Guide / Tutorial Nutter’s explorers guide to the Galaxy

Heh, that's pretty much how I'd specced it!

http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=30g,,2-6u6u886u6u8S8I,52C7TCmpV2UI2jw

I'll stick with my hauler, I think. Though am very tempted to use my type 6 just for the views! :)

You should ditch the Shields and equip A rated FSD.
I would also go for the C class fuel scoop 6 or 5 depending on the cash i have. I don't mind waiting when scooping and i usually keep my temperature below 100% during scoop.
This will be my setup when i have the cash for ASP - ASP for exploring .
 
I was there yesterday, and it was my first black hole ;)
Now I'm heading to Hind nebula, very very little one.

Yeah, I was there too the first day when I started my exploration runs, a week ago or so. Trying to get closer to Witch Head Nebula but there has been so many interesting places to visit meanwhile that it's taking a long time before I get there :(

Someone should start Maia Vacation club or something...
 
Well, hard to put into text and I am planning on a vid very soon for this, but Earth Like planets are RARE and look like earth in the system map (funny enough!), you are more likely to find water worlds and quite often look exactly like 'Earth Like'. The 3D holographic scanner icon needs to be the Earth symbol too.

As for high metal, generally NOT white in colour. They are genrally close to the parent star, volcanic planets are always high metal content some even 100%

I'l try to do a video guide by the end of the week

Yeah, I've travelled ca. 500-600 Ly away from Sol and still haven't found any earth like planets. Not that many water worlds either. I've also fully scanned almost every system I've visited, I know it's not the most profitable thing to do but I can't stop scanning the system if I've already started...
 
I also use the Cobra right now, and it's treating me fine.
I've considered the Hauler, but the small window and lack of top window is a no-go for me though..
So aside from the ASP (which is just stupidly expensive..) what is a good exploration ship? I'm thinking good jump range, large fuel capacity, etc.
 
Yeah, I've travelled ca. 500-600 Ly away from Sol and still haven't found any earth like planets. Not that many water worlds either. I've also fully scanned almost every system I've visited, I know it's not the most profitable thing to do but I can't stop scanning the system if I've already started...

I found three terraforming candidate planets in one system on my way to California Nebula. I think two of them were water worlds, but i need to check my notes when i am home. I really consider myself lucky for this discovery. :)
And i do not scan entire systems. It is not worth it, especially if the body you need to scan is more than 6-10k LS away. Well, if i found an Earth like planet will probably go there even if the distance is not more than 50k LS.

EDIT: Ok. Three terraforming candidates, one of them is water world and two of them are high metal content planets. Wredguia PR-N D6-31.
 
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When the rare run got a bit boring on my way to the ASP I decided to make my cobra into a mini exploration ship (A FSD, Adv. scanner + detail scanner) + arming it a bit more so now I happily get interdicted by NPC's and dabble in exploring enroute to the rares. Takes a bit longer, but I couldn't stop the exploration cravings anymore.

Does anyone have any lists of nice places to visit in the populated region? Such as big stars, interesting systems etc.?
 
Started out exploring as a way to make money safely as new player, but adds to your CR when you are trading too.

For more interesting things head for edge/rim of known space (Towards coal sack) much to see and do.
And yes have shields ALWAYS:
1. due to unexpected NPC battles.
2. Clipping a ring on a planet does A LOT of damage (Yes rings are now just graphics they hurt).

Not found any black holes yet, hope to though. Found a few uncharted outposts though.
Also remember where your local black market is, as you pick up lots of cargo along the way.
 
When the rare run got a bit boring on my way to the ASP I decided to make my cobra into a mini exploration ship (A FSD, Adv. scanner + detail scanner) + arming it a bit more so now I happily get interdicted by NPC's and dabble in exploring enroute to the rares. Takes a bit longer, but I couldn't stop the exploration cravings anymore.

Does anyone have any lists of nice places to visit in the populated region? Such as big stars, interesting systems etc.?

IMHO you shouldnt want to engage pirates even if you will probably win. you can make mistake and your scans go bye bye. or you can get some damage and you dont want to go into deep space with 64% hull. at least cracked canopy does not look good on your nebulae snapshots.
 
I found three terraforming candidate planets in one system on my way to California Nebula. I think two of them were water worlds, but i need to check my notes when i am home. I really consider myself lucky for this discovery. :)
And i do not scan entire systems. It is not worth it, especially if the body you need to scan is more than 6-10k LS away. Well, if i found an Earth like planet will probably go there even if the distance is not more than 50k LS.

EDIT: Ok. Three terraforming candidates, one of them is water world and two of them are high metal content planets. Wredguia PR-N D6-31.

Ohhhh, I thought that earth like planets were different than candidates for terraforming? I've found a couple of those, near Pleiades nebula. I don't know how that one planet could be a candidate since its surface temp was 500K and the star it's orbiting is only a rock throw away but I guess everything's possible... I know it's not profitable to scan icy planets but I'm still doing it. I'm stupid :p
 
High Metal Content does not mean that they are not suitable for living. At first glance i was also amazed, but then i looked at the data for the athmosphere - one of them was mainly Carbon Dioxide and Sulphur Dioxide but the other was Nitrogen and Oxygen.
I am still not sure if Carbon/Sulphur athmosphere can be converted to Nitrogen/Oxygen and how, but... :)
 
IMHO you shouldnt want to engage pirates even if you will probably win. you can make mistake and your scans go bye bye. or you can get some damage and you dont want to go into deep space with 64% hull. at least cracked canopy does not look good on your nebulae snapshots.

True, but I wouldn't go on a proper long exploring trip with this setup, more along the lines of interesting things I can find on the edge of my route around the inhabited space.
 
High Metal Content does not mean that they are not suitable for living. At first glance i was also amazed, but then i looked at the data for the athmosphere - one of them was mainly Carbon Dioxide and Sulphur Dioxide but the other was Nitrogen and Oxygen.
I am still not sure if Carbon/Sulphur athmosphere can be converted to Nitrogen/Oxygen and how, but... :)

Yeah, the planet I found that had 500k temperature also had carbon/suplhur atmosphere. It sounds quite the opposite to terraforming candidate but who knows what they can do in 3300 :D
 
I found at least 4 or so water worlds / terraforming planets on my way out to the Pleides Nebula, and a wonderful blue/purple supergiant at HIP 21776 that I will be taking some pictures of once I'm done scanning everything in orbit. (there's a lot)
 
I'm running a 6C scoop - the B and A are ridiculous in wear and tear costs, I think if I fitted a A6 scoop I would make a loss in exploring!

Interesting - I have an A4 fitted on the Cobra and that was a big chunk of cash, with the new Asp I'm using only a D6 scoop and it still seems to get the job done as well as the A4 did for filling the Cobra's tank. I'd planned to upgrade to a bigger scoop but may give it a miss if it's so expensive! Going to see what the wear-and-tear is like when I get back from HIP 26212, got a feeling I'm in for a nasty shock. :)
 
About candidates for terraforming - so far we know that High Metal Content, Water Worlds and Rocky Worlds can all be candidates for terraforming in the right circumstances. Earth-like worlds are a distinct class (it's possible that they're created when a Water World is exactly in the right place in the habitable zone.)

As far as I've been able to tell so far, to be a candidate for terraforming a planet must be naturally between around 240K and around 300K - that is to say, if the planet was in the same location and had no atmosphere, its temperature would be in that range. In practice, CFT planets will have higher temperatures because the atmosphere increases the temperature by some extent which varies depending on what it's made of. It's quite possible to see CFT worlds with stupendously thick atmospheres and stupendously high temperatures.

The habitable zones are very roughly around 1/4 AU for type M, 1/2 AU for type K, 1 AU for type G, 2 AU for type F, 4 AU for type A. It's not very exact because there is great variation between a bright star in a class and a dim star in a class. But if you jump into a system around a G star and there's a HMC planet at 1 AU distance, it's likely to be a candidate for terraforming, and definitely worth checking out.
What I usually do is check whichever planet is closest to where I expect the habitable zone to be for a star, have a look at the temperature and if it seems to be too hot, I look at the next one outwards, or if too cold the next one inwards. When I find a CFT planet I scan the ones inside and outside of it, and so on. Usually you'll get one-to-three candidates for terraforming, but in the right circumstances there can be lots. Especially if you've got a dim star or stars with planets, orbiting a big giant star at a considerable distance - that arrangement means that there's little heat from the star the planets are orbiting, and a uniform heat from the giant across all the planets, so if one is right they can all be right.
 
Interesting - I have an A4 fitted on the Cobra and that was a big chunk of cash, with the new Asp I'm using only a D6 scoop and it still seems to get the job done as well as the A4 did for filling the Cobra's tank. I'd planned to upgrade to a bigger scoop but may give it a miss if it's so expensive! Going to see what the wear-and-tear is like when I get back from HIP 26212, got a feeling I'm in for a nasty shock. :)

Well an A6 Scoop costs ... Best sit down for this one..... 28,763,610 ! I think I would LOSE about 1 - 2 Million per exploration trip!
The B6 costs 7,190,903 and I reckon I make enough profit to feed myself.
The C6 (in use) costs 1,797,726 and I can turn 2Mil per 3,000ly with light scanning mainly sight seeing.

In other news I've just finished optimizing my ASP for max Jump and after a lot of testing I have a 37.5ly Jump Capable ASP! Maybe 38ly with strict fuel management!

Everything functions and I have just enough CAP power to use everything including Boost - I've removed the shields - Basically i've squeezed every last drop out of the ASP.

I'll do a vid on the setup as it is not easy to explain in text :)
 
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I hope FD will check out and rebalance some equipment price scaling, repair costs etc. soon. 28mil for A6 fuel scoop is just ridiculous, among other things.
 
Gents! I have reached California Nebula today. Yay!
Few jumps before that i was looking in the map for my next waypoint star when i found HIP 16556. My first black hole and neutron star, both in the same system.
The black hole was a very small one (2.8 Solar masses), but the lens effect was great.
I approached the neutron star to around 1-2 LS and then i got scared and pulled away. This thing is so small and yet so massive and decided not to risk my ship to see how much further i can go against it.
Today was a good day. :) :D
 
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