Distant Worlds 2 – Been There. Seen It.

After three months of gameplay participating in the Distant Worlds 2 expedition in Elite Dangerous, I managed to arrive at Beagle Point, one of the farthest systems in the galaxy.

INV Deep Space I in the Beagle Point System

This included several thousand jumps (each jump takes about one to two minutes), scooping fuel, repairing the ship and such things. There was a tough schedule by the organizers, including several waypoints on the expedition.

There is already a in-game sickness called Space Madness.

Space madness is a psychological condition that some pilots get while traveling in deep space for long periods. It’s a bit like vertigo, and is caused by being adrift without any reference points.

Once you get there you will have an incredible view of our galaxy.

As far as I know, the simulation behind the game creates systems when being visited the very first time. There seem to be some awesome algorithms. E.g. when Kepler 425reb was discovered, the simulation already had a similar system generated before and was updated accordingly with the real data.

I finally arrived there with a delay of two weeks behind the official schedule. All pilots arriving there, are rewarded with a certificate of completion, which I can proudly present.

Distant Worlds 2 Completion Certificate

There is also an in-game reward, an emblem to be shown on your ship. This, however, can be only equipped when being docked at a spaceport. This will take another few months to arrive at the nearest station.

A few thousand gamers went there and back. If you want to follow my trip back, you can have a look at my Twich channel where I stream my way back when being in the game.

My recent Gaming Podcast Listening List

Currently, I commute roundabout 1 hour a day each way. Mainly caused by construction sites and daily crashes on the highway, I spend way too much time in the car. Therefore, I started to listen podcasts about two years ago on a regular base.

For several months, I now had quite a fixed setup of Germany podcasts, I listen throughout the week. Said this, all podcast are German only. There are some additional English speaking podcasts on my backlog, not mentioned here.

Bits und so

Bits und so Podcast

Bits und so is my favorite podcast about Apple. This podcast provides 2-3h information about new developments not only but mostly about Apple products and service. This is one of the most professional podcast you might find hosted by Timo Hetzel.

Link: http://www.bitsundso.de/

Der Nintendo Podcast

Der Nintendo Podcast

Hosted by Lukas Schmid and Johannes Gehrling, this is the very only Germany speaking podcast covering Nintendo topics. It is offered on a weekly base – about 1 – 1,5h of new information and a lot of chitchat about Nintendo related topics, including special guests and flashback episodes covering the Nintendo history.

Link: http://www.pcgames.de/Der-Nintendo-Podcast-Thema-267835/

PC Games Podcast

PC Games Podcast

Also on a weekly base, the PC Games Podcast provides information based on one of the hardest jobs on earth: playing Games. If you want to stay up to day this is a great add on to the PC Games magazine, though.

Link: http://www.pcgames.de/PC-Games-Podcast-Thema-233689/

Spieleveteranen Podcast

Spieleveteranen Podcast

This is a must if you grew up with Atari, C64, Amiga and all the other stuff. If you know Kaiser, Hanse, Baldurs Gate this is a must. You will have high-res flashbacks of you childhood. Promised. Hosted by Heinrich Lenhardt und Jörg Langer, there is also a PATERON bonus program with additional episodes available.

Link: http://www.spieleveteranen.de/

Elite Dangerous: PYRIE EURK QX-U E2-0

While I took part in the Distant Worlds 2 Expedition in Elite Dangerous, I eventually arrived at PYRIE EURK QX-U E2-0 which was the third black hole I visited in the game. While the nebular gives a very special view on the balck hole, I dropped into this system quite unprepared. My ship dropped out of supercruise and was somewhat damaged. After traveling several weeks without any savepoint (some ten thousand of lightyears) this was quite some exciting moment.

Personal Remark

From time to time I will post some remarkable waypoints on this blog. Elite Dangerous is an evolving game, some kind of a space simulation, which is largely covered in the press. In case you want to contact me in game, feel free to find me using my XBOX Live with my gamertag aheil.