Edited. Format wrong, re-posted.
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Space madness.
- Thread starter Witzo
- Start date
I think Space Madness has a hold of me too....I actually played some CQC last night just to blow things up and fly something other than my Asp!!!!
I'm out in the end of the Scutum Centaurus Arm along the Abyssal Plain, over 57,000 lys from Sol, and actually traveling further away with every jump now. At some point I'll run out of stars and have to turn around. I don't know if I'll be happy to head for Sol, or if I'll turn a new direction instead. Part of me wants to run for the bubble and immerse myself in stations, missions, trading, and blowing things up. I really didn't get to do much yet with surface stations. Another part of me wants to stay out here for much, much longer. Maybe head for the opposite side of the galaxy? Or fly counter clockwise for the Formadine Rift until I see the Crab Nebula again.
I sat dangerously close to a black hole the other night, my ship's heat sitting right below the threshold, just to listen to the creepy sounds emanating out from it like some goth fear inducing space music. I caught myself flying a rocky ice world's canyons the other day just for kicks until I realized how stupid it was to be doing this with over 100,000 lys worth of exploration data. I'm beginning to wonder what is more dangerous: deep space, or my state of mind....
I'm out in the end of the Scutum Centaurus Arm along the Abyssal Plain, over 57,000 lys from Sol, and actually traveling further away with every jump now. At some point I'll run out of stars and have to turn around. I don't know if I'll be happy to head for Sol, or if I'll turn a new direction instead. Part of me wants to run for the bubble and immerse myself in stations, missions, trading, and blowing things up. I really didn't get to do much yet with surface stations. Another part of me wants to stay out here for much, much longer. Maybe head for the opposite side of the galaxy? Or fly counter clockwise for the Formadine Rift until I see the Crab Nebula again.
I sat dangerously close to a black hole the other night, my ship's heat sitting right below the threshold, just to listen to the creepy sounds emanating out from it like some goth fear inducing space music. I caught myself flying a rocky ice world's canyons the other day just for kicks until I realized how stupid it was to be doing this with over 100,000 lys worth of exploration data. I'm beginning to wonder what is more dangerous: deep space, or my state of mind....
Yep. Either space madness or short rationing the "Enter" key.
For some reason my works pc doesn't script very well, I have edited it now for better reading. Sorry fellas/ladies. Enjoy:
CMDRs log 22 APR 3302 ‘IN SPACE NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU GOING MAD’. [Distance from Sol: 43000Ly. Location: Scutum-Centaurus arm. Ship condition: 85% hull/85% power plant/100% all other modules]
I knew I was going mad after a routine 1000LY set of jumps (jump number 11382 to be precise). I sat there in the darkness, the blue tinge of the nearby B class star bathing the bridge’s gloom and began counting the stars around me. Not normal counting mind, a fevered, ‘I must count every star or I am going to die’ panic attack kind of crazy counting. I got to 1100 before I slumped exhausted into my Commander’s chair. ‘Lilly’, my ship’s AI, who had been working alongside me in her synthetic form since the beginning of the Distant Worlds expedition gently administered a mild sedative and an anti-anxiolytic and assisted me, gently but purposefully off the bridge and into my cabin.
I lay in my cool, dark safe sanctuary, told the doors to close and lock and began to feel the tightness in my chest ease and my breathing slowly return to normal. “Panic attack/anxiety episode Commander, just try and relax, I have the ship” Lilly chirped in her reassuring tone into my pilot’s earpiece as I enquired of her what the hell was wrong with me (cochlea communication implants along with retinal HUD implants).”I can afford them at the end of the day so why the hell not” I told myself, unnecessarily. Lilly agreed with me and advised I sleep.
I needed to get a grip of this but I was a long way away from a doctor. What a mess, I remembered Lilly’s words back in IX, a small system I called ‘home’ now 43 thousand light years distant, back in January 3302: ‘You will potentially suffer adverse effects of separation trauma without a physical companion Commander and I can act as a second pair of hands in case of emergencies’ was her matter of fact assessment. I listened to her and was initially put off by the credit hit having a ship’s AI synthetic upgrade installed. My Anaconda was a specialist explorer fit, built for range, robustness and planetary landing capability, and as a result was already running at 248 million credits in modules and superstructure, plus 11 million in insurance. An additional 10 million seemed prohibitive, but thankfully I listened to sense.
Lilly was wise for an AI companion and I regarded her counsel as seriously as I would any human, I could trust Lilly too which is more than I could have said for a lot of my human companions and peers. Lilly had saved my life, again, and I knew it. Without her physical presence today I would have been stuck out in a remote spec of stars on the Scutum-Centaurus arm, slowly going mad and dying insane, mummifying in my Commander’s chair, ready for some deep space salvage crew who had happened upon my ship to appraise my corpse and my ship with greedy, eager eyes. I need to sleep, I need to sleep, I nee…
I awoke, naked, an indeterminate time later feeling infinitely better. Lilly must have undressed me and I noticed an untouched glass of protein drink next to my bed. “She’s my nurse as well as my AI companion now I thought to myself, people will begin to talk about us!” I ordered my shower to turn on. I still had 1 million litres of precious potable water left for washing, and as I was the only human on board who needed the facility I wasn’t worried it was going to run out anytime soon. I stood for 5 minutes in the hot powerful and aromatic jets (eucalyptus) and planned my day: plot a course, check my position on the Gal-Map, establish FTL Comms with any nearby Distant World Commanders, and jump another 1KLY. Hopefully I won’t go mad on my next set of jumps. I ordered water off and was then dried by warm jets of air. I stepped out of my shower and ordered a fresh flight suit, This was applied by mechanical arms which dropped from the ceiling and which expertly fitted the bespoke and skin tight flight suit with its sensors and bio-feedback monitors to an exact and more importantly comfortable fit as I stood there, arms outstretched like some neo-Jesus on an invisible cross.
I walked the short distance from my cabin to the bridge and was greeted by Lilly, smiling, holding a cup of tea in one hand and a flight plan (USB format) in her other hand. “I trust you are feeling better Commander? Would you like to check the route I have plotted for us today?” I was suddenly struck at how perfect Lilly looked, she wore the same bio-feedback flight suit I wore (out of courtesy to me, she didn’t actually need it) but it seemed like I was seeing her for the first time in it, her perfect synthetic body was exaggerated by her perfect, manufactured curves. I heard Lilly speaking but wasn’t registering it, what the hell was up with me? Why am I getting an erection over a synthetic? I shook myself out of my funk, smiled pleasantly and sat down in my Commander’s chair, sipping my tea while I downloaded the data Lilly had given to me into my DELACY KS-12 micro terminal. It makes me smile even now that in 3302, sitting at the bridge of one of the finest ships ever made, that the tech I use on a daily basis is no more advanced, theoretically, than the technology our forefathers used to propel themselves clumsily towards Earth’s lunar satellite. “43000Ly from home, in a ship slowly falling to bits, using 21st century tech, oh [expletive deleted] I am going to die” I heard myself think. Thankfully I didn’t speak it out loud. Lilly looked at me as if reading my thoughts and said reassuringly “The route is good Commander, relax and let’s get going”. I called up the Gal-map, checked the route, saw it was good and put my cup of tea in its holder. I called ‘secure for jump’ and my 3 point safety belt materialised and secured me to the chair, I felt my bio-feedback interfaces being connected to the Commanders chair reading my vital signs and communicating me directly to the ship, it’s systems and modules. I heard Lilly’s soothing voice speaking to me through my earpiece reassuringly and I instinctively knew all would be ok, just another 43 thousand light years to go, what on earth could go wrong?
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You are in a tug between your human perspective and your expanded galactic perspective.
I do not know which will prevail.
The most dangerous is your state of mind in deep space.
I think you need one more dip in the bubble to reaffirm your true calling. And call They do...
Yesterday, Commander Pharoh announced that he is approaching inhabited space after a full year on the Galactic Rim Job. Yes, he left before we had moonbuggies to occasionally relieve us from the dark emptiness by driving around on dust and imagining ourselves to be bigger than dust.
Cmdr. Pharoh feels some anxiety to enter the realm of man, as well he should.
Cmdr. Pharoh feels some anxiety to enter the realm of man, as well he should.
The old ones in the deep deep abyssal realms beyond the sight of stable minds are always watching our return to our shallow bubble of safety.
Not you, Youngling.Oi! Who are you calling old?
You went well prepared and brought more creature comforts than most Commanders! Why would you ever return?
Hi CMDRs
Thanks to CMDR Witzo for the invitation to put a post up about my trip.
My first trip in a sidewinder to Barnard's loop early in 2015 resulted in me self destructing after a week of travelling, at the time it seemed a big deal but looking back it was a lesson learn`t that stood me in good stead. The next trip again out to barnard`s three weeks later was successful, returning to sell my data and then buy an Adder.
My next trip out to Heart and soul nebulas went well no problems, more lessons learnt ..not repairing certain modules when at full speed etc. This trip left me with enough credits to get my asp Sloth is his name due to me thinking hes bloody ugly, i fully kitted him with all the things i thought i might need giving me a jump range of 34ly. I stayed around the bubble for a couple of weeks in early april 2015 not quite sure of my next destination, hanging around bounty hunting left me missing something, I made a few million credits doing that then tried mining, again i didn`t take to that.
On the 26th of April 2015 i decided to go to the rim, for No particular reason other than i wanted to get back out away from the bubble, and I decided i like the peace and quiet and not knowing wether the next jump might bring something special.
My first goal was to reach the Rosetta Nebula after that the Skull and Crossbones nebula. These seemed to come and go fairly quickly with my style of exploring changing constantly due to my state of mind. At times i would do a 1000ly in a few hours scanning full systems and taking time to look for anything unusual in the area at other times i would do 2 or 3 kly in a few hours just picking out the Cherries and I can say hand on heart this i how things went the full year out. After the Scull and Crossbones Neb i carried on up the Perseus Arm thinking i might reach the end of that and see how i and Sloth were holding out, so far so good.
Nearing the end of the arm i started to look for a crossing to the Carina-sagittarius Arm. Doing long range scans i could find nothing so had to backtrack up to 8kly to find a crossing, all the while looking for ways over to the Arm
Of all the crossings i made from arm to arm this was the worst one for me and seemed to take a week or more of wasted time, not that i was in a hurry, but was very frustrating. While in this area Update 1.3 was introduced leading to the fabulous group of people helping many others, the Fuel Rats.
Why did i want to cross the arm you may well ask? My goals had broadened after getting near the arm and i had noticed how close Beagle point seemed, so why not carry on to that area and see how far i could reach following in the footsteps of more intrepid and intelligent explorers that me. On my way to the beagle area i passed over to the Scutum Centurus arm and visited the Eock Bluae nebula and shortly after the Flyai Flyuae Nebula After these it was straight to the Far rim, after a week or two in this area the furthest i could reach from Sol was 65301ly
Now What do i do? Well i am ok and Sloth is ok, i have lost some hull due to careless scooping a scrape with a binary system but otherwise ok, I suppose i may as well carry on round the rim. So my next Goal is do the rim.
Leaving the beagle area i next had to cross the abyss again to reach the Scutum Centurus arm so as to carry on round the rim, this didnt go too badly and off i plod round the rim. While in this area i Met up with CMDR Kola2
I had never had a particular Body type to search for on my travels but found after a few months i enjoyed finding the Giants in their various forms. For me this whole experience is a visual thing, the enjoyment of scooping a star and flying through the looping solar flares, flying between the planet and its rings these sort of things i enjoy. The sort of things i don't enjoy is looking at a neutron star its a DOT. The thought of farming them doesn't appeal at all. Carrying on round the rim to the new outer arm was eventless and the thing that kept me going was my quest to find the giants. I could travel 2 or 3 kly looking for and scanning them, but only actually go 1000lk down the arm so the days mounted.
15th of Dec Horizons was released. I really noticed how the bubble was getting closer when several CMDRs pointed out how i was getting nearer to home so to speak but as i got further round the rim i entered the Formidine rift area and a new excitement ran through me at the thought of finding something out there. I spent a few weeks looking in the area and made some new friends while out there CMDR Gypsy12 being very helpful and knowledgable about the rift, we sort of teamed up and actually had a Meet in the area. Time and the need to get back with my data was weighing heavy so i started to make my way to the bubble, past the heart and soul once more and back to Omicron Columbae where i left my vulture. Nearing the bubble i jumped into solo for the last few hundred ly worried but excited at the same time, i few into the station without any problem 1 year and 2 days later.
Did i suffer from space madness? I don't know, i did have periods of isolation but didn't mind that i suffered frustration from some areas of the galaxy being difficult to navigate. I seemed to get through periods like that by focusing on goals, reach an area, or find a particular type of body, and i found i could travel long distances and often not notice.. i suppose i was enjoying myself.
Thanks must go to all the CMDRs that helped me on my trip with words of support and advise, All welcome when it got Lonely.
Fly safe CMDRs
Pharoh
Thanks to CMDR Witzo for the invitation to put a post up about my trip.
My first trip in a sidewinder to Barnard's loop early in 2015 resulted in me self destructing after a week of travelling, at the time it seemed a big deal but looking back it was a lesson learn`t that stood me in good stead. The next trip again out to barnard`s three weeks later was successful, returning to sell my data and then buy an Adder.
My next trip out to Heart and soul nebulas went well no problems, more lessons learnt ..not repairing certain modules when at full speed etc. This trip left me with enough credits to get my asp Sloth is his name due to me thinking hes bloody ugly, i fully kitted him with all the things i thought i might need giving me a jump range of 34ly. I stayed around the bubble for a couple of weeks in early april 2015 not quite sure of my next destination, hanging around bounty hunting left me missing something, I made a few million credits doing that then tried mining, again i didn`t take to that.
On the 26th of April 2015 i decided to go to the rim, for No particular reason other than i wanted to get back out away from the bubble, and I decided i like the peace and quiet and not knowing wether the next jump might bring something special.
My first goal was to reach the Rosetta Nebula after that the Skull and Crossbones nebula. These seemed to come and go fairly quickly with my style of exploring changing constantly due to my state of mind. At times i would do a 1000ly in a few hours scanning full systems and taking time to look for anything unusual in the area at other times i would do 2 or 3 kly in a few hours just picking out the Cherries and I can say hand on heart this i how things went the full year out. After the Scull and Crossbones Neb i carried on up the Perseus Arm thinking i might reach the end of that and see how i and Sloth were holding out, so far so good.
Nearing the end of the arm i started to look for a crossing to the Carina-sagittarius Arm. Doing long range scans i could find nothing so had to backtrack up to 8kly to find a crossing, all the while looking for ways over to the Arm
Of all the crossings i made from arm to arm this was the worst one for me and seemed to take a week or more of wasted time, not that i was in a hurry, but was very frustrating. While in this area Update 1.3 was introduced leading to the fabulous group of people helping many others, the Fuel Rats.
Why did i want to cross the arm you may well ask? My goals had broadened after getting near the arm and i had noticed how close Beagle point seemed, so why not carry on to that area and see how far i could reach following in the footsteps of more intrepid and intelligent explorers that me. On my way to the beagle area i passed over to the Scutum Centurus arm and visited the Eock Bluae nebula and shortly after the Flyai Flyuae Nebula After these it was straight to the Far rim, after a week or two in this area the furthest i could reach from Sol was 65301ly
Now What do i do? Well i am ok and Sloth is ok, i have lost some hull due to careless scooping a scrape with a binary system but otherwise ok, I suppose i may as well carry on round the rim. So my next Goal is do the rim.
Leaving the beagle area i next had to cross the abyss again to reach the Scutum Centurus arm so as to carry on round the rim, this didnt go too badly and off i plod round the rim. While in this area i Met up with CMDR Kola2
I had never had a particular Body type to search for on my travels but found after a few months i enjoyed finding the Giants in their various forms. For me this whole experience is a visual thing, the enjoyment of scooping a star and flying through the looping solar flares, flying between the planet and its rings these sort of things i enjoy. The sort of things i don't enjoy is looking at a neutron star its a DOT. The thought of farming them doesn't appeal at all. Carrying on round the rim to the new outer arm was eventless and the thing that kept me going was my quest to find the giants. I could travel 2 or 3 kly looking for and scanning them, but only actually go 1000lk down the arm so the days mounted.
15th of Dec Horizons was released. I really noticed how the bubble was getting closer when several CMDRs pointed out how i was getting nearer to home so to speak but as i got further round the rim i entered the Formidine rift area and a new excitement ran through me at the thought of finding something out there. I spent a few weeks looking in the area and made some new friends while out there CMDR Gypsy12 being very helpful and knowledgable about the rift, we sort of teamed up and actually had a Meet in the area. Time and the need to get back with my data was weighing heavy so i started to make my way to the bubble, past the heart and soul once more and back to Omicron Columbae where i left my vulture. Nearing the bubble i jumped into solo for the last few hundred ly worried but excited at the same time, i few into the station without any problem 1 year and 2 days later.
Did i suffer from space madness? I don't know, i did have periods of isolation but didn't mind that i suffered frustration from some areas of the galaxy being difficult to navigate. I seemed to get through periods like that by focusing on goals, reach an area, or find a particular type of body, and i found i could travel long distances and often not notice.. i suppose i was enjoying myself.
Thanks must go to all the CMDRs that helped me on my trip with words of support and advise, All welcome when it got Lonely.
Fly safe CMDRs
Pharoh
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I was going to congratulate you on your trip. Wax lyrical (how does one wax lyrically unless singing during hair removal?) about your dedication, perseverance and talent for ship naming. I thought to congratulate you on coping with the madness, the thrills and the endless tedium. I was about to drop my jaw to the floor in awe of your trip and, don't get me wrong, I am mightily impressed however, when I got to the end of your post I suddenly realised I am doing EXACTLY the same trip, god awful journey across from Perseus to Carina-Sagittarius arm included. To congratulate you too much would be rather self serving.
I flew to Barnards loop for the lols turned left and across to Rosetta too. Did you notice that one person seems to have tagged every single star in that nebula? I too went up Perseus, backtracked and struggled across that damn gap. Went up the arm to BP. Down across the Abyss and I am now on the far rim heading down. My plan is to fly back through Barnards Loop from the other side on the way back to Sol. What on earth is it all about! Mind you, I have only been out two months I can only imagine doing this for a year!
By the way CMDR, congratulations! great effort and good write up.
Thankyou CMDR
Barnards will always be a special place to me, i used to think how will i reach that and get back in one piece, A year later i got back and it looked so close i could get there in a few jumps
I possibly did notice at the time the name in rosetta but its been a while, and i am getting on a bit
Barnards will always be a special place to me, i used to think how will i reach that and get back in one piece, A year later i got back and it looked so close i could get there in a few jumps
I possibly did notice at the time the name in rosetta but its been a while, and i am getting on a bit
The Dark has isolated another Explorer and has started nibbling:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/266897-I-m-stranded!-No-way-of-plotting-a-route-back
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/266897-I-m-stranded!-No-way-of-plotting-a-route-back
Epic, long range, long duration exploration is what sets this game apart as being great. The combat and trading is good in other games too.
But exploration is where it's at. At least for people like our selves.
One of the drawbacks of FE2/FFE was your exploration was essentialy limited by the fact that your drive broke down after a year without servicing.
Considering a jump in those games would take around a week of game time to complete you couldn't really venture too far from the inhabited systems.
There was cheat/loophole that did allow much longer jumps. But there was no way of stopping the drive breakdown. So you were still limited by that factor.
But exploration is where it's at. At least for people like our selves.
One of the drawbacks of FE2/FFE was your exploration was essentialy limited by the fact that your drive broke down after a year without servicing.
Considering a jump in those games would take around a week of game time to complete you couldn't really venture too far from the inhabited systems.
There was cheat/loophole that did allow much longer jumps. But there was no way of stopping the drive breakdown. So you were still limited by that factor.
After Commander Scoopy Doopy's galactic circumnavigation, this one goes into my archive as an example of the tremors in a Commander's ego if he still is an entity or has dissolved in the Black, expressed as a test of the border between existence and non-existence by repeatedly being blown up in a side activity.
i did find the region around Beagle Point itself to be an awful place. Picking your way around with limited jump and every little rock tagged apart from bizarrely three stars. One with an ELW in it, one with an AW and the last with a WW.
I don´t think I¨ll go back there.
Oh wow, I still love this thread [big grin]
Only been back out in the black for just over a week this time. I'm still in command of all my faculties for now... Maybe I'll give this a gentle bump in a few months...
Only been back out in the black for just over a week this time. I'm still in command of all my faculties for now... Maybe I'll give this a gentle bump in a few months...
Do let us know in what way you will be touched by the Void! I myself have retired to the bubble for a rep grind, emulating the activities of the inhabitants by ferrying cargo and collecting credits. I wonder why they never ask "find me five gas giants with rotational periods between 2 and 4 days" though.Oh wow, I still love this thread [big grin]
Only been back out in the black for just over a week this time. I'm still in command of all my faculties for now... Maybe I'll give this a gentle bump in a few months...
I need to think about this tendency of certain people to produce grafitti on the map.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/297287-Galactic-Graffiti
I suspect a wish to add human-subjective meaning to what it meaningless by projecting thoughts on the abstraction of a map. Pulling the Big into the Little by shaping constellations to maintain one's tenuous grasp on the enormity of the travelled surroundings.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/297287-Galactic-Graffiti
I suspect a wish to add human-subjective meaning to what it meaningless by projecting thoughts on the abstraction of a map. Pulling the Big into the Little by shaping constellations to maintain one's tenuous grasp on the enormity of the travelled surroundings.