The latest Elite: Dangerous newsletter (#49) contains a couple of useful bits of information regarding the game’s ongoing development. Firstly, Beta 3.9 (the final beta release before the game moves towards its 16 December release date) is due to be released on 20 November.
Changes and additions aren’t really listed, but it’s said to be a “a significant step forward in preparation for ‘gamma’.” At this point I’d imagine a lot of the changes will be bug/tweak related rather than major features, but I could be wrong.
Speaking of new features, according to David Braben (again, writing in the newsletter) Elite: Dangerous will now work towards including 30 playable ships rather than the 25 initially suggested by the original Kickstarter campaign. Not all 30 will be available at launch, but that’s the eventual goal.
Braben also thanks everybody who has contributed to making the game possible:
If you were able to offer me on the 3rd January 2013 what we will deliver on the 16th December 2014, I would have grabbed it with both hands. It is fantastic what the team have done, and are still doing – a phenomenal job.
I’m really looking forward to meeting those of you who are able to come to the Premiere event on 22nd November to help celebrate that achievement, and thanking you for helping to make this possible.
And more importantly, I’m looking forward to seeing you and many, many more out in space on the 16th December and for a long time afterwards.
You can read the full newsletter, including David Braben’s thoughts on the development process, over here.