Fiction To the fans of the Dark Wheel - what do you consider the essential 'Elite' -ness?

drew

drew
To christen our new forum, I'd love to throw the floor open to folks and ask the question in the title.

In our travels and discussions it's become clear that 'The Dark Wheel' has a major place in the hearts and minds of many Elite fans, far and above any of the subsequent works (to date I might add - hopefully!)

What is it, for you, that tweaks your nostalgia, fires the emotions or reminds you of the essential Elite-ness of this novella, now thirty years old...

Cheers,

Drew.
 
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Ian Phillips

Volunteer Moderator
Ian Phillips
In a short novella getting introduced to lively, bustling space stations, hints of feared enemies (Thargoids) and dark secrets that have to be guarded at all costs (the Dark Wheel itself) and mystery(Raxxla).

And the chance to become a the hero oneself in the game.
 

Aewarin Jameson

Aewarin Jameson
drew said:
reminds you of the essential Elite-ness of this novella, now thirty years old...
Click to expand...

Sadly my only contribution to this thread is likely to be a poor one - everytime I see the name "The Dark Wheel" I am reminded by the fact that I didn't read it at the time, and still haven't done so 30 years later.

I hang my head in shame.

The only consolation will be knowing that I will at least read your book Reclamation (shameless plug) and the sequel that Michael is writing to the original.
 

Cmdr Eagleboy

Cmdr Eagleboy
Liqua said:
Sadly my only contribution to this thread is likely to be a poor one - everytime I see the name "The Dark Wheel" I am reminded by the fact that I didn't read it at the time, and still haven't done so 30 years later.

I hang my head in shame.

The only consolation will be knowing that I will at least read your book Reclamation (shameless plug) and the sequel that Michael is writing to the original.
Click to expand...

Surprise, me neither. Maybe we should start Book Club, and start with reading "Dark Wheel"? I plan to do so during this month :)
 

Susimetsa

Susimetsa
I feel much the same way as Ian - the novella introduced us an exciting new world where a young man is finding his place. A galaxy full of adventures.

I was not that bothered by Raxxla and I don't remember going hunting for it.
 

Nagual

Nagual
Just broadened my horizons a bit more today thanks to this thread. Googled The Dark Wheel, and read it on Ian Bells web site. Wasn't sure what I was expecting, it was certainly entertaining enough if having a somewhat rushed feeling to it.

To me the over all feeling of Elite-ness, is the fear of the unknown, the 'will we be attacked at any moment' sentiment that the novella carried with it.
 

T. James

T. James
The Dark Wheel was Elite for me, until I'd played enough of the first game my own story in the game seemed more real.

The break point came gradually. First, when I couldn't find the some of the places mentioned in the book or meet the people/organisations mentioned in it and the manual. After several weeks of play The Dark Wheel became interesting background, but the living, breathing universe was inside my computer and my head. This won't be a problem with the new fiction being integrated into the universe in Elite: Dangerous. :smilie:

The second was when I started to think about the ending of the book a little more
and it stopped making sense. So the cargo was really valuable, but the organisation's gamble that the merc they were hunting would show up in the same system as Alex just because they'd arranged the cargo to be there didn't wash. If the word was out, then loads of ships would have shown up - the odds of Alex just bumping into the exact bad guy as he exited a space station were too low for me to believe it, even at thirteen.

The battle that followed was good though.

I still enjoyed the book, and the insight it gave into the background of the universe enriched my gaming experience.
 

Dung Beetle

Dung Beetle
For me the Dark Wheel was a fun story which added some colour and life to the Elite universe beyond what you saw in the game. It acted as a bridge or starting-off point to the game world by engaging your imagination, so that during play, it was easier to imagine that similar events could be going off on the planets and space stations you visited. To a certain extent it informed how I perceived Elite's universe, and how I imagined who piloted the ships I met and what they were up to.

The way it was written the story was clearly not meant to be taken too seriously. It's a fun read, as long as you don't go into the plot's details too much... ;)
 

Susimetsa

Susimetsa
Yes, the Dark Wheel certainly shows signs that it was written in a hurry. Its main attraction is in the scene-setting, rather than it being an excellent or even exciting story.

We'll probably have separate threads about the later stories, but I think the "scene setting" angle was even stronger in the stories that came with FE2 and FFE - most of them did not even attempt to tell a story of any sort.
 

Kerrash

Kerrash
Pecisk said:
Surprise, me neither. Maybe we should start Book Club, and start with reading "Dark Wheel"? I plan to do so during this month :)
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I went back and read it a few months back now. Having started with FE2, the story was a bit of a surprise to me.

One of my most favourite parts of Frontier was the eerie feeling i got from the distinct lack of sentient beings wandering around talking English. One of my least favourite clichés from scifi.

I suppose the fear of the unknown was a big part, leaving things to your own imagination; much like the Half life series is a big part of what made the story intriguing to me.
 

Nagual

Nagual
Susimetsa said:
Yes, the Dark Wheel certainly shows signs that it was written in a hurry. Its main attraction is in the scene-setting, rather than it being an excellent or even exciting story.

We'll probably have separate threads about the later stories, but I think the "scene setting" angle was even stronger in the stories that came with FE2 and FFE - most of them did not even attempt to tell a story of any sort.
Click to expand...


Haven't read any others, either :eek:

However I think The Dark Wheel served it's purpose, in a time where games were like they were, this added bit of background or whatever you like to think of it, would have made the game so much more.. interesting isn't the right word, nor is believable. Added mystery perhaps ?

In hindsight I have no idea why I never read it, I don't remember it at all. But then I had the Speccy version - no idea if it came with that one.
 

drew

drew
Thanks all - food for thought. Interesting to see how many people hadn't actually read 'The Dark Wheel'.

For me 'Raxxla' was interesting, but I quickly determined it wasn't going to be in the game. I do recall visiting Tionisla and being disappointed that the 'graveyard' wasn't there though. ;)

Having a bunch of slightly mythical and unexplained backstory is a good idea though. So stay tuned in the official fiction...

Cheers,

Drew.
 

Styggron

S
I just re read the Dark Wheel today. Man I love that story.

As for essential Elite-ness from it..........there can be only 1 answer.

Raxxla of course. :)

Yes I visited Tionisla and thought "ahhhh the graveyard is on eh planet and we can't land".
I also recall at the time trying to find a few of the other planet names but I did seek out Raxxla through 3 galactic charts. Yes even to THIS day I have not been to all 8 on the C64 version. Amazing really !

I hope Raxxla is in Elite Dangerous.


@Drew How did you quickly determine it was not going to be in the game back in 1984 ?
 

Flowswithdrek

Flowswithdrek
As a kid who thrived on fantasy, swords and sorcery, Dungeons and Dragons etc. the Dark Wheel introduced me properly to the Sci Fi genre. Other than a Dr Who novel I had previously read, the Dark Wheel really stoked my imagination. The ship graveyard is the one thing I always remembered about the novella many, many years later. Its a scene that I pay homage to in my own contribution to in the Elite Anthology.
 
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