Frontier: Elite II

aka: FE2
Moby ID: 802
DOS Specs

Description official descriptions

Frontier: Elite II is the sequel to Elite and it continues in much the same way. You have a ship and limited funds, and nowhere to go but out into space. Trade, fight, hunt criminals, work for the various governments, anything goes in Frontier. There are few, if any, limits on what you can do or where you can go. And Frontier's universe (with approx. 100,000,000,000 planets and moons) is so big you'll never see the end of it.

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Credits (DOS version)

18 People

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 87% (based on 35 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.3 out of 5 (based on 80 ratings with 5 reviews)

Fantastic in vision - lacking in dynamics - but it is 10 yrs old

The Good
The whole concept of elite and this sequel have simply never been beaten, EV Overide / Nova on the Mac does a cool but ultimately (and literally) 2 dimensional take on the concept.

And the concept is as other reviews suggest - an infinite world of possibilites with no finite goal just a billion plus systems to explore!

The Bad
well only the obvious - how can you create a real functioning Universe on a 1meg Amiga!

you can only suspend disbelief for a finite time!

now if only the energy that is put into creating modern XBOX or PS2 graphics games were utilised in such away - HALO or Grand Therft Auto are the only two games I've seen that really push the borders of AI - nevermind the latest graphics, plotline and AI is what makes a real game... or perhaps I mean more than a game!

The Bottom Line
I doubt there has ever been a game made with the possibilities of such endless possibilities, worth a look but gaming has moved far in the last 10+ yrs still if your INTO the core of gaming/imagination then this has to be researched!

DOS · by kie kelly (3) · 2003

Easily the best in the Elite series, although a bit buggy at times

The Good
Realistic Newtonian physics (for its time) provide a great and realistic atmosphere, good graphics (again for its time), and further helps improving this unique atmosphere.

I like the idea of seamlessly being able to travel from space to terra firma, with full 3D planetary topography - a feature that has never (to the best of my knowledge) been attempted again in any commercial game since First Encounters (Noctis is probably the closest thing you'll get, where the surfaces are even more detailed - but the transition from space to ground is still not quite as seamless as that in Frontier or FFE).

Exploration in Frontier is simply amazing, although it does get somewhat repetitive over time, combat is a bit frustrating at first, but ends up being one of the many unique features in the game as it evolves (space dog-fighting in Newtonian physics are indeed very hard – proving its not likely to ever happen that way in real-life).

The Bad
There are a few bugs but - thank god - these are far lesser and less critical then in the sequel.
They could have worked more on the sounds and music, and also a tad more at the plot and missions - for not to mention trying to make the universe more dynamic.

AI is quite poor as well - I generally don't mind that, but Frontier really could use a bit refreshing on the computer brain part.

Also, I really wish we were able to actually leave the ship and explore a planet on foot - I mean, seeing all these mountains and lakes and rivers passing by really makes me want to climb out of the cockpit and explore them further. Unfortunately, Frontier doesn’t seem to allow that; a shame really: all these detailed worlds, and so relatively limited ways to really experience them. Oh well, one can't have everything, I guess - and we have to remember Frontier was coded in a time when DOS was full of restrictions.


All of these are mainly just minor rants though, I'm sure I'll remember more after I've submitted this review...

The Bottom Line
Frontier is quite easily one of the very best games in the Elite series - with all its detailed worlds and countless star systems. It has probably not yet been surpassed by any other commercial game (although Alessandro Ghignola’s Noctis appears to be closing in fast to become the successor to Frontier's exploration elements).

Although the initial release was rushed a bit out the door, the few bugs that could hamper the Gameplay has been mostly removed; and only a very few remain.
Although occasionally a bit frustrating, Frontier makes it very clear why the series gained its popularity: although it does have a few lacks and mistakes here and there, Frontier was and remains quite simply a work of art rarely seen in commercial games

Final Score: 8/10

DOS · by Stargazer (99) · 2003

Damn good I'd say

The Good
The best part of frontier has got to be the variety of things you can do. You can be a merchant and travel from system to system buying and selling goods. You can kill other ships for bounty. You can even do missions for the federation or imperial (or both) and get various awards and titles.

There are a whole load of ships you can choose to buy, when you have the money. For some ships you may even need to employ staff to help run your ship.

The controls are easy enough. There are plenty of shortcuts available to save time. The only time I can think that the controls may be dodgy is when you're having a fight. The best way around this is to pause the game then change your view until you see the enemy, lock on to it, then autopilot, then KILL!!

I once read in Amiga Power that there was a shipyard orbitting a VERY distant world, something called the MIRAGE, a ship? A rumour? Who knows?

There are a few ways to cheat in the game:

For example, you can get unlimited cargo space, get unlimited money and even sell items to systems in Civil War at a massive profit.

To get lots of cargo space: 1) Buy at least 1 tonne of rubbish. 2) Leave your current space dock. 3) Hyperspace to somewhere where they don't mind you dumping stuff. 4) Go to the inventory screen, where you can jettison stuff. 5) Click just UNDERNEATH the box with rubbish next to it. 6) The game thinks you are jettisoning stuff, so it gives you 1 cargo space each click!!

Lots of Money: 1) Make sure you have enough cargo space for a passenger cabin. 2) Get someone in it. (Doesn't matter who, Doesn't matter where they want to go) 3) Go to the shipyard. 4) Look at the ship that will give you the most money if you part exchange it. 5) Attempt to part exchange. 6) The computer will not allow you to sell a ship that contains a passenger, but still willingly gives you the money for it. Hoorah.

I can't remember the exact coordinates of this system, but it's called Beinin. (around -13, -5 or -5, -13). It's definately in the -'s somewhere. It's worth a look.

The Bad
The only annoying thing about Frontier is the in-game protection, where if you accidently give the wrong letter a couple of times, the police put you in prison and you lose the game.

Okay, the graphics aren't great, but remember that Frontier was first written for less powerful machines such as the Amiga.

The Bottom Line
The most addictive, enjoyable, exciting game I have ever played. 10 out of 10

DOS · by Tom Fielder (3) · 2000

[ View all 5 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Other games with planetary flight? BurningStickMan (17916) Jun 29, 2013
Free release? MrFlibble (18144) Nov 19, 2012

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Frontier: Elite II appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Development

It took David Braben five years to develop Frontier: Elite II. He started programming it on Commodore 64 but eventually continued the development on Amiga computers instead, as the C64 was not only becoming out of fashion, but had way too many technical limitations for this type of game.

Extras

The PC version had a huge star map and a coupon for a Frontier: Elite II T-shirt.

References

  • The docking sequence for spaceships in this game is a near perfect imitation of the one showed in the movie 2001 - A Space Odyssey. The "medium"-sized space station (that is: the "circle" or "ring") is nearly identical to the 2001-Station. You may also listen to the same music (Blue Danube waltz) while docking. In addition to the docking sequence at the space stations. Some of the planet bases are identical to the Moon base in 2001.
  • The PC version of contains a reference to the then upcoming Transport Tycoon. Some of the advertising hoardings in space ports announced "Coming soon... Chris Sawyer's Transport Game" ! Why the connection? Well, Chris Sawyer did the PC conversion of Frontier: Elite II back in 1992/3.

Thargoids

Contrary to many peoples beliefs and circulating rumours, the Thargoids (the superior alien race from the first Elite game) and their ships do NOT exist in Frontier: Elite II, and it is not possible to get the Thargoid ship.

David Braben didn't exactly help killing this rumour when he claimed that there indeed was a Thargoid ship to be found somewhere in the galaxy. No-one has ever found the ship however, and it is believed that this was just a trick by Braben to keep people playing the game.

Frontier: Elite II has been both hacked and modified since it's release by players, programmers and hackers, and even the game program code lacks any trace of a Thargoid race or ship, so it's pretty safe to say that there simply doesn't exist one.

Version differences

  • The CD-ROM version of this game was totally bogus. They just took the disk version (700kb), decompressed it (to then 900kb) and pressed it on a CD. Nothing else. No intro cinematics, simply NO bonus material whatsoever - just the 900kb .exe file on a whole CD. They even "forgot" to add the contents of the second floppy which included five or so savegames which could help beginners a lot.
  • The PC version featured added texture-mapping on some polygons for enhanced graphical details, something which did not exist in the original Amiga version.

Awards

  • Amiga Joker
    • Issue 02/1995 – #2 Best Genre Mix in 1994 (Readers' Vote)
  • PC Player (Germany)
    • Issue 01/1995 - Least Quantity of Data on a CD-ROM in 1994
  • Power Play
    • Issue 02/1994 – Dumbest Copy Protection in 1993
  • Retro Gamer
    • October 2004 (Issue #9) – #20 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by Brolin Empey, Imajica, phlux, woods01 and xxxxxxxxxxx

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Related Sites +

  • Frontier Astro
    Fanpage with game information, tips and additional materials.
  • Frontier: Elite II
    Frontier: Elite II Frequently Asked Questions (Answers from David Braben)
  • The Elite Club
    Where you can download Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, now released as shareware

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 802
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by faceless.

Amiga added by Richard Firth. Amiga CD32 added by Kabushi. Atari ST added by Martin Smith.

Additional contributors: Cravo, Rebound Boy, Longwalker, Indra was here, Patrick Bregger, Jo ST, FatherJack.

Game added January 27, 2000. Last modified February 12, 2024.