Ariel circumnavigation
- Thread starter Jonas Treesong
- Start date
Unfortunately, I can report the contrary. Just been attacked by Sys Sec. Took me quite a bit of driving to shake him off...
I have irregular play sessions, so yeah... organization would be a pain. Cool idea, though!
Thanks for the tip. You had a Viper with railguns running out of ammo. I was attacked by a Viper with lasers. I eventually managed to "stop the attack" by driving into a canyon where he was unable to hit me. Although he did not go away and I eventually logged off.
Yeah, lasers are a different thing, good idea about the canyon.
...huh. Alright, then.
Made a little progress since my last update. Now at 12° South and hopefully get some more done later today.
System Security is being a pain but not (yet) life-threatening. As long as it's a solo craft, their attacks are not too damaging. I've seen the odd wing of two and even three. I guess when they scan and attack me it's game over.
System Security is being a pain but not (yet) life-threatening. As long as it's a solo craft, their attacks are not too damaging. I've seen the odd wing of two and even three. I guess when they scan and attack me it's game over.
Today started with an ominous looking horizon. Sharp, high rising ridges as far as the eye could see. I prepared for some heavy duty steering and was not disappointed. The terrain was at times impossible to negotiate and I came really close to giving up. For nearly 20 kilometers it was ridge after ridge after ridge... Before crossing a ridge I stop for a second to have a look and try to determine the best way to cross it. I try to pick a route that avoids steep or particularly edgy bits. However, as soon as you tumble or drop some meters, the plan is out of the window and you're back to survival mode... you're disoriented and try your hardest not to slide further down or completely lose traction.
Anyway, I managed to leave this particularly difficult area behind me and came into some more forgiving terrain, mainly consisting of flat planes separated by relatively modest ridges. After some experimenting, I got quite proficient in gaining as much speed as possible and then jump to cross the ridge and make it to the next plane. Pitching the SRV forward and boosting allows you to gain just that little bit of extra airspeed to make it across.
No sign of System Security ships to hunt me but I do not doubt they will be back before long. I am at 22° South. Only 680km to the South Pole and the half way mark.
The ridges in the distance predict difficult times...
Another huge ridge to cross
The insignificance of my SRV
Jumping ridges!
Anyway, I managed to leave this particularly difficult area behind me and came into some more forgiving terrain, mainly consisting of flat planes separated by relatively modest ridges. After some experimenting, I got quite proficient in gaining as much speed as possible and then jump to cross the ridge and make it to the next plane. Pitching the SRV forward and boosting allows you to gain just that little bit of extra airspeed to make it across.
No sign of System Security ships to hunt me but I do not doubt they will be back before long. I am at 22° South. Only 680km to the South Pole and the half way mark.
The ridges in the distance predict difficult times...
Another huge ridge to cross
The insignificance of my SRV
Jumping ridges!
I know that terrain, and that feeling. Onwards and upwards, commander!
And then downwards. Then upwards again.
But tonight I say, we must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward; and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!
— Kodos (as Bill Clinton)
"Handbrake is on"
Not much change from yesterday. The crevasses got crevassier and the bumps got bumpier. Despite that, I'm quite happily sitting at 30° South after another 100km progress.
So, as I drive on I'm polishing my driving and flying technique. One of the great tools is the handbrake. During midnight runs in bumpy areas I try to jump/fly as much as possible. The only thing is that your area of visual reference is pretty limited. I estimate 50 meters (?) with high beams on. As your capacitor runs empty you must find a landing spot and position your SRV in such a way that the wheels align with the ground below AND the direction of movement as this will minimize the chance for chassis damage. Then when you traverse a slope or suspect a looming canyon... handbrake on! Unless you have a massive speed, this will pretty much insta stop you SRV and allow you to inspect your position and determine your next move. I've been driving like this for the past days and my range on a 100% hull has increased considerably (I always repair when the hull drops below 50% either by synthesis or by recalling and boarding the ship). In situations where I have too much airspeed I try to tilt the SRV backwards and use the remaining capacitor to "counter boost" and bleed away speed. This obviously only works if you have enough height as the SRV is quite sluggish to controls when airborn.
Well... some musings on my drive/fly techniques. Curious to hear how my fellow circumnavigators tackle day to day challenges!
Handbrake on!!
Canyons. Soon!
Almost forgot:
Was followed and fired upon by a VERY persistent Sys Sec in a railgun Eagle. Fortunately his ammo ran out and he disappeared. Shortly after a player icon appeared on the radar. Not someone I know or have on my friends list. I switched off lights and went dark. He did circle around for a while as he probably had a quick blip on his radar but then disappeared.
Not much change from yesterday. The crevasses got crevassier and the bumps got bumpier. Despite that, I'm quite happily sitting at 30° South after another 100km progress.
So, as I drive on I'm polishing my driving and flying technique. One of the great tools is the handbrake. During midnight runs in bumpy areas I try to jump/fly as much as possible. The only thing is that your area of visual reference is pretty limited. I estimate 50 meters (?) with high beams on. As your capacitor runs empty you must find a landing spot and position your SRV in such a way that the wheels align with the ground below AND the direction of movement as this will minimize the chance for chassis damage. Then when you traverse a slope or suspect a looming canyon... handbrake on! Unless you have a massive speed, this will pretty much insta stop you SRV and allow you to inspect your position and determine your next move. I've been driving like this for the past days and my range on a 100% hull has increased considerably (I always repair when the hull drops below 50% either by synthesis or by recalling and boarding the ship). In situations where I have too much airspeed I try to tilt the SRV backwards and use the remaining capacitor to "counter boost" and bleed away speed. This obviously only works if you have enough height as the SRV is quite sluggish to controls when airborn.
Well... some musings on my drive/fly techniques. Curious to hear how my fellow circumnavigators tackle day to day challenges!
Handbrake on!!
Canyons. Soon!
Almost forgot:
Was followed and fired upon by a VERY persistent Sys Sec in a railgun Eagle. Fortunately his ammo ran out and he disappeared. Shortly after a player icon appeared on the radar. Not someone I know or have on my friends list. I switched off lights and went dark. He did circle around for a while as he probably had a quick blip on his radar but then disappeared.
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Looks like some hard miles coming your way, based on that orbital image. Good luck, commander!
You chose Ariel, the moon with the deepest chasms known in the Solar system, and then if that wasn't challenging enough, do the run with a "wanted" status, defying system security in the process...
Are you sure you aren't Chuck Norris?
Are you sure you aren't Chuck Norris?
Highs and lows today. And many of them. First I had a short meet with CMDR Alec Turner. He followed me for a while in his Python and in his SRV and shot some footage of my tumbles and fumbles. Thanks for dropping by and lighting my path CMDR, really appreciated it!!
Then I faced THE MOST CHALLENGING CANYON/WALL combo I've yet come across. The canyon forced me to drive from 52° East to 50° East before I found a spot where I was able to ascend at the opposite side. It doesn't sound like much, but it was a massive undertaking. Next was Ariel's version of Hadrian's Wall. However, this time I was lucky. There was were some weirdly formed outcrops which I used to jump up the wall and thus got some 80% of the ascend behind me. The last bit was difficult and I nearly blew it by being too impatient. But slow crabbing did the trick and I was on my way again on relatively flat terrain.
My supply of repairs is quickly dwindling. I started with some 160 repairs figuring that would easily cover the whole tour. I'm not half way and my supply is now at 85 so I might have to do some material hunting.
I'm exhausted now and will be heading straight for the bunk!
CMDR Alec Turner testing his SRV against a piece of bedrock. In my haste I forget to turn off the cam hud :-(
Time to go...
Hadrian's Wall
Then I faced THE MOST CHALLENGING CANYON/WALL combo I've yet come across. The canyon forced me to drive from 52° East to 50° East before I found a spot where I was able to ascend at the opposite side. It doesn't sound like much, but it was a massive undertaking. Next was Ariel's version of Hadrian's Wall. However, this time I was lucky. There was were some weirdly formed outcrops which I used to jump up the wall and thus got some 80% of the ascend behind me. The last bit was difficult and I nearly blew it by being too impatient. But slow crabbing did the trick and I was on my way again on relatively flat terrain.
My supply of repairs is quickly dwindling. I started with some 160 repairs figuring that would easily cover the whole tour. I'm not half way and my supply is now at 85 so I might have to do some material hunting.
I'm exhausted now and will be heading straight for the bunk!
CMDR Alec Turner testing his SRV against a piece of bedrock. In my haste I forget to turn off the cam hud :-(
Time to go...
Hadrian's Wall
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Not at all, I really enjoyed it - I'm only sorry I didn't have more time on this occasion but hopefully we can do this again soon.
Here's the video I shot ..
[video=youtube_share;kAXvziBOxqE]https://youtu.be/kAXvziBOxqE[/video]
I probably should have spent more time filming from the ship 'cos you're in it more whereas the SRV footage is mostly me trying to keep you in shot (as you can imagine playing chase-cam in an SRV is challenging, it's one of the reason I love doing it but it does mean you're often just a set of targetting triangles in the distance). Anyway, hope you like it.
o7
Very cool, guys! Imagine... all those people saying there's nothing to do in ED [haha]
Damn, you're an excellent SRV driver!! The footage is awesome. Both in ship as in SRV. Amazing how you keep me in shot at points while driving the SRV.
Thanks very much for taking the time and posting. It really adds to the whole experience!
Aww shucks dude, thanks! Hopefully we can do it again when I've got more time and maybe help you tackle some of the tougher terrain that no doubt lies ahead!
o7
To be honest most of my SRV videos are at 2x speed so I can fit them to a single 6 or 7 minute music track. Also, at 1x I find they seem really slow whereas 2x, to me at least, is closer to what it feels like to be in those moments at the time.Man, the driving looks so much faster-paced when it's recorded in 2D, even with the same speeds on the spedometer. I'm so used to doing everything in VR that I forget that it normally defaults to a wide-angle view that makes the motion look faster.