History VideoGame / Elite

* UpdatedReRelease: Elite Plus for PC, with added features and improved graphics. Coded by Chris Sawyer of ''TransportTycoon'' and ''VideoGame/RollerCoasterTycoon'' fame.

Elite is a famous, popular (it eventually sold one copy of the BBC Micro version for every BBC Micro in the world at the time[[note]]which is remarkable, considering that a large percentage of these devices were owned by ''schools'' and, in theory, were only supposed to run educational or edutainment software[[/note]]) and historically significant [[SimulationGame game]], one of the earliest in the WideOpenSandbox genre. It was written by David Braben and Ian Bell, and first released in 1984 for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. In the game you start on Lave Station with 100 credits and a lightly armed trading ship, a Cobra Mark III. From here you seek fame, fortune and money via one of the many, many, different options open to you. You can:

* SpaceColdWar: in Frontier and FFE, between TheFederation and TheEmpire.

** With ''Elite II'' and ''First Encounters'', this even extends to one of the widest sandboxes ever. You could even travel to the other side of the galaxy, asserting that you have a) a fuel scoop (no civilization equals no gas stations), b) good flying skills (considering that you have to sling around gas giants in order to scoop fuel and ocassionally fight off pirates), c) MUCH luck (you should hope that neither your drive nor other ship components break down) and d) even more time to traverse those 20k light years.

It has been cited as inspiration for ''VideoGame/EveOnline'', ''VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}'', ''Jumpgate'', ''VideoGame/InfinityTheQuestForEarth'', ''VideoGame/WingCommander: Privateer'', ''VideoGame/NoMansSky'', the ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity'' series, open-source game ''VideoGame/VegaStrike'' (which got an "Elite Strike" mod, but its development currently seems to be frozen), and the ''Videogame/{{X}}-Universe'' series of space combat and trading games. There is now also a free, open-source remake, ''VideoGame/{{Oolite}}'' (so named because it uses object-oriented programming), which has a fairly dedicated [[GameMod modding]] community.

* UpdatedReRelease: Elite Plus for PC, with added features and improved graphics. Coded by Chris Sawyer of ''TransportTycoon'' and ''RollerCoasterTycoon'' fame.

* FanRemake: ''{{Oolite}}''.

* PressStartToGameOver: Elite was a very complex game for its time with unheard intrincated features and a steep learning curve even after studying the manual (in an era where five stock lines in the back cover of the game where the norm)

* AutoSave: ''Dangerous'' automatically saves when you leave hypercruise and when you land at stations.

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Because of the series' Newtonian physics, if you're used to the mechanics of ShootEmUps or later space sim games, you're in for a VERY rude awakening.

''Frontier: Elite II'' and ''Frontier: First Encounters'' are later PC sequels by David Braben alone (the original authors having had a serious falling-out), with textured 3D graphics. Sadly, while ''First Encounters'' has good Newtonian physics (it was even possible to place a ship into proper orbit), it was an ObviousBeta. Various indie developers have hacked and modified the code to make it playable on modern systems, even going so far as to port the graphics engine to OpenGL. One ambitious project, [=FFE-D3D=], aims to rewrite the entire game with greatly improved graphics. The fourth game in the series, ''Elite: Dangerous'', was released for Windows on 16 December 2014, featuring an online persistent universe with multiplayer elements, with a Mac OSX port and other updates slated for the near future.

''Frontier: Elite II'' and ''Frontier: First Encounters'' are later PC sequels by David Braben alone (the original authors having had a serious falling-out), with textured 3D graphics. Sadly, while ''First Encounters'' has good Newtonian physics (it was even possible to place a ship into proper orbit), it was an ObviousBeta. Various indie developers have hacked and modified the code to make it playable on modern systems, even going so far as to port the graphics engine to OpenGL. One ambitious project, [=FFE-D3D=], aims to rewrite the entire game with greatly improved graphics.

It has been cited as inspiration for VideoGame/EveOnline, VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}, Jumpgate, InfinityTheQuestForEarth, VideoGame/WingCommander: Privateer, the EscapeVelocity series and the ''Videogame/{{X}}-Universe'' series of space combat and trading games, open-source VideoGame/{{Vegastrike}} (it got "Elite Strike" mod, but its development currently seems to be frozen). There is now also a free, open-source remake, Videogame/{{Oolite}} (so named because it uses object-oriented programming), which has a fairly dedicated [[GameMod modding]] community.

The fourth game in the series, ''Elite: Dangerous'', was released for Windows on 16 December 2014, featuring an online persistent universe with multiplayer elements, with a Mac OSX port and other updates slated for the near future.

* ArtificialStupidity: The AI in ''Dangerous'' isn't terrible competent at avoiding collisions. The changelog for update 1.1 includes some amusing bugfixes, like "Stopped AI miners from mining empty space"

* AbsentAliens: There are no intelligent aliens in ''Dangerous''

* UpdatedReRelease: Elite Plus for PC, with added features and improved graphics. Coded by Chris Sawyer of ''TransportTycoon'' and ''RollerCoasterTycoon'' fame
* {{Vaporware}}: [[SavedFromDevelopmentHell Up until its release as]] ''[[SavedFromDevelopmentHell Elite: Dangerous]]'', ''Elite IV'' had been a classic poster child of this trope [[DevelopmentHell for years]].

* VaporWare: ''Elite IV'' has been a classic poster child of this trope [[DevelopmentHell for years]].

* CasualInterstellarTravel