Hello Commander,



Welcome to Elite: Dangerous Newsletter #36! This week we take a peek at the science behind the Stellar Forge, the incredible Elite: Dangerous system that generates 400 billion star systems from first principles.



We've been busy meeting with members of the European games press at GamesCom in Cologne - and we've left behind 3 presents in the city to be found! More about that later...



And we have exciting announcements about upcoming Elite: Dangerous presence at Insomnia 52 and the Eurogamer Expo.



Don’t forget, if you have pre-ordered the finished game but are tempted to start playing sooner, there is an upgrade path which will cost you an addition £15. Interested? Just go to the store put the Beta in your basket and the correct discount will be applied when you checkout. Table of Contents (click subject to jump forward):

Newsletter Peek of the Week

Stellar Forge

GamesCom

Elite: Dangerous at Insomnia 52 and Eurogamer Expo

Comms Chatter

GalNet News

Newsletter Peek of the Week Back to Contents Stellar Forge One of the things seen in the Elite: Dangerous Beta 1 is significantly more star systems. Many of these have planetary systems around them, formed at much the same time as the star(s) in the system, or captured during the lifetime of those systems.



In Elite: Dangerous, when we are generating a system procedurally, each planetary system is formed from first principles. Bodies are gradually aggregated over a very long simulated time from available matter, taking into account its chemical composition. Depending on the angular momentum, this might begin to form into a single central body, or into multiple co-orbiting bodies.



As the gases collapse together under the force of gravity, matter tends to orbit these bodies in protoplanetary discs, which in turn further coalesces into smaller bodies within those discs. Tidal forces, orbital resonances and gradual accretion of mass gradually change their orbits, causing collisions, collapse and close encounters – which in turn means bodies might capture each other or fling each other into new orbits or out of the system altogether.



At some point the stars in the system ignite one by one, and the resultant stellar winds gradually drive off the lighter non-gravitationally bound gases. Over its lifetime (different for different systems) close and not so close encounters with other stellar systems may remove outer planets and capture others, and the outer halo of comets and other bodies may pass through the other system, not just causing destruction, but also depositing lighter elements and compounds (like ice/water) on the bodies in the inner system that may have been lost during the heat of their formative years, making water-based life there possible.



The above processes are all modelled from first principles for almost all of our 400 billion star systems by an Elite: Dangerous system called Stellar Forge. Stellar Forge in action - 17 Draconis There are some interesting outcomes from Stellar Forge that are ‘backed up’ by astronomical observations – for example binary planets. During the process of the system forming, both catastrophic collisions (as in the case of Earth) and very close encounters can result in bodies in very similar orbits capturing each other into a wonderful co-orbiting waltz.



We see the early stage of this in the Solar system with the moons of Saturn, Epimetheus and Janus which share an orbit – swapping positions whenever they have a close encounter – but this is not stable in the very long term, particularly not in a gaseous disc where the gases are continually absorbing energy. In such a gaseous disc while planets are still forming and the corresponding slowing of the orbits, this is likely to end up with the bodies eventually co-orbiting each other in an ever less elongated orbit.



Pluto and Charon are another example of an asymmetric binary planet (or dwarf planet as I think we should say these days), likely arising as a result of a close encounter or collision of an unknown body with Neptune, but then the pair eventually ending up orbiting each other, picking up other debris from the collision over time.



We have seen pairs of gas giants in Stellar Forge, co-orbiting each other, each with its own stable moons. When standing on one of those moons you will see both gas giants looming large in the sky.



Even pairs of earth-like planets are possible. In fact if one had life, then it is most likely both would, as meteorite impacts on one would tend to catapult debris to the other and spread the life across.



Bodies can orbit each other very closely indeed. They can even touch – forming a strange dual body with a ‘figure of eight’ or hourglass shape – something predicted by a mathematician called Roche. We see this with stars too – an example of this is the contact binary i Boötis BC – already seen in the Elite: Dangerous Premium Beta. Back to Contents Gamescom 2014



We have been in a business area, tucked away from the sight of the huge crowds that turn up here every year. We are hiding ourselves away because we wanted to be able to give our full attention to introducing Elite: Dangerous to the European media.



Over the last few days we have had over 150 appointments with different media outlets, ranging from national newspapers to YouTubers. The response has been phenomenal – even though we are in a private area we have had one Game Of The Show award from the Italian site We have been busy this week in the lovely city of Köln in Germany, which plays host to the Gamescom consumer games show.We have been in a business area, tucked away from the sight of the huge crowds that turn up here every year. We are hiding ourselves away because we wanted to be able to give our full attention to introducing Elite: Dangerous to the European media.Over the last few days we have had over 150 appointments with different media outlets, ranging from national newspapers to YouTubers. The response has been phenomenal – even though we are in a private area we have had one Game Of The Show award from the Italian site www.mmorpgitalia.it and, at the time of writing, been nominated for another from the Games Machine in Italy. We are, once again, indebted to our fantastic community ambassadors, Reinhard Auer from Germany, who is one of the global moderators and John Virgo, who have been representing you incredibly, impressing everyone they meet with their enthusiasm, knowledge and hard work (and Piloting skills!) – Thank you guys and also to Eddie Symons, Producer on Elite: Dangerous! John Virgo, or as we know him Commander Kerrash, joined David Braben in an IGN livestream playing Elite: Dangerous, which was broadcast live on Twitch and now available to watch.

Finally - there’s a great tradition here in Köln of lovers symbolising their feelings for each other by fixing a padlock to one of the city’s bridges over the Rhine. This inspired us to leave 3 free Elite: Dangerous beta keys in amongst the padlocks on the bridge. This is obviously a first come, first served opportunity – good luck finding them and remember to let us know when you have found them and send us pictures to community@frontier.co.uk!



To use the keys, simply register an account with the Elite: Dangerous online store and then enter the one-off code on the USB drive to start playing Elite: Dangerous Beta 1 today. Back to Contents Elite: Dangerous at Insomnia 52 and Eurogamer Expo Being at such a large event as Gamescom and receiving such a great response has whetted our appetite for bringing Elite: Dangerous to the public.



Elite: Dangerous will be at Multiplay’s Insomnia 52 gaming festival next weekend at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, England, where we’ll be showing the game to all the amazing YouTubers and livestreamers who are making guest appearances at the event.



We are also delighted to announce that we will have a stand at the Eurogamer Expo in London, England on 24th – 28th September to give the public the first chance to get hands on with Elite: Dangerous!



We can’t wait to meet everyone there! Please do come along and say hello – please note that tickets are starting to sell out. We’ll give more details about what we are going to be up to at Eurogamer Expo over the coming weeks. Back to Contents Comms Chatter

We love these images of lego models from "Scornshell"

Back to Contents Community Events



> Web-site > Buy tickets FantastiCon is this weekend! It will feature Elite: Dangerous on the Oculus Rift, book signings by the glamorous Allen Stroud, Drew Wagar and Kate Russell, interviews with official Elite: Dangerous writers and Frontier staff, and a chance to meet many of the Commanders who you have blown up in the game. It is being held in Hull on Saturday 16th August, and includes free soft drinks, cake, and a 24 hour bar. Back to Contents Galnet News GalNet News Transmission 15th August 3300

All information ©3300 Elite Pilots Federation. Copyright violation is a crime in all jurisdictions.



:: Elite Pilots Federation Alert::

Rumours of potential supply-side restrictions are starting to reach us. Well-placed sources indicate that galactic macro-economic factors may soon start to affect the recent stable trading market, forcing members to look beyond the familiar routes, or to new activities, for continued profit.

We will of course issue a high priority info-alert should as soon as we uncover any more solid information.



::GalNet Trade Aggregation Service Reports::

:: Market Information::



Ship Sales (by market share)

The ship market is surging ahead now as pilots earn more credits.

Zorgon Peterson’s Hauler has become the market darling, shrugging off recent troubles – the new ZP marketing team is really shining with the Hauler holding on to the number 1 spot with 29.2% market share.

Falcon deLacy held on to second place with a 16.6% market share for their Cobra Mk III, their Viper gradually increasing share to 13.7% of the overall market and their high-end Anaconda really gaining traction with nouveau riche pilots on 3.4% market share.

The Core Dynamics Eagle fell away slightly with 13% market share.

Lakon’s versatile Type 6 trader weighed in with a solid 16.6% market share, and the Type 9 showed signs of positive momentum on 5.1%.



Most Profit Made From:

Gold

Terrain Enrichment Systems

Resonating Separators

Consumer Technology



Most profitable black market goods:

Battle Weapons

Tobacco

Personal Weapons

Coltan

Palladium



Most goods bought and sold (By cargo units):

Fish

Terrain Enrichment Systems

Resonating Separators

Gold

Advanced Catalysers

Consumer Technology



Top 5 Largest Importers, by Quantity of Good Traded:

Aulin: Aulin Enterprise

Asellus Primus: Beagle 2 Landing

i Boötis: Chango Dock

LHS 3262: Louis de Lacaille Prospect

Dahan: Dahan Gateway



Top Exports, Ranked by Quantity:

i Boötis: Chango Dock: Fish

Aulin: Aulin Enterprise: Terrain Enrichment Systems

Asellus Primus: Beagle2 Landing: Resonating Separators

Aulin: Aulin Enterprise: Agricultural Medicines

Asellus Primus: Beagle2 Landing: Advanced Catalysers



Trade Tips & Hidden Gems:

Markets currently trading with good profits:

Pi-fang: Brooks Estate

Nang Ta-khian: Hay Point

h Draconis: Brislington

LHS 417: Gernhardt Camp

Naraka: Novitski Oasis

Tilian: Maunder's Hope

The stalemate between the Federation and the Eranin Defence forces continues, with an almost equal number of Combat Bonds being issued by both sides to Commanders willing to aid in the struggle for dominance in the area.

But the Federation security forces continue to issue the highest number of bounties for infractions, with the Independant Systems of Eranin and Aganippe giving the next highest contribution towards law and order.



::News Alert!::

A recent "Wanted Dead or Alive" bulletin from the Galactic Security services noted that two Commanders continue to evade the System Authorities with accumulated bounties of over 100,000 credits each.



They were last seen flying a Faulcon deLacy Cobra Mk III and a Lakon Type 6, so if you encounter them, please exercise extreme caution and remember to keep your engine boost systems fully repaired.



:: And finally::



Fish

Fish continue to be the poster child of the recent benign market conditions, with over 3,120,000 cargo units bought in the past week. Perhaps dwindling stocks due to over-fishing may be a contributory factor to the rumoured forthcoming general supply squeeze?



Detailed market information feeds are available via an upgraded subscription to GalNet services.



Sports Results, Entertainment News and Celebrity Gossip are available via an upgraded subscription.



This GalNet News Transmission is sponsored in part by the Bank of Zaonce. Trust the Bank of Zaonce with your hard-earned credits. Back to Contents That’s it for newsletter #36 - thank you for reading and supporting the development of Elite: Dangerous.



If you are new to the newsletters you can read all our previous newsletters here .



As always if there is anything in particular that you’d like to hear more about, or ask a question, then please contact us at elite-newsletter@frontier.co.uk.



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