I heard a lot about this game so I grabbed a copy on sale yesterday. It looks awesome but is really complicated and frustrating to play. And either the tutorials are seriously out of date, or incomplete, or there is something wrong with my controller because things just don't seem to work right. It's impossible for a newbie to nail that armed combat drone, and when you do the mining tutorial you deploy the cargo scoop, line up you ship with the target only to have the chunk of rock bounce off your window. What gives? What am I missing?
A very frustrating game for newbies
- Thread starter fjolnir_odinsen
- Start date
You'll make the devs cry - they just spent last year on updates for newbies
1. Practice - you can do the armed combat drone, honest.
2. Scooping stuff - keep target aligned with the cross-hairs in the scooping window (target box to left of the sensor display), don't go faster than 40m/s (keep the animation blue - red is too fast for scoop to capture) - ignore the view through the canopy (the scoop IS below the ship).
There is a newcomer's section on the forum where you can get lots of help, just ask, it is a warm and cosy welcoming place.
P.S. Yes the learning curve is very steep, persevere, it is worth it.
2. Scooping stuff - keep target aligned with the cross-hairs in the scooping window (target box to left of the sensor display), don't go faster than 40m/s (keep the animation blue - red is too fast for scoop to capture) - ignore the view through the canopy (the scoop IS below the ship).
There is a newcomer's section on the forum where you can get lots of help, just ask, it is a warm and cosy welcoming place.
P.S. Yes the learning curve is very steep, persevere, it is worth it.
the learning curve is really steep.
there are a lot of controls to memorize.
but if you manage to get past the confusing and overwhelming first few hours - well, i can only say that I have more than 3000 hours played in Elite, there are still aspects of the game i didn't touch and the itch to play is still strong
So, one thing the game doesn't make clear (At least it didn't before, not sure if the new tutorials changed that) - the trick is not to line your ship up with it, but to line the holographic display at the side of your HUD up with it, that shows where your scoop is pointing.
Don't worry too much though because in the real galaxy literally NOBODY manually scoops cargo. That's what collector limpets are for, fire and forget drones that do the work for you. Just park the ship, open the hatch, and let them do their work.
I'll just copy/paste my reply to your thread on Steam since you copy/pasted your thread on both forums
Step 1: Read the manual. This is not a joke. Before doing anything, read the manual.
Step 2: If you are planning on using the mouse, switch around yaw and roll controls.
Step 3: Play the tutorials, they teach you how to do the basics. Don't worry if you can't win at the combat ones, sometimes it takes time to get the hang of combat.
Step 4: For specific information on how to do different things that the tuotorials don't cover, the youtube tutorials fill in the gaps.
Step 5: Enter the main game. You will make mistakes. You will do things like boost into the walls of stations. It takes time and practice.
It is a complicated game to get started with, but if you put in a bit of effort you'll soon be flying around like a pro.
Step 1: Read the manual. This is not a joke. Before doing anything, read the manual.
Step 2: If you are planning on using the mouse, switch around yaw and roll controls.
Step 3: Play the tutorials, they teach you how to do the basics. Don't worry if you can't win at the combat ones, sometimes it takes time to get the hang of combat.
Step 4: For specific information on how to do different things that the tuotorials don't cover, the youtube tutorials fill in the gaps.
Step 5: Enter the main game. You will make mistakes. You will do things like boost into the walls of stations. It takes time and practice.
It is a complicated game to get started with, but if you put in a bit of effort you'll soon be flying around like a pro.
Combat can also get a fair bit easier for someone who is fresh to the game once you pick up some Gimballed weapons instead of fixed ones. Should give you less to have to handle when lining up shots.
I can second the recommendation to enter the full game ASAP. Trial and error can help teach you a lot easier and in an environment where you are not restricted as much by narrow objectives.
I can second the recommendation to enter the full game ASAP. Trial and error can help teach you a lot easier and in an environment where you are not restricted as much by narrow objectives.
Here's a complete up-to-date walkthrough with just about every detail you need to know to get started and go in a number of different directions.
I fired up the game for the first time and promptly blew up my starting sidewinder on the pad failing to take off, so don't sweat it if it takes a while to get the hang of stuff.
For mining manual scooping isn't optimal, i agree. For scooping materials and salvage it's fine though. I like manual scooping. I see it as a challenge to do it quickly and tidy (and it saves one or two module slots).
I do
live and learn cmdr,after 3 years, i still make mistakes, makes it fun when you think why did i do that as youre escape pod deploys lol 07
It's good thruster practice.
You should take all pips off your engines to make the ship more controllable. If your speed exceeds 40m/s the target box will turn red and the fragments will bounce off. Aim for a speed of about 30m/s.
Thank you very much for all the considerate and encouraging replies. I really appreciate it. I will try again tomorrow.
I manually scoop
^this… and if you bind the 25% throttle setting to a button/key you can use ENG pips to "trim" the ship to fly at 35 m/s so you can concentrate on lining up the loot.
where 1 limpet will pick up most if not all the material, why bother doing it manual sorry woudnt leave home without one , remember not to target
I mean, first toggle it not to pick up the stuff you don't want in the contacts panel, but yeah.