On Elite Dangerous, 6,500 Players Will Explore The Milky Way For Three Months And You Can Join Them

If the catalog of space simulations has expanded in recent years, Elite Dangerous remains one of the undisputed darlings of space-simmerseven if a certain Star Citizen tries (unsuccessfully for the moment) to outsmart him. For anyone who dreams of touching the immensity of the void of our cosmos, it is the absolute reference in the matter, more realistic and less dreamlike than a certain No Man’s Sky. Indeed, it is the only game at the moment which can boast of simulate our entire galaxythe Milky Way, on a scale of 1:1.

Launched in 2014, the title has lost none of its splendor and has been considerably enriched, even if many players have, rightly, pointed out the omnipresence of grinding and microtransactions. The community nonetheless remains very active and the studio that developed it, Frontier Developments, has just kicked off, on January 18, Distant Worlds 3 (DW3). A titanic expedition of 6,500 players set off on a 90-day journeyduring which they will cross the more remote sectors of the galaxy for science and exploration. Fasten your seat belts and join them if you feel like it, the expeditions DW are rare, since the last one dates back to 2019.

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Elite Dangerous : the galaxy is calling you

DW3 is an ultra-organized peaceful war machine, led by passionate players. If we are far from the absolute record of Distant Worlds 2 and its 14,000 pilots, this new vintage favors the depth of experience over simple strength in numbers. Where previous editions could sometimes resemble a frantic race towards the galactic center, DW3 will impose a slower pace focused on the roleplay.

On the program: seismological geology projects, strategic mining campaigns in hostile environments, precision cartographic surveys and biomedical research missions. We are therefore very far from the little interstellar health walk !

We remember that at the end of DW2the players had succeeded the feat of building an entire space station, Explorer’s Anchoragein the immediate vicinity of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. Gauthier Verquerre, executive producer of the game, does not hide his admiration for the enthusiasm of the community: “ We’re extremely excited to see Commanders from around the world embarking on Distant Worlds 3. It’s a player-driven activity of phenomenal scale, celebrating the incredible Elite Dangerous community that remains as active and passionate about the franchise as ever. “, he explains.

Why you should join the armada?

If you have never dared to step through the door of a cockpit Cobra MkIII or a Anacondait’s now or never. The game can be very steep to learn and its tutorials are quite stingy, but YouTube is full of explanations and the game wiki is a gold mine of information.

You can also count on the kindness of the community, which will provide you with valuable advice if you are a beginner. Celebrating its twelve years this year, the game can be bought for a pittance and is regularly the subject of promotions on Steam, and you won’t need a war machine to run it.

The expedition is scheduled to last three months, and the good news is that it’s not too late to catch up with the fleet. The trip is divided into stages, allowing latecomers to catch upjoin the bulk of the fleet during the regrouping phases.

If you are tempted by the trip, you will first need to go to this page (distantworlds3.space), which is the central shipping hub. Almost 8,000 players are already registered (the number is only growing), and to join them, click on the button Register top right. You will then need to enter your Commander name (CMDR), your platform and the ship you plan to use. To communicate with others, the best way is to use Fleetcom’s Discord, where weekly meeting points are given.

If you hit the gas today, know that you are only two days behind the main group and that several carriers go back and forth or follow a slower pace to allow latecomers to board. You can consult their schedules on this site, do not hesitate to board one of them before they get too far from the starting point. Be careful though, it is not necessarily ideal to embark directly on an expedition on Elite Dangerous if you are a beginner, itis a complex game, with a very slow progression curve. On the other hand, if you like to learn “ the hard way », the adventure will give you a thrill that few other games or Hollywood blockbusters can match!