Celebrating 35 years of Elite!

Kuretes

K
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

9595udO.jpg
 

Soron Silin

Soron Silin
Docking in the original BBC Micro Elite was a whole lot more intense than it is now. All this going in on the left side of the slot would have been impossible back then. The station didn't stop spinning so you had to line yourself up perfectly on the centre-line. If you were a tiny bit out then you were not spinning on the same axis as the station and there was no way you could dock successfully. You only had pitch and roll and if you started pitching on the approach, while you had the roll synchronised to the station, you would only make things worse. Hitting the station, whatever your speed, was a zero-survival situation. You died every single time.

I was docking as usual and I must have lost concentration for a moment. I had drifted far off the line and I was high up and right of the slot facing the front wall of the station, just about to hit it. I didn't even have time for thought. I just pushed forward on the stick, spun the ship into a dogleg, yanked back again and went through the slot at the right angle. No synchronising of roll-rate, just straight in like the Millennium Falcon dodging Tie-fighters through a canyon. The whole maneouver took about half a second.

That's when I knew I could fly.

----
CMNDR Soron silin, PC(Steam)
 

Flossy

Volunteer Moderator
Flossy
Congratulations on 35 years of Elite! :) Although I wasn't involved myself in the early days, my husband (CMDR Wrongway) had played the original game and all versions since then. I only became involved when the Kickstarter was running and we both pledged to Alpha access level.
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My favourite memory of Elite: Dangerous happened a little over 2 years ago. I was browsing Facebook and came across a post by CMDR Selezen, pleading for help from anyone in the area (around Maia I think). He had been collecting Meta-alloys but didn't realise that he couldn't transfer them to his ship because he had no cargo bays! He wanted someone to take them while he went to a nearby planetary base to buy some. I just happened to be passing his way and thought it sounded simple enough, so said I would do it.

After winging up I flew towards his beacon on the planet and came in for a landing very near to where he was waiting. As I deployed my SRV there was some sort of glitch! My ship suddenly took off and my SRV was catapulted across the planet! I started making my way back towards him but after some time realised I was too far away and the ground was extremely rough. He also told me I would find it difficult to reach his location as he was in a deep valley surrounded by mountains. Knowing I had another SRV on my ship I made the decision to self-destruct!

Back on my ship, I set off back to his position and this time managed to land without any problems. I scooped up his meta-alloys and watched as CMDR Selezen lifted off, leaving me alone on the surface. The station was on the same planet so it did not take long for him to make his way there, buy the cargo racks and return to my position. I dropped the meta-alloys which he scooped up and finally managed tp transfer to his ship!

Although this was quite a simple task, I found myself feeling extremely excited about it - I'd felt such a buzz at being able to help another Commander in such a practical way! For several days after this experience the feeling of elation continued and I started to wonder if there was anything else I could do to help others..... this was what inspired me to become a Fuel Rat! I looked on their website, read everything I could, and finally joined on 25 September 3303. Since then I've done 54 rescues (ie where I've been the one to fire the first limpet) - not many compared with others but I do tend to be more of a 'casual' rat, as I enjoy various other aspects of the game too. I love being a Fuel Rat and every time I have a successful rescue, I get the same buzz that I had when I helped CMDR Selezen!

It was only later I discovered that CMDR Selezen had been streaming and the whole event was captured on video!

Flossy, Flossy2, Flossy3 (main Fuel Rat commander) and P0PPY. :)
 

AhnSuYeong

AhnSuYeong
My favorite memory in Elite Dangerous was when I realized how really big the galaxy was after having been playing for several hours. I had bought a Cobra MkIII, put a new engine, and I saw the galactic map a little further from where it was. I was really impressed.

Mi recuerdo favorito en Elite Dangerous fue cuando me di cuenta de lo realmente grande que era la galaxia después de llevar varias horas jugando. Había comprado una Cobra MkIII, había puesto un motor nuevo, y vi el mapa galáctico un poco más lejos de donde estaba. Me quedé realmente impresionado.

CMDR Ahn SuYeong member of Explorers of the Anarchy
 

hobbitmorley

hobbitmorley
Stephen Benedetti said:
Greetings Commanders,

Over the years, the Elite series of games has grown and evolved, starting all the way from the first Elite (published on this very day in 1984) to the Elite Dangerous we have today!

For the 35th anniversary of Elite 1984, we want to look back and celebrate each and every Commander who has shared this incredible ride with us.

Haven't had the chance to earn your wings in the iconic Elite? Claim your free copy on the Frontier Store for PC and Mac here.

As a gift for every Commander, head over to the in-game store, and you will be able to claim your own Retro Thargoid Bobblehead, available until 23 September (16:00 UTC) for 1 ARX.


But that's not all! Alongside this octagonal interloper, we've got 35 Cobra MK III Classic Wireframe Paint Jobs to give away. To be in with the chance to win one of these Paint Jobs, all you need to do is reply to this thread, telling us about your favourite memory playing one of the Elite games. Don't forget to include your Commander Name to be eligible to win!

The competition will run from now until 23 September (11:00 UTC) and winners will be contacted by 25 September (11:00 UTC). With the aid of the Elite Dangerous development team, our top 35 favourite comments will be rewarded with the Paint Job.

You can also get involved over on Steam, Twitter and Facebook! Please find all of the Terms and Conditions below.


Whether you've only just donned your flight suit, or you've been with us over the last 35 years, thank you for all of your passion and support!

Fly safe.



TERMS AND CONDITIONS (FORUM/STEAM)
  • Prize: One (1) Cobra MK III Classic Wireframe Paint Job. (35 per platform – Frontier Forums, Steam, Facebook and Twitter)
  • One submission per person (per platform).
  • You only officially enter the competition when you reply, with your favourite Elite Dangerous memory, to the relevant competition thread/post.
  • Be sure to include your Commander Name in your reply to be eligible to win.
  • The competition closes on Monday 23 September (2019) at 11:00 UTC.
  • The winners will be announced by Wednesday 25 September (2019) and prizes will be credited directly to the winner's account.
  • The winners will be chosen by a panel of Elite Dangerous developers.
  • Objectionable or offensive content will be disqualified.
  • No submission should violate the Elite Dangerous EULA and TOS.
  • Frontier Developments has the right to remove any entry at their sole discretion
  • Frontier Developments employees are excluded from participating in the event.
  • Frontier Developments reserve the right to exchange any prize for a prize of similar value.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS (FACEBOOK/TWITTER)
  • Prize: One (1) Cobra MK III Classic Wireframe Paint Job. (35 per platform – Frontier Forums, Steam, Facebook and Twitter)
  • One submission per person (per platform).
  • You only officially enter the competition when you reply, with your favourite Elite Dangerous memory, to the relevant competition thread/post.
  • Be sure to include your Commander Name in your reply to be eligible to win.
  • The winners will be contacted by the Frontier Community Team via Facebook DM, Twitter DM or Forum DM. Please ensure you are following @EliteDangerous on Twitter to allow us to contact you.
  • The winners have 7 days to respond and claim the prize; if no response has been received after 7 days, you forfeit your prize.
  • The competition closes on Monday 23 September (2019) at 11:00 UTC.
  • The winners will be announced by Wednesday 25 September (2019) and prizes will be credited directly to the winner's account.
  • The winners will be chosen by a panel of Elite Dangerous developers.
  • Objectionable or offensive content will be disqualified.
  • No submission should violate the Elite Dangerous EULA and TOS.
  • Frontier Developments has the right to remove any entry at their sole discretion
  • Frontier Developments employees are excluded from participating in the event.
  • Frontier Developments reserve the right to exchange any prize for a prize of similar value.
Click to expand...
From Commander Morley01 - My favourite Memory is playing the stick graphics version of the game. I first played on the BBC Micro 32k computer with a 32k expansion box but my most intense period was playing the PC game on an Amstrad in the 80s. My younger son and I both played. He thinks I got to Elite back then but I don't. I think I only made Deadly and he made Elite. Back then there were Energy Bombs to take out Thargoids and bandits and you could fit your ship with rear firing weapons if I remember rightly. Our favourite tactic was to drop into anarchy systems and then run from the assembled pursuers trying to down as many as possible in the process. But the point of the story is the way he pronounced anarchy. "An arch ee." So Anarchy systems have been An arche ee systems ever since.
 

barcode

B
CMDR Harry Bozack: My favourite memory is when the Elite Dangerous combat alpha was released to the beta backers as a fun little bonus. I was happily demolishing AI opponents while wearing a ridiculous captain's hat just for the fun of it, when my girlfriend at the time finished work early and let herself into my apartment. She sneaks up behind me, wraps her arms around my waist and begins to very enthusiastically cheer me on yelling "yeah, kick his butt!"

edit: I originally used a slightly ruder word than "butt" which, as it turns out, is censored here.
 
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kinnerc

kinnerc
Elite was a great part of my teen years, and one of the best games on my venerable C64 during college.

I remember being in my bedroom playing away one late afternoon. Downstairs, I hear my Mom say, "Kristin, call your brother to dinner."

My sister, never moving from her seat, screams out, "Rick! Get your butt down here for dinner!!"

"Kristin," my Mom says, "I could have done that."

"Mom!" she complains, "He's been in his bedroom the entire day playing that stupid game. He's only come out to pee. Maybe."

The thing is....she wasn't wrong.

==============

I don't remember doing a lot great in the first Elite. I do remember loving the trading system, which I thought was taken right out of the Traveller RPG at the time. The wireframe graphics were also a big draw since that was exactly what I was learning in College at the time.
---
Doc Kinne
 

Speedcuffs

Speedcuffs
The first time I took my salvage T-9 into a burning station.
Fantastic stuff, so much happening, the heat, the sound, great atmosphere.
Still enjoy doing these.

Great job.(y)
 

Smokebreak

S
My favorite memory of Elite is sitting next to my Dad at the c64. He showed me how to use the little eyepiece (the orange foldy) to read the code to open the game, and then how to jump between Sobite and the surrounding planets to trade. Eventually, he saved off a copy of his save file (complete with what I now know as an Iron A**) for me to begin my own adventure. Neither of us ever made it to Elite, but that didnt matter to us.

We spent a lot of time playing the game. Over time the box and disks have been stored away and forgotten about. The little eyepiece is/was mostly tape to hold it together. For years he looked for a new version, but where we live here in the middle of the US, Frontier went on without us. We never knew about the sequels. It wasnt until I was looking for a similar game years later, and played games like Eve, Chosespace (NDAoA!), and the like before I stumbled onto ED.

Now for my second favorite Elite memory - I've been on ED for just shy of 5 years (Steam says I added it to my library 10/1/15). About 6 months ago I managed to convince my Dad (now nearly 70) to sit in the pilot seat of my Iron A** MkIII (its not as tough as his was though). He's not as quick on the stick as he was 30+ years ago, but he smiled all the way out the mail slot at Franklin Vision. He's not a fan of my hotas setup, but nearly every time he is here at my place he mentions ED, so I set it up and he jumps out to a belt and speeds through the roids. The 5 year old in me gets a kick when he asks me to take the controls because of a pirate, just like 5 year old me did in the 80's.

Thank you Frontier, and here's to 35 more years!
o7 and see you in the black!
CMDR Smokebreak (PC)
 
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pSyren

pSyren
Not a favourite memory but one I will never forget.
Back in the early 90s, playing on my Amiga 2500. It was a late night session (as they still are) and I was playing by candle light for added atmosphere. I fell asleep and my long hair fell forwards into a candle. I woke up rather quickly!
Still managed to dock perfectly :p
I will forever associate the smell of burning hair with docking.
CMDR pSyren Farseer
 

Little*jobbie

Little*jobbie
My favorite was Elite 2 frontier
Flying the Panther Clipper

O if only, you guys focus on giving us this Ship... that has been promised since I supported ED in Kickstarter days...
We have seen many things happen
Where the heck is this iconic ship????????
 

FlawedKy

F
CMDR FlawedKy

Its 1986 - my roomate comes in with a new game for his spanking brand new commodore 128. We slap on the keyboard layout/overlay, marveling at the functions and ship controls we had. We fired that baby up, and it was glorious. We started our first notebook of data that day, and over the next couple of three years we had amassed stacks of carefully handwritten, tabbed, data. In 1990, we finally found friends (in our city!!) that played the game too. many, many nights were spent side by side by side, discovering, planning, trading, swapping data. One of the best days was when my roomate came home with our very first 56k modem. Wow - what a difference!! D&D went by the wayside, and our new game was ELITE. We were Commanders.
 

Broardbean

B
My best memory .... playing on my ZX Spectrum and flitting between Diso and Leesti building up credits
Encountering a mis-jump .... not so good:)
So many fond hours spent
 

RJAY

R
Stephen Benedetti said:
Greetings Commanders,

Over the years, the Elite series of games has grown and evolved, starting all the way from the first Elite (published on this very day in 1984) to the Elite Dangerous we have today!

For the 35th anniversary of Elite 1984, we want to look back and celebrate each and every Commander who has shared this incredible ride with us.

Haven't had the chance to earn your wings in the iconic Elite? Claim your free copy on the Frontier Store for PC and Mac here.

As a gift for every Commander, head over to the in-game store, and you will be able to claim your own Retro Thargoid Bobblehead, available until 23 September (16:00 UTC) for 1 ARX.


But that's not all! Alongside this octagonal interloper, we've got 35 Cobra MK III Classic Wireframe Paint Jobs to give away. To be in with the chance to win one of these Paint Jobs, all you need to do is reply to this thread, telling us about your favourite memory playing one of the Elite games. Don't forget to include your Commander Name to be eligible to win!

The competition will run from now until 23 September (11:00 UTC) and winners will be contacted by 25 September (11:00 UTC). With the aid of the Elite Dangerous development team, our top 35 favourite comments will be rewarded with the Paint Job.

You can also get involved over on Steam, Twitter and Facebook! Please find all of the Terms and Conditions below.


Whether you've only just donned your flight suit, or you've been with us over the last 35 years, thank you for all of your passion and support!

Fly safe.



TERMS AND CONDITIONS (FORUM/STEAM)
  • Prize: One (1) Cobra MK III Classic Wireframe Paint Job. (35 per platform – Frontier Forums, Steam, Facebook and Twitter)
  • One submission per person (per platform).
  • You only officially enter the competition when you reply, with your favourite Elite Dangerous memory, to the relevant competition thread/post.
  • Be sure to include your Commander Name in your reply to be eligible to win.
  • The competition closes on Monday 23 September (2019) at 11:00 UTC.
  • The winners will be announced by Wednesday 25 September (2019) and prizes will be credited directly to the winner's account.
  • The winners will be chosen by a panel of Elite Dangerous developers.
  • Objectionable or offensive content will be disqualified.
  • No submission should violate the Elite Dangerous EULA and TOS.
  • Frontier Developments has the right to remove any entry at their sole discretion
  • Frontier Developments employees are excluded from participating in the event.
  • Frontier Developments reserve the right to exchange any prize for a prize of similar value.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS (FACEBOOK/TWITTER)
  • Prize: One (1) Cobra MK III Classic Wireframe Paint Job. (35 per platform – Frontier Forums, Steam, Facebook and Twitter)
  • One submission per person (per platform).
  • You only officially enter the competition when you reply, with your favourite Elite Dangerous memory, to the relevant competition thread/post.
  • Be sure to include your Commander Name in your reply to be eligible to win.
  • The winners will be contacted by the Frontier Community Team via Facebook DM, Twitter DM or Forum DM. Please ensure you are following @EliteDangerous on Twitter to allow us to contact you.
  • The winners have 7 days to respond and claim the prize; if no response has been received after 7 days, you forfeit your prize.
  • The competition closes on Monday 23 September (2019) at 11:00 UTC.
  • The winners will be announced by Wednesday 25 September (2019) and prizes will be credited directly to the winner's account.
  • The winners will be chosen by a panel of Elite Dangerous developers.
  • Objectionable or offensive content will be disqualified.
  • No submission should violate the Elite Dangerous EULA and TOS.
  • Frontier Developments has the right to remove any entry at their sole discretion
  • Frontier Developments employees are excluded from participating in the event.
  • Frontier Developments reserve the right to exchange any prize for a prize of similar value.
Click to expand...
My best memory is the time I was interdicted by an Anaconda. Since I suck at combat I usually run, but he caught me for the second time and I thought, what the hell, I have insurance so I turned to fight. He must have been a new NPC because I eventually did win. A proud moment for me.
CMDR Rjay
 

Spyder

S
Aussie Spyder here (Cmdr Name) here. I played original Elite when it came out on the BBC Micro (sigh - tape version).

Docking. Damn Docking was my main memory! We didn't have joysticks back then (they did exist, but were not common). Trying to match the station rotation by keyboard was very difficult.

The moment I managed to trade my way up to a Docking Computer was one of my greatest (gaming) satisfaction moments. From that point I was the envy of the entire schooling community who were also playing Elite on the school's computers during lunchtime.

I made Elite rank in the end. But I still have flashbacks at the number of ships I splattered against a station in the original game every time I try a manual dock in ED!!!
 
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Ostix

O
CMDR Ostix

I've been playing Elite since the Elite: Dangerous beta in 2014. I've not been everywhere or seen everything yet, but I've seen some great things. I could recall how I sold slaves to a certain station in Sol to unlock The Dweller after the Engineers arrived. I could write down my first Thargoid encounter or that time I came out of witchspace right into a neutron star jet, but I think my favourite memory in Elite was on my first Deep Space expedition which took place in 2016. I'd gotten to the Bubble Nebula, a bit west off of Human space in the tiny as hell Diamondback Explorer. There were a small few of us and we'd just all landed. The only problem was that the game had generated the north pole of the planet wrong, making it look like there was this large continental shelf jutting up out of the planet and taking up half a crater. The drop was probably 100 or 200 meters if I remember correctly and the gravity was little over 0.2g, but the view is what struck me. Sitting at the edge of that buggy inverted crater with the Bubble Nebula bathing everything in violet and just hanging there overhead, even my crappy little laptop made the game feel like a home away from home.
 

Rob747

R
Hello All. Very happy memories of playing Elite . First played in 1985 when aged 33 years, probably one of the oldest players now. The black and white vector graphics were state of the art then, the game/sim captured the imagination like nothing before and that aspect hasn't changed. Your first entry into a star port was such an achievement, and took some time to master, the music was out of this world (pun intended). Still get the thrill now, the learning curve is massive but thanks to online info i manage to make sense of it all. Looking forward to many happy years of discovering Elite in my retirement .
Commander ROB747
 

That Chicken

T
I play on PC, and from the day writing this, I have had the game for exactly 2 months, and have to say, almost every aspect of this game is breathtaking. My favourite moment ever however, would probably be landing on a planet orbiting a ringed gas-giant that was undiscovered, with some geological sites, and was over 2 thousand light years away (I know this probably is minuscule for most explorers, but to me felt rather far). There is something seriously magical knowing that you are the very first person to lay eyes on the planet. Big congratulations on hitting 35 years, and hope for 35 years to come

~CMDR ThatChicken
o7
 
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