Game Guide - World of Elite: Dangerous Elite: Dangerous Guide

Last update: 11 May 2016

Fractions

Welcome in the future! The action of Elite: Dangerous begins in the year 3300. After discovering the methods of flying in the hyperspace, humanity began an expansion and colonization of the most distant spots of our galaxy. The cold war between the Federation and the Empire continues whilst the Alliance of the independent fractions grows stronger, creating a powerful coalition.

Speaking of which, it is worth describing these fractions as the game does not provide too much information on what is happening.

Federation is a part of humanity with the law structure, similar to today's democratic society. With all its advantages and flaws. It is an autocratic system in which corruption fills the every day life. Domination of the corporations and misusing the laws is a part of every day's life. Federation is being controlled by the president of congressmen. Both the government as the citizens are obliged to abide the law of the constitution. Some things are tolerated (i.e. the variety of religions) while the others are not - such as the drugs, cloning, political activism or slavery. Media creates a celebrity cult on which they're focusing for the most of the time, distracting the population from the wars and destabilization by doing so. Sounds familiar isn't it?

Another part of the galactic force is created by the Empire. A society of a totalitarian caste system where the power and status can be reached only if you are rich and influential. Empire values the honor. It is acceptable to be actively proud of the origins, but it is the treating of others (including the slaves) which matters more. Having some unpaid debts is considered to be a disgrace and the only way to pay them, for the people form lower classes, is to become a slave. The law is forced by the senators who are above it which means that they can do whatever they want, this includes starting the wars in the name of the Empire. Senators report only in front of the Imperator. Some of them loudly oppose the slavery to show their honor, but they do not suggesting any imposing it. A few things are banned in the Empire, but people using the drugs are unwelcomed.

The third fraction is The Independent Alliance of Systems. Alliance has started from the need of a cooperation between many independent galactic collectives whilst the war between the Federation and the Empire, which left an imprint on the peaceful alliances. Alliance is a mix of many different cultures bonded by one goal - protection of their resources and independency from more powerful forces. Political system of the Alliance can be troublesome - each year the presidency is given to the hands of a different culture, which in practice makes it harder to create an actual agreement. The military cooperation is much better organized. Each member of the Alliance gives a part of his fleet for the Defense Forces which are commanded by six admirals - one for each cultural fraction. They can respond quickly and without any linkup with the government which in practice works very well.

In addition to that, the game includes lots of freelancing groups which are not the part of the Alliance. They are usually in the state of anarchy and it is hard to tell whether they will play any major role anytime soon.

Story

After dealing with the historical context, we can move to describing the game itself. In Elite: Dangerous we won't find a standard single player campaign as it is a big sandbox, in which anyone can travel along the path of any career, doing anything what he wants. A player can be a pirate, salesman, smuggler, assassin or whatever he can think of. Although, the player will always be the pilot of his own ship, which is the thin that counts the most. More about the roles and ways of earning money can be found in the chapter Career and Missions.

A lack of campaign doesn't mean that there aren't many plot based quests which would give the player additional motivation to complete them.

In the day of release, a big story-machine has been started which would then begin the war between the worlds. The main plot is based around the sickness of Imperator Hengist Duval. Now, the deeds of his successors are the main reason of everything that happens in the world. These results are not the only one to be bothered with, but to be up to date it is recommended to check the GalNet news: http://www.elitedangerous.com/news/galnet/

The players have a big influence on what happens in the galaxy. They are in charge of what the "game masters" will do next - they can change the regulations of the Federation, the outcomes of the rebellion oreven wars. Of course one player by himself won't be much of an influence, but organized groups can do a lot by economic machinations and armed combats. How does it work? Each mission, each murder and transaction done by the player influences the political and economic situation of the fraction that is actually ruling in the interstellar universe. In consequence it will change the balance between the main three fractions. So if the fraction for which we work for takes part in some kind of an argument or conflict, and then we, will help this fraction THEN this situation may be acknowledged by the authors who, after that, will be creating another events.

Galaxy

Galaxy in the Elite: Dangerous is enormous, or even monstrous. There can be found 400 billion star constellations to explore. It is more than a one player can explore throughout his lifetime. The most fascinating feature of the galaxy is its congruity for what we know about the galaxy today. Player can find there practically every star that you can now see in the night sky - as well as their planetary systems, moons, nebulas and so on. It adds a lot to the game in the matter of the exploration's depth. All it takes now is to take a particular star, find its name and you can actually get there via the game. More than that, each star in the Elite: Dangerous is a dynamically rendered picture you can explore. Same goes for every 'painted' stars and the vast sky which surrounds the player. It all can be investigated. Even though, the parts of the galaxy that we have already discovered are rather small. That's when the system of procedural generation comes to the game.

Each unknown constellation is generated by the game which makes them so different from each other. Some of them will be blocked and unavailable on the day of release. This is because of the new insectoid race called Thargoid which will be introduced in future. This combative race (supposedly composed of female members only), may be causing some war in this world. It will be the only race, except for humans which will be intelligent, and it is the Thargoids who will be in possession of these blocked constellations. More on that can be read in the Galaxy Map and travelling chapter.