New explorer starting out

[disorganise]

Hmm. Depending on how far and how long you plan to be out, I actually DO recommend a second AFMS. If you make a dumb mistake and take on enough damage to wreck your only AFMS, you have zero repair capability until to hobble back to a port.

You can also reboot repair a broken afmu to get it operational again and then re-repair the modules that the health got stolen from. If you only have one.
I took one to Beagle Point and didn't use it until I was half way back...and then only to see how it works. That only encouraged me to disguard all reason and start jumping whilst scooping, with 150% heat being the new threshold.

 

[CypherG]

Personally, in regards to routes, I just wing it (usually involves chasing blue stars and whatever POI I find on EDSM that is near me)

 

[iain666]

AFMU - the only reason to take two is so they can repair each other. If you're at that point, on your first trip out, I recommend just coming home. Take a 5A if you can afford it.

There is a second reason. If you end up taking heat damage it's randomly distributed about the ship. Empty slots can't take it so every empty slot increases the risk of damage to something you care about and can't repair so fill 'em up with something that adds no weight and might just come in handy...

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Hi Commanders

I have been running around the Eravate area, my home base on Cleve Hub, and running missions, combats and so on.

And now I've built up enough confidence and experience (and a bank account that gives me options!) I would like to go exploring further.

I have a nice Asp Explorer and have read enough that I think I made a good enough explore build for my first real mission:

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/asp...2i2f.AwRj4yvI.CwRgDBkQTNUeSIRA.&bn=Kim_Seeker

But as this is my first time away from home, I would love to hear from the experts if there's a good initial route to test myself, or am I best to just pick a direction or an interesting cloud formation to head towards. I would love a destination for my first trip as I am prone to letting the shinies take my interest, and I may never come back if that happens!

Thank you all, and fly safe!

Kim S

https://inara.cz/data/sigs/65/65248.png

Hi!

suggesting a route is difficult and depends upon the time, goal and endurance. Some CMDRs can handle eating up thousands of lightyears in a couple of sessions to end up a long way away, others can't. My first expedition ever was to the Pleiades. This is now considered the Bubble's backyard but back then it was an Epic trip for me. The route that got me hooked on exploration was: Lagoon -> Trifid -> Omega. Now these routes are well traveled, so there will be many discovered systems along it.

This is where you come in. Are you looking for pretty nebulae? Maybe want to put your name on some planets? Or don't know yet?

 

[CMDR Pugwash]

My first trip was to Colonia which I think is a good introduction because there are bases along the way allowing you to make mistakes and get used to being out on your own. By the time you get there you'll be ready for a longer unsupported trip. Sag A isn't far from there and feels like an achievement. (all those tourist ships ruin it somewhat though)

Here's my build in cruising mode...

The Wandering Pig​

Most folks won't carry shield boosters. I turn them on when landing because I keep hitting the ground. I have been thinking about swapping the HRP for another AFMU. As AMFUs weigh nothing, I don't see why you wouldn't replace any empty space with one. I did carry heatsinks but with limited ammo they're pointless, hopefully they'll let us synthesise ammo for them soon.

When underway I keep everything turned off to lower my temperature which makes scooping easier.

Here she is on approach to the Planet of Death. [insert March of Vader tune]

Spoiler

Fair winds Commander!

 

[Kim_S]

About the whole throttle to zero on jumping thing. So far I only had a couple of problems arriving - once at a white dwarf star that looked tiny, so I thought I was further away than causes damage. Bit of a shock when it happened, but I survived. Second time was at a system I now have marked so I remember it - you arrive in and appear to speed through a star to reach the arrival point, which is super close between the 2 stars in the system. Very scary in VR, and need to emergency fly out of there as the heat damage begins.

So now if I think I'm at risk, or want to just have a safe entry, I use my HOTAS flight throttle and push down to zero during the jump phase part. Does this not do enough to be safe? With comments about being at zero before you even jump, makes me think these scary stars are way more dangerous!

Love the comments and thoughts. I'm ready to make some changes tonight, pack some clean clothes and be ready to take the first step at the weekend. If I can find a way to really quickly get another 15m credits in 3 days then I can swing for a 6A fuel scoop!

 

[Para Handy]

.....................
So now if I think I'm at risk, or want to just have a safe entry, I use my HOTAS flight throttle and push down to zero during the jump phase part. Does this not do enough to be safe? With comments about being at zero before you even jump, makes me think these scary stars are way more dangerous!
................

I always reduce throttle to zero during the countdown - always make sure it is at zero when the jump animation starts then you will not start moving forward on arrival.

 

[HazardousMatt]

I always reduce throttle to zero during the countdown - always make sure it is at zero when the jump animation starts then you will not start moving forward on arrival.

Plus it's more relaxing to explore this way because your not worried about constantly keeping your fingers on the throttle. You jump in with your throttle already at 0 ...target the star, take a look at the system map see if anything is interesting and just slowly move on if it's not. It's way better than buckyball exploring which can make you go insane IMO.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Love the comments and thoughts. I'm ready to make some changes tonight, pack some clean clothes and be ready to take the first step at the weekend. If I can find a way to really quickly get another 15m credits in 3 days then I can swing for a 6A fuel scoop!

Don't forget the rebuy!

 

[ejka]

Does anybody know the secret to these lovely screenshots in VR and can share it? And if this is really trivially easy and just a blonde moment, then we can all forget I asked this

Screenshots in VR are actually a hard part.
1. Set mirror window resolution in options/graphics/display to 1920x1200 and make it borderless. Unfortunately you have to do it every time you run ED.
2. Close your right eye while positioning for screenshot because mirror window (and screenshot) has picture for your left eye. But the FOV in HMD is larger than in mirror window.
3. Or you can take off HMD and look at the mirror window on the screen while moving/turning HMD around.
4. Practice

 

[HazardousMatt]

Screenshots in VR are actually a hard part.
1. Set mirror window resolution in options/graphics/display to 1920x1200 and make it borderless. Unfortunately you have to do it every time you run ED.
2. Close your right eye while positioning for screenshot because mirror window (and screenshot) has picture for your left eye. But the FOV in HMD is larger than in mirror window.
3. Or you can take off HMD and look at the mirror window on the screen while moving/turning HMD around.
4. Practice

Could you use the free program OBS to record or "screenshot" while using the HMD?

 

[Rudi Raumkraut]

If I can find a way to really quickly get another 15m credits in 3 days then I can swing for a 6A fuel scoop!

Bring around 100t of rares to Lave where the CG is running and you get into the Top 50% which should reward you with ~15 mio Cr but will end in a day or two, I think...

 

[Orvidius]

Does anybody know the secret to these lovely screenshots in VR and can share it? And if this is really trivially easy and just a blonde moment, then we can all forget I asked this

Screenshots in VR are actually a hard part.
1. Set mirror window resolution in options/graphics/display to 1920x1200 and make it borderless. Unfortunately you have to do it every time you run ED.
2. Close your right eye while positioning for screenshot because mirror window (and screenshot) has picture for your left eye. But the FOV in HMD is larger than in mirror window.
3. Or you can take off HMD and look at the mirror window on the screen while moving/turning HMD around.
4. Practice

Personally I just leave it at the default, terrible resolution. But for aligning the shot, I've also noticed that the center of the screenshot is slightly "downward" relative to your left eye's view. I try to remember to lift my head a little. Plus, I usually take the screenshot 3 times, at different elevations, and keep only the best one. Closing the right eye is very useful, since your shots will always be off center if you aim your head right at the target. You want to center the view (left to right) within the left eye's viewport.

 

[koop26]

Hi!

My first expedition ever was to the Pleiades. This is now considered the Bubble's backyard but back then it was an Epic trip for me.

It's funny you say that because that was one of the first "trips" I took from my small group of systems I first started in. I intially stopped in at Sothis/CEOs. It was the first trip I learned not to skimp on a fuel scoop. Took it in a Diamondback Explorer. My heat management was poor, it took minutes to scoop enough fuel, and I kept running into brown dwarfs. Was a miserable affair for a first trip, and it wasn't far in the grand scheme of things.

I still stick close to home though. Made a small trip to the Coalsack Nebula, and went 1000ly above the bubble to check out the galactic plane. Furthest I've ever been was VY Canis Majoris and it made me feel uneasy. I visit the Pleiades regularly without thinking about it now. Filtering strictly for KGB FOAM stars, 50ly jump range and a 6a fuel scoop has made local travel a breeze. Still remember the good ol' days though.

 

[Xiorell]

I'm new to this exploration lark too.
I just picked a little spot on the galaxy map a few thousand light years out, book marked it and started heading there.

I didn't even make it to my place before i headed back, i was to curious if the data would really make exploration economically viable (it did) and i wanted to make a couple of changes to my vessel.

Just get out there, its good fun, not knowing what's at the next stop etc. Very relaxing i found

 

[Kim_S]

So a good bit of fun with a trial explore tonight. Happened to be around Maia finally collecting reward from the CG a week or 2 ago, and was heading back to Eravate but decided to take a long route and scan as much as I can on the way back, and poke around anything that looked interesting.

Obviously nothing untagged, but just was a try-out and was quite relaxing indeed. Found a 3 star system where 2 stars were very very close together. Worked out how to do a screenshot in VR, but it rather strangely resets your view position at the same time as taking a picture. That was the steam hotkey anyway. I need to practice some more to see if there are better options - we need a virtual keyboard inside the headset we can use!

But it's definitely relaxing and almost serene sometimes. Even in a fairly populated area, I was alone in almost every system I passed through. Only 1 time did another Commander appear, but I was mid-jump and didn't see who it was.

At one point I accidentally dropped out of super cruise in the middle of nowhere, and it's quite emotional when your ship is in full stop mode, and pretty silent, and you can look out into the blackness with only a few stars showing in some directions. Very serene and makes you think!

I took a whole lot of advice from the comments and did some tweaks to ship setup. I can get my jump range to 39.98 according to the in-game calculator! Another engineer visit could probably change that but I'm out of materials. I also found the 6B fuel scoop is more than fast enough for me, so that extra 20m it costs to get the 6A will be saved for another item

Anyway, I made it home to Eravate and was very surprised at selling the scan data and picking up so much money and rank experience, it almost seemed too easy.

It was good to do some trial runs this way, I learned to spend some time on the journey and let the curiosity take over. I'm trying to learn how to spot planets that might be interesting after the first system scan, not always easy I think. But I also learned that I want to see the weird and wonderful out in the galaxy - not so much to get a name tag on things, that's just a bonus - but really just to see the galaxy and have a sense of wonder. It was indeed fun.

Very much thanks to all for the advice, it definitely helped. And I'm now looking ahead to the weekend and the first bigger trip - still not decided where so I will see how the mood strikes!

 

[HazardousMatt]

I created a lil Engineering Guide to Exploration on the Engineer forums https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/340621-Engineering-Guide-to-Exploration if you ever want to get into engineering your ship out for exploring.

 

[Hanekura Shizuka]

I'm new to this exploration lark too.
I just picked a little spot on the galaxy map a few thousand light years out, book marked it and started heading there.

I didn't even make it to my place before i headed back, i was to curious if the data would really make exploration economically viable (it did) and i wanted to make a couple of changes to my vessel.

Just get out there, its good fun, not knowing what's at the next stop etc. Very relaxing i found

That's actually fairly normal. My first exploration voyage (as opposed to a race), I went out in an Adder for a couple of kylies, realized it wasn't going to go very far, went back, then sold the data for far more than I expected - and bought a DBX.

 

[CMDR Pugwash]

At one point I accidentally dropped out of super cruise in the middle of nowhere, and it's quite emotional when your ship is in full stop mode, and pretty silent, and you can look out into the blackness with only a few stars showing in some directions. Very serene and makes you think!

There it is. This Commander has been bitten by the bug. That's it now, no turning back.

 

[NW3]

There's been a lot of good advice. Personally, I'd take the head sinks, especially on your first exploration trip. When I went on the Distant Worlds Expedition (my first long trip) I'd used both my heat sinks before I even got to Sag A*.

As for your initial destination, I agree with the advice to go up or down in the galactic plane and then head towards somewhere interesting, a nebula, black hole, or neutron star. Neutron star boosts can be exhilarating, due to the (fairly minor) risk and can give you a head start on the way home. Also consider using crafting to get a longer jump (just for the experience). Boosts are handy when you are at the edges of the galaxy where the stars thin out or when you are low on fuel and need to get to a scoopable star. Speaking of which, I'd recommend disabling the unscoopable stars (brown dwarf, T Tauri, etc.) in the galactic map. More info: http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Fuel_Scoop If you ever run out of fuel, call the Fuel Rats: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...of-Fuel-Explorer-Rescue-Service-The-Fuel-Rats

I hope you have a great trip! o7