After a few hints last week about the upcoming content and potential return of GalNet, the latest Frontier stream unveils multiple changes coming to Elite effective immediately…

If you missed the stream, you can check it out below, and if you don’t have time and just want to catch-up on the upcoming parts, here’s a very handy TLDW list composed by a reddiut user sunmoonstar:

  • Galnet is back with more frequent posts than before
  • The story they are telling is already written - with a clear start, middle, and end
  • They have a narrative that runs to 2022 (said they feel like DMs in a massive universe)
  • Community Goals are coming back next week
  • Rewards for CGs - some might be decals and paint jobs; some will be in game; some may affect a price for a certain thing... or "even grander than that." at 40min mark says something about permits being rewards – possibly - but not going to say what for or where
  • These articles and events might pick up on old story lines
  • Some GN articles will be just news but others will be tied to occurrences in game
  • They have a dev team dedicated to these events
  • They also said, every detail about the burning stations is intentional and there are things for the community to piece together (probably alluding to the Thargoid residue)
  • Seasonal events are coming (not sure if this is new or not?) they said something "spooky" is coming for October
  • The new planetary tech is being applied to all landable planets new and old
  • Atmospheres will not be breathable
  • All suits will be available to all CMDRs - There are a number of suits that will be available and some will have specific functions for specific activities
  • Next dev diary has been filmed, they are finishing the editing. It will show a station interior!
  • The Diary should give a good idea of what they are aiming for
  • New ships in Odyssey is yet to be confirmed - not ready to announce anything
  • They keep referencing "things to be discovered" and mentioned not knowing how much they will have to release - information wise - before it’s all pieced together. (could things already be in game to find?)
  • Reiterated they do not want GalNet articles to send you on a fruitless chase
  • This is just the start of a very big piece of work everyone at FDev has been working on

Official Frontier forum comment

To reflect back on this stream, community manager Paul Crowther made another post on the official forums commenting GalNet news and community goals stating that the new story arc will be influenced by player decisions once again. In addition – more answers followed regarding some of the frequent questions asked about the upcoming payed expansion.

Greetings Commanders!

As you will have seen from the events today (and heard if you tuned into our livestream) GalNet and wider narrative content is being reintroduced to Elite Dangerous.

While this has been away for a little while, the community and development teams have been constantly reviewing the feedback that’s been shared by you. We all understand the importance of this content to the community and we appreciate your incredible patience while we've been putting necessary focus on Odyssey. To ensure that focus continues, we have assembled a dedicated new team to ensure that content like CG’s, bonus weekends and of course GalNet, are back in the game.

It is with great pleasure that today we share with you a glimpse of our plans, some of which you will already have seen roll into action today.

Today's GalNet article is the first piece of a new multi-arc narrative set to extend beyond the launch of Odyssey into 2022. Featuring new plot threads and some returning favourites from the past, this galactic story will be shaped by you, our players, to ensure that it reflects the living game of Elite Dangerous.

If you're wondering what that means, you can expect:

  • GalNet
  • Community Goals
  • Bonus and seasonal events
  • An ongoing multi-arc narrative extending beyond the launch of Odyssey into 2022
  • Opportunities to reshape corporations and markets
  • AND... the potential to change the diplomatic landscape of the galaxy as we know it...
  • There will be twists and turns, excitement, opportunities to make your mark and of course, bountiful rewards.

We’re excited to continue rolling this out and we can’t wait to see how you get involved.

In addition to the announcements for in game content we’d also like to take the opportunity today to answer some of your questions on The Road to Odyssey dev diaries series. The Road to Odyssey is a multipart series which will examine a number of different aspects of the experience with episodes set to tackle further locations, missions, combat and more over the coming months.

We know there will be more questions... but we have to save some excitement for another day!

I've heard the term Organics used in relation to Odyssey - does this mean we'll see life beyond just plants?

The thin atmospheres we're unlocking in Elite Dangerous: Odyssey are inhospitable environments, incapable of supporting human or typical animal life. That being said the array of organics discoverable in-game extends beyond traditional plant life or 'flora'. Some of the organics found are more fungal or chemosynthetic bacterial in nature, and others would sit well outside of any earth classification system - these could, in scientific terms, be considered fauna, but not in the traditional sense of the word and we want to be clear on what to expect in game based around the thin atmospheres that will be unlocked. In summary we use the term organics because this is a more representative and accurate term for what commanders may discover.

How many different Organics are present in Odyssey?

There will be a huge variety of organics available to discover in Odyssey with a large number of core species and further variants and subspecies planned for day one. The generation of these will take into account numerous factors including the compositional make-up of the planet and atmosphere, along with their geographical placement on that body.

Will Odyssey’s planetary improvements be applied to existing land-able planets without atmospheres?

Yes! The improvements to Odyssey’s planetary tech will be applied to our entire galaxy simulation so planets without an atmosphere will be more breathtaking than ever.

Will atmospheres be breathable in Odyssey?

The thin atmospheres you encounter in Odyssey won’t be breathable by humans so you’ll have to carefully manage your suit and air supply to ensure your survival - more on this to come.

I noticed there are different suits shown in the dev diary - are these available to all commanders?

Yes - these are just a couple of the designs that will be available to all commanders, regardless of body type – we just chose to show commanders with different loadouts.

How many types of suits will there be?

While we can’t share an exact number just yet we can confirm there will be a variety of suits in Elite Dangerous: Odyssey. Their differences will extend beyond cosmetic changes with different suits specialised for different gameplay activities.

Will the suits have a flash light?

All suits come equipped with a flash light for exploration - more on this later.

We understand that you have many more questions around Odyssey and we are eager to share more with you in the coming months so please stay tuned for updates.

As always thank you for your support CMDRs o7