Newcomer / Intro Beginner Experience Harmful to Health

All of these responses seem to assume that I have control of my ship. When I can't accelerate or decelerate, these tips aren't helpful. "Furl scooping"? Do I have a fuel scoop? Don't I need to buy one? I have yet to complete a single mission, as I can't seem to drop out of hyperspace & find my destination. This game has me wanting to throw my equipment out the window.

Let me break down exactly what I do for my missions. This'll seem pedantic, but please bear with it - I'd rather leave the dumb stuff in than leave any useful stuff out. Also remember that my key bindings are very likely configured differently from yours.

1) I press 2 to bring up Starport Services.
2) I press my selection button on my joystick.
I use my mouse usually for the next few steps.
3) I move the selection from repairs to 'REFUEL ALL' (if functional, as some outposts do not have refueling - also assuming you do not have a fuel scoop), then select that to refill my fuel tanks and reservoir.
4) I move down to select 'REPAIR ALL', then select that to fix any damage I have (if functional - again, if either 'REFUEL ALL' or 'REPAIR ALL' are red and say '(UNAVAILABLE)', you either don't need it, or it's not available at the station)
5) I move back to the first column to select 'BULLETIN BOARD' to complete any missions I may be turning in, and selecting them, as they are at the top of the list.
6) I select and accept any new missions that I feel I want to take on, if there are any.
7) I then return to the first column to select 'CONTACTS,' going through all three selections there (I might have gained a bounty, a fine, bounty voucher, or combat bond voucher.)
8) I select 'BACK' to return to the 'HOME' menu, then if I'm replacing hardware on my ship, I select 'OUTFITTING', or if I'm getting a new ship, I select 'SHIPYARD' and do what people all do in there. (I know you can do this bit. :) )
9) I select 'UNIVERSAL CARTOGRAPHICS to sell any exploration data I picked up.
10) Lastly, I select 'COMMODITIES MARKET' to sell any cargo I intend to drop off at this station, and buy new cargo if that is my intention.
11) I then press '1' to look at my left pop-up monitor to determine my next flight path by...
12) ensuring that I am on 'NAVIGATION' (using 'W' or 'E' to move left or right through the tabs), then scrolling down to see if the next stop is in that list - if it is, I select it, or I move to the 'GALAXY MAP' to select the stop from there (if it is too far for one jump)
13) I press '2' twice, then move the selection to 'LAUNCH'
14) After my docking restraints are removed, I use my joystick POV button to move straight up, use my joystick Button 10 to retract my landing gear, then at the right height, I use my joystick throttle to start increasing my speed to leave the station.
15) Once I am far enough away from the station or outpost, I align myself with the next system I'm jumping to (whether it's a destination or the next leg of my journey) I increase my speed to 100%, then press 'J' (I use 'J' for both system jumping OR entering/leaving hyperspace).
16) Once the countdown starts, I move my joystick throttle to 0% so I don't continue moving into the star's corona when I jump into the next system.
17a) If I am moving to a different system than the one I jumped into (i.e. I'm doing a multiple jump to a specific system), I align myself with the next system, then repeat 15) and 16). If the next system is pointing on the periphery of the current system's star, I fly towards it at 100% throttle, passing the star and waiting until my temperature drops enough that I am not at 100% heat when I'm charging my Frame Shift Drive.
17b) If I am at my destination system, I press '1' to bring up my pop-up screen, then use the 'NAVIGATION' tab to select the station or outpost I want to fly to, 'LOCK DESTINATION'
18) I then press '1' again, then align myself with the selected station/outpost (this is done using the sphere to the left of the heat display - if the dot in it is hollow, it is behind me, and I flip over until it is filled in, and in the center of my sphere - this is regardless of system jumping or simply flying in the system), then increase my speed until the speed 'needle' turns blue.
19) I adjust my bearings while flying to the station, as the closer I get, the more out I might be in pointing at the station.
20) If the speed needle is blue, it will automatically adjust your speed.
21) Once I am within 1 Mm (million meters) of the station, and my speed is less than 1000 km/s, I press 'J' to jump out of hyperspace.
22) I approach the station to within 7.5 km (my preference is to wait until I am facing the entrance of the station/or am closer if it is an outpost (I NEVER know what end is up, and I like the extra time to align myself). If it is a station, I align myself so the station is at the top of my screen, so I can see it.
23) I press '1' to bring up the pop-up screen on my left, then press 'W' or 'E' to move to 'CONTACTS', then select the station/outpost, and 'REQUEST DOCKING.'
24) I recommend that you drop your landing gear now until you get used to docking. I feather my joystick throttle to enter the station, and approach the landing pad.
25) NOTE: THE LANDING PAD'S YELLOW CATWALK *MUST* BE ON YOUR RIGHT, WHICH IF YOU ARE APPROACHING THE PAD FROM WHERE THE ANGLED PLATE IS, IT WILL BE. IF IT IS *NOT*, YOU MUST COME AROUND. (This applies if you go too far in the station, or if you are landing on an outpost as, for me, nine times out of ten, I seem to be on the wrong wide of the landing pad at an outpost.)
26) When you are aligned with the blue line (it'll show up, once you are close enough to the landing pad, and aligned sorta okay), you slowly move forward and down (the down is optional at this point - kinda), until the entire section of the landing 'diagram' is blue, then you can use vertical keys/joystick buttons/whatever you set to lower the ship, which if you are horizontal, will complete the landing. Sometimes, I do it one way (gradually moving forward/down), and sometimes the other (just moving forward, aligning, then using my joystick POV button to lower.)
27) YOU ARE LANDED, AND YOU RETURN TO 1).

This took a long time to write, but I hope it helps.

Have a wonderful day!

Commander Leslie
Patient.
Canadian.
Friendly.
Still missing shields and a weapon.
 
Check the videos here and then do the tutorials in-game (they are the first entry in the game menu)
https://www.elitedangerous.com/guide/training/

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Ok, I've discovered one of my problems:

When I remapped the controls to suit me, I picked a key for "Forward Thrust" & a key for "Reverse Thrust". I did NOT keys to "Throttle Up" or "Throttle Down".

This is *exactly* what I'm talking about when I say this game is made for veterans, not for newcomers. There is so much "that's just how we've always done it"-information in this game that doesn't get mentioned because it's so mundane to the experienced players. So when the narrator in the tutorial video says, "Ok, and we slow down a bit, & we go over here..." there's a lot that's being glazed over.

Yes the target for the KS pledge WAS veterans, this isn't a game for everyone, it has been built to hark back at times where games weren't dumb-proof (though some of the confusion might come from the fact that the game isn't 'finished' and there are quite a few things still missing, like for example a manual)

Keep at it and you'll see it's worth playing though!

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I went into this game as a non-backer to see what it would be like for New players without any previous experience. I'm a Huge fan of space games, and after the NPE I've had I am sad to say I don't see it surviving :( My hopes now rest with Star Citizen... If that flops then the genre goes into another mulch-decade hibernation.

Quite the opposite, I think this will do well (in its niche of course) BECAUSE of it. Not everyone wants a game for dummies, or at least not all the times.
 
Yes, I've remapped most of the controls to accomodate the left-handed style I used to play Descent with, but I must have missed some of the controls dealing specifically with Supercruise. Also, I'm going to stop trying to figure this all out with my VR headset on. Get the hang of piloting first. Then, switch to VR for the full experience, the reason I'm here.

Ah if you are using a OR, you might want to look up VoiceAttack, so you don't have to fumble with the keyboard
 
Perhaps Frontier could have sought the help of some fresh eyes in the testing near the end. There are frustrations, Anyone who goes into this game wanting instant gratification clearly didn't understand what they are buying but a gentler learning curve would have helped. Owing to children, I have limited time. I played Elite and Frontier Elite 2. I knew what this was going to be.

Day 1 was spent going sideways as the throttle on my Logitech joystick was mapped to sideways thrusters. I couldn't work out the problem for ages because of the same issue Myrmidon suffered - not realising there was a difference between forward/back thrusters and throttle up/down.

Day 2 was mired slightly in more thruster issues as having mapped the joystick correctly, I would either have 0-100% throttle forward or backwards on the throttle control but not both (i.e. 0% was not in the centre). That seems to have fixed itself without my intervention.

I tried my xbox 360 controller. Almost impossible to control the ship - certainly not to the fine extent needed to actually shoot something in the trainer.

Day 3 - gave up on the training missions and went into the game. because of the pre-flight checklist, throttle was set to 100% forward on launch. Slam, bash! Before I could remember which was vertical thrust. The use of each new key of course required going into Options etc and looking it up.

Supercruise successfully completed to a nearby station. Woot!
Wondering how to dock. Can target docking station but it doesn't appear in comms panel in HUD. I can find it in the computer on the left. Can "unlock" it and "lock" it. Still not sure what this means. Several minutes later, shields go down. Then canopy starts cracking, then Boom! No idea why. I guess somebody decided to blow me up. Why doesn't the ship's computer say something?

Start again. But nothing lost, so okay. Finally found on the internet that docking request is under "contacts". Obviously. Landed, looked at wares for sale. No idea what to buy. Time's up - off to bed.

Today. Maybe I'll actually buy something.

I don't mind the slowness of the game; it's an appeal. But there are frustrations that will understandably put people off. Perhaps we could have had a few safe sectors as starting points where trading could be practise, landing is made easier, there's a bit more leeway in supercrusing and nobody would or could shoot you.

Perhaps we could have had a manual. I do actually thing that the complete lack of a manual could be good grounds for a complaint. If there is a manual (not that near useless pdf for the Sidewinder) please point me to it.

Finally for now - Frontier - in the absence of a manual please could we at least have a "print button" for the control mapping page. That would be so much easier!
 
And it seems you need to put in two paragraph marks to make a gap between paragraphs. Not WYSIWYG here.

Sorry for the really boring post, but I have to say something to be able to edit my profile!
 
On the plus side, I'm introducing a group of friends to Elite Dangerous tonight at a party I'm throwing. Everyone will have a shot at piloting & maybe completing a few tutorials, along with several other general VR-demos. Maybe I'll convince a few new recruits to buy their own Sidewinder!
 
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