Elite: Dangerous dev diary shows multiplayer gameplay as Kickstarter pushes past £500k mark

Frontier Developments has released a new video that shows off multiplayer combat in Elite: Dangerous.

The game's first developer diary was published over the weekend. It shows Frontier boss and Elite co-creator David Braben flying a spaceship, dodging enemy fire from a colleague. Braben narrates the video, going into detail on the multiplayer portion of the space trading simulator.

The video comes at Elite: Dangerous' Kickstarter drive pushed past the half a million pounds raised mark. At the time of publication £585,633 was raised from 12,697 backers. There are 39 days left to hit the £1.25 million target.

Meanwhile, Braben announced the new Writer's Pack pledge level, awarded for giving £4500. This gives you the right to write one piece of fiction set in the Elite: Dangerous world and release it commercially without paying Frontier further royalties.

Frontier will cooperate to allow the system name, commander name, planet name, planet description and space station names to be positioned and used in a way to support the fiction within the game. The Cambridge-based studio will also help publicise the work at the time of release of the game.

Brilliantly, someone has launched a Kickstarter of their own to raise the £4500 needed to secure the Writer's Pack pledge. Drew Wagar, from Kingsnorth, has already raised £2500 and plans to write a book called Elite: Reclamation.

“I can write, I can edit, I know folks who can proof-read. I'm a published author, I know what it takes to get a book to market; the rigorous plotting, characterisation, dialogue fine-tuning, scene setting, pace and narrative drive," he said.

“I'm a sci-fi buff; Azimov, Clarke, Heinlein, Pohl, Wells. You name it, I've read it. I've seen all the films; laughed, cried, stared and muttered crossly at the unresolved plot-holes. I hate plot-holes; don't come to the cinema with me. I've seen every episode of every sci-fi series going.”