The Elite Campaign
Hi Everybody,
long time Elite player here. I have played C64, Amiga and PC versions of classic Elite as well as Frontier and First Encounters. I was still playing Amiga Elite with WinUAE and FFED3D to shorten the time until Elite: Dangerous released, which I am pretty much playing all the time now.
Anyhow, before Elite: Dangerous, I was thinking of a way to add some purpose to my playing of classic Elite (Amiga version in WinUAE) because to be honest, after you have upgraded your ship to an iron ass, which takes me about 2 1/2 hours of playtime in the Amiga version, shuttling computers and furs between Ensoreus and Isinor, the game can get pretty stale from todays point of view.
Because I am also a tabletop role-playing guy with a vivid imagination and thanks to the great lore that came with classic Elite (The Dark Wheel, Imprint, various fan fiction) I came up with my own little house rules and made up “missions” to play what I call “The Elite Campaign”, a journey which takes you traveling through all galaxies with a purpose. So this is how it works:
First, start a brand new Commander in Lave.
Second, get a small notebook or notepad to record your progress (missions completed per galaxy, type of missions, GalCop rank, we will get to that in a minute).
Third, outfit your ship as usual and start doing “missions” (see below) whenever you are ready.
This is the in-game backstory:
The Galactic Cooperative of Worlds is in constant need of independent contractors to assist with their duties. However, GalCop is, by galactic regulations, not allowed to pay for missions because they are not allowed to hire and pay mercenaries (there are rumors of rare cases where commanders have been offered secret missions, but that's just hersay). Clever as ever GalCop found a way around this regulation by creating the Combat Support Citizen Reserve Program (CSCRP).
This program enables GalCop to give missions to civilians and enables the civilian to gain military ranks and makes him a member of the GalCop military reserve. If the civilian reaches 50 years of age he is then paid a monthly pension for the rest of his life according to his military rank. Up until the age of 50, civilian commanders can choose to accept missions from GalCop while at a space station. Every commander starts without a rank. After 10 completed missions the civilian is awarded a promotion into the next rank. The following ranks are available:
Corporal (after 10 missions)
Sergeant (after 20 missions)
2nd Lieutenant (after 30 missions)
1st Lieutenant (after 40 missions)
Captain (after 50 missions)
Sergeant-Major (after 60 missions)
Major (after 70 missions)
Colonel (after 80 missions)
GalCop regulations limit a civilian commander to 10 missions per galacatic chart. After 10 missions a commander that wishes to undertake further missions has to make a galactic hyperspace jump into the next galactic chart.
Missions (Amiga Elite version):
Whenever you are docked at a space station and wish to undertake a mission, just roll one six sided die to determine the mission on offer. Choose to accept it or not. You can only have one mission at a time. A reroll is only allowed when you leave the system and hyperspace back in and dock again.
1: Cargo Run: A far away system is in desperate need of supplies. Transport 35t of either food, textiles, furs, liquor and wines or computers (or a mix of these goods, your choice) from your current location to an Anarchy system at least 20 light years away (your choice). You have to buy all cargo at your current location and deliver it to your destination system without intermediate trading.
2: Thargoid Containment: There have been reports of increased Thargoid activity in a nearby system. Travel to the nearest Anarchy system in the vicinity and destroy at least 6 Thargoid motherships and collect at least 10 tonnes of alien items (Thargons) for research purposes. We need visual confirmation of every kill (This is version specific, since in the Amiga version the enemies only fire when resolved from dots in close range. To avoid just sitting there with zero speed shooting at grey dots a kill counts only when the Thargoid is resolved from a dot and able to fire).
3: Pirate Containment: The pirate problem in a nearby system is getting out of hand. We need you to take care of it. Travel to the unsafest system within your seven light year jump range from this location and destroy 50 pirate ships. We need visual confirmation of every kill (only kills of ships that are resolved from dots count). Every cargo you might scoop is yours commander.
4: Bounty Hunt: We have heard that a notorious pirate lord is operating in this vicinity. He is flying an ASP and operates out of the unsafest system in the seven light year jump range from this location. Travel to this system and seek and destroy him/her. As usual we need visual confirmation of the kill (Complete this mission like this: Travel to the target system and start killing pirates. Whenever you destroy an ASP, which must be resolved from a dot, roll a six sided die. On a roll of 6 the destroyed ASP was the pirate lord you were looking for and the mission is completed. Otherwise keep destroying ASP).
5: Confiscate Booty: It is time we take something back from that pirate scum. Scoop one full load of cargo from destroyed pirate ships only and deliver (sell) the goods here at this station. We need visual confirmation of every kill (must be resolved from dot).
6: System Patrol: We need you to complement our system patrols, a lot of our pilots are sick at the moment (the flue). Travel to the unsafest system within the seven light year range from this location and patrol that system by traveling to the sun and from the sun back to the system station. Destroy all hostile vessels you encounter during your patrol. As always we need visual confirmation of every kill (resolved from dot).
That is basically it. I had a lot of fun doing it and even if I am pretty busy with Elite Dangerous I still run Amiga Elite on my laptop (which can't run Elite Dangerous) while on business trips or vacation. Even if the rank progression happens out of game on paper and in my imagination it is still fun and I urge you to try it the next time you give classic Elite a go.
If you want to add more home-made difficulty try the following "house-rules":
-Whenever your legal status is "Fugitive" you are not allowed to engage the docking computer. You have to approach the station and dock manually. This rule is to prevent your legal status to become meaningless in the Amiga version, since Vipers engage you only in station space and if you set your docking computer to fast docking you can avoid them alltogether.
-Start shooting all enemies only after they resolved from dots and started shooting at you. This is to get into dogfights instead of just shooting grey dots. Makes the Amiga version so much more fun and playworthy.
-Before you are allowed to buy a Military Laser, an Energy Bomb or an Extra Energy Unit you need a GalCop "purchase permit". You can obtain this permit by completing a mission. You need a seperate permit for every item.
Hi Everybody,
long time Elite player here. I have played C64, Amiga and PC versions of classic Elite as well as Frontier and First Encounters. I was still playing Amiga Elite with WinUAE and FFED3D to shorten the time until Elite: Dangerous released, which I am pretty much playing all the time now.
Anyhow, before Elite: Dangerous, I was thinking of a way to add some purpose to my playing of classic Elite (Amiga version in WinUAE) because to be honest, after you have upgraded your ship to an iron ass, which takes me about 2 1/2 hours of playtime in the Amiga version, shuttling computers and furs between Ensoreus and Isinor, the game can get pretty stale from todays point of view.
Because I am also a tabletop role-playing guy with a vivid imagination and thanks to the great lore that came with classic Elite (The Dark Wheel, Imprint, various fan fiction) I came up with my own little house rules and made up “missions” to play what I call “The Elite Campaign”, a journey which takes you traveling through all galaxies with a purpose. So this is how it works:
First, start a brand new Commander in Lave.
Second, get a small notebook or notepad to record your progress (missions completed per galaxy, type of missions, GalCop rank, we will get to that in a minute).
Third, outfit your ship as usual and start doing “missions” (see below) whenever you are ready.
This is the in-game backstory:
The Galactic Cooperative of Worlds is in constant need of independent contractors to assist with their duties. However, GalCop is, by galactic regulations, not allowed to pay for missions because they are not allowed to hire and pay mercenaries (there are rumors of rare cases where commanders have been offered secret missions, but that's just hersay). Clever as ever GalCop found a way around this regulation by creating the Combat Support Citizen Reserve Program (CSCRP).
This program enables GalCop to give missions to civilians and enables the civilian to gain military ranks and makes him a member of the GalCop military reserve. If the civilian reaches 50 years of age he is then paid a monthly pension for the rest of his life according to his military rank. Up until the age of 50, civilian commanders can choose to accept missions from GalCop while at a space station. Every commander starts without a rank. After 10 completed missions the civilian is awarded a promotion into the next rank. The following ranks are available:
Corporal (after 10 missions)
Sergeant (after 20 missions)
2nd Lieutenant (after 30 missions)
1st Lieutenant (after 40 missions)
Captain (after 50 missions)
Sergeant-Major (after 60 missions)
Major (after 70 missions)
Colonel (after 80 missions)
GalCop regulations limit a civilian commander to 10 missions per galacatic chart. After 10 missions a commander that wishes to undertake further missions has to make a galactic hyperspace jump into the next galactic chart.
Missions (Amiga Elite version):
Whenever you are docked at a space station and wish to undertake a mission, just roll one six sided die to determine the mission on offer. Choose to accept it or not. You can only have one mission at a time. A reroll is only allowed when you leave the system and hyperspace back in and dock again.
1: Cargo Run: A far away system is in desperate need of supplies. Transport 35t of either food, textiles, furs, liquor and wines or computers (or a mix of these goods, your choice) from your current location to an Anarchy system at least 20 light years away (your choice). You have to buy all cargo at your current location and deliver it to your destination system without intermediate trading.
2: Thargoid Containment: There have been reports of increased Thargoid activity in a nearby system. Travel to the nearest Anarchy system in the vicinity and destroy at least 6 Thargoid motherships and collect at least 10 tonnes of alien items (Thargons) for research purposes. We need visual confirmation of every kill (This is version specific, since in the Amiga version the enemies only fire when resolved from dots in close range. To avoid just sitting there with zero speed shooting at grey dots a kill counts only when the Thargoid is resolved from a dot and able to fire).
3: Pirate Containment: The pirate problem in a nearby system is getting out of hand. We need you to take care of it. Travel to the unsafest system within your seven light year jump range from this location and destroy 50 pirate ships. We need visual confirmation of every kill (only kills of ships that are resolved from dots count). Every cargo you might scoop is yours commander.
4: Bounty Hunt: We have heard that a notorious pirate lord is operating in this vicinity. He is flying an ASP and operates out of the unsafest system in the seven light year jump range from this location. Travel to this system and seek and destroy him/her. As usual we need visual confirmation of the kill (Complete this mission like this: Travel to the target system and start killing pirates. Whenever you destroy an ASP, which must be resolved from a dot, roll a six sided die. On a roll of 6 the destroyed ASP was the pirate lord you were looking for and the mission is completed. Otherwise keep destroying ASP).
5: Confiscate Booty: It is time we take something back from that pirate scum. Scoop one full load of cargo from destroyed pirate ships only and deliver (sell) the goods here at this station. We need visual confirmation of every kill (must be resolved from dot).
6: System Patrol: We need you to complement our system patrols, a lot of our pilots are sick at the moment (the flue). Travel to the unsafest system within the seven light year range from this location and patrol that system by traveling to the sun and from the sun back to the system station. Destroy all hostile vessels you encounter during your patrol. As always we need visual confirmation of every kill (resolved from dot).
That is basically it. I had a lot of fun doing it and even if I am pretty busy with Elite Dangerous I still run Amiga Elite on my laptop (which can't run Elite Dangerous) while on business trips or vacation. Even if the rank progression happens out of game on paper and in my imagination it is still fun and I urge you to try it the next time you give classic Elite a go.
If you want to add more home-made difficulty try the following "house-rules":
-Whenever your legal status is "Fugitive" you are not allowed to engage the docking computer. You have to approach the station and dock manually. This rule is to prevent your legal status to become meaningless in the Amiga version, since Vipers engage you only in station space and if you set your docking computer to fast docking you can avoid them alltogether.
-Start shooting all enemies only after they resolved from dots and started shooting at you. This is to get into dogfights instead of just shooting grey dots. Makes the Amiga version so much more fun and playworthy.
-Before you are allowed to buy a Military Laser, an Energy Bomb or an Extra Energy Unit you need a GalCop "purchase permit". You can obtain this permit by completing a mission. You need a seperate permit for every item.