Elite / Frontier / Elite Dangerous discussion

[trixster]

Amiga or BBC elite, or other platform?

On the beeb the first mission is triggered in galaxy one when you reach competent and have a necessary amount of kills on top of that.

Mission 2 is triggered in galaxy three when you’re half way to deadly and have completed mission one.

Dunno about the missions for the other platforms, never done them.

[manossg]

Originally Posted by trixster

Amiga or BBC elite, or other platform?

On the beeb the first mission is triggered in galaxy one when you reach competent and have a necessary amount of kills on top of that.

Mission 2 is triggered in galaxy three when you’re half way to deadly and have completed mission one.

Dunno about the missions for the other platforms, never done them.

Amiga for now, the classic version not the plus or advanced one.

[trixster]

Isn’t there only one version for Amiga?

Oh, I see that Advanced has a few more bits of tech and some tweaks. Daft that Elite is reached earlier.

Plus is simply the budget re-release, it’s the same game as the standard version.

[manossg]

Originally Posted by trixster

Isn’t there only one version for Amiga?

Oh, I see that Advanced has a few more bits of tech and some tweaks. Daft that Elite is reached earlier.

Yes, I am definitely checking out the advanced version someday (definitely not straight after the standard one). Pity it hasn't been expanded on even more (more tech, more missions etc).

[Daedalus]

Originally Posted by manossg

Pity it hasn't been expanded on even more (more tech, more missions etc).

Isn't that what the sequels are for?

[manossg]

Originally Posted by Daedalus

Isn't that what the sequels are for?

True, yet I hear that Frontier has a quite different combat system and, I don't know, I kind of like the idea of exploring the first Elite even more. It feels as if there is nothing more to expect after you have maxed out your ship.

[trixster]

The joy of Elite is mastering combat and then flying your “iron ass” to as many feudal and anarchy planets as you can to amass the necessary kills to become elite. It’s a very different game to Frontier which basically ditched the magical combat to concentrate on the game physics, exploration and simulation of a ‘real’ journey through space.

[Daedalus]

Yep, Frontier is a very different game (and I prefer it very much over there original Elite, which I found was a bit arcady and limited in terms of what you could actually do. But part of that is the whole economy, trying to find the parts you need for upgrading the new ship you bought, trading off shield generators for extra cargo space, lots more decisions to make... Horses for courses and all that.

[rare_j]

I liked both games on the Amiga. The combat, cargo scooping and docking in Elite, along with the gradual upgrading of your ship made it a great game to play for a many hours.

Frontier is more impressive in almost every way, except for the combat. Instead of dogfighting like in Elite, it's more like jousting, which I thought was more realistic but a big step back gameplay wise. Still, everything else in frontier was totally absorbing.
It was the Grand Theft Auto of its day.

[vroom6sri]

I convinced my son into buying Elite Dangerous for the PS4 last week instead of some virus game which I really was not comfortable with him playing (and not only because of the current world status!) and, I am happy to report, he is loving it. I'm enjoying watching him play it too as it is bloody gorgeous to look at and yet the gameplay seems so close to the original Frontier.

But I have a question... he has invested a lot of time in this already but there doesn't seem to be a way of forcing a save game on the PS4. Can anyone tell me how you can either force a save, make multiple save game files or restore from previous points? I know he'll be gutted if something goes wrong and he loses this progress or makes a bad decision at some point and gets stuck down a game path he doesn't want to do.

[fitzsteve]

Originally Posted by vroom6sri

I convinced my son into buying Elite Dangerous for the PS4 last week instead of some virus game which I really was not comfortable with him playing (and not only because of the current world status!) and, I am happy to report, he is loving it. I'm enjoying watching him play it too as it is bloody gorgeous to look at and yet the gameplay seems so close to the original Frontier.

But I have a question... he has invested a lot of time in this already but there doesn't seem to be a way of forcing a save game on the PS4. Can anyone tell me how you can either force a save, make multiple save game files or restore from previous points? I know he'll be gutted if something goes wrong and he loses this progress or makes a bad decision at some point and gets stuck down a game path he doesn't want to do.

Progress is saved online, it cant back backed up or loaded, if you die, you die. Never fly without rebuy! It's saved real time tho

If you bankrupt yourself (not enough insurance to replace your ship) you'll end up back in a sidewinder!

[vroom6sri]

Ah! I see. Thanks, dude. He bought the game as digital download and therefore didn't include a manual so those simple things are a bit of an unknown to him (and me).

[fitzsteve]

Originally Posted by vroom6sri

Ah! I see. Thanks, dude. He bought the game as digital download and therefore didn't include a manual so those simple things are a bit of an unknown to him (and me).

You're welcome, this game does have a steep learning curve and as the name suggests space travel can be dangerous, if your ship is destroyed any Cargo you're carrying will be lost, missions failed* and exploration or .mission data lost. Some missions you might still be able to do, you'll get negative rep too for failing missions.

[Anubis]

Game has built in manual (access it through main computer) and there are couple of great online sources for game, including:

• ED WIki
• Inara
• EDDB - ED Database
• EDSM - ED Starmap
• Coriolis

There are few more, but this should consist of everything you need to know.

Also, use youtube tutorials to learn how to do stuff properly - this will save you/your son many hours of figuring it out yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0R...8EEQGHz_z58nVA

[Glen M]

Met up with a friend Saturday night about 2k LY from Colonia.

After some fun on a random rock in our SRVs we were flying off the and git attacked me in his fighter. There was no way I was loosing those hours of exploring so instead of running I thought it better to bat him out of existence.

He tried to run but I hit boost (615m/s), flight assist off and nose up.



Didn't even show as a blip on the shields.

I thought it was hilarious.

[trixster]

Here's a video of me thwacking the Constrictor (first mission) in BBC Micro Elite

[ Show youtube player ]

[manossg]

Originally Posted by trixster

Here's a video of me thwacking the Constrictor (first mission) in BBC Micro Elite

[ Show youtube player ]

Damn, this bbc micro looks great, as expected from the original! I am thinking of downloading a BBC micro emulator only to play this thing!

[Glen M]

Very cool video. I have elite for the C64, maybe its about time I gave it a proper go.

[trixster]

The bbc micro version is (in my opinion) the best version until the 16 and 32bit variants arrived. The gameplay and controls are simply just better than the others. For example, the spectrum and CPC versions are too slow, the c64 looks good but it too is slow and the controls are sluggish. The msx version looks amazing but has a ridiculous fish-eye perspective which basically makes it impossible to play with any accuracy. The nes version is remarkable but the joypad is frustrating to use.

The version in my video is an actual BBC Micro B but it is using the 6502 second processor, so it has more colours and is smoother. The standard bbc version is still excellent though.

The best bbc version is an unofficial ‘hack’ called Elite-A which included many enhancements including the ability to buy other ships.

http://knackered.petestack.com/beeb/elite.html

[manossg]

Originally Posted by trixster

The bbc micro version is (in my opinion) the best version until the 16 and 32bit variants arrived. The gameplay and controls are simply just better than the others. For example, the spectrum and CPC versions are too slow, the c64 looks good but it too is slow and the controls are sluggish. The msx version looks amazing but has a ridiculous fish-eye perspective which basically makes it impossible to play with any accuracy. The nes version is remarkable but the joypad is frustrating to use.

The version in my video is an actual BBC Micro B but it is using the 6502 second processor, so it has more colours and is smoother. The standard bbc version is still excellent though.

I have the CPC version and I have seen the C64 one and I think they are both not a patch on the version in your video. Heck, it looks more impressive than the Amiga version (considering the hardware capabilities of each system).