Lore

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Revision as of 14:05, 15 December 2020 by Cholmondely (talk | contribs) (Canon in the Lore: Added in Alien Items)
Classic Elite startup screen
Classic Elite's Instruction Manual
Holdstock's Dark Wheel
Frontier (Elite 2)
The first of Drew's Oolite Series

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