Check the official Elite Dangerous: Horizons site for more information!
- Developer: Frontier Developments
- Release Date: 12/15/2015
- Platforms
- Elite Dangerous is 32- and 64-bit and available for PC, Mac OSX, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One platforms
- Horizons is available on the same platforms.
- Price: 60 USD/50 EUR/40 GBP
- Trailers
From the Frontier Store site:
From these worlds, you can discover settlements and points of interest (POI), ship wreckage to search, ore to mine, minerals to synthesize, or pirate bases to raid!
For details on what is included in Horizons, please check out this compilation thread. It is comprehensive and regularly updated.
Frontier has released a Horizons video series:
- Landing
[*]Wave Scanner
[*]SRV
[*]Settlements
Points of interest include:
- Mining/ore deposits and Materials
- Crashed and derelict ships
- Secret pirate bases
- Settlements (including military bases, prison colonies, surface ports, etc.)
- Distress beacons
The above was written before Elite Dangerous was released--the engine has been constantly evolving and now handles generation of the planetary terrain. This is not just a simple randomized heightmap--Stellar Forge is guided by scientific and geologic data. The movement of tectonic plates is simulated and informs the creation of the landmass, and the planet's chemical makeup also controls its color and geologic layers.
Not insignificant blindspot: horizontal displacement. Horizontal displacement (sharp cliffs, overhangs, etc.) is not currently utilized, but it has been said that it is something they plan to revisit.
A part of this simulation is gravity. Gravity while flying in Supercruise has always been a factor, but now it is more present than ever. If you are in a planet's orbit, loose cargo, debris, etc., can float (or crash, rather) down to the surface. Flying near the surface in ships not designed for non-spaceflight can be difficult, especially in high gravity worlds. Take care, commander!
- Turret: Use your turret to fend off enemy skimmers or to break down rock for ore/materials
- Thrusters: Thrusters help normalize your driving on the surface. With Flight Assist on, they automatically thrust to keep you on the planet in low gravity, and keep you from running aground in high gravity. Of course, you can also manually control them for sick stuntz
- Ship Control: Dismiss or recall your ship at command. This is useful if you want your ship to remain in standby or to come pick you up after a long day of surface exploration
- Planetary Insertion Module
- Planetary Vehicle Hangar
Settlements are arranged in a way that reflect their purpose and economy. You will find variation between settlements, but take care, as many have robust defense mechanisms that can make short work of your ship or SRV. Some missions may even have you raid a base, which you can choose to approach as desired. Settlements can have power and drone control stations that can be destroyed...or you can go in guns blazing.
Remember: if you can't find an open landing pad, just land somewhere nearby!
Materials can be found from roving the surface and exploring POIs. Materials themselves are "discovered" as you find them and can then be used to synthesize certain components. These components have three tiers of quality:
- Tier I: Synthesized resource does its job (more fuel, more ammo, etc.)
- Tier II: Synthesized resource does its job + offers 50% bonus (shield capacity, jump range, etc.)
- Tier III: Synthesized resource does its job + offers 100% bonus (shield capacity, jump range, etc.)
Elite: Dangerous started as a successful Kickstarter crowd funding campaign on January 4th, 2013. In two short years David Braben and his team have managed to create a space simulation game of incredible scope set in a full–scale recreation of the real Milky Way galaxy's 400 Billion star systems. Allowing you to explore the vast expanses of our Galaxy and pursue an array of activities within that space.
- Solo: Play alone with AI/NPCs
- Private: Play with friends or a group with AI/NPCs
- Open: Play with other players and AI/NPCs
- CQC: Play arena-based fighter combat
Bear in mind that the universe is shared across all these modes (less so CQC, as it's not fully integrated into the main game yet). This means that you can influence factions, systems, Powers, etc. either alone or with other players.
We're particularly fond of Mobius Group, a dedicated PvE group. You can play online with a ton of other CMDRs who are dedicated to cooperating (no PvP).
Open Play brings its own set of risks and rewards. High population areas can be extremely dangerous, as pirates and other scum prey on new players. If you are aligned with a specific Power, you may be hostile, by default, to other players. Take care, CMDR!
Rewards, including bounties and exploration data, are shared across all members of the Wing, provided the Wing member contributed. For something like a bounty, this means that you shot the target at least once--the bounty is then split amongst you and other Wing members. While this may sound like it cuts the profit too much, consider that you can destroy ships much faster as a team!
With something like exploration, Wings are less practical, as exploration data is only shared if Wing members are in the same system as its scanned. This requires more coordination than is often possible; however, with Horizons, exploration of planets may make exploration Wings far more useful!
Essentially, Powerplay is a metagame within the human-controlled space of Elite: Dangerous. You ally with a Power and then complete goals for each of them to increase your rank. Higher rank gives you better bonuses: weekly payout, access to Power-specific modules, and a greater ability to guide the direction of the power via Command Capital, which all allied players use to guide the growth and dominance of a power.
It's...complicated. First things first: check out this list of brief videos from FD:
- Powerplay Training Part 1: Overview
[*]Powerplay Training Part 2: Preparation
[*]Powerplay Training Part 3: Expansion
[*]Powerplay Training Part 4: Control
As you can see, this is fast-paced, quick action. Jump in, select a small fighter, and pick a mode to get started.
Because the ships are much smaller than your average ship in Elite, fights tend to be over far faster, but are also more hectic. Smaller ships are extremely maneuverable and can stop on a dime--use this to your advantage as you weave in an out of stations and asteroid fields!
While CQC is currently completely separate from Elite universe, you can still earn credits by progressing in the mode. In the future, CQC will be positioned as a career that can be pursued within the Elite universe.
The following are some features and expansions that are coming in Year 2:
- Confirmed for 2.1: Crafting & Looting: Use raw materials to create new and enhanced ship components
- Multi-crew: Command your ship with up to four friends, each focused on a specific role
- Max four crew per ship
- Four roles: Helm (piloting), Fire Control (turrets/weapons), Countermeasures (shields, tactical), Engineering (sensors, navigation, repairs)
- Balance focused to make it on-par with having a Wing of four ships
- Uses Wing system
- Can "hotswap" between roles (even solo players!) but Helm has ultimate control over assignments
- Teammates can move to fighter craft and deploy from docking bay
- Uses SRV-style "neural link" or UI interface (source)
- Commander Creator: Create and customize your in-game avatar
- New SRVs: New variations of SRVs are coming, with different purposes and equipment
- More ships!
- Volcanism: Volcanic activity, including ice volcanoes, is coming! Geysers may make an appearance, as well.
- Weather Systems: Very rudimentary weather systems may come to Horizons (yes, this is separate/different from fully atmospheric worlds)
- Thargoids: Thargoids are on the cusp of making contact--expect to meet them in Year 2!
- Mission System Overhaul: The mission system is said to get a major reworking to make missions more desirable, challenging, and enjoyable
However, here are some of the features that Frontier has already discussed and has said is in the plan:
In addition, check out this Top 10 Future Updates & Expansions vid for an overview of planned features and expansions.
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