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Distant Worlds, more popularly known as Distant Worlds Expedition (DWE), and retroactively as Distant Worlds 3302[1] was the first major community expedition in Elite: Dangerous history. Created by CMDR Erimus Kamzel as the sequel to his Distant Suns journey, and organised by Erimus, Dr. Kaii, Kancro Vantas, Wishblend, Akira Makasari, Katejina, Corbin Moran and many other volunteers, it was launched on 14th January 3302. It featured over a thousand recorded members with many more who followed along the journey. Its legacy continues to inspire the community through the variety of expeditions that sprung up after it, and its effects on in-game events such as Jaques Station's community goal, "Jaques' Big Jump", and the colonization of Colonia.

Background[]

Distant_Worlds-_A_journey_beyond_the_Abyss_(Elite-_Dangerous)

Distant Worlds- A journey beyond the Abyss (Elite- Dangerous)

On December 16th 3300, the day Elite Dangerous was officially released, a long ranged Asp Explorer, the DSS Beagle, piloted by CMDR 'Erimus' Kamzel, left the Pallaeni star system to begin the first recorded galactic crossing.

Codenamed 'Distant Suns' the expedition was recorded in a 12-series video log. The mission was to travel to the far side of the galaxy via the galactic core, mapping and documenting all major discoveries made along the way.

Some 5 weeks later, on January 18th 3301, DSS Beagle reached a star system on the edge of the far galactic rim, 65,279 LYs from Sol. The system (CEECKIA ZQ-L C24-0) subsequently became known as 'Beagle Point'. It marked the end of the line of the Distant Suns expedition.

One year later, in January 3302, the DSS Beagle was recommissioned and given a new mission.

Codenamed 'Distant Worlds', this new expedition tasked all its participants to travel a route that roughly followed the original path taken by the Beagle back in 3301, this time with the added task of surveying and exploring as many worlds as possible at key locations along the way.

About[]

Distant Worlds Expedition (DWE) was the first major community expedition in Elite: Dangerous.

It was organized by a great number of people; CMDR Erimus Kamzel, Dr. Kaii, Glasswalker, NeoTron, grnbrg, Kancro Vantas, Corbin Moran and the FGE, Wishblend, Wolverine, Katejina, Akira Makasari, Jhyrryl, Kola2, The_Damn_Fox, Rodent54, Nexolek, Dommarraa, and Eoran.

Numerous logistics departments were needed to support the expedition, ranging from dedicated scouts, prospector carriers, and even a security department.

The Expedition went through 23 waypoints, from the "bubble" (inhabited space), across the galaxy to Beagle Point, one of the furthest known star system from Sol. Waypoints were grouped together in stages.

Stage Waypoints
1 Waypoints 1 - 5
2 Waypoints 6-8
3 Waypoints 9-17
4 Waypoints 18-20
5 Waypoints 21-23

Waypoints tended to be set within or around large nebulae. Each waypoint includes planetary coordinates where a base camp is formed, each with their own designation. Once the expedition had reached Beagle Point, CMDRs were free to return home in any manner they chose. Commanders who did not own Elite Dangerous: Horizons would rendezvous in orbit with each other.

Main fleet and slow boat[]

Members were self-separated into two fleets based on their ability to keep up with the waypoint schedule of distant worlds. The slow-boat fleet traveled 2 weeks behind the main fleet.

Pre-launch[]

Registration[]

Registration for the expedition required that members make a comment on the official forums.

During Registration, members could choose to take on specific expedition roles created by the Distant Worlds organisers:

  • Fuel Rat
  • Prospector
    • This role is geared toward helping out fellow fleet members as your role involves pinpointing resource-rich worlds.
    • After locating an outcrop or meteorite that contains minerals - find out what it yields by blasting it with your SRV laser. Make a note of what you find and relay it to fleet members in the Skype Text Prospectors Channel, stating what kind of minerals you have discovered. If someone who needs them is nearby, you may be required to remain on site to keep the instance open until their SRV crew arrives to collect the minerals.
    • Worlds of particular interest are ones that have deposits of the minerals that enable FSD Boosting (see the logistics section below for further details on 'Jumponium' synthesis)
  • Cartographer
    • These roles require pilots who have the most game time to spare.
    • Your role is to seek out interesting worlds with interesting surface features for the fleet to explore.
    • Try to stay within a 300 LY radius of each designated waypoint POI though as we don't have time to deviate too far off the planned route.
    • This role will require you to stay no more than a day or two ahead of the main fleet as to give you sufficient time in reporting interesting finds close to the base camp system.
  • Armed Escort
    • For close encounters of the unknown kind.
  • Cargo Haulage
    • It is said that our first encounter with the Thargoids will determine our relationship with them. If we are hostile, expect to die. If there are Thargoid outposts out there that we somehow stumble upon, and they allow us to dock, having trade goods may be a good idea. Just don't take bug spray, they may get the wrong idea!
  • Video Makers, Photographers, and Live Streamers
    • Feel free to make videos or run live streams for any part of the expedition... the more the merrier!

Private groups[]

Kamzel, Patrecleus, Erimus; also known as Group K, P and E are the three private groups used for the expedition by members.

The first 600 members who signed up for the expedition were added to Group K. The second 400 members were added to Group P. the outliers were added to Group E. After Waypoint 11, Group P members were merged into Group K. After [insert WP here], all groups were merged into Group E.

Console-registered members[]

[insert information about Xbox participation]

Distant-Worlds-Profile

Commander profiles[]

Since there were no CMDR avatars yet, CMDR Katejina started offering to create ship profile images for members on the expedition on request. They contained their ship, an Icon representing their CMDR, and the ship's name.

DW logo contest[]

The DW logo contest was organised by CMDR Kola2.[2] The submissions were posted on the forum thread until 13th January 3302 where voting was opened. The winner was announced on the Distant Worlds Expedition Twitch stream the next day on the 14th. The launch day of the expedition. The winning submission was created by CMDR Hi-Ban.

DW Logo Contest Entries[]

Expedition waypoints[3][4][]

Waypoint Basecamp Name System Planet Coordinates Arrival Date
#1 Pallaeni to the Fine Ring Sector (Shapley 1) Laika's Rest Fine Ring Sector JH-V c2-4 A 1 -19.15 / 85.02 15. Jan. 3302
#2 The Lagoon Nebula Tinné's Endevour NGC 6530 WFI 16706 A 1 A -12.71 / 70.28 22. Jan. 3302
#3 The Omega Nebula and The PW2010 Super Cluster Camp Baatuta Omega Sector EL-Y d60 2 A 18.44 / -139.30 23. Jan. 3302
#4 The Eagle Nebula Mt. Magellan Eagle Sector EL-Y d203 6 A 40.36 / 167.04 25. Jan. 3302
#5 NGC 6357 Drake's Ridge NGC 6357 Sector DL-Y e22 2 47.77 / -95.71 29. Jan. 3302
#6 The Hollow Veil The Zheng He Plateua Blaa Hypai UC-G c12-6 2 A 19.51 / 162.19 4. Feb. 3302
#7 The Greae Phio Stellar Forge da Gama Trench (Serpent's Head) Greae Phio LS-L c23-221 1 B 16.10 / -167.73 7. Feb. 3302
#8 New Botany Bay Camp Uluru Speamoea WU-E d12-543 C 1 -67.07 / -104.66 11. Feb. 3302
#9 The Athaip Wisteria Nebula Mt. Hillary Athaip CR-C b55-4 2 C -15.82 / -72.29 14. Feb. 3302
#10 The Amethyst Cloud Tereshkova's Ridge Myriesly EC-B c27-381 AB 3 B -70.26 / 47.59 17. Feb. 3302
#11 Sagittarius A* Armstrong Landing Stuemeae KM-W c1-342 1 B 57.25 / 78.0 18. Feb. 3302
#12 Altum Sagittarii Gagarin's Reach Nyuena JS-B d342 4 F A -66.88 / -96.00 22. Feb. 3302
#13 The Phipoea Nebula The Needle Phipoea DD-F c26-1311 3 E 24.58 / -178.40 25. Feb. 3302
#14 The Dryao Chrea Stellar Remnant Chrea Cauldron Dryao Chrea VU-P e5-7481 B 3 A -19.63 / 39.73 26. Feb. 3302
#15 The Rose Nebula Gemstone Canyon Eorld Byoe YA-W e2-4084 1 B 7.70 / -103.58 27. Feb. 3302
#16 The Green Crystal The Mound Eok Gree TO-Q e5-3167 2 D 26.63 / -120.95 28. Feb. 3302
#17 The Magnus Nebula The Sacagagwea Tundra Pheia Briae DK-A e303 8 83.40 / 35.45 5. Mar. 3302
#18 The Greeroi Veil Camp Amundsen Greeroi MD-Q d6-5 B 1 -38.05 / -82.51 8. Mar. 3302
#19 Rendezvous Point Columbus Basin Rendezvous Point (Qautheia BA-A e0) 5 A 9.58 / -35.59 12. Mar. 3302
#20 Oupailks Furnace The Pit Oupailks BB-M c8-5 1 3.73 / -135.70 15. Mar. 3302
#21 The Roncevaux Crossing Shackleton Plateau Qautheia BA-A e0 A 1 A 74.07 / 141.47 21. Mar. 3302
#22 The Sublustris Beacon Desolation Ridge Cheae Eurl AA-A e0 7 -48.63 / 108.72 25. Mar. 3302
#23 Beagle Point Darwin's Legacy Beagle Point (Ceeckia ZQ-L c24-0) 2 48.56 / -35.57 2. Apr. 3302

Launch from Pallaeni[]

Distant_Worlds_UK_Launch

Distant Worlds UK Launch

You Brave Explorers, the ones who fly into the wake of giants, yet blaze your own trails. Who seek to explore distant worlds, not for profit, but in the pursuit of knowledge. You who await launch at Brook's Point, Pallaeni, knowing many will fall undertaking such an endeavour. Yet take off regardless, with hope in your heart in spite of the dangers before you. You Brave Explorers, I salute you o7, each and every one. May the journey seem swift, with scoopables at every jump. And may you all find Beagles Point, or fail courageously trying. You Brave Explorers.

— You Brave Explorers by CMDR Cula-Ta

The end of the expedition[]

Beagle_Point_-_Arrival_Day_(Distant_Worlds_3302)

Beagle Point - Arrival Day (Distant Worlds 3302)

The main fleet arrived at beagle point on the 2nd April 3302.

571 commanders of the 1,153 registered confirmed that they had reached Beagle Point. [5] 2nd April to 10th April marked the start of the Beagle Point Week.

Distant_Worlds-_Closing_Ceremony_Formation_Flight_-Elite_Dangerous_Horizons_2.1_Engineers-

Distant Worlds- Closing Ceremony Formation Flight -Elite Dangerous Horizons 2.1 Engineers-

On 5th June 3302, the FGE fleet arrived. The closing ceremony was staged with formation flying, including the missing man formation to honour the fallen who never made it to Beagle Point.

WP 24 - Reunion[]

Waypoint 24 was an added waypoint to reunite members of the expedition on its anniversay. It was hosted on the moon, Mitterand Hollow in Epsilon Indi.

Notable CMDRS and organizations[]

The Distant Worlds Centralized Photo Gallery Team[]

CMDR Qohen Leth, CMDR Galaxyutii, CMDR PaleoGamer, CMDR HeyPinkiePie, CMDR Alistair Hope, CMDR Jerek, CMDR Timotheus Sr., CMDR Txakal, CMDR TK-421994, CMDR Cold Tallinn, CMDR May, CMDR atomicb0mb, CMDR Leonardo White

Prospecting & Cartography[]

Prior to Horizons 2.1, Scanning a planet did not provide information on what materials can be found on a planet. Prospecting & Cartography was formed to prospect waypoint and surrounding systems for jumponium materials. Systems with level 1 jumponium materials are considered "Green systems".

Members of Prospecting & Cartography include but are not limited to Akira Makasari, Nexolek, Jhyrrl (for Trello), Eisen, Michael Darkmoor, Lyneira, Baroness Galaxy and many others. They eventually formed the player faction Rock Rats.

Candy Crew[]

Formed by a collection of Cmdr's who gained a reputation for risky stunts, tom foolery and all manner of crazy shenanigans!

Building towers and arches from ships at way points, launching SRV's into space (on the backs of ships), organising SRV races and Destruction Derby's and host of daring stunts, including the infamous way point 5 explosion...

Founding Members: Raijiin, Nookie Mr. Smith, Katazz Trofee, SyntheticEQ, Astromiko, Isokix, Krollin, Mogriax, BigNiko, Byped, Jonathan Thal, Johnny Dietz, Rewision, Rokkuon, CCNinja86, Aterfax, Absolute PK, Squid509, Eskimo, Darragh, Saal, Zer0Skill, Thomas8472, Hikedi, DpJon, Hyperious, Ra'Senche.

The Candy Crew Guild was formed during and after the exploration trip so that the memory and group may stay together and keep up the shenanigans they had become notorious for.

Wasp Radio[6][]

Wasp radio logo

Wasp Radio Logo

The Expeditions radio station ran out of the Distant World's Flagship, Zombie Wasp III (Later Zombie Wasp IV.)

It played an eclectic selection of music tied to the main theme, "Travel, exploration and Loneliness" The playlist of musics grew as CMDRs recommended music to add to the radio station. The expedition had 5 playlists that it alternated between days. Radio Hosts are Olivia Vespera, iDragox, Sternmann, Zelryn

Fleet Security[]

CMDR Shascar Vas, JDude1 and Fulst organised security for the fleet during and around base camps to prevent potential terrorists or space mad explorers from destroying expedition ships.[7] Interesting Security scares included an Unknown entity reported near Saggitarius A, Tight Security around Edward Lewis's Meetup with the DWE group at Beagle Point, and the occasional Overzealous Pilot at a waypoint. This team had a private Skype chatroom where many of the leadership could share any security news they had become aware of with the security team. Most of the Security team were armed with weapons able to deter most normal exploration fitted threats.

Newletter Team[]

DWE newsletter

Newsletter Cover

The newletter was a weekly publication managed by CMDR Eisen and Astromiko. The newsletter contained the following sections:[8]

Fleet Progress[]

  • And what’s to come

Comms Chatter[]

  • All the latest from the community via our Teamspeak and Discord reps

The Mapping Project[]

  • CMDR Akira Masakari gives us the latest on the state of prospecting and cartographics

FGE Exploration Wing – Weekly debriefing[]

  • CMDR Corbin Moran, our FGE correspondent has a column where he discusses some of the work the FGE have done, and some interesting places to go yourself

Content Makers[]

  • A little blog on some of the prolific and exceptional content being borne from the expedition by the community

Photo of the Week[]

  • The photographers department chooses a screenshot of the week Bringing it all into perspective. A short essay on some of the interesting science and facts about the trip, the galaxy and everything else

Erimus’ Diary[]

  • All the latest news, current and upcoming, and some interesting stories and events, from CMDR Erimus

Travellers Log[]

  • A weekly section where someone from the community can write something up on any topic

Latest Advisory Warnings[]

  • Hot travel advisories off the press, warnings and precautions to take

EDSM Expedition tracker[]

EDSM provided support for the expedition by allowing members to track the fleets progress on an expedition page that showed fleet waypoint completion percentages as well as a 3D map of all distant worlders who shared trilaterated system data with EDSM.

It was the first instance of expedition tracking that has become a staple component of all future expeditions.

Notable Events[]

Spot the Wasp[]

Spot the Wasp was a game amongst members where CMDRs could rendezvous with the expedition flagship during it's journey between WPs and take a candid photo with it.[9] Its success was largely due to the flagship being the only registered Type-9 Heavy in the fleet and its vibrant orange colour. The flagship lumbered at a slow enough pace that most expedition ships could catch up to it.

Sagittarius A* Star record breaking mass instancing and mass jump[]

What started as a photo opportunity with Dr.Kaii and Erimus, shortly thereafter turned into an epic battle to see how

Elite-_Dangerous_-_Distant_Worlds-_52_CMDRs_High_Waking_out_of_Sagittarius_A*

Elite- Dangerous - Distant Worlds- 52 CMDRs High Waking out of Sagittarius A*

many commanders we could fit into one instance. The incident soon heralded bragging rights and a warning being issued to the organisers from Frontier Developments "Please don't do that again, we recommend a maximum of 32 commanders in one instance." On the first attempt we managed to get over 50 commanders into one instance, the second attempt was made, which broke into the 100's of commanders. Two mass jumps during Distant Worlds both occured on those two mass instancing

Climbing Greeroi's Mountain[]

Elite-_Dangerous_-_Epic_(and_Deadly!)_Mountain_Climb_-_Distant_Worlds

Elite- Dangerous - Epic (and Deadly!) Mountain Climb - Distant Worlds

Greeroi Mountain is located next to the base camp for Waypoint 18.

It is dwarfs the basecamp, standing at 18km. Several explorers had launched mini-expedition to climb and "conquer" the mountain. The Mountain is described as both epic and deadly with high slopes and several false peaks. Attempts by some pilots to scale the mountain had lost them their SRVs, failing the climb.

The few that made it to the top managed to take in the view of the base camp planet as well as the base camp itself.

Beagle Point Week[]

There were several event planned each day include games that were invented during the course of the expedition.

Most notable was the first extra-bubble wedding, at Beagle Point.

There was also Sagittarius-Carina Mission Q & A Session in FleetComm, short trips to Podar and the Treehouse, Whack-a-Rat, SRV Destruction derby

A week of fun filled activities where several expedition games were invented.

Beagle Point Wedding[]

Elite-_Dangerous_-_Distant_Worlds-_A_Distant_Wedding

Elite- Dangerous - Distant Worlds- A Distant Wedding

Darwin's Legacy hosted the furthest wedding between CMDR Johnathan Thal and Elena.

The Flagship's CMDR, Olivia Vespera married them under and archway of ships made by distant world friends.

Salome's Warning[]

Elite_Dangerous_Distant_Worlds_-_Salomé's_Message

Elite Dangerous Distant Worlds - Salomé's Message

It was rumoured that Salome had been travelling with the expedition. During the Beagle Point week, Salome reavealed herself and her entourage of Children of Raxxla members after having a meeting. She warned that the data we carried was important and should be wary of who we give it to. [add a quote from the video]

Arrival of FGE Sub-fleet[]

On the arrival of the FGE sub-fleet, [insert informaton here]

Failure of Jaques' Station[]

Inspired by the actions of the members of the Distant Worlds Expedition, Jaques' Station, with the aid of the Fuel Rats initiated a Community Goal to initiate one big jump to Beagle Point. Several CMDRs awaited Jaques arrival at Beagle Point after the completion of the CG.

While Jaques had successfully jumped, His station had not arrived at Beagle Point and had not been found for several weeks. A grid searh of Darwin's Legacy, the second planet of Beagle Point where the last base camp was situated was organized by CMDR Erimus to no avail.

Jaques Station was later found by CMDR Cly in a system known as Eol Prou RS-T d3-94.

Impact[]

Attention in the wider gaming world[]

Numerous gaming news outlets took noticed of the Distant Worlds Expedition prior to and during the expedition. A list can be found under External Links

Exploration Community - visibility, interest, and spin-off expeditions[]

Interest in exploration and topics exploded since Distant Worlds Expedition. Expeditions started coming out of the woodwork in all manner of sizes and types.

Fleetcomm - resources for expeditions to come[]

The Kamzel (Group K) private group was renamed to Fleetcomm and has since been used as the premier private group to host major expeditions since - just as the companion Fleetcomm discord group continues to provide essential fleet communication services.

Explorer's Legacies - never to return[]

5 units of Lavian Brandy were set aside at Beagle Point to be passed from Explorer to Explorer in "a continued, unbroken and never-ending chain of the spirit of exploration, wanderlust and well wishes to future expeditions."[10] While the Wanderlust legacy was lost with the ship carrying it, the other four continue to traverse the galaxy to this day.

Distant Worlds Commanders

Distant Worlds Expedition Decal on a Cobra

Official Recognition[]

Frontier gave all DWE CMDRs who reached Beagle Point by Beagle Week the game's first exclusive player decal, featuring the Distant Worlds Expedition logo. In a game update in May 2016, the system itself was renamed from Ceeckia ZQ-L c24-0 to Beagle Point in game.

Distant Worlds II[]

See Distant Worlds II.

On the 10th October 3303, CMDR Erimus made an early announcement for the sequel in Q4 3304/Q1 3305[11]

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Candyball Enduro Rally

This was one of the largest attended SRV races during the trip. Organised mostly by CMDR Raiijin , who on the day almost missed the event because he had an appoitnment with the doctors. The race was filled with explosions, screams of joy and lots of whoops! Most of all though everyone had fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZcOdLLjC7w


Content Creators Cup

This event was organised by CMDR Astromiko for the content creators on YouTube to get together for the first time in one place. We had all heard them on there respective channels but never had they all been in one place at once. Kudos to AstroMiko for the idea. The event was in the form of an SRV race (not race) which turned out to be a hilarious mish mash of blunders and explostions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIUp0xZALqo&t=40m7s


Krollins Crater

This was the moment when CMDR Krollin decided to pancake into the surface of Drakes Ridge, Base Camp 5 of the Distant Worlds Expedition. No cats were harmed during the making of this movie! All exploration data lost was at the expense of num nuts CMDR Krollin. Views expressed don't do this video justice.

NGC 6357 Sector DL-Y e22 | Planet : 2 | Coords : 47.77 / -95.71

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It5-w2h121o

References[]

External Links[]

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