Greetings commanders, we're rolling out an update this morning.

We expect the servers to be down for up to 30 minutes. The servers will come down at 10.30AM this morning and will return around the top of the hour.

Here's the changes...


- Crash fix for following crafting sub-menu access from modular menu
- Crash fix for skimmer firing
- Fix crash from NPC messenger
- Fix crash with missing asteroid physics
- Fix an audio crash near planetary ports or when deploying SRV's
- Fix an error when resurrecting a dead commander with an alive vehicle
- Don't overwrite the plotted route in the galaxy map if opening the system map
- Fix an issue where the planned route could be wiped after a hyperjump
- Fix module buyback not correctly preserving full details of the module being restored
- Stop disconnecting players with a transaction server error when failing to eject cargo
- Ship spins very fast after launch and is destroyed fixed
- Make POI's that were supposed to be visible from the ship be visible
- Cargo racks at POI's do not spawn loot
- Add planetary checks to "don't die" missions
- Add missing timers for off base planetary missions
- Extract mission destinations for mission external panel entries so mission icon shows up on galaxy map
- Off set Wing members drop outs to avoid collisions
- Apply cargo transfer to cached ship state so it won't forget our cargo changes when we dismiss/recall our ship
- Fixed stolen flag being sent incorrectly in cargo transfer and boarding
- Fix for incorrect landing volumes on Diamondback Scout
- Fixed some missing paint job references
- Don't set the near planet flag on saves for platforms that don't support Horizons
- Don't generate rocks when in a glide
- Fix for floating rocks after switching vehicle types
- Select correct GPU if an nVidia Optimus is installed
- Minor surface shader optimization
- Balance tweak for GPU timings on min spec AMD cards
- Changed the way we find the gpu version to match the way we select the graphics adapter. We now the first non-Intel card instead of the last card
- Unable to accept CQC squad invite with mouse, can only use controller to select it
- Added the user's time played to the Commander statistics screen
- Fix missing black paint job for Viper MkIV
- Various text fixes
- Latest translation batch added

Greetings commanders, we're rolling out an update this morning.

We expect the servers to be down for up to 30 minutes. The servers will come down at 10.30AM this morning and will return around the top of the hour.

Here's the changes...


- Crash fix for following crafting sub-menu access from modular menu
- Crash fix for skimmer firing
- Fix crash from NPC messenger
- Fix crash with missing asteroid physics
- Fix an audio crash near planetary ports or when deploying SRV's
- Fix an error when resurrecting a dead commander with an alive vehicle
- Don't overwrite the plotted route in the galaxy map if opening the system map
- Fix an issue where the planned route could be wiped after a hyperjump
- Fix module buyback not correctly preserving full details of the module being restored
- Stop disconnecting players with a transaction server error when failing to eject cargo
- Ship spins very fast after launch and is destroyed fixed
- Make POI's that were supposed to be visible from the ship be visible
- Cargo racks at POI's do not spawn loot
- Add planetary checks to "don't die" missions
- Add missing timers for off base planetary missions
- Extract mission destinations for mission external panel entries so mission icon shows up on galaxy map
- Off set Wing members drop outs to avoid collisions
- Apply cargo transfer to cached ship state so it won't forget our cargo changes when we dismiss/recall our ship
- Fixed stolen flag being sent incorrectly in cargo transfer and boarding
- Fix for incorrect landing volumes on Diamondback Scout
- Fixed some missing paint job references
- Don't set the near planet flag on saves for platforms that don't support Horizons
- Don't generate rocks when in a glide
- Fix for floating rocks after switching vehicle types
- Select correct GPU if an nVidia Optimus is installed
- Minor surface shader optimization
- Balance tweak for GPU timings on min spec AMD cards
- Changed the way we find the gpu version to match the way we select the graphics adapter. We now the first non-Intel card instead of the last card
- Unable to accept CQC squad invite with mouse, can only use controller to select it
- Added the user's time played to the Commander statistics screen
- Fix missing black paint job for Viper MkIV
- Various text fixes
- Latest translation batch added

Hi Commanders,

Here are the final patch notes for the Horizons and 1.5 (Ships) updates.

Remember, you can get ready for the update by making sure you have downloaded the latest version of the launcher from here. The servers are currently down and we are expecting them to be up between 4pm - 6pm GMT. However, we will keep you updated on this thread.


Below is a snippet of the change log as seen from our forums here: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=211781


New additions

- Fix crash in kinematics
- Fix audio emitter error
- Speculative fix for crash on shut down
- Fix crash creating a new player ship during death
- Fix crash caused by pressing the back button when trying to bind to an axis
- Don't crash when a prospector limpet collides with a planet surface (or any other physics object without user data)
- Make sure that the reverse mode is triggered if enter neutral/reverse if our velocity is negative
- Fix hand-ins for planetary missions
- Remove certain unused stations from planetary and pad size checks
- Fix issue with receiving no credits when selling cargo
- Fix planets shining through some materials
- Make sure re-supply all button adds the SRV
- Fix for Typos in commodity news
- Fixed spelling of minerals in mining data for class 3 planets
- When we leave a proving ground make sure to clear the flag to ignore the location safety checks. This should prevent someone from logging on in the middle of a star causing weird graphical glitches
- Don't close a players recalled ship hatch when other ships launch from star ports

1.5 Beta, 1.5 Beta 1
NEW CONTENT/FEATURES (1.5)
- Added Asp Scout
- Added Viper MkIV
- Added Federal Corvette
- Added Imperial Cutter
- Added Keelback
- PC/Mac: Added Bobbleheads!!!
- Added Imperial Fighter to CQC
- Added new missions
- Don't die missions
- Don't get scanned missions
- Multi-stage missions
- Missions can be received in space
- Assassination variants
- Contact missions
- Unique cargo missions - you have to deliver what you are given
- Timed window missions
- Added new open space scenarios:
- Search and rescue scenarios
- Wrecked ships scenarios
- New deep space salvage scenarios
- Distress call scenarios
- Alliance vip escort
- PC/Mac: Updated French, German and Russian translations
- Added more player group sponsored minor faction descriptions
- Master Chefs rare good added
- Renamed various planets
- Local emergency rescue NPCs added
- Spanish localisation added - a big shout out for the Spanish community for their hard effort on this!

STABILITY FIXES

- Xbox One - Show gamertag for Xbox One players who have 'discovered by' tags
- Swap the order that some conditionals are checked in to fix an error that can happen when searching certain systems names
- Added sanity check when selling commodities
- Don't crash when we try to eject all cargo and we either: have no cargo hatch, or the cargo hatch is shutting down
- Fix crash trying to xtract the cargo canister's root physics skeleton before it is loaded
- Fix an error than can happen when your squad leader is joining and leaving matchmaking in rapid succession
- Xbox One: Fix some errors suspending and resuming a CQC match
- Make sure that th stellar manager on the server shuts down correctly
- Fix potential crash when spawning NPCs
- Fix crashes reported for missing D3D buffers
- Fix crash caused in Alliance space where the music track was given the wrong action name
- Stellar system evolution shouldn't create negative mass
- Fixed a softlock that can happen if a player joins a CQC game while it is in the game initialisation state
- Avoid softlock loading into CQC if the ship object isn't ready yet
- Made CQC handle the player being logged out while playing
- Fix crash when using multiple mining lasers
- Fixed a memory leak in audio occlusion
- Fix memory leak on ship destruction

Hi Commanders,

Here are the final patch notes for the Horizons and 1.5 (Ships) updates.

Remember, you can get ready for the update by making sure you have downloaded the latest version of the launcher from here. The servers are currently down and we are expecting them to be up between 4pm - 6pm GMT. However, we will keep you updated on this thread.


Below is a snippet of the change log as seen from our forums here: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=211781


New additions

- Fix crash in kinematics
- Fix audio emitter error
- Speculative fix for crash on shut down
- Fix crash creating a new player ship during death
- Fix crash caused by pressing the back button when trying to bind to an axis
- Don't crash when a prospector limpet collides with a planet surface (or any other physics object without user data)
- Make sure that the reverse mode is triggered if enter neutral/reverse if our velocity is negative
- Fix hand-ins for planetary missions
- Remove certain unused stations from planetary and pad size checks
- Fix issue with receiving no credits when selling cargo
- Fix planets shining through some materials
- Make sure re-supply all button adds the SRV
- Fix for Typos in commodity news
- Fixed spelling of minerals in mining data for class 3 planets
- When we leave a proving ground make sure to clear the flag to ignore the location safety checks. This should prevent someone from logging on in the middle of a star causing weird graphical glitches
- Don't close a players recalled ship hatch when other ships launch from star ports

1.5 Beta, 1.5 Beta 1
NEW CONTENT/FEATURES (1.5)
- Added Asp Scout
- Added Viper MkIV
- Added Federal Corvette
- Added Imperial Cutter
- Added Keelback
- PC/Mac: Added Bobbleheads!!!
- Added Imperial Fighter to CQC
- Added new missions
- Don't die missions
- Don't get scanned missions
- Multi-stage missions
- Missions can be received in space
- Assassination variants
- Contact missions
- Unique cargo missions - you have to deliver what you are given
- Timed window missions
- Added new open space scenarios:
- Search and rescue scenarios
- Wrecked ships scenarios
- New deep space salvage scenarios
- Distress call scenarios
- Alliance vip escort
- PC/Mac: Updated French, German and Russian translations
- Added more player group sponsored minor faction descriptions
- Master Chefs rare good added
- Renamed various planets
- Local emergency rescue NPCs added
- Spanish localisation added - a big shout out for the Spanish community for their hard effort on this!

STABILITY FIXES

- Xbox One - Show gamertag for Xbox One players who have 'discovered by' tags
- Swap the order that some conditionals are checked in to fix an error that can happen when searching certain systems names
- Added sanity check when selling commodities
- Don't crash when we try to eject all cargo and we either: have no cargo hatch, or the cargo hatch is shutting down
- Fix crash trying to xtract the cargo canister's root physics skeleton before it is loaded
- Fix an error than can happen when your squad leader is joining and leaving matchmaking in rapid succession
- Xbox One: Fix some errors suspending and resuming a CQC match
- Make sure that th stellar manager on the server shuts down correctly
- Fix potential crash when spawning NPCs
- Fix crashes reported for missing D3D buffers
- Fix crash caused in Alliance space where the music track was given the wrong action name
- Stellar system evolution shouldn't create negative mass
- Fixed a softlock that can happen if a player joins a CQC game while it is in the game initialisation state
- Avoid softlock loading into CQC if the ship object isn't ready yet
- Made CQC handle the player being logged out while playing
- Fix crash when using multiple mining lasers
- Fixed a memory leak in audio occlusion
- Fix memory leak on ship destruction

Greetings Commanders, here is the CQC 1.4 update change log!

NEW CONTENT/FEATURES:


- CQC Added!
- Imperial Eagle added
- Federal Gunship added
- Federal Assault Ship added
- Hazardous resource extraction sites added
- Compromised nav beacons added
- Legal salvage missions added
- Added Outfitting for CQC
- Changed how powerplant damage is handled - small chance of instant destruction, otherwise malfunctions and halved power output
- Assign Imperial Eagles to those who should have them from their backer rewards



STABILITY FIXES:


- Speculative fixes for several rare crashes
- Fixed soft lock on login
- Crash fix for a rarely reported issue ship being docked to a station that is not in a state to provide interfaces
- Fix crash where the station news updates while quitting the
- OSX: Fix crash when generating star textures
- Prevent a crash when drones hit shields after recent changes to damage
- OSX: Fix for occasional assert due to unexpected texture
- Avoid firing beams if the firing ship is not ready and so causing a crash
- Prevent crash when trying to scoop something that no longer exists
- Fix crash caused by chatter in supercruise
- Fix crash when shutting down while looking at a mission in the bulletin board
- Restructure some checks so we don't fatally crash when there's a missing entry in the exploration database for an object we've targetted
- OSX: changes to reduce crashes due to low heap memory, including changes to use memory more efficiently
- OSX: fix for occasional crashes when closing the game window
- OSX: fix for a rare crash in the keyboard handling code on startup
- OSX: fix for potential cause of crashes in OpenGL code
- Fix a zero burst interval in plasma point defences
- Fix memory leak in ring cell generation
- Fix duplicate system ID
- Crash fix for invalid positions being passed
- Fix a pair of crashes that can happen if trying to place a scenario with no valid body list, and cope with this selection failing gracefully
- CQC: Fix a memory leak caused by the NavMarker holding onto its radar marker after the location that created it is destroyed
- Prevent crash if power data isn't available (such as in CQC)
- Low level UI crash fix
- Contacts panel restored in CQC to allow muting of other players
- CQC stats should start tracking credits earned through CQC and only count offensive weapons towards ‘favourite weapon’
- Add a few more stats to the cockpit panel
- Fix Powerplay outfitting discounts when in Beta test mode
- Fix a server bug when scooping a mineral fragment that then requires processing multiple refinery buckets into multiple cargo units at the same time
- Adjusted text field size in OptionsScreen.swf to account for larger text strings
- Don't show debug names for unbound controls
- Make the score summary UI in CQC aware of fov (prevents scaling during fov zooms from death cam)
- Fixed main menu spending up to 1.5 mins on a black screen if the player loses his internet connection just before going to the CQC menu
- Removed offset in UI rendering which should sharpen things up a bit
- Allow NPCs to start interdicting the player while they are charging for a hyperspace jump (but not once the countdown has started)
- Scoreboard no longer refers to the players gamertag - it uses the commander name which might look the same - isn't!
- Fix assert message and telemetry to report the correct bucket IDs when we receive an incorrect ID from the web server
- When you are kicked from a game due to inactivity, it now displays an error message on the main menu to say why
- Fix the reverse resistance armour text so it says it's strong vs kinetic and weak vs laser
- Make sure that if we disconnect while in the CQC menus we go to the disconnected from CQC state
- When there is a session error, make sure that we disconnect from the game
- Fix a bug where the player's current team was reset from Blue to None
- Fix a bug where shield regeneration would appear to stall in cases where the current delay after break was longer than the delay after hit (only experienced by some CQC ships with 1.5 or less pips in SYS)
- Numerous text fixes
- Fix missing shield rings in GUI



GENERAL TWEAKS & FIXES:


- Reset the backfill timer when leaving CQC or ending CQC gameplay. This prevents it from trying to start backfill matchmaking when not in a game session
- Increasing the amount of time it takes for the shields power-up to respawn to match the others
- Control changes for context schemes so that they maintain keyboard alternatives wherever they were present in the original control pad scheme these were based from
- Fix spawn points facing the wrong direction in Elevate
- Decreased the time the highest end AIs spend "on" the interdiction vector to make them a little easier
- Prestige icons not displaying
- Corrected the text for Deathmatch to state the correct amount of points needed to win
- Fix for player name in CQC turning white when not highlighted
- Correct CQC stats are now on the right hand panel in the ship cockpit
- Decreased amount of time between CQC matches once in a session
- Fix for control UI staying on screen in supercruise
- Fix for text in control settings screen being cut off after scrolling
- Increased duration of damage powerup
- Increased the time it takes for the shields power up to decay
- Fixes to the Anaconda model
- Fix for F63 Condor boost actually causing loss of speed
- Fix for deathmatch draws being recorded as losses
- Fix for not being able to navigate through squad list
- Various network optimisations
- Don't try to generate scores if we don't have the data for them (stops crash)
- Don't crash if a ship has an invalid loadout in CQC
- Fix a server crash to do with updating a users machine handle when they previously weren't in the game
- Fix server crash if players haven't been cleared out from the lobby
- Crash fix for network replication occurring in the wrong order in CQC
- Update mute symbols in lobby correctly
- 'Capture' and 'Protect' indicators do not move / may not render while in Oculus Rift fixed
- Make sure that we are removed from a wing when we end a proving ground game. This should fix an issue with opponents in deathmatch appearing friendly
- Fixed where players didnt always get assigned to the team the the lobby wanted to put them in
- In the CQC Outfitting, boost diverters should not show class/rating/mass, instead they should show Power Draw and Boost Speed Multiplier
- Fix for selling illegal drones (sometimes known as limpets)
- CQC matchmaking reliability improvements
- Re-enable starter packs on Beta Test
- Add the Empire_Eagle_Upgraded template to the Imperial Bounty Hunter starter pack
- Background sim fix to stop a faction declaring war on more than one opponent per tick when there’s more than one eligible
- Major refactoring of PC CQC Matchmaking game notification sending
- Stop titles appearing in the body of Galnet articles on the website
- Persist the Ship Lights option through location transitions, but not save/load
- If the refinery is idle and has a non-empty hopper, try to reallocate these materials to the bins
- Fixed high ranked AI ships not being able to fire due to empty WEP capacitor!
- Pressing enter when going into the outfitting will result in no ui being shown fixed


Unfortunately, these notes are so large (8000 character limit), I can't post them in one go here on the patch notes section! The list is continued at https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=188174 - thanks!

Greetings Commanders, here is the CQC 1.4 update change log!

NEW CONTENT/FEATURES:


- CQC Added!
- Imperial Eagle added
- Federal Gunship added
- Federal Assault Ship added
- Hazardous resource extraction sites added
- Compromised nav beacons added
- Legal salvage missions added
- Added Outfitting for CQC
- Changed how powerplant damage is handled - small chance of instant destruction, otherwise malfunctions and halved power output
- Assign Imperial Eagles to those who should have them from their backer rewards



STABILITY FIXES:


- Speculative fixes for several rare crashes
- Fixed soft lock on login
- Crash fix for a rarely reported issue ship being docked to a station that is not in a state to provide interfaces
- Fix crash where the station news updates while quitting the
- OSX: Fix crash when generating star textures
- Prevent a crash when drones hit shields after recent changes to damage
- OSX: Fix for occasional assert due to unexpected texture
- Avoid firing beams if the firing ship is not ready and so causing a crash
- Prevent crash when trying to scoop something that no longer exists
- Fix crash caused by chatter in supercruise
- Fix crash when shutting down while looking at a mission in the bulletin board
- Restructure some checks so we don't fatally crash when there's a missing entry in the exploration database for an object we've targetted
- OSX: changes to reduce crashes due to low heap memory, including changes to use memory more efficiently
- OSX: fix for occasional crashes when closing the game window
- OSX: fix for a rare crash in the keyboard handling code on startup
- OSX: fix for potential cause of crashes in OpenGL code
- Fix a zero burst interval in plasma point defences
- Fix memory leak in ring cell generation
- Fix duplicate system ID
- Crash fix for invalid positions being passed
- Fix a pair of crashes that can happen if trying to place a scenario with no valid body list, and cope with this selection failing gracefully
- CQC: Fix a memory leak caused by the NavMarker holding onto its radar marker after the location that created it is destroyed
- Prevent crash if power data isn't available (such as in CQC)
- Low level UI crash fix
- Contacts panel restored in CQC to allow muting of other players
- CQC stats should start tracking credits earned through CQC and only count offensive weapons towards ‘favourite weapon’
- Add a few more stats to the cockpit panel
- Fix Powerplay outfitting discounts when in Beta test mode
- Fix a server bug when scooping a mineral fragment that then requires processing multiple refinery buckets into multiple cargo units at the same time
- Adjusted text field size in OptionsScreen.swf to account for larger text strings
- Don't show debug names for unbound controls
- Make the score summary UI in CQC aware of fov (prevents scaling during fov zooms from death cam)
- Fixed main menu spending up to 1.5 mins on a black screen if the player loses his internet connection just before going to the CQC menu
- Removed offset in UI rendering which should sharpen things up a bit
- Allow NPCs to start interdicting the player while they are charging for a hyperspace jump (but not once the countdown has started)
- Scoreboard no longer refers to the players gamertag - it uses the commander name which might look the same - isn't!
- Fix assert message and telemetry to report the correct bucket IDs when we receive an incorrect ID from the web server
- When you are kicked from a game due to inactivity, it now displays an error message on the main menu to say why
- Fix the reverse resistance armour text so it says it's strong vs kinetic and weak vs laser
- Make sure that if we disconnect while in the CQC menus we go to the disconnected from CQC state
- When there is a session error, make sure that we disconnect from the game
- Fix a bug where the player's current team was reset from Blue to None
- Fix a bug where shield regeneration would appear to stall in cases where the current delay after break was longer than the delay after hit (only experienced by some CQC ships with 1.5 or less pips in SYS)
- Numerous text fixes
- Fix missing shield rings in GUI



GENERAL TWEAKS & FIXES:


- Reset the backfill timer when leaving CQC or ending CQC gameplay. This prevents it from trying to start backfill matchmaking when not in a game session
- Increasing the amount of time it takes for the shields power-up to respawn to match the others
- Control changes for context schemes so that they maintain keyboard alternatives wherever they were present in the original control pad scheme these were based from
- Fix spawn points facing the wrong direction in Elevate
- Decreased the time the highest end AIs spend "on" the interdiction vector to make them a little easier
- Prestige icons not displaying
- Corrected the text for Deathmatch to state the correct amount of points needed to win
- Fix for player name in CQC turning white when not highlighted
- Correct CQC stats are now on the right hand panel in the ship cockpit
- Decreased amount of time between CQC matches once in a session
- Fix for control UI staying on screen in supercruise
- Fix for text in control settings screen being cut off after scrolling
- Increased duration of damage powerup
- Increased the time it takes for the shields power up to decay
- Fixes to the Anaconda model
- Fix for F63 Condor boost actually causing loss of speed
- Fix for deathmatch draws being recorded as losses
- Fix for not being able to navigate through squad list
- Various network optimisations
- Don't try to generate scores if we don't have the data for them (stops crash)
- Don't crash if a ship has an invalid loadout in CQC
- Fix a server crash to do with updating a users machine handle when they previously weren't in the game
- Fix server crash if players haven't been cleared out from the lobby
- Crash fix for network replication occurring in the wrong order in CQC
- Update mute symbols in lobby correctly
- 'Capture' and 'Protect' indicators do not move / may not render while in Oculus Rift fixed
- Make sure that we are removed from a wing when we end a proving ground game. This should fix an issue with opponents in deathmatch appearing friendly
- Fixed where players didnt always get assigned to the team the the lobby wanted to put them in
- In the CQC Outfitting, boost diverters should not show class/rating/mass, instead they should show Power Draw and Boost Speed Multiplier
- Fix for selling illegal drones (sometimes known as limpets)
- CQC matchmaking reliability improvements
- Re-enable starter packs on Beta Test
- Add the Empire_Eagle_Upgraded template to the Imperial Bounty Hunter starter pack
- Background sim fix to stop a faction declaring war on more than one opponent per tick when there’s more than one eligible
- Major refactoring of PC CQC Matchmaking game notification sending
- Stop titles appearing in the body of Galnet articles on the website
- Persist the Ship Lights option through location transitions, but not save/load
- If the refinery is idle and has a non-empty hopper, try to reallocate these materials to the bins
- Fixed high ranked AI ships not being able to fire due to empty WEP capacitor!
- Pressing enter when going into the outfitting will result in no ui being shown fixed


Unfortunately, these notes are so large (8000 character limit), I can't post them in one go here on the patch notes section! The list is continued at https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=188174 - thanks!

Hi everyone,

We’re very excited to announce that Vive support is coming as a free update to Elite Dangerous this holiday season. The HTC Vive will be the first virtual reality headset available to consumers, and Elite Dangerous will support Vive on the PC from day one.

If you’re coming to EGX this weekend you’ll be able to get hands-on with Elite Dangerous and Vive, at both the Elite Dangerous and HTC stands. So, if you can make it to Birmingham, UK from Thursday 24 September to Sunday 27 September, make sure you come and see us.

To celebrate the announcement, we’re putting on a week-long Elite Dangerous sale. Until Monday 28 September you can pick up Elite Dangerous at a discount price. There’s never been a better time to blaze your own trail.

Hi everyone,

We’re very excited to announce that Vive support is coming as a free update to Elite Dangerous this holiday season. The HTC Vive will be the first virtual reality headset available to consumers, and Elite Dangerous will support Vive on the PC from day one.

If you’re coming to EGX this weekend you’ll be able to get hands-on with Elite Dangerous and Vive, at both the Elite Dangerous and HTC stands. So, if you can make it to Birmingham, UK from Thursday 24 September to Sunday 27 September, make sure you come and see us.

To celebrate the announcement, we’re putting on a week-long Elite Dangerous sale. Until Monday 28 September you can pick up Elite Dangerous at a discount price. There’s never been a better time to blaze your own trail.

Hello, Commanders

This morning we’re announcing Elite Dangerous: Horizons – another full season of major gameplay expansions for Elite Dangerous, beginning later this year with ‘Planetary Landings’.

I’ve been fascinated by the exploration of space since I was young, and especially with the almost unimaginable scales involved. Going down to the surfaces of planets was a key part of my dreams of exploration, and soon we'll realise that dream in Elite Dangerous.

We're beginning with airless, rocky worlds – places where a great deal of new gameplay can take place. These are planet-sized sandbox environments, with all sorts of things to discover hidden on them. You'll find surface starports, crashed ships, mineral deposits, hidden bases and more.

These worlds are gigantic, and - like the open galaxy - you'll be able to go anywhere. You'll be able to fly over the surface in low orbit and choose your spot to land, you'll be able to venture out in your Surface Recon Vehicle and hurtle across the surface at high speed. You'll be able to sneak around or go in all guns blazing. The nimble SRV is tiny compared to your ship, and is virtually invisible on a long range scanner – ship-based weapons will find it very hard to hold a lock on them, but airborne and ground-based players can explore the same worlds together, so watch the skies!

As I’ve said already, I’ve wanted to do surface landings in Elite Dangerous for quite a while now – and we have been planning how best to do it since the Kickstarter. Elite Dangerous: Horizons is the first stage and a huge step. The quality people expect is, as always, very high, and the team have done a great job hitting that benchmark. These worlds will feel real and meaningfully unique.

You’ll read about some of the exciting things you’ll find on surfaces this week in the press and on our Community blog, but Planetary Landings is just the start. Elite Dangerous: Horizons is a full season of content extending into 2016, introducing new features and gameplay in each major expansion. As with Season One, this season of expansions is not just about planet surfaces, but other major features are coming too.

Of course support will continue for Elite Dangerous even outside of Elite Dangerous: Horizons, and we’re keeping the community together. All Elite Dangerous and Elite Dangerous: Horizons players will share the same galaxy together and you’ll retain all your progress whenever you choose to join our new season of expansions.

Elite Dangerous: Horizons will be available to pre-order on our store today, and I’m very happy to announce all existing Elite Dangerous players will receive a £ 10 loyalty discount off the Horizons retail price. Existing players will also unlock the exclusive Cobra Mk IV ship in Elite Dangerous: Horizons. The Cobra Mk IV will be available in the game only to players who joined us in the first year – forever. It’s our ‘thank you’ for your faith in the game, and you’ll see more of the Cobra Mk IV in Friday’s Peek Of The Week.

Due to popular demand, we’ve also decided to bring back for a limited time the lifetime expansion pass. It should appear in our store later today.

We’re committed to seeing Elite Dangerous grow the right way, and we hope you’ll join us planetside as we embark upon the exploration of our galaxy’s undiscovered worlds together. We have a great team, and I believe Elite Dangerous: Horizons will bring players closer than ever to the dream of touching other worlds.

There will be lots of questions, I know! Elite Dangerous’ Lead Designer Sandro Sammarco and I will be taking your questions in this afternoon’s livestream at 16:00 CEST, so please visit twitch.tv/elitedangerous for that.

The Community team will do their best to answer your questions about the ongoing evolution of Elite Dangerous on our forums, and tune in to our Twitch stream throughout the week for more on Elite Dangerous for Xbox One, Elite Dangerous 1.4: CQC for PC and Mac, and Elite Dangerous: Horizons.

Thank you for playing, and Right On, Commander!

David Braben

----

SOURCE: https://community.elitedangerous.com/node/247

Hello, Commanders

This morning we’re announcing Elite Dangerous: Horizons – another full season of major gameplay expansions for Elite Dangerous, beginning later this year with ‘Planetary Landings’.

I’ve been fascinated by the exploration of space since I was young, and especially with the almost unimaginable scales involved. Going down to the surfaces of planets was a key part of my dreams of exploration, and soon we'll realise that dream in Elite Dangerous.

We're beginning with airless, rocky worlds – places where a great deal of new gameplay can take place. These are planet-sized sandbox environments, with all sorts of things to discover hidden on them. You'll find surface starports, crashed ships, mineral deposits, hidden bases and more.

These worlds are gigantic, and - like the open galaxy - you'll be able to go anywhere. You'll be able to fly over the surface in low orbit and choose your spot to land, you'll be able to venture out in your Surface Recon Vehicle and hurtle across the surface at high speed. You'll be able to sneak around or go in all guns blazing. The nimble SRV is tiny compared to your ship, and is virtually invisible on a long range scanner – ship-based weapons will find it very hard to hold a lock on them, but airborne and ground-based players can explore the same worlds together, so watch the skies!

As I’ve said already, I’ve wanted to do surface landings in Elite Dangerous for quite a while now – and we have been planning how best to do it since the Kickstarter. Elite Dangerous: Horizons is the first stage and a huge step. The quality people expect is, as always, very high, and the team have done a great job hitting that benchmark. These worlds will feel real and meaningfully unique.

You’ll read about some of the exciting things you’ll find on surfaces this week in the press and on our Community blog, but Planetary Landings is just the start. Elite Dangerous: Horizons is a full season of content extending into 2016, introducing new features and gameplay in each major expansion. As with Season One, this season of expansions is not just about planet surfaces, but other major features are coming too.

Of course support will continue for Elite Dangerous even outside of Elite Dangerous: Horizons, and we’re keeping the community together. All Elite Dangerous and Elite Dangerous: Horizons players will share the same galaxy together and you’ll retain all your progress whenever you choose to join our new season of expansions.

Elite Dangerous: Horizons will be available to pre-order on our store today, and I’m very happy to announce all existing Elite Dangerous players will receive a £ 10 loyalty discount off the Horizons retail price. Existing players will also unlock the exclusive Cobra Mk IV ship in Elite Dangerous: Horizons. The Cobra Mk IV will be available in the game only to players who joined us in the first year – forever. It’s our ‘thank you’ for your faith in the game, and you’ll see more of the Cobra Mk IV in Friday’s Peek Of The Week.

Due to popular demand, we’ve also decided to bring back for a limited time the lifetime expansion pass. It should appear in our store later today.

We’re committed to seeing Elite Dangerous grow the right way, and we hope you’ll join us planetside as we embark upon the exploration of our galaxy’s undiscovered worlds together. We have a great team, and I believe Elite Dangerous: Horizons will bring players closer than ever to the dream of touching other worlds.

There will be lots of questions, I know! Elite Dangerous’ Lead Designer Sandro Sammarco and I will be taking your questions in this afternoon’s livestream at 16:00 CEST, so please visit twitch.tv/elitedangerous for that.

The Community team will do their best to answer your questions about the ongoing evolution of Elite Dangerous on our forums, and tune in to our Twitch stream throughout the week for more on Elite Dangerous for Xbox One, Elite Dangerous 1.4: CQC for PC and Mac, and Elite Dangerous: Horizons.

Thank you for playing, and Right On, Commander!

David Braben

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SOURCE: https://community.elitedangerous.com/node/247