where's the federation & Empire from E2 Frontier?

[Cody]

This aspect is the knowledge that in the not-too-far future GalCop is doomed. Of course, in-game nobody has that knowledge, including my own character.

I’m sorry, but I’ve got to ask… where does this bit of ‘future knowledge’ come from?
I agree that it’s bound to happen at some time… all orbits decay, all empires crumble… but where does the ‘when’ come from?

[Phantom Hoover]

From gluing the Frontier and Elite timelines together and filling in the gaps. There's a link to the fancy timeline and justification in the thread I started in the Fiction subforum.

[Commander McLane]

This aspect is the knowledge that in the not-too-far future GalCop is doomed. Of course, in-game nobody has that knowledge, including my own character.

I’m sorry, but I’ve got to ask… where does this bit of ‘future knowledge’ come from?
I agree that it’s bound to happen at some time… all orbits decay, all empires crumble… but where does the ‘when’ come from?

From Selezen's excellent timeline. Here's the relevant extract:

3125 - Commander Peter Jameson begins career as space trader. (start of the original Elite game)

3130 - GalCop begins a programme of retrofitting some out of date space faring equipment to older vessels. At the same time, satellite and comms buoys are upgraded.

3134 - Modern Galactic Mean Time is established.

3136 - By the start of this year, records show that nearly all active space vessels have been upgraded. Modifications include higher resolution viewscreens and console displays, more efficient shied generators and energy units and enhanced comms systems, including HoloFac upgrades.

3149 - GalCop suffers massive losses in Thargoid attacks. Negotiations are opened with the Galactic Federation and the Duval Empire for aid in the wars. The Federation and Empire are having increasing trouble with Thargoid incursions, but not with full-scale war zones such as GalCop has seen.

3150 - the Federation agree to aid GalCop and offer technology exchanges as a means to achieve the defeat of the Thargoids. Later the same year, the Empire extends a similar offer to the Federation deal. GalCop accept.

3151 - Thargoids defeated, presumed eradicated. Bioweapons are thought to have been used.

3162 - GalCop’s economy begins to collapse.

3164 - During this year, the stable wormhole connecting Galaxy 1 to Galaxy 2 and thence to the rest of the seven Galaxies collapses. It is thought highly likely that the collapsing was engineered. Galaxy 1 stands alone. GalCop is reduced from over 2040 worlds to less than 200. GalCop is a shadow of its former self and no longer a threat to either Federation or Empire. The Exile remains in force.

3165 - It is discovered that the alien races once indigenous to the Far Colonies region of space have gone. Those worlds that had human colony areas become human worlds as the colonies spread out. Those that did not now stand abandoned. It is surmised that they departed for Galaxy 2, somehow managing to find a method of travelling there. Humanity stands alone once more.

3169 - By now, GalCop has been further reduced by internal problems, political issues and pressures from the larger and more ruthless Federation and Empire. Many worlds leave GalCop and ally themselves with one of the other organisations. Some world governments decide to become independent. Some colonies leave their worlds and make for new homes within Federation or Imperial space.

3170 - Since GalCop as a political entity no longer exists, both Federation and Empire lift the exile on GalCop worlds. A fine of 75,000 credits remains to be paid by any native of the 11 ‘Old Worlds’ centred on Lave who wishes to dock at a spaceport in either organisation. These eleven systems maintain tight relations, forming an unofficial trade and protection alliance – much like the original alliance that grew into GalCop.

3174 - The Galactic Co-operative of Worlds president officially rescinds the GCW charter on the 19th August. The resources of the organisation (such as the Navy and Police forces) are auctioned to the Federation.

3199 - Commander Peter Jameson dies, leaving vessels and space flight licences to his grandchildren, set to begin at the start of the next year.

Oolite is supposed to begin in 3141 (a year arbitrarily set by Selezen. I also quote the more detailed timeline he developed for Oolite, which incorporates some OXPs (especially ship OXPs). This was far easier to do in a time when there were only a handful of OXPs, which may be the reason why he never updated the timeline.

3130 - GalCop begins a programme of retrofitting some out of date space faring equipment to older vessels. At the same time, satellite and comms buoys are upgraded.

3134 - Modern Galactic Mean Time is established.

3136 - By the start of this year, records show that nearly all active space vessels have been upgraded. Modifications include higher resolution viewscreens and console displays, more efficient shied generators and energy units and enhanced comms systems, including HoloFac upgrades.

The GCW Transit Authority finally respond to nearly a decade of petitioning by pilots and install docking approach beacons for all space stations. These allow new pilots to easily line their ships up for docking. In the first few months of service, these beacons reduce docking accidents by 32%.

3137 - By the start of this year, GalCop has embarked on a programme of upgrading and enhancing all systems.

GASEC unveils a new space station design – the Icosahedral station, or Ico.

The Aegidian SpaceWorks company releases three new ships onto the market. This company is a small, independent workshop that makes ships on contract. Their popularity spawns many ‘garage’ spacecraft hull manufacturers in GalCop territory, each working on a contractual basis. This sort of operation is banned in both the Federation and the Empire.

3139 - Murgh & Son become the second garage vessel manufacturer to become popular on a large scale.

The Galactic Police begin experimenting with modified versions of the Viper cruiser.

3140 - Ixian renegades begin incursions into GalCop space.

Garage manufacturers begin issuing ‘tuning’ packages for all space worthy ships. A standard ‘superCobra’ package is released, targeted at GCW Merchant ships, and an NG package for the Fer-de-Lance is released.

3141 - GASEC reveal several radical new prototype space stations, marking a departure from the older, self-contained models. Examples of a toroid design is placed in orbit of several high-tech worlds for testing.

Following increased Thargoid activity, the Galactic Navy launch a fleet of supercarriers. The INS Behemoth is the first of these, being launched in February 3141. The Treaty of Achenar forbade the manufacture of vessels of this size, and the Federation and Empire lodge protests despite GCW assurance that these vessels will only be used in Thargoid space.

By 3145, when Thargoid incursions into Federal space increase, protests about the deployment of supercarriers is non-existent.

3142 - FCS Shipbuilders burst onto the scene with some radical new designs. They quickly become the third largest garage supplier.

The Galactic Police and Galactic Navy jointly develop an armoured transport to aid in the protection of orbitspace traffic.

3149 - GalCop suffers massive losses in Thargoid attacks. Negotiations are opened with the Galactic Federation and the Duval Empire for aid in the wars. The Federation and Empire are having increasing trouble with Thargoid incursions, but not with full-scale war zones such as GalCop has seen.

[Commander McLane]

And I find the idea of GalCop being doomed in such a short time span immensely depressing .

Oh, I find it depressing, too, especially because I very much like GalCop's absolutely low-key approach to being a political entity.

But it's still fascinating.

[Cody]

Yes… I know of Selezen’s painstakingly worked-out timeline, but events in Frontier mean nothing to me.
As the ‘key’ states: ‘Green Text: Conjectural, calculated from information at hand’.

[Commander McLane]

Yes… I know of Selezen’s painstakingly worked-out timeline, but events in Frontier mean nothing to me.
As the ‘key’ states: ‘Green Text: Conjectural, calculated from information at hand’.

Events in Frontier mean nothing to me as well. I've never even looked at it, much less played it (I never had a PC).

And of course it's all conjectural, Selezen created the events along with the timeline, it comes purely from his imagination. But as it exists now, it makes as much or more sense to stick to it, than everybody to develop their own, vastly differing timeline. At least that's how I feel about it.

[Cody]

I've never even looked at it, much less played it (I never had a PC).

I did... in my personal view, you didn't miss anything, it was woeful.

[DaddyHoggy]

Yes… I know of Selezen’s painstakingly worked-out timeline, but events in Frontier mean nothing to me.
As the ‘key’ states: ‘Green Text: Conjectural, calculated from information at hand’.

Events in Frontier mean nothing to me as well. I've never even looked at it, much less played it (I never had a PC).

And of course it's all conjectural, Selezen created the events along with the timeline, it comes purely from his imagination. But as it exists now, it makes as much or more sense to stick to it, than everybody to develop their own, vastly differing timeline. At least that's how I feel about it.

I didn't have PC either (I got a ex-work clapped-out P-90 in 1999) - all my Frontier experience came from my still much loved and operational Amiga A500 (given my A500 had 1MB RAM and only a 7MHz 68000, it ran comparably well to my friend's PC of the time 8MB 486-33SX using Frontier as the benchmark - I even downloaded an application that let the Amiga read PC floppies and he downloaded one that read Amiga ones and we had a conversion App that let us exchange pilots!)

[drew]

Selezen's stuff above

And that's why 'Incursio' is set in the year 3151...

I'm firmly in the 'string it all together' camp and my doggerel is based on that premise. I rather liked Frontier from both a gameplay and fiction perspective. But the fighting did suck. I still fire GLFFE up occasionally.

I find it rather nostalgic to think that my characters in 'Oolite' are now part of a tumultuous time in history in the Frontier Era. Your mileage may vary!

Cheers,

Drew.

[Selezen]

Yes… I know of Selezen’s painstakingly worked-out timeline, but events in Frontier mean nothing to me.
As the ‘key’ states: ‘Green Text: Conjectural, calculated from information at hand’.

Events in Frontier mean nothing to me as well. I've never even looked at it, much less played it (I never had a PC).

And of course it's all conjectural, Selezen created the events along with the timeline, it comes purely from his imagination. But as it exists now, it makes as much or more sense to stick to it, than everybody to develop their own, vastly differing timeline. At least that's how I feel about it.

This was one of the things that I risked by publishing this "research" - the fact that I'm playing around with a shared universe. I don't believe for a second that everyone will subscribe to the timeline as published or even agree with it. The fact that so many in this community have embraced it is fantastic and I feel honoured to have written something that is accepted so widely, but the Elite community is huge and everyone loves it in their own way and has filled in the gaps in their own way.

Elite and Frontier are two wholly different game concepts that share a few ship designs and a couple of planet names. The fact that this community has tied so much of it together is more a testament to our imaginations than to any plan by Frontier Devs. Me, I like the unified timeline because it brings a sense of change to the universe - any characters or events are part of an ever changing story, and that makes it exciting to me.

As far as concurrent existence of GalCop and the Federation is concerned in my timeline, the foundation of GalCop was a breakaway organisation from the Federation, so they always exist concurrently. Frontier ships exists alongside Elite ships in the timeline, and some ship designs are shared (e.g. the Viper, Cobra 3 and Transporter) before the fall and before 3200.

But if that's not your cup of tea, then that's fine!

P.S. Cyborg Kitty avatar is on his holidays. He's still available here though:

[Cody]

P.S. Cyborg Kitty avatar is on his holidays. He's still available here though:

Good... I think we're all rather fond of him.

Hmm... avatar holidays... nice idea.

[Smivs]

P.S. Cyborg Kitty avatar is on his holidays.

Hmm... avatar holidays... nice idea.

Having a lovely time, wish you were here...

[Cody]

Just having a sojourn on Zaquesso, drinking evil juice... back in a week or so.
The weather's here, wish you were lovely.

[Killer Wolf]

part of my imagination behind Isis Interstellar involves a big escalating battle between them and another corporation that ends up involving the cops via corrupt officials etc, hence mention in my write-ups about deteriorating relationships between II and Galcop, and no more cop Vampires.
Sadly, since i can't even get a simple JS spawn script to work properly, it's virtually guaranteed i'll never be able to do the huge story/mission pack i wanted to

[drew]

part of my imagination behind Isis Interstellar involves a big escalating battle between them and another corporation that ends up involving the cops via corrupt officials etc, hence mention in my write-ups about deteriorating relationships between II and Galcop, and no more cop Vampires.
Sadly, since i can't even get a simple JS spawn script to work properly, it's virtually guaranteed i'll never be able to do the huge story/mission pack i wanted to

The Isis Interstellar Corp has plenty to keep them busy right now...

Cheers,

Drew.