Frontier: Elite 2

FE2 adheres to the same basic principle as Elite - namely, the free game model - to which realistic physics and a precisely modeled galaxy have been added. There is no single plot in this game; instead, you are free to choose the manner of the game: you can play as an honest dealer or as a dealer in illegal goods, carry out military missions or simply transport passengers from one system to another, you can become a pirate or even combine all of the above options. In this game you cannot “win” - instead, you can set yourself some goal and achieve it.

Compared to Elite , in FE2 there is only one galaxy left, but the Solar system has appeared in it. Also, stars from our Galaxy were “discovered” in it - Aliot , Sun , Polyarnaya , 128 Ross, Antares , Achernar , Toliman ( Alpha Centauri ) and so on. Naturally, the vast majority of star names were still set using the same sequence of pseudorandom numbers. In this case, you can find Lave, and a number of neighboring systems. Legacy of the first Elite .

Each star system has become dynamic. Systems with one star and a planet motionlessly hanging near its sun (also always one) have given way to very complex astronomical formations, which can contain several stars of different types at once, from supergiants to dwarfs, dozens of planets with their satellites of different sizes and textures, and in addition , all this rotates in its orbits.

If in Elite it was possible to land only on orbital stations, now, with atmospheric protection and some dexterity, you can land on the surface of any planet (including gas giants, which in reality and the surface, as such, do not). With exceptional talent and endurance, you can even “attach” to the surface of a rapidly rotating asteroid.

The game has a certain backstory, from which it becomes clear exactly how humanity went into space, how the Federation (its capital is located in the solar system) and the Empire (with its capital in the Achernar system) were formed, and why there is a cold war between them.

A third was added to the two interplanetary superpowers: the Alliance of Independent Worlds, with its capital in the Aliot system. Ways to generate income have been expanded. In particular, landing on the planets was worked out, not only because spaceports appeared on the planet surface, and not for the sake of beauty: with a spacious ship and an MB-4 mining machine, one of the sources of capital can be mining. Although, in order to find something more or less useful and profitable (precious metals or precious stones), you will have to fly very far and look for the right place on the surface of the planet for a very long time.

Minerals and metal alloys can be mined not only from the surfaces of planets, but also “knocked out” using a special laser directly from asteroids , and then fly and catch. This method is simpler, but also tedious, and does not bring large incomes.

Mining requires considerable financial investments, and they pay off very soon. So this is more an adventure element of the game than a way to make good money.

The main sources of income were trade or mercenarism. On average, the highest paid are “orders” for the liquidation of merchants, corporate directors and the “godfathers” of the mafia who did not like someone. In second place is peaceful passenger transport; in third is urgent delivery of parcels. For the last, sometimes the game gives more money than for contract killings, but there is a risk of attack from those who really do not want the parcel to reach its destination.

In Elite 2: Frontier, as already mentioned, there are two superpowers, whose military does not hesitate to hire all kinds of adventurers for "dirty" (and not so) work. They pay little, but you can get medals and titles. For example, the prince is considered the highest military rank in the Empire , and the admiral in the Federation . But in order to get these ranks, you will have to spend at least several years on the game, since the number of points required to assign the next rank depends on the rank itself, and very little is awarded for the completed task.

Somewhere, no one knows where, in the Galaxy Elite 2: Frontier there is a black hole . According to Braben , it is located in the center of the Galaxy, but where this center is is unknown. The coordinates of stellar systems are measured from the solar system (0,0), but, as you know, the sun is quite far from the center of the galaxy, and Brayben did not tell anyone how to get there. But he promised $ 6 million for the discovery of this same black hole. However, since the release of the game, no one has ever discovered this same black hole.

Currently, the game is distributed as shareware and is available for free download [1] .

The main goal of FE2 is to find a good trading route. Most popular: First, find Cemiess (this is an empire-driven system located to the left of Ross 154) and place an information board in it. This allows you to see advertisements for purchased and sold goods and those who are willing to pay 3,000 loans to anyone who takes precious metals from them. Further, it is necessary to stock up on many metals in order to sell them to Tivea in the future. Once the user collects enough money to buy a lot of robots, he will be able to buy Cemiess, then to sell.

To have unlimited money, you need to take a passenger or a package (using the information board) and then change your ship to a less expensive one. If there is a passenger on board the manned ship, the game will not allow you to exchange your ship for another, but the user will be able to see the difference between his ship and the one he wants to buy. It is recommended to buy a cheaper vessel and constantly press buy (buy) - this will allow you to see how the amount of user money increases (and if this trick is carried out with a more expensive ship, it will turn out the opposite).

When a user participates in a battle, he can click on pause. Exit to external view and enable object identification. This will help make enemy ships more accessible to defeat. Now you can select a target, enable autopilot and front view. After exiting the pause, the user's ship will fly directly to the vessel of his choice. In such a situation, nothing should prevent the destruction of the enemy.

A sequel to the game called Frontier: First Encounters , released in 1995, was originally planned as a set of additional missions for Frontier: Elite 2, but the unsuitability of the game engine for writing manually created tasks led the newly formed Frontier Developments company led by David Braben to completely rewrite the game, which canceled the release of the supplement in favor of a full continuation.

• www.frontier.co.uk
• www.eliteclub.co.uk
• French Amiga / Atari / PC Fan Club Release FE2
• Russian Elite Games Forum