Nice to hear it's a seemingly broad mix then
I remember when this game was first released (1980's) and was in awe of the 3D wireframe presentation.
To me this was a spectacular release. So much so, I remember the Acornsoft/BBC micro advertisments on UK television that followed.
A Truely great moment!
Anyway, a sad demise for capt. Keyes. He didn't deserve such a mutated demise inflicted upon him by the covenant
Elite was generally a British thing, but there are some players from other places (generally, the United States seems like the second most populous Elite country). It's generally those old Elite players picking up Oolite - so they'll be from the same places. However, what with teh intarweb, Oolite should get broader adoption. According to some Oolite-Linux web stats, Oolite seems to have quite a Russian following.
I have vivid memories of Elite back in the 80's. I never had it myself, but was so impressed when I saw it, I leapt at any opportunity to play. Even Frontier-elite 2 and 3 that my friend had. I came across Oolite when trawling the net for Elite and have been addicted ever since.
I never got into the original Elite eventhough I had a copy for my atari st. I was always much more of a fan of Frontier and stumbled upon oolite while looking for a frontier clone. Been lurking here ever since
It's generally those old Elite players picking up Oolite - so they'll be from the same places. However, what with teh intarweb, Oolite should get broader adoption..
An interesting point made. It's funny how 1st generation geeks, type: STO (Space Trading Officianado's), seem to have come full circle and make up the majority of Oolite advocates.
I'm a stupid American, myself... Rather proud of it, too. I've been into Elite since I was eight, with Firebird's release of it for the C64 here in the States.
I've since tried out the Nintendo version of it, a LITTLE bit of ArcElite, Elite Plus, Frontier, FFE (Not really the biggest fan of those two) Elite:TNK, Oolite, and I think I tried a couple of other clones over the years too. Oolite is definitely the most compelling Elite-alike since Elite:TNK came around.
Yep, I'm True Brit, and was digitally suckled on the BBC Micro -- the best 8-bit box of all time. (Discuss. 800 words.)
Formative years spent in front of Elite in a darkened cellar, with Jean Michelle Jarre playing on a Compact Audio Cassette player. Started to reverse engineer / disassemble the original Elite code and so realise the true genius of Bell and Braben.
You should be careful about what questions you ask, you may get inundated with answers.
From the US, played Elite then Frontier on Amiga. Sorely missed it on the Mac. So glad that I stumbled on to Oolite. Thanks, Giles, Oolite is SO much better.