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Elite Dangerous News

Elite Dangerous: Odyssey Launch Trailer

Greetings Commanders,

Tomorrow, Elite Dangerous will change forever. Odyssey marks the next step in our vision for the game, and a new era in space simulation.

In honour of this, we’re delighted to present to you our Odyssey launch trailer:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

“This is the next step in what has already been an incredible journey and labour of love with Elite Dangerous since the Kickstarter over eight years ago. The team have pulled off a fantastic achievement here across a mind-bending scale – from the detail within a human footprint to the vast distances across stellar systems and beyond is breathtaking, in a rich, detailed and accurate recreation of the Milky Way in 1:1 scale. For me it is not just the detailed exploration and combat, but the gothic beauty of watching stars, planets, moons, moons-of-moons rise and fall or slowly pirouette in their often complex paths in the night sky, while each tiny dot or nebula in that sky is really there and can be visited.”

- David Braben, CEO and founder of Frontier

As a reminder, all Elite Dangerous servers will be down for maintenance and preparation of the update from 07:00 UTC / 08:00 BST tomorrow for approximately 11 hours. This means an estimated launch window of 18:00 UTC / 19:00 BST.

We’ll see you on the other side!

o7

Odyssey: System Requirements

Greetings Commanders,

Check out the minimum and recommended PC specifications for Elite Dangerous: Odyssey below.



Prepare to disembark tomorrow!

o7

Horizons / Odyssey Compatibility - Further Details

Greetings Commanders,

Thank you all for your comments and feedback on the recent announcement regarding Odyssey and Horizons compatibility. We understand that the post left some aspects unclear which we'd like to address below. We've also included some additional details.

[h2]Instancing and Graphical Improvements[/h2]

To clarify the circumstances under which instances may be shared across versions of the game, and when visual changes will be seen, we've made the following tables. The first applies to the time between PC and console launch, and the other to the time following console launch.

[h2]From PC Launch to Console Launch[/h2]



[h2]After Console Launch[/h2]



Landing on planets with tenuous atmospheres is ONLY available to Odyssey owners.


[h2]Other Aspects of Horizons and Odyssey[/h2]

[h3]Galaxy State[/h3]

  • The galaxy's background simulations (including Powerplay, factions, commodity markets and outfitting) will continue without disruption and be shared between all players (Horizons and Odyssey) across all platforms.
  • Squadrons may be contributed to and administered across both Horizons and Odyssey.
  • Fleet Carriers will function and be manageable across Horizons and Odyssey.
  • Odyssey Settlements will not appear in the system map or navigation panel of Horizons players.
  • All planet ports and settlements on tenuous atmosphere planets will not appear in the system map or navigation panel of Horizons players.
  • First footfall tags will only be displayed to Odyssey players.
  • Missions will not transfer between Horizons and Odyssey, and their timers will count down as if you were not logged into the game when you are on the other version.


[h3]Matchmaking & Social[/h3]

  • The online status of Friends will be visible across Horizons and Odyssey, but locations will be displayed as "ED: Beyond" or "ED: Odyssey" if you are different versions.
  • System text channels will be shared across Horizons and Odyssey.
  • Direct text messages can be sent between friends across Horizons and Odyssey.
  • Players in Horizons will not be able to form wings or crews with players in Odyssey and vice versa.
  • The CQC matchmaker and crew finders will not place Horizons and Odyssey players together.
  • Voice communications will not be available across Horizons and Odyssey.
  • Squadron members playing Odyssey will appear offline to those viewing them from Horizons and vice versa from the Squadron management screen. This is so they cannot be invited to join a wing or crew from here.


[h3]Switching From Odyssey to Horizons Mode[/h3]

Under some circumstances, your Commander location will need to be reset. For example, if you try to load into the game from the main menu in Horizons mode after playing Odyssey and meeting the following conditions:

  • If you were disembarked from your ship or SRV and logged out when on foot in any location.
  • If you logged out in a ship, SRV, or on foot in any location on a tenuous atmosphere planet.
  • If you logged out in a ship docked at an Odyssey settlement on a planet without an atmosphere.
  • If you logged out when on a ship piloted by Apex Interstellar or Frontline Solutions.


In these cases, your Commander will be placed into your most recently used ship and, if necessary, position it in orbit around the stellar body it was landed on, or docked on a settlement on. As with Horizons, the reset option will not available to you if your ship was destroyed at the time you logged out. Instead, a message encouraging you to re-access Elite through the Odyssey client will appear.

In addition, due to the terrain changes in Odyssey, the following will happen when switching over while landed on a planet without an atmosphere:

  • If you logged out in an SRV, then your ship will need recalling from orbit.
  • If you logged out in a ship, then you will load in a short distance above the planet's surface.


[h3]Crime[/h3]

When playing ED: Odyssey after playing ED: Horizons:

  • Crimes on players’ ships will be transferred to their commander, superpower bounties will be generated accordingly


When playing ED: Horizons after having played ED: Odyssey:

  • Crimes committed in the vessel will stay with the vessel, and superpower bounties for vessels will be regenerated
  • Crimes committed on foot will be transferred on vessel with biggest bounty for specific jurisdiction, or to active vessel if no other way
  • Impounded ships will be released, but the impound cost will be added to the bounty for that vessel


[h3]Avatars & Liveries[/h3]

  • New suit livery items introduced with Odyssey will only be accessible in Odyssey.
  • When playing Horizons after having played Odyssey, Commanders will receive a default avatar and flight suit.
  • When returning to Odyssey after playing Horizons, avatars will be re-equipped with their Odyssey suits.
  • The default 'opaque helmet' avatar image will be displayed when viewing Odyssey players from Horizons in screens like Recently Encountered players, or Squadron Members.
  • Any new ship livery items purchased in Odyssey should still be accessible in Horizons.
  • Odyssey suit and weapon livery items will not be available for purchase through the store in Horizons.
  • Any purchased items will remain in Odyssey for when you next log into it.
  • ARX earned by playing Odyssey can be redeemed in Horizons and vice versa.


[h3]Inventory Items[/h3]

  • The contents of Odyssey players’ backpacks and storage will only be available whilst playing Odyssey. They will not take any inventory capacity away from Horizons.


[h3]Codex[/h3]

  • Any new organics species introduced for ED: Odyssey will only be present in players’ codex whilst playing ED: Odyssey


[h3]Local options storage[/h3]

  • Odyssey uses different files to Horizons in %localappdata%\\Frontier Developments\\Elite Dangerous\\Options to save configuration options, such as Audio, Graphics and Custom Key Bindings.
  • Odyssey shares some files with Horizons, such as visited star systems.


Thank you for your feedback and patience as we navigate through the huge transition for Elite Dangerous marked by Odyssey. We hope this follow up has gone some way to clarifying the details raised after the initial announcement. If you have any further queries, please leave them in the replies.

o7

Elite Dangerous: Odyssey Launch - Server Downtime 19 May

Greetings Commanders,

We hope you are as excited as we are for the launch of Odyssey! This expansion marks Elite Dangerous' biggest ever update, and as such we'll be taking the servers offline in preparation for the launch.


[h2]Server Downtime[/h2]

All Elite Dangerous servers on all platforms will be taken offline at 07:00 UTC / 08:00 BST on Wednesday 19 May and will be down for approximately 11 hours, returning 18:00 UTC / 19:00 BST.


We look forward to taking that one giant leap with you all next week!


o7

Horizons / Odyssey Compatibility

Greetings Commanders,


We hope you enjoyed the recent alpha for the PC version of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey

Thank you once again for your feedback and suggestions which will have a lasting impact for all future Commanders. This only marks the beginning for Odyssey. After the game launches on 19 May, we’ll continue tweaking and balancing according to your experiences, just as we have done in the past.

We know there are still a number of questions from the community, and today we’d like to give more information on the shared galaxy between Elite Dangerous: Odyssey and Elite Dangerous: Horizons.


[h2]From PC Launch: [/h2]

All Elite Dangerous: Odyssey players will gain access to the new features, including planetary improvements, enhanced lighting, and textures.

The differences will mean that Elite Dangerous: Horizons players cannot share a gameplay session with those playing Odyssey. However, Odyssey owners will be able to share a session with and play with those in Horizons by launching the game in Horizons mode – though if they do this, they will temporarily not have access to the new Odyssey features.

[h2]
Console Launch Onwards: [/h2]

In line with the console launch, we plan to update Elite Dangerous on all platforms (PC/PlayStation/Xbox) to allow Odyssey and Horizons players to reunite and play together with other users on their respective platform.

All Horizons players will also receive the new graphical updates, including the new planetary tech, lighting, and organics, free of charge, but will not be able to get out on foot or enter Odyssey’s tenuous atmospheres.

If you have any questions please leave them in the equivalent post on our forums, and we will answer them as quickly as we can!

o7