A space sim that procedurally generates an immense galaxy

Feb 21, 2013 00:21 GMT  ·  By

What we know: Elite: Dangerous is a space-based simulation title with role-playing elements that is being made by original series creator David Braben and his new studio, Frontier Developments.

The game is extremely ambitious as it aims to create an entire galaxy for gamers to explore, no less than 100 billion star systems including planets and more exotic astronomical objects.

Braben stated that he was planning to use a random creation system that allowed each solar system to have up to 100 objects that could be interacted with.

Players will have a lot of freedom at the start of Elite: Dangerous and they can choose to make money and develop their characters by trading and peacefully exploring the galaxy or by simply attacking others or hunting down pirates.

As the game progresses, players will be able to upgrade their ships and the abilities of the pilots and take on more complex missions.

Thargoids will threaten humanity again in the new Elite, which means that players will also have an overall reason to collaborate to end their assault.

The game will use full Newtonian physics, but gamers will be able to customize their difficulty level.

Elite: Dangerous was funded using both Kickstarter and the official website and gamers can expect to play it on the PC in late 2013.

Why it matters: Elite: Dangerous is one of the games that are trying to revive the space simulation genre, which has failed to do well since the ‘90s.

It’s a very ambitious project, as indicated by the 100 million solar systems idea that Braben is floating around, and many fans fear that the project is reaching too far and that many mechanics will end up undercooked.

Elite: Dangerous is also another crowd-funded game that will show how strong the business model is.

The full Incoming 2013 series of articles can be read on Softpedia right here.