"AN IDIOT ABOARD" _ EJIRO's first walkabout :D

[PANTHER STARFORCE]

Leg 5.)

This was a short one. I'm a mere 168LY from my destination star. But I'm taking my time meandering about turning over odd rocks as I go... so not sure if I'll make it within the next leg

I was previously in a small gap where lots of the systems I was travelling through were completely untagged. This was an exciting experience to feel that I was the first human eyes to witness these places... That excitement has started to fade as I get closer to my "O" class Blue giant star... I'm beginning to get the feeling that I won't be getting a first tag on it when I arrive. Oh well... that wasn't really the point of my maiden voyage... this has been more a tutorial & test drive of sorts to see if the explorer's life is for me So far I've been loving it.

Now a few sights along the way!

This little volcanic ball was the first in the system. Clearly a proto-planet being roasted by the main star. Stunning composition:

Farther out in the same system I found a Jovian that looked almost exactly like Jupiter. With the exception that it's singular massive "eye" storm was white and not red.

As close as my ship would let me get...

Yet a few systems forward another proto-planet scorched by its parent star. Made for a great photo-op.

Sadly the proto-world wouldn't allow for planet-fall. But it did have a moon with a thin dusty atmosphere. This made for a fine camp site. Until Leg 6!

-EJIRO

 

[Jermus]

O-types are indeed mighty popular! Which is not that surprising: They stand out on the galaxy map like not other, and most can be spotted even when zoomed out as far as possible. Easy beacons for the early explorers. I have learned that I am not an early explorer

 

[PANTHER STARFORCE]

O-types are indeed mighty popular! Which is not that surprising: They stand out on the galaxy map like not other, and most can be spotted even when zoomed out as far as possible. Easy beacons for the early explorers. I have learned that I am not an early explorer

Well I now understand why explorers are drawn to O type systems. I finally arrived at my target destination and WOW... This system did not disappoint. Of course it's already been scanned by a previous CMDR, but alas, it has not diminished the reward or the splendor of seeing this unique system.

THE ARRIVAL!

I'm sure there are systems more exotic, but this was the most unique and diverse system I've ever come across. The destination did not disappoint! :O

The wonders of my discovery keep coming... complete with bizarre bugs. I watched the small moon on the left slowly drift out of it's ring system over a period of several minutes.

I was able to make planetfall on the drifting moon which seemed to 'snap' it back in to position. Quite the view.

Lifting off to see some more of the system:

Working my way out from the main star, another small ringed moon bathed in the blue glow of the O type star:

Couldn't resist playing in the ring systems

Stay tuned for more as I continue to make my way outward and document the system fully.
With luck I can do that in the next few nights and then high-tail it back to the bubble before 2.1 goes live!

-EJIRO

 

[PANTHER STARFORCE]

Here is the second half of my destination survey...

Just one beautiful ringed proto-world after another. Amazing.

One of the myriad brown dwarf suns farther out in the system:

Somewhere, out there. . .

Some incredibly small-mass stars that scanned well under 1,000LS out.

Approaching the far side of the system now...

The sheer congestion and complexity of the orbital relationships and sub-systems is very evident in this shot of my cockpit with the orbit lines visible:

Finally at the far edge... Taking my last look back before I plot my return course.

My challenge now will be to make it back in two nights with my limited time windows in which to play. Might just be a jump & honk affair to make it back before 2.1 goes live.

Stay tuned!

-EJIRO

 

[Pirin]

Well done cmdr EJIRO, some very nice pics here
I am hunting for cool screenshots myself (and have a similar thread to post them) so i appreciate your effort. One question, how you manage to produce this panorama style extra wide resolution?

 

[PANTHER STARFORCE]

Well done cmdr EJIRO, some very nice pics here
I am hunting for cool screenshots myself (and have a similar thread to post them) so i appreciate your effort. One question, how you manage to produce this panorama style extra wide resolution?

Hi CMDR Pirin! Thanks for the kind words!

So I run a 3 Monitor setup with a total combined resolution of 5760x1080. But as most of us who run a triple screen configuration know, Frontier for some reason put a lot of camera lens distortion at the edges of the periphery so the image warps terribly as you get out to the ends of that 5760 threshold. So when I take my screen shots in game, they're captured at my native 5760x1080 resolution. I then crop them down to 3840x1080 which removes a lot of the outer FOV distortion. Why Frontier opted to incorporate this distortion is beyond me. They really need to add native support for multi-monitor setups because so many of us run them. Kind of hilarious that they support Oculus and VR... devices which almost none of us have... but they can't add a multi-display matrix mapping utility. LOL. *sigh*

-EJIRO

 

[PANTHER STARFORCE]

The Return!

So in an attempt to make it back to the bubble before the 2.1 drop, I did make a bit of a high-tail run of it. I went up in the galactic disc by about 200LY just to ensure I wouldn't retrace my steps and then plotted a path back to Imperial space. The total return journey was approx. 1,200LY and it was largely a jump & honk affair... but there were a few gems that I couldn't resist off the beaten path

I found something extraordinary... I just had to take a detour to see it with my own eyes. In the process I set a personal record for fastest super cruise speed:

And then I saw it!

My first ever black hole! I dawdled about here for at least an hour... it was beautiful. Curiosity was getting the better of me and I started to creep ever closer in real-space:

I have no experience with black holes. I wanted to keep going... I was watching my heat & integrity like a hawk as I crept ever closer... I admit I was shocked that I could even get this close without being ripped apart! However I started to get nervous because I had my entire cartography payday onboard... so this is where I drew the line.

Eventually I tore myself away and pressed back toward home. But I did make one last detour so I could 'tag' my very first water world. I know... it's not an ELW... but it was a nice feather in my cap to finish the journey on

And finally! My return bastion! waiting for me like a favorite out of the way pub. They didn't even mind that I was carrying stolen survey data from a few old wrecks

After some repairs, refitting and a top off I cashed in my cartography data with the local office and happily departed on my last leg to my home system & port. After a few jumps I was finally touching down in the lavish safety of my home base of operations. I was ready to kick off my shoes and have a cocktail under one of those palm trees

I'll get my final thoughts together and follow up here shortly with my summary of what it was like to take my first ever exploration walkabout. Definitely a trip to remember. [up]
Thanks again to all the CMDRs who motivated me, advised me and took the time to check in on my daffy thread. Cheers all!

-EJIRO

 

[Manticore]

Awesome images. For me exploration is all about the photo opportunity too (and the adventure). Happy trails!

 

[PANTHER STARFORCE]

Awesome images. For me exploration is all about the photo opportunity too (and the adventure). Happy trails!

Thanks for the props CMDR Manticore! I was no doubt motivated by finding awesome wonders to photograph... but it was also about just following my nose and going wherever the wind took me. Doing the journey in this way made every step fun and not a grind. I had a very positive first outing as a Jr. Explorer

-EJIRO

 

[PANTHER STARFORCE]

SUMMARIZATION!

So I thought I would summarize my thoughts from my first trip out.
It was approx. 2,200LY round trip. Took me about a week... and I actually made about 2.5 mil credits!!!!
Actually it was the most money I've ever made performing a singular activity or mission in the entire game. So I'm not really sure where exploration gets its reputation from being "non-profitable" I felt like I had to work far harder and hustle like made to make that same kind of money doing almost anything else in the game.

At any rate, I had a blast... but I did miss the bubble and docking at stations and outfitting and messing about in other aspects of the game. Because of this... I don't think I'll ever become a legendary deep-space explorer. But I'd love to plan future short-range missions to some of the local sights. If anything my short runabout proved to me that there's plenty of credits to be made and plenty of discoveries to be had in our local back yard. Not to mention the spectacular scenery and wonders to photograph along the way!

I think when Elite gets the "space legs" update and we can walk around our ships and twiddle with sub-systems and craft and research takes on a stronger role I'll become much more interested in buying a nice yacht like a Clipper and setting sail for the core or a longer journey.

Finally my thoughts on the Cobra MKIV...

BLAAAAHHHHHHHH.

Quite literally the ONLY reason I can think of to take a MKIV over a MKIII on an exploration journey is if you want to pack a refinery and some mining lasers on board in the event you feel like mining some pristine rings along the way. But I mean... why? You can do that in the bubble with a much larger cargo capacity ship for the same price. I think my MKIV is destined for the scrap heap now that I'm back. There is nothing that I did with the MKIV that a MKIII couldn't have done faster and better. As an explorer vessel I feel it's a wasted design.

In the end, I feel very fortunate that I made such 'good money' (though I recognize that's subjective) saw such incredible things (MY FIRST BLACK HOLE!!!!!) and made it back in time to anticipate the 2.1 drop. It was fun and very addictive. I can see how people truly get the bug for this and head out in to the black and don't come back for up to 6 months. I also have developed a profound respect for the concentration and discipline that those trips must take. I flew by the seat of my pants... documented hardly a thing and made a lot of rookie mistakes. (came back with considerably less repair units then I set off with )

I WILL do this again... be sure of it... but I think I'm going to take some time messing about with the engineers and the job boards to see how some of the other careers flesh out after 2.1 goes live.

Until then, I shall remain AN IDIOT ABOARD!

Keep the shiny-side up fellow CMDRs!

-EJIRO

 

[iain666]

Gratz - loving the pics have bacon rep because I can't give you any more internet points right now.

The really big black holes are dangerous, but the ickle ones not so much. I've been within 9m of one. People have flown through some of them, unfortunately they came out the other side without so much as a whiff of a book case.

 

[PANTHER STARFORCE]

Gratz - loving the pics have bacon rep because I can't give you any more internet points right now.

The really big black holes are dangerous, but the ickle ones not so much. I've been within 9m of one. People have flown through some of them, unfortunately they came out the other side without so much as a whiff of a book case.

Thanks for the info on the black holes CMDR Iain666.
I thought it strage that it was such a small, low mass black hole. I always thought the entire reason a black hole comes in to being is the cascade implosion death of a super massive star. Lesser stars just supernova or go Neutron when depleted? Alas I am not an astronomer. It was a thrilling experience none the less. I could easily get in to "storm chasing" black holes and seeing how close I can get to them. Probably a career with a short life span.

-EJIRO

 

[Spacecat]

Two mil isn't much for a week of work when you can make that much in one trip to a RES, but the pay is just icing one the cake. The experience is the prime motivation for exploring. Fantastic images, BTW.

 

[Cmdr Frawd Digger]

Thanks for the info on the black holes CMDR Iain666.
I thought it strage that it was such a small, low mass black hole. I always thought the entire reason a black hole comes in to being is the cascade implosion death of a super massive star. Lesser stars just supernova or go Neutron when depleted? Alas I am not an astronomer. It was a thrilling experience none the less. I could easily get in to "storm chasing" black holes and seeing how close I can get to them. Probably a career with a short life span.
-EJIRO

According to Hawking black holes evaporate over time...but I will leave that discussion to Cmdr Ziljan.

Frawd

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

At any rate, I had a blast... but I did miss the bubble and docking at stations and outfitting and messing about in other aspects of the game. Because of this... I don't think I'll ever become a legendary deep-space explorer.

You'll get over missing the bubble, we all did

Now you're back, I bet it won't take long until you start missing deep space

 

[PANTHER STARFORCE]

You'll get over missing the bubble, we all did

Now you're back, I bet it won't take long until you start missing deep space

This sounds like the voice of experience indeed, hehe.

-EJIRO

 

[PanicButton]

Sadly, I can't rep you more CMDR Looking forward to season 2 of An Idiot Abroad

(btw..you have to share that reshade recipe with us one day, it looks amazing)

 

[Iskariot]

CMDR Ejiro
Your screenshots have a very photographic quality to them.
Love them.

 

[PANTHER STARFORCE]

Sadly, I can't rep you more CMDR Looking forward to season 2 of An Idiot Abroad

(btw..you have to share that reshade recipe with us one day, it looks amazing)

Thanks cmdr!
I'm sure I'll head back out eventually. Though I am eyeballing a Clipper... that would make for some real motivation for me to head back out.
I'll try to figure out how to export my ReShade pipeline. I'm constantly twiddling with it but I think I've almost got it perfect!

-EJIRO

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

CMDR Ejiro
Your screenshots have a very photographic quality to them.
Love them.

Thanks for the kind words cmdr!
searching for the 'perfect shot' was the biggest joy of the entire trip!

-EJIRO