Update on progress: 30,000Ly to Sag A*
Wow, this's an epic struggle! Especially considering the repetition factor: jump in, dead stop, scan star and vicinity, possibly ogle some nearby rock, jump to next system. There are some 10 types of stars so one system is much like the others (unless explored)...So, what keeps you going and I don't mean the Fuel Scoop?
I myself started ASP-ing towards a nearby nebula only some 30 jumps away and I'm a little bored, frankly, scanning most of the objects in each system. Did I miss some part of the gameplay?
Oh, heard there are black holes somewhere. It's the same deal as with suns? The engine drops you at a specified distance / gravimetric value (?) close but safely away from it or you could just jump out inside the accretion disc and it's bye-bye?
Haven't yet seen a single pulsar so far, even on map. It would probably vaporize me instantly were I to jump next to such a beast..
So, what is there to break the tedium?
Hi,
Yeah, I didn't quite realise that the outside ring of the galaxy is so long.
Either way I will stick with it, I've made a plan now.
True you can see it as very repetitive, although the same can be said of anything really (combat/mining/trading etc) - This even reads across to other games like Call of Duty is just killing people and then doing the same but more efficiently with better weapons
In any case I started off in 2015 with set goals on my first 2 trips, reach X nebula, get to Y distance from Sol etc.. Not too much in the middle but jump-jump-jump. That got me to Elite rank and now I've taken a step back and looked at why I play Elite. To be honest I play for the technology and what FD are trying to achieve since it's fairly incredible given the stage pc's and that were at 20 years ago. From that I've taken quite an interest in the galaxy creation and procedural generation aspect. I love finding new things like huge planets with 19 Earth masses but only 2G. Or a planet that's 5 times the size of Earth with just 20% of the Earth mass meaning it could be a hollow shell. There's actually quite a lot of interesting stuff if you are obsessive enough to read into the text and see it as more than just a game. In terms of generation it's also highly accurate with the correct star-types in the right places etc.
You haven't really missed much in terms of gameplay and currently both black holes and Neutron stars can be a little lackluster apart from the black holes in nebula, they are fun.
In any case my tips are:
Most of the time I explore a few hours at a time, recently I've been doing 1 day Elite and 1 day on Xcom2 or Fallout4 or whatever else. Keeps it fresh.
I often have comedy/films/series/music or live-streams/podcasts on a 2nd monitor. Not always for example SRV driving I need full concentration but a distraction is sometimes nice and it allows me to catch up on episodes and things I've missed.
I also mix CQC and planet driving in every 1->2 hours.
Mainly though I explore for the screenshots and jawdropping moments knowing I was the first to see this. (Or more recently I was the first to see X from planetside - Betelgeuse, Mintaka B, Fine ring etc).
Some of the highlights from my current trip:
It's also a little nice to see your name on things and think "even if I stop playing, my name is written in the game forever".
Finally I've started a real job recently and am no longer a student, this may well be my final long-distance exploration trip as I look towards possibly getting a family or doing more things irl. Want to go out with a bang while I have time so that if I'm restricted to Barnards loop and the local area I won't have many regrets that I didn't get chance to see some unique stuff.
Overall I'd advise even those who hate exploring manage to get to Barnards loop, Mintaka B (black hole) and Vy Canis Majoris or Betelgeuse at least once in their Elite career. They are all within a few hours round trip and are worth visiting.
