Elite Dangerous: Long and Winding Road

It's been over two years since my last blog post about Elite: Dangerous. Hundreds of hours and thousands of faster-than-light jumps later, I have done some things, and had some thoughts. If you wish to know some of those things and thoughts, continue reading!

Elite Dangerous - Never Not Scanning

Some months ago I wrote a blog post summarising the appeal Elite: Dangerous held for me, and relating my early experiences in the game. After roughly 30 hours, I had a Cobra Mark III, and an excited feeling that 'the real Elite: Dangerous begins here'. I was about to dive into the explorer class headfirst.

Approximately 150 hours later, I haven't come up for air yet.

Elite: Dangerous - Space Truckin'

I'm obsessed with space. If you're one of the twelve-ish people who read my short-lived series of blogs covering my time with Kerbal Space Program, you already know this. I am so riddled with space madness that I once shook hands with Arjun (perhaps you know him as arjybarjy) in agreement that we would both sign up to Eve Online. Thankfully, I have so far reneged on that promise - I don't need more spreadsheets in my life, my day job more than satisfies that quota. Meanwhile, the concept of Kerbal fascinated me, but its realistic physics and rulesets ultimately limited my ability to interact with it. My ideal space game, should it ever arrive, needed to deliver the mindblowing vastness of the cosmos with the comparatively mundane tools of, say, a Euro Truck Simulator-style open world.

Enter, stage Space, Elite: Dangerous.

The Final Frontier: Fake Space, Part 3: A Lunar Date

Cue orchestral music.

The alarms blared incessantly, terminal lights flashed over and over, and behind Bill Kerman's head he swore he heard a panel of the command pod's outer hull make a deep, sonorous creak. Either the ship was pulling apart at the seams or he was hearing things.  The latter would be excusable, seeing as the pod was spinning like a top - although tops normally just spin in place around one central point, whereas Bill's ship was twirling in three dimensions, like a ballerina break-dancing for dear life.  As the surface of the Mün approached faster and faster, Bill Kerman  remembered his astro-lessons, not so very long ago...

The Final Frontier: Fake Space, Part 2: Orbital Boogaloo

[If you haven't read the first part of "The Final Frontier: Fake Space", this probably won't make much sense.]

Jebediah Kerman just couldn't stay awake.  He tried to keep his head up, but his eyelids felt like they were made of lead.  He couldn't help it; he allowed himself a yawn, hoping it would go unnoticed.

"Mr Kerman!" Jebediah's focus snapped to the angry Professor as he thwacked his cane against the desk.  "Finding my lecture about space a tad boring, are we?  You could do with paying attention more than most.  Your last three Ballistic High Jumps have been pathetic, barely touching 20 kilometres.  Shape up soon or you're off the Program!"  He paused, exasperated.  "That's enough for today.  Class dismissed."