Elite Dangerous Alpha Test: Odyssey's alpha test begins today. The next expansion of this galactic spaceship sim centers on allowing players to walk around the planet on foot, and Frontier is locking testers out of their ships for the first few weeks.

The alpha version of Odyssey, available to owners of the Lifetime Expansion Pass and Odyssey Deluxe Alpha Edition, begins this afternoon and will run over the next few weeks. But before you start making plans to set foot on your favorite planet, check out Frontier's alpha deployment plans.

Because it looks like we will all be staying in the same star system and relying on public transportation, at least for the first few days.

In Phase 1, in order to concentrate on the absolute basics of walking around the planet and interacting with other players, Frontier will limit everyone to one star system in order to keep track of everyone. Also, to get from planet to planet, instead of their own ships, they have to rely on Odyssey's new budget airline, Apex Interstellar.

In the later phases, the galaxy is gradually opened up, players are able to purchase ships, factional warfare is brought in, and the toy chest at Odyssey's feet is opened up. In the final phase, a snapshot of the commander is imported from the main game to experience Odyssey at launch.

The alpha version will last several weeks, but Frontier is willing to extend each phase as needed; Odyssey itself will be available to all later this spring, at which point they can jostle with their co-pilot over who gets first crew credit.