Elite: Dangerous fans likely remember that the start of February had big plans for the spaceship sandbox, including a reworking of the powerplay mechanic among them. Some of those updates have been showcased by Frontier Developments in its latest showcase stream as the devs call attention to a few of the visual updates that “Powerplay 2.0” will introduce.
The preview starts by showing how three different system states – exploited, fortified, and stronghold – will affect the visuals of nearby space station interiors, mostly with increasing levels of a faction’s iconography and branding across the station’s walls and banners and kiosks taking up a faction’s visual aesthetic. The contested system state will have some visual representation in space stations as well, but that will be part of another preview.
On the UI side, the powerplay filter of the galaxy map will be seeing updates as well, though the only ones that were shown offered a wider look at factional influence of star systems with updated colored fog. More UI improvements that better detail individual system states and the effect of an opposing faction’s influence are promised as well, but those once again are being saved for a later preview.
Finally, there was a look at a new feature for systems that fall under a stronghold state in the form of a factional fleet carrier that will be in-system when players arrive. Those who are friendly to the controlling faction will be welcomed aboard this carrier, while those who are not will apparently have “super fun” ways to “mess with a stronghold.” Yet again, more information on just what that entails is coming later. Overall, this means some of the juicier aspects of Powerplay 2.0 are still under lock and key, but at least the previews are beginning.
