Play online with friends too
The original 1984 game Elite is pretty much an institution amongst 30-40 year olds in the UK. It was the first game to feature a three dimensional open universe, albeit rendered in a very simplistic wire model.
Now David Braben, the original game designer and his Frontier game studio are looking to make a sequel via cash from the Internet funding platform Kickstarter.
Braben promises that the new version, Elite: Dangerous, will take the best qualities of gameplay from the original Elite, as well as the sequel Frontier: Elite II.
Not only that but he says there will be an online element that allows you to play with friends using a mix of peer-to-peer and server technology.
The premise of the game looks to be the same as the original two games: you start off as a loner with a small ship and small amount of credits. From those beginnings the aim of the game is to increase wealth (and the class of your ship) via trading, piracy, bounty hunting or mining.
I have extremely fond memories of Frontier on my 486 PC back in 1995. Whether or not this new incarnation will measure up remains to be seen.
Those interested can find details of the new project (and pledge) on the Kickstarter page.Viral video by ebuzzing