SpaceSimCentral

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 [url]http://elite.frontier.co.uk[/url] 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:[url]http://www.oculusvr.com/[/url] 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:[url]http://forums.frontier.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=29[/url] for readingMichael 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. 

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

Think we need to see a video of the movement ladders in action although it sounds like it might be some thing similar to Independence War. Hope this particle field/space dust does not end up like the ones in the X games.

Just for illustration:

Good grief, I hope not - damn railway lines all over the bloody place! I had the impression that the proposed 'ladders' related to the player-ship's speed in various axes.

could be some thing added on the Reticle as in the 10,8,6 ladder looking bit at the bottom. 

There is a brief glimpse (at 0:29) of what I think are the 'ladders' in the capital ship battle vid.