Frontier: First Encounters

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Frontier: First Encounters
Cover art for Frontier: First Encounters
Cover art for Frontier: First Encounters
Developer(s) Gametek
Publisher(s) Gametek, Konami
Platform(s) MS-DOS, with jjffe it can be played on Linux and Windows
Release date 1995
Genre(s) Space trading and combat simulator
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) ESRB: Not Rated (NR)
USK: 12+
Input methods Mouse, Keyboard

Frontier: First Encounters is a video game released in 1995. It is the sequel to Frontier: Elite II (1993), which itself is a sequel to the seminal 1984 game Elite. The game was created by David Braben’s company, Frontier Developments. Many fans of the game refer to it by the shortened title of FFE.

Contents

[edit] History

Screenshot from PC version of Frontier: First Encounters (Elite 3)
Screenshot from PC version of Frontier: First Encounters (Elite 3)

Due to a conflict between Braben and the game’s publishers Gametek, the game was shipped early, and as a result was riddled with bugs, such as an auto pilot that crashed. Although it sold well many reviewers were quite contemptuous of the game, seeing it as only half-finished. A patch was eventually released that addressed the vast majority of the bugs, rendering the game at last fully playable and into a “finished”, and some would argue only-then-releaseable, form.

Its early release caused a lawsuit between Braben and Gametek, which was eventually settled out of court in 1999.[1]

Like the other two Elite games, it has been re-released as shareware and can be freely downloaded from the Elite Club site.

Being a DOS game, First Encounters has difficulty running with Windows XP or Windows 2000 machines, although the official site does offer solutions to get the game running[2]. A recreated game engine called JJFFE allows playing the game on DOS, Linux and Windows, and offers numerous enhancements and even more bug fixes.

[edit] Gameplay

First Encounters plays much like its immediate predecessor Frontier: the game is a combination of trading, fighting and a variety of other activities—spying, bombing and a variety of other military activities; the combat ratings were also carried over from the previous games. Like Frontier, First Encounters features realistic Newtonian physics and the ability to land on planets. It has graphics that are an improvement over Frontier (the main differences being Gouraud shading and more extensive use of texture mapping) and, as well as employing the same open-ended gameplay of its predecessors, it also features a storyline concerning an alien race called the Thargoids.

Combat Ratings In First Encounters
Rating Kills Required
Harmless 0
Mostly Harmless 4
Poor 8
Below Average 16
Average 32
Above Average 64
Competent 128
Dangerous 1,000
Deadly 3,000
ELITE 6,000

In addition to these now-established tenets of the Elite series, FFE added a new element—journals that report on happenings within the known universe. These were introduced to increase the player’s sense of immersion within the game-world, and to that end the player can even be mentioned within the journals under certain circumstances.

More important than the addition of journals is the introduction of hand-coded missions that added a storyline to further increase the player’s sense of immersion within the Elite universe. Unlike the various military missions which are randomly generated, these were specifically programmed by Frontier Developments and take the player through a linear (but nonetheless interesting) series of events that starts with the “Wiccan Ware Race” and culminates in “Thargoid Missions” trilogy. Some of these missions can only be completed under specific circumstances, or with specific combat ratings. These missions take place between 3250 (the start-date of the game) and approximately 3255.

Also unique to First Encounters is the ability to earn special ships that are not available to buy. These ships are given as rewards for completing missions; the ships are the Turner-class Argent’s Quest, the Stowmaster-class fighter (which comes with the Argent’s Quest, equipped as the escape pod) and the Thargoid Warship, given to you by the Thargoids at the completion of the “Thargoid Missions”.

[edit] Press responses to First Encounters

“ Now the game features texture-mapped ships and cityscapes, space stations and docking bays have been re-rendered to provide an extra-realism. Planets are real with texture-mapped mountains, deserts, moors and polar ice caps with oceans and bays. No planet has ever been so real in a previous existing game! ”
“ The user interface has been redesigned too with the ship’s cabin completely rendered in 3D Studio, and maps, bulletins, inventories are displayed on a head-up screen in front of the player. ”

PC Gamer.[3]

[edit] System requirements (PC version)

  • 386 DX-33 (a 486 processor is recommended)
  • 4MB of RAM
  • 5MB hard-disk space
  • 500KB free base memory
  • MS-DOS 5.0 or higher
  • Standard VGA graphics
  • CD version requires CD-ROM drive

[edit] Future development of the Elite franchise

Another sequel, under the working title of Elite 4, was proposed in 1998, and development was slated to start in January 2000[4] though nothing has yet been seen of the game.

A FAQ created January 28, 2003, exists on the Frontier Developments page that refers to Elite 4, though it is out-of-date.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Lawsuit settled out of court". www.frontier.co.uk.
  2. ^ "Frontier support". www.frontier.co.uk.
  3. ^ "PC Gamer review". PC Gamer (February 1995).
  4. ^ "Future development". www.frontier.co.uk.

[edit] External links