Who else has got to wait?

Jester69 · Nov 22, 2014

I've got a birthday 22nd December and crazily agreed that Elite and HOTAS would make a great birthday present.
Little did I know how painful that would be... I watched tonight's launch stream and felt like doing the petulant 12 year old thing (and I'm 45 next month).
And then, to make things worse, I watched NasirJ on twitch fly to Earth via a beautiful double star (and nearly run out of fuel which was entertaining!) ... magnificent.

Now in negotiations with my wife to get my birthday presents a day early so that I can at least have it setup for my Birthday.

It's going to be a stressful month.

Tarman · Nov 22, 2014

Should have been born in early October like me, that's how I got my setup.

Actually you have my sympathy; the game is a lot of fun, especially with a great control setup. I hope you can make it till then. Goodluck and dogspeed, CMDR.

Jester69 · Nov 22, 2014

Thanks Harman, see you or there, after I've completed basic training of course!

Rune · Nov 22, 2014

What HOTAS are you getting?

Jester69 · Nov 22, 2014

Hi, I'm getting the Thrustmaster T Flight HOTAS X.

zekestone · Nov 22, 2014

I don't think it's that bad of a deal, I get that you are itching to play it but I think it's worth waiting for your birthday. They'll have the bugs ironed out by then and things will be more balanced. I bought a beta package and I don't play it as much anymore because of the money and ship wipes. After a day or so you'll become quite good at the game, so it doesn't take much gaming experience. Before I got the beta I did a lot of research into the game, watching you tube videos and trawling the forums to prepare myself. You should research into your thrustmaster joystick, which keys to map out and have it all written out for the big day. I had an x52 and it took me 3 days to fully calibrate it for the training missions, there were so many buttons and it was hard prioritising which ones to map. You research into interdictions, Flight assist on/off, FSD/hyperspace. Everything else is easy stuff that you can't learn until you actually experience it like flying the ship and diverting power etc.

I heard from the premiere that you can play the training scenarios early if you got the merc package so you can familiarise yourself with the game, maybe your wife will let you do that early?

Jester69 · Nov 23, 2014

Thanks for the advice. Looking at control setup now (including the making of a preliminary Roccat Power Grid Tab, save me having to use the keyboard and learn the keys for anything I don't map to the HOTAS).

Tarman · Nov 23, 2014

Zeke's got a good plan there with a map. I run a full CH Pro HOTAS; I drew a diagram of the button placement with enough space to write the functions down, in pencil. Then I went through and mapped everything to where I thought would be optimal settings, and tweaked them during tute missions until everything had a good workflow.

It's handy for a refsheet too, till your controls become second nature. Way easier than going into the bindings menu every single time just to recall what's what, or for times when you might need to do a full rebind. The jump between Beta3.9 and Gamma messed up 3-input control schemes so a clean rebind was necessary at least for me.

mike68 · Nov 23, 2014

Well i was planning on waiting to get the game and a HOTAS at the same time, until i realized my wife would kill me if i spent 200 dollars on a controller, so i got the beta and a xbox one controller. not as immersive, but it is still a blast to play. Then once the consumer version of the oculus comes out i will throw any amount of money at it haha.

cpbtrading · Nov 23, 2014

You really only need it a week early. No need to be in here at the moment, it will be wiped I think. So everything will start proper on the 16th Dec. Certainly that's how I'm thinking about it, not worth earning much or doing much till then.

How I see it for now anyway. Just mess around, o.k. I know your missing that part..

Dan-Erik · Nov 23, 2014

While I understand your frustration at having to wait... A lot of people are currently even more frustrated because they formally have access to the game but are unable to play due to bugs. Maybe you are better off for waiting and not getting a negative mindset towards the game due to experiencing all the bugs that are currently in.

Also, it was more or less confirmed that there will be another wipe before release. So nothing done now will persist anyway. The only thing you're missing out on is "training".

Jester69 · Nov 23, 2014

Thanks for the comments folks. Got HOTAS pics today so will make a mapping template. Also had a play with Roccat Power Grid this evening and looks like it could be an excellent addition to the controller setup... Plenty to be getting on with!

Katkon · Nov 23, 2014

Jester69 said:
I've got a birthday 22nd December and crazily agreed that Elite and HOTAS would make a great birthday present.
Little did I know how painful that would be... I watched tonight's launch stream and felt like doing the petulant 12 year old thing (and I'm 45 next month).
And then, to make things worse, I watched NasirJ on twitch fly to Earth via a beautiful double star (and nearly run out of fuel which was entertaining!) ... magnificent.

Now in negotiations with my wife to get my birthday presents a day early so that I can at least have it setup for my Birthday.

It's going to be a stressful month.

I'm in a bit of similar position. Ordered a Volair Sim gaming chair, Warthog and Saitek Pro Combat pedals and informed my wife I wouldn't use them until Christmas. The boxes arrived a week ago and I felt it prudent to ensure that all the parts were actually all there and in working order. After I laid out the chair's parts, I concluded that it would really be prudent to ensure they all fit together perfectly... so I built the chair. And I of course had to test the Warthog and Saitek pedals, also in the name of prudence. I then decided that it would be even more prudent to mount the pedals and HOTAS to the chair to ensure a proper fit, which I did.

So after about of day's building/configuring, I can now conclude that everything is pretty much complete and in working order. However, with technology one never knows, so have entered a period of advanced testing (to catch any issues that were not immediately apparent) which should take me to Christmas Day exactly. After that, I'll be able to use the equipment in non-test mode.

Moral of the story: play with your new toy. You wife will think you're a moron for not waiting, but she'll forgive you (if she's anything like mine, that is).

Rincething · Nov 23, 2014

Jester69 said:
I've got a birthday 22nd December and crazily agreed that Elite and HOTAS would make a great birthday present.
Little did I know how painful that would be... I watched tonight's launch stream and felt like doing the petulant 12 year old thing (and I'm 45 next month).
And then, to make things worse, I watched NasirJ on twitch fly to Earth via a beautiful double star (and nearly run out of fuel which was entertaining!) ... magnificent.

Now in negotiations with my wife to get my birthday presents a day early so that I can at least have it setup for my Birthday.

It's going to be a stressful month.

I feel your pain... Elite Dangerous is my Christmas present. I keep watching videos too. Already bought the game just not allowed to play it

I'm 46.
At least I can spend time planning how best to set up my X52 for the big day

Waldorf · Nov 23, 2014

I was gonna wait until the 16th, but if the Merc package includes access to the tutorials that might just swing it for me. Any idea when they open that bit up? Did they mention an approximate time frame at the launch event?

zekestone · Nov 24, 2014

Try accessing it now, i think DAvid BRaben said it was available at the premiere.

Fastdruid · Nov 24, 2014

You at least haven't played the game and hopefully all the major bugs should be ironed out by then and over the initial release rush.

I'm in a worse position, I'm really enjoying playing it and my X52 Pro has broken, so now I need to send it off and they say they expect to be fixed within 10 days.

10 days!

I suppose I could dig out the Microsoft Sidewinder FFB but while it's a fab joystick it doesn't have enough buttons and I've got the X52 (almost) right.

Jester69 · Nov 24, 2014

I was gonna wait until the 16th, but if the Merc package includes access to the tutorials that might just swing it for me. Any idea when they open that bit up? Did they mention an approximate time frame at the launch event?

Hi Waldorf, DB stated at the launch that tutorial access would be available to Merc owners from Wednesday.

I'm in a worse position, I'm really enjoying playing it and my X52 Pro has broken, so now I need to send it off and they say they expect to be fixed within 10 days. 10 days!

Sorry Fastdruid, no sympathy; you can break your X52, send it away and have it back, playing again before I've touched a boost button!

But, after much negotiating, it has been agreed that I can set up and install ED & HOTAS a couple of days before my birthday, but I shall not venture out in to the galaxy! And I've no doubt that in a few days that'll feel like a bad plan too!
Basically, 'I want it now!' #stomping feet!

Waldorf · Nov 25, 2014

Thanks for the replies all. I get paid on Friday, so I'll get the Merc edition then and prepare myself for launch

.