EDIT EDIT EDIT: I got the internet working well enough to play the game. I startedin some small system that has a few small stations. Most of the missions that I am able to accept seem to be out of the range of how far my ship can travel. What should I do to make some money so I can upgrade my ship so I can travel to other systems?

EDIT EDIT: I bought Elite dangerous and the constant internet requirement makes the game unplayable. Can anyone recommend a game as good as this(modern) that doesn't require a constant internet connection?

EDIT: I guess the question is should I get the base game or not cause I'm not really looking for a full priced game right now just sweet holiday deals.

Im looking at steam right now and the base game is on sale for $15 while horizons is $60. If I did get the base game how do you upgrade later on? Anyway $15 dollars seems like a good deal while I don't think I am willing to spend $60 on any game at the moment. Should I get this now and see how I like it or just wait. I feel like I should play a space game on PC sooner rather than later cause once No Man's Sky comes out I feel like that is gonna be my jam.

I'm from the UK so apologies for not converting the prices exactly. At the moment to upgrade from the Base game (£10) to Horizons is the same price as buying Horizons for a new player (£40). The only difference being for a limited time they are giving a £10 discount on Horizons, but only if you purchase through the Frontier store.

One thing to note is Horizons represents the next year of expansions - just like all the updates between launch and this December were included in the price of the Base game, next year you will get all updates free I'd you have Horizons. So you can always purchase the expansion later and get all that content that comes out over the next year.

I think you can safely wait on Horizons. That expansion is not even finished yet - they are rolling it out over the course of the next year as a "season" of content, and the developer hasn't even come out and said exactly what is going to be included. $15 is a great price for Elite as long as you don't mind doing a lot of outside reading and finding your own fun.

Okay I think I'm gonna do the base game. Seems like a pretty good deal to dip my toes into elite and see how I like it. Also this is the first game I'm buying since building my new PC.

Side bar: is a Xbox One wireless controller for windows 10 worth the price. or should I just go the cheap route and get a USB Bluetooth dongle for my PS4 controller I already have? (Yeah I already know the answer, I'm a cheap ass gamer so I should go the cheap way)

@devil240z: I don't have either one of those, I still use an Xbox 360 pad.

I recommend you look up some E:D guides for beginners and do a bit of reading or watching YouTube videos if you feel like it. There is a lot to learn in this game, but if you take the time to figure it all out and are the type of person that can make their own fun, it is very rewarding once it all starts coming together. The good news is that the basic controls aren't too complicated, this isn't anything close to a flight sim so you can get away without using a HOTAS. Even though I have one, I played Elite with a mouse and keyboard and did very well with it. I had to remap things so mouse was yaw and pitch and A/D were bound to roll, but everyone has their personal preferences. Thankfully every key and function can be remapped if you want. If you are using a controller you will most likely end up using the keyboard for supplemental stuff, too.

Also, pretty early on it might be a good idea to start thinking about what you want to do in Elite. Trading, bounty hunting, pirating other players, whatever. Once you have something in mind, you should pick out a ship or two that you want and then formulate a plan to start working towards buying it. That should give you a goal to work towards instead of just flying aimlessly around space. You start off as a new pilot with a Sidewinder, but I think one of the best all-around ships as well as one of the least expensive is the Cobra. That thing can fit into almost any role, and I think it is especially good as a pirate vessel if you're interested in that. There are also faction specific ships, some of which are pretty awesome but they can be a grind to get to. If you like one of them, it might be a good idea to start on your faction rank early.

@mike: What does it take to be a smuggler of illicit goods?

@mike: Oh man... bounty hunting in Elite sounds like a ton of fun.

Well i never got into elite but really wanted to, i basically spent 15hours learning to fly then played for an hour and crashed trying to park and stopped playing lol. That said, I would wait on it all honestly as horizons will undoubtedly drop in price at some point.

@devil240z: Balls of steel. Getting my ship shot up by the space police always made me tense in Elite.

Oh shit is it not possible to play this game offline. My wifi sucks and I keep getting booted to the main menu.

Poop I don't think I can actually play this if a constant internet connection is required.

Well this is a huge bummer.

Yeah i believe it has an online economy so it stays online even in single player mode. I remember they made a big deal about taking out the offline mode when it was released, there was an article on giantbomb if you look up the game info I think.

I don't know what to do now. I cant actually play this game. I really wanted to play something on my new PC!

UGH! I cant play for more than 2 min without getting booted. I cant even get through the pre flight check before I get kicked to the main menu.

are there any games as good as this that don't require an internet connection?

@devil240z: Will No Man's Sky require a constant internet connection with how it works? I think I remember them saying it will update whenever you do get an online connection.

@hypnotoadbrwowrowrow: I seem to remember them saying it wont. but either way thats on PS4 and my PS4 has no problem staying connected but my PC is shit on this WIFI. I'm just looking for something to play to fill the space sim sized hole in my heart until NMS comes out.

I'm on a temporary setup until I move into my new apartment but I have to live like this for another month or so. Then its all hardwired no wifi BS!

Rebel Galaxy is a good alternative for a fun space ship ride around. Not a hardcore as Elite but still a good blast. I did find it a bit easy.

Out on PS4 and Xbox1 in the new year.

Evochron Mercenary is pretty neat. I don't remember what the internet requirements were, so do some research before purchasing.

X3 Reunion or X3 Terran Conflict

The X games, of which the first three are available on GOG work DRM free offline. There's also Evochron Mercenary, Jumpdrive and Pioneer, but they're indie projects and have nowhere near the visual fidelity or polish that Elite does. X3: Terran Conflict and now when it's been patched up, X4/Rebirth would be the closest you'd find.

Evochron Mercenary has optional multiplayer, but can be fully played offline, so if you can stand the kinda PS2 era graphics, it's got pretty much all Elite: Dangerous does on the gameplay front, including planetary landings.

You can see the Evochron quick look here:

Freelancer, it's old school but have fond memories of it.

I would recommend the latest X3 but it is quite dated now. I haven't tried Starpoint Gemini 2 but it is well reviewed on GOG.

@thesquarepear: I don't think Star point Gemini 2 will suffice. It terms of systems and difficulty it's between X3 and Dark Star 1. But it's very close to how Free Lancer Played do that's a plus but I don't think it's what OP is looking for.

get freelancer, and look up "discovery freelancer" mod, you will have hours upon hours of stuff to do. its fun.

Oolite?

When I first played it, the game was practically a remake of the Amiga/ST version of the original Elite. It seems to have been given a fresh lick of paint recently but I've not played it in quite a while.

It's free.

You'd probably have cheaper time fixing your wifi. Powerline adapter?

Though, seriously, the better of the space sims that have come out prior to Elite is X3: Terran Conflict (I have yet to play Albion Prelude, so I have no idea what differences there are). The market systems in that game is super deep and cool, with lots of customization options. I'd also suggest steering away from X: Rebirth, in case you stumble towards it. As much as I wish it was, it is not a good game.

@driadon: I wish I could fix the wifi. but there just isnt anything I can do about it. I actually have a powerline adapter but no access to power plugs to dedicate to it.

@driadon: After you reminded me of the powerline adapters that I already have I decided to give them a shot. It didn't seem like it was gonna work. They didn't seem to be pairing and my computer had no connection. Then I decided to try updating the drivers for my motherboards network adapter and bam it started working. WIRED INTERNET!

Gonna try to play Elite Dangerous now and see how it goes.

@devil240z: It's been a while since I've really played, but even if the destination is out of range, you theoretically should be able to just stop at various stations along the way to your goal to refuel, so long as the next system isn't physically out of range. Like, Station 1 needs you to go to Station 5, and there are 4 systems between the two. You can go to the first system along the path, refuel, maybe pick up more missions, and continue to the next system.

If you can, hit all the training missions and/or watch the videos. It took me a few hours of watching/reading/testing stuff before I started getting the hang of it. And at the starting stage, it's not that big of a deal if you die, you'll just get another Sidewinder and can try again. Heck, the start is probably the best time to screw around and see what you can do, as you really don't have anything to lose.

@capum15: I mean they're physically out of range.

@devil240z: Awesome to hear! Yeah, they can work wonders.

As for what to do: there should be systems well within range of your starting system, and maybe a job or two that should be within reach. If not, check the map and see what's within jumping distance. If you want to make sure you have gas money, stock up on some cheap commodities that are sought after in those neighboring systems (if any). What dictates you max jump speed is a mix of your current mass to the current power of your jump drive. Your best bet is to do some quick easy missions first (or light bounty hunting of NPCs) to get going.

@driadon: yeah there are ones in range but I might find an easy looking job I can accept and it will be just out of my range. I've been wandering from station to station looking for work. Not sure how to know if a commodity is a good investment. I just got killed by an npc I think but it was probably a good thing cause I was almost broke from fuel costs and I got a loitering fine in my first 5 min of playing cause I couldn't remember the controls.

@devil240z: Ahh, hmm. Well if there are any systems in range, you could try hopping to one and see if it has different missions. Alternatively, you can try to find a Resource Extraction Site or something around those lines, for a bit of combat against AI and whatnot. Get used to the combat and try and get some bounties. I never really went into combat though, just trading a bit and exploring.

Though if you die, I think you should respawn with a fully fueled Sidewinder so you can hop to another system (if close enough). As a last resort, you can try a new profile and see if it spawns you in a better area.

Sorry if it's not that helpful, I'm a bit rusty and have only really just got back into it a couple days ago.

Edit: Looks like you took care of the fuel thing already, haha.

Edit 2: If you do start getting some money, a Fuel Scoop is a fantastic investment. It takes some getting used to (kinda unnerving the first few times), but free fuel from the local star is great.

@capum15: yeah that's basically what I'm doing. Though I don't really want to do much fighting but I probably should do some just so I can be able to defend myself later.

@devil240z: Yeah, I wasn't much of a fighter so I went more the trading route, but early combat can be a good way to get money at first (and later when you get big ships with big guns). I still need to do a bit more to get to my personal goal of an Exploration equipped Adder as two of the things needed cost a crazy (for me, anyway) amount of money.

X3 and Tachyon: The Fringe are great. Tachyon is a singleplayer narrative space game that is a whole lot of fun. X3 is possibly the most dense game I have ever played next to Eve and Dwarf Fortress.

Tachyon for the fast pace and great gameplay. X3 is more depth at the cost of 'fun' fast paced action. I find X3 to be a bit sluggish for my taste but still rewarding.

Also, not enough people played Tachyon.... It has Bruce Campbell voicing the main character.

@rickyyo: I really dig X3. Never played Reunion, but Terran Conflict and Albion Prelude were fun. Not as 'fun' to fly as in Elite but still good.

For something way more arcadey, Rebel Galaxy is kind of awesome.

This thread is a journey unto itself.

yup.

I'm locking this thread. The way the OP has been edited over time to discuss several entirely different questions makes the discussion a confusing mess to follow.

There are already multiple threads discussing how to get started in the game such as these:

http://www.giantbomb.com/elite-dangerous/3030-40419/forums/having-trouble-making-money-1787831/#11

http://www.giantbomb.com/elite-dangerous/3030-40419/forums/help-with-goals-1775038/#2