Elite: Dangerous

Elite: Dangerous - Cockpit Interiors

Seriously tempted to purchase Lifetime Expansion pack before it goes at the end of the month.....

I think I'll do this. I suppose you don't have to buy the base game along with it, at least not yet.

I hope no one minds a rather large screenshot.

One of the things I really like about the vastness of Elite is its tranquillity, in parts. I had just hyperspace jumped into the LHS 3006 system and then powered down most of my systems. So I sat there, watching the roiling surface of a star as ice slowly formed over the windscreen. It really is a beautiful game.



On another occasion, I went out to Asellus 3's extraction site and again powered down my systems. There's a number of AI pirates in the area who prey upon both the workers and players and piloting Cobra MKIIs and Anacondas, they're tough.

So instead I watched as a couple of ships flew about in combat. Players came and went, some were destroyed while others fled. Eventually my nerves had gotten the better of me and I shifted power to engines, started everything up and got out of Dodge.

After that, I decided to explore some of the unknown signal sources. Mostly just some unmanned probes emitting Morse code but in one instance it hid an ambush by a group of pirates piloting Eagles. Still being in my lowly Sidewinder (and packing two not-at-all hefty pulse lasers), I did the usual maniacal series of spins and turns before booting up supercruise. But I hadn't learned my lesson with that; my curiosity had not been dampened in the least.

Eventually I made my way to the I Bootis system, controlled by the Federation. There I encountered a very strange, very red planet. The gravity well made getting to the signal source on its opposite (relative) side a pain to get to. So much so that eventually I called the search off and instead made for the curiously named "Navigation Beacon". As it turned out, a bunch of Federation ships were refuelling and resupplying before moving on. More than that, their comms chatter revealed that they were on their way to the Eranin system.

I'm looking forward to a lot of stories emerging from all this. An entire universe for people to make their way in; it should be fun.

Mostly I've been squandering my credits on risky adventuring that's seen me dying a number of times. Once, embarrassingly enough, by crashing into an asteroid that I only detected too late to alter my course and speed. On another occasion, after mine and my enemy's shields had been depleted, I decided to go out with a bang and rammed them head on... while they were piloting an Anaconda.

Trading has been too tedious for me, what with hauling four units of cargo around for pennies in profit. Taking down Federation fighters in Eranin is far more enjoyable (and satisfying!). It's slow but I was hoping to build up enough credits to buy an Eagle and go out hunting bounties.

Now I'm waiting for the inevitable reset and looking forward to missions and expanded gameplay with things like fuel management.