25 Years of Elite

[Sep 18, 2009, 09:24 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

Frontier is celebrating the 25 Year Anniversary of Elite, as their seminal space combat simulator was first released in September 1984. Word is: "Join us to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Elite with a series of events, competitions and media. We have brand-new wallpapers, Elite midi music and screenshots in the Anniversary Media section. During the anniversary we’re inviting you to chat to David Braben in a Twitter and Forums Q&A session, take part in contests and read others’ fond memories of the Elite universe - and we’d love to hear your own, whether they are ‘mostly harmless’ or ‘dangerous’..." It's also been over ten years since Elite IV was first brought up, or maybe not as a recent post on VideoGamer.com quotes David Braben saying: "There is absolutely tons of stuff about Elite online." The Frontier boss goes on to say: "Hardly any of it's true! Some of it is, but I'm not going to say which. We are working on it and it's very exciting."

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15.

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 21, 2009, 18:30

Wildone

Is that your honest opinion? Im glad you specified the difference between humble and honest.

14.

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 19, 2009, 17:39

Shadowcat

I'd love that too but a game of such complexity and depth wouldn't sell well - this is the fast-food console generation of 2009.... Elite's gameplay only had impressive complexity and depth by the standards of the time it was released. By modern standards, it's a pretty simple game. My argument when I was discussing this with someone a few months back was actually that "something as simple as Elite wouldn't work as a commercial game today." Elite would have to really re-invent itself to have the same impact. Exactly. Well, I'll just quote my whole post from that other thread: I'm always a bit cynical about people who compare other space games unfavourably to Elite. The game was revolutionary, but it seems like people won't be satisfied with anything less than another revolution for a follow-up, which just isn't likely to happen (actually, the Frontier games might well qualify -- that was a huge step up, really -- but they were stupidly buggy, and not really what a lot of people wanted). While it was incredible at the time, Elite is pretty simple by today's standards. Arcade physics, simple combat, single ship. If people literally just want that game, then Oolite is out there and freeware. Personally I think lots of games have more than succeeded in following Elite. They need to make changes to do so, however (IMO, something as simple as Elite wouldn't work as a commercial game today), and as soon as you change something, a part of your audience then decries the new game as being not as good as the old one. Actually, I'll go back on that statement. I think it would work as a budget release, if it was slick enough. It would need (IMHO) new graphics and sound, a full set of control options (keyboard, joystick, mouse), and support for user mods (missions especially; ships would be highly advisable; anything more would be awesome, but not required). I suspect they would also need to implement difficulty levels. If they did that, kept everything else as close to the original as possible, and released it as a budget title under the Elite name (which won't ever happen), I think it would do well. Reviewers would probably knock it for being too simplistic, but as long as it did what it did well enough, nostalgia and a low price would combine nicely. That's still a lot of work, but a manageable scope. I suspect Ian Bell would love it, and David Braben would sue the hell out of it.

13.

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 18, 2009, 23:36

tuddies

X3 plus mods have taken the Elite concept very far along. Elite would have to really re-invent itself to have the same impact.

12.

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 18, 2009, 22:30

Lord Tea

Only thing i want now, is Elite 4 a new Elite with todays gfx and same style of gameplay of old would be awesome!! I'd love that too but a game of such complexity and depth wouldn't sell well - this is the fast-food console generation of 2009....

11.

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 18, 2009, 19:59

PropheT

Wow I remember playing this on the Commodore 64. Good 'ol lenslok copy protection was pretty spiffy: My brother and I played the crap out of Elite on the C64 way back when... I don't remember the lenslok thing at all. Code wheels, the weird symbol thing that came with Bane of the Cosmic Forge...no lenslok, though.

10.

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 18, 2009, 19:19

MachineMk2

Yeah, docking computer...that's cool. I mean, if you needed it.

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 18, 2009, 17:33

creatorswhim

At this point you can't make a space combat sim without dealing in the legacy of Elite. Of course, Braben himself hasn't touched the property in nearly 15 years, so this "celebration" is a little mystifying. I agree that EVE is in the space that an online Elite would occupy, and I kind of doubt that Braben is going to go there. Frontier will probably be announcing "Space Combat Sim Tycoon" or something.

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 18, 2009, 17:21

DangerDog

This and Xwing vs Tie fighter I doubt will ever see a remake.

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 18, 2009, 14:08

Jackplug

I loved my docking computer back then Only thing i want now, is Elite 4 a new Elite with todays gfx and same style of gameplay of old would be awesome!!

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 18, 2009, 13:40

Lorcin

Elite was the first game I ever clocked up 24 hours in - I know 24 is nothing in these mmo days but back then it was a lot. My favorite was using mining lasers to kill all the enemies when they were still just a single pixel and couldn't fire back!

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 18, 2009, 12:50

Mostly_Harmless

Indeed, but fortunatley the lenslok became absent from the spectrum version (my flavour of choice). I had the Spectrum version too and mine came with a lenslok, I still have it to this day. Maybe they dropped it after the initial release because somebody's eye exploded or something while trying to use it. Now I think about it I might just sell my copy of Elite second hand on ebay, just to annoy Braben. This comment was edited on Sep 18, 2009, 12:54.

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 18, 2009, 11:04

Wildone

The space sim genre has pretty much been left4dead this generation..the best your gonna get is some shitty 3rd person MMO. I had Elite on the spec 48K too it was truly a star wars experience in terms of opening up new worlds & possibility's..all with vektor lines lol

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 18, 2009, 10:55

Prez

Isn't Eve Online basically what Elite Online would end up being? I would love a modern Elite remake, but not an MMO. Anything but an MMO...




Prez on Soundclick http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=604888

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 18, 2009, 10:29

Ginny

Indeed, but fortunatley the lenslok became absent from the spectrum version (my flavour of choice). Two's a bonus i guess, not that the spectrum didn't have it's fair share of wonderfull protections, a'la jetset willy ect.. Frontier turned on the style again with the manual reference number needed every so often, sorry david, but the fairlight release i got from the bbs a week earlier was more appealing... not that i didn't buy the game on day of release ofcourse on the miggy (as intended) then a year later again on the pc when i finaly got around to the towering beige box. Still for memories sake i love elite dear, allways be dazzled by the fact you got that all on one tape, frontier on a single 1.44 floppy. Intresting 8 page read in retro gamers collection volume 3 for those in the uk, the history of elite. Elite IV, just don't do eve online mk2, put the substance in the game, not in the players.

Re: 25 Years of Elite

Sep 18, 2009, 10:07

Shok

Wow I remember playing this on the Commodore 64. Good 'ol lenslok copy protection was pretty spiffy: http://royal.pingdom.com/2009/08/26/wacky-copy-protection-methods-from-the-good-old-days/

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