New to game and feeling lost

It's a HUGE galaxy out there and I am just a lowly little pilot that is feeling lost. I am wondering what to do. The system I started in had no missions that I could do, so I went to the closest system over. I went to the main hub found a mission it said I could do, so I took it (deliver scrap to another system.) I launch from the hub and find out that the system I am supposed to go to is to far for my ship to jump to. Needless to say that I canceled the mission.

So how is a new pilot supposed to max some cash?? What I really want to do is explore the galaxy (I explore in all the games I play =D) In order to do that though, I need money to buy the equipment. Hence my problem.

Anyone able to give me advice?? No, I am not asking for hand outs here. I prefer to make my own way under my own steam.
 
a) Higher population system will have more missions.
b) in Galaxy Map, make sure you click the 2nd system selection button, the system you require might need 2-3 jumps.
c) Nav points have easy pirates to shoot, just wait till it *says* wanted.
d) Jump distance is based on FSD, components (D ones are lightweight) and cargo carried.
 
Hi Roqinn, enjoy taking small steps. This is a massive simulation and if you commit to the long haul it will become amazing. I intend to play for years and I don't fret about how long it will take, and I am hoping to be questing for a very long long. Hopefully we will run into each other at some stage and enjoy a few adventures. Where ru?

Vorian
 
Well there is a new comers forum here
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=75

Worth a look.

But as a start.
You can look at the galaxy map whilst the bulletin board is open.
That means you can open up a mission, have a read of the destination, open the galaxy map and check to see where it is and if it is in range.
You have a route planner and the Sidewinder can make a few jumps before needing to refuel so it might be possible to do missions if you need to jump a few times.

Note that if you are picking up cargo, you jump range drops but there is a slider to help plan for that when you go to the navigation tab in the galaxy map.

Here is a link to a video on an intro to trading https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WH-SVh6kjM

And one on route planning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rMr5SvW4VA


As you said you like exploring, once you have a feel for things, you can give it a go.
By default the sidewinder has a basic discover scanner.

Assign it to a fire group.
By pressing and holding the fire key assigned to it, you can send out a ping 500 light seconds to detect stellar bodies.
If they come up as "unknown" then you can fly towards them and lock on and get a scan of them.

This ping and scan data then shows up in the system map, and you can sell the data at any station that is greater than 20 light years from the system you scannned.

So you can find a nearby system or group of systems that are empty, scan them then travel a distance and sell the data.

You may also want to refit your ship to have a fuel scoop in place of the cargo rack, but you can keep the cargo rack and just make sure you don't fly beyond the point of no return.

Ship modules that can be used to rescue you by providing fuel is coming in the next patch but that doesn't have a release date yet.
 
Check out the Newcomers Forum (ninja'd!) and my guide (linked in my sig below).

To answer your questions specifically, you can farm Resource Extraction Sites (RES) by killing wanted pirates who come to rob the poor, helpless miners. Then you can use that cash to fund another career if you want. Also, I've been told that trading rare commodities nets a good profit (never done it myself, so I'm not the best person to give advice on trading rares). Exploration though... is a matter of opinion around here. I feel the pay is pretty low compared to other careers in-game, but you really can make some money finding and scanning Earth-Like Worlds, Neutron Stars, Black Holes, and other rare types of astronomical objects. If you follow the path of the explorer, be sure to get a Detailed Surface Scanner ASAP, as it greatly increases the value of objects you scan.

Also, I hear the Imperial Slave Trade is pretty profitable...
 
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Hey mate

Its only been in the last month that I have really started to enjoy the game, I tried mining but it is very time consuming with a single refinery bin, so I tried exploration in the my backers eagle, this was fun for a bit, I tried trading but could never get a good price, I was ready to give up as the game just seemed like a grind fest and decided ended up selling my eagle and outfitting my sidewinder with a dual bay refinery and started mining for silver, I got enough cash to get an adder fairly quickly with all that cargo space I started mining more and got a triple bay refinery and started brining in some easier cash. I very quickly upgraded to a viper as I wanted to try bounty hunting around RES points (I have spent all my time in Fk5 2550 since selling the eagle) and I am making stupid amounts of cash at the res points hunting down wanted targets, currently I have 4 multicannons and last night with a single load of ammo I made over 400k in one flight.

To be honest it even seems a little easy some times.

I am now looking for something else, yes slaying anaconda's with a viper is fun and challenging but I want the game to be more and right now there is no reason to leave Fk5 2550, I am hoping to get involved in the next community Goal which will give me a reason to buy a nice big transport.

So if you want to make some cash I would try bounty hunting at res points, in a system that is safe as there are always coppers at the res points to save your butt if things go hairy.

thanks
 
I recommend watching some tutorial videos like these:

[video=youtube;IcdiEgisrk0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcdiEgisrk0[/video]

[video=youtube;7tYXWaf_QSk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tYXWaf_QSk[/video]

[video=youtube;gIkF7exrNnQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIkF7exrNnQ[/video]

[video=youtube;6xHtVqPi-_4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xHtVqPi-_4[/video]
 
Welcome poor wee pilot, we all started where you are.

You will need to earn some cash somehow and its a bit of a slog at first until you learn the ropes. You are best going to a nav beacon near your main star (sun) or a Res (resource extraction site) found within the rings of some planet, and targeting wanted ships for bounty. Be careful not to shoot up a cop or you will become wanted and a target. If that happens hightail it back to a base and pay your fine asap.

A sidwinder is quite capable of taking out other ships if you a careful. You can always hang around while the feds are shooting up a wanted ship then when the shields are down and they are taking damage dive in for the kill get some hits on them and you should be awarded the bounty, a bit like a mangy dog hanging around for scraps..

Another way is to perfom missions but before accepting one check you can achieve it first. Go to you left panel, navigation tab and select galaxy map. In there select navigation tab and in jump data select fastest routes. That will also show your jump range. In the search box type in the name of the system you are looking for, click the arrow button and it will take you there. In the pop up box next to your target system click the route icon and it will plot your route. A solid line shows you can make it with your fuel, if it goes dotted you will need to stop off somewhere within the solid line for fuel or buy a cheap fuel scoop.

Aside from that follow all the other good advice posted here...

Good luck out there
 
So right from the start? I think I remember that. :)

I started out just nosing around the system I was in. I had a decent starter system with multiple economies right in-system. Different economies demand and sell different goods, and the real money in trading is to find the lowest price for a commodity that some other economy will pay top-dollar for. If you're going full-on make your own way, I'd recommend the CMDR's Log app in my sig. It can help you record a lot of data, it's customizable, and it doesn't feed on community data like Slopey's trade tool, it's more of a superpowered notepad for yourself.

A stock Sidey cannot hold much cargo, so your initial trips will probably feel really really teeny till you can boost your finances a bit to at least upgrade the Sidey. It's easier to do some of the fetch missions (get me x amount of this) once you've been around a few systems and stations, and get a better understanding of what trades where. I made my initial good monies by trading high value goods like Gold and Palladium while picking up any fetchers from places I already knew about. Much easier than taking a fetch mission and then trying to find the commodity after.

You can also go pewing at the various drop-in spots, like Nav beacons and RES (resource extraction sites). You can hunt Harmless criminal ships in these locations for bounties, if you're careful not to upset the local authorities by shooting clean pilots or the cops themselves. I've heard quite a number of players have gotten their start in a combat vibe and never touched a trade good once.

After you put together some bank, you may want to upgrade, and the Hauler and Adder are good next steps. Hauler is CHEAP, so cheap, to run. Makes a passable entry-level explorer ship when you get tired of dragging stuff around in it; not too many toys but the range and fuel consumption is phenomenal. Haulers get used regularly as taxis for folks with multiple ships across space. Adder is also a great contender for entry explorer, it's a bit more versatile than the Hauler with even a bit of bite to it. Also it sounds haunted. >___>

Hope any of this helps out. Good luck out there pilot. o7
 
Well, welcome to the game. It truely is a good one. You will have times your and times you are elated. These things happen. As a noob I recommend

1. Learn how to play the game (lol..jk....but for real. its hard. Good luck)

2. Get on the forums...best resource of info...just need to scroll past the trolls.

3. 4 join a player backed group unless your one in the 5-10% that prefer and to run on their own.

4. Ask your faction members to teach you the ropes. If they cant or unwilling to. leave them

We are always looking for well kitted hips for interference. Welcome aboard!

Check us out if your interested. Its a long read...lol...sorry

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=91485
 
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Welcome to the galaxy, commander. All good advice above - also don't forget to scan every system when you jump in, and detail scan planets (don't bother with asteroid belts, they pay nothing) - exploration data is free money. and the fuel costs are insignificant.
 
Wow! Thanks for all the input everyone! That was fast too! =D I will watch all the vids and check out the forum post. I'm really glad you all posted this stuff as I was worried that I might have wasted $100! That's $60 for the game and $40 for the joystick I bought. I HATED playing with just a keyboard and mouse!

Most of the time I actually prefer to play solo. Yeah, I'm one of the 5-10% of the people that actually prefers it! That doesn't mean I wouldn't mind joining a guild/clan/faction in the future.

Thanks again for all the advice and help!
 
Hi Roqinn, if you send me a friend request and you play in an Australian/NZ time zone then when we are online together I can come meet you and drop off some cargo for you to scoop and sell. It might not be much if you are in a Sidewinder or Eagle but it should help you buy a couple of upgrades that will then help open up the galaxy a bit more and make those early missions less of a chore.
 
Wow! Thanks for all the input everyone! That was fast too! =D I will watch all the vids and check out the forum post. I'm really glad you all posted this stuff as I was worried that I might have wasted $100! That's $60 for the game and $40 for the joystick I bought. I HATED playing with just a keyboard and mouse!

Most of the time I actually prefer to play solo. Yeah, I'm one of the 5-10% of the people that actually prefers it! That doesn't mean I wouldn't mind joining a guild/clan/faction in the future.

Thanks again for all the advice and help!

I hear Mobius is a good private/solo group.
 
Wow! Thanks for all the input everyone! That was fast too! =D I will watch all the vids and check out the forum post. I'm really glad you all posted this stuff as I was worried that I might have wasted $100! That's $60 for the game and $40 for the joystick I bought. I HATED playing with just a keyboard and mouse!

Most of the time I actually prefer to play solo. Yeah, I'm one of the 5-10% of the people that actually prefers it! That doesn't mean I wouldn't mind joining a guild/clan/faction in the future.

Thanks again for all the advice and help!


I think the joystick is a good investment for ED. It is much more immersive.

Take your time learning the game's mechanics in your Sidey.
I used my Sidewinder for a long time and fully upgraded it. It is relatively cheap and therefore making mistakes won't break your back.
I started out with mostly bounty hunting to accelerate my knowledge of the ins and outs of the Elite flying mechanics. It worked out great.

Never buy a ship and upgrades if you cannot afford the insurance by the way! Just don't do it!
 
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