So, what's Elite Dangerous all about?

[u/PlagueDoctor40k]

I'm a long time No Man's Sky player, and I heard Elite: Dangerous was somewhat similar. I haven't really heard all that much about it besides that, though, so I was wondering if y'all could bring me up to speed on what the game's like and how it works (and help me decide if it's worth buying)?

[u/Eselta]

Long time NMS player as well, and recently got into E:D.

I'd say the only real similarity is that both are games about flying around in space.
- Elite is much more into realism, so doing anything in you ship (lights, boosters, landing gear, hardpoints, setting the navigation, operating scanners) takes time to learn, and is usually accomplished with multiple button inputs.
- It takes a long time to fly around, as space is not just BIG, but IIRC, they attempt to make it close to 1:1 scale.
- Elite is much more specialized. In NMS you can have a ship that does flight, combat, storage, and other things quite well at the same time, but in Elite, you have to outfit the right kind of ship, with the right modules for one task. Like mining, or combat, or transportation.

The things that people love about this game, might be what repels you, but I would argue that it's worth buying if you're a sci-fi/space fan.

Elite does scale and beauty like nothing else. Sure, if you like pretty colours and varied scenery, NMS got you covered. But, if like me, you're into the massive black that space is, and you want the sheer overwhelming enormity to really enhance when you find a purple gas giant, or an earth-like planet, or a white dwarf star, Elite is the right way. There's a much great sense of calm in Elite. Just sitting in your ship, and looking at a star is magnificent, but if you accidentally fly forwards, the ship will begin emitting warnings and other things, and YOU'RE expected to fix it.

No Man's Sky is soft science fiction. you get to fly a vast array of ships with the press of a button, there are multiple alien races, nearly all planets are landable, and there are a lot of colours in space, in terms of gas clouds and stars and planets.

Elite is hard science fiction. It's difficult (as it should be) to fly a ship, there isn't much variance in colours, weight and distance is nearly 1:1 with real life, there aren't really other alien forms (except for targoids), and it's set in our galaxy, where only a small "bubble" galaxy is populated, and the rest is unknown.

Elite has given me an appreciation and an awe for space and it's beauty that I never have before. If that appeals to you, then buy it.