'Elite' follow up funded by fans

'Elite: Dangerous' has been plagued with funding shortfalls prompting developer Frontier Developments to seek funding to continue development and finalise one of the most interesting follow ups in gaming history.

Fondly remembered by fans as one of the best games of the 1980's, cult space trading game Elite is now finally set to make a comeback thanks to donations from legions of fans.

Originally devised by David Braben and co-developed with Ian Bell thirty years ago, Elite was first released in 1984 on the BBC Micro and rapidly developed a cult following selling more than 600,000 copies on cassette tape even in those pre-Internet days as a standalone game.

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The program was one the first open ended games of its kind based around accumulating credits from trading in various solar systems (that increased your rank) and featuring 3D vector graphics that made battles with space pirates and travels through the Elite universe state of the art for the time.

Braben's company Frontier Developments is behind the latest incarnation which, as you would expect, will feature massively improved graphics that take advantage of the vast increase in computing power since 1984. Internet opponents will also add a new dimension in this revision of what is widely regarded by many as one of the most iconic games of all time.

Braben shows off some of the early in game footage and discusses development of the multiplayer options in the video below.

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Further details of the game in general are available from Frontier Developments website here.

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