Elite: Dangerous Lore and Technology - Artificial Gravity Need Not Apply

I am as guilty as anyone else. I have made assumptions in my mind, and in my fictional blogging, of how piloting ships in the galaxy of Elite: Dangerous works. I have ignorantly applied Star Wars and Star Trek lore to a game that aspires to be more realistic than those universes. Pilots in my fiction are 'running' and 'walking' around their ships because, of course, they have artificial gravity. And I have people in cabins on an Asp Explorer moving around without much trouble while the ship's pilot is in a dogfight, because, of course, inertial dampeners are kicking in!

In this article I will log actual lore taken from Frontiers-sourced/approved novels and other publications in an effort to create a centralized repository of how the ED galaxy 'behaves'.

This article will take some time to compile, as my spare reading time is greatly limited. I spend a lot of free time actually playing the game and updating the pilot advice articles, as well as working on my own works of fiction. The content will be disjointed and not well-organized for a bit since it will be logged as I go.

I am starting with Drew Wagar's novel, "Reclamation".  I am providing my interpretation of what I ASSUME the tech is based on the words in the novel. Some items are not always clearly described. I will make corrections as needed.

SPOILER ALERT!
I do not discuss characters or plot lines, but I am mentioning specific technology that the source material uses. This means a description of the tech is provided in the context of the novel.

"Reclamation", Drew Wagar

Click on this to see "Reclamation" on Drew's site

  ...Nov, 3303: 100% completed

Hyperspace and FSD
1. "Old hyperspace" technology has been decommissioned, requiring all ships with jump ability to get a new FSD, making Tantalum a valuable commodity
2. Hyperspace referred to as "witchspace"

Imperial Rank and Positions
1. Patrons
2. Senators
3. Emperor

Planet Transportation
1. Airports
2. Underground transport link (tube/subway)
3. Moray sub-aqua vessel

Starships

1. An old fighter design described as having a "patchwork of tarnished duralium"

2. Imperial Cutter: The pilot's seat uses a "viscous gel-like fluid" that flows and attaches to arms and legs to hold the pilot in place. I'm assuming this is a good substitute for "inertial dampener"
3. Pilot boots "clamp to the floor" in zero-G
4. "Automechs" are mentioned:

•  ...as loading and unloading cargo inside ship bays without human supervision
• ...also speak to humans ("specify the required destination")
• "Artificial intelligence was dumb, automechs especially so."

5. "Sidewinders cautiously fired grappling pitons" to tow a bigger ship
6. Imperial ships: "smooth organic lines and flowing curves"
7. Federation ships: "bold, stark and functional form"
8. Alliance: "blend of the two, resulting in some oddly configured vessels"
9. Imperial capital ship: "Set condition prime throughout the ship"

Everyday Tech:
1. Holofac: a holographic projection/recording - also used for holographic live communication:

• "...statistics, graphs, monitors, vid-feeds."
• "A circular table in front of her glowed, initiating a holofac transmission."
• "...gestured to an auxilliary display and with a deft flick of her fingers sent a small image...into the holofac display."

2. Commtab: A printed communication (maybe like printed email or futuristic fax?)
3. Miniaturized camera drones
4. Surgery: A high-tech, expensive "pod" with an injured patient inside, inside an Imperial Cutter; "Saud Kruger ThruSpace Hermetic Bio Support Pod":

• Patient surrounded by the same "viscous gel" used in the pilot's seat (perhaps suspended animation or other preservation?)
• "Glass-like fibres" in the pod perform autonomous surgery, growing and retracting as needed, "throbbing and pulsing" inside the body to heal it
• The wound was sealed with "intense actinic light"
• A "black tab" on the forehead displays "configuration of lights" to communicate vital stats to the doctor

5. Remlok masks: space survival gear
6. Moving walls: "A brief gesture caused walls to slide into place around her"
7.  A cargo scanning device: "He selected one at random and pointed a small device at it. A single beep was emitted. On the device a coded number appeared"
8. "On board medicomp": Medical computer on a ship. "Diagnose and treat a limited array of uniquely space oriented maladies" - monitors clipped to fingers
9. Biometric identifiers: "tag", "memrec", "subcutaneous identity": no chip means no citizenship in Federation or Empire
10. "Small bots flew overhead": Running errands, holofac ads

Weapons:
1. "Semi-automatic pressurised rifles" that work in vaccum
2. "Lance and Ferman Widowmaker. An old-fashioned weapon, inaccurate at range; lethal, messy and brutal close up"
3. Whittaker Twinlock
4. Cowell '55

Language:
1. "Her accent was curious, a mix of exotic Alliance tones with a slight Federation cadence"

2. "Her voice had a strong Imperial tone with its characteristic musical lilt. It was clipped, precise and tutored"