Celebrating 35 years of Elite!

[Patrick_68000]

I did not know Elite 84. Because I guess at the time when personal computers were not a popular mass objects, and outside the United Kingdom, Elite was for many people completely unknown.

However I discovered FE2 in the 90s when the personal computer became democratized.

I guess my amazement was as intense as that of the pioneers of 84.

Since this discovery I have always had Elite in a corner of my head, as one more milestone on the path of the life.

 

[Patrick_68000]

My fave memory is the spectacular intro to Frontier Elite 2, it had to be watched in full everytime I fired up the game CMDR GTuk

Source: https://youtu.be/GzEj4Gq7fT4

Very simple really, the intro to Frontier, superb animation and superb music. Iconic you might say.

Unforgettable.

I also loved the adaptation of this intro, on the theme of Elite Dangerous.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-V229WLzNk

 

[Vetinari]

My favourite 'memory' of Elite is long-term and I didn't even know it was a memory.

I was 10 in 1984 when I first played Elite and this year I learned two things about my childhood...

1. The music of 'Blake's Seven' brings back an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia.
2. A spinning rectangle inside a shape on a screen brought back an overwhelming feeling of nervous apprehension, my palms were sweating, I had no idea that the original docking in Elite had left such an imprint on me for so long. Just awesome!

RIGHT ON COMMANDER!

 

[Modolincs]

Favourite memory, Soo many, but here goes

Memorable moments were Playing the original on the BBC micro, no one had seen anything like it. Then upgrading up to the C64 version (which got me through uni). Solid frames And multiple colours (and I made Elite). Successfully shooting my first slot was also good as was my first encounter with Thargoids (Frantic or what), however my most favourite moment had to be the first time I flew into a Coriolis station in Elite Dangerous. To see what was inside the slot, in glorious Technicolor was absolutely amazing, and when I did it in VR it was even better. This is what I always dreamed Elite would be , 35 years ago, when I first played.

Thank you the Frontier team, for all your hard work and dedication, in giving us true escapism.
As I've always said to people who 'knock a 60 year old who plays computer games'. "It's not a game, its a way of life"

 

[Modolincs]

CMMDR NAME: Randal Waide

I don’t remember exactly how I managed to do It but I purchased a cargo from a seller that escaped into my ship and like tribbles soon began to reproduce, eventually, I couldn’t see out of my view screen. I remember cussing loudly at my old Commodore 64 as I attempted to reach the station. I don’t remember how I solved it, if I self destructed, dropped all my cargo or managed to get close enough to the station to auto-dock. (Was there an autodock then?) I really only remember cussing the guy who sold me the creatures.
I kept thinking what a dirty trick it was to dangle such a profitable cargo in front of a greedy Commander, knowing it would end badly.
Needless to say, I looked very carefully at every “special” cargo offer I got after that.

Well played Frontier, well played.

 

[Modolincs]

If my memory serves me correctly, you had to fly really close to a sun for a certain length of time, until they were gone. I did that as well.

o7

 

[g1t]

way back when on original 84 elite i remember finding a place where diamonds were illegal so paid you to take them away and could sell for a fortune elsewhere. made a bunch of cash real quick. i also remember the rescue the passengers from the supernova before it exploded. the mission was bugged and had to take it back for a new version. no such thing as patches back then lol... Q7

 

[glenmore]

I had just landed on a planet following a lead in Internet to find a guardian ruin. My ship was some distance away as I was not sure what to encounter so the last few hundred metres I did in my SRV. The light was dim as the sun was going down and it was misty I drove over a hill and suddenly I saw a large panorama of guardian structures appearing out of the mist with the sinking sun in the background. I have seen many memorable things but this one came into my mind first.

o7 CMDR Glenmore

 

[Naiffur]

My first acquaintance with the game Elite was back in 1989 on the ZX Spectrum 48k. Many unforgettable evenings spent at the game. Recently learned about the revival, bought and joined the community. So far, I only master and restore lost skills. Thank you for the created Elite universe. CMDR Буян

 

[Alec Turner]

Buying the game from WHSmiths in 1984, on floppy for the BBC.

I did not know Elite 84. Because I guess at the time when personal computers were not a popular mass objects, and outside the United Kingdom, Elite was for many people completely unknown.

However I discovered FE2 in the 90s when the personal computer became democratized.

Not a memory as such, just something that really struck me ... the contrast between the above two posts (pretty much adjacent in this thread). You have deMangler who simply bought the game in '84 from what is effectively a high street sweet shop amd you have Patrick who comes from a country where personal computers wouldn't be "democratised" for at least another half decade (if I'm interpreting that correctly). How amazing that all these people have been brought together over time and geography to a place where we can all share our appreciation of the same game. David and the rest of Frontier should feel really proud. They've created more than just a videogame ... they've created a thriving community with its own long and very rich history.

 

[don carnage1]

CMDR don carnage1

My favorite memory is, without a doubt, Distant Worlds 2.

When I first learned about DW2 my initial thought was “bleh.”

I had only been playing for about six or seven months at that point. I had already spent one of those months on a trip to Colonia and Sag A. The idea of spending five more months jumping from empty system to empty system sounded incredibly dumb. I was already Explorer Elite anyway and didn’t see the point.

I was also still something of a newbie. I didn’t fully understand Engineering “best practices.” I knew I was bad so mostly played in solo or PGs back then, which got lonely. I was actually getting bored of the game and was thinking about quitting.

I don’t remember what changed my mind, but it was roughly a week after DW2 launched. Maybe it was when I saw the first mass jump videos on YouTube. Maybe I saw a writeup about it on a news website. Either way, I signed up and rushed to catch up to the rest of the fleet.

I studied PVP guides like cramming for a test. I cobbled together a “gank proof” exploration ship from spare parts I had laying around. I bookmarked a bunch of exploration websites made by the community... and off I went.

The next five months were pure excellence. The meetups and shenanigans were fantastic. The organizers structured the trip like it was their jobs. The games, photo contests, CQC, and great Discord kept it going even in the most difficult stretches. I made friends that I still wing up with today. I even had the honor of being invited to a secret mission: to chase a mysterious, possibly-Raxxla-related discovery found by a friend. A REAL lead, not the vague grabbing-at-straws speculative crap on the Lore forums.

The trip was also a test of endurance with an insane attrition rate. Of those who embarked only a tiny sliver survived to Beagle Point.

I came back a rejuvenated and much stronger player, confident in my ship and my skills. I was Elite when I left the Bubble, but I didn’t FEEL Elite until I returned.

It was one of the best gaming experiences I ever had, and I wear my DW2 decal like a badge of honor.

Thanks FDev and every player who made it happen.

 

[NelliesDad]

PSNid NelliesDad
Elite: Dangerous on the PS4, HoTaS+keyboard duct taped to a plank of wood, 36’ LCD TV, 70’s Stereo system and some surplus Kickers from a car tecscrewed to an old office chair in the shed.
The moment I cranked that puppy up halfway and popped hardpoints, the rumbling of my spine while the Cobra Mk.III deployed my MultiCannons had me in fits of hysteric giggles.
I just deployed and retracted, deployed and retracted while the sound and feel washed me towards some distant star system far from planet Earth.....I was nervous, but I compressed the trigger. Suddenly, an Explosion decompressed my cockpit and all the oxygen was sucked out of the cabin.
My partner stood in the doorway. Apparently midnight was not the right moment for her or the neighbours.
It was and will always be for me.

 

[b0redb0y]

CMDR AdamantiumKiwi (PC) -

• Blowing up asteroids.
• Hyperdictions.
• Neutron Stars.
• Really, really deep canyons...
• So many things...

 

[Amberson]

СMDR Amberson
I live in the Elite since the time of the Spectrum
Honestly, this is my parallel life.
One of my vivid impressions is when I nevertheless ended up without fuel and I needed to call fuel rats.
I did not expect such a team to be possible in the “game”

 

[IHVD]

My favorite memory of this game is where I was livestreaming in a discord call with some fellow friends and CMDR's and made my first smoothest quickest landing ever, I just glided through the mailslot, lowered my landing legs, slowed down just enough, and came up to the landing pad and immediately docked within 5 seconds!

I am currently gearing up with my friend to go on a trip to a Guardian Site, to start that whole arc, and I just can't express how excited I am to continue playing!

My CMDR name is IHVD.

Fly Safe (or dangerously) CMDRs o7

 

[Tazpoken]

My favorite memory of this game is literally the moment when, in 2019, I found out that everything my cousin and I (big time video game brothers) had dreamed while playing Frontier: Elite II as kids, had become reality.

 

[Hangerhead]

CMDR Hangerhead.

In the way back when, I had a BBC B 32K. It was meant to be used mainly, to learn coding.
Instead, it became full of moments of waiting for the loading tape sounds to finish and for the Elite loading screen to appear.
I still remember walking in to the PC games shop and picking up this box that, simply through word of mouth (no internet), was the passport to hours, weeks of effort and enjoyment.
We'd had Space Invaders and Galaxians and Adventure games, then Elite...with its packaging and that novella that I read most of, every single time I loaded the game.

I never got my Elite badge, having sent the details and cheque off too late.

 

[Akarana]

Commander Akarana

I read a newspaper report on Bell and Braben creating something groundbreaking, so there was already anticipation for the arrival of Elite but nothing could have prepared me for the awe I felt when I opened this box for the first time.

Never before had I played a computer game which had a fully-realised universe created especially for it. I would spend hours poring over the history and specs of each ship, and have the manual open beside me while playing. Even at fourteen years old, I thought it was incredibly clever how the artwork of your cockpit in those pages had a BBC Micro integrated into it. Thanks to that, I was instantly transported into that wondrous universe the moment I sat down at my computer to play.

I marvelled at how large and rich the Elite universe was in the game – remarkable what could be squeezed on to a humble cassette – but all the supporting materials helped my imagination soar even higher and created a unique experience for me that has never been equalled since.

The shape of every ship on the chart was carefully memorised, and it was incredibly exciting whenever a new flickering wireframe would come into view for the first time, be they friend or foe. Even now, the wireframe paintjob has become something of a signature for me with my classic wireframe Asp being quite well known and often remarked upon during expeditions.

My venerable BBC Model B may be long gone, but I just could never bring myself to part with this and am so happy I still have it now. I never sent in the card as for all my hundreds of hours of play, I could never get past Deadly. I finally achieved my first Elite rank… thirty-four years later in 2018!

 

[andrak]

The game around 1.5 had even worse skinnerboxes and MVP placeholders.

Nah, it really didn't. That was pre engineers (space magicians)

 

[Baron von Schnellenstein]

CMDR: von Schnellenstein

I have many "best/favourite" memories with each version of Elite (excepting FFE as I don't own it), but I'll go with one from the original Elite, Spectrum 48K version ...

... from a couple of months ago:
Here I am, on the loading screen, 10 mins in. Our 5yo wanders in, sees the carton, the ship chart and the Elite logo on the TV

"OH! THAT'S THE ANCIENT ELITE!", he bellows - then said 5yo promptly attempts to climb over my back to get at the keyboard!!!

Such is the gravitas of the original Elite, that 35 years on, today's youngsters want to play it!
---
How did we get to this?
Said small person has frequently followed my travails in E : D since they've been old enough to talk.
He'll happily sit there and as various stellar bodies come into view, "What's that? Why does it look like that? What is it made of? Let's go and look at that one!"
From these interactions, he has developed a strong interest in astronomy and from about age 4, could recite all the planets in our solar system - in order.

Many thanks to messrs Bell and Braben for unleashing Elite on us 35 yrs ago. Thanks again Sir David for the three incarnations since. Over the last 30 years, I've had countless hours of enjoyment from the various Elites.
Cheers!