Elite Dangerous (2014), the popular (and VR supported) sci-fi space-faring simulator, this week saw the launch of the Elite Dangerous: Beyond – Chapter 4 update, the final chapter of the game’s third season of DLC.

Update (December 12, 2018): Elite Dangerous: Beyond – Chapter 4 is available now, and bringing new features along with some minor VR fixes. The full patch change notes are available here, and the article below has been updated to reflect the public release of the update.

Elite Dangerous: Beyond first landed early this year with Chapter One, which directly followed the Thargoids assault on humanity’s starports, the space-faring alien baddies first introduced back in September 2017 with the Horizons update. Beyond then saw two smaller rapid-fire chapter releases this summer, Chapters Two and Three, which included new ship types, weapons, and a number of system improvements.

Chapter 4, available now, is the “largest Elite Dangerous update of the year,” according to developer Frontier Developments, and includes a host of new features that aim to make the game’s expansive universe more detailed and offer more for players to do.

The beta for Chapter Four will be available to all PC Elite Dangerous and Elite Dangerous: Horizons players on October 30th. The beta will roll out in stages, first coming to PC platforms (Rift and Vive included) and then at a later date to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The PC beta is planned to extend over a four-week period.

Frontier Developments lays out a few key updates in an official post:

Exploration [read more]

The Analysis Mode with the improved Exploration Discovery Scanner and Detailed Discovery Scanner, is a game-changing, brand new way for all Commanders to explore the Milky Way galaxy. After the initial scan of the system, you will then be able to tune your scanners to find stellar bodies and other phenomena. Not only is this new system a more realistic, satisfying and engaging exploration experience, but now you will be able to make more informed decisions on where to look next, and you will be more rewarded for your time spent exploring. Commanders will now have probes at their disposal to map the planetary surfaces, and planetary rings, in detail, to locate points of interest and leave your mark on the galaxy in a different way.

Mining [read more]

Asteroid belts and planetary rings are about to get very busy. New tools and mechanics will provide a fresh, exciting and lucrative mining experience for all Elite Dangerous Commanders. Using new exploration mechanics, miners can investigate rings to locate the best spots to start their mining sessions, and then the best specific asteroids to probe and excavate for rewards. With the right amount of skill and expertise, the new Abrasion blaster, Sub-surface displacement missile, and Seismic charge launcher, will provide some exciting and explosive results.

Squadrons [read more]

Squadrons is a new in-game way of uniting like-minded Commanders to support factions of their choice and compete for top spots in seasonal leader boards. New communication tools, including in-game chat channels, will help you blaze trails together, and leave your Squadron’s mark on the galaxy.

More [read more]

There’s a number of additional improvements coming to Elite Dangerous, including visual improvements, background simulation updates, and [two new ships, the Krait Phantom and Mamba] and cockpit interface changes.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Grey Lock

    Looking forward to it!

  • Raphael

    Will be interesting to see what 4th chapter EP1 brings. ED with Hotas, HCS voice pack and Voice attack is fun… also body vibration of course. It’s a game u can leave for months and when you come back there will be new content and features. Like SC it’s a very long term project.

    One of my ships has bright red lasers.

    I have Jazz, Tom Baker, Celeste and Mars voice packs.

    • Greylock3491

      Tom Baker FTW!

      • Raphael

        Yup, he hasn’t said much so far. Seems quite grumpy.

        • Greylock3491

          :-(

  • Tailgun

    This game (along with a heavily-modded Skyrim) is the reason I finally just took the plunge to get an Alienware R7 with a GTX 1080 ti and an Oculus Rift to make the move up from my PSVR.

    • Greylock3491

      Love playing Elite in my Rift!

      • Luke

        This is an amazing game with VR. I still feel my stomach pull when I make my sharp turns. There is no motion sickness, but the same feeling my brain tells my stomach it should be feeling.

    • Andrew McEvoy

      I like your style.

    • Pablo C

      Try X:Rebirth too. Great space games.

  • HomeAudio

    This game is AMAZING! One of the main reason to have CV1 and HOTAS.

    • Greylock3491

      Which hotas do you have – I have a T Flight but didn’t take to it

      • HomeAudio

        Logitech G Saitek X52 Pro

        • Greylock3491

          thanks!

      • antonio mora

        T flight is good enough for ED.

        DCS on the other hand…

        • Greylock3491

          Not enough buttons for me, looking at the T16000m

  • Luke

    I need hand tracking support please

    • Greylock3491

      That would be very cool

  • Adrian Meredith

    Disappointing they haven’t managed to finish the improvements to planets is one area that could make exploration genuinely interesting add opposed to the same brown moon over and over again

    • Greylock3491

      Might be misunderstanding you, but did you know Chapter 1 in February changed the color of planets – they’re not all brown anymore…

  • superdonkey

    the galaxy, slowly spinning in infinity, still moves faster than frontiers feature releases

    • Greylock3491

      I have to say I feel the same way, but I do like the small features they have added over the years

    • Andrew McEvoy

      The Milky Way spins with an average speed of 515,800 mph where we are anyway, but point still stands ;)

  • Greylock3491

    Elite is awesome is VR, and Beyond Chapter Four adds a lot of polish to an already great game.

  • CHRIS

    I payed for a vr system and this game keeps giving back for the small amount of money I gave them for. I ripped them off! I feel like I need a second copy.

  • AlanWake

    Elite Dangerous is the main reason I bought Oculus Rift.

  • JesuSaveSouls

    It’s the game that put high output vr on the map.

  • Engineer_92

    This is the reason why I jumped into VR. Fingers crossed that they will add a virtual keyboard for chat. Chatting with non VR layers who dont use voice can be a bit frustrating. Otherwise, I am excited for the future of elite!

  • antonio mora

    Server issues… Oh well, back to DCS.

  • Greylock3491

    Don’t look now, but the Commander Deluxe Edition is only $15 on Steam (until Dec. 20th, 2018) GREAT VALUE!

  • sntxrrr

    After 4 years this game is still the main reason I put on my HMD

  • Raphael

    i seem to have ED boredom. Last two times I spent over an hour and achieved precisely nothing. Flying around on a barren moon at night. I feel I could be having more of a challenge and fun on DCS world for example. Time spent on ED consists mostly of jumping between systems. I played the recent Star Citizen free week and it’s really starting to leave ED behind now. Both games are far from finished but SC now has a lot of the coding infrastructure in place so the development will speedup.

    • jj

      I couldn’t agree more. its gorgeous it is pretty fun learning how to master your ship but in the end it becomes repetitive. My favorite thing is to use ovrdrop and bring a window into my pc in my cockpit where ill pull up netflix, but even then thats like me trying to do leisurely gaming but then knda being restricted cause im stuck in the headset. So yeah if a game is going to take 100% of your attention then it needs to keep you occupied, and 20 minute hop sessions get boring really fast when all u have is the inside of your cockpit to look at.

      • Raphael

        I have to buy OVRdrop. ED is getting more complex with the range of modules u can fit as well. My ship’s shields have been OFF for months now and I have no idea why. They don’t recharge anymore. No damage. I stripped-back any energy consuming modules and still no shields.

        I like what I’ve seen of the new mining gameplay but it’s hard for me to get back into the game now.

        I loaded up DCS 2.5 a while back and tried out one of the missions… flying low to enemy base. More excitement than I’ve ever had in ED.

        I will still check on the development from time to time but with F14 module coming to DCS I feel that’s gonna be more fun.

        What do u think of the Sword and Sorcery?

        • jj

          yeah right probably not worth it but occasionally i use ovrdrop for other things too.
          and of course voice attack but yeah its just tons of setup and getting back into it is too big of a task for me as well.
          looks like i have to try DCS 2.5!

          And sword and sorcery was fun to try but even for me, who was very interested in their physics, I didn’t think it was worth 20$. I’m really hoping they develop it more and then it really will be worth value but yeah as of now its a fun physics demo where the fun didn’t even last too long. Ill keep an eye on it since i already spent the money but i dont expect much

          • Raphael

            It’s always a lottery whether or not a game continues to develop. Hover Junkers looked like it wasn’t gonna get anymore development and then they dropped a new single player campaign. I tried it a few weeks ago and I’m still in shock… It’s the most bizarre game I’ve played. The multiplayer mode it launched with isn’t bad but this single player addition is the most bizarre attempt at making a game I’ve ever experienced. You’re on a floating ship going in a straight line over sand dunes. Your ship only ever travels in a straight line and you have text adventure popup dialog. It’s so bad I have wiped the game.

            Sword and Sorcery I will keep watching. I like the updates In-Death has received. Was playing that a lot recently.

            I was on DCS last night. A cat launch of F18 on carrier deck. I have purchased quite a few of the aircraft modules over the years. I buy direct from Eagle Dynamics because they give you discount credits you can amass. Don’t use the Steam version… no bonus credits.

    • Pablo C

      Is SC VR capable?

      • Raphael

        No VR return yet. That will come later. I won’t be buying SC until it does.

  • david vincent

    Wake me up when all planets are explorable…