Hello CMDRS!
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I don't often post on the forums, but I have been playing since PB2 (bought in right before the cutoff back in July). Until now, I have only had (3) other insurance claims, and all were done before going "live" to the retail 1.0 version. This, then, is my story of shame, weaving elements of a relatively new T.Flight Thrustmaster HOTAS, some theoretically (but not realistically) sound button mappings on the throttle, insurance buy-back, some smuggled tobacco, Delta Phoenicis Palms, and station interior redecoration vis-a-vis a Cobra MkIII in Epsilon Indi.
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Background: I've been based mostly down in Empire space, and infrequently playing Elite Dangerous (schedule is tight due to work). At any rate, over the weekend I played with my button mappings on the Thrustmaster HOTAS, and thought I had found a good mapping scheme. Basically, I set the throttle to "forward only" and had mapped the engine boost to the top of the three thumb buttons on the throttle, with the middle button being the "toggle forward thrust" and the bottom button acting as my "UI Button" and also as my "Shift 1" button (which I use in conjunction with the joystick button on the right side to trigger my landing gear).
.
So, while doing my regular trading run in Empire space I was practicing a method of avoiding station scans when entering the mail slot. The reason I started practicing this is because I did a rare trades run from Empire space to Epsilon Indi, and was carrying 5t of Yaso Kondi Leaf, which I did not realize was illegal there. Luckily I was not scanned at the Epsilon Indi station (Mansfield Orbiter?), AND luckily there was a black market there, so I thanked the trade deities for watching over me, and vowed to practice dry smuggling runs on my return to Empire space (dry in the sense of not carrying illegal cargo).
.
Basically, I would line up at about 5km or so, ask for docking permission via the contacts panel, and then I would put the throttle to 50%, so I could slow down if a stupid NPC decided to "pop up" right in front or otherwise park with impunity in the mail slot (side note: FDev....it would be nice if the station's "loitering" policy would apply equally to NPCs as well as CMDRS). If I saw a scan being initiated I would "punch" the throttle to full to make it through the slot, with the idea of then applying the "forward thrust toggle" so I could literally grind to a halt in the station, which would then give me time to throttle back to 0% and then trigger my landing gear so I could then find my landing pad. I did this on every approach to a station so I would gain confidence in doing so, and over the course of yesterday I felt confident enough to make a another rare trade run to Epsilon Indi.
.
Story: Being in Delta Phoenicis, I decided to load up on my permissible amount of DP Palms, and then loaded the rest with tobacco (which I knew was illegal in Epislon Indi). For reference, my ship is a Cobra with mostly A equipment and 36 tons cargo space and fuel scoop. I made the trek to Epsilon Indi without much incident, then did the SC trip to (Mansfield Orbiter?) and dropped back to normal space. Did the mail slot line up, etc. Now for the fun part.............
.
On approach to the mail slot there were (3) NPC ships blocking the right side entry or immediate interior. So I yawed left to avoid the ships, but one of the ships drifted left as well as I was inside the mail slot. So, I also decided to hit the middle thumb button to toggle the "forward thrust" so I would apply sufficient reverse thrust to stop quicker than I would otherwise using FA once inside, to avoid crashing with the ship that just had drifted left. Well, in my panic, my thumb slipped and hit the TOP button....mapped to "Engine Boost". I then proceeded at breakneck speed through the mail slot and interior, all while trying to stop using the "toggle forward thrust" and last minute changed my power setting to full SYS to beef the shields.
.
Well I hit the back of the station and lost all shields, and went down to about 60% hull. So I thought.....I will survive. Then I got hit with a "pad loitering" fine of 400cr by the station. Okay....I will just land and sort this out. So I aimed back towards the mail slot and started to throttle forward and started to bounce like a toy ball. <sigh> So I tried the "toggle forward" button to reverse thrust and stop sooner....except my thumb hit the boost button again.
.
So, with aplomb, I proceeded to barrel towards the mail slot......and promptly redecorated the "upper" portion of the mail slot station wall with 17t of DP Palms, 19t of illegal tobacco, a 4mil cr cobra, and of course, little ol' me. Thankfully my insurance buyback was only 167,000cr (my cash balance was about 2.5 mil cr). I promptly went to "options" and "controls" and remapped the engine boost to something a bit harder to reach (the fourth thumb button which I had mapped to FA).
.
Lesson: So, the moral of the story can be summed as follows:
.
Fly safe CMDRS!
.
I don't often post on the forums, but I have been playing since PB2 (bought in right before the cutoff back in July). Until now, I have only had (3) other insurance claims, and all were done before going "live" to the retail 1.0 version. This, then, is my story of shame, weaving elements of a relatively new T.Flight Thrustmaster HOTAS, some theoretically (but not realistically) sound button mappings on the throttle, insurance buy-back, some smuggled tobacco, Delta Phoenicis Palms, and station interior redecoration vis-a-vis a Cobra MkIII in Epsilon Indi.
.
Background: I've been based mostly down in Empire space, and infrequently playing Elite Dangerous (schedule is tight due to work). At any rate, over the weekend I played with my button mappings on the Thrustmaster HOTAS, and thought I had found a good mapping scheme. Basically, I set the throttle to "forward only" and had mapped the engine boost to the top of the three thumb buttons on the throttle, with the middle button being the "toggle forward thrust" and the bottom button acting as my "UI Button" and also as my "Shift 1" button (which I use in conjunction with the joystick button on the right side to trigger my landing gear).
.
So, while doing my regular trading run in Empire space I was practicing a method of avoiding station scans when entering the mail slot. The reason I started practicing this is because I did a rare trades run from Empire space to Epsilon Indi, and was carrying 5t of Yaso Kondi Leaf, which I did not realize was illegal there. Luckily I was not scanned at the Epsilon Indi station (Mansfield Orbiter?), AND luckily there was a black market there, so I thanked the trade deities for watching over me, and vowed to practice dry smuggling runs on my return to Empire space (dry in the sense of not carrying illegal cargo).
.
Basically, I would line up at about 5km or so, ask for docking permission via the contacts panel, and then I would put the throttle to 50%, so I could slow down if a stupid NPC decided to "pop up" right in front or otherwise park with impunity in the mail slot (side note: FDev....it would be nice if the station's "loitering" policy would apply equally to NPCs as well as CMDRS). If I saw a scan being initiated I would "punch" the throttle to full to make it through the slot, with the idea of then applying the "forward thrust toggle" so I could literally grind to a halt in the station, which would then give me time to throttle back to 0% and then trigger my landing gear so I could then find my landing pad. I did this on every approach to a station so I would gain confidence in doing so, and over the course of yesterday I felt confident enough to make a another rare trade run to Epsilon Indi.
.
Story: Being in Delta Phoenicis, I decided to load up on my permissible amount of DP Palms, and then loaded the rest with tobacco (which I knew was illegal in Epislon Indi). For reference, my ship is a Cobra with mostly A equipment and 36 tons cargo space and fuel scoop. I made the trek to Epsilon Indi without much incident, then did the SC trip to (Mansfield Orbiter?) and dropped back to normal space. Did the mail slot line up, etc. Now for the fun part.............
.
On approach to the mail slot there were (3) NPC ships blocking the right side entry or immediate interior. So I yawed left to avoid the ships, but one of the ships drifted left as well as I was inside the mail slot. So, I also decided to hit the middle thumb button to toggle the "forward thrust" so I would apply sufficient reverse thrust to stop quicker than I would otherwise using FA once inside, to avoid crashing with the ship that just had drifted left. Well, in my panic, my thumb slipped and hit the TOP button....mapped to "Engine Boost".
I then proceeded at breakneck speed through the mail slot and interior, all while trying to stop using the "toggle forward thrust" and last minute changed my power setting to full SYS to beef the shields. .
Well I hit the back of the station and lost all shields, and went down to about 60% hull. So I thought.....I will survive.
Then I got hit with a "pad loitering" fine of 400cr by the station. Okay....I will just land and sort this out. So I aimed back towards the mail slot and started to throttle forward and started to bounce like a toy ball. <sigh> So I tried the "toggle forward" button to reverse thrust and stop sooner....except my thumb hit the boost button again. .
So, with aplomb, I proceeded to barrel towards the mail slot......and promptly redecorated the "upper" portion of the mail slot station wall with 17t of DP Palms, 19t of illegal tobacco, a 4mil cr cobra, and of course, little ol' me.
Thankfully my insurance buyback was only 167,000cr (my cash balance was about 2.5 mil cr). I promptly went to "options" and "controls" and remapped the engine boost to something a bit harder to reach (the fourth thumb button which I had mapped to FA)..
Lesson: So, the moral of the story can be summed as follows:
.
- Practice your quick station entries and exits.
- Always make sure you have enough credits to cover your insurance co-payment and replacement trade cargo.
- Do NOT map engine boost button next to "throttle forward" toggle button on a HOTAS.
Fly safe CMDRS!
