Welcome to RAMJB's Elite Dangerous Academy.
Let me first introduce myself. I'm a 37 year old Spaniard whose main hobby and interests have always been related to science, aircraft, space, and history. For years those interests have brought me into many games, both computer based and board games, especially those related with simulation.
My first contact with the Elite series happened back in the mid 80s. My sisters had a summer trip to the UK and they bought me an Amstrad CPC game which, they said, everyone was talking about in Great Britain. It was called "Elite". Funny as it is I don't think the game was still released in Spain, but at any rate I spent hundreds of hours playing it, and to this day I can say it was probably one of the biggest influences in my childhood that got me interested into space at all.
Later on, in the early 90s I also played Frontier and Frontier: First Encounters. Space flight with Newtonian phisics and a whole galaxy as a playground. One can't ask for more, if he happens to like phisics -which I do-, simulations -which I also do-, and science fiction -guess what? I also do-. Those games I've played so much I don't even know how many hours it might be. Both in their initial release and in the much latter improved and fixed versions available in internet.
It isn't hard to guess that with such a past, I am also in love with Elite: Dangerous. The sandbox gameplay, the endless places to visit, the whole galaxy as a playground are back, with top class graphics and sound on top, and, of course, multiplayer. It just ticks all my boxes.
Still, such a game with so many features, places to go, activities and professions to be part of, etc, is also by force complicated. And given the massive scale of the galaxy and the many options given to the player, it might even be daunting for the newcomer - if not dowright scary. For that reason, Elite: Dangerous is a game that could do with a lot of guides and tutorials. And that's where I want to help with this blog.
I plan to include several guides here covering many different aspects of gameplay but, for starters, we'll be reviewing the ships in the game. One by one. In detail and in depth. There are, of course, others who have done ship reviews in the past, but from my point of view they are too based in the (to a point superficial) numbers and stats, and not enough in doing a proper actual description of the ships. If you just purchased a Viper you don't want to hear that it's not as good as a Vulture...you want to know how to do best in the ship you own. And that's what I want to adress with my ship reviews.
As such don't expect to see tables of speeds per PIP in engines, nor chronometer tests on pitching or yawing. No. that's not what this guides are going to be about. Knowing your Clipper does 420m/s with 4 pips to engine and boost is very nice but it's a very shallow approach to a proper ship guide. Here you'll find a comprehensive description of each ship listed, with their relative strenghts and weaknesses, how well (or bad) they perform in different roles, lists of different efficient builds possible for different roles, tips on how to fly them and what to expect from them.
Of course that's only the initial stage. As time goes by I'll make guides and tutorials about power management, outfitting, descriptions and tips for the different professions, and a long etcetera. There are so many things in this game, I'll always have something to write a guide about ;).
This Blog is one of the tools I'm using to achieve that goal, the others being my YouTube channel and my Facebook group. So be welcome to this Academy, be sure to check those out as well, and enjoy your stay.
All the best:
Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ramjb
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/ramjb.warthunder
