Hi everyone,
 
As I’m sure you can imagine work on the Elite Dangerous: Horizons Planetary Landings release is continuing at pace and this week – one of the major new features is the ability to drive the SRV on the surface. We’ve approached adding the SRV in the same way that we did when originally adding the flight controls into the game. They key here is to have the driving as a fun experience in itself as well as with the gameplay elements layered on top of it. As with the ships we have a robust physics system at the core and it’s with the controls we turn that into a fun experience.
 
The SRV has some cool advantages over normal vehicles you get to drive in game, the most obvious of which are the thrusters. These provide two key features, the first is the ability to boost of the surface allowing for powered jumps to get out of craters or to cross chasms. While in the air you can you can manually adjust the thrusters in the same way as in a ship with Flight Assist turned off. This allows for some amazing acrobatics as well as allowing you to reach locations that would be difficult to reach with normal driving. It’s also useful if you get yourself stuck!
 
As with the rest of the game the surface of the worlds you can land on is recreated on a 1:1 scale, not only spatially but with gravity as well. Gravity has a big effect on the handling of the SRV and here the thrusters provide their second major function. When testing the SRV in different environments there are edge cases with very low gravity and extremely high gravity where the SRV becomes impossible to handle. The thrusters help compensate for these extremes in handling, but only to a limited degree – it feels very different driving on a tiny moon compared to a massive terrestrial planet.
 
As already mentioned making the driving fun in itself is an important goal for us. While the thrusters do add to a large extent (there’s something quite magical with boosting out of a crater and into the sunrise!) the actual contact with the vehicle and the surface provides a lot of feedback. Similar to sand buggies, if you try to push the SRV’s performance then you need to work harder to keep it under control. Feedback is very important here – the ships audio and VFX, along with the handling, create the response you need to let you know what’s going on.
 
The SRV is equipped with a turret optimised for engaging local opponents like skimmers (see last week’s dev update for more information on these) and other SRV’s (if hostile players are in the area). In theory you could take on a ship, but ship mounted weapons are much more powerful than the SRV’s so it’s best not to! You should also beware some of large defensive turrets – these are equipped to tackle low flying ships, but pose a threat to SRV’s as well.
 
Combat is just one feature of the SRV, it’s capable of carrying a small number of cargo canisters and also has a new device for finding things on the surface – more on that in a couple of weeks time!
 
Next week the second batch of player group backed minor factions should go live. Thanks to some brilliant feedback from our players, we’ve made progress with fixing some odd behaviour with influence levels – we hope to address this next week.  
 
Exploration data should be operating smoothly now after some issues since the 1.4 release. If you do encounter a further issue then make sure to raise a bug and we’ll investigate.  
 
We are currently working on a client update for PC/Mac and Xbox One, all being well these will be released next week. As well as various fixes we’re adjusting the NPC interdiction so it isn’t quite as punishing as it is at the moment.
 
Thanks,
 
Michael

How many of the 30 ships are in the game currently? Any news on what the final ones to be announced are?
 
Here’s a list of the ships we’ve announced so far, and as an extra treat we’ve added the names of the five ships coming as part of Elite Dangerous 1.5. Remember, these are just the ship names, and we’ll be revealing loads of exciting details about them in the coming weeks.  
 
1 Sidewinder
2 Eagle
3 Hauler
4 Adder
5 Imperial Eagle
6 Viper
7 Cobra MK III
8 Diamondback Scout
9 Lakon Type 6  
10 Diamondback Explorer
11 Imperial Courier
12 Vulture  
13 Asp Explorer
14 Federal Dropship
15 Lakon Type 7
16 Federal Assault Ship
17 Imperial Clipper
18 Federal Gunship
19 Orca
20 Fer-De-Lance
21 Python
22 Lakon Type 9
23 Anaconda
24 F63 Condor (CQC only)
 
And to come:
 
25 Imperial Short Range Fighter (CQC only)
26 Lakon Keelback  
27 Viper MK IV
28 Asp Scout  
29 Federal Corvette  
30 Imperial Cutter  
31 Cobra MK IV (for owners of Season 1 and Season 2)
 
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What is the minimum spec for Horizons?
 
We don’t have a final minimum spec just yet because we’re still working on the optimization. We’re hopeful it won’t be significantly different from the current game. However it will require a PC that supports Direct X11 as Horizons uses compute shaders.  
 
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What are the technical issues with Oculus, is this a move towards exclusivity for VR platforms?  
 
We now support both Oculus Rift (via the 0.5 SDK) and SteamVR/Vive. Because of some changes to the Oculus SDK, we are working closely with Oculus to support a later SDK, but we cannot use 0.7.
 
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If I reset my commander data, what happens to my friends list?
 
Absolutely nothing, your friends list is tied to your account. If you want to reset back to zero and start with a clean slate then more power to you! Good luck Commander.  
 
==
 
Will there be more decals in the store?
 
There will be more decals coming to the store and we are looking at new and interesting ways to use them in the future with Elite Dangerous, and I think you’ll be excited when you see what we have planned.
 
==
 
When are you going to release paint jobs for the Diamondback Explorer?
 
Paint jobs for the Diamond Explorer, and many of the other ships in the catalogue, will be coming to the Frontier store soon!  
 
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Can we get an update on the Mac version of Horizons?  
 
Unfortunately neither Open GL nor Metal on Mac support Compute Shaders and these are vital for Elite Dangerous: Horizons. We have investigated the issue at length and found that all other options currently simply won’t allow us the performance that a game of this size and detail needs. Once Macs are able to support compute shaders, or other technical options are available, we will certainly be keen on supporting that platform.  
 
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How much cargo will an SRV hold?
 
The Scarab SRV will be able to hold two units of cargo, however on the planet surface there are other things to do and collect which may not require much storage. More information on that… soon.  
 
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Do you think that having the ability to have a ship delivered to a station of my choosing would be possible in the future?
 
This is something on our radar and is something we’re keen to implement in the game as part of a future update, but we have nothing to announce on that at the moment.
 
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Are there any plans to improve the navigation system and add functionality to it?
 
Every aspect of Elite Dangerous will be continually iterated on and improved… The navigation system is no exception.  
 
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Will landing on planets give you more exploration data?
 
Landing on planets will eventually net you more exploration data. This isn’t something that will appear at launch in Elite Dangerous: Horizons though but there are new things to discover on the surface and a new way to find them. More on this coming soon!
 
==
 
If you are in orbital cruise, can you accidentally crash into the planet by entering too steep?
 
If you’re flying straight at the ground and you decide not to pull up as you approach the planet surface, you will most certainly crash!
 
==
 
What's the plan on making your CQC tournament a cool viewing experience?
 
We have something very special planned for the CQC tournament that everybody will be able to get involved in. We’re continuing to develop CQC and spectators are certainly something we are keeping in mind. We’ll have the full details soon, but make sure you get practicing your CQC skills right away!
 
==
 
Is it going to be a possibility of getting the lifetime pass released again?
 
It’s not available at the moment, but the lifetime could return to the Frontier Store again at some point in the future.  
 
==
 
Will skimmers be able to be piloted/controlled by players, or just NPC's?
 
At the launch of Elite Dangerous: Horizons, the Skimmers will be NPC-controlled assailants – challenging and varied opponents to take on as you explore the planet’s surface. We’re looking in to the possibility of making them pilot able as part of a future update but we can’t promise anything at this time.

26 Lakon Keelback

This snake is found in or near freshwater lakes or rivers. It feeds mainly on small fish and water frogs.

We're hosting another stream on Wednesday October 21 at 7PM BST, with a live demo showcasing the handling and controls of the SRV. Tune in to our official YouTube channel at 7PM to watch Designer Mike Evans talk you through the SRV's controls in a live environment.