First contact today!

i think they are scanning for elite and dangerous and deadly rank commanders who will all mysteriously be kidnapped or vapourised on the day they declare war... or maybe i dont. im 10000 ly away from the bubble in the opposite direction lol. but none of the aliens seem to head for polaris?
 
*** UNKNOWN ENCOUNTER REPORT ***

Unknown vessel exactly fitting description of other reports encountered twice earlier today in vicinity of Aries Dark Region-Pleiades Sector boundary, by Cmdr William Diffin commanding independent light cruiser Pourquoi pas? Ship loadout included Corrosion-Resistant Cargo Rack containing 2t Unknown Artefacts, Manifest Scanner and Frame Shift Wake Scanner.

First encounter was on 3303.I.15 at 1532.52UTC, when the Pourquoi pas? was hyperdicted en route from Aries Dark Region GW-W d1-40 to Aries Dark Region GW-W d1-42, by Unknown vessel following established reported pattern of disabling target ship's systems whilst apparently carrying out scans, although of course no 'SHIP SCAN DETECTED' alert was observed due to ship's systems being temporarily disabled.

Bottom view of Unknown vessel, note pink filamentation, apparently some sort of exhaust product:

XPI5eBY.jpg


Side view of Unknown vessel, exhaust is better seen in this view, note how the background is distorted behind the exhaust, probably indicating the presence of hot gases:

uk75LRT.jpg


Top view of Unknown vessel:

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Top view of Unknown vessel, prior to scan, note the more open configuration of the vessel than in the previous image; prior to the scan the vessel is seen to unwind and open up considerably:

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Unknown vessel during scan, note whip-like luminous yellow filamentation:

ItWhmiu.jpg


Unknown vessel side view whilst leaving at speed, note the different rear fin vertical configuration to the previous side view, and the slightly helical structures in this more detailed view of the luminous pink exhaust filamentation:

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Upon regaining control of my ship the Unknown vessel left the scene following the pattern reported in other similar encounters. Attempted to attract her attention by jettisoning 2t of Unknown Artefacts, but she entirely ignored the gesture and frame-shifted out of the scene as per the usual reported pattern. Frame Shift Scanning the wake yielded 'UNKNOWN WAKE DATA' data component and revealed an 'UNIDENTIFIABLE WAKE':

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Attempting to engage the FSD in order to pursue the Unknown vessel yielded a 'FRAME SHIFT CANCELLED: MALFUNCTIONING' error message. Plainly Frame Shift Wake Scanners are useless for following the Unknown vessel into hyperspace:

pXGnPjx.jpg


Second encounter with identical Unknown vessel occurred less than 20 minutes later at 1548.32UTC, when the Pourquoi pas? was again hyperdicted en route from Pleiades Sector HR-W d1-33 to Pleiades Sector XB-O b6-3. (This time I was only carrying one Unknown Artefact, having ejected both the UAs I had been carrying during the previous encounter, one of them had died before I could retrieve it and became merely an Unknown Fragment.) The second encounter followed an identical pattern to the first. However this time, after being scanned and upon regaining control of my ship, instead of jettisoning my UAs I attempted to scan the Unknown vessel in return using a Class A Manifest Scanner. The basic scan was successful, and yielded an 'UNKNOWN SHIP SIGNATURE' data component:

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But whilst the Manifest scan completed successfully, the Unknown ship frame-shifted from the scene before I was able to analyse the Inventory tab on my ship's Navigation panel. The ship literally entered hyperspace as I tapped the <Page Down> key four times to get to the Inventory tab. Having recorded video of the entire encounter, I was able to pull out an image of the Sub-Targets panel which was up in the fraction of a second between my third tap of the <Page Down> key and the Unknown ship entering hyperspace. If I had tapped <Page Up> twice instead of <Page Down> four times, I would certainly have captured something of the Unknown ship's inventory as well if it was available:

wKDtRA0.jpg


Interestingly, the Unknown ship appears to be armed with only a single weapon, classed by my ship's computer as a Pulse Laser. Personally I suspect that whatever weapon this 'Pulse Laser' represents may be far more devastating than that.

Unusually the ship also has all of four Drive units, quite unlike any standard known ship up to the light cruiser class.

The Power Plant and FSD were obviously present in the Unknown ship without needing a scan to reveal them, but the presence of Life Support clearly indicates that the Unknown ship must certainly be manned by an organic crew, and is not an automated drone.

The Unknown ship also has a Power Distribution unit and is shielded.

The final item on the panel is un-named. My ship's computer has not even designated it something like: 'Unknown Component'. It is simply blank. The scroll bar at the right of the panel apparently indicates perhaps another three or four components to the Unknown vessel below the un-named component. What these might be is as yet a complete mystery.

Finally, it may be noteworthy that every single visible component on the Unknown ship is powered up. Unless the invisible components that have yet to be scrolled down to are powered down, it would appear that the Unknown ship's power plant is powerful enough to preclude any requirement for power management.

*** END OF REPORT ***

As I do not myself expect to be so soon presented with another opportunity to gather further scan data from an Unknown vessel, if it pleases Commanders to follow my recommendations, I suggest that any Commanders being hyperdicted by Unknowns should attempt to obtain a Manifest scan of the vessel, with screenshots of the full list of Unknown ship Sub-Targets, and/or an Inventory of the Unknown's cargo. Speaking from experience there is not much time to do either between regaining ship power after the Unknown's scan and the Unknown entering hyperspace, so it is best to only attempt one or the other. You must scan, <F1> Navigation Panel, <Page Up> once to Inventory and scroll down, or twice to Sub-Targets and scroll down. You probably will not have time to do both, nor to take screenshots. So use video capture to be sure to record all the information. Some external views would also be helpful for ship size comparison. Good luck Commanders o7
 
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Dear Flower-Power-Aliens,
I just murdered several Unknown Artifacts for that mean human Engineer Palin which you can find in Maia.
I am truely sorry that I had to do that but human space has become an arms race and I need the engines from Palin that the others already have to be able to defend myself.
You may hyperdict me anytime you like and I am ready to face the consequences in a fair duell. Please do not use your disableing Scan-Beam because this is a coward weapon and not a real weapon for a honored extraterrestrial.
Sincerely,
A Human Scum.

* * * * * * * * * * * *
 
The rng is extremely bad. Here you have some encountering them twice in 20 mins while others like me have spent hours upon hours without a single encounter. The number of jumps I made in the vicinity of Pleiades and Aries Dark region trying to encounter them would have taken me halfway to the center of the universe. Good job Frontier you managed to get me to return to game after a 9 month break only to run me off for good.
 
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The rng is extremely bad. Here you have some encountering them twice in 20 mins while others like me have spent hours upon hours without a single encounter. The number of jumps I made in the vicinity of Pleiades and Aries Dark region trying to encounter them would have taken me halfway to the center of the universe. Good job Frontier you managed to get me to return to game after a 9 month break only to run me off for good.

Whereas if you'd been able to press an "ALIEN ENCOUNTER NAO" button and see it that would have totally convinced you to stay forever?
 
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Whereas if you'd been able to press an "ALIEN ENCOUNTER NAO" button and see it that would have totally convinced you to stay forever?

No what it did prove was Frontier is still unable to create content just time sinks. I have no problem with rng done correctly.
 
No what it did prove was Frontier is still unable to create content just time sinks. I have no problem with rng done correctly.

I'm not sure you know what random means, and with no other data about where you were jumping around there's a good chance you totally wasted your time.
 
I'm not sure you know what random means, and with no other data about where you were jumping around there's a good chance you totally wasted your time.

Your inability to understand rng isn't completely random and a game developer has control over it. RNG in a game shouldn't be set so that the chance of drop or as in this case encounter is so low that it drives the player to quit trying.
 
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Your inability to understand rng isn't completely random and a game developer has control over it. RNG in a game shouldn't be set so that the chance of drop or as in this case encounter is so low that it drives the player to quit trying.
I am familiar with such things :)

Maybe they disagree with what you think is correct. That doesn't negate the content

but this is silly, i dunno why i'm bothering. have fun in another game
 
I am familiar with such things :)

Maybe they disagree with what you think is correct. That doesn't negate the content

but this is silly, i dunno why i'm bothering. have fun in another game

So you found barnacles yet? I haven't. I did the research, went to the star systems they are supposed to be in. The coordinate system is unclear to me. I scanned complete bodies regardless. I need alien artefacts for the engineer thing.

The way I play this game is, I try for a week, get nothing out of it. Then I don't play it for months. It is just too difficult and boring.
 
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So you found barnacles yet? I haven't.
Yes, it took about an hour. I'd try again if I were you it sounds like you just had a bit of a hiccup with the planet surface navigation. The co-ordinate system is the same people humans have used to navigate our planet since the middle of the last millennium so far from over-complicated.
 
I am not good with numbers. I think someone posted that the numbers are reversed, some bug. I can't find the pole. You have 2 numbers. They go up or down. And when they reach the maximum, the become negative. I watched a video on it but it doesn't help me I'm afraid. I cannot get close to the coordinate I am supposed to be at.

I have a mild case of dyscalculia. I just get lost in the numbers. (I expect some people now to direct me to some other, simpler game. That is what is done when someone has a disability.)
 
I am not good with numbers. I think someone posted that the numbers are reversed, some bug. I can't find the pole. You have 2 numbers. They go up or down. And when they reach the maximum, the become negative. I watched a video on it but it doesn't help me I'm afraid. I cannot get close to the coordinate I am supposed to be at.

I have a mild case of dyscalculia. I just get lost in the numbers. (I expect some people now to direct me to some other, simpler game. That is what is done when someone has a disability.)

Maybe this will help you?

http://www.hotdoy.ca/edbearing/

Input your current co-ordinates and your destination co-ordinates and get a bearing to follow...

To be fair a better ingame navigation system would be nice.
 
I am not good with numbers. I think someone posted that the numbers are reversed, some bug. I can't find the pole. You have 2 numbers. They go up or down. And when they reach the maximum, the become negative. I watched a video on it but it doesn't help me I'm afraid. I cannot get close to the coordinate I am supposed to be at.

I have a mild case of dyscalculia. I just get lost in the numbers. (I expect some people now to direct me to some other, simpler game. That is what is done when someone has a disability.)

Use a site like this: http://www.sunearthtools.com/tools/distance.php

Get your coordinates from the HUD (Three sets of figures along with the gravity at the bottom of the RH arc.). Input your current position and where you want to go. Then calculate. This will give you your heading. The range will be wrong because you are not on Earth but it will head you in the right direction.
Use a detailed scan and look at the planetary map to get your bearings.
Another way of doing it it to head in an East or West direction. Keep your eye on the coordinates. One of them will become the same as the targets. Then turn 90° and fly in a straight line watching your coordinates approach the target's. You might need to turn round 180°.
 
The rng is extremely bad. Here you have some encountering them twice in 20 mins while others like me have spent hours upon hours without a single encounter. The number of jumps I made in the vicinity of Pleiades and Aries Dark region trying to encounter them would have taken me halfway to the center of the universe. Good job Frontier you managed to get me to return to game after a 9 month break only to run me off for good.

You're not being very helpful, friend.

Perhaps the rng has only recently altered to increase the frequency of hyperdictions as part of a Frontier plot thread. Even assuming in all probability it hasn't, a few players are attempting to plot the frequency and distribution of encounters as a means of mapping the Unknown vessel's behaviour, or the rng behaviour if you prefer. It's their idea of fun. So in terms of Commanders' duty to humanity to study the Unknown encounters, data on where Unknown encounters are not happening is as important as data on where they are happening, and may be significant for other reasons as yet unknown. Whilst giving up and not submitting any data is not at all important. Or fun.

Maybe you should look at this thread; it's full of established encounter locations. And maybe you could take your information about where you're not finding Unknown vessels there with you:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...-Commanders!?p=4983146&viewfull=1#post4983146
 
You're not being very helpful, friend.

Perhaps the rng has only recently altered to increase the frequency of hyperdictions as part of a Frontier plot thread. Even assuming in all probability it hasn't, a few players are attempting to plot the frequency and distribution of encounters as a means of mapping the Unknown vessel's behaviour, or the rng behaviour if you prefer. It's their idea of fun. So in terms of Commanders' duty to humanity to study the Unknown encounters, data on where Unknown encounters are not happening is as important as data on where they are happening, and may be significant for other reasons as yet unknown. Whilst giving up and not submitting any data is not at all important. Or fun.

Maybe you should look at this thread; it's full of established encounter locations. And maybe you could take your information about where you're not finding Unknown vessels there with you:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...-Commanders!?p=4983146&viewfull=1#post4983146

And to add to this...I am not fully convinced that just because we can't reliably reproduce the hyperdictions at will means they are in fact truly random. I suspect there is some as of yet completely identified set of determining factors...
 
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The rng is extremely bad. Here you have some encountering them twice in 20 mins while others like me have spent hours upon hours without a single encounter. The number of jumps I made in the vicinity of Pleiades and Aries Dark region trying to encounter them would have taken me halfway to the center of the universe. Good job Frontier you managed to get me to return to game after a 9 month break only to run me off for good.
And to add to this...I am not fully convinced that just because we can't reliably reproduce the hyperdictions at will means they are in fact truly random. I suspect there is some as of yet completely identified set of determining factors...

Bertak, are you using an A-rated FSD, and have you ever had engineering upgrades done? Out of 11 hyperdicted pilots polled, 10 had an A-rated FSD, and only 2 didn't have any engineering upgrades. I don't know how this compares to the general populace of pilots, but there you have it. Here's that poll.

Also, according to another poll, it looks like the vast majority of pilots were carrying an unidentified artifact, but not an unidentified probe.

So it looks like your best bet is to get an A-rated FSD, engineer-upgrade anything, pick up an unidentified probe, and start flying around the common interdiction sites with it.



THE CORROSION!

I wonder if the corrosion is some sort of beacon for the ship to hone in on across hyperspace? New question; how many interdicted pilots had corrosion damage at the time of interdiction? That is, corrosion damage, so if they'd just recently been carrying a probe and their ship was still damaged from the corrosion?

Because for there to be corrosion, there must be something causing it - is it actually some sort of acid leaking out of the probes, or is it some sort of spatial distortion the probes let out (the mirage effect around them and the bigger ships) - either of which could attract those other ships?

Also, if the aliens are using some sort of biologically-grown ships, then our ships are literally beds of nutrients for them. I wonder if the "corrosion damage" isn't the probes trying to grow stuff out of the petri dish of nutrients that is our ships, and if one of the things they grow isn't some sort of beacon?
 
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