There are over 400 of us out at Beagle Point now, and more arriving all the time. This is a truly mind-boggling number of people who have made the journey out here, but now we're all looking at the journey home.
Those of us who have made this trek before know the challenge that is facing people and I think it's a good idea to put in one place tips to help the journey go more smoothly (and successfully)
I'll start with what I learned
Don't get frustrated at the sparse sections
It's a challenge, and a fun one. Try to treat it as such. I had a 39.4LY range 'conda last time, so it was quite a lot easier but the sense of relief when the star density increased was palpable. Enjoy the mental and physical challenge, plot ahead to make sure you have enough jump juice.
Break up the journey
Do not at any point look at the 10s of thousands of light years to go. Pick a nearby point of interest on the way, even if it is only of interest to you. I used my favourite star classes (A, B and O) as targets. You can also look for aa-a systems that are of more interest. Some may be previously scanned but there are some systems well worth the visit: you can drop in on giant stars with close neighbours, or Carbon Stars (also worth looking for). Planetary nebula are worth looking for as well you may find an untagged one.
You also have the SRV now: make use of it. Go prospecting for jump juice materials. Get some screenshots, make it memorable
Meet people
One of the biggest highlights for me on the way home was meeting up with Frawd on his way out. We'd never seen an Anaconda up close to a Sidewinder before and doing so on the far side of the Core was extremely memorable. It also started a (minor) piece of E: D history when I met up with him again just shy of BP to help with material hunting. The point is: meet ups break up the journey; arrange a rendezvous with friends: the trip to that system will be much shorter and keep getting you closer to home
Change travel strategies
I do jonking / exploring / "ooh shiny" styles on long trips in that I will spend a 1000LY not ever looking at the system map and maximising speed, then I'll spend a 1000LY exploring every system I hit. After that I'll check the system map on the warm up and if there are any kind of shinys I'll cancel and go look. I don't round robin these, I'll see what mood hits me and do that method for the next 1000LY plot. The point here is that you do not get stuck in a rut doing the same thing over and over.
Go do something else
You'll get burned out, go ride a bike or take a walk. Speak to those short people in your house or the other tall one that keeps asking "playing again????". Keep yourself fresh, it's not a race.
It gets easier once you clear the core
I can only describe this as getting to your junction on the motorway, the A roads are much more familiar... the path more trod to paraphrase. Everything seems much closer than the distance would suggest. It'll be an odd sensation but one that other experienced explorers have all felt.
The last 10,000LY goes REALLY quickly!
You'll be amazed but it does. As soon as the counter hit single figure 1000s, the last section flew by for me. I did 6000LY in a single sitting and didn't feel tired. I stopped 1000LY short of the bubble and did the last stretch the next day.
Those of us who have made this trek before know the challenge that is facing people and I think it's a good idea to put in one place tips to help the journey go more smoothly (and successfully)
I'll start with what I learned
Don't get frustrated at the sparse sections
It's a challenge, and a fun one. Try to treat it as such. I had a 39.4LY range 'conda last time, so it was quite a lot easier but the sense of relief when the star density increased was palpable. Enjoy the mental and physical challenge, plot ahead to make sure you have enough jump juice.
Break up the journey
Do not at any point look at the 10s of thousands of light years to go. Pick a nearby point of interest on the way, even if it is only of interest to you. I used my favourite star classes (A, B and O) as targets. You can also look for aa-a systems that are of more interest. Some may be previously scanned but there are some systems well worth the visit: you can drop in on giant stars with close neighbours, or Carbon Stars (also worth looking for). Planetary nebula are worth looking for as well you may find an untagged one.
You also have the SRV now: make use of it. Go prospecting for jump juice materials. Get some screenshots, make it memorable
Meet people
One of the biggest highlights for me on the way home was meeting up with Frawd on his way out. We'd never seen an Anaconda up close to a Sidewinder before and doing so on the far side of the Core was extremely memorable. It also started a (minor) piece of E: D history when I met up with him again just shy of BP to help with material hunting. The point is: meet ups break up the journey; arrange a rendezvous with friends: the trip to that system will be much shorter and keep getting you closer to home
Change travel strategies
I do jonking / exploring / "ooh shiny" styles on long trips in that I will spend a 1000LY not ever looking at the system map and maximising speed, then I'll spend a 1000LY exploring every system I hit. After that I'll check the system map on the warm up and if there are any kind of shinys I'll cancel and go look. I don't round robin these, I'll see what mood hits me and do that method for the next 1000LY plot. The point here is that you do not get stuck in a rut doing the same thing over and over.
Go do something else
You'll get burned out, go ride a bike or take a walk. Speak to those short people in your house or the other tall one that keeps asking "playing again????". Keep yourself fresh, it's not a race.
It gets easier once you clear the core
I can only describe this as getting to your junction on the motorway, the A roads are much more familiar... the path more trod to paraphrase. Everything seems much closer than the distance would suggest. It'll be an odd sensation but one that other experienced explorers have all felt.
The last 10,000LY goes REALLY quickly!
You'll be amazed but it does. As soon as the counter hit single figure 1000s, the last section flew by for me. I did 6000LY in a single sitting and didn't feel tired. I stopped 1000LY short of the bubble and did the last stretch the next day.
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