Elite: Dangerous action shown in special E3 trailer

by Mark Tyson on 12 June 2014, 11:16

Tags: PC

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Frontier Developments has mixed up a special new trailer for its Elite: Dangerous space game to show off at E3. The trailer attempts to convey the vast scope and freedom on offer to players of this highly anticipated game. If you are suitably impressed you can also join the Elite: Dangerous - Premium Beta program which is now open.

This latest Elite: Dangerous trailer shows off a wide range of Elite-style space adventuring activities. The trailer opens with you boarding your spacecraft, then exiting the space station, going on to navigate galaxies, battle enemies, explore solar systems, salvage wreckage, trade and even bounty hunt. Frontier Developments says that the purpose of this new E3 trailer is to showcase "the vast scope and freedom available in the largest, richest gaming sandbox ever created." To that end, we are told that you can experience 400 billion star systems, infinite freedom and can blaze your own trail through the Elite universe.

Interested Elite gamers can also now join in and play with the full premium beta version of this game. Frontier Developments invites you to become "part of the Elite: Dangerous development team," and buy full beta access for £100 (Windows PC only). For forking over that sum you will get the following:

  • Beta online multiplayer PLUS Single Player Combat missions to develop your Sidewinder skills
  • Automatic access to all the Beta development stages
  • All major downloadable expansion packs as they are released
  • A download copy of the released game

This beta opened at the end of May and was accompanied by the 'Mighty Anaconda' video, embedded below.

The current hardware minimum recommendations are as follows:

  • DirectX 11
  • Quad Core CPU ( 4 x 2Ghz is a reasonable minimum)
  • 2 GB System RAM (more is always better)
  • DX10 hardware GPU with 1GB video RAM = Nvidia GTX 260 / ATI 4870HD
  • Internet connection
  • Windows 7 or 8

The developers say that the final hardware spec required may be lowered thanks to code optimisations.

The game will be released in its final form on Windows PC, three months later a version for Apple Mac will be launched. Elite: Dangerous is also being built to take advantage of VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift. We don't currently know the exact availability date for the 'retail version' of the game but it is expected to be this year.

HEXUS Forums :: 24 Comments

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Posted by SciFi - Thu 12 Jun 2014 11:34
Loving it so far have to say… teetering on the edge of purchasing a Rift because of this
Posted by davesom555 - Thu 12 Jun 2014 11:35
Recommend any good joysticks? Been looking at X52Pro, but they are hard to find and I hear they are being discontinued…
Posted by Scryder - Thu 12 Jun 2014 11:53
I'm looking forward to another Elite game. Loved playing Elite Plus. I remember when first seeing the Mass Effect trailer and hoping it was like Elite… didn't turn out that way obviously, but glad they're making this.
Posted by SciFi - Thu 12 Jun 2014 11:57
davesom555
Recommend any good joysticks? Been looking at X52Pro, but they are hard to find and I hear they are being discontinued…

Most people are going with the X55 Rino or the insanely expensive Warthog I believe

Just need to move house and it will be the Rino and Rift DK2 for me :-)
Posted by Ttaskmaster - Thu 12 Jun 2014 12:25
davesom555
Recommend any good joysticks? Been looking at X52Pro, but they are hard to find and I hear they are being discontinued…

The X55 Rhino is the current favourite. I'll likely be getting one when I have the cash.
Some say it's a bit plasticky, but still a very good HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) for the money. Supplies are limited at the moment as shops are only just building stock.

CH Products are reknowned for being long lasting. Those that have broken are fixable with simple parts from places like RS Components. Their designs haven't really changed in a number of years and they look very ‘80s. The sticks also have both a light spring and a long ’throw', which makes a lot of sense for some flight games. Depends on your preferences.

The Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog is the top end and apparently very nice, but is designed around the A-10 Warthog flight simulator. A lot of people have also said it ultimately doesn't feel so good when used in other games.

The X-65 Pro HOTAS is another high end one, but the stick doesn't move at all. It snses force/pressure and controls things that way. Too weird for some.

The X-52 and X-52 Pro are still around, albeit it scarce. However, since MadCatz took over Saitek, there has been a notable drop in product quality, so you may end up with a dud. Buying second-hand may net you a proper Saitek one.


Those are the big ones.
Outside that, you have a few cheap-end ones here and there which do nicely, although most are quite old now too.
The Logitech series has always been pretty good, especially the ones with Force Feedback. There's a couple of Thrustmaster ones that are decent too.

Personally, I picked up a cheap Saitek Cyborg FLY 5 to use in the interim.
The base folds up, it has twin throttles, lots of buttons and is very adjustable.
However, the adjusty bits seem a bit cheap/loose and you can feel this during fine control, especially as the spring is very hard, which makes fine control even harder.

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