Get an Elite veteran talking about Elite, as they are wont to do, and they’ll tell you about vast networks of trade and travel to distant stars. Then a bit of froth will form at the corner of their mouth, and you’ll have to try and wipe it off without waking them up.
What they likely won’t talk about is exchanging slugs with sluggish capital ships, while busy dogfighters whizz about above and below. That’s the sole preserve of Eve, surely?
Not if Elite: Dangerous has anything to do with it.
The trailer’s a mixture of CG and in-game footage – as Bob points out in the comments, the cockpit is a mock-up and some post-processing was involved. But what a statement of intent, eh?
There are shades of Star Wars, of course, as little ships fly at speed through the gaps of much bigger ships. But really, capital battles seem to play out more like Assarrrssin’s Creed IV’s naval encounters in reverse – an attempted boarding, followed by a sidelong cannon sweep that leaves one poor vessel looking like swiss cheese.
£1,850,110 has been donated by Elite: Dangerous backers to date – and a further £2.8m has been raised from outside investors. Did you know that Frontier Developments are now listed on the London Stock Exchange? Bit weird, that.
Elite Dangerous will be out in 2014. Which seems awfully soon.