Part 2 – rear top side-pieces and the cross member
The rear left and rear right side pieces were printed next. One of the STL models from Thingiverse was corrupt, so I just mirrored the good model and printed them both.
The cross member which is the bar that goes over the top of the helmet was my first real problem. It was considerably larger than my print area. To resolve this, I used Windows 3D Builder to cut the cross member in half and then printed it in two halves. Once printed, washed & cured, I used resin welding again to join the two halves. I could then assemble the pieces then for the first time.
I have for some time liked the idea of making an Elite: Dangerous Remlok space helmet. One I could wear to LaveCon and go in cosplay.
The early concept art was quite basic, but the helmet in game is a thing of beauty. When I bought a 3D printer a few weeks ago, I started to look for a model I could print.
Low and behold, on Thingiverse, the talented CMDR Antonia [Bradley] had created a model for 3D printing a wearable RemLok on a filament printer. The printer I have is a resin printer which has a smaller print area and works very differently. Filament printers are like an icing syringe on a robot arm, while resin printers pull the model out of a vat of liquid a 5 micron layer at a time.
Part 1 – printing the small bits
Some of the models included a thin sheet; a “base” or raft, for filament printing. Before I could start, I needed to edit the models to remove the base or they wouldn’t be usable in the 3D printer slicer software. I did this using Windows 3D Builder.
First, I printed out the jaw which just fit on the build plate, then the ear muffs and their caps. The results were stellar, but I managed to chip a bit off the jaw getting the print-supports off. Note to self: be more careful!
I had hollowed out the prints, so I needed to seal the drain holes and did this with a light paint of resin and a UV Torch. This is a technique called resin welding.
The third Odyssey developer diary, Frontier released today (below) has revealed a lot of information. Of interest to me is the details about the player weaponry and the surrounding lore.
Three weapon classes from three manufacturers
Who are they? The three manufacturers are Kinematic Armaments, Manticore and Takeda.
Kinematic Armaments have been seen previously in Elite Concept Art, but this will be their first representation in game. They will produce kinetic weapons, such as traditional bullet firing rifles and pistols as well as rocket launchers.
Click on photos for larger image
Manticore are currently known as the manufacturer of the limpets, but their weapon making roles will be the plasma weapon class.
Finally a new name to the game is Takeda, who are manufacturing the laser weapons class. Their logo is distinctly visible on the new laser weapons in both this and previous dev diary videos.
With the weapons, much like the ships, each manufacturer has a distinct look and feel to their products. A glance can tell you which gun came from which manufacturer. I see a few weapon blueprints in my future next year!
Sounds good
Frontier took themselves to Pinewood studios to record sound effects for the new Odyssey weapons. They recorded the same weapons in a variety of environments, so that when playing Odyssey the weapon sounds will change based on the CMDRs location.
Odyssey Engineers
As with ship engineers, Odyssey will come with engineers who can modify, tweak & upgrade weapons and suits. There are different suit types, each with a unique add-on tool, such as a plasma-cutter. These support different roles, so players will need to swap suits for each occasion, switching back to the old vanilla flight-suit when back in the safety of their ship.
Combat
Conflict can take place anywhere; bases, planet surfaces and even stations, however the security level of the location will mean there would be dire consequences for starting a shootout in the wrong place. Mission-giving areas and social interaction locations are the exception.
In Frontier's end-of-year stream, Odyssey lead designer Gareth Hughes, spoke about combat being on foot, SRV and ship in the same conflict zone. He also mentioned there would be assassination missions.
Today's lunchtime doodle is for all you truckers out there!
Today's lunchtime doodle was the coriolis station. Inspired by a t-shirt design I saw, I did an Elite Dangerous riff and ended up with this.
Lunchtime I was doodling - I've always loved mashups, so I drew a mashup of Elite and the NASA logo (referred to as the meatball) to create an Elite Dangerous meatball; EliteBall? Anyway this might make an amusing patch for the next LaveCon.
From 27 October Elite Dangerous: Horizons will be available for all Elite Dangerous owners as part of the base game.
Everyone who purchased Horizons prior to 27 October will be receiving an exclusive Azure ship paint job compatible with ALL ships currently in the game as a thank you.
Frontier have posted on the forums (here) the following announcement:
Greetings Commanders,
We are happy to announce that Elite Dangerous: Horizons will become a free update for the base game on the 27 October 2020 for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox users.
After the fold down, anyone who owns Elite Dangerous will get access to Horizons content and features free of charge, and all future purchases of Elite Dangerous will include this content.
As a huge thank you to everyone who has purchased Elite Dangerous: Horizons over the past four years you will be receiving an exclusive Azure ship paint job compatible with ALL ships currently in the game.
Elite Dangerous: Horizons brings planetary landings to the Elite Dangerous galaxy, together with weapon crafting, ship-launched fighters and exhilarating multicrew co-op action. This premium expansion also allows players to put wheels on the ground and explore the galaxy up-close with the SRV Scarab ground vehicle, and access to many surface star ports and other locations
Elite Dangerous: Horizons will remain on sale on all platforms until 26 October to allow players a last chance to obtain the exclusive Horizon owner reward.
o7 Commanders
The first developer diary video is out for Elite: Dangerous Odyssey and it's fascinating.
Topics covered include ship scale from a on-foot perspective, the new bio-sample tool, the sound of the commanders breathing inside the pressure suit, bio-diversity of organic life on planets, ice worlds with cryo-volcanism and the new look and enhanced detail of planet surfaces.
This is just the first video in a series.
The Odyssey expansion for Elite: Dangerous is due for release in early 2021.
Back in 2017 I listed a number of my own ideas for Elite that could be added to the game. In the article I published a line drawing for an Surface Reconnaissance Vehicle (SRV) concept, the "Cicada".
Since the existing SRV was named the Scarab, I was continuing the beetle naming convention. The concept was for a larger, but still modular ship-deployed ground vehicle, purpose-made for surface drilling. Enabling players to drill for oil & gas deposits. Fast forward to this week and CMDR DMC_Rules has published an amazing concept art of the Cicada on Reddit.
The result looks amazing, bringing the concept to life.
Maybe this might be something Frontier could go on to develop? Here's hoping!
Frontier have made an announcement surrounding Fleet Carriers
Greetings Commanders,
We're thrilled to announce that the first look at the upcoming Fleet Carrier update will be coming to your screens on Thursday, 2 April! Lead Server Developer, Dav Stott, and Game Designer, Luke Betterton, will join us on a special video to talk us through what these vast vessels are and how they'll be shaking up the galaxy!
Since the initial reveal of Fleet Carriers, we've examined the concept of predefined load-outs and decided to invest additional time to ensure that fleet carriers offer the same level of flexibility and customisation as other ships within Elite Dangerous. We've done this by adding more load-out options to make your carrier unique, and allow for player-to-player interaction like you've never seen before in Elite Dangerous!
Squirming in your cockpit chair wanting to know more details? Here is some key information on Fleet Carriers - but for the entire content reveal, tune in to our Pre-Recorded Stream on YouTube, on 2 April at 18:00 (UTC). Although we won't be live, our team will be there in the chat to answer any questions that you may have.
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One of your most frequent questions about Fleet Carriers was: How much do they cost? Fleet Carriers will be a lucrative investment, costing 5,000,000,000cr at launch.
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Fleet Carriers are individually owned and feature 16 landing pads (of varying sizes) for other players to dock at.
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Fleet Carriers use a new fuel, Tritium, to jump from system to system.
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Fleet Carriers have a max jump range of 500LY at one time, with the ability to jump whenever the owner wants, however, they will have a build up and cool down period between jumps.
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You can manage your carrier's finances by setting tariffs and adjusting the buying and selling prices for commodities traded in it's market.
As it currently stands, we're aiming to launch the Fleet Carriers update in June and will be calling all commanders to experience Fleet Carriers (as both visitors and owners) in two upcoming public betas before the update is live! The first beta will begin on 7 April for PC only, and the second beta which will be launched on PC, Xbox and PlayStation, will take place in May. Please note that there is a chance that these time frames may change slightly in the coming weeks, but we'll keep you up to date on the specific times, dates and instructions.
See you there, Commanders.