Newcomer / Intro The feeling of being there

[Annoluce]

This game is really starting to fill me with a grasping sense of awe and elation.
I'm a star watcher since I was a child, when my father at 13 gave me a wonderful gift: a small telescope. Since then I use to go out at night, on mountains, with my 8" Celestron and watch the stars. The only purpose of sky watching is sky watching. No other reason, just being there and participate like a monk to the astounding violent beauty of the universe, lost in the total lacking of answers, joining the void and meaningless black of everything.
I never had a PC experience so close to the inspiring sensations I feel when I'm under a starry, icy night and stars show as shiny coloured little blades in the eyepiece field and the only thing you ear is the hum of your breath.
Don't know if any of you feels the same. Just wanted to share that.

Max

 

[the100thmonkey]

Try ALT+SHIFT+G to improve the visual immersion.

You can also remove the orbit lines in the right-hand menu.

Have fun! And fly safe - it's probably better to undo those changes when docking.

 

[Lupin]

With you on this. Much more to discover in playing, learning and exploring. Also use head track with mouse as you move around.
To many players just treating this as yet another combat game.

BTW rings around planets can hit you, so watch your piloting as you watch the star rise around a new planet.

I look forward to the day when we can explore planets up close.

 

[heavymetaltcup]

This game is really starting to fill me with a grasping sense of awe and elation.
I'm a star watcher since I was a child, when my father at 13 gave me a wonderful gift: a small telescope. Since then I use to go out at night, on mountains, with my 8" Celestron and watch the stars. The only purpose of sky watching is sky watching. No other reason, just being there and participate like a monk to the astounding violent beauty of the universe, lost in the total lacking of answers, joining the void and meaningless black of everything.
I never had a PC experience so close to the inspiring sensations I feel when I'm under a starry, icy night and stars show as shiny coloured little blades in the eyepiece field and the only thing you ear is the hum of your breath.
Don't know if any of you feels the same. Just wanted to share that.

Max

+1...yep. =) So wondeful that your dad gave you a scope! Our family had one when I was growing up - we lived in the country so it was nice and dark. Sadly, it seemed more a passing fad to my parents, they got into it for a while, but then just blew it off, didn't really maintain the mirror, (it was plate-sized), which got damaged and they never replaced it.

Eh...made me quite sad, at the time, still kind of does. A lost opportunity.

Anyway, definitely agree - it's so nice, just piloting, travelling, learning for the sake of it - just enjoying it.

I remember the first time I nearly lost a ship in ED...that sound of cracking glass, the sudden and unpleasant silence that enveloped the sound of breathing...and the ticking clock that heralded just how fast I would have to limp back to a station to save my hide.

I felt that somehow captured - brilliantly - just how massive, and dangerous, and unforgiving space could really be...I loved that I felt actually humbled and scared!...I was hooked!

 

[heavymetaltcup]

With you on this. Much more to discover in playing, learning and exploring. Also use head track with mouse as you move around.
To many players just treating this as yet another combat game.

BTW rings around planets can hit you, so watch your piloting as you watch the star rise around a new planet.

I look forward to the day when we can explore planets up close.

I understand they're working on being able to let us land on them at some point! (Though I'm not sure I'd be keen on landing on SOME of those planetary types...hah...)

Agree with you that there's definitely some part of the player base that acts that way....about the combat, I mean. This is an entire GALAXY to explore, and yet some of them act as if this should be CoD In Space, which seems to me to be a limited mindset - you can get combat anywhere. ED offers more than that.

 

[Ferris]

This game is really starting to fill me with a grasping sense of awe and elation.
I'm a star watcher since I was a child, when my father at 13 gave me a wonderful gift: a small telescope. Since then I use to go out at night, on mountains, with my 8" Celestron and watch the stars. The only purpose of sky watching is sky watching. No other reason, just being there and participate like a monk to the astounding violent beauty of the universe, lost in the total lacking of answers, joining the void and meaningless black of everything.
I never had a PC experience so close to the inspiring sensations I feel when I'm under a starry, icy night and stars show as shiny coloured little blades in the eyepiece field and the only thing you ear is the hum of your breath.
Don't know if any of you feels the same. Just wanted to share that.

Max

+1... Totally agree with you. I am also an amateur stargazer.. Loving the clear skies we have been getting here in England recently. I got my best view yet of the nebula in Orion just the other night with my 8" dobsonian, the conditions were great.
And this game!! I can't believe the amount of negative comments in the forums.
I am currently 2 weeks into an exploration journey that has taken me through Chamaeleon and Pencil Nebula and now heading towards Puppis dark region and then on to the Seagull nebula... who knows where i'll end up after that. Such a great sense of scale, loneliness and awe as i'm travelling around and the thought that there is just so much to explore. I have tried combat and trading, but exploration is probably the most rewarding (not financially) and interesting side of the game I have seen so far. Can't wait for the 1.1 update, adding 'discovered by' tags to planets etc.
Once planetary landings are introduced it will add a whole new element to the exploration game. I also saw a video recently of D Braben talking about how they plan to use procedural generation for cloud layers, could we possibly be flying through the top cloud layers of gas giants in the future? Regardless, I am loving this game and excited about what the next few months/years will bring as the game develops.

 

[CMDR Orson]

I get the same feeling as you. I'm lucky to have a Rift, and just being able to move my head and look out the top of my Eagle's canopy is amazing. Getting trapped in an asteroid belt just as the star disappears behind the planet, and trying to navigate out in darkness.. all while listening to my ship creaking and groaning. Seeing suns rise above planets as I approach in supercruise. Doing barrel rolls while orbiting a station.

It's all so breathtakingly beautiful and immersive.

 

[Annoluce]

Oh! Really looking forward to get a rift too! I'm currently running a headtracker, and with my closed Audio Technica ATH-M50 and a 27" monitor the feeling of immersion is stunning, but I really cannot imagine what a rift can add to this experience. The only reason I don't have one is I'm waiting for the commercial stable version. What is like the feeling with your rift? How is the definition like? And fps?

I get the same feeling as you. I'm lucky to have a Rift, and just being able to move my head and look out the top of my Eagle's canopy is amazing. Getting trapped in an asteroid belt just as the star disappears behind the planet, and trying to navigate out in darkness.. all while listening to my ship creaking and groaning. Seeing suns rise above planets as I approach in supercruise. Doing barrel rolls while orbiting a station.

It's all so breathtakingly beautiful and immersive.

 

[Annoluce]

Totally agree. I can barely imagine where eventually this game will take us to. This is just the beginning. When planetary landing and going around stations will be playable, and who knows what is more in Braben's mind, we will have the utimate sky blazing experience.
I'd like to explore too. For the moment I'm just working hard to afford a better ship. Once in a decently fitted asp or whatsoever I'll definitely leave known shores behind and head towards the extreme tour of the galaxian beauties.

+1... Totally agree with you. I am also an amateur stargazer.. Loving the clear skies we have been getting here in England recently. I got my best view yet of the nebula in Orion just the other night with my 8" dobsonian, the conditions were great.
And this game!! I can't believe the amount of negative comments in the forums.
I am currently 2 weeks into an exploration journey that has taken me through Chamaeleon and Pencil Nebula and now heading towards Puppis dark region and then on to the Seagull nebula... who knows where i'll end up after that. Such a great sense of scale, loneliness and awe as i'm travelling around and the thought that there is just so much to explore. I have tried combat and trading, but exploration is probably the most rewarding (not financially) and interesting side of the game I have seen so far. Can't wait for the 1.1 update, adding 'discovered by' tags to planets etc.
Once planetary landings are introduced it will add a whole new element to the exploration game. I also saw a video recently of D Braben talking about how they plan to use procedural generation for cloud layers, could we possibly be flying through the top cloud layers of gas giants in the future? Regardless, I am loving this game and excited about what the next few months/years will bring as the game develops.

 

[CMDR Orson]

I have a fairly good rig so I can run Elite at 1080p in the rift at max settings without problems. There is a definite drop in quality compared to a monitor, but the sense of immersion more than makes up for that. After a few minutes in the game I don't even notice the downsides. Imagine just looking to the left or right to have the menus pop up right in front of your face!

I am flying a spacecraft

 

[Juby]

I found a pretty cheap way for even more immersion for me...

£40 quid spent on a backlit gaming keyboard means that I now play in the dark with just the screen for lighting. I can still see the keys and the feeling of being "in space" and not in "small bedroom office" is perfect.

 

[MaccGyver]

Also an amateur stargazer, also waiting for the Rift's commerical release before boarding that train (though I swear the temptation to order the DK2 now gets more intense by the second). I'm sensing some patterns here among us Eliteheads!

Have to agree with everyone's sentiments here - just came back from a nebula tour that took me to the Pleiades, Califonia, Witchhead, Spiral, Orion, Running Man, Flame, Horsehead, and Eskimo nebulas. Probably a couple more I'm forgetting Took about 3 weeks (and about half an hour to sell all the data once I made it back!). Black Holes, Neutron Stars, huge stars which fill the your view even from 2000Ls out... I think I took more screenshots on the trip than I've taken photos in my entire life (and that's not hyperbole). Track IR has helped capture some truly stunning vistas - thinking about chronicling the trip via a journal/photo blog, since I was making timestamped notes in Cmdr's Log the whole way...

Even if exploration was the only thing to do in the game, I think E: D would still be one of my favorite games of the last 10 years.

 

[yyy]

This game is really starting to fill me with a grasping sense of awe and elation.
I'm a star watcher since I was a child, when my father at 13 gave me a wonderful gift: a small telescope. Since then I use to go out at night, on mountains, with my 8" Celestron and watch the stars. The only purpose of sky watching is sky watching. No other reason, just being there and participate like a monk to the astounding violent beauty of the universe, lost in the total lacking of answers, joining the void and meaningless black of everything.
I never had a PC experience so close to the inspiring sensations I feel when I'm under a starry, icy night and stars show as shiny coloured little blades in the eyepiece field and the only thing you ear is the hum of your breath.
Don't know if any of you feels the same. Just wanted to share that.

Max

I started out the same way as you with a small telescope, then 8" Celestron and now a permanent rig with a Celestron Nexstar 11 GPS. Take a look at some of the eye candy on http://www.astrobin.com to which I contribute.

 

[Annoluce]

Woa!! I'd really like to read your travel blog!!
I'd really love to perform this "nebulae grand tour" myself. Suggestions?? I'll soon get the Cobra. Is it good for it?
I think the same: just the mere exploring and vistas are more than enough, by far, to be fully captured by ED. So far in my game sessions I did not shoot a single laser fire.
Still I'm going jaw drop when I dock at a lone station orbiting a forgotten planet.

Also an amateur stargazer, also waiting for the Rift's commerical release before boarding that train (though I swear the temptation to order the DK2 now gets more intense by the second). I'm sensing some patterns here among us Eliteheads!

Have to agree with everyone's sentiments here - just came back from a nebula tour that took me to the Pleiades, Califonia, Witchhead, Spiral, Orion, Running Man, Flame, Horsehead, and Eskimo nebulas. Probably a couple more I'm forgetting Took about 3 weeks (and about half an hour to sell all the data once I made it back!). Black Holes, Neutron Stars, huge stars which fill the your view even from 2000Ls out... I think I took more screenshots on the trip than I've taken photos in my entire life (and that's not hyperbole). Track IR has helped capture some truly stunning vistas - thinking about chronicling the trip via a journal/photo blog, since I was making timestamped notes in Cmdr's Log the whole way...

Even if exploration was the only thing to do in the game, I think E: D would still be one of my favorite games of the last 10 years.

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Pure beauty!!!!

I started out the same way as you with a small telescope, then 8" Celestron and now a permanent rig with a Celestron Nexstar 11 GPS. Take a look at some of the eye candy on http://www.astrobin.com to which I contribute.

 

[Mountain Dewed]

How much would it cost to get me remains shot in to space when I'm gone? I think it'd be cool to instantly(how it would feel time wise) wake up in a far, far away lab that had the technology to bring me back and run around with the alien babes...

 

[[VR] Frank_G]

How much would it cost to get me remains shot in to space when I'm gone? I think it'd be cool to instantly(how it would feel time wise) wake up in a far, far away lab that had the technology to bring me back and run around with the alien babes...

500g of payload cost around 10.000$, so a box with ashes could be affordable.

 

[MaccGyver]

Woa!! I'd really like to read your travel blog!!
I'd really love to perform this "nebulae grand tour" myself. Suggestions?? I'll soon get the Cobra. Is it good for it?
I think the same: just the mere exploring and vistas are more than enough, by far, to be fully captured by ED. So far in my game sessions I did not shoot a single laser fire.
Still I'm going jaw drop when I dock at a lone station orbiting a forgotten planet.

If I ever get around to putting it together, I'll be sure to PM you a link.

Cobra would be a good choice, I know many explorers use one. Just know it'll end up takng you longer than it took me - even stripping it down to bare essentials, it's tough to get the Cobra's jump range over 25Ly. I did my tour in my Asp, with a range just over 30Ly (which I've now extended to almost 32 since I got back). Doesn't seem like a huge difference, but when you make hundreds of jumps, it ends up cutting a lot of time off the trip.

Cobra or not, I recommend whatever you take out into the black has no weapons, an Advanced Discovery Scanner, and a Detailed Surface Scanner. Don't forget the best Fuel Scoop you can afford, and of course an A-rated FSD.

 

[InMemoriamSirocco]

I found that you can equip many ships for exploration:

[Exploration Vessel: Hauler]

U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher
U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher

BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 2D Power Plant
TM: 2D Thrusters
FH: 2A Frame Shift Drive
EC: 1D Life Support
PC: 1D Power Distributor
SS: 1D Sensors
FS: 2C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 4)

3: 3D Shield Generator
3: 3A Fuel Scoop
2: 1C Detailed Surface Scanner
1: 1C Advanced Discovery Scanner

Cost: 2.933.294cr
Insurance: 146.665cr

Jump Range: 27ly

Due to the small fuel tank, you have to carefully plan your routes and top of your fuel tank at every scoopable star you come across. The realistic view of the galaxy map and a list of scoopable star types (A, B, F, G, K, M, O) should help you with that.

[Exploration Vessel: Adder]

U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher
U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher

BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 3D Power Plant
TM: 3D Thrusters
FH: 3A Frame Shift Drive
EC: 1D Life Support
PC: 2D Power Distributor
SS: 3D Sensors
FS: 3C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 8)

3: 3A Fuel Scoop
3: 3D Shield Generator
2: 2D Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
2: 1C Detailed Surface Scanner
1: 1C Advanced Discovery Scanner

Cost: 3.385.403cr
Insurance: 169.270cr

Jump Range: 26ly

The Adder's and the Hauler's disadvantage are their cockpits that don't really allow for beautiful screenshots.

If you want beautiful screenshots without too much of your cockpit in the way, you have a couple of options:

[Short Range Exploration Vessel: Sidewinder]

U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher
U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher

BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 2D Power Plant
TM: 2D Thrusters
FH: 2A Frame Shift Drive
EC: 1D Life Support
PC: 1D Power Distributor
SS: 1D Sensors
FS: 1C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 2)

2: 2A Fuel Scoop
2: 1C Detailed Surface Scanner
1: 1C Advanced Discovery Scanner

Cost: 2.276.702cr
Insurance: 113.835cr

Jump Range: 20ly

Through the roof of the Sidwinder canopy you can make beautiful screenshots that are not at all obstructed by any cockpit structure. The main disadvantage is that you have a small fuel tank, so you can only hop from scoopable star to scoopable star, and you have to sacrifice your shield for your fuel scoop. Now I don't really know whether you are any safer out there with a shield than without, but I tend to feel safer flying shielded.

[Exploration Vessel: Cobra Mk III]

U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher
U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher

BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 4D Power Plant
TM: 4D Thrusters
FH: 4A Frame Shift Drive
EC: 3D Life Support
PC: 3D Power Distributor
SS: 3D Sensors
FS: 4C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 16)

4: 4D Shield Generator
4: 4A Fuel Scoop
4: 4A Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
2: 2A Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
2: 1C Detailed Surface Scanner
2: 1C Advanced Discovery Scanner

Cost: 12.926.183cr
Insurance: 646.309cr

Jump Range: 26ly

The Cobra's canopy is not as wide as that of the Sidewinder, but still better than that of the Zorgon Petersen ships. With expensive Auto Maintenance units you can extend your exploration range significantly (from 1.1 on they will also repair thrusters and drive, apparently). The fuel tank is large enough to survive a couple of jumps across an area of unscoopable stars. Jump range is decent.

[Asp Explorer]

U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher
U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher
U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher
U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher

BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 5D Power Plant
TM: 5D Thrusters
FH: 5A Frame Shift Drive
EC: 4D Life Support
PC: 4D Power Distributor
SS: 5D Sensors
FS: 5C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 32)

6: 6A Fuel Scoop
5: 5A Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
3: 3A Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
3: 3A Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
3: 3D Shield Generator
2: 1C Detailed Surface Scanner
2: 1C Advanced Discovery Scanner

Cost: 56.194.903cr
Insurance: 2.809.745cr

Jump Range: 35ly (biggest in the game)

You can, of course, go exploring without all this expensive self-repair technology. But it involves a larger risk. And I am on the "better safe than sorry" side. The canopy of the Asp has this annoying cage structure which will not allow you to make beauty shots without any cockpit pieces in your field of view. Other than that, it has the perfect all-round view.

If you want to safely explore the galaxy, the Asp is your perfect choice.

[Exploration Vessel: Imperial Clipper]

U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher
U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher
U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher
U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher

BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 6D Power Plant
TM: 6D Thrusters
FH: 5A Frame Shift Drive
EC: 5D Life Support
PC: 6D Power Distributor
SS: 5D Sensors
FS: 4C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 16)

7: 7B Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
6: 6A Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
4: 4A Fuel Scoop
4: 4A Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
3: 3A Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
3: 3D Shield Generator
2: 1C Detailed Surface Scanner
2: 1C Advanced Discovery Scanner

Cost: 64.313.584cr
Insurance: 3.215.679cr

Jump Range: 24ly

Why choose the Clipper over the Asp? Two reasons: The canopy is perfect for beauty shots. And it is currently the most stylish ship in the game. You get a decent medium jump range, too... but you have got to watch your fuel, as your tank can only take 16 tons. An A4 fuel scoop quickly tops that off - if you can find a star to scoop from. So avoid big clusters of useless stars if possible, and you should be able to cruise the galaxy, sightseeing with style

 

[Annoluce]

How do you manage to plan your trips? Is there a route planner suited for exploration?
And how can you point to the nebulae and famous objects? Are they simply clickable in the galaxy map (did not try yet), or you have to reach a nearby star? Say I wanted to go sightseeing Orion nebula (or horsehead e.g.), what is the plan for that?

And secondly, if you fit your ship to explore with no weapons and shields how do you deal with pirates and nasty boys?

If I ever get around to putting it together, I'll be sure to PM you a link.

Cobra would be a good choice, I know many explorers use one. Just know it'll end up takng you longer than it took me - even stripping it down to bare essentials, it's tough to get the Cobra's jump range over 25Ly. I did my tour in my Asp, with a range just over 30Ly (which I've now extended to almost 32 since I got back). Doesn't seem like a huge difference, but when you make hundreds of jumps, it ends up cutting a lot of time off the trip.

Cobra or not, I recommend whatever you take out into the black has no weapons, an Advanced Discovery Scanner, and a Detailed Surface Scanner. Don't forget the best Fuel Scoop you can afford, and of course an A-rated FSD.

 

[InMemoriamSirocco]

And secondly, if you fit your ship to explore with no weapons and shields how do you deal with pirates and nasty boys?

If you go deep space exploring, you will quickly leave the inhabited bubble of space. After that frontier, pirates just don't turn up any more. You are out there on your own.