Dr Wookie

Representing Elite Dangerous at E3 was a huge rush, as well as utterly exhausting! I was one of three community ambassadors, and even though I was initially nervous to meet one of my childhood idols, everyone was very friendly. Being a space geek, I had quite a few incredibly nerdy conversations with David Braben, and am now helping (pro bono) with populating the simulated galaxy with black holes (my speciality). We had an enormous banner right at the front of the E3 entrance, and got a fair amount of people who had never heard of the game and were just curious. Then we either got people coming back with friends, or coming because friends/colleagues recommended us. Finally we got old schoolers who played the original Elite (mostly on the C64 over here in the US). Everyone seemed very positive, being blown away by the scale of the galaxy as well as the detail; the Oculus Rift implementation was also a big hit, so much so that OR themselves came along to check us out! Given that I was left to host Palmer Luckey rather than David Braben doing it, it must have been a late decision . We got a couple of Best of E3 awards, one from Escapist and the other from some other site I can't remember, as well as a nomination from IGN Italia. Greg Tito, editor-in-chief of Escapist seemed very taken with ED, naming it one of his top five games of E3. We had a meeting room rather than a booth on the show floor, so maybe missed out a little on exposure; for example PC Gamer didn't even list ED in their Every Game at E3 article, which was a bit of a shame. We had 4 stations, and a private area for DB to show stuff to the bigwigs, and the room was generally pretty full from mid-morning to closing. Plus I saw the above trailer many many times so the music haunted my sleep . I only had maybe 20 minutes to look around the rest of E3, but it was all very exciting. Would do again, but not for a month or so at least!

I LOVE Rocksmith! I've been learning guitar for 6-7 months now, and am really enjoying it thanks to the different activities and songs available. I recently started a more structured way of learning, going from the basics with JustinGuitar.com, which is an amazing resource of tutorials and videos (hosted on the Justin Guitar youtube channel. It is entirely free, but donations are welcome. Whereas Rocksmith teaches songs, and some crazy advanced techniques, JustinGuitar goes through different chords in order of ease and use, and also shows you how to play various songs with the techniques so far. By contrast, Rocksmith can have huge difficulty cliffs, like when a power chord suddenly becomes a barre chord. I fear barre chords! Judging by the Star Citizen discussion in this episode, the Thumbs REALLY need to check out Elite Dangerous! I was one of three Ambassadors from the backer community that was chosen to represent the game at E3.... it was utterly exhausting but also very rewarding thanks to the huge positive reaction from everyone that we showed it to... we got a best of E3 award from Escapist plus one other thing I can't remember, and a nomination from IGN Italia. Here is the E3 trailer It is exactly the kind of middle ground they were talking about... I have played it with a gamepad for the last 6 months, and it really works thanks to some clever UI and fully customizable bindings (you can also rebind controls for docking for ease of movement), but it is best played with a throttle and stick. And here is a live gameplay demo: http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/cy8p22/elite--dangerous-e3-2014--walkthrough--cam- This franchise is 30 years old in September, and a surprising number of developers that came to try it out said that they got into game development because of E3. Here is what Greg Tito, Editor-in-Chief of Escapist had to say: "Elite Dangerous is the reason I play video games. I can't wait for it to come out in 2014 - Braben couldn't give me a date but he said it will be this year for sure - on the PC. And it will be the reason I get Oculus Rift." http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/conferences/e32014/11688-Elite-Dangerous-Oculus-Support-Puts-You-in-Infinity

Thanks to my being an exhibitor of Elite Dangeroud at E3, I got into the CD Project Red meeting room, and gush at the guys ! To be fair, one of the guys squeeled "Eliiiiiiiite" when he saw my shirt! I was invited to a closed screening of some new stuff, but had to decline because our own room was too busy. I did get take a few cool photos though

I've just got back from E3, where I helped evangelise Elite Dangerous as an ambassador from the backer community; it was fantastic, if totally exhausting! We were given the nod to show ED with the HD prototype (not DK2), and it was marvellous... I think it was 1080p per eye, run by two SLI GTX 770s. Palmer Lucky and posse rocked over, and I got to demonstrate it to the minions, while their big cheese was taken care of by ours . It was really fascinating to hear their comments to each other... technical stuff way over my head. I really wish that this version was coming to market because it works wonderfully, with all text very visible (though that might be down to the beast machine) EDIT: The guy I thought was Palmer Luckey wasn't; I just saw an article with him on pcgamer, and it turns out I was talking to him for some time !

As far as I understand it, everything will be unlockable in the persistent universe (ETA late 2016 onwards). Prior to that will be the single player Squadron 42 campaign (the true spiritual successor to Wing Commander), which may unlock other ships based on your progress. I think that if you go down the Squadron 42 path with your character, you can muster out of the military with a decent amount of cash to buy a new ship. Having said that, the military path (Squadron 42) is apparently only one of several ways to earn citizenship.

I'm going to be playing it on my new rig so that I finish it before 3 comes out, so I think I will test this mod out... looks fun!

Hi guys, here is a mini version of the E3 banner... the full size one is obnoxiously large... they sure like their orange and blue! David Braben, co-creator of Elite, did an AMA yesterday in the Frontier forums; the thread showing just his answers is here: http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=20371 A really exciting highlight for me was this, since I ordered DK2 on the strength of what I saw from a borrowed DK1: "E: D on Oculus DK2 is great. The resolution is a big step to help with the immersion, as is the extra frame rate. The head-tracking also gives that little extra - you can lean forwards and down to see around the hull of your Lakon Type 9 for example, or lean beyond your chair to look back into the giant bridge deck." There's another Newsletter out, kinda short since they're gearing up for E3 (I'm off to LA on Sunday, yaay!): http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=dcbf6b86b4b0c7d1c21b73b1e&id=4a0814bda4&e=9a500ef1b4 Here's a big fighty video with a somewhat... enthusiastic soundrack and crazy jump cuts. It's pretty timely since the Star Citizen Dog Fight Module dropped this week; a lot of us were hoping for something like a pretty version of this with great damage modelling and Hollywood pazzazz. Well we got the pazzazz and damage modeling at least...

Or Batman? I know Rocksteady revived the idea that he was the world's greatest detective, but that was the first I'd heard of it and even then the games are more about the punching and the kicking (and sneaking... BOO!)

Right genre, wrong game ! I only backed Star Citizen to the alpha level with the basic little ship. I think people who spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars to get early access to the bigger ships are a bit crazy, but I can't begrudge their loyalty to the cause (not without being a ginormous hypocrite anyway)!

This looks very interesting, and not like the Massachusetts I know ! I'm still holding back from KS after splurging over $2000 on one particular game (loving every minute, but still!). I am glad to see it made its goal, and look forward to seeing how it plays. I also have some concerns about the small characters, even though the world itself looks very atmospheric.

WOW, this looks beautiful! I'll definitely keep an eye on it to see how it turns out . Ludicrous levels of charm are no longer enough for this jaded beastie

After initially being appalled by the controls and (lack of) sound design and feelling of movement, I am warming to this game . It can look really gorgeous, and the damage modelling is fantastic. There have been several interesting space games that were announced in the last couple of years: Star Citizen and Elite Dangerous come from people with ~30 years' game making experience who made their names on space games, while Limit Theory is a just one guy doing remarkable things, and No Man's Sky looks very interesting, but the 4-person team has a long way to go before producing anything tangible yet. So there's been a lot of comparision between Star Citizen and Elite Dangerous. Many Citizens were of the belief that SC would be like ED but better, somehow, because they raised far more money. However, they are turning out quite different, with the flight model and combat of SC being more arcadey than that of ED; at the moment SC seems to be best played with mouse and keyboard, while ED is best served by HOTAS and either TrackIR or Oculus Rift. The SC experience has come as a shock for a lot of people, but in hindsight should have been no big surprise since it was billed as the spiritual successor to Wing Commander. However, a great many who didn't have such preconceived notions are loving it, and that's great. There are many many issues, unsurprising being in such an early state, but most should be fixable by the time the game comes out (late 2016 for the full experience is a current estimate). I've always said that there's room for both SC and ED, even though some people have got very tribal about it. Now we see that the goals are completely different, this is especially true . I hope Chris Roberts takes charge of his vision, and really owns the direction he's taking SC In, and that everyone rallies around what the game actually is rather than clinging to what they thought it might be. Then it would have a real shot of being the best damn space sim ever. But for me, ED looks like the best contender to date, and is the one to beat.

I am SO looking forward to this game! Playing the first one made me read the Witcher books (those that I could anyway without learning Polish). I really like the familiar but different Eastern European take on the fantasy world. The first time I played the first game, I got about 70% of the way through when my laptop died horribly. Buying the Witcher 2 and finding out I could import my save spurred me on to complete it. I was enjoying the Witcher 2, but lost momentum again near the start of Act 2. Hopefully I will start over and finish before number 3 comes out! Reading the books really enhanced my game experience, as there were many nods to them in the games, and I could sometimes see where things were going before I would have otherwise. I am off to E3 next week after winning a community competition to represent the one game I am looking forward to more than the Witcher 3 (Elite Dangerous). Our booth is only round the corner from CD Projekt Red so I am hoping to have a sneaky peek and chat

HI guys, I thought I would use the release of Premium Beta to consolidate my previous threads into one discussion thread. I didn't realise forum policy earlier, so I apologize for that. My enthusiastic frothings on Alpha 4 are here: https://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/topic/9396-anyone-remotely-space-geeky-should-check-out-this-elite-dangerous-alpha-video-d/ My previous attempt to bring the game to the attention of a US audience that was largely oblivious is here: https://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/topic/9144-what-do-you-get-if-you-cross-star-citizen-with-no-mans-sky/ Anyhow, when Elite Dangerous was KickStarted at the end of 2012, it included 3 levels of early access as pledge rewards: alpha, premium beta, and standard beta. Now that ED has gone into its premium beta phase, it is functionally very similar to the last alpha, but geared up to cope with more players: over 10,000 new backers have access to the full multiplayer experience as of today. You can gain instant access for 100 GBP, or $150; this is 3 times the price of the pre-order so I would advise people to wait unless they are happy that their money is going to support the game rather than buying a product. The latest newsletter is here if anyone is interested: http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dcbf6b86b4b0c7d1c21b73b1e&id=ae4c732e15&e=9a500ef1b4 It includes a really cool video by an alpha backer who managed to integrate voice attack really well. It also has an amazing time-lapse image of a capital ship under attack; I think the guy made a video and combined all the frames. I am REALLY excited to be going to E3 in a week and a half or so... Frontier held a competition for all US based backers, and I won! I am particularly excited because one of the forum members has made an amazing metal ship model, and will be bringing it to the show. It is still being built, and here is one of the latest photos The thread can be found here: http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15320&page=32 Enjoy!

I bought two Mass Effect novels... the one where Saren is a spectre, and i think the one between 1 and 2.. they were kinda fun, though hardly great literature. I also bought the Elder Scrolls book The Infernal City. My favourite game related book is the opposite of the licensed game novel: Andrzej Sapkowski's The Last Wish, a collection of stories about the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia. It is set in a fantasy world that is similar to the ones we are familiar with, but is refreshingly different I think. I started reading it after playing thr first Witcher game, and it has stood me in good stead when trying to understand that game and the first sequel. I am really looking forward to the Witcher 3. The upcoming game Elite Dangerous was initially funded by a Kickstarter where some of the highest pledge levels included the rights to publish a work of official Elite fiction. The first Elite game came out with possibly the first game novella in 1984, called the Dark Wheel. This game will have an official sequel to the Dark Wheel, along with a whole bunch written by backers, and many of these projects were funded by Kickstarter themselves! I have pledged to receive 7 books, so I will have plenty of reading to do when they come out!

Hi guys, Elite Dangerous a space combat, exploration, and trading game, that is a sequel to 1984's Elite, possibly the most infuential game that young'uns have never heard of. It has now entered the final alpha phase before going into closed beta on May 30. There are hundreds of Elite Dangerous alpha videos showing off the combat; I made this video to highlight the new features: --- A 400 billion star simulation of our Milky Way galaxy, including 150,000 real star systems and all known exoplanets --- A night sky that varies between star systems, created from the nearby stars in the Galaxy Map. It also includes nearby galaxies: I've spotted the Andromeda Galaxy, Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, and M33. Constellations twist and warp as you go outside the Solar system, but I can recognise Orion . In supercruise, you are compressing space rather than actually travelling super fast, neatly sidestepping reletavistic nastiness! --- Two types of faster than light travel: hyperspace for going between systems, and a Frame Shift Drive (also called supercruise) for complete freedom of movement within the system; there are points of interest, but you can stop literally anywhere you like! --- A first look at trading Enjoy! EDIT: The latest dev diary puts it much more succinctly...

It IS just a subset. There are plenty of other videos on youtube that show the combat, stealth mechanics etc. so I decided to look a only the stuff that is new to the latest alpha build. By the way, here is the latest dev diary... it shows off the things I wanted to in a much more succinct manner! If I was a shill, I would have waited for this... much more awesome

You're welcome! I'm honestly not trying to sell the ideas of the game to people who aren't at least a bit interested, and I actively advise against paying extra to gain early access. I am only describing the things that have excited me. The main reason I get so voluble about it is because the game is so much bigger than I initially expected based on the kickstarter goal, about $2 million. That doesn't buy much of a game these days, so I was thinking we were going to get maybe an update of the original game to run on modern machines. But the developers have injected a lot more cash in to the project to make something that is considerably more ambitious.

That's quite a geeky avatar you have there, posting on a video game forum, just saying ! The world is full of geeky awesomeness, it seems a shame to miss out To be honest, if even the word geeky turns you off, then ED is probably not the game for you since it's pretty hardcore. To make the most out of it you need to deal with movement in 6 degrees of freedom, balance power between shields, drives, and weapons; manage your loadouts in multiple fire groups, and slingshot round planets at super light speed. Really dedicated people would need a HOTAS controller setup and oculus rift or trackir! It's nothing like as crazy as some sims I've seen where it takes 10-20 minutes to even get going, and you can get along pretty well with a 360 gamepad, but it is by no means casual

Yeah, I won a competition that was open to all US based backers of the game. And found out after the posts that people found questionable. http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=16265 If it helps, I also backed Star Citizen (for the narrative Squadron 42 content that looks to be like a modern day Wing Commander), and really like the look of No Man's Sky. My biggest criticism of how Frontier Developments has handled the game is that they continued to offer alpha and beta slots after the kickstarter ended. They were high tier rewards that cost a substantial amount of money, leading to the high prices today. I think they should have remained as kickstarter exclusives, especially since FD said that they didn't need more money as the Kickstarter was more of a proof that there was sufficient interest and that they have raised substantially more from investors. There was also an ugly drive for alpha backers a few weeks before closing; this is probably a move that was pushed by the investors rather than FD themselves; the community did not like it at all!

I just found out today that I am actually going to E3! There was a competion for US-based backers of KickStarted game Elite Dangerous last week, and I won it this afternoon. I will have to gabble about it to developers and the press, and maybe do some demonstrating too

I love the art direction for this game, but haven't yet ordered it. I would like to get it when it's all done.

I was able to borrow DK1 from work for a couple of weeks, and on the back of that experience I pre-ordered DK2 . My chief motiviation was the game I dare not mention, but I also tried a number of very promising demos. I didn't often feel nauseous, but when I did, it came on suddenly... not nice at all!

I'm not at all affiliated with the game, apart from being a backer. Just very enthusiastic . Full disclosure, I found out today that I have been chosen to go to E3 as a community ambassador; the competition opened a week ago. As I said before, the first Elite got me interested in space when I started playing it almost 30 years ago, and I now hunt black holes for NASA. Here is a press release that NASA made about my work last year http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/news/bonanza.html#.U3wY8PldV8E and here is the accompanying blog http://chandra.harvard.edu/blog/node/442 I apologise if I come off too strong . I didn't know that posting multiple threads on the same topic was against forum etiquette, and would be happy for mods to merge the threads.

It's actuallly very easy... I just learned it from watching an advert on one of the guitar tutorials that I watch on youtube. -You're on the middle two strings - open string / 3rd fret / 5th fret - open / 3 / 6 /5 - open / 3/ 5 / 3/ open Use the same finger for both strings