Frontier Developments are doubling down on their success in management sim games, following weak sales for recent Warhammer RTS Realms of Ruin and a lack of success in attempting to break into other genres.
]]>Elite Dangerous finally lets its players inside its mysterious Thargoid Maelstrom clouds today thanks to the arrival of Update 15, but having now seen what's waiting inside thee huge gas giants, you know what? The Thargoids can keep this corner of the galaxy. I'm getting the hell out, because I do not have the space legs to tackle the enormous nasties lurking at the centre of them. But I can tell you about them, though, as Frontier Developments have shared some exclusive sneaky info with us about what players can expect to find when they finally make it in there.
]]>After being invaded by Thargoids at the end of last year, Elite Dangerous is now letting its players fight back in its next update. Update 15 introduces a new tool to help players finally get inside the mysterious Thargoid Maelstrom clouds that have been cropping up across the galaxy ever since the invasion began last November. However, there are also new enemy classes and Thargoid vessels to encounter, and one in particular - the Hunter-class Glaive - looks very nasty indeed.
]]>It’s Tuesday, and the entire species is about to go to war with a powerful alien race. At least we are in space sim Elite Dangerous anyway, which sees the Thargoids finally invade human systems with the arrival of Update 14 for the game today. Eight massive space anomalies called Maelstroms are on their way towards human worlds, accompanied by massing Thargoid starships.
]]>The last year or so of Elite Dangerous has been the most dramatic since the game launched in 2014. The most recent update to Frontier Developments' epic space sim, Update 13, saw the conclusion of the story's Azimuth Saga, culminating in a disastrous attempt to stop the incursion of the Thargoids – Elite's hostile race of insectoid aliens. It's an event that has already had a major impact on Elite's universe, and Frontier are excited to discuss the studio's plans for the game and its narrative as it pushes into a new phase for the galaxy, simply known as "Aftermath".
But the drama surrounding Elite Dangerous isn't limited to the game's overarching story. As I gear up to chat with lead game designer Luke Betterton and senior producer Samantha Marsh, the Thargoid in the room is Elite Dangerous: Odyssey. Launched in May last year, Elite's second expansion was, to put it lightly, not well received by Elite's community. Complaints ranged from extensive bugs and performance issues to more fundamental criticisms about the implementation of the expansion's on-foot exploration and FPS combat. Over a year on from release, the expansion still carries a "Mostly Negative" rating on Steam, standing in stark contrast to reviews for vanilla Elite Dangerous (now bundled with its Horizons expansion), which remain firmly positive.
]]>Elite Dangerous's Update 13 is live now, bringing an end to the two-year-long Azimuth Saga and laying the groundwork for the space sim's ominously titled next chapter, Aftermath. There's a cinematic video below which reveals the climax of the event, and then I'll dig into the patch notes a little.
]]>Space sim Elite Dangerous has gone to the dogs since its latest expansion, Odyssey. It launched in May 2021 in a sorry state and, while developers Frontier have been fixing it up, it's still a mess now. This week Frontier announced that to help focus their efforts on fixing Odyssey, they're cancelling the yet-unreleased console version. Good news for us on PC, I suppose, but oof! "This was not an easy decision to make, but it was made with the long-term future of Elite Dangerous in mind," Frontier frontman David Braben said.
]]>Elite Dangerous Odyssey added the ability to walk around planets and complete missions on foot to Frontier's vast space sim. It also added lots of bugs, performance issues, and features which felt incomplete. Frontier have been patching the game since, and the latest update is a big one.
]]>When Elite Dangerous: Odyssey came out on May 19th, it was filled to the brim with bugs. Crashes, performance issues, stability problems - you name it, Odyssey was suffering from it. Developers Frontier issued three hotfix patches in its launch week, but more still needed to be done. Now they've released a sizeable patch that should remove a lot of the jank, addressing issues with the servers, UI, lighting, menus, missions and more.
]]>Here she comes, limping into starport with her thrusters spluttering, smoke billowing from her exhaust, sparks leaping from the jump drive. No, I'm not describing my spaceship as part of the universal game review opening in which I tell a tiny story to ease you into things. I am using blunt metaphor to describe Elite Dangerous: Odyssey itself, the leggy new expandopack that adds first-person exploration and gunfire to Elite's space sim. Although she's a tough machine with lots of promise, her internal electronics have a serious case of gremlins. Look, she's exploded.
]]>Elite Dangerous: Odyssey, the new expansion for Frontier's space exploration sim, launched in a pretty rough state last week. Players have reported crashes, loads of bugs and performance issues, giving the game's Steam reviews the damning "Mostly Negative" tag. While the devs have already released two hotfixes, some issues are still persisting. On Friday, the studio's CEO issued an apology, saying they're "taking these issues very seriously, and adding that a second hotfix is on the way.
]]>Who needs a space fleet when you have space feet? That's right, after all those alpha test phases Elite Dangerous: Odyssey has officially launched, giving the gift of legs to your Commanders. With the new expansion you can explore all those planets you've been flying past by logging plants, sneaking through settlements, and trading shots with other Commanders in PvP conflict zones.
]]>Frontier Developments today announced the release date for their next Elite Dangerous expansion, Odyssey. This is the one which lets moonmen roam freely on their own two spacelegs, exploring planets and getting into first-person shooty violence. Star Citizen Lite, kinda.
]]>Greetings, Commanders. Here's your regular status report on the Elite Dangerous: Odyssey alpha. After gradually expanding the capabilitties of alpha players from their initial walkabouts to some FPS games, Frontier Developments are now sending players off to explore new planets again. The latest alpha phase, focused on exploration, turns players into exobiologists with genetic scanners.
]]>There's a Vulture circling overhead. Not a scavenger bird, but the somewhat larger Core Dynamics Vulture. Its engine reverbs across the moon's surface as it boosts off into orbit, ignoring me. I'm not worth the hassle. My Sidewinder, the trash-tier space banger of Elite Dangerous, is parked quiet and unoccupied on the edge of a huge meteor crater. I'm out for a walk, you see, with the long-awaited space legs of the upcoming Odyssey expansion. Not everything is smooth and picturesque in this ongoing public alpha. Despite that, it's gratifying to boot up your favourite space-trucking game and find not just a walking simulator inside, but a moon-walking simulator.
]]>The alpha phase for Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is moving right along. After letting players step out onto the surface for the first time last week, Frontier Developments are moving into phase two of the next expansion's alpha testing. This week they're dropping alpha testers into a new system and letting them battle it out in the new on foot PvP Conflict Zones. You can spot the new FPS action in a new video the developers have published alongside the launch of phase two.
]]>Elite Dangerous: Odyssey launched the first step of its alpha only a few days ago, and developers Frontier have shared a response to some common complaints from its earliest adopters. Firstly: no, space taxis aren't going to get any faster.
]]>We've got contact, Commanders. Elite Dangerous has fired up the alpha test for its Odyssey expansion—the one that'll let you stomp around on space surfaces. No longer will pilots be confined to their cockpits. Starting today, Alpha players will be testing out combat and exploration over the course of a few weeks, according to this new flight plan. Frontier Developments say that the full launch for Odyssey is still expected in late spring this year, but you can catch a look at what's coming right now.
]]>Frontier Developments have been cooking up a new expansion for big space MMO Elite Dangerous but hold up, it hasn't been cleared to disembark just yet. Elite Dangerous: Odyssey had been planned for early in 2021 but that window is getting bumped back thanks to our constant companion Covid-19. Odyssey is now expected in late spring for PC players, Frontier say in a new announcement.
]]>Frontier’s gargantuan space sim Elite Dangerous will be given away for free on the Epic Games Store today. You’re getting a lot for nothing. It includes the base game, and 2015's Horizons expansion pack that fills the 400 billion star systems with landable planets. The other game is a puzzle game with visual novel elements called The World Next Door.
]]>Elite Dangerous has always been about ships. Flying 'em, fighting 'em, crashing 'em into asteroids because you forgot flight assist was turned off. Why would you ever want to get out and walk? With the Odyssey expansion promising just that, Frontier's latest dev diary has outlined the trading, scavenging, gunslinging and mingling you'll be getting up to should you choose to leave the comfort of the cockpit.
]]>The advanced techology of Elite Dangerous's far future will finally grant humans the impossible power of legs, according to news from Frontier Developments today.
The space exploration and bwoomp simulator is getting a new expansion early next year. It's called Odyssey, and it's about getting out of your ship to jaunt about on foot on any planet you like. Well. Probably not the gas giants.
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