New Player Totally Lost

[palleon]

Hi,

I bought this a while back, and have struggled to get anywhere with the game, so hoped now it was close to launch it would start to make more sense.

Alas...

So firstly the user guide on the main site says "Launch, then select Azeban City from the Navigation menu" - except there is no Azeban city on the menu at all. I tried everything and I cant find it.

So I try another city, and do what the guide says and I get an error "Scoop deployed" or something (in a tiny window on the right) - nothing at all telling me what that means or how to "undeploy" it.

Why on earth is there no straightforward in game instructions for new players? Do you really think people who pick this up in the shops are going to spend the next week crawling through the forums in the hope they can work out how to get out of the newbie area? As this appears to be the only way of working it out!

Even if I do get out, I've then no idea what to do beyond that, save fly around a space station endlessly.

Are there any plans to implement some sort of decent "New Player Guide" in game? (and yes, I did the tutorials, although when you get the Super Cruise one the instructions stop when you get to the Galaxy map with no clue where to go from there and when you try to stop "super cruise" you get tons of warnings about over heat...)

Sorry, just this looks lovely, but it just feels so frustrating trying to do things that should be simple and should allow me to enjoy the game.

 

[Slacker]

Every station in the game is in one of the systems. Azeban City is in the Eranin system, this would have been listed when you picked up a mission from the bulletin board.

You need to target Eranin in your navigation menu, take off, aim your ship at it and hit hyperspace/jump drive.

When you arrive, turn your ship away from the sun, then go back to the Navigation menu and you'll find Azeban City is listed. Target it, aim your ship at it and put your throttle into the middle of the blue dots on the throttle control.

When you get there, hit your hyperspace/jump drive button again when it says in blue "Safe to disengage", you'll leave hyperspace and be near to the station.

When within 7km select the station from the Contact menu (along from the Navigation menu) and request docking.

Enter the station and (slowly and carefully) go to the numbered pad it's told you to land at. Lower your landing gear before you land.

Practice doing this and it'll soon be natural. If you have trouble with the docking procedure do the appropriate tutorial several times.

To start with try to pick up simple cargo missions to move from station to station making a few credits on the way. You can learn about the more interesting stuff along the way.

 

[Wolfman]

With random start a new player may not be anywhere close to Eranin (Azeban City)

 

[Slacker]

I think they can pick up the general idea from the description.

 

[Grumbleweed]

You are right that the in-game tuts are only ok, IMHO I'd advise other ways to find out the nitty gritty of the game. FD have acknowledged this and will be working on them.

In the meantime, you can check out the Sidewinder Owners Manual:
http://elite.frontier.co.uk/downloads/Sidewinder_Owners_Manual_WIP.pdf

This is a work in progress by FD themselves, so it might be a bit sketchy in places, the reason is that this a gamma release of a hugely detailed game, and as time goes on, those details will change. I assume a proper manual will be released at launch on Dec 16, once all the features have settled down.

There are also lots of youtube videos and live Twitch streams you can watch, or you can post a question in the forums, perhaps others have some nice pointers for our newer commanders?

Keep at it, its worth the perseverance!

 

[BlueDNA]

Im going to try the game in a week, at the moment i just die and die and.... and when i dont do that their is problem with jump to station : (

I take a break and try one more time if its not is going to be better i try some other game : (

 

[Volkira]

What I did was go through all the control settings.I then wrote them down in an organised manner and placed this cardboard template in front of my keyboard.

In your settings change your key mapping to toggle options so you can press eg,scoop deployed/scoop retracted(it's used for collecting floating space cargo or mining when combined with mining laser).

Move your Boost away from accidently hitting it.

Play in the first tutorial and fine tune your control method here as you wont lose a ship if you destroy it unlike being in the open game.

It takes a while to get your controls set for your liking.There are lots of options.Tweaking them is really important.So take your time with this.

Know where your ship's Speed Stop button is.When your out of control hit it.This will save you smashing all over the place as you get familiar with landing.

edit;I forgot there is a Blue band in your speed indicator.This is the best area to be in when wanting to maneuver your ship.

A lot of us Alpha/beta players are also using voice command software. eg Voice attack... what it does it activates key mappings with voice commands like for example " Landing Gear Up"..voice attack runs in the back ground and when it hears that voice command it will trigger the predetermined key.I personally have all my controls attached to voice commands.That way I can focus on maneuvering the ship without having to search for keys on my keyboard.

When in cruising speed dont approach a planet at full speed as you'll not be able to slow down in time.I usaully will sit on 75% speed.As you approach your target wait for it to get in the 1000km distance.Then at say 500km press your hyperspace key and you'll drop out.
Once near the station usually under 9km you need to contact the station and request docking permission.
Once approved you'll notice a docking bay number.Head for that docking bay.Dropping landing gear acts like a speed break.Has a slight delay but will drop your speed by half roughly.There is a yellow gangway at the landing site.It needs to be on your right when you land.You can always fully stop and then spin your ship around.Remember "stop" is your best friend.

Seriously after a day or so you'll be fine.We have all been through this rough stage.

That user guide is old now.In Beta we used to all spawn in the Earanin system.In gamma we are spread out.Best to do the tutorial missions first.At least the first few.

 

[Slacker]

Im going to try the game in a week, at the moment i just die and die and.... and when i dont do that their is problem with jump to station : (

I take a break and try one more time if its not is going to be better i try some other game : (

How are you dying and what's the jump problem?

 

[foxpur]

This game does have a serious learning curve. We all know that. It helped that some of use played the previous versions of the game, but even then it was a bit hard. The actually game still isn't out yet so the manual appears to be a lower priority. The link list yo a couple posts there will help.

But realize, even to us well trained we still had questions weeks down the road. You will get the hang of it...

I am just about to post an idea to the right forum about key binding to make it easier to understand (MUCH easier).

But really, keep posting the questions, we know this will happen

 

[vstrider]

Sorry, just this looks lovely, but it just feels so frustrating trying to do things that should be simple and should allow me to enjoy the game.

The game is not meant to be simple. It's far easier and simpler than the original Elite. You can't please everyone and this game is not for everyone. If it was simple enough for you to enjoy, maybe i and many other Elite fans wouldn't enjoy it.

 

[RegisterMe]

My answer would be don't worry about it. Take your starting Sidewinder and pretend that you're a toddler in a shallow bath watched over by a benevolent parent.

Go mad. Try and crash, try and shoot something inside the station. Try and fly into a sun. Try and shoot another ship down somewhere (not in a station or just outside). Try and suck an asteroid in through a straw. See if you can shoot the needle into the dock whilst a Type 9 or an Anaconda are docking. Get a bounty on you for some reason and see what happens. Run out of fuel and see what happens.

Have fun. Giggle. Make mistakes.

Then, if it worries you, delete your save and start again "properly" .

 

[Magic Man]

Took my first spin today. Couple of minutes to get the hang of it then felt like I'd never been away...

 

[Twisted]

It's a very steep learning curve for sure.

I've been in Beta for the last 6 weeks...and it's unforgiving.

Patience is the key. Reward vs risk.

I've died more times than i care to admit..crashed and burned.

Stick with it.

 

[foxpur]

We do try to give you tactics on doing things too. And sometimes it's not obvious... like flying somepace you DO have to stop the drived before you can actually GET there... that took a while to figure out.

 

[NapalmJunkie]

Today was my first proper day of playing, took me several attempts to get the hang of landing (and not just bouncing off the floor). And my first attempt at SC to a station ended in overshooting and overheating.

To be honest the tutorials are pretty much useless, as was the manual last time I looked at it. However I've found that the best place to learn how to play is to watch ED videos on YouTube. I've learnt a lot by watching, though putting it into practice isn't always as easy!

But as above, one very good bit of advice is to use the basic combat tutorial (shooting nuclear waste barrels) to fine tune the controls etc and get used to everything. You have loads of time and space (excuse the pun!) to practice. As soon as you can control the ship and shoot things, then things become a bit easier.

 

[BlueDNA]

How are you dying and what's the jump problem?

Its easy to land dock etc. Can even launch the ship fast and undock with full speed with gear up(L).
i find the station etc. But its the stop ship problem to get supreme speed to a station. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. Its like its random. Use x or s to get speed down. J for jump etc.

But mission 4 travel is not working so their is no good place to train jump its what i missing in skill to play Elite.

Then we have the killing, i like pve and pvp bit when u get killed by a ship every time i do a mission in a safe system its not fun. Their could be a timer like a 24 hour so u as a new player have some time to try the ship. Or if i could respawn in a diffrent system. Now its repeat and repeat. Mission get killed, mission get killed...

the ship that attacks me its faster cant even hit it or run for it. Using eng,sys,wep diffrent it dosnt matter every time i die. Have done the mission adv fighting and its easy. But i cant kill this ship.

it need some tweaking thats why i say that i try the game in a week again and see if its better. Doing only solo game. Its feels more like lotto if u got lucky and find a good system as a new player or if u end up in a system and get killed every time.

Im tired of this game right now maybe its going to be better next week..

(English is not my native)

 

[McMatt]

Some nice suggestions - advices here, thank's. I have a question too. How can I minimise possibility of being hijacked (interdicted) while travelling? It's happening like 75 % of my jumps. And if I can't escape, I'm dead. Attacker is always faster, more agile, more firepower.

 

[Tarman]

Some nice suggestions - advices here, thank's. I have a question too. How can I minimise possibility of being hijacked (interdicted) while travelling? It's happening like 75 % of my jumps. And if I can't escape, I'm dead. Attacker is always faster, more agile, more firepower.

Watch your back, literally. Most interdictors can be spotted coming up behind you to get you. Keep an eye out for any ship attempting to get in behind your flight path.

If you do get snagged, then don't decelerate. This is an automatic submission to the interdiction. As soon as you're snagged, try to follow the blue Escape Vector marker. The blue meter on the left is your chance for escaping, the red on the right is the guy trying to stop you. The more you can hold your direction into the vector, the better chance you have of breaking the tether and taking off without being dropped down to sublight speeds. Be warned that if you attempt to escape but don't, you will take a small amount of damage. A lot less than being ripped up by a pirate though.

A good way to avoid most interdiction altogether is to fly up out of the system plane, out of the normally travelled spacelanes. Get some distance and then plot your course in an arc to your destination, instead of a straight line.

 

[Jack Shaftoe]

YouTube videos are definitely helpful, just take note of the game version in the lower left hand corner and realize that things changed slightly as the game evolved.

For setting up your controls, and learning the basics of how to move your ship around, spend some time in the toxic-waste barrel tutorial. Nothing else flying around, nobody shooting at you. My very first experience with the game was taking off from inside a Coriolis station, and just about every control binding (including the throttle) was reversed. As soon as I hit "launch", my ship started slamming around on things, and attempts to control it only made things worse. Had I started floating in space, it would have been a lot easier to figure out. Set a few keybinds at a time and jot them down on a notepad, and get used to using them.

Combat can be trickier than it seems, so don't be afraid to just do some peaceful flying around before even trying combat tutorials. Kind of like learning to drive before getting into a race or a demolition derby. After you're comfortable flying around some asteroids and even pinging away at the toxic waste barrels, take the next tutorial where it's just you against one guy with no shields. Select him as a target, but as long as you don't fire he won't turn hostile and return fire. Shadow him around for a bit through the asteroid field, feeling out what it takes to keep your crosshairs on him, learning how to use translational thrusters (strafing, both side to side and up and down). Getting comfortable doing this is a relatively peaceful way to hone your ship control skills, which is the most important part of combat.

 

[McMatt]

Tarman, thank you for answering. Another one. When object (like planet) is blocking my jump. What is fastest way to get to destination? Sometimes it's enough to turbo fly to get clear sight, but if destination is right behind planet I found no other solution than to jump to another point and from there to final destination (I've looked at galaxy map and tried to figured out best route). Is that "normal" solution or is there another way around?