Do thrusters make a difference in supercruise?

[Deleted member 38366]

Please retest this theory. I can assure you that thruster ratings absolutely affect the ability to slow down / brake / accelerate in SC. Try a ship such as a Python or Asp loaded with cargo. Install a D rated module then replace with A rated module. Big difference.

I can only speak for acceleration - and if I was accelerating while in a Type-9, no other Ships even flying a vastly more maneuverable Fighter (likely not using D-Grades) could catch up to me, let alone overtake.
Hence my assessment that not even i.e. a lightweight Cobra on A-Thrusters could accelerate any better than a Type-9 using E-Grades.

Never seen anything different.
Deceleration tests I never conducted - but from experience again it seems 100% the same, across Ship types AND Thruster grades installed.

When taking all my Hutton runs into account where alot of different Ships were naturally spending well over a whole hour at pegged Throttle in SuperCruise :
Not once have I ever seen one overtaking me, regardless of Ship type etc...
And during a 0.22LY SuperCruise trip... even miniscule differences would have made a huge impact over those ~85 Minutes travel.

Those Hutton runs come as close to a very precise Benchmark as it can get.

The only things that affect your acceleration or deceleration in SC (for all I know from some ~3000hours experience) :
- autothrottle limiter, if a nearby Destination is selected within the System
-> Test this by entering SC from a Station/Outpost with it locked vs. nothing locked, the Autothrottle limiter difference is obvious

-> ideal Test : USS in deep space, >100Ls away from any Gravity well
--> Park 0.1Ls away from it with it locked, slam Throttle to max. and see Ship slowly accelerating towards it.
--> Park 0.1Ls away from it without it locked, slam Thro...*wham!* Blasted right by it
(very useful to know when approaching a distant USS... with it unlocked can be reached much faster - just need to be careful with the Throttle, no overshoot warnings on this one)

- proximity of nearby Gravity Wells
-> well-known, acceleration 0.1Ls from a Gas Giant is slower than when you're already 10Ls away from that same Gas Giant

- clear of secondary Gravity Wells within System, your current distance to the Main Sun
-> test acceleration 10Ls from the main sun (clear of Planets) vs. doing the same 1000000Ls out - out there, the Ship accelerates like a lightning bolt and also stops to a near-halt from >1000c in almost no time

 

[CMDR Kantos Kan]

Worth setting up a key binding for 0% throttle that you can tap as you enter a system, after exiting out of hyperspace. Then gradually speed up as you turn away from the star.

As far as the original question goes, I thought FSD was what mattered in supercruise?
http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Supercruise

Well, I'm using a Saitek X52 with the throttle. As soon as the countdown starts, I cut the throttle. This I learned quite some time ago. So, I don't have a problem with that. And it seems that, as pointed in the link to the wiki, supercruise is using the FSD so it would appear that the thrusters make little difference. I am guessing that when you are in supercruise and steer the joystick, some computer converts that move into some command to the FSD which then differently compresses the space in front or on the side of the ship, allowing you to pitch or yaw. But, that's just my interpretation. Only Frontier I guess could confirm that.

- - - Updated - - -

I can only speak for acceleration - and if I was accelerating while in a Type-9, no other Ships even flying a vastly more maneuverable Fighter (likely not using D-Grades) could catch up to me, let alone overtake.
Hence my assessment that not even i.e. a lightweight Cobra on A-Thrusters could accelerate any better than a Type-9 using E-Grades.

Never seen anything different.
Deceleration tests I never conducted - but from experience again it seems 100% the same, across Ship types AND Thruster grades installed.

When taking all my Hutton runs into account where alot of different Ships were naturally spending well over a whole hour at pegged Throttle in SuperCruise :
Not once have I ever seen one overtaking me, regardless of Ship type etc...
And during a 0.22LY SuperCruise trip... even miniscule differences would have made a huge impact over those ~85 Minutes travel.

Those Hutton runs come as close to a very precise Benchmark as it can get.

The only things that affect your acceleration or deceleration in SC (for all I know from some ~3000hours experience) :
- autothrottle limiter, if a nearby Destination is selected within the System
-> Test this by entering SC from a Station/Outpost with it locked vs. nothing locked, the Autothrottle limiter difference is obvious

-> ideal Test : USS in deep space, >100Ls away from any Gravity well
--> Park 0.1Ls away from it with it locked, slam Throttle to max. and see Ship slowly accelerating towards it.
--> Park 0.1Ls away from it without it locked, slam Thro...*wham!* Blasted right by it
(very useful to know when approaching a distant USS... with it unlocked can be reached much faster - just need to be careful with the Throttle, no overshoot warnings on this one)

- proximity of nearby Gravity Wells
-> well-known, acceleration 0.1Ls from a Gas Giant is slower than when you're already 10Ls away from that same Gas Giant

- clear of secondary Gravity Wells within System, your current distance to the Main Sun
-> test acceleration 10Ls from the main sun (clear of Planets) vs. doing the same 1000000Ls out - out there, the Ship accelerates like a lightning bolt and also stops to a near-halt from >1000c in almost no time

Good observation. I've been noticing more or less the same when interdicting. As soon as you select a ship that is close, your forward momentum slows down. The closer the ship, it seems the greater the slow down.

- - - Updated - - -

Super-cruise is an Alcubierre drive (as I understand it), it's not using any form of propellant but instead using mass difference to move that section of space in the direction of the mass difference. So no thrusters make no difference, the ship doesn't move but the bubble of space it's in moves. The fuel gets used because it take a lot of power to run the drive but it's not used for/as thrust/propellant.

That seems the most sensible explanation. I forgot about the Alcubierre drive being used.

 

[Doolittle]

Pitch is faster than Yaw, roll faster than both (no idea why that is in the vacuum of space by the way). Conda less maneuverable than Python....check (mass).

It was a very bad design decision. But for some reason they didn't show the nerf of FA off in their release video that showed a massive amount of maneuverability that just doesn't exist in game. There is no reason for it. If everyone was able to maneuver as they should it wouldn't be an issue, but at some point the bad decision was made to nerf it. And I still don't think FA off is really off there is still assist to your yaw.

 

[I PORKCH0P I]

I can only speak for acceleration - and if I was accelerating while in a Type-9, no other Ships even flying a vastly more maneuverable Fighter (likely not using D-Grades) could catch up to me, let alone overtake.
Hence my assessment that not even i.e. a lightweight Cobra on A-Thrusters could accelerate any better than a Type-9 using E-Grades.

Never seen anything different.
Deceleration tests I never conducted - but from experience again it seems 100% the same, across Ship types AND Thruster grades installed.

When taking all my Hutton runs into account where alot of different Ships were naturally spending well over a whole hour at pegged Throttle in SuperCruise :
Not once have I ever seen one overtaking me, regardless of Ship type etc...
And during a 0.22LY SuperCruise trip... even miniscule differences would have made a huge impact over those ~85 Minutes travel.

Those Hutton runs come as close to a very precise Benchmark as it can get.

The only things that affect your acceleration or deceleration in SC (for all I know from some ~3000hours experience) :
- autothrottle limiter, if a nearby Destination is selected within the System
-> Test this by entering SC from a Station/Outpost with it locked vs. nothing locked, the Autothrottle limiter difference is obvious

-> ideal Test : USS in deep space, >100Ls away from any Gravity well
--> Park 0.1Ls away from it with it locked, slam Throttle to max. and see Ship slowly accelerating towards it.
--> Park 0.1Ls away from it without it locked, slam Thro...*wham!* Blasted right by it
(very useful to know when approaching a distant USS... with it unlocked can be reached much faster - just need to be careful with the Throttle, no overshoot warnings on this one)

- proximity of nearby Gravity Wells
-> well-known, acceleration 0.1Ls from a Gas Giant is slower than when you're already 10Ls away from that same Gas Giant

- clear of secondary Gravity Wells within System, your current distance to the Main Sun
-> test acceleration 10Ls from the main sun (clear of Planets) vs. doing the same 1000000Ls out - out there, the Ship accelerates like a lightning bolt and also stops to a near-halt from >1000c in almost no time

Nice . Ive been wondering about different ships speed in Supercruise myself a fair bit recently and just couldn't make my mind up if one was faster than the other after changing ships three or four times over a couple of hours. ..I had just "earned " the right to prismatic sheilds and was outfitting my fleet.