Today Frontier Developments has launched its third major expansion for its Elite Dangerous: Horizons title (version 2.2), called The Guardians, as well as updating the core Elite Dangerous videogame (version 1.7).
The Guardians adds a massive roster of new features and improvements, introducing ship-launched fighters and passenger gameplay, alongside changing the dynamics of combat, trading and exploration in Elite Dangerous.
Players now have the opportunity to install a fighter launch bay in their larger ships, selecting from three different fighter craft to gain an edge over their attackers. They’ll also have the ability to hire NPC crewmates to pilot their ship while flying into combat from the cockpit of their heavily-armed fighter.
While the new passenger gameplay element introduces individuals and groups of NPCs seeking passage aboard Commanders’ ships. So now players can adopt a new career path, piloting the new Beluga passenger vessel or retrofit their existing craft to transport politicians, VIPs and prisoners across the galaxy for legal and illegal ends.
The actual changelog of updates for Elite Dangerous is huge with the studio enhancing many of the videogames features. This also includes the virtual reality (VR) support, as the title is available on both HTC Vive and Oculus Rift head-mounted displays. These VR specific updates can be seen below:
– Updated to LibOVR 1.4
– Added new (and improved!) VR graphics presets as faster cards can handle the bump.
– VR Low (unchanged from current VR Low)
– VR Medium (is currently ‘VR High’)
– VR High (Mid preset with x1.25 supersampling) VR Ultra (High with medium shadows and medium Terrain Sampler)
– Added backgrounds to textual elements on menu and option screens. Greatly improves readability in VR
– Draw the Mouse Control UI as far away as we draw other gunsights in VR
– Cannot see Tail Ship kits on Vulture in Outfitting due to camera angle in VR fixed
– Cannot see Spoiler/Wing Shipkits in Outfitting on Asp due to camera angle in VR fixed
– Fix the missing text on the wall in the VAR Main Menu hangar if you look behind you
– Fix for mouse cursor size when HMD is present
– Memory optimisations for Oculus
– Only show VR tutorial in challenges list if VR is supported on this platform
Checkout the trailer for a quicker rundown of the latest features, and keep reading VRFocus for all the latest updates to Elite Dangerous.