Elite?

F

firehawk12

Spaceman
Hi, I've been reading the forums and there's always some mention of "Elite".
I've never heard of it, which is weird... what is it?

I mean, presumably, it's a space sim... :)
 
Well, this should perhaps be moved to the Off Topic forum.

Here's the description of Elite on the box:

Command your Cobra space ship in a fantastic voyage of discovery and adventure, a supreme test of your combat, navigational and entrepreneurial skills.
Trade between countless planets, using the proceeds to equip your ship with heat-seeking missiles, beam lasers and other weapons - corporate states can be approached without risk, but unruly anarchies may be swarming with space pirates.
Black market trading can be lucrative but could result in skirmishes with local police and a price on your head.
However you make your money, by fair means or foul, you must blast onwards through space annihilating pirate ships and hostile aliens as you strive to earn your reputation as one of the Elite!
Click to expand...

If you want more info, go see Ian Bell's page of Elite. He was the co-designer of the game, togheter with David Braben.

Elite was a great free-form 3D space combat sim. It pretty much created this genre back in 1984. Just by reading the game's description you can see why Privateer and Freelancer own a lot to Elite.
 
Heh. Besides that, I remember that one guy doing a port of Elite had Ian's permission, but Dave said no, so he had to abandon it. (Interestingly enough, a different port is in progress to a different platform. Ah, politics.)

Was a nice port, too... now it means only illicit beta copies float around.
 
Yes, that was a shame. David Braben asked the guy to stop. Apparently, Ian Bell was OK with it. It even links that project from his page.
 
Originally posted by Delance
Yes, that was a shame. David Braben asked the guy to stop. Apparently, Ian Bell was OK with it. It even links that project from his page.
Click to expand...

Heh. Of course, all I have to do is find said author (he visits us on IRC), and ask. Or ask a friend who managed to get on the betas list for the latest copy :). But supposedly even later versions still exist, distributed like this :D.
 
Originally posted by Worf
Heh. Of course, all I have to do is find said author (he visits us on IRC), and ask. Or ask a friend who managed to get on the betas list for the latest copy :). But supposedly even later versions still exist, distributed like this :D.
Click to expand...

That's cool. How good does it look?
 
Decent enough considering it runs in a 160x160 screen :).

But the version I have is really outdated - a number of features aren't there yet...
 
Originally posted by Worf
Decent enough considering it runs in a 160x160 screen :).

But the version I have is really outdated - a number of features aren't there yet...
Click to expand...

160 X 160? Is it a port?

Someone should do Elite with the graphic level of Freelancer. And add more faction, missions, a plot, a different control system. No, wait, that would be Freelancer. :)

Seriously, Elite deserves modern graphic engine.
 
Originally posted by Delance
160 X 160? Is it a port?

Someone should do Elite with the graphic level of Freelancer. And add more faction, missions, a plot, a different control system. No, wait, that would be Freelancer. :)

Seriously, Elite deserves modern graphic engine.
Click to expand...

yeah... but will it ever get it??... probably not
 
The greatest things about Elite (well, FFE, actually) were those really huge star systems, with twin stars, gas giants, small planetoids, all circling around each other (some in weird orbits, like Pluto's)... then when you got close to them you could enter the atmosphere and choose which city to land into... some were underground, some were domed, some were just regular cities, etc. The coastlines in FFE also looked really good for the time.

The planets in other games are prettier, but they just sit there screaming "I'm a textured sphere!" :(

--Eder
 
Originally posted by Eder
The greatest things about Elite (well, FFE, actually) were those really huge star systems, with twin stars, gas giants, small planetoids, all circling around each other (some in weird orbits, like Pluto's)...
Click to expand...

Yeah that was very cool.

But when it comes to exploration, Freelancer is the king. There's a lot of "hidden" stuff, from wreckages to entire system and pirate planets with lost civilizations. The plot missions just scratch the surface.

Elite had a lot of exploration, because of the large number of systems, but everything was already mapped out. No hidden planets inside nebulas.

The landing system of Elite also sucked, and it would be a pain to not be destroyed each time you land, that is, until you could buy the auto-landing system.
 
Originally posted by Delance

The landing system of Elite also sucked, and it would be a pain to not be destroyed each time you land, that is, until you could buy the auto-landing system.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the thing that annoys me about the Elite games are all the collision-related bugs. Still, I guess that technology back then didn't allow for much improvement.

I also think it was really cool how you could get fined for stuff other than piracy, like taking off without clearance and dumping cargo in the wrong spot (As opposed to, say, Privateer, where the only things that seemed to be classed as crimes were smuggling and killing people).

--Eder
 
Originally posted by Eder
Yeah, the thing that annoys me about the Elite games are all the collision-related bugs. Still, I guess that technology back then didn't allow for much improvement.
Click to expand...

Auto-freaking-dock.

I also think it was really cool how you could get fined for stuff other than piracy, like taking off without clearance and dumping cargo in the wrong spot (As opposed to, say, Privateer, where the only things that seemed to be classed as crimes were smuggling and killing people).
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, the fines were cool.

It's an odd thing on Freelancer when you meet ships from an enemy faction close to the police. If the police is not in bad terms with neither side, they will just sit idely by. When you finish off the other ships, they might even scan your cargo for contraband.
 
ALS was a ship upgrade, though, and more important than it seems at first. In Frontier, for example, Fighters had just enough room to make absurdly long trips and still remain combat effective.... IF you sacrificed stuff such as the autopilot and auto-landing system, and flew manually everywhere.

A good concept, and a good way to reward expert pilots, but it wasn't really effective because 50% of the times you tried to land manually, you'd crash into something that wasn't there.

I don't think auto-dock would make sense for mining operations and other "rough landing" situations, though... and those are the only situations in which you aren't given the choice to auto land, anyway.

And yeah, the police in Freelancer don't really seem like they're doing their job right :p

--Eder
 
Originally posted by Eder
A good concept, and a good way to reward expert pilots, but it wasn't really effective because 50% of the times you tried to land manually, you'd crash into something that wasn't there.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's a good concept. Autolanding is software, it should be expensive, but it shouldn't take cargo space. It's not like a spaceship would require to use a landing computer with 1950's technology.
 
Oh, yeah, I meant it was a good concept to not include it as default on every ship, and to add a downside to it... like in Hardwar, you'll want to get rid of the auto landing software once you're experienced enough, so you can land faster.

--Eder
 
Originally posted by Eder
Oh, yeah, I meant it was a good concept to not include it as default on every ship, and to add a downside to it... like in Hardwar, you'll want to get rid of the auto landing
Click to expand...

Freelancer has a good solution. You can watch the ship land or press ESC and be done with it. Kinda like WC.

Such games should not even try to be a spacecraft landing simulator. Considering how elements like atmosphere and gravity should affect the procedure, and the fact that those are space ships, it should be too hard to simulate realistically. ALS would probably be something built in.

"You are cleared to land. Engage your ALS."

"Uhmm... I don't have any, I sold my and used the extra money and space to buy 3 tons of cat litter."

"WTF? Go land somewhere else."
 
Originally posted by Delance
It's an odd thing on Freelancer when you meet ships from an enemy faction close to the police. If the police is not in bad terms with neither side, they will just sit idely by. When you finish off the other ships, they might even scan your cargo for contraband.
Click to expand...

Simply put, they aren't going to help you if your standing is less than 'friendly' (faction bar is green). Just before I stopped playing, I had all factions but ~10 friendly. It's funny to see EVERYONE (even the merchants) help one guy whenever he's attacked, regardless of attacker...
 
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