Elite / Frontier The greatest game ever?
- Thread starter Steve
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Brain damaged goldfish - that's a good one! 
24 years since Elite came out - I thought it was released in 1986 for some reason, d'oh !
I played Elite on my Amiga 500 for a while before getting a copy of Frontier for my birthday in 1994. I actually only found out about Elite a few months before getting Frontier, even though I owned a ZX Spectrum since about 1986. Well I was just a kid back then with a limited number of original tapes and no magazine subscription to keep me informed of the best games out - the only source I had was friends and we never came across Elite. Maybe that was for the best because I wouldn't have gone out to play very much. I never got very far with the Amiga version, mainly because I had a lot of course work and exam revision to do since it was my final school year at the time. Anyway, it wetted my appetite for Frontier and when I got that I was totally blown away. I remember having my stereo playing my CD and tape collection as I was playing that game and exploring other worlds - kind of like playing music in a car as your driving around I suppose. I sure hope Elite 4 has a music player built in so you can play your MP3 collection, that would be a nice feature to have.
Anyway, now I know it's been 24 years instead of 22 since Elite was released I get the feeling that Elite 4 is being developed for the 25th anniversary of the original - although it may be released a few years later than that of course. I know, "you don't say".
Iain Lee obviously doesn't know that DB and Frontier will be working on Elite 4 though because he still thinks there are rights problems to sort out with Ian Bell and doesn't even mention Elite 4 - shame on him !
I played Elite on my Amiga 500 for a while before getting a copy of Frontier for my birthday in 1994. I actually only found out about Elite a few months before getting Frontier, even though I owned a ZX Spectrum since about 1986. Well I was just a kid back then with a limited number of original tapes and no magazine subscription to keep me informed of the best games out - the only source I had was friends and we never came across Elite. Maybe that was for the best because I wouldn't have gone out to play very much. I never got very far with the Amiga version, mainly because I had a lot of course work and exam revision to do since it was my final school year at the time. Anyway, it wetted my appetite for Frontier and when I got that I was totally blown away. I remember having my stereo playing my CD and tape collection as I was playing that game and exploring other worlds - kind of like playing music in a car as your driving around I suppose. I sure hope Elite 4 has a music player built in so you can play your MP3 collection, that would be a nice feature to have.
Anyway, now I know it's been 24 years instead of 22 since Elite was released I get the feeling that Elite 4 is being developed for the 25th anniversary of the original - although it may be released a few years later than that of course. I know, "you don't say"
.Iain Lee obviously doesn't know that DB and Frontier will be working on Elite 4 though because he still thinks there are rights problems to sort out with Ian Bell and doesn't even mention Elite 4 - shame on him
!I've recently been trying to figure out why the 16-bit versions of Elite passed me by the way they did. Ok, so I never had an Atari ST or an Acorn Archimedes, but I did have a Commodore Amiga and remember buying Elite but hardly playing it.
My ruminations have boiled down to two possibilities:-
1. I had played Elite so extensively on my BBC that I was, to coin a phrase, all Elite-ed out
2. The ghastly technicolour graphics ruined the feel of flying by the seat of your pants in your starship
I think both arguments are valid (I hated the way 16-bit Elite looked). They just seemed to lose the feel, for me.
Of course FE2 and (especially) FFE re-ignited my passion for the FEU
I first saw Elite on a friend's BBC. Didn't play it...just sat and watched him playing, thinking it looked a bit naff really. First time I played it was on an Amiga 500, and I probably spent several hours a day, for months and months and months, just playing it and playing it and playing it. It helped that I was fairly young and impressionable, but I "lived" that game, and it's a chapter in my history that I'll never forget. So while I might not call it the best game I've ever played, it was certainly the most influential. (Never did make it to Elite status, though I was Deadly for an awful long time.)
I'd say Dungeon Master was a little better, and almost as influential. I felt a part of those dungeons, mapping them out laboriously until I knew them so well.
Frontier is great, but never had the same pull that Elite did. I never got into the spirit of "being Commander Ionbar" while playing Frontier like I did while playing Elite.
Today though, Unreal Tournament 99 all the way.
I'd say Dungeon Master was a little better, and almost as influential. I felt a part of those dungeons, mapping them out laboriously until I knew them so well.
Frontier is great, but never had the same pull that Elite did. I never got into the spirit of "being Commander Ionbar" while playing Frontier like I did while playing Elite.
Today though, Unreal Tournament 99 all the way.
Although Elite would take the prize for "most ambitious game of its time" i think "all-round most perfect game ever" would have to be "Master of Magic". No holes in the gameplay at all, and i still sometimes go back and play through a game even these days, 15 years after release. I don't think there's many games you could say that about.
Its a tough one to call any game the greatest ever, its all a matter of personal opinion I suppose.
If Elite was not the greatest game ever it was probably the most influential and groundbreaking. what was done with such minimal resourses will go down as the most massive leap in gaming. I can't imagine anything being able to make such a impact as elite has had over the years.
If Elite was not the greatest game ever it was probably the most influential and groundbreaking. what was done with such minimal resourses will go down as the most massive leap in gaming. I can't imagine anything being able to make such a impact as elite has had over the years.
Any game that was the first successful title of its genre can be said to have had the same impact. Populous, Civilization and Command & Conquer comes to mind for example. Not to mention King's Quest or Zork.
Some of them are forgotten by now, others have evolved but these are - like Elite - all games that people went out and bought computers for just in order to play them. You can't have much more impact than that.
It seems to me that the effect of Elite stems further than just the genre itself. It was the open endedness of the game that was so rarely emulated in other games - the replay value in Elite due to it being your own game life rather than playing out someone elses scripted suggestion of how your story should go.
Personally I found Frontier E2 to be such a massive progression on the free manner of 'living'. I was significantly more engaged by Frontier than by Elite and from the perspective of fulfilling an expectation it far surpassed mine.
Making a call on the 'greatest game ever' is such a subjective thing and can be argued till the cows come home. I personally rate FE2 over Elite but also got a massive amount of joy from games like Gran Turismo and Final Fantasy VII. Command & Conquer Red Alert again I rated above its predecessor and as such would call it a better game.
As a game that altered perspective of what game play and experience could be Elite was and always will be the granddaddy of both the genre and of open ended game play but to call it the greatest game ever is always going to be a contentious call in my opinion.
Personally I found Frontier E2 to be such a massive progression on the free manner of 'living'. I was significantly more engaged by Frontier than by Elite and from the perspective of fulfilling an expectation it far surpassed mine.
Making a call on the 'greatest game ever' is such a subjective thing and can be argued till the cows come home. I personally rate FE2 over Elite but also got a massive amount of joy from games like Gran Turismo and Final Fantasy VII. Command & Conquer Red Alert again I rated above its predecessor and as such would call it a better game.
As a game that altered perspective of what game play and experience could be Elite was and always will be the granddaddy of both the genre and of open ended game play but to call it the greatest game ever is always going to be a contentious call in my opinion.
I don't think there will ever be a definitive answer to "the best game ever", for the simple reason that different people like different things from their games. I doubt someone who plays GTA and classes that as one of the best games would see the merits of Harvest Moon or The Sims, and vice versa. There will always be exceptions to that though!
I think different genres of games make this discussion endless. If you're referring to games that have had a massive impact on the people that play them, then Elite (and successors) is right up there (IMO). But could games on the Wii be classed as great as they have got people who traditionally never touched computers (the "elder" generation) to play them?
I loved the way FFE was open-ended; not like some games where once you've completed the linear mission structure, that's it. There was something special about being able to complete random missions as well as the hand-coded ones (personally, I think a work of genius).
I think different genres of games make this discussion endless. If you're referring to games that have had a massive impact on the people that play them, then Elite (and successors) is right up there (IMO). But could games on the Wii be classed as great as they have got people who traditionally never touched computers (the "elder" generation) to play them?
I loved the way FFE was open-ended; not like some games where once you've completed the linear mission structure, that's it. There was something special about being able to complete random missions as well as the hand-coded ones (personally, I think a work of genius).
For my mind what makes a truly great game is how much impact it creates. i.e Elite is over 20 years old and people are still enjoying it and it's sucessors.
It's regularly quoted as being the greatest game ever in polls and articles. It has "staying power" which just goes to show how good it really is.
It is a subjective view and everyones opinion is dfifferent. what is really great is the fact there is games out there which have captured the imagination enough to be considered as the greatest game ever.
Personally, I've always prefered FFE out of the three games, mostly for the textured gritty feel of the game.
It's regularly quoted as being the greatest game ever in polls and articles. It has "staying power" which just goes to show how good it really is.
It is a subjective view and everyones opinion is dfifferent. what is really great is the fact there is games out there which have captured the imagination enough to be considered as the greatest game ever.
Personally, I've always prefered FFE out of the three games, mostly for the textured gritty feel of the game.
I wonder what the result would be if only people under, say, around 25-years old were polled.
And it's FE2 all the way for me. Probably spent more time playing Elite, but I don't go back to Elite anymore, yet still fire up FE2 occasionally. Played FFE for a few weeks to a month perhaps before giving up on it. (Perhaps I should get GLFFE some time...)
10 odd years is a long time to be sitting on the fence! you may need a cushion
You have to get GLFFE running. It's nice to have the choice between the games. when you get bored with one you can just have a go on the other one for a while
Good man!
Any game when done right can blow peoples mind. COD MW is a brilliant game, haven't seen GTA4 except in trailers but both seem to have had a lot of work put into getting them "right".
Elite and FE were the same its the old saying you get out what you put in.
10 odd years is a long time to be sitting on the fence! you may need a cushion
Meh, I've only played them for 2-3 years. They might not be mint-fresh graphically, but man, do they rock. You can't beat such scale, freedom and the way accurate physics doesn't hamper the gameplay in Frontier.
Thats the point isn't it! There has been nothing produced that has come close to matching the pure gameplay and scale of E/FE/FFE
The question is, all these companies making space trader/combat games having Frontier/FFE as a pretty good base to draw inspiration from, hasn't grasped the fact that stunning graphics don't make a game, playability and making the effort to get it believable does. Rant over!