For those of us who grew up in the era when computer games were beginning to rise in popularity on our home computers, there won't be many that didn't own or play the space game "Elite".  The wire-frame based game on the BBC micro (and subsequently other platforms) is often noted as the game by which all future space-combat games were benchmarked.  Indeed, at the time, it was revolutionary.  And of course, we all remember the "Blue Danube Waltz" music which was used in the game itself.

The game was the work of Ian Bell and David Braben, and was released in 1984, and eventually was ported from the BBC Micro to such platforms as the Apple II, Amstrad CPC (which is what I played it on), Commodore, Spectrum and PC.  And this was back in the day where there was no internet, so even more astonishing is that it all fitted on to a 3.5" floppy drive using some very clever mathematics to plot out the solar system.

Now fast forward almost 25 years (yes, I know, that long), and Frontier Developments are attempting to write and launch the next generation of the game – Elite: Dangerous.  Of course, things have advanced in 25 years, so this version will feature state of the art graphics, and multiplayer online gaming.

In order to fund the project, Frontier Developments is using the KickStarter Project website to gain enough funding to start the development.  In total, they need to raise £1.25Million pounds to proceed before Friday 4^th January at 7pm EST (midnight GMT).  At the time of writing this blog, they have had £982,802 pledged, leaving £267,198 remaining.  The sad thing is if they don’t hit the £1.25Million target then the project cannot go ahead.  So if you’re a big fan of Elite, or space games in general, then why not pledge some money (anything from £1 upwards).

If you want to know more about this project, and what Elite: Dangerous will be like if the funds are raised, why not head over to the KickStarter website page for Elite where you will find a multitude of information, plus videos and updates from the Frontier Developments team.  I’ve put the links below.

Kickstarter Website for Elite: Dangerous: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1461411552/elite-dangerous

Frontier Developments Elite: Dangerous Website: http://elite.frontier.co.uk/

Elite: Dangerous Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/EliteDangerous

WikiPedia Entry for Elite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_(video_game)