There is a lot of confusion and misinformation about our game and also a lot of negative reviews because of this, so I'd like to address that in a FAQ format here.
Is this Elite: Dangerous?
No, this is Dangerous, a different game. We're both 3D space games with trading, combat, exploration, etc.
What's your game like?
Some have described our game as single player EVE Online with a story.
SpaceSimCentral.com gave us 5/5 stars:
http://spacesimcentral.com/ssc/page/articles.html/_/space-and-scifi-gaming-news/dangerous-review-r112
Brian Rubin of SpaceGameJunkie.com said it's "Always Fun, Always Active":
http://www.spacegamejunkie.com/reviews/dangerous-fun-active/
Is this just a port from mobile?
Definitely not. The game was designed for desktop and mobile at the same time. We wanted a desktop-quality game for mobile. There are keyboard bindings that make playing on the desktop more fluid than on mobile. Also, the graphics for the PC are ramped up from mobile.
Developing it for the small screen also benefited the PC version, because we spent time improving the interface. The radial controls were added later, for example, as well as auto-hiding of interface elements.
Why are you trying to rip off Elite: Dangerous' name?
We're not. We came out on mobile and PC before Elite: Dangerous was even announced.
What proof do you have?
Well, here's the email I sent to David Braben back in 2012 about the potential for name confusion.
from: Linh Ngo
to: enquiriesx@frontier.co.uk,
dbraben@******.uk
date: Tue, Nov 6, 2012 at 4:19 AM
Dear David Braben,
I learned today that you were creating a successor to Elite which is
awesome news! Unfortunately, the name you've chosen "Elite: Dangerous"
is confusingly similar to our 3D space trading RPG game which is
called "Dangerous". The irony is that I have been a fan of Elite since
the Commodore 64 era, and Elite was one of the many inspirations for
our game. In our game, the lead character is named "Dangerous", hence
the title of the game. While "dangerous" has been used in other game
titles, the genre of both our games are exactly similar (3d space
trading, piracy and combat) which is why I'm concerned that customers
might get confused.
We've been developing our game for over 3 years, and have been selling
it since late last year. Here's a public record:
http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=49226
http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=117572
http://www.spacegamejunkie.com/news/new-space-game-launched-dangerous/
http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/topic/2169-dangerous-a-3d-space-combat-rpg-eve-meets-x3/
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=92958528
http://www.spacesector.com/blog/forum/thread-773.html
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/106801-Dangerous-Epic-3D-space-combat-RPG
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/LinhNgo/20120808/175583/Google_Play_Is_Better_Than_The_iOS_Store_In_Our_Case_A_Dangerous_PostMortem.php
(Additional links and reviews omitted for the sake of brevity)
Our game is available on all major platforms (PC, Mac, iOS, Android)
and console ports are forthcoming. Here are links where you can buy
"Dangerous" today:
http://whoisdangerous.com
http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-DANGER/dangerous
http://www.macgamestore.com/product/2390/Dangerous/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dangerous/id351211190?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.avyn.nullspace&hl=en
http://www.amazon.com/Binary-Helix-Dangerous/dp/B007N8XZE0
If you're curious, you can also download the free demo versions on the
WhoIsDangerous.com website.
As a die-hard fan of Elite, I'm ecstatic that you're dipping your toes
into the Elite waters again. The space sim genre is ripe for a come
back, and the more the merrier I say! At any rate, I'm hoping we can
come up with a mutually amicable resolution to this problem. Please
let me know if you want to chat via Skype or voice.
Best,
Linh Ngo
[contact info omitted]
I did not get a reply.
I also reached out to Ian Bell about endorsing a potential Kickstarter for our game. He's the co-creator of the original Elite. He had met with David Braben not long after the Elite: Dangerous announcement. Here's part of a conversation I had with him in email:
...
I asked David about "Dangerous" and he confimed he was aware of your approach. He said somebody at Frontier whose name escapes me now (possibly another David?) was "dealing with it".
...
No one else at Frontier contacted me. Being indie devs, there wasn't much we could do about this.
Why did you launch on Steam on the same day as Elite: Dangerous?
This was not intentional, believe it or not. When I Googled their launch date in November, I saw that it was due to launch on December 18:
http://massively.joystiq.com/2014/11/18/braben-clarifies-elite-dangerous-lacking-an-offline-mode/
Elite: Dangerous actually launched on December 16th. So whether the report above is a typo or whether the date changed, I'm unsure.
When did you submit your build to Steam?
I submitted on Saturday, December 13, 2014.
Due to Steam integration issues with our Unity 3.5 build, we weren't able to launch a week earlier as hoped, but we still thought we had safely beat Elite: Dangerous' launch date since a viable build was submitted on December 13. Unfortunately, Steam does not review builds on the weekends. Also due to a store description formatting error that was promptly corrected on Monday, the game wasn't released by Valve until the day after: December 16th.
Also, please keep in mind Dangerous has been available for mobile and desktop elsewhere for years.
I bought Dangerous for PC or Mac elsewhere, can I get a Steam code?
Sure, just email support@binaryhelix.com with a copy of the store receipt and we'll send you a Steam code.
What are your plans for the new year?
If the store revenue permits, we'd like to develop the ability to board and take over another ship from the inside. Also station ownership and an expansion of the economy. Keep in mind the game is finished as is. This might come as DLC, for example. Also, we're upgrading the engine to Unity 4.6 which includes Linux support, so that's another possibility.
Thanks for reading, and have a great New Year!
-Linh Ngo
Founder of Binary Helix