Which of the Elite series is the better one?

After finished Starcon2 I'm itched for even more spaceship action. I really want to replay Space Rangers 2 again but since I can't get Reboot here I want to hold it off till the expansion arrives. So now I want to try the Elite series. Which one would you guys recommend?

The PC version is gimped. Try Elite 2 with dosbox.

Try X3. It looks AWESOME and there's lots of stuff to do. Has a big focus on economics as opposed to running missions, though. The combat is simple enough but more fun than in Elite.
Also, if you're looking for SC2-like 2D with Newtonian physics, you MUST try Escape Velocity Nova. It's simple, combat-oriented and very enjoyable. When I'll have fast internets again I'll upload my game folder with the Polycon plugin already installed and PM it to anyone interested. The plugin is a huge pain in the ass to install under Windows, but it's worth it.

Thanks for the suggestion, (un)fortunately I've played both X3 and EV Nova before though. I got addicted for 3 whole months on X3, built up a very small corporation before I grew tired and dropped it. On the other hand, EV Nova never really grew on me - because the tiny font is just too painful to look at it for a long time...

Elite on ZX Spectrum 48k was my very first one space sim ever (and it was loaded from tape you cd/dvd faggots). So it will be the best one anyway, because of nostalgia.

I'd suggest Elite 2 to go on your list.

While we are on the subject, does anyone remember Starglider?

Fez said:

While we are on the subject, does anyone remember Starglider?

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I do, although I remember it as little more than a 3D arcade shooter. Nonetheless, it was one of the first games I ever played on my Atari ST, and I was young and impressionable, so I was absolutely fascinated by the vector graphics and the rather fluid animations. I also seem to remember that the Starglider was always passing in the opposite direction just above you when you started a level, so by turning around and firing a missile at it, you could score enough points to get you halfway to the next level.

I very vaguely remember that Starglider 2 had a lot more to offer, including an actual main quest distributed over several planets. Lots of quirky weapons, like those bouncing bombs. And Amiga balls that I delighted in blowing to smithereens.

For some reason, Mercenary and its sequel come to mind... maybe because the first one featured Commodore billboards that you could destroy... or maybe simply because the sequel also took place across several planets. What a vast game world! Great for exploration; even the "Author's House" could be found on one of the planets. And wasn't it a multi-linear game? Don't think I ever completed even a single of the paths, but had great fun.

Sniper Elite. Oops, wrong series. Still, check it out.

X3 is pretty badass with a lot of mods. And not Oblivion/Morrowind badass, it actually improves the core game to make it worth playing for more than a month.

Also, Elite 2.

Tell me what mods exactly; I always wanted to buy X3.

Has anyone played Protostar?
What about Hardwar?

Hardwar is well worth checking out. Still has a fairly active community too.

Oh and Vega Strike is worth a look too.

Jasede said:

Tell me what mods exactly; I always wanted to buy X3.

Has anyone played Protostar?
What about Hardwar?

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The invasion ones, certain ones that tweak the economy. New ships and weapons. Ability to take over systems. AI improvement scripts, etc. etc. etc.

Look around the forums for a good few hours and make a list, not difficult to find a lot of them quickly. I've seen people with 100+ scripts running, so... yeah.

FFE has unofficial source ports with improvements and stuff.

The combat in X2 was crap. Any better in X3 (with or without mods)?

Fez said:

The combat in X2 was crap. Any better in X3 (with or without mods)?

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It's still pretty shitty, sorry.

It might as well be a representation for real combat because it's so unrealistic, but even then it's fucked up. Weapon DPS, shield strength, hull mechanics etc. are all badly done. As far as I know it's hard coded, so it cannot be easily fixed. It's the game's biggest problem besides it's terrible sense of scale.

Fez said:

The combat in X2 was crap. Any better in X3 (with or without mods)?

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No. Simply because they can't make the damn physics, so you feel like a super manoeuvrable turret in space. And when you get capital ships - you can forget about all of your troubles.
Though actually after crazy dogfights of Babylon 5 IFH even FS2 combat looks poorly to me.

And also why I don't like X3 is that they didn't make a universe any more interesting - in a Freelancer way. The space there was atmospheric and interesting to explore - you never knew what you may find in that nebula or 300 km from the jumpgate on the edge of the map.
With X3 it is still that trademarked 4-way square of space for a system.
Everything else was nice though. Don't forget to install X-Tended mod.

Shame that they didn't fix the combat. The sense of scale was another issue, but the dismal combat was a particular problem considering its prevalence.

skyway said:

Elite on ZX Spectrum 48k was my very first one space sim ever (and it was loaded from tape you cd/dvd faggots). So it will be the best one anyway, because of nostalgia.

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On a BBC model B. All 32k of it. And a keyboard where 'escape' was next to 'break'. Never did survive in an escape pod... I begged and promised future offspring into slavery in order to get a disk drive so I could play the game without 20 minutes loading between each Thargon (Thargoid?) encounter in hyperspace.

Only ever did make it to Deadly too - spent months on Deadly, shooting every viper which flew near me, until I figured life was too short and I figured out how to make it display 'Elite' and not 'Deadly'.

Great game.

I've reached Deadly, but never actually reached Elite. It really takes time and skills. Even docking with station required skills until you had an ability to install a docking computer - the station was rotating - so you had to adjust your rotation to it manually and only then try to dock - not like in X series. I've crashed so many times until I've mastered docking - and then there were fights with multiple ships which were hard and at the beginning of the game I tried to immediately GTFO to the station when I saw pirates on the horizon so cops could protect me. And now remember refueling from the sun - make a mistake and you are a BBQ. Was a fun game indeed. Ah nostalgia.

I've read on the page of Elite dev Ian Bell that Atari ST version was even more advanced than that - like cops were fighting pirates, pirates attacking trade ships, everyone fighting Thargoids - and all of that was generated randomly. And to think that the game came out in mid 80s when dumb arcades were a norm...

EDIT: First, insulting, part of post now unnecessary.
EDIT 2: No, you're still morons.

Stop being such ignorant fuckwits. Elite 2? Please. Worst space combat ever devised by man.

skyway said:

Elite on ZX Spectrum 48k was my very first one space sim ever (and it was loaded from tape you cd/dvd faggots). So it will be the best one anyway, because of nostalgia.

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And especially you. Christ. Take your shit ports and shove them.

Strictly speaking, the best Elite game is the Archimedes version ('ArcElite'), at least if you're going by reputation alone. I'd have a more concrete opinion, but my attempts at post-Beeb Acorn emulation were abortive at best, so I never got to try out any of the alleged cool features. This, by the way, is the 'Atari ST' version Skyway is talking about.
The best version I have played would be EliteA, a fan enhanced version of the original, BBC, version of the game. It has a fair amount of the stuff that made Frontier good, but with the original 'dogfighting' combat model. I know some people will try and tell you that Newtonian physics are better, but if you don't regard combat as a chore in Frontier, then there's a good chance you're autistic. Get that checked out.
Real men, of course, play the unadulterated Beeb version, As It Should Be Played. I still have the original manual.

In terms of remakes, The New Kind is quite good. It's basically just a port of the original, but with colour graphics and various other things. Docking is no longer fuck hard though. Here's a download link - bear in mind I haven't (and won't) look in the archive that gets downloaded, by the way.
Oolite is quite fun too. I gather it has a number of the features boasted by the Archimedes version, and is highly moddable. The main problem is the programmers are concentrating more on fancy graphics enhancements instead of OPTIMISING THE DAMN CODE. I find it a bit slow on my shit old PC considering what it is, you may have better luck.

Finally, here's the best BBC emulator (may be a bit slow on very old computers) and a site full of games for your perusal (including Elite and EliteA, of course). The Beeb also has the best versions of Exile, (Super) Defender, and Thrust, so look at those too.

Super post.

And many thanks for such links. I suggest this thread be stickied or at least the post copied to one of the relevant stickied threads.

edit: and sold on the arc version:

4) Missionaries

ArcElite only. Harmless weak unarmed ships originally created for target practice by the navy and bought up en masse by a religious sect who fly around dangerous planets spreading the word. Darwin in action.

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Jasede said:

Tell me what mods exactly; I always wanted to buy X3.

Has anyone played Protostar?
What about Hardwar?

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Here's my list. It's the Xtended mod (Only use that if you like the fighting part of X3) and a whole lot of scripts that either reduce / eliminate some annoyances or make the universe appear more alive. Note that this amount of scripts seems to be considered a little on the crazy side. While I have not run into any problems, I definitely recommend a powerfull PC, especially cpu wise.

Advanced Jumpdrive - Script Replace Addon :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.10 :: 11/03/2007
Advanced Jumpdrive :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.50 :: 11/03/2007

This allows you to buy an energy-cell free jumpdrive that also can target specific coordinates in a system. Might be considered kind of a cheat, but by the time you can actually afford this thing, you'll have had your fair share of jumping to some gate just to dock at an e-cell fab to refuel your ship.


Anarkis Carrier Commands :: Anarkis Federation :: Yes :: 1.41 :: 04/11/2006

Adds some highly useful commands to your carrier class ships. Without these, micromanaging the ships can be a pain in the ass.


Assassins Guild :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.60 :: 07/08/2006

Join a guild that will pay you to kill people. Missions assigned via BBS.


Autotrader Sector Lock :: halo :: Yes :: 1.0 :: 30/05/2007

Now your universe-traders won't consider trading in pirate sectors a great idea anymore. Vital script.


BBS Blueprint Offers :: LV :: Yes :: 1.1 :: 17/01/2008

You can buy blueprints at the BBS, which allow you to manufacture ships at your playerHQ.


BBS Extras :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.61 :: 04/12/2006

I think this is just some more fluff


BBS Race Reparations :: eladan :: Yes :: 1.01 :: 14/12/2007

Fucked up your reputation with a race? Now you can bribe your way out of it.


BOF Bank :: BOF :: Yes :: 1 :: 29/12/2007

Allows you to store money in a bank.


Bail Signal Extension :: voxol/xfir01 :: Yes :: 2.1 :: 18/08/2007

Allows you to capture big ships. Bail rates, explode rates, equipment damage etc are fully customizable, so this can be as much of a cheat as you want it to be.


Bounty Boost :: LV :: Yes :: 1.0 :: 03/06/2007

Better bounties. The vanilla ones are just pathetic after some time with the game.


Bounty Hunters Guild :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 2.80 :: 24/07/2007

Be a bounty hunter.


CMODII XTM :: Ulfius :: Yes :: 1.08 :: 07/07/2008

Erm... No idea, actually, might be a cockpit mod or something.


Capitol Ship Crews :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.31 :: 24/01/2007

Your capital ships need crews, which you have to hire, assign, feed and pay. In return, they will slowly repair your ship, tweak the engine and so on.


Cargo Delivery Service :: Klaatu :: Yes :: 1.04 :: 30/06/2006

I think this one lets you purchase wares that are then delivered to you. Fleet maintainance made less tedious, basically.


Crystal Free SPP :: Anarkis Federation :: Yes :: 1.01 :: 04/11/2006

For a set amount of money (5 Million for a medium spp, I think), you can remove ecells from their ressources. Not much of a cheat, imo - you have to pay up and it's how AI fabs work anyways.


ECM System :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.00 :: 10/05/2006

anti-missile system.


Emergency Escape Transporter :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.00 :: 25/07/2007

Big red "ESCAPE" button, basically.


Escort :: LV :: No :: 1.71 :: 13/10/2006

Merchants will call you and ask for an eskort. They pay for that, of course.


Hire UT/ST Pilots (Test Version) :: LV :: Yes :: 1.0alpha :: 05/01/2008

For a premium price, you can hire a pilot (and his ship, if you want). That removes the need to train your UTs manually. For the lazy and wealthy only.


Homebase Commands :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.20 :: 19/06/2006

Something to do with assigning homebases, don't remember really.


Jump To Me Command :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.20 :: 12/08/2006

Simple - you can now tell your ships/fleets to jump to you.


Litcube's Kha'ak/Xenon Invasions :: Litcube :: Yes :: 15 :: 16/09/2007

Does as it says... Kha'ak and Xenon will invade random sectors which then call for help. If you want to you can help the sector and get paied for every ship you destroy. If the race loses the fight, the invaders take over.


Mass-Driver Ammo Generator :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.01 :: 22/07/2006

Allows you to purchase a mass-driver ammo generator.


Mercenaries Guild :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 2.90 :: 13/03/2007

Be a mercenarie


Missile Targetting Software :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.01 :: 15/05/2006

Missiles are more accurate.


Move To Coordinates :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.00 :: 26/09/2006

Similar to "jump to me", this allows you to order a ship or fleet to move to specified coordinates.


Nividium Mines :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.00 :: 28/11/2006

Nividium Mines.


OCS Apollo :: Laureati :: Yes :: 1 :: 21/07/2007

Better combat AI. Works both for and against you.


Overtune BBS :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.50 :: 19/06/2006

Spend shitloads of money so your ship gets faster and handles better.


Passenger Slaves :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.00 :: 08/03/2006

Sell your paying passengers as slaves!


Pirate Base Locator :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.00 :: 25/07/2006

Locate pirate bases...


Player Response Fleets :: LV :: Yes :: 1.0 :: 13/02/2006

You can setup a defense sattelite network. If an enemy is detected by the network, all ships that have a player response drive installed and that are attachted to the network will engage the enemy and afterwards resume whatever they were doing.


Product Finder :: Tomcat :: Yes :: 1.5 :: 02/02/2006

A lifesaver, trust me. Just pick what you want to buy and it lists where you can get it. I can't even imagine the boredom of trying to find all the crap you need when you equip a new ship manually.


Race Invasions :: StarTrekMarc :: Yes :: 1.0.10 :: 07/06/2007

Races invade each other - now there really IS a war.


Race Military :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.10 :: 15/08/2006

Join the military, fly patrols, get payed.


Race Response Fleets Final :: LV :: Yes :: 1.7 :: 03/12/2007

Instead of passively watching all hell breaking lose in it's sectors, the AI now sends the military in. Combined with those invasion scripts, hillarity ensues. If your CPU sucks, crashes or at least massive slowdowns might also ensue.


Racers Guild :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.00 :: 11/08/2006

Be a racer. Win money.


Salvage Claim Software :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.05 :: 29/06/2006

Capture ships without having to fly to them in your spacesuit. Very convenient. And expensive. (I might confusing this with system override MK2)


Salvage Insurance Contract :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.01 :: 25/11/2006

An agent buys your saves for you.


SatelliteDeploy :: Bhruic :: Yes :: 1.12 :: 18/01/2006

Tell ships to deploy satelites for you.


Sector Takeover :: Acrh2, DesertEagle and nirwin :: Yes :: 2.4.3 :: 20/04/2007

Feel like really building your own empire? Well, now you can actually take over whole sectors. Bonus points for trying this with race response fleets enabled.


Sensor Boost Plugin :: Ulfius :: Yes :: 1.00 :: 14/06/2008

Longer sensor ranges.


Shield Batteries and Nanobots :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.10 :: 11/09/2006

Lets you buy thingies that reload your shields or repair your hull. Expensive.


Ship Jamming Device :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.00 :: 09/08/2006

Want to be a pirate but still don't want your reputation killed? This jams a ships communication devices, so they can't tell anyone what you are doing to them. Really expensive and only works under certain conditions (such as... noone being there to see what's going on).


Smugglers Guild :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.33 :: 10/04/2006

Be a smuggler.


Speed Boost 1.06 - XTM :: Ulfius :: Yes :: 1.06 :: 22/06/2008

Every ship in the universe gets faster. I like that.


System Override Software MK2 :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.04 :: 11/05/2006

This should also have something to do with capturing, not sure.


Taxi Drivers Guild :: Cycrow :: No :: 1.10 :: 10/03/2007

Be a space taxi driver!


TerraCorps Fleet Package :: Various - see readme :: Yes :: 1.50 :: 06/07/2007

Er... no idea, sorry. Guess it has something to do with fleets, though Possibly adds some ships for sale that are not in vanilla.


Tractor Beam Merchant :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.10 :: 25/11/2006

Buy a tractor beam from someone who cares more about money than reputation


Treasurehunt Redux :: LV :: Yes :: 1.1 :: 20/03/2007

Erm... go on a Treasurehunt


Turret OnOff Hotkey :: Klyith :: Yes :: 1.0 :: 17/03/2007

Allows you to disable your turrets. Highly useful.


XTM Donations :: DeJuan N. Onley :: Yes :: 0.03 :: 09/01/2008

Bribe people into liking you better. Expensive but worth it - "grinding reputation" is a pain.


Xtended Mod Scripts :: The Xtended Team :: Yes :: 0.7.3 :: 03/09/2007

Scripts for Xtended, doh


fix Trade Commands :: Dr Xavia :: Yes :: X3.1.0 :: 02/04/2007

Makes trade commands work the way they're supposed to, I think.


pirateID :: ttl :: Yes :: 1.0 :: 29/05/2007

You can have your M3 assigned a fake ID at a pirate station. This cover can be blown if you do something stupid, though. Also, you will lose your M3 if and when you want your real ID back.


x0ne Turret Control System (TCS) :: x0ne :: Yes :: 1.02 :: 12/08/2007

smarter turrets. Fucking expensive.



I tried to be as accurate as I could here, but it has been a time since I installed all those scripts. Can't imagine my x3 withouth them anymore, boooooring.

Nividium Mines :: Cycrow :: Yes :: 1.00 :: 28/11/2006

Nividium Mines.

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Let me guess installs a Nvidia 8xxx graphics card in your enemies computer so he can't play Shogun anymore.

Well, actually... Er, nevermind, hope this will still be useful to some of you

Nice list man. That's pretty much every major mod I can think of.

Props for the :effort:.