Newcomer / Intro Are we there yet?

[Touchwood]

I know there's been (probably lots!) of discussion on these forums about the length of time it can take to journey within a system in supercruise - just thought as a newbie I'd add my twopennyworth.

Basically - it's the part of the game I like the least, and from the prior discussions it's clear I'm not the only one. I fully appreciate all the comments players make about "immersion" and reality, and the last thing I'd want is to spoil the game experience for those players just to make it a little less boring at times for me. I find it difficult to believe, however, that the developers couldn't find some way to speed things up a little without compromising the game experience for the purists.

Comments? Or has it all been said before?

 

[Rob_the_Sparky]

It is part of the game. With time you will avoid long periods in SC by picking systems that have stations close to the entry point. I know that back in the day the LHS3447 base positioning meant very long SC trips until you realised that this was a terrible system for it and best get out into the big bad world.
.
Hutton Orbital would not be special if it were not for the SC time. Also note SC is not empty...

 

[markkuk]

I find it difficult to believe, however, that the developers couldn't find some way to speed things up a little without compromising the game experience for the purists.

Supercruise is the way developers found to speed things up a lot! Without it it would take days or even years to travel below light speed inside star systems.

 

[EISENHORN01]

The option is (and I'm not the original creator of this idea) the ability to pick the planet in a system u jump too thus negating the need to use S.C. This idea has been around since day one and the first ever I hate S.C post on the forums but what is new is the idea that this could be done now by use of the engineers, in other words the engineer mods your drive system allowing u to transist to a point in a system other than the star. This would not be fool proof with the possibility of a malfunction throwing u light years off course or major damage due to over heating. Could be fun though

 

[sbdags]

Space is big. And empty. I don't see how you can get around the existing solution which speeds things up greatly but still allows for tracking, chasing and interdicting other ships.

 

[Pyrotiger]

I think ED got this aspect of the game spot on.

 

[Chris Simon]

OP, you can't get rid of supercruise. It is for Elite what "landscape" is for RPG - It's the area where the game part of game roots and takes place.
There are trading points (stations), combat points (RES and CZ), etc... If we just jumped between them, we're back at X-wing vs. Tie Fighter era, only with fancy graphics.

Ellite needs open space, it is, after all, a game about piloting the ship. And piloting needs not only start and finish, but also a space between.

 

[CMDR Mr. Boombastic]

There are advanced techniques of getting to your destination station quicker such as the 'Helix of Death' but probably easier with a controller/HOTAS. And the added benefit of decreased chance of an interdiction when you are approaching the station as the basic technique is to slow down to 75% which makes you vulnerable to pirates. YouTube search if you want to know more.
I have KB&M so a a little tricker to apply this technique.

 

[AdamDZ]

I just do not fly to anything over 1,000Ls unless it might be extremely profitable. It's simply too boring. I met people who do not "fast travel" in RPGs (Skyrim, Witcher, etc) for the sake of increased immersion but I'm not one of them This is why I'm finding ED very hard. I don't mind some grinding and I'm patient but to some degree.

There are people out there right now being outraged about ship transfers being instant in the upcoming patch. Oh yeah! I want that. This is one reason why I only fly one ship most of the time. I get immersion but I also have limited time in life to do repeated, unnecessary tasks in games.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

Hutton Orbital would not be special if it were not for the SC time.

No longer true, now that the ESO has found an exo-planet orbiting within the goldilocks zone of Proxima Centauri. Eden, the planet Hutton Orbital orbits, is pretty close to what the ESO is predicting.

 

[Alex Brentnall]

The problem is you start lowering the time in sc to make it less boring and then the next thing you lower all travel distances to the point where you nay as well have a game universe of 4 systems with teleportation between stations and res sites etc.
Its an MMO and an RPG like skyrim and the reality of scale is a key element.

 

[AdamDZ]

RPGs have fast travel. In Skyrim you can hire a boat or carriage to take you places. Do you think people would play RPGs if there was no fast travel? That would only limit the game to a tiny market of ultra hard core players.

Not lowering the distances but introducing mechanisms that will help you deal with them. As it is now there are places I will never bother flying to. Such as multiple star systems and the far out outposts. The distances between stars within a multi system are insane, in millions of Ls. I've seen some interesting planets I'd like to explore but no way I'm spending 30 minutes to get there. For example it'd be nice to be able to choose which star in a multi system you will jump to.Also, it would be great hire someone to take you to far places.

At least I'm looking forward to instant ship transfers.

 

[Rob_the_Sparky]

Even in RPGs most do not allow fast travel to places you haven't been to yet. Space is big and that is the point. In original Elite there was time acceleration but you can not do this in a multi-player game and I suspect the same problem applies for a lot of other ideas you have for fast travel. You really need to stop worrying about SC though, try travelling outside the bubble and you will soon realise that SC is the least of your problems wrt time sinks. Took me over 1000 jumps to get to Jaques, I didn't check how long that took but I know I could not do a jump in less than 1 minute so well over 1000 minutes (16.7 hours)...

 

[[VR] Zakk]

I think a fast travel option would kill the immersion, and collide with a few features.

The only way I see to make SC a little less boring (and boring it can be) is by increasing the acceleration and deceleration rate in SC. If I can speed up faster and stop quicker, I can cover greater distances in less time. A trip of 20,000 LS to an outpost could thus be reduced by a few minutes.

One other option I can see is paid ship transfer. Hire a (virtual) pilot to fly your ship from A to B. Not as a quick travel option, but in real time. That way, I can bring a parked ship to a place where I may want to pick it up later on, or I can have my active ship (with me inside) transferred to another system overnight, when I go to bed in real life. It would save me the dull task of making dozens of manual system jumps and waiting countless minutes for fuel scooping when I log on next time.

This option would not kill immersion. The only risk I can see is that it makes going to hotspots like Jaques a little too convenient, so it would get more crowded there.

 

[AdamDZ]

I like the idea of extra acceleration for SC. A new module perhaps to be purchased?

I agree that:

a) Fast Travel would ruin ED
b) Fast Travel should only be aver available to places you've already discovered anyway

I wasn't proposing that ED should have Fast Travel. I just wish for some way to ease out the grind. Instant ship transfer between stations would be great. And extra SC acceleration would work for me too.

 

[[VR] Zakk]

I like the idea of extra acceleration for SC. A new module perhaps to be purchased?

That would be the most sensible option. Extra acceleration / deceleration in SC might make navigating in SC a tad trickier, so it may be good to practice the slow version first, before upgrading to the faster version later in the game.

It would also add another challenging decision when outfitting your ship. Do you spend a slot on a "Supercruise Booster", to save time when cruising a system, or do you use the slot for something else, that might be more useful to you.

I have that dilemma with the decision between a fuel scoop and a planetary surface scanner. I love the scanner, as it boosts my exploration results. But I also love my fuel scoop, as it saves me from having to make fuel stops on longer journeys. Wouldn't mind having to make more of these decisions.

 

[Chris Simon]

In some other thread I suggested higher acceleration and deceleration rate on the shipping lanes.
That would make life easier and less boring for traders, yet didn't mess up the whole mechanic.

Or such simple thing like when you target the station in SC, you would see its actual orientation on the hologram.
I know they always face the planet, slightly under the south pole, but where is a south pole? And the relative position of the planet and station isn't obvious until you get really close, which already cost time, because you have to decelerate slowly.

QoL things like this are what I personally would consider an improvement of supercruise. Not the shortcuts.

 

[Seneleron]

The only issue with messing with the accel/decel rate is it's going to throw off all the OTHER things you do in SC: interdicting/being interdicted, sudden unknown signal popup, etc.

Don't get me wrong here, I have a buddy who based himself out of Grover Terminal in Borr, and everytime he wants to HAS RES farm my right eye starts to twitch a little. I'd LIKE to see it take less time, but there's more that happens in SC than just travel.

[my counter to the eye twitch is to just stand up and look out the windows while I'm en route BTW. One of the many benefits to playing in VR is the view

 

[mrsiCkstar]

When I get bored in SC or want to minimize the risk of interdiction I will just floor the throttle in SC. When the "slow down" message appears on the HUD, I cut power and overshoot the station, then I just loop back immediately and I'm almost instantly in range and at speed to safely drop out of SC. It's a LOT faster than sticking to the speed sweet spot for optimal deceleration to arrive at the station.

 

[Chris Simon]

When I get bored in SC or want to minimize the risk of interdiction I will just floor the throttle in SC. When the "slow down" message appears on the HUD, I cut power and overshoot the station, then I just loop back immediately and I'm almost instantly in range and at speed to safely drop out of SC. It's a LOT faster than sticking to the speed sweet spot for optimal deceleration to arrive at the station.

Yeeeea, try do that in a T9. It takes HOURS to turn her back.