Lore

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Classic Elite startup screen
Classic Elite's Instruction Manual
Holdstock's Dark Wheel
Frontier (Elite 2)
The first of Drew's Oolite Quintet

Canon in the Game

There is Strict Oolite - and then there are the over 12655723162254307425418678245150829297671403862274660768187828858528140823147351237817802795619571074765208532598060224803240903782164769430795025578054271906283387643826088448124626488332623608376164081221171179439885840257818732919037889603719186743943363062139593784473922231852782547619771723889252476871186000174697934549112845662596182308280390615184691924446215552586523740084932807259056238962104689731522587564412231618018774350801526839567367444928206231310973619440354723718012867753019556135721376207959558860559933052856914157120622980057169891912595926540427596853441276985006724869558201930657900240943007657817473684008944448183219124163017666607770667585082169598239230274035517738648065600492702095732843492708856036920219883363111527988109277392696562776813446645651238419301586157342867860646666350050113314787911320639668510871569846664873595017518995670958477806411667505346462590471136862647349666243426242677175204732314281064417939041868653741187423064985189556742640111598580035644021835576715752869397465453828584471291269955890393294448315746500268702149708808053100406398480942695623586049403348084970064668900206251516968479727515576425962392136269169089884609794271331061018895634421094082310408889752954265842691732460538911784,960,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 different versions of Oolite with oxps - and that is ignoring the tweaked oxp versions!

So to establish a 'canonical version' of Oolite the game is no mean feat! Attempts to do this in the past (Realistic Shipyards & Oolite Extended) failed dismally.

Canon in the Lore

IF we turn from the game to the lore, we find instead a sustained argument.

There have been at least two major schools of thought: those seeking to link in Classic Elite/Oolite with the Frontier family (which includes Elite Dangerous) - and those who regard the entire exercise as a waste of effort! The first school, the syncretists, includes those working to incorporate elements of Frontier in Oolite - most notably Selezen and Drew Wagar. The second school, the purists, includes Cim & Smivs. Some of the keener exponents of the first school have since migrated to Elite Dangerous, whilst those of the second school seem to have gotten lost in inter-galactic space (except of course, Cody/El Viejo, who luckily seems to have quaffed from the chalice of eternal life.

Feature Classic Elite Oolite Vanilla game Frontier/Elite 2 First Encounters/FFE2 Elite: Dangerous
Number of "Universes" 8 8 1 1 1
Existence of GalCop Yes Yes No No No
Existence of Federation & Empire No No Yes Yes Yes
Thargoids Enemy Enemy Inexistent Neutral Neutral
Non-human races: felines/lobstoids etc Yes Yes No No No
Planet Earth on map? No No Yes Yes Yes

What would count as the core Lore?

  • As regards Classic Elite, we have what we see in the game (see table above) and then there is the material in the Instruction Manual and that in The Dark Wheel.
    • But Cody, for example, does not see Dark Wheel as canonical (too many things that Holdstock got wrong - see The Dark Wheel controversy section).
    • Andy Redman's Imprint was released together with PC Elite Plus in 1991 instead of Robert Holdstock's "The Dark Wheel.
    • User2357 on the other hand sees - not only the Dark Wheel & Imprint but - (this wiki's host) Dylan Smith's The Virtuous Misfortune as an essential part of the core Lore.
  • It should be mentioned that Drew & Selezen also see a lore-based disjunct between Elite Dangerous and its predecessors.

Definitions

The Lore (accumulated knowledge or beliefs held by a group about a subject) can be defined by the Canon. Thus arguments about Lore often end up as arguments about the Canon.

Links