So the official launch date of the 16th is nearly upon us, but for those few of us that have taken the plunge, the good news is that the current game progress from Gamma release to full release will not be wiped and our ships, credits and possessions will be carried over when the game transitions next week!



However, let me give you a little salt with that sugar... Players will be left where players are, so Strut and I are 50+ LY away from each other with ships that aren't capable of jumping to meet up. That means that we either have to find a route 'the long way' with no path finding tools available yet, or we have to earn enough money to buy a ship that can jump that far...

I found this to be interesting.

Couldn't help myself......
Just spent 2 days blasting around the universe.

Not a bad prequel to Star Citizen.

Better get your ass into the Wing for the release of 1.2

Is there one already?

Strutt, live and myself, we've got space for another

I'm in - what do I need to do.

Give us you Elite Pilot name and Wing Commander Strutt will add you into our private group for now, then when we have 'Wings' we'll set those up.

Great - It is Samri still.

Looking forward to it.

For those still interested in this, the Free Powerplay update (1.3) was released today with several enhancements to a lot of areas of Gameplay

Update log here

The wait for SC is too long so I could not resist and jumped in... Just dumped my sidewinder for a cobra for trading, Powerplay and bounty hunting.

Loving it so far, ingame name is equinox_echo

From the latest newsletter;

Hello, Commanders

Last week, we announced 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.

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.

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.

As Elite Dangerous gets geared up for its first major paid DLC package (Horizons), they're selling Elite Dangerous up until December 1st at 67% off RRP, just £9.99

The Horizons expansion adds planetary landings and ground vehicles to the Universe of Elite Dangerous for exploration, treasure hunting and in the future, combat.

You can see a video of the beta releasing on Monday below.