Elite Dangerous' Beyond—Chapter Four kicks off next week, with destructible asteroids and "significant additions" to its exploration, mining and multiplayer. Last night, community manager Will Flanagan, exec producer Adam Woods and senior level designer Adam Bourke-Waite uncovered more on the latest update's Scenarios.
If you've time, check out the full recording of the stream above. If you don't, let's break down Scenarios. They're reworked versions of ED's Unidentified Signal Sources and fixed events seasoned players will likely be familiar with. This time, though, they're random and can unfold all over the galaxy—"providing you with additional opportunities to blaze your own trail the way you want to."
With that, each Scenario is full voice-acted and contain bespoke UI, the latter of which clearly outlines objectives and, crucially, rewards. Likewise, specific Scenarios grant players Background Simulation rewards—such as increasing the security status of a particular faction.
Frontier says other Scenarios may involve assisting distressed or stranded pilots, engaging with fluctuating objective in the "new and improved" Conflict Zones, attacking or defending Megaships and Installations, and providing aid and assistance to damaged Megaships, among other eventualities.
Elsewhere, the stream explores the incoming changes to how factions interact with one another away from player view. Formally known as Background Simulation, factions can now adopt multiple states in a single system—Bust and Civil Unrest, for example—and a long list of state rebalances alter how players interact with factions.
More on that last part is outlined here. You can get your hands dirty with it all come October 30.
