I've just fallen in love... Allow me to explain.
I found an Ice planet that looked very scarred. Lots of varied terrain. I had already been on a few basic moons and they were more or less boring and flat (I also didn't know how to gather minerals yet). After entering Orbital Cruise I noticed a particularly high point on the planet. A mountain? Perhaps. I decided to land on the peak. It looked pointy from a distance but I was confident there was a diamonback sized landing space. Annnnd there was.
I pop out my SRV and check out my new Vista. I landed on the dark side of the planet and realize I need to flick on my brighter headlights. Very bright... I hear a clicking sound on my radar and figure it's time to find out really what that's all about. Turns out this mountain is so huge that I'm able to drive on the "peak" for quite a ways before the terrain really starts to drop in elevation. Clicking is higher pitched and more frequent. I'm doing something right -- better keep going. A few times I move over a steeper ledge and I almost lose control of my SRV. I'm a very conservative driver; none of this skidding and slighting and cliff jumping nonsense! This is expensive equipment! So I hit the hand brake to regain control. I stop to asses the situation. The clicking is coming from further down the mountain but the terrain drops out of view. I approach slowly and see that, meh, it's not that bad if I take it slow. I push forward my throttle lever the least amount possible and let go, traveling an minimum speed. I see my click noises starting to trail off to the left so I correct my angle. Bad idea. I broke my traction and I start sliding sideways down the mountain, slowly picking up speed. Handbrake. Hand... brake. For the love of god brake, brake! Screw the clicks, I'm careening towards a cliff, the bottom of which is not visible, but the distant terrain is an indicator that I'm on the highest peak headed to the lowest valley via the shortest path.
Looking up I see there's no way I'm going to be able to get back up so I dismiss my ship hoping I can find a new landing site. It's at this point I realize that I'm stuck on the side of the mountain at about a 55-60 degree grade. It was more vertical than horizontal. I pause to listen to the thunder of my ships engines fade into the distance. There's no landing site near me so I've got to go down. But down is scary. I can't actually SEE the down. I inch forward until I can finally see the angle of the terrain. It's much steeper than what I'm on. But it's not completely vertical so maybe I've got a chance. I see an outcropping further down, maybe 500 meters, that I might be able to land my ship on. Here goes!
*Whoosh*
My SRV immediately picks up incredible speeds. I spend 100% of my focus braking on the flush terrain and keeping my nose pointed down in order to maintain control. The last thing I want is to roll sideways. Here comes my "landing pad". There goes my "Landing pad". Crap. I flip a 180, full throttle forward and blast my thrusters while pitching forward. It works. Wow. I'll never be able to repeat a maneuver like that again.
In my immersed mind I tap my fuel gauge. I can barely see the bar. Whoops. *Recall ship*.
Oh hello ship! How nice of you to land FIVE HUNDRED METERS BACK UP THE MOUNTAIN!
*dismiss ship*
I turn back around nudge my throttle just enough to gain momentum (I'm basically out of fuel). It's here that I realize that I just need to get to the bottom where I'm not fighting a hill to get to my ship. It's here that I really hear the sound of the snow crunching under the tires. I feel the squirrelly twisting and turning of my SRV as I twist the stick. Now, I love snowboarding. And right here... I'm riding. I own this mountain. I let out a stupid giggle. Grown man, by myself in my office, giggling at a computer game. I start bumping into rocks, catching a little air here and there, just having the time of my life flying down the side of this mountain. I do this for what feels like 5 minutes. Just for run I recall my ship while I'm still riding my SRV down and my wonderful ship lands in the bottom of the ravine. My slippery journey comes to an end not 30 meters from it. I crawl underneath, board my diamond back and head back to the black. Not before circling my mountain a few times to say goodbye though.
----------
Do I feel a little childish? Ya. Is that not the point of a video game? To get away from it all and just enjoy yourself? Ya.
Mr. Braben and crew. Thank you for this experience. While this story may seem simple underwhelming or trivial to most, it brought a laugh and a slight moistness to my eyes. It felt way too real (eyefinity and a joystick helped a lot with that. I think I'd die if I could afford a Rift). It was absolutely perfect.
I found an Ice planet that looked very scarred. Lots of varied terrain. I had already been on a few basic moons and they were more or less boring and flat (I also didn't know how to gather minerals yet). After entering Orbital Cruise I noticed a particularly high point on the planet. A mountain? Perhaps. I decided to land on the peak. It looked pointy from a distance but I was confident there was a diamonback sized landing space. Annnnd there was.
I pop out my SRV and check out my new Vista. I landed on the dark side of the planet and realize I need to flick on my brighter headlights. Very bright... I hear a clicking sound on my radar and figure it's time to find out really what that's all about. Turns out this mountain is so huge that I'm able to drive on the "peak" for quite a ways before the terrain really starts to drop in elevation. Clicking is higher pitched and more frequent. I'm doing something right -- better keep going. A few times I move over a steeper ledge and I almost lose control of my SRV. I'm a very conservative driver; none of this skidding and slighting and cliff jumping nonsense! This is expensive equipment! So I hit the hand brake to regain control. I stop to asses the situation. The clicking is coming from further down the mountain but the terrain drops out of view. I approach slowly and see that, meh, it's not that bad if I take it slow. I push forward my throttle lever the least amount possible and let go, traveling an minimum speed. I see my click noises starting to trail off to the left so I correct my angle. Bad idea. I broke my traction and I start sliding sideways down the mountain, slowly picking up speed. Handbrake. Hand... brake. For the love of god brake, brake! Screw the clicks, I'm careening towards a cliff, the bottom of which is not visible, but the distant terrain is an indicator that I'm on the highest peak headed to the lowest valley via the shortest path.
Looking up I see there's no way I'm going to be able to get back up so I dismiss my ship hoping I can find a new landing site. It's at this point I realize that I'm stuck on the side of the mountain at about a 55-60 degree grade. It was more vertical than horizontal. I pause to listen to the thunder of my ships engines fade into the distance. There's no landing site near me so I've got to go down. But down is scary. I can't actually SEE the down. I inch forward until I can finally see the angle of the terrain. It's much steeper than what I'm on. But it's not completely vertical so maybe I've got a chance. I see an outcropping further down, maybe 500 meters, that I might be able to land my ship on. Here goes!
*Whoosh*
My SRV immediately picks up incredible speeds. I spend 100% of my focus braking on the flush terrain and keeping my nose pointed down in order to maintain control. The last thing I want is to roll sideways. Here comes my "landing pad". There goes my "Landing pad". Crap. I flip a 180, full throttle forward and blast my thrusters while pitching forward. It works. Wow. I'll never be able to repeat a maneuver like that again.
In my immersed mind I tap my fuel gauge. I can barely see the bar. Whoops. *Recall ship*.
Oh hello ship! How nice of you to land FIVE HUNDRED METERS BACK UP THE MOUNTAIN!
*dismiss ship*
I turn back around nudge my throttle just enough to gain momentum (I'm basically out of fuel). It's here that I realize that I just need to get to the bottom where I'm not fighting a hill to get to my ship. It's here that I really hear the sound of the snow crunching under the tires. I feel the squirrelly twisting and turning of my SRV as I twist the stick. Now, I love snowboarding. And right here... I'm riding. I own this mountain. I let out a stupid giggle. Grown man, by myself in my office, giggling at a computer game. I start bumping into rocks, catching a little air here and there, just having the time of my life flying down the side of this mountain. I do this for what feels like 5 minutes. Just for run I recall my ship while I'm still riding my SRV down and my wonderful ship lands in the bottom of the ravine. My slippery journey comes to an end not 30 meters from it. I crawl underneath, board my diamond back and head back to the black. Not before circling my mountain a few times to say goodbye though.
----------
Do I feel a little childish? Ya. Is that not the point of a video game? To get away from it all and just enjoy yourself? Ya.
Mr. Braben and crew. Thank you for this experience. While this story may seem simple underwhelming or trivial to most, it brought a laugh and a slight moistness to my eyes. It felt way too real (eyefinity and a joystick helped a lot with that. I think I'd die if I could afford a Rift). It was absolutely perfect.
