... it almost has a console game look if there is such a thing?.

<shudders> Hmm... I described them as 'Jobsian' elsewhere. A cross between 'console' and 'iShips' perhaps?

I had to look "Jobsian" up not heard the term before 😆

I think they have one eye on the console market ie PS4/XBox 1, online games can be short lived and they will need to pull in a lot more player than the current 25000 they have at the moment as not all of them will be playing the online game. So although the PC version will be out first no doubt the console version will came later.

I'm going to say something controversial here - it appears they're spending more time on quantity of those ships than on the quality of their design. They don't seem full around with tiny details, they simply get them done. And you know what? I believe that's exactly what they should be doing. For a game which is meant to drown you in its richness, quantity comes first in my book. At the end of the day, if there are hundreds of them, I'm sure you'll be able to find some you like and although there will be some that you certainly won't, they'll still enrich the impression of a big universe.

The X franchise surely has stunning designs, but the people at Egosoft are kinda lunatics - as it was apparent in one of their videos, it's not unusual for them to spend months making a single ship/model. And what's the outcome? X-Rebirth will launch with as many as....1 ship. ONE. A single ship. Yep.

Star Citizen won't be releasing with that many ships either. And is it worth it? Btw. the SC community is really starting to get on my nerves. They're probably worse that all religious fanatics I've ever met. Many of them outright beg for money encourage others to do the same. If only they acted like competent investors and separated resources evenly between Elite:Dangerous and Star Citizen as devoting everything to a single project, in any business, is plain idiotic. Nobody can say for sure how they're going to turn out.

Besides, the vision that David Braben has painted so far is wonderful and, in my opinion, much superior to that of Chris Roberts who has been focusing on making fancy big cash grabs instead. It's just so unfair that he got away with it, that people took the bait and gave him many times more funds than they gave to Braben.

Very much in the eye of the beholder as to weather you like the design style or not, it's not doing much for me personally but them again again it could be down to my fanboy expectations.

I do believe that you will be able to remote pilot other ship in X-Rebirth.

It strange that Elite Dangerous has not attracted more backers, they finished the Kickstarter with 25,681 but in the last 8 months they have only added about 5000 more as my backer page now says 30,193 backers.Compare it to Star Citizen which has added god knows how many the last eight months although I would not be surprised if it was in the region of 30+ thousand backers to the their game.

Frontier could do with banging the drum a bit more.

Newsletter 6 out and is about updating three classic ships from Elite/Frontier games

First up the Eagle

Well it looks like a fighter but like the old one it still does not look like a ship that could make a 7 LY jump.

This fan made version of the Eagle still looks better than the Frontier redsign

 

I posted that one a long time back when I was in my modelling groove. I've since redesigned the hull so that, while the shape remains the same, the hull panelling is different, and IMO the vessel looks more aggressive.

This is an unfinished model but I'd like to see if I can make a shortvanimation with it.

Nice 😎 FS3D bulking it out make it look more capable rather than the skinny lite version that Frontier have gone for.

Some of the official designs coming out of Frontier seem to be lacking some thing although they still have a year to go so hopefully it will improve.

Nice 😎 FS3D bulking it out make it look more capable rather than the skinny lite version that Frontier have gone for.

That was what I was going for. Inspiration came from Steve Tyler's Asp re imagining.

Some of the official designs coming out of Frontier seem to be lacking some thing although they still have a year to go so hopefully it will improve.

I'm sure they'll pull it together. Their Viper looks good, even if it only bears a passing resemblance to the original, but Steve Tyler's looks great.

Welcome to the SSC FS3D. :girlsmile:

At last some decent news from E:D

Welcome to the 11th Elite: Dangerous development newsletter! Apart from a few pieces of evocative concept art we have been keeping our thoughts on stations quite close to our chest, and we know many of you are itching to find out more about our plans for these vital trade and communication hubs.

Today we’re happy to finally lift the veil and begin sharing with you a few of our ideas. We hope this update will give you a better impression of how stations will look and operate in the final game. So prepare for docking, and cast your eyes over this edition’s bulletin board:

 

Table of Contents (click subject to jump forward):

Castles in the Sky: Providing Variation in Station Design

The classic Coriolis Station is as iconic to the Elite series as the Cobra MK III, and whilst we’re happy to confirm that it will be making a triumphant return for Elite: Dangerous, a galaxy cannot live on Cuboctahedrons alone!

To assure that there is enough variation across inhabited space, Elite: Dangerous will be using procedural algorithms to construct stations out of a range of modular assets. This technique will allow for a wide range of possible station designs, whilst allowing us to make the most of our library of assets.

You can see just a few examples of the very early modules that our team have been experimenting with below. These are not for use in the final game but have been created as a sandbox by our artists, to begin exploring a range of basic shapes that could be used for construction.

Beyond making it easier to provide variation throughout the galaxy, a modular approach allows for several other advantages. One such benefit is that players will be able to see stations expand over time, or in response to player-driven events.

There are various functions that a module can be designed for and all have to be designed so that they look fit for purpose. Below are two examples of modules that are currently being designed. An agricultural module, for stations close enough to a star to sustainably grow crops, and cargo pods for external storage. The assumption is that plants grown in ‘natural light’ would attract a premium price.

Beyond designs for more conventional stations, we also plan to have a few specialist station types that fulfill specific roles; each constructed using their own sets of rules and modules. This will help to establish some stylistic differences between the stations, which will make it easier for players to define what the role of one is upon approach. Some examples are below:

Whilst we know that stations will be built modularly, and we have the technical framework in place to make this happen, we are still very much in the pre-visualisation stage when it comes to the aesthetic. That said, some important philosophies that are helping to guide the design of stations for Elite: Dangerous have already been established:

• Scientific Plausibility: a station’s design needs to be structurally feasible, and make sense practically. How people get about, the use of very low gravity for loading/unloading of ships, but higher gravity for living – typically half to one earth-equivalent in strength.
• Functionality: The function of each element should be considered- where things are stored, where people would want to live, etc. Why it is where it is, and how would people and goods get about.
• Gravity: Living in gravity is comfortable, so in general, space stations spin. That way eating, sleeping, sneezing, and going to the toilet, are a lot more straightforward. Some things benefit from low gravity, like unloading cargo and manufacturing. Also, lower gravity levels (say 1/3 g) could be very pleasant because, for example, a normal human could strap on wings and fly! Because of this there is no special direction (no ‘up’), so there is no need for stations for example to be coplanar – something that a lot of science fiction designs neglect.

One idea that the team are currently exploring further is the concept that a station does not need to be a single structure, but can have multiple satellite components around a central structure, linked only by rapid transport routes. This idea is not only plausible but would offer the Elite stations a unique aesthetic that would be visually striking.

As stations are such a huge part of the game, the aesthetic direction that we choose is not a decision that we’re going to rush. We have literally hundreds of ideas at this point for what we want to do with this area of the game, our task now is to choose what we believe will be the best ones for a new Elite.

 

Designing a Docking Cylinder In Elite canon the only artificial gravity that exists is based on centripetal force, or acceleration. Ships are designed to land vertically, and a good way to achieve this is having a cylindrical docking bay. This is large enough to take quite big ships, and rotates such that there is an apparent gravity of around 5-10% of that on Earth. In such a place, a human could lift a tonne unaided, but the cargo would still stay on the ground where it was placed. Everything from servicing ships to awaiting another cargo could be done here in comfort.

The design for docking cylinders in Elite: Dangerous has been established for some time and is therefore one of the aspects of stations that has been developed the furthest. The image below is one of the earliest explorations into this design and shows a simple breakdown of the main compartments.

An early artistic impression of the inside of the docking cylinder can be seen here. The basic principle is that by rotating the station around a central docking cylinder it is possible to land ships safely in a low-gravity environment around the inside of the cylinder, making full use of its surface area.

The current build of the game has a functional (but basic) version of the docking cylinder already, to help with development in other areas, but in its current form it is extremely lifeless. Once a principle design was agreed upon, the next stage is to find ways to bring it to life and add variety for the player.

The above image shows one such variation on the standard design, for more luxurious stations. The concept is that a docking cylinder could almost be half-garden, so that you’re landing your ship amongst lush vegetation; like a Park Güell or Garden City in space. This sort of station would of course be particularly extravagant and access would be exclusive.

At the other side of the spectrum will be the bustling commercial stations seen below; dirty, busy, and bathed in the glow of neon lights from the advertising holos and billboards plastered on and around any available surface.

There are a countless number of directions we could go when it comes to adding variety and detail to the inside of stations and we’d love to hear suggestions from our community as well. If you have any thoughts on our ideas so far, or have any ideas on station interiors of your own, then let us know over at our official forums.

 

Constructing Stations through the Event System

One exciting feature that we hope to implement is the opportunity for players to be able to view a station in its various stages of construction, such as in the image above. A precursor to a new station would be the arrival of a large ship that would fulfil the role of a temporary station, or colony ship to a specific system. This would then act as the primary hub for trade and missions, until work on an adjacent static station was complete.

The construction of a station would be managed by the events system and as such would generate missions and opportunities for the players, allowing you to help or hinder the progress of a station. By helping the station you would advance its construction, opening up a potentially lucrative new trade and mission hub.

You would be able to see firstly the framework structure, constructed of metals from local asteroids or brought from afar, and gradually the station would build up from that point. The station would become habitable (and trade could start with it) long before it is fully complete- much like a house development, the extra space would gradually be built as it was needed.

Players could also opt to undertake more insidious tasks that would damage the station’s progress for personal profit. If enough players choose this route there is a chance that it will affect the project so negatively that the construction team would cut their losses and move onto the next project, leaving a half-finished station behind.

 Darken the Skies: Building a Federal Battle Cruiser We have shared earlier steps of the Federal Battle Cruiser’s development with you, from early concept, to modelling and even lighting. The next is to show you how it looks as a fully textured model in the game:

The above image was taken straight from our engine. Despite the immense size and firepower of these capital ships they are by no means invulnerable and may sometimes get themselves into perilous situations, where players could be called upon to give them assistance.

To accompany this screenshot we also have a schematic for the Federal Battle Cruiser. Just click on the image below for a high resolution version!

 Gravity Stations will operate as homes and workplaces for many of the galaxy’s citizens and while working through the designs of these stations, the team also had to consider the implications it might have on the game universe.

One such consideration came when considering if there were ever situations when a station would not need to rotate. Research shows that a completely zero-gravity environment would be extremely uncomfortable to live in, as water would not be able to settle, so it makes sense to assume that at least a small amount of gravity is always preferable to none at all.

In the Elite universe humans have since colonised a wide range of different planets, all of which would have their own levels of gravity. This means that different colonies would have their own preference as to what was a comfortable level of gravity to live in, which may also affect their physical appearance.

A low-gravity environment is considered easier on the body, but growing up in this environment may also make you taller, but much more frail. People from this sort of colony might be significantly restricted in where they can safely travel to for health reasons. Likewise, someone born in a high-gravity environment might grow up squatter, but with a stronger heart and more tolerant of strain on their body. Retirement would likely be to a lower gravity location.  On 1/3 g and below, flying is possible with strap-on wings. Some manufacturing techniques would work better in zero g- whereas high g worlds might be a good source of certain raw materials.

This opens up a lot of exciting possibilities from a fiction perspective, that we are considering exploring further. What other differences might develop between different colonies and could these differences fuel intolerance and discrimination between different groups? If you want to provide any input on this idea, let us know on the

 

Absolutely stunning!

Do like the idea of having the stations built over time and hope we will see the dock yards doing the same.

It about time they got some video out of the game, might get them some more backer for the game as they have only managed to added about 6000 since the Kickstart ended in January

That fed cruiser looks like a strip down Star destroyer at lest i think it's one of the better designs to come out of Frontier, second thoughts maybe a Narn Cruiser from Babylon 5.

That fed cruiser [snip] i think it's one of the better designs to come out of Frontier, second thoughts maybe a Narn Cruiser from Babylon 5.

 

 

<nods>

To be honest, the station design and concepts (different environments, evolutive stations,...) are nothing short of amazing so far :preved:

The Founders' system has been named - Shinrarta Dezhra.

That fed cruiser looks like a strip down Star destroyer at lest i think it's one of the better designs to come out of Frontier, second thoughts maybe a Narn Cruiser from Babylon 5.

Looks more like the Venator-class to me, which I don't like to be honest, and I'd prefer Elite: Dangerous to abandon Star Wars ship designs completely.

That,s the ship I was thinking about

I always think of Elite as more Starwars and Frontier more like 2001.

Just been reading the Kickstarter update about the music.

Hi everyone,

Michael here with the latest Elite: Dangerous update and I have some exciting news for you all. Quite a few of you have been asking what our plans are regarding the music for the game, we’ve been busy with the selection process for the composer (and their team) so haven’t been able to reveal anything. That process has now been completed so we are pleased to reveal that Erasmus Talbot has been chosen to compose the music for Elite: Dangerous.

The process to select the composer has been a lengthy one, the music is a major component in the audio for the game and we wanted to ensure that whoever we picked was the perfect candidate. To aid the process we created a short capital ship video for the composers to score so we could compare like for like.

Here is that video along with Erasmus’s score for the scene:

 

Jim Croft, our Head of Audio describes the selection process:

The pitching process for Elite Dangerous has been quite extensive. After announcing our initial search for a composer we were inundated with interest from high calibre applicants. We then invited 20 or so composers/teams to score our ‘Damocles’ video.

Key criteria were: the ability to write and arrange for an orchestra and, specifically with the space theme in mind; a strong thematic and melodic sense; ability to express dynamism, energy and strong choral work. Finding someone with previous implementation / interactive music experience would also be a huge plus.

The work we received was nothing less than awe inspiring. We then had the almost impossible task of narrowing the candidates down to a shortlist of six, who were then set the more technical challenge of creating interactive music stems based on their Damocles video assets. We were looking for a composer who also had a strong understanding of interactive music, and the effect this can have on the writing process.

Erasmus was a favourite from quite early on. His music was extremely sympathetic to the changing action in the trailer and expressed what we thought were very strong thematic ideas. There was also an excellent sense of dynamism to his score; he seemed to know when to go full on and when to pull back and let the visuals do the talking. He let his score breathe. Crucially also, his score ‘mock-ups’ were very impressive sounding - particularly his choirs, and as a music team, we felt that Andreas Kinger and Johan Nilson augmented Erasmus’ experience and skillset beautifully.

We also liked his youthful energy and enthusiasm for the project, and felt that he could offer something unique and new to the genre. Though the trailer score may have had quite a traditional treatment, we were keen to find someone who was also comfortable with cutting edge electronic techniques and a more modern palette. We want the flexibility to not be bound by any particular stylistic genre and to forge our own sound for Elite: Dangerous.

Erasmus delivered a really extensive interactive music system proposal, and supported it with strong documentation so, in the end, the choice was quite simple.

Erasmus Talbot Talks about his inspiration and the challenges in composing the score for Elite:Dangerous

“As a composer there could be nothing more exciting and fun than writing sweeping themes, vast exploration music and energetic battle cues for an epic sci-fi game. And while it will be fun to study and reference my favourite scores, I feel that drive that is simply part of Elite’s legacy to defy convention, push the boundaries and try something new.

For this first trailer, I stayed close to the musical language typically associated with the genre, drawing from scores of recent sci-fi blockbuster such as Star Trek, Oblivion, Star Wars I-III etc. while trying to find my own voice in the themes and use of synth. As with game play and art style, the musical style is very much in development and my ambitions to find a unique, yet fitting musical identity for Elite: Dangerous are extremely high.

Elite:Dangerous will take players through a vast universe, range of gameplay scenarios and game modes. For music to enhance these experiences without becoming repetitive is a challenge that I am relishing. The right balance between musical styles and moods will have to be found, coupled with a suitable interactive playback system. How do we reflect a procedurally created and potentially infinite universe? How does music develop over the course of an epic 1 hour battle? These are just some of the questions we have to answer.

Also, on the practical side, it is already clear that the soundtrack will be highly orchestral. This means confronting ourselves extensively with orchestration, score creation, live recording and wherever we apply sample libraries, highly detailed midi programming for convincing, musical results.

Creatively, stepping out of the shadows of Holst, Williams and co. will take quite some confidence and experimentation but it’s essential to reflect musically the unique character of Elite:Dangerous’ gameplay.”

The video didn’t just help us choose our composer, it also helped develop other aspects of the game, in David’s next Dev Diary (due in a couple of weeks) he’ll talk more about this. We’ll also follow up David’s video with an art specific breakdown of what we did in the video and the road forwards.

Thanks as always for reading and if you haven’t joined in the fun yet you can still pledge via our website http://elite.frontier.co.uk

Michael

 

The music tends to to remind me of Lord of the rings or one of the new Starwars films,

Update from Kickstarter

Great news that we know many of you have been hoping for – today we’re announcing that Elite: Dangerous will support Oculus Rift. We’re very excited by this and if you aren’t aware of what Oculus Rift is then visit their website to find out more:

http://www.oculusvr.com/

I’m sure you’ll also be pleased to learn that the Oculus Rift version of Elite:Dangerous will be available to ALL backers that have an Oculus Rift headset for no extra cost.

Here’s David’s opinion on this:

“We’ve been playing with the Oculus Rift dev kits and are excited about the potential – just glancing around your cockpit or being totally immersed in a space battle. Many of our backers have made it clear that they would like Oculus Rift support – and so do we! We’re very pleased with the results so far.”

Thanks as ever for reading and why not pop by our forums to discuss the latest news:

http://forums.frontier.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=29

Thanks for reading

Michael

 

Very nice of them never knew any one charged for adding Oculus Rift to a game.

...never knew any one charged for adding Oculus Rift to a game.

uh

Should have said Oculus Rift support to the game.

News letter 12

In which we talk more about audio aspects of the ‘Damocles’ recently released capital ship battle video, and get tooled up as we take a first look at some of the weapon options you’ll have available to you.  And we have an important announcement about the final call for Reward Add-ons.

 

Table of Contents (click subject to jump forward):

Dev Diary #6 Released In our sixth dev diary video, which has just been released and can be found here, David Braben provides his commentary on the development process for the recently released ‘Damocles’ capital ship battle video.  The video was used as the test piece for selecting the game’s composer, and Erasmus Talbot’s ‘winning’ score is front & centre in the audio mix! If you haven't watched the ‘Damocles’ video yet, i) you are in for a treat and ii) you can do so here.

Further detail, about the art process behind that video, will be the subject of a future  dev diary video that’s coming soon - make sure to catch it!

Until then, there have been some ‘frequently asked questions’ on audio aspects of the ‘Damocles’ capital ship battle video so here is some further insight:

Interactive Music?

The video was put together intentionally to prompt a cinematic approach to the score from all the composers who participated, to allow us to best gauge each composers’ range in a variety of on-screen situations in as short a time as possible whilst still supporting a coherent visual narrative. In game battle will use a very different musical treatment, allowing for a degree of interactivity while at the same time allowing in cockpit audio to cut through the mix.  More on this topic can be found in the excellent interview between Erasmus Talbot and Jim Croft here.

Music Heavy Mix?

As we were trying to showcase Erasmus' excellent score, the audio mix in the video was deliberately 'music heavy'.  The sound effects design is simply in there to support and inform, and intentionally takes something of a back seat in the mix.  This will not be the case in the game itself.

Non-Player Dialog?

We used non-player character dialog as a mechanism with which to convey the video’s 'mercenary' scenario.  When you are playing the game you’ll be absorbed in the flow of your game and so will implicitly understand exactly what you are doing and why.  For a short, sharp ‘snap-shot’ of a possible game scenario like this we used dialog to provide context for what was unfolding on screen.  We do NOT have plans for NPC dialog such as this in the game itself, but you will be able to communicate with other players via voice chat if you want, so maybe this will have a similar flavour. Communication with game characters will be text-based via the messaging system.

Sounds in Space?!

No sound is transmitted through a vacuum, and this is something we have been thinking long and hard about. We will be talking more about this in the future, but we have a solution that we think works well, and fits well with this. We wanted to convey the audio difference when entering an atmosphere or docking at a station, and were thinking how this would work.

What we have come up with is a solution where audio is used to augment your sense while flying.  Your ship's systems however, are capable of synthesizing and conveying sound from external data gathered via sensor clusters, heightening your intuitive awareness of your tactical situation. You will, as you would expect, be able to customize and filter the scope and detail of such supplementary auditory input you receive. This is mixed in with real sounds, like debris hitting your ship, the sound of your engines and other internal systems (which you can hear as your ship is pressurized – or at least is pressurized for most of the time…).

 

Weapons: Lock and Load It’s dog-eat-dog in the vast Elite: Dangerous galaxy, so you will soon develop a particular affinity for your weapons systems! Weapons in Elite: Dangerous are attached to standard hard-point mountings on your ship’s hull, and you have a great variety of choice as you get tooled up in the shipyards.

Shipyards and weapons manufacturers are spread throughout human space and prices are dependent on which shipyard you are at, shipping costs from the manufacturer and so on.  Of course there are some pretty-well standard universal options, but we think as soon as you’ve completed that first profitable trade run you’ll be shopping for some of the more specialist weapons tune-up services and exotic weapons types to maintain your combat advantage.  And maybe will be motivated to seek out the more specialist manufacturers directly for a better deal on their latest wares.

Initially kinetic weapons will be cost effective, like this rail gun.

And you can customise the type of projectiles you’re using to suit particular purposes.

Here is the beam laser:

Some weapons can be gimbal mounted to aid tracking and targeting (generally you will have to fit a size smaller if you want a gimbal mount, for a given hard-point size):

As well as weapons, defensive measures are of course important. Hard-points can also be used to improve defensive capabilities – in fact the smallest hard-points are best used this way.  You’ll also notice that thermal management is an issue – the more you burn your engines and fire your weapons, the more heat you will need to vent.  But of course this makes you shine like a supernova to those who are looking for your heat signature.  Help is at hand, though – on both fronts.  There are many ways of dumping heat - attach a heat-sink launcher like the one below, and when things get too hot (!) you can jettison a red-hot pellet that also acts as a great decoy for heat-targeted munitions as well as lowering your ship’s thermal signature.

 

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/10/18/alpha-papa-chat-elite-dangerous-alpha-in-december/

Plus a short interview with Mr. Braben himself.

Not saying much about where they are getting the funding for the planetary addon.

Another month another letter

Weapons: Reach out and touch someone
As part of the Alpha combat test we will of course need a decent selection of weapons - you may remember the beam laser and rail gun from the previous newsletter.

Below are some more images of the firepower that will be at your disposal.  This cannon  fits onto the small hardpoints on ships.  It’s one of the more basic weapons types, but will consequently be cheap to acquire and run, with plentiful supplies of ammunition:

As well as direct fire weapons, we will of course have missiles and torpedoes.  Torpedoes are the larger of the two, and the generally smaller missiles tend to be fitted in racks – check out this size chart:

In previous games, missiles and torpedoes have been relatively expensive and a resource to be carefully managed in combat.  Elite: Dangerous will follow this lead, but also allow you to carry larger numbers of them in their racks.  There will be a variety of warheads and capabilities, ranging from cheap and dumb direct ‘line of sight’ fire to more sophisticated heat seeker types with multiple sub-munition warheads.  Here we have close ups of two of the medium size missiles and, below, their associated rack mounts.

 

Stations: Cities in the Sky In Newsletter 11 we looked at some of the early exciting development work on space stations.  That approach has been something that is bearing fruit, and design and development continues apace.

In this particular painted concept image you can see a familiar central spindle that rotates, with living and working in the top structure with comfortable artificial gravity created by the centripetal force.

Around this are static structures for industry or research where microgravity provides some benefit, situated close to the rotating hub, where small ‘taxis’ ferry people back and forth to the rotating metropolis.

In game, these streams of regular traffic between these structures will make the stations come alive as enthrallingly beautiful, bustling cities in the sky.

Ships: The Panther LX We expect the new Panther LX model heavy cargo clipper – a trading workhorse - to remain as popular in Elite: Dangerous as its predecessors were in previous games.  A render of the model’s blockout mesh was posted in a previous newsletter to show the scale of ships in the game.  Here we have the paint-over of that mesh, which is acting as guidance for the modellers who are creating the ship.

 

So now they are "city's in space", now where I heard that  before.

ED ship design or redesign still seems to be missing something.

And the big news this month from ED

We will be starting Alpha testing in December, and will focus on different aspects of the game in turn - the first build is a test of close-to-final combat systems. This process is specifically designed to allow us to get the best results for the good of the game, with the team being able to respond to feedback.

We want such great collaboration and flexibility to be an ongoing theme.  It is important to be able to tune the game as it comes together – as an example, the hugely popular online game ‘Minecraft’ had a public beta phase (call this a gamma phase perhaps) where the whole game was available but tweaking was still happening for an extended period. This was followed by a ‘retail’ release once the developers were happy with the result.  We view this as a very sensible and successful template, and it’s the type of model we want to follow with Elite: Dangerous.

Our subsequent Beta phase will follow on from the Alpha, and begins as the game starts to work as a coherent whole, and multiple functions of the game can be tested together. Again this will be a flexible process as we take and respond to feedback from the Beta testers. After the private alpha and beta period is complete all our backers will get access to the game, before it has its retail launch, which will allow us to make sure the game is the maximum possible quality.

Footnote:  the Alpha is available to backers who pledged £200+, as per the reward tier descriptions.  Existing or new backers can either upgrade or make fresh pledges and join the Alpha testing process.

The seventh dev diary video has been released, in which David Braben explains the process further – see the video here:

 

£200/$320 to get in on the Alpha don't think they will be getting many new backers might get a few upgrades.

As regards perception of movement in the void, this interested me greatly:

We're currently going with a subtle yet still visible periphery cloud like particle field that you fly through. Thus there are no dots or grains like in many other space games but there is something there to indicate movement and drifting. We can also scale up the effect and add more granular particulates when in and around dense asteroid or ring systems but even in the void we still have it visible around the periphery of the cockpit.

To reinforce the above we also have a concept of motion ladders that are visible on the HUD when in motion and show movement in the three relative axes around your ship. Thus there is one for vertical movement, one for horizontal and finally one for forward/backwards motion. Each ladder has three scales, each being a series of lines that move as the ship does. Each scale moves at a different rate, the largest lines belonging to the smallest scale and thus move very quickly as you get up to speed. The shortest lines move the slowest and represent much larger distances covered as they move by. Each set of lines belonging to a particular scale also fade out when their motion is no longer relevant to the player to help in readability. Thus when you're going really fast the longest lines belonging to the smallest scale almost completely fade away as they're no longer relevant for the speed you're going at.

Good old spacedust - had to have it in some form or other!

It's subtle enough that you only really notice it when you're specifically looking for it but not so subtle that you're not subconsciously aware of it's presence. Ever since getting it in game it's dramatically improved the sense of speed and movement and it's almost impossible to imagine not having it in the game any more.