Celebrating 35 years of Elite!

[Wolfsitsonturtleshell]

I shall never forget the day my older brother came home from college with a copy of Elite, which he proceeded to get running on his mates BBC Micro. I was 17 and the Elite galaxy was opened to me over that Christmas 1984! Truly inspired, I went on to become an electronics engineer working with several 3D graphics companies over the years and my brother became a software engineer.
Many versions of Elite have come and gone on various systems, but my brother and I played them all and, on release, I had Elite Dangerous setup on my Xbox, my brother on his PC. Although we couldn't share the same virtual space, we would chat about where we were in the game over a pint down the pub.
Unfortunatley my brother was hit by an aggressive cancer and passed away within a few weeks of diagnosis in August last year. However, I managed to recover his PC and was able to decode his password book. His ship now rests at dock at Jaques in Colonia, but I found his flight log and tracked down some of his first discoveries. Into the black to retrace his steps and I found a system about 1000 Ly from Sol, so should you ever fly to HIP 15569 you will find his name with first discovered status and I have first mapped status.
For as long as this game lasts, my brother's name will forever be in the stars and for as long as I live, that will be my lasting memory of Elite. RIP Cmdr HoppyHS, thanks for introducing me to the game all those years ago, may your star forever shine brightly. o7

Cmdr Wolfsitsonturtl

 

[GolgoXIII]

my favourite memory of elite dangerous was when skins that were 3 pounds for a set of 6 were 3 pounds. Not 9 pounds and 59 p. Yea frontier I checked it out and well I wonder how many others have.

 

[calicocidd]

My best memory... Looking back at the galaxy from Salome’s Reach, 65,647.34 LY from Sol.

Cmdr CalicoCidd

 

[bflochip]

My favorite memory is the lenslock copy protection and how it failed. I had the original disks and loved the game trying to match the ship's spin with the station to land.

 

[Cross]

CMDR Cross

Probably my favourite Elite memory was way back on the C64 version, co-piloting with a friend as we jumped our mid-range Cobra into a new system, probably running computers or some other high-value cargo. For whatever reason, some bounty hunter in an FDL jumps us on arrival. We were well-equipped enough to make short work of a single attacker, and once he popped we were like, "Idiot..."

Then three microjumps in toward the safe zone, allllllll his friends come looking for payback. At least that's what we assumed was going on, what with a dozen or more hostile ships swarming us. What followed was a running battle for the safe zone, where we'd fight until we could make a short break for it, then have to turn and fight again, since we could never escape mass-lock to microjump away. After a gruelling brawl across the system, we finally reached the safe zone and thought we were home free. Surely they wouldn't follow us in.

They did. And then the station began launching Vipers, and things devolved into a furball. On the upside, the huge brawl served as a decent distraction from shooting at us, mostly; on the downside, the huge brawl served as a decent distraction when you don't have a docking computer and are trying to land. Pretty sure we were scraping bars of energy as we slid into the docking bay.

We should've charged a premium on that shipment of computers, I tell you.

 

[The-Dead-Meat]

First successful dock with a station, back before there where tutorials or how to's. Just the little sidewinder and a panicked pilot trying to line up for docking while the timer counted down. Exhilarating.

 

[Chris Weasel]

I remember the day when I could afford to buy 4 military lasers, one on each side of the ship, on the C64.
CMDR Chris Weasel

 

[Sinister Hedgehog]

Lots of happy memories, but I'll go back to the original 1984 Beeb version. There was just nothing else like it at the time. Just like Star Wars set a new bar for movies, Elite was a game changer. For months/years afterwards every other Beeb game that came out was just... so basic... compared to Elite. No sprites, smooth graphics, stars that moved like they did in the movies, damnit - planets and stations that rotated!

I was a small, pre-teen nerdling and joined the computer club at school - because they had Disk Drives! (though managed to persuade reluctant parents to fork out for a home one eventually). I can still remember the scene during lunchtime or after school - 10 kids all scrapping away on Elite, and then the resounding "Burp, Beep" of all the computers resetting the second the teacher came in... "No sir we weren't playing games, we all just happened to switch off at the same time. Must be some sort of collective psychosis. Maybe it's the school food...?"

So my best memory? Well given all the nostalgia I've just dribbled on about, it has to be that first ever successful dock. God knows how many times you came out of Lave, spun around and tried to dock. Just dock. If you couldn't do that you couldn't do anything else.

"Why is this so hard? Why can't I do it? Grrr, grrr, grrr!" Then suddenly you got it. Suddenly your brain "clicked" with "Z" "X" "<" ">". You docked for the first time, you got the "tunnel" and the disk drive whirred. After that - never looked back. The galaxies were open to explore, trade and plunder. Couple more dockings and you couldn't understand why you'd found it so hard...

I've had lots of other memorable occasions: first wing ups, first planetary landing, first PVP kill, expeditions, races, 'goid interceptors, insane group events, exploring, and many more - but I still go with that first docking, because it is soooo Elite. Difficult? Yes. Impossible? No. You just needed to practice and it could be done. It's not going to be given to you on a plate, you have to earn it, but when you do it feels pretty darn good!

CMDR Sinister Hedgehog

 

[Broon]

One of my fondest memories from Elite Dangerous was participating in the Hutton Mug CG. It was the first CG I signed up for and I ran my Python out to Hutton 20-something times and enjoyed every run, chatting with other Commanders along the way, always with the threat from The Code (I think it was them) that they would get us all.

Then on the last day I was making my final run and when I dropped out at the station I dropped into a maelstrom of ships having an epic battle! My lightly shielded Python proved no match for the battle and was quickly destroyed (my first loss to a player). I just kinda sat there for a moment and pondered what had just happened. Then a smile ran across my face.

BOOM!! The Code kept their promise. Well, they got me at least, and many others I am sure. Good times!

Commander Sneaux

 

[Pashark]

Absolutely the first crash against a Coriolis Starport. So tricky to spot the entrance, the orientation, the size and the rotation. Getting stuck on the corridors, hitting the walls, scratching the bottom against the floor..

CMDR PASHARK o7

 

[Bragolatch]

I just remember the awe and excitement at the state of the art graphic and exceptional gameplay !
I also recall a lot of swearing while learning and dying repeatedly.
It got me hooked on space and I have been enjoying it ever since.

Cmdr Bragolatch.

 

[-Ironfist-]

Memory when I got my VR and Elite Dangerous became everything I have always wanted. I was finally here floating in space.

CMDR -Ironfist- o7

 

[Oldviboy]

I shall never forget the day my older brother came home from college with a copy of Elite, which he proceeded to get running on his mates BBC Micro. I was 17 and the Elite galaxy was opened to me over that Christmas 1984! Truly inspired, I went on to become an electronics engineer working with several 3D graphics companies over the years and my brother became a software engineer.
Many versions of Elite have come and gone on various systems, but my brother and I played them all and, on release, I had Elite Dangerous setup on my Xbox, my brother on his PC. Although we couldn't share the same virtual space, we would chat about where we were in the game over a pint down the pub.
Unfortunatley my brother was hit by an aggressive cancer and passed away within a few weeks of diagnosis in August last year. However, I managed to recover his PC and was able to decode his password book. His ship now rests at dock at Jaques in Colonia, but I found his flight log and tracked down some of his first discoveries. Into the black to retrace his steps and I found a system about 1000 Ly from Sol, so should you ever fly to HIP 15569 you will find his name with first discovered status and I have first mapped status.
For as long as this game lasts, my brother's name will forever be in the stars and for as long as I live, that will be my lasting memory of Elite. RIP Cmdr HoppyHS, thanks for introducing me to the game all those years ago, may your star forever shine brightly. o7

Cmdr Wolfsitsonturtl

i´m so sorry bro ,this is very beatyful,I also hope it is always bright for you

 

[Madmech35]

Taking newbie’s to a guardians site and didn’t load any srv’s in me hanger but still they got the blueprints as I was ramming sentinels from above in me aspx showing them the way round the complex
35 years congrats, god I’m old remember playing it way back when on a Commodore 64

 

[Bier00t]

Best memory back from 1993 playing Frontier Elite II on my PC. As 11 years old barely knowing any word in english I was randomly scrolling around the galaxy map and then just by pure accident I entered Sol's system map - after reading a bit about the system I finally realised that Sol is in fact our Solar System. That was a blast back then...

CMDR Bier00t

 

[Newt235]

My favorite memory is when I first got interdicted in hyperspace by a Thargoid and the first thing that came to mind was, "Damn, my ex found me..". Turned out to be a cool dude like insect. We're havin' some beers and dung next weekend at a local Orbital hub in the Orion belt, the insect women in that sector got in going on.


CMDR Newtonius Von Richthofen

 

[Cobrajet]

CMDR Cobrajet

My favorite memory was returning from a deep space expedition and reflecting back at all of the cool sights that I witness throughout the journey.

 

[Leolph]

My best moment was in Elite Dangerous 1984 on the C64 after finding out that there were galaxy jumps and then I actually did one.

The moment you realize how big the universe is was just overwhelming.

Edit: CMDR Leolph

 

[Richo]

Commander Ohcir.
Favourite memory in '85 driving with my parents 4hrs to Sydney & getting the C64 edition, studying the manual cover to cover on the way home telling our Dad to drive faster. Oh & smashing Thargoids with military lasers.

 

[Kuretes]

My favorite memory of Elite was the first time I visited an Alien Structure in ED. After hours and hours of roaming the black and visiting planets and stations, this was the most alien thing I’ve experienced in a game. I spent three days exploring with other commanders that dropped in and out, mostly fellow Cannon folks. After fully exploring I climbed up on one of the high points of the structure and snapped some photos. One of those photos was selected for use in a series of artworks that a fellow Cannon member was creating. It was a wondrous time of mystery and exploration, the calm before the storm, but no less beautiful for the conflict that came after. Here is that shot. Still one of my favorites after all this time. - Cmdr. Kuretes