Elite: Dangerous is getting Community Goals with update 1.1 - all the details

Patch 1.1 is Elite: Dangerous' first major update. Developer Frontier has detailed Community Goals, the big change coming with the patch, and more.

We were told last week that big additions are coming with patch 1.1, due in February. Today, we learn in more detail what those features are.

Namely, what the developer is calling Community Goals. The new feature brings story-driven collaborative events to the game.

"Already players are working together to influence the power struggles in our galaxy, but Community Goals are a shared objective we can generate to allow vast numbers of players to collaborate towards the same goal," executive producer Michael Brookes told PC Gamer.

"A Community Goal will be created to supply the food within a set time limit, and if the players achieve the goal then they’ll save the population. And whether they succeed or fail will have ramifications for the balance of power in the galaxy," Brookes says, giving the example of famine as a common goal players are dispatched to deal with.

Another goal will revolve around bounties, as factions task players with reaching a certain number of kills in a particular system, which leads them to attack other players. This mechanic will be one way to shuffle power structures.

Players' efforts in Solo Mode or Private Group will still count towards that goal. Open Play pilots however will get to experience great numbers of players all attacking or defending one system.

"Alongside a number of tweaks and bug fixes we’re adding a shiny new gas giant shader," Brookes adds. "We also have city lights on the dark side of planets, which is something the community and the development team has been looking forward to for some time!"

Update 1.1 will enter closed beta in early February and will be available to all the following week.