2.2 Building the Neutron Highway Grid

Sandro said both, but mainly spoke about Neutron stars in this contex, and even showed a screenshot of how they'll look in 2.2 (linked on the OP).

That screenshot was surely of a white dwarf, though. A neutron would've been far smaller, wouldn't it?
 
I have asked the question in one of the official daily threads as to how players can estimate the range boost they can potentially get from a particular jet. That is something that needs to be done for you to use it, since you have to select the destination before you jump.
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One other thing springs to mind about this: it could be intended to be the only way to reach the Cone Nebula. As of 2.1, this is surrounded by permit-locked regions but the Cone Sector stars and the non-procedural stars in the nebula are not locked. I am not sure if even an optimal grade 5 FSD mod on a max-range Anaconda with a premium FSD boost could allow you to get in but perhaps this might be a way. I have not checked if there are any neutron stars, white dwarfs or black holes to get you out again (I passed through the Cone Nebula in 1.2 and I don't think there are black holes nearby but I'm not sure about neutron stars and white dwarfs)! The Cone Nebula was sealed off for a reason but I wonder if it is intended to be able to circumvent that seal...
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I also wonder if there is a risk of a mis-jump when using these jets. Long-range jumps might send you very far off course - just look at Jaques!
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Another thought: I have heard Michael Brookes mention on several occasions on different livestreams that the view of the Milky Way from extragalactic clusters is quite extraordinary. These extragalactic clusters have been in the game since gamma but there has been no way to reach them, so far. That would make for an interesting journey, especially as it would allow for the kind of exploration that has never been available before - stellar mapping (i.e. we already have a galaxy map telling us what the primary star(s) are for each system and where they are). Finding a neutron star, black hole or white dwarf to get back, potentially whilst dealing with alien attention (or perhaps helped by them if you treat them in a way they appreciate), could be a big challenge.
 
That screenshot was surely of a white dwarf, though. A neutron would've been far smaller, wouldn't it?

went again to the video - and also brabens video on science. from my understanding both white dwarfes and neutron stars have such jets... maybe somebody with more knowledge in astronomy can correct me on that? and neutron stars have a really small radius ... the picture (with the python in front) shown is for sure white dwarf for size reasons, as @rojo pointed out.
 
Given that in the ED galaxy outside the bubble, white dwarfs only exist around +/- 1000 LY from the galactic plane, they can pretty much be ignored for exploration. Especially since in those areas, neutron stars are plentiful.
 
I have to say that I am of two minds about this announcement. One of the things that attracted me to the exploration side of the game was that it was a serious undertaking that required a certain crazy seriousness of intent. The sheer scale of the galaxy and the distances that were involved made it a major undertaking to simply reach the core let alone the far rim. That really excited my imagination. the idea that serious exploration and travel was not common because the distance was a bar to entry piqued my interest. This and this alone was what made me go out and get lost on the far rim.

On the other side I will support anything that opens exploration up as a serious component of game play. I would dare say that up until Erimus put his rep on the line and made DW the massive success that it eventually became exploration would have simply remained a niche portion of the game and ideas like CQC would have taken over entirely, I certainly do not think that we would even be discussing the idea of a second bubble. All of the people that took part in DW can congratulate themselves for grabbing the attention of the developers and forcing their hand when they saw that there was SERIOUS interest in the exploration aspects of the game. Without DW I do not think we would be seeing the idea of a Neutron superhighway. Because of the advent of the age of Mass exploration initiatives we are seeing a sort of golden age for exploration with everything that has come before becoming more of an age of legend. With this exploration needs to be accessable for the average player who is not interested in leaving the bubble for a year at a time in real time. I salute frontier for this.

My gut tells me that I am going to miss having that high bar to entry, exploration will become accessable but with that it will be harder to forge your own legend game wise. I feel like we will see fewer Erimus's, Allitnil's, Zulu Romeo's, Kommodore's, R4nger0's, Big Bad Lynx's, Stoopid Hippie's, Frawd's, Iain666's, and Voorheez's These are the names that excited me to take part in exploration.
 
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I was initially a bit disappointed if I'm honest. First jumponium, then engineers and now this.
But.....progress is progress. Mossfoot's tale during the dangerous games told of an 'ark' type ship travelling more than 700 years only to arrive in a fully populated system due to the FSD that was invented after they departed. It happens...it should happen, else science isn't doing its job.

I reckon all that's really missing is the back story of the discovery. Let it be a huge "breakthrough" announcement on galnet rather than a silent introduction as if we've always had it RP wise.
The more people get out, the more incentive there is to create interesting content. Let us usher in this new era of travel with open arms....the pioneers will not be forgotten.
 
Why do I want to jump 100lys ? That's just 100lys of shinies I will miss lol....I'll stick too 10-20ly jumps ty =D

See, I'm of your mind, Gut. I explore to see things. While I definitely got a sense of accomplishment travelling to Beagle Point with DWE, the neat thing about it was the journey, not the destination.

The way I see it, this may give us the occasional very long jump via neutron star charging, but it's still one jump taking you from one system to the next. You're still only seeing one system. It's not making it any faster to visit one system, and so it's not really doing anything except making the travelling portion of exploration potentially faster. Exploration itself proceeds at the same pace.
 
I have to say that I am of two minds about this announcement. One of the things that attracted me to the exploration side of the game was that it was a serious undertaking that required a certain crazy seriousness of intent. The sheer scale of the galaxy and the distances that were involved made it a major undertaking to simply reach the core let alone the far rim. That really excited my imagination. the idea that serious exploration and travel was not common because the distance was a bar to entry piqued my interest. This and this alone was what made me go out and get lost on the far rim.

On the other side I will support anything that opens exploration up as a serious component of game play. I would dare say that up until Erimus put his rep on the line and made DW the massive success that it eventually became exploration would have simply remained a niche portion of the game and ideas like CQC would have taken over entirely, I certainly do not think that we would even be discussing the idea of a second bubble. All of the people that took part in DW can congratulate themselves for grabbing the attention of the developers and forcing their hand when they saw that there was SERIOUS interest in the exploration aspects of the game. Without DW I do not think we would be seeing the idea of a Neutron superhighway. Because of the advent of the age of Mass exploration initiatives we are seeing a sort of golden age for exploration with everything that has come before becoming more of an age of legend. With this exploration needs to be accessable for the average player who is not interested in leaving the bubble for a year at a time in real time. I salute frontier for this.

My gut tells me that I am going to miss having that high bar to entry, exploration will become accessable but with that it will be harder to forge your own legend game wise. I feel like we will see fewer Erimus's, Allitnil's, Zulu Romeo's, Kommodore's, R4nger0's, Big Bad Lynx's, Stoopid Hippie's, Frawd's, Iain666's, and Voorheez's These are the names that excited me to take part in exploration.

I'd like to think Distant Worlds did make an impact, I know it brought a lot of outside attention to ED at the time. Coupled with the effort players put into to SEPPs cause during the dangerous games, I think FD do recognise they have a great exploration community that's dedicated to the game. MB said a while back that they're monitoring what players do in regards to Jaques and we've seen the hints that the long campaigned for outer colonies are now being born out of it. So the signs are good that explorers wishes are now on the radar.

In regards to the early days, I've been lucky enough to be around since the beginning so have seen exploration evolve from the very first day to where it is now. I do miss the old days of gamma and early release as the Galaxy had an awesome feel since we knew nothing about it. No ideas of what was out there, or how far a ship could travel etc. No route plotters, no star filters, and only the barebones knowledge about outfitting.... All before the Anaconda age too, so many of us were using Cobras and even Haulers to explore. The galactic core was days away, the far rim, weeks away. It just seemed, bigger ... Even though we still have the same 400 billion systems we have today.

In saying that, I do think if this latest mechanic opens up knew areas of the Galaxy that previously couldnt be reached, then a new age of pioneers can come about. Stuff like this keeps exploration feeling new... Setting the horizon further and further.

In the past I was always against FD adding easier travel mechanics that made the Galaxy seem smaller, but that was mainly because they gave us all the rewards without any risk. Jumponium for example was a great addition, but it could have been a far more interesting mechanic if using it came at a risk of your FSD misjumping you a few hundred light years in a different direction, or causing some sort of FSD damage that the AFU couldn't always repair. Risk vs reward is important in games, its what makes them interesting and gives players conscious choices to make.

This latest mechanic as Sandro described it sounds like a great addition, as long as the risk involved is matched by the potential rewards. It's also a great mechanic for players to create out of game content over, like the neutron grid highway this thread is about, so from that point of view it's one I'm personally looking forward to.

Please don't screw it up FD by making the risks involved meaningless!
 
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I have asked the question in one of the official daily threads as to how players can estimate the range boost they can potentially get from a particular jet. That is something that needs to be done for you to use it, since you have to select the destination before you jump.


That question was answered :)

As Sandro explained it: you scoop in the jet, which is both difficult and dangerous. When scooping, something similar happens to crafting jumponium, your fuel gets supercharged. Then you select your target and jump. Sounded like the jet effect would be stronger than from crafting jumponium, but not by orders of magnitude - work in progress, numbers will be the last thing to be defined, ....


Oh, and he also mentioned that it would definitely not be a good idea to drop from SC while that close to a NS/WD....
 
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CMDR Erimus, I agree with all of that. Like all good games, ED is a finely balanced eco-system that developers have to be very careful when making changes. Especialy big ones.
 
I've checked on the Galaxy Map and there are no neutron stars or white dwarfs in or near the Cone Nebula, however it does not show them if they are secondary stars (just as the black hole in Maia does not get picked up by the filter because the primary is a B type star). There are only one or two B type stars around the Cone Nebula, so there is not much chance of you getting out again even if you could get in... looks like we'll have to wait until we can get the permit.
 
I hope it not a extream jump. If it is. I hope it cause 4 to 8% damage to fsd.
I would hope its an exponential increase in danger, the longer you're within the magnetic fields.

So those taking the biggest risks get the biggest rewards. That will give rise to mavericks and pioneers - true risk takers who want to reach the clusters that no one has been to. You have a high risk of death because the reward is so high. People should make the GalNet news for their bravery at risking it all. Something that exploration failed miserably at because the galaxy has posed virtually no environmental danger to players for two years - so there has been no avenue for great stories of courage and risk to tell (if we're honest). This mechanic could change that.

If its a few percent hull damage for a 200 LY jump, it will be a nonsensical addition imho because the rewards will far outweigh the risk. If its just module damage that can be fixed by the AFMU in seconds, it will be even worse.
 
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People should make the GalNet news for their bravery at risking it all...
Quite right. Commanders want recognition in game: I'd like to see a weekly update of these Commanders when I dock. Adds to the 'life' of the ED Universe which is our universe.
Perhaps Drew Wagar may use their names too in the new novel.
 
This sounds like a neat idea. Lots of risk and potential for stranding one's self around an isolated system with no hope of return. Once we know how this jumping will work, that is.

As always, if I could commit more time and not have RL (and indeed other activities in the galaxy) to deal with, I might help out.
 
Drats - my usual travel paths will be inundated with people now. Being 1'5K LY above or below the plane was usually a guarantee of first discoveries...

Z...
 
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