November 27, 3310

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Today's Frontier Unlocked shed more details on Colonisation, Elite Dangerous' newest feature. The biggest news here is that Colonisation is coming early next year, but we also got many juicy details on how the process will work. Scroll down to see the newly-revealed assets, or keep reading to discover what we learned today!

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​The Colonisation process starts when a player purchases a "Claim" from a new "Colonisation Contact", located in a populated system within the Bubble. ​A player will purchase the claim for credits, at which poin they will pick an uninhabited system within range--which is currently within 10 LY, but subject to change. Once a player has put a claim on a system, they will have 24 hours to travel to that system and deploy the "Colonisation Beacon". Players are limited to one colonisation beacon at a time, and if they do not deploy the beacon in the system with their claim within 24 hours, the claim is revoked.

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Once a player deploys their colonisation beacon, they may select their primary starport -- it will always be a space port, and location within the system shall be pre-determined. Upon the selection of a primary starport, a "Colonisation Ship" will arrive in the system, which is one of the largest vessels in the game. Players must fulfill a "shopping list" of sorts by making deliveries to the Colonisation ship; contents of the shopping list are contingent on the type of starport.

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Once the shopping list is fulfilled, the starport will appear in partial construction, until the next weekly server tick--at which point, the primary Starport will be fully complete. There will be time limit to finish this process,or progress will be lost. Upon the completion of the primary starport, the colonisation beacon will become a nav beacon, and a new colonisation contact will appear--giving opportunity to then colonise another system. A newly colonised system will not have any sort of Powerplay alignment, but the faction that the colonisation claim was purchased from will move into the system automatically--a big win for BGS players!

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The player who completes the primary starport will have the title "System Architect", granting them more control over what goes on in that system. The number of available "slots" for further development will be predetermined by the system. Within the system map, the system architect can see all the available space locations to create new system assets. Once one is selected, a construction site appears there--and more goods deliveries are required. There's also a natural economic progression; i.e., a system must have smaller locations to support multiple large locations--players can't build ONLY large orbital starports.

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When constructing surface bases, the system architect will get to pick a location and use a holographic view to lay the settlement in a particular location and orientation. The types of settlements will determine the system economy, and the deliveries needed for successful construction. This means that for long range colonisation projects, it's strategic to create "mini-Bubbles" along the way with various economies to drive the production of goods necessary for Colonisation en-route. This will make it easier to Colonise further-out locations by not requiring players to haul all necessary goods all the way from the Bubble.​

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Even beyond the initial Colonisation process, the system will remain the property of the System Architect, who will have ultimate control over the system's development!

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October 30, 3310

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On today's Frontier Unlocked, we learned about the new feature promised that's coming to the game: Colonisation! Although not much information has been shared yet, here's what we know so far:

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• Colonisation is a player-driven way to expand the Bubble and colonise new systems

• Players will be able to colonise unpopulated systems within a certain distance of populated systems (distance yet to be revealed)

• Once players have colonised a system, they will begin building a starport

• After the starport is built, players will have the choice to expand within the system--building new assets, such as starports, settlements, outposts, etc)--which will dictate the economy of the system.

• Players can claim multiple systems, but one at a time--a colonised system must have the primary starport built before the players can begin colonising another system.