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[Cohen the Worrior]

Deep charge or mass manager for my DolphinX.
Most people would say deep charge, but it only gives a 0.1ly longer jump range.
Mass manager gives one extra jump.
So the question is, on average, what matters more when you're all alone out there in the black?

 

[Ashnak]

For me, it's mass manager - always.
Assuming you have only Felicity unlocked and repped up to grade 5, I'd suggest you let her also work on your power plant and thrusters, replace the sensors and get a smaller fuel tank.

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Even the smaller tank is still good for three full jumps, and there's nothing much worthwhile to see (or scan) in these brown dwarf systems in any case.

 

[aRJay]

Deep charge or mass manager for my DolphinX.
Most people would say deep charge, but it only gives a 0.1ly longer jump range.
Mass manager gives one extra jump.
So the question is, on average, what matters more when you're all alone out there in the black?

I went with Mass Manager the difference per jump is negligible but I get around 40 light years more per fuel tank which is worthwhile.

When I do permit passengers aboard there are a couple of rules.
1) They say where they are going when they buy the ticket.
2) I will only read any messages they send me after they have disembarked at their original destination.
Note for the passengers I will take the destination is always the rescue ship and their messages are attempts to make me abandon others to the fires.

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

Yeah, that's what I thought guys, thanks for the tip.
I have been stacking passenger missions lately in my Dolphin, with mixed results.

This one went ok, their destinations weren't far apart. I got around 10 MCr from the missions, 10MCr worth of exploration data and milked quite a few of high grade emissions.

The last one was less successful with destinations scattered all over the place.
And advice on stacking the missions? Is there een online galaxy map where I can input the destinations, see if stacking would be a good idea? Flipping back and forth to the in-game galaxy map is a hassle.

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

Regarding that private data beacon - you don't need a wake scanner, you just need to slect the beacon (seemed to have managed that) and point your ship at it (not so much). Look at your radar: the white dot for the beacon is bracketed - you have selected it. It's in the same plane as your ship's orientation, but it's way over on your left.

Ooh, that's so obvious, I thought I was supposed to target the sparkling box in the hull.

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

I went with Mass Manager the difference per jump is negligible but I get around 40 light years more per fuel tank which is worthwhile.

When I do permit passengers aboard there are a couple of rules.
1) They say where they are going when they buy the ticket.
2) I will only read any messages they send me after they have disembarked at their original destination.
Note for the passengers I will take the destination is always the rescue ship and their messages are attempts to make me abandon others to the fires.

I look at their requests and destination changes as an extra complication to the puzzle.
For instance I have now taken on 3 sight seeking adventures in my Dolphin.

• scan and map planets
• scan emissions and use collector limpets
• fly scoopless so will need to plan refueling stops
• locate goods for the passengers
• might have to ditch the limpet controller for extra cargo space

To me that's just part of the fun.

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

Got the stack done, all extra requirements fulfilled. Took me a while though.

Flying scoopless in the bubble, I often find myself just a couple of jumps short.
When using economical routes, I would get there no problem, but it will require a lot of jumps.
So there has to be a middle ground somewhere right? We need a "get me there on this gas tank" button.
Right now I'm micromanaging the route and it's a hassle.

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

The Dolphin in my favorite ship and I want to take her out in deep space, likely without any passengers.

For a 2k ly mission do I really need an AFMS?
When using the Colonia highway Is an extra fuel tank required? What's the risk of getting stuck in area with unscoopable stars? And how long are the detours to avoid them.

I have an engineered FSD, but nothing Guardian.

 

[MishaTX]

For 2k ly, no, not really, as long as you don't do neutron jumps.

Dunno about the Colonia trip as I haven't made the pilgrimage yet, but that's not 2k but 20k,so you'd be better off with an AFMU there, for sure. Also, neutron jumps. Fuel wise? Fueling at every opportunity as I do, I've yet to have the route plotter get me in trouble. Just check the galaxy map regularly and make sure there's a fuel star marked on it at ALL TIMES.

 

[aRJay]

The Dolphin in my favorite ship and I want to take her out in deep space, likely without any passengers.

For a 2k ly mission do I really need an AFMS?
When using the Colonia highway Is an extra fuel tank required? What's the risk of getting stuck in area with unscoopable stars? And how long are the detours to avoid them.

I have an engineered FSD, but nothing Guardian.

If you are going to be using Neutron Star boosted jumps then the repair unit is a good idea as you get damage from each jump, for normal travel you should be fine with reasonable care.

I still haven’t been to Colonia so don’t know the risks but extra fuel tanks can cause problems as the mass of the fuel will reduce the size of the jumps though to be honest this is unlikely to be an issue for a Dolphin with an engineered FSD.

 

[Ashnak]

The Dolphin in my favorite ship and I want to take her out in deep space, likely without any passengers.

For a 2k ly mission do I really need an AFMS?
When using the Colonia highway Is an extra fuel tank required? What's the risk of getting stuck in area with unscoopable stars? And how long are the detours to avoid them.

I have an engineered FSD, but nothing Guardian.

AFMU: only if you plan to do Neutron boosts, or have a habit of running into stars or other astronomical bodies.
Extra fule tank? In a Courier? Nah, the default tank is already too large for me. I usually downsize to a 8t tank, that's still 3 full jumps. Set your route plotter to only use KGBFOAM, and you'll be fine. Of course, sometimes the plotter is a bit slow to accept your input, so if I get two unscoopables in a row, I might have to reroute manually - but a larger tank won't help with that.

If you don't want to do the Neutron dance, there's a bunch of stations on the way, known as the Colonia Connection Highway.

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

Thanks for the blast from the past.
I'll take your neutron dance and raise you a

But why reduce the fuel tank. The fuel tank has zero mass.

"Fuel Tanks can be downgraded to increase jump range, but it is not recommended. Since tanks have 0 mass, only the mass of the fuel is considered. Keeping your tank half full will give the same effect of having a full tank of half of your current size, while still giving you the flexibility to fill your tank for longer trips."

So you're throwing away half of your total jump range.

But really guys, I'm getting bored again. It's just too easy to make money.
I'm thinking about restarting again, spending only 10% of the money made and saving the rest. Or burning it. Is it possible to burn money?

 

[Ashnak]

But why reduce the fuel tank. The fuel tank has zero mass.

Two reasons for me:
1) I don't need it. I scoop after every jump, and the reduced tank still gives me 180 ly range on max jumps (fastest routing), probably something in excess of 500 ly on economical routing (no, I've never been bored enough to try it).
2) While it's true that only the fuel in the tank counts for the actual jump range, the route plotter will always assume a full tank. So if I want to use the range advantage I can get from half-scooping, I have to plot manually. That's kind of ok for short routes when there's no alternative, but usually I like to just let the plotter work its magic.

On the other hand, downsizing the tank only gives 2 ly (60 ly to 62 ly in my racing build), that's 3% or so. Not really worth the bother if you feel safer using the regular tank.

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

...
the route plotter will always assume a full tank
...

Is that so? I always had a suspicion. Can we force the jump to a system it can reach if the route plotter won't?

 

[aRJay]

Is that so? I always had a suspicion. Can we force the jump to a system it can reach if the route plotter won't?

Just plot the jump manually.

To reduce credits don’t cash in bounties, bonds or cartographic data and regularly allow your ship to be destroyed. Always avoid buying ships and modules from discount systems, I think I read there is a system that like ShinDez sells everything but at a marked up price.

 

[Para Handy]

..... (content deleted by me) .....

 

[Ashnak]

Grumble... route plotter will always assume a full tank when it's considering the distance for individual jumps.

Dotted line just means you don't have the fuel for that jump, refuelling of course changes that. It may also change the jump points (haven't tried) if you have insufficient fuel for one full jump.

Had that issue in one of the Buckyball races: Hauler, unloaded 41.9 ly, on fumes 47.ly jump range. Last jump to the destination was 42 and a bit ly. Even with a partially empty tank, the router wouldn't plot the jump, while plotting it manually worked out fine.