I think Elite Dangerous might end up being my favorite game of all time

[Legend]

The base game is great and I love it, but every year they do a big huge expansion.

Currently the game has over 100 billion star systems where each one has unique planets, space stations, culture, etc. Green farming planets have an abundance of food while industrial mining planets might sell slaves under the table. The trading system is incredibly deep and realistic. The game also has dog fighting which feels great and spaceship customization galore.

It's already one of the better space sims out there, but all the time they add more and more. (it costs a lot, this thread surely isn't proclaiming it's a great value)


This holiday is the planetary landing expansion. No Man's Sky planets are made by math, but Elite Dangerous planets are made by science.

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(sorry for the low quality, these pictures are from a live stream that just finished. Hmm, wonder what prompted this thread hehe)

These planets/planetoids are 1 to 1 scale with real the real world, and have 1 to 1 geology with the real world. Canyons and mountains are caused by tectonics, craters expose deeper rocks, and color is the result of mineral composition. Some planets will then of course have crashes, buildings, etc.
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This first expansion only deals with planets without atmospheres. I love the rocky wastelands, but this is only day one.

Elite Dangerous will continue to roll out more updates and unlock more planets for landing. Snow, water, alien life, etc. will all be handled as time goes on. This game is incredibly ambitious. Eventually players will be able to land on every planet.

The crazy thing is that these are planets in the game!

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The goal is to have stuff like this possible:


It's a galaxy simulator that is attempting to do every aspect of the galaxy.

Updates are also adding story, multiplayer ships, first person walking around places, new ship features, factions, ship stealing, etc.

Like they just added close quarters combat:

If they can carry through with all their promises, this game will just be incredible.

[Raven]

Might beat Star Citizen to the punch then. Because that sounds an awful lot like what Chris Roberts and Cloud Imperium Games are trying to pull off on Day 1.

[Legend]

Might beat Star Citizen to the punch then. Because that sounds an awful lot like what Chris Roberts and Cloud Imperium Games are trying to pull off on Day 1.

Star Citizen is kinda different since it has very little procedural generation and is focused on a hand crafted universe, but yeah Elite is certainly giving them a run for their money.


Also Star Citizen is releasing in stages as well. It has a couple modules already released and Squadron 42(the campaign) is releasing next year.

[Raven]

Star Citizen is kinda different since it has very little procedural generation and is focused on a hand crafted universe, but yeah Elite is certainly giving them a run for their money.


Also Star Citizen is releasing in stages as well. It has a couple modules already released and Squadron 42(the campaign) is releasing next year.

Doesn't matter how it releases. Roberts was priding himself on creating a living universe like nothing before it and yet it looks like Frontier may beat him to it. Can't win that race with a hangar module, dogfighting module, and single player campaign out. I might have to try out Elite on the X1.

[Legend]

Doesn't matter how it releases. Roberts was priding himself on creating a living universe like nothing before it and yet it looks like Frontier may beat him to it. Can't win that race with a hangar module, dogfighting module, and single player campaign out. I might have to try out Elite on the X1.

Yeah I agree. I bought Elite just for its launch content and thought most of their future ideas were eye in the sky dreams, but it looks like they're very serious about making them happen(and be awesome). I bet exiting your ship and walking around will be the next season or part of season 2. Once that happens, Elite will actually have more features than Star Citizen plans to. (excluding campaign)


If you're interested in buying Elite, here's the rundown of prices/microtransactions.

Game is broken up into year long seasons. During that year you get all expansions for free. Past that year you'll still receive updates and additions, but you'll miss out on the next season's expansions. IE season 1 was the base game and includes all space stuff while Season 2 is planetary landings and includes all non life planet stuff. Season 2 costs $40 on PC but I have no idea how it'll work on XBO. You can buy season 1 and 2 together for $60.

The game also has cosmetic microtransactions. You can buy bobble heads to put on your ships dashboard and you can also buy paint jobs.

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

@Raven If you don't want to upgrade you're PC I'd hold off awhile to see if they announce a PS4 version. Which is very likely to  support PSVR. I just can't imagine playing this game with out being totally immersed in it. And I think that's why I've stopped playing after I got rid of my projector. And beware, while it's one of my favorite games it could be 30 hours or so till you really start getting anywhere, as far as money goes. Which you need for everything. And the game doesn't hold your hand at all. It's like a choose you own adventurer game. It just drops you in your ship and you have to figure out your fun from there. But it's a blast once you get the hang of it.

[Legend]

Fun fact. Star Citizen raised $2,134,039 on its kickstarter. Elite Dangerous raised $2,443,632.


Also here's a great video talking about its future back when the kickstarter was happening.

Big game hunting on alien planets!

@Raven If you don't want to upgrade you're PC I'd hold off awhile to see if they announce a PS4 version. Which is very likely to  support PSVR. I just can't imagine playing this game with out being totally immersed in it. And I think that's why I've stopped playing after I got rid of my projector. And beware, while it's one of my favorite games it could be 30 hours or so till you really start getting anywhere, as far as money goes. Which you need for everything. And the game doesn't hold your hand at all. It's like a choose you own adventurer game. It just drops you in your ship and you have to figure out your fun from there. But it's a blast once you get the hang of it.

Wonder if there might be an announcement at PGW.

[Raven]

@Raven If you don't want to upgrade you're PC I'd hold off awhile to see if they announce a PS4 version. Which is very likely to  support PSVR. I just can't imagine playing this game with out being totally immersed in it. And I think that's why I've stopped playing after I got rid of my projector. And beware, while it's one of my favorite games it could be 30 hours or so till you really start getting anywhere, as far as money goes. Which you need for everything. And the game doesn't hold your hand at all. It's like a choose you own adventurer game. It just drops you in your ship and you have to figure out your fun from there. But it's a blast once you get the hang of it.

You're talking to someone who played EVE Online.