This article or section contains information about an unreleased video game. The content may change substantially as more information becomes available. Please do not add speculation to this article, and remember to cite a published source for details.

Elite 4 is a video game proposed by Frontier Developments, specifically by David Braben. It can also be written as Elite IV. It has been in development hell since 2001,^{[citation needed]} and as of 2007, no concrete development news or release dates have been released.

It will be a sequel to 1984's Elite, that Braben and his former associate, Ian Bell, wrote primarily for the BBC Micro. Two other sequels, Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, were released in the 1990s, during which time Braben and Bell had an acrimonious falling out. The title Elite IV has officially been called a working title only, and that an official name would be given to it later.^{[citation needed]}

Features promised for Elite 4 include Newtonian gravity, realistic star systems and the ability to land on planets.

Elite 4 is considered by many to be Vaporware^[1], meaning it looks unlikely that it will ever appear. It was first proposed back in 1998, and while many games these days can take several years to complete (for example, Frontier took five-and-a-half-years) there have been no formal previews, screenshots, press releases or progress reports released for Elite 4. A pair of character screenshots, technical background on a real-time animation system, and a brief discussion of its implications for character nuance, were included in an Edge magazine feature on animation circa 2000. Since then, the only details about the game provided by the developers are found in a brief FAQ on Frontier Development's site which does not appear to have been updated since 2001.

Industry speculation

In September 2005, play.com had a pre-order form for Elite 4, listed as scheduled for release in September 2006. ^[2] However, Frontier Developments informed a fansite that play.com's release date was merely speculation on their behalf and that no release date had been formally given.^[3] Elite fans have, at least, taken some joy that this incident and Frontier Development's response implies the game is still in serious production. The play.com webpage was then updated with a release date of March 30 2007, and the game description updated to include the words (single player edition). The date is updated often as the game is not available for release.

Development

In November 2006, GameSpot conducted an interview with David Braben in which the subject of Elite 4 came up. Braben revealed that Elite 4 began and ceased development as an MMORPG in 2000, abandoned due to the immaturity of technology for online play. When asked if the game would ever be released, Braben responded "We will do Elite 4 after Outsider, so it will benefit from everything we've done in Outsider".^[4]

In August 2007, Game Theory Show put out a podcast in which they had a telephone interview with David Braben.^[5] In the interview Braben indicated once more that Elite 4 will go ahead after his studio's current development, The Outsider. In an interview with Computer and Video Games in September 2007, Braben revealed that Frontier Developments is currently working on new technologies required to deliver the game, and has been for two years.^[6]

External links

• Official forums for Elite 4
• Elite 4 FAQ from David Braben
• Elite 4 forum and news site
• Elite 4 screenshots (from 2001) at CVG
• Elive IV pre-order page at play.com

References

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