Elite 4
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This article or section contains information about an unreleased computer or video game. It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically as more information becomes available. |
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Elite 4 is a video game proposed by Frontier Developments, specifically by David Braben. It can also be written as Elite IV.
It will be a sequel to 1984's Elite, that Braben and his former associate, Ian Bell, wrote primarily for the BBC Micro. Two other sequels, Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, were released in the 1990s, during which time Braben and Bell had an acrimonious falling out.
Features promised for Elite 4 include Newtonian gravity, realistic star systems and the ability to land on planets.
Elite 4 is considered by many to be Vaporware, meaning it looks unlikely that it will ever appear. It was first proposed back in 1998, and while many games these days can take several years to complete (for example, Frontier took five-and-a-half-years) there have been no formal previews, screenshots, press releases or progress reports released for Elite 4. A pair of character screenshots, technical background on a real-time animation system, and a brief discussion of its implications for character nuance, were included in an Edge magazine feature on animation circa 2000. Since then, the only details about the game provided by the developers are found in a brief FAQ on Frontier Development's site which does not appear to have been updated since 2001.
In September 2005, play.com had a pre-order form for Elite 4, listed as scheduled for release in September 2006. [1] However, Frontier Developments informed a fansite that play.com's release date was merely speculation on their behalf and that no release date had been formally given. [2] Elite fans have, at least, taken some joy that this incident and Frontier Development's response implies the game is still in serious production.
In November 2006, gamespot.com conducted an interview with David Braben in which the subject of Elite 4 came up. Braben revealed that Elite 4 began and ceased development as an MMORPG in 2000, abandoned due to the immaturity of technology for online play. When asked if the game would ever be released, Braben responded "We will do Elite 4 after Outsider, so it will benefit from everything we've done in Outsider". To give an indication of timescales he estimed the release of The Outsider to be "around the end of 2008 to early 2009".
