land of MMOs. For gamers who wanted more and especially did not want to see their journey end, an MMO continuation is a welcome answer that's usually hiding its own problems. But nevermind that; let's march down the halls of history and see the yearbook photos of these franchises when they were young!
Elite: Dangerous discusses alpha plans and docking procedures
Did yesterday's hands-on preview of Elite: Dangerous get you excited for a chance to play the game yourself? Good news -- the game's most recent newsletter confirms that the third stage of alpha testing is arriving in mid-March, meaning the game is that much closer to a wider release. And you can still jump in on the development process if you'd really like to. But the newsletter isn't just about the continued test process; it's also about docking. As simple as that might sound, docking is a very involved portion of the game, requiring careful positioning for a proper lock. It's so complex that the most recent build of the game has actually simplified the process with an improved docking interface, making it easier for players to line up their ships correctly. Take a look at the newsletter for more details, and if you really can't wait to get in on the experience, consider supporting the game on the official site.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding February 23 - March 1, 2014
This week's Make My MMO adds Trials of Ascension's Light the Forge campaign, which is Chaos Forge's company-specific (i.e., non-Kickstarter) bid to raise $40,000. The fantasy sandbox canceled its initial Kickstarter campaign because it "failed in showing its true potential," according to a news posting on the ToA website. If the Light the Forge drive is successful, the devs will use the $40,000 to finish the game's demo and return to Kickstarter in the hopes of attracting additional funding. Head past the cut for a breakdown of other crowdfunded MMO projects for the week ending March 1st, 2014.
Hands-on with the Elite: Dangerous alpha
I don't have much history with Elite. I played the original, circa 1985 on my dad's green monochrome Apple II, but frankly I didn't understand a bit of it and subsequently went back to Sundog and subLOGIC's fledgling wireframe Flight Simulator as a result. By the time Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters shipped in the early to mid 1990s, I was already losing copious amounts of my adolescence to Wing Commander, Privateer, and X-Wing, all of them of course indebted to the space trading flight sim thing that David Braben and Ian Bell published a decade earlier. For all intents and purposes, then, I'm an Elite virgin despite a lifetime of playing nearly everything in the genre it inspired. And if the Elite: Dangerous alpha client is an accurate barometer, gosh have I missed out.
Here's an Elite: Dangerous alpha preview
If you're curious about the Elite: Dangerous alpha but don't have an extra £200 lying about, Rock, Paper Shotgun's preview article is likely the next best thing. The first impressions are largely positive, though they're gleaned from a tiny slice of Frontier's sprawling procedurally generated space sandbox. The alpha is basically a linear series of combat missions, see. So you'll have to content yourself with voluminous amounts of prose devoted largely to the game's aesthetic. That said, the article does conclude that "sci-fi dogfighting this good is a rare treat."
Elite: Dangerous moves into multiplayer alpha
Elite: Dangerous has jumped into the second stage of its alpha, adding in multiplayer elements for the first time. With Alpha Phase 2.0, Elite: Dangerous players can try out four multiplayer scenarios, including free-for-all, two-team melee, co-op defense, and an advanced pirates and bounty hunters mode with "fluid choices and roles." Players who engage in these scenarios can earn credits for better ship loadouts. But don't just read about Alpha Phase 2.0 here; watch the dev video with all of the stunning highlights after the break! [Thanks to Peteris for the tip!]
Leaderboard: What's the most you'd pay for early access?
I want to play Elite: Dangerous. Like, really bad and stuff. The good news is that I can, since Frontier has jumped on the pay-for-early-access train and is selling slots to its alpha. The bad news is that said slots go for around $320.00 USD depending on the exchange rate. In other words, I can help squash bugs and fumble around with unfinished systems and content, or I can enjoy nearly six full-price triple-A games. So, yeah. As much I'd like to support (and write about) another promising space sim sandbox, I think I've found my upper limit in terms of game pricing. What about you, Massively readers? What's the most you'd pay for early access to one of your most anticipated games? Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Elite's multiplayer alpha coming next week
Frontier has released its 16th development newsletter for Elite: Dangerous. In it, the company says that phase two of the space sim's alpha is undergoing internal testing right now. Next week, alpha backers will be able to download it, which is sort of a big deal since phase two equals multiplayer! Beta is on the horizon, though there's no firm date just yet. "After next week's alpha 2.0 we still have two major alpha releases to roll out before we reach the premium beta stage: Outfitting, Travel and Trading." We've embedded the latest Elite video dev diary after the break, and you can click through the links below to read the full newsletter.
EVE Evolved: Has colonisation been forgotten?
At last year's EVE Online Fanfest, CCP revealed its ambitious plan to take the game where no sandbox MMO has ever gone before: full deep space colonisation. The plan will be delivered over the next five years and will end with the incredibly exciting vision of players building their own stargates and colonising brand-new solar systems that lie off the grid. Rubicon was intended as the first step toward this glorious plan, and its new focus on deployable sandbox structures certainly seemed to be introducing a more player-directed form of colonisation. I've been cautiously optimistic about the whole endeavour so far, but five years is hell of a long time to wait for that vision to come to fruition. Rubicon's Mobile Depot structure was a great first step toward player-run empires on all scales, but none of the recently announced Rubicon 1.1 deployables has continued along the same theme of colonisation and exploration. The Mobile Micro Jump Drive and Mobile Scan Inhibitor structures I looked at last week provide extra tactical options in PvP, and the three new structures revealed this week are all designed to steal money and resources from nullsec corporations. In this week's EVE Evolved, I ask whether the newly revealed Encounter Surveillance System and alternate Siphon Units are a step in the wrong direction. With games like Star Citizen and Elite: Dangerous on the way, CCP may not have five years to deliver the promise of colonisation.
The Soapbox: Enough with selling alpha tests already!
The dam has burst, restraint has been cast off, and caution has been thrown to the wind. Seemingly overnight, game studios all over the place have thrown the doors open to the general public to get in on alpha testing, usually as a reward for loyalty and financing. Steam has an entire Early Access section that's dominating the sales charts, offering players a chance to hop right into an anticipated game while it's still in the middle of development. Kickstarter games routinely offer alpha and beta access to their financers as part of their reward structure. Trove, Elite: Dangerous, Shroud of the Avatar, Star Citizen, and EverQuest Next Landmark are among the vanguard of upcoming MMOs that have promised alpha or early access to players willing to shell out a few bucks right now. It's not enough to covet and chase after a beta key these days; all of the cool kids are in the alpha, apparently. The willingness of developers to wield alpha access as a reward and the enthusiastic acceptance by gamers to literally buy into it has me very concerned that this could poison the industry, the community, and the future of our games.
