Space sim enthusiasts have something to look forward to next month in the form of the next Elite: Dangerous expansion, which is going by the name of The Engineers.
Anyone with beta access via the Horizons season pass will be able to sample the new content in the first week of May, and will be able to play around with new upgradable modules on ships, plus there's going to be loot and crafting mechanics, as well as the titular Engineers.
Here's what Frontier Development's David Braben had to say regarding the upcoming content drop:
"The Engineers are individuals that are mavericks in some way. Each has some sort of expertise from their pasts that they have made into a business - tuning all sorts of aspects of your ship to improve them. They do this using exotic and often hard-to-find components.
"Most Engineers are very secretive, working behind the scenes for the military or other shady organisations, and so you need an introduction, and need to find out how to find them. Missions can lead to introductions to Engineers, and some Engineers will introduce you to others, providing a more directed path for those that want that sort of approach. There is progression with each Engineer too, as you build up your relationship with them by doing missions and earning their trust."
Although the content detailed above will only be available to people who've picked up the Horizons season pass, Frontier are also working on update 1.6, which will see "significant changes to the core gameplay experience for all players, headlined by a completely re-vamped mission system and having its own vast number of additions and changes."
Update 1.6 will go into beta at the same time as The Engineers, and will launch alongside the paid-for expansion.