One of the things I seem to be doing a lot of recently is playing the computer game Elite: Dangerous, the latest incarnation of the classic eighties game, Elite. Here are some screenshots from my time out in the black.

This page was created using assets and imagery from Elite Dangerous, with the permission of Frontier Developments plc, for non-commercial purposes. It is not endorsed by nor reflects the views or opinions of Frontier Developments and no employee of Frontier Developments was involved in the making of it.

The signature ship from the Elite franchise, the Cobra Mk III was the first (and only) vessel pilots commanded in the original game. She may be small, but she’s still one of the most fun and versatile ships in the game, and reasonably enough priced that most pilots eventually end up owning one. Mine’s called Shardrunner

The Diamondback Explorer is a relatively small, low cost exploration vessel aimed at first-time explorers and those who like tolive a little dangerously. This is mine, christened Seeker After Truth

The Lakon Type-6 is a reasonably small transport vessel favoured by traders just starting out in the business. With a potential cargo capacity of more than 100 tons it’s a great place to start a career as a trading tycoon.

The Vulture is a heavy combat fighter, with a strong hull and very good shields. This is mine, the Totentanz.

The Vulture is a heavy combat fighter, with a strong hull and very good shields. This is mine, the Totentanz.

The Vulture is a heavy combat fighter, with a strong hull and very good shields. This is mine, the Totentanz.

This is my most recently purchased ship, an Asp Explorer I’ve christened The Baconator. She may be ugly, but she’s a very versatile ship, good for all manner of missions and activities.

As seen from orbit, a Waterworld I discovered on my last exploratory foray outside inhabited space.

Two high metal content planets I found in close proximity to each other. Elite: Dangerous includes a 1:1 scale model of the Milky way, much of it procedurally generated by Frontier Developments proprietary Stellar Forge Engine.

I’ve decided that one of the things I want to do in-game is visit as many of the Kepler Objects of Interest as I can. This here is the world Kepler-100d and two of its moons.

One of the many goals of explorers in Elite: Dangerous is to get their name assigned as first discoverer of something interesting. This here is the first Earth-Like world I found when I went out a-wandering.

Some of the worlds in Elite: Dangerous can be remarkably pretty. This is a Metal Rich planet I found on my first exploratory trip.

I’ve decided that one of the things I want to do in-game is visit as many of the Kepler Objects of Interest as I can. Kepler-10 was the first of these that I managed to get to, and this is Kepler-10b

I’ve decided that one of the things I want to do in-game is visit as many of the Kepler Objects of Interest as I can. This is Kepler-100b; not a very interesting world, to be honest.

I’ve decided that one of the things I want to do in-game is visit as many of the Kepler Objects of Interest as I can. Here we have a sunrise over Kepler-100c

Catching a few rays in an unnamed star system just past the edge of civilised space. This was taken at the start of my first full exploration trip.

The Star Witch, my rather spiffing Imperial Clipper