Elite Dangerous Update #99

Hello, Commander,

Welcome to Elite Dangerous Newsletter #99.

This week, we're launching the 1.5 ships beta, detailing the latest Horizons sneak peek with a first look at fortified starports (including a new look at the Imperial Cutter), giving you all the details of the CQC tournament, taking a look at the latest GalNet news and more.

As always, you can hear the latest news and updates directly from the development team on our Forums, Twitter, Facebook, Community Homepage, and right here in the newsletter every week, and we're always eager to hear your feedback.

Pre-order links:
Elite Dangerous: Horizons
Elite Dangerous: Horizons Beta

Contents This Week

• Elite Dangerous 1.5 Beta Available Today
• Fortifications
• Materials
• CQC Tournament Details
• Videomakers Pioneer Programme
• Educating Ed Episode 4 - Canonn
• Community Goals Update
• Comms Chatter
• GalNet

Elite Dangerous 1.5 Beta Available Today

Those Commanders with beta access to season one of Elite Dangerous will be able to play the 1.5 ships update beta today. You can read Mike Brookes' developer update below for more details about 1.5, but later today you could be exploring space in one of the seven new ships coming as part of the update, whether that's the imposing Federal Corvette, the sleek Imperial Cutter, or the multi-purpose Keelback.

The beta for Elite Dangerous: Horizons is right around the corner, too, with a release date of November 24. It's an exciting time to be a Commander in the Elite Dangerous galaxy!

Thank you all Commanders. Fly safe!

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Fortifications

This week's sneak peek of Horizons from David Braben shows off a planet surface fortified starport for the first time.

In the video, David gives us a new perspective of the Imperial Cutter as he drives around the massive, landed ship in an SRV. After that we're taken through a tunnel leading to the inside of a fortified starport.

You can pre-order Elite Dangerous: Horizons now:
Elite Dangerous: Horizons
Elite Dangerous: Horizons Beta

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Materials

On Tuesday's On the Horizon livestream, Lead Designer Sandro Sammarco talked us through the ships that are available in the 1.5 update, and revealed some new details about how Materials will work in Horizons.

Following that, in the weekly developer update, Michael Brookes went in to further details about Materials, as well as touching on the Spanish Community's localisation efforts and mission improvements coming to Elite Dangerous 1.5.

"Materials for the Horizons Planetary Landings launch are raw materials that can be found on the surfaces of planets and moons. The types of these materials will vary depending on the geology of the body, the type of world it is and where it is situated. As well as natural formations of these materials some can be found (and indeed, in some cases, unique to) special sources. Meteorites can be found and blasted to reveal materials. There are also more mysterious sources as well to be found!

Some 25 of these materials have been added and are essentially elements that can be combined to synthesise different things. In this regard they are the prelude for the wider loot and crafting features coming later in the season. These materials are used in tiny quantities and don’t occupy cargo space, each Commander has an amount of separate space for storing these collections. They are then consumed by synthesis for different purposes relating to the ship and SRV. Each of these applications require a different mixture of materials.

The rarity or abundance of materials varies depending on the material. Some are incredibly rare, but these also confer more benefits when synthesised than more common materials. Finding these materials is one of the key functions of the wave scanner. Unlike the ship board discovery scanners the SRV’s wave scanner is more finely tuned for discovering elements and so requires some investigation compared to the powerful discovery scanners.

Materials have trace signals that the wave scanner can interpret from the surrounding region and the Commander uses a direction finding technique to locate the source of the signal. Different items generate different signals, so it is possible to identify the sources of signals on the scanner with some practice. The same techniques also work for points of interest and even settlements with the scanner being able to display signals from artificial sources like power generators or crashed ships.

There will be six syntheses that can be applied in the first expansion of the season – three for the ship including re-supply ammunition, restocking of the AFM and even a temporary increase in jump range for the FSD. For the SRV the benefits include fuel for the SRV, repair and ammunition for the plasma repeaters. Higher quality materials can confer improvements, so refilling ammunition using a high quality mix of materials can increase the damage caused by the ammunition as these can have better materials than store bought ammunition. Such a bonus will only apply until the ammunition is restocked.

As well as showing more about the Horizons gameplay the 1.5 beta starts this week. As part of this release we have the fruits of some of our Spanish community’s labours over the past few months. This was an incredible effort by them as the game has an enormous amount of text and keeps on growing!

Another change we are testing in the 1.5 beta is to how shield cell banks operate. It comes in two parts, the first is increasing the heat cost when you use a shield cell bank. This increases the risk of using these as the sudden heat build up can cause module damage, using two or more in rapid succession can even cause hull damage – so making these a defence of last resort. The second part is there is now a delay when these are powered up. These delays also apply to a range other modules. We’re looking forward to seeing the feedback on these and the other changes in the 1.5 build.

We’re also increasing the benefits from hull health from the hull reinforcement packages.

The 1.5 and Horizons Planetary Landing release will contain some significant changes to missions (as mentioned in a previous dev update) and that means that when the release goes live all missions will be reset. We’ll let you know in advance when this will happen so you have time to finish any outstanding missions you might have."

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CQC Tournament - Details Announced

We recently mentioned that we'd be launching a competitive community CQC tournament, and now we're excited to confirm some of the finer details of how the event will work. The total value is $100,000, including $15,000 prizes on the night, and the place in the final includes travel to the UK, and accommodation - make sure you study the information in the article below, and get your combat skills sharp in time for the heats.

You can see all of the details in the article on the community site - there's a lot of information there, but we think it’s really important to be as clear as possible. There will also be an FAQ on the Elite Dangerous forum that we'll be keeping updated, so feel free to ask your questions and we’ll be sure to check in and answer them as often as we can.

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Pioneer Programme

Are you an Elite Dangerous videomaker, streamer, or content creator? If so, we'd love to collaborate with you to create, interesting, informative, entertaining and engaging content.

Our pioneer programme is designed specifically to enable collaboration, and growth for videomakers and content creators, and we want to invite you to get on board.

If you're interested in learning more about the Pioneer Programme, or want to get involved, send an email to community@frontier.co.uk and we'll get you signed up! We look forward to hearing from all of the creative Commanders out there!

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Educating Ed Episode 4 - Canonn

On the last episode of Educating Ed, the Galactic Intern joined up with the Elite Racers to learn the race route at Dublin Citadel, and take part in a heat. You'll have to watch the video in full to find out how he fares, but the whole event was a massive success thanks to the amazing Elite Racers community.

The next episode, with Canonn, the scientific group dedicated to Unknown Artefacts research, will be live on our official YouTube channel on Thursday November 19 at 7PM GMT.

"Founded in April 3301, in response to the emergence of strange ‘unknown artefacts’, we are now the largest and most active scientific community throughout the bubble."

The next episode, with Canonn, the scientific group dedicated to Unknown Artefacts research, will be live on our official YouTube channel on Thursday November 19 at 7PM GMT.

"Founded in April 3301, in response to the emergence of strange ‘unknown artefacts’, we are now the largest and most active scientific community throughout the bubble."

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Community Goals Update

Greeting commanders,

Welcome to this week’s Community Goals blog.

Three weeks ago, the Explorers’ Association began work on a new Ocellus starport in the Pleiades Nebula. Now, with the bulk of the work complete, the Explorer’s Association has announced a third and final appeal for resources:

“Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the galactic community, the new Ocellus starport is almost complete, and we are a hair’s breadth from gaining an important foothold in the Pleiades Nebula. All that’s needed now is one final push. If you are in a position to help, we implore you to do so. This is your last chance to be a part of this historic project.”

Pilots who want to contribute to the campaign are invited to deliver Computer Components to Neville Horizons in the Kaushpoos system.

Along with the final stage of the construction project the Explorers’ Association has issued a new kill order to clear trade routes around Kaushpoos.

"Unfortunately, the times we live in seem to revolve around killing and piracy for profit at the expense of law abiding pilots. We will do everything in our power to ensure that pilots have safe passage in Kayshpoos and surrounding systems.”

"We are announcing this kill order as we have reason to believe that pirate groups that disrupted the previous phases in the stations creation will once again attempt to profit by preying on our trade pilots."

The Explorers' Association are promising rich rewards to those independent pilots who eliminate pirate threats to clear the shipping lanes in and around the Kaushpoos system.

It looks like other organisations are also looking to improve their outposts, The Sirius Corporation has issued an appeal for mined resources to help improve the economy of one of their outer colonies in HIP 8396.

“Over the coming weeks, the Sirius Corporation will subsidize a number of initiatives designed to revive the social and economic health of our new territories. These initiatives, which will rely heavily on support from independent contractors and pilots, will reinvigorate the economies of the affected systems, and usher in a new era of peace and prosperity for our compatriots.”

It appears the Sirius Corp. is eager to get started. The first of its initiatives is due to begin today, with the company appealing to independent pilots to deliver osmium to the HIP 8396 system, and promising to reward participants generously.

If you are looking for a goal this week the breakdown below should help guide you:

Among the Stars

oKaushpoos system, Neville Horizons – Deliver Computer Components to Neville Horizons to help determine the services the new station will provide.

oKaushpoos system, Neville Horizons – Clear the Shipping Lanes by handing in bounties to Neville Horizons.

•Improve the Economy of HIP 8396

oHIP 8396, Stepping Stone Base – Mine and deliver Osmium to Stepping Stone Base in HIP 8396 to improve the outpost.

Safe travels out in the black Commanders!

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Comms Chatter

The Imperial Inquisition are running a Galactic Games for Charity Event this weekend, including a 72 hour livestream. Visit elitedangerous.events/charity to learn more and see a rundown of all the events happening this weekend.

CMDR Arelhi posted to imgur a fantastic album of his trip to the core of the galaxy!

Sir, put force the GPU to 11.. but sir, it doesn’t go to 11! It sure does now. Sphinx2K on the Elite Dangerous subreddit shared this high quality screenshot.

Let’s go back to the 7th of November, 1985...

Hutton Orbital Truckers sent us an award! View more of the award here!

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After several days of fighting between Imperial forces and the mercenaries of the Cayutorme Syndicate, order has been restored to the Cayutorme system. With the mercenary fleet defeated, the leaders of the Cayutorme Syndicate have petitioned for a ceasefire. Kyle Kurowski, the leader of the organisation, has not been seen since hostilities began.

Authorities in the Epsilon Indi system have reported a dramatic increase in smuggling over the past week. Station personnel at London Relay – believed to be the focus of the smuggling activity – declined to provide specifics, but an anonymous source at the starport said: "Apparently a group called 'Revolution Incorporated' put out a request for explosives, which is why there's been a spike. Of course, the station authorities don't want people to know the station is full of explosives, especially with the summit conference starting soon, but I gather the response to the request was pretty enthusiastic."

Two weeks ago, the Explorers' Association began work on a new Ocellus starport in the Pleiades Nebula. The project received financial support from the Brewer Corporation and Universal Cartographics, which offered generous premiums to traders providing essential materials for the construction. Now, with the bulk of the work complete, the Explorer's Association has announced a third and final appeal for resources: "Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the galactic community, the new Ocellus starport is almost complete, and we are a hair's breadth from gaining an important foothold in the Pleiades Nebula. All that's needed now is one final push. If you are in a position to help, we implore you to do so. This is your last chance to be a part of this historic project."

Following a recent statement from Sirius Corporation announcing its intention to revitalise several newly acquired star systems, the company has launched an initiative to boost the economy of HIP 8396. At the heart of the initiative is a request for osmium, which Sirius Corp. hopes will serve as a fillip for the system's financial rejuvenation. Li Yong-Rui, the CEO of the Sirius Gov., was quoted as saying: "The people of HIP 8396 are part of the Sirius Corporation family, but if we are to help our compatriots, we will need help ourselves. So I implore all galactic citizens to contribute to this initiative, and bring a new era of peace and prosperity to HIP 8396."

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That’s it for Newsletter #99. As always, if there's anything in particular that you’d like to hear more about, or if you'd like to ask a question, then please contact us at elite-newsletter@frontier.co.uk.

Click for the latest Game Manual, Quickstart Guide and Pilot Training Videos. Visit our Support team here and read our previous newsletters here.

Until next time, fly safe and Right On, Commander.

The Frontier Team