Newcomer / Intro Cannot stay alive

[Ginseng Sullivan]

So I've been playing this game for a couple weeks now and I just cannot wrap my head around how to survive in space. I have lost hundreds of thousands of credits by being interdicted and destroyed by a Master while I have explored systems on me, lost cargo to police who kill me because of a 500 cr fine, this is just frustrating and annoying.

Please can someone help me or tell me what I'm doing wrong? All I can do are courier missions because I die doing anything else. Currently 67,000 cr in debt.

 

[Looney Toon]

If you get interdicted and your ship is not geared for combat, best thing to do is run and get back iinto SC asap. You'll only get fined for shooting unwanted npcs/players or having illegal cargo, don't pick anything up in space unless you are happy to smuggle it into a station with a black market.

 

[who?]

My recommendation: do legal missions until you have enough to upgrade to a new ship. If you're not doing illegal missions (and not picking up cargo in space), then the police will leave you alone, and if you're not carrying cargo the worst that can happen with pirates is your ship is destroyed and you go back to the same Sidewinder. I went from Sidewinder to Viper, but you could jump to the Eagle if that's easier.

Once you have the Viper (or Eagle), I'd start outfitting, maybe one gimballed pulse laser and one gimballed multicannon. Gimballed weapons make it far easier to hit your target. Upgrading your powerplant, shields and power distribution are very important. When fighting, always try to keep your throttle in the blue zone for max. turn rate.

Keep doing missions, and maybe try bounty hunting for a while (Navigation Beacons are the safest place to do this) until you have enough money for the next step; you can keep going as a fighter, or you might have enough seed money to buy a hauling ship and start trading.

 

[Terran]

I have lost hundreds of thousands of credits by being interdicted and destroyed by a Master while I have explored systems on me, lost cargo to police who kill me because of a 500 cr fine, this is just frustrating and annoying.

If it's an NPC inderdicting you, throttle back to 0 and allow the inderdiction. This way you won't get any damage and your FSD will charge quickly. Get the pirate to your reaer and full energy to engines and boost away while FSD charges. HTH.

 

[Klab]

Some further info would help: What ship are you flying? Open or Solo? Trader or Combat?

 

[Ginseng Sullivan]

I am flying a sidewinder, like a said just started playing this a couple weeks ago. I always go Open except for the time I was in the starting system and it was laggy because of a hundred other noobs, and right now I'm a trader because the only thing I can kill are mostly harmless or novice pirates. I just get really frustrated with the fact that no matter what I do in this game, I find myself in a situation I can't get out of that either destroys my ship or makes me lose thousands of credits.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, can someone tell me why I fly way past things I'm supercruising towards? My throttle is in the blue section every time, but I still continue to have to do a 360.

 

[Joe Benotts]

I believe your fines (if you are not smuggling) are probably caused by attempting to dock before you comm'd for clearance. I have done this a few times and it is a good idea to pay these fines off as soon as you dock. As far as over shooting goes the same thing happens to me. I usually throttle to the low end of the blue section when I get closer to my dest. if it looks like I am going to over shoot I simply haul back on the stick and loop around to bleed the excess speed off.

 

[the100thmonkey]

Also, can someone tell me why I fly way past things I'm supercruising towards? My throttle is in the blue section every time, but I still continue to have to do a 360.

Bind a key/joystick button to 75% throttle. When the countdown clock hits 7 seconds, use it. You'll never overshoot again until you start getting impatient and decide to wait until 5-6 seconds.

Have you done the combat tutorial missions (AKA the demo)? They're really useful for learning to extricate yourself from undesirable situations by killing the undesirable.

Remember, the Sidewinder is basically infinite lives. You'll get yourself owned and will spawn back in the exact same ship you died in! Awesome, eh? Do the combat tutorials, and when you're ready just shoot any NPC that has the temerity to interdict or otherwise attack you. If you lose, you'll be in a position to learn how not to die in the same way next time. The only caveats I would offer are that if the ship giving you grief is ranked competent or above, it's best to run until you have a ship that can shoot back hard enough.

Add me if you like - CMDR Le Singe Terrible - I'll happily take some time to give you some pointers. We can go into a RES and you can kill some bad guys while I give you some pointers/backup if you get into trouble.

 

[Ginseng Sullivan]

Well thank you, that's quite commendable. Just added you, CMDR Ginseng Sullivan. I have tried some of the demos, but not the combat one. I've killed probably 10 pirates total. Also, that trick for overshooting is quite an idea, I will have to try that, sir.

 

[Joe Benotts]

Another thing to try (if you have a bit of patience) is go to a RES or NAV and follow the system security ships around and wait for them to engage a pirate before you do. This way the focus will be on them as much as on you and you are less likely to get clobbered. If things get too harry you can always boost away and be fairly confident that the pirate will not chase you. I know its kind of cheap but it does work. Something to think about as well since the wings update, pay attention to whether or not your target is in a wing, I have found that often when you engage one you get the rest of the wing attacking you. Not all the time but it does happen and can really ruin your day if you are not watching.

 

[Johnny Cyclops]

Have a checklist for when docked. Keep on paper nearby. Sounds OCD but will help with a few things until they become routine.

1. Check the Contacts tab each time
1a. Check the Pilots Federation for fines - and pay them
1b. Check the local contacts for bounties - and claim them
1c. Check the black market (if there is one) - and sell illicit goods (these good don't show as cargo on the regular commodity market)

2. Check the Repairs tab - keep your ship in tip-top condition

3. Check the Universal Cartographics tab - and keep stored data to a minimum (i.e. sell as you go)

There will be other checks, - refuel, rearm, etc.


Some commentary. On 1c (check black market) when I take a mission to find an object (e.g. military plans) I usually find more tons than I need but I scoop them all, some for the mission, and some to sell. I've then forgotten to sell the surplus and got dinged by the cops.

 

[Glenn Ross]

If you're that far in debt, surely the best thing would be to delete your save and start over. With the debt you currently have, it'll take ages to work that off, so delete and start again with a clean character, may even be possible to keep the same name and just start from scratch with a stock sidey and c1,000 in your pocket than a possibly damaged ship and owing c67,000.

Then when you start again, get the heck out of that starting system - it's in the middle of a civil war and the combat is incredible for someone with either no interest (me), luck (me again), or talent (also...me).

 

[Oopsie Daisy]

So I've been playing this game for a couple weeks now and I just cannot wrap my head around how to survive in space. I have lost hundreds of thousands of credits by being interdicted and destroyed by a Master while I have explored systems on me, lost cargo to police who kill me because of a 500 cr fine, this is just frustrating and annoying.

Please can someone help me or tell me what I'm doing wrong? All I can do are courier missions because I die doing anything else. Currently 67,000 cr in debt.

You have only been playing a couple weeks and have hundreds of thousands of credits?! Do everything the above people suggest and don't worry as it seems you will make your money back in no time.

 

[Klab]

Some decent advice from the posters above, one thing to bear in mind is that the sidewinder is only the starter ship. It's kinda weak once you start taking hits, and it's shields will soon go down leading to death (I'm sure you realise this). Work on getting better kit for it, improve the shields, upgrade the weapons. Better still, sell it as soon as you are able to, & buy an adder or viper, you will feel a bit tougher as they are better ships. Eventually a Cobra & so on up the ladder. With each new ship brings confidence, something the sidewinder does not instill

 

[Ben Salient]

So I've been playing this game for a couple weeks now and I just cannot wrap my head around how to survive in space. I have lost hundreds of thousands of credits by being interdicted and destroyed by a Master while I have explored systems on me, lost cargo to police who kill me because of a 500 cr fine, this is just frustrating and annoying.

Please can someone help me or tell me what I'm doing wrong? All I can do are courier missions because I die doing anything else. Currently 67,000 cr in debt.

67,000 in debt in a sidewinder ..... ouch
starting again would be my advice
.
as to what you are doing wrong ... seems to me that you are trying to do EVERYTHING , in a ship that is not really capable to do much of ANYTHING.
try solo mode until you are more accomplished
when interdicted RUN AWAY , no npc can kill you if you run
Don't do Any Illegal missions or actions until you fully grasp the consequences of those actions & the possible repercussions.
the idea is you learn the basic game dynamics in the Sidewinder ,, then progress to better ships that are more suitable for Combat or Trading or Exploring
..
looks like you jumped in the sidewinder & tried to fight everyone , while blowing raspberries at the law .. tbh that was always going to end badly
...
the forum is a wonderful source of information .. spend a few hours reading & it will hopefully make things easier to understand & transform your game experience
youtube has some fantastic/good/ok/bad videos & guides .. most are helpful , watch a few on the same topic from different sources to get a balanced view
( I found even the bad ones helpful , if only for making me laugh & showing what advice to ignore ... when I compared them against the best quality advice )
.
I have been playing 2 months currently master/broker/pathfinder
& believe me when I say my 1st week was almost as bad as yours
..
my homework from a helpful player involved looking up & researching among other things
RARES how to earn credits from trading
RES how to earn credits from Combat
EXPLORATION advanced discovery scanner & ship outfitting for exploration
...
once I understood that my sidewinder was not an intergalactic cargo freighter ... battleship ... or suitable for exploration without the advanced scanner
it became much easier to see the path of progression into better ships , with better equipment, able to do better things
..
you obviously enjoy the game immensely , to have persevered with your nightmare ..
you can easy turn things around .. just need to remember the mistakes & not repeat them