CMDR Kneller, 50 hours in and...

JustKneller

J
I'll be damned if this isn't the most pointless game I've ever played.

But, I mean this in a good way.

I have played a fair amount of space sims. Wing Commander: Privateer is probably one of my all time favorite games. I also played a little Oolite back in my Linux gaming days. I did have some idea as to what I was getting into here. Still, it was a bit disorienting when I didn't have a "story" to set a path for me. I did the tutorial and then I went about it all wrong from there. I did the mission grind until I had enough credits to fully tool up the "best" ship in the noob zone (Cobra mk3, though that probably doesn't need saying). I googled the best places to settle and learned about Ohm City, so I rushed there. I was contacted by an engineer shortly after. Once I bought anything worth buying in Ohm City, I rushed the 29 jumps to the engineer. I probably should have read her message more carefully because I needed a material to unlock her that I did not yet have. I farted around a little bit after that, not sure what to do in the ass end of nowhere with no direction and no "next thing" that I felt I needed to buy. This was not long before I hit the 50 hour mark. So, I deleted my pilot and started over.

Maybe this isn't a pointless game. Maybe the point of the game is to be doing whatever I'm doing at the point of the game I'm currently playing. The more I'm engaged with the present moment, the more I'm "winning". The more I grind missions I really don't want to do, but I want the credits so I can slowly build me way to a fully engineered Python, the more I'm losing. That's what I'm thinking. This is a game of mindfulness. It's all very Zen. In that way, I suppose this means there is also a story. If the purpose of all this flying around space in a ship is the flying around space in a ship, then the story of the game is to have more and varied experiences with flying around in ships. So, perhaps every ship is a chapter in this story. The narrative is instead emergent, and not a set of pre-written rails that I'm to ride. At least, this is how I see it.

At 50 hours, I’m starting over. Nothing is being rushed. I’m going to make sure I fully experience each ship and explore the present moment as much as I possibly can. I’m only 50 hours in and still have so much to learn, but at this point, I think that’s what this game is about.

I have some things of note. I only play in solo mode. I think that, especially since I don't have Odyssey, the odds of me running into anyone is quite low. But, when that happens, the odds of me running into a griefer is higher than the odds of me running into someone cool that might enhance the experience. Why open myself up to unwanted trouble, right? I wish there were more opportunities to build community in-game, though. I know there are discords and whatnot, but I find it preferable to fully immerse myself in the game itself without using other apps while I play. It would be nice if there was a bar in spaceports where you could connect with anyone in the sector also at a bar (or something like that). I don’t chat much when I’m flying, even when people are talking, because I’m rather busy flying.

I’m also playing kbm and that limits me. I’ve had access to joysticks for flight sims in the past. It’s not an option for me now. More so than any other flight sim I’ve played, I wish I had a flight chair (or at least a HOTAS) and a VR set. With kbm, I just can’t get the mouse to cooperate enough for FA off. which I would like to try. However, the extra hardware isn’t logistically viable at this time. I don’t hold this limitation against the game, though.

I chucked my auto dock because I wanted to do things manually. It’s more satisfying to actually land a ship myself. I temporarily removed my supercruise assist for the same reason, but manual supercruise when your destination is near a planet is a real hassle and wasn’t worth it after I experienced it a few times.

I debated this for a bit. I was tempted to get Odyssey once I restarted, but decided against this. Exobiology sounds interesting, but the reviews are a tad mixed, and I will likely stay in solo mode so having a larger player pool doesn’t do much for me.

So, yeah, 50 hours...and counting.
 

Helmut Grokenberger

Helmut Grokenberger
Get Odyssey. It's well worth it unless you expect some kind of premium FPS, which it isn't. On Steam it's currently 40% off, don't know about other platforms.

Other than that: As you found out, Elite Dangerous is a sandbox. It doesn't hold your hand, it just offers you a plethora of activities centered around a somewhat living galaxy. And 50 hours is just scratching the surface - some people spend that time sorting out their HOTAS binding 😁.

Resist the urge to follow any best start guides or get rich quick schemes, it will ruin the game for you.
 

SlickPBW

S
Welcome to the club, Commander!


I noticed that you mentioned flying with KB&M and you mentioned that you believe that limits you. I would let you know that some of the best combat pilots fly that way in FA-off mode. It’s definitely not a handicap but it does take practice. If you want to try FA-off, I recommend experimenting with the “relative mouse” settings.
 

Nidoboros

N
JustKneller said:
It would be nice if there was a bar in spaceports
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Odyssey will let you visit the bar, but it isn't the whole System, it's just the station you're at. Also I'm not sure how the instancing would work with open vs private group vs solo. Solo is mostly keeping you from meeting people, but keep an eye on chat, and also you could meet people through telepresence/copiloting with them.

Hopefully the new Squadron stuff will make in-game chat/communication more viable (possibly adding so,ething similar for Power Play?)
 

JustKneller

J
SlickPBW said:
Welcome to the club, Commander!


I noticed that you mentioned flying with KB&M and you mentioned that you believe that limits you. I would let you know that some of the best combat pilots fly that way in FA-off mode. It’s definitely not a handicap but it does take practice. If you want to try FA-off, I recommend experimenting with the “relative mouse” settings.
Click to expand...

I messed with the mouse settings six ways from Sunday including tweaking relative mouse. I just couldn't get the control I wanted. I even looked into building a small USB stick I could just suction cup to my laptop to cover y/p but I couldn't find something that would work out. Maybe someday I'll have a solution.
 

alexzk

A
JustKneller said:
Thanks for that. I heard of them and was thinking of applying after I get this run out of noob zone. Are you in that group. What do you think? And would not having Odyssey be a problem?
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I play there couple years. Lately I meet a lot of people while delivering mats for my constructions - most builders use the same suppliers.
So yes, it is enough of the people as for my taste.
I would recommend to buy Oddy. As for me this is most fun to live vagabond life among those small towns. Small ships are good fit for that towns.
Also, I guess, Ody/Horizons aren't instanced together, and as most people have Oddy now...
 

Cmdr. Numa

Cmdr. Numa
Ah, this reminds me so much of myself 10 years ago. I've wiped my save once after about as many hours too, because I thought I was doing it horribly wrong. It took me a while to realize that there is no such thing as a path irrevocably on the wrong way. At worst reaching your goals takes a little longer, but you will get there and out of any situation you might think you're in.
 

Rat Catcher

Rat Catcher
JustKneller said:
I was tempted to get Odyssey once I restarted, but decided against this. Exobiology sounds interesting, but the reviews are a tad mixed, and I will likely stay in solo mode so having a larger player pool doesn’t do much for me.
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The initial steam reviews were well-deserved, the expansion released in a poor state, but has improved massively since than (but folk don't go back and change their reviews often, do they? And there was a lot of salt over EDO not being what some folk had convinced themselves it would be, despite evidence to the contrary, so they complained)

EDO gets you the new ships, some amazing atmospheric bodies (Ammonia being my favourite) and the opportunity to make billions scanning salad. On-foot is great fun IMO, but I never played COD to compare it to... Some like it, others don't.

If you are on steam EDO is dirt cheep in the sale, so worth considering just for access to the new ships (open EDO, buy and equip and they will be available in Live)
 

Rat Catcher

Rat Catcher
Cmdr. Numa said:
Ah, this reminds me so much of myself 10 years ago. I've wiped my save once after about as many hours too, because I thought I was doing it horribly wrong. It took me a while to realize that there is no such thing as a path irrevocably on the wrong way. At worst reaching your goals takes a little longer, but you will get there and out of any situation you might think you're in.
Click to expand...
I restarted 4 times on my original account - then, like you, realised that there isn't a wrong way, just hard mistakes that can be worked around.
Once I'd sorted that out in my head (that was about 30 hours of play in) I finally started to understand the game. (and am still learning, all those years later!)
 

Shadowsnog

Shadowsnog
o7 welcome to the galaxy commander!
elite is a sandbox, meaning you make your own story, you blaze your own trail. so you will have to keep yourself occupied in a matter of a sense, but luckily there is so much game in this game. discover, attempt, try and find the things that you find enjoyable.
in regards to odyssey: ive seen many people be somewhat wary of buying into it (myself included), but so far everyone i know said that ody was a great improvement to the game and to the gameplay. and i agree.
but there is no need to rush anything. take your own pace, make your own style, enjoy what you like. ;)
 

JustKneller

J
Cmdr. Numa said:
I've wiped my save once after about as many hours too, because I thought I was doing it horribly wrong.
Click to expand...
Rat Catcher said:
I restarted 4 times on my original account - then, like you, realised that there isn't a wrong way, just hard mistakes that can be worked around.
Once I'd sorted that out in my head (that was about 30 hours of play in) I finally started to understand the game. (and am still learning, all those years later!)
Click to expand...

My wipe was not really due to a functional need and more of an, I dunno, ethical catharsis. 😁
 

DjVortex

DjVortex
Elite Dangerous is not a game that shoves its content in your face. I mean, sure, you can find missions and mission givers at space ports... but that's about it. And even then, even those missions are (seemingly) extremely simple fetch quests that only reward you with a bit of credits and perhaps some materials. There's actually more meaning to these missions than what's apparent at first, but that's more advanced content (that's extremely not-in-your-face. In fact, most of it isn't explained in-game at all. To get the full picture you need to wade through miles of user-written content online.) It's a bit of a running theme: There's actually a surprisingly large amount of content in the game... which you just have to find out. Some missions might lead you to some of that content (if you know where to get those missions), some of it you'll just have to find in your own. The game doesn't really explain much (heck, it took me well over a year of playing the game before I encountered my first Thargoid surface site. The game didn't indicate to me in any way that those even exist.) It's hard to explain.

Anyway, on the subject of controls, I recommend a good mid-way between mouse&keyboard and a full on HOTAS: A game controller. I particularly recommend the Xbox One, Xbox One X, or Series X controller (plus the wireless USB dongle). Many players use one to play the game, and it works wonders, and it's much cheaper than a full HOTAS setup. And some even find it more comfortable and approachable (particularly if you are used to playing other games with a controller). Given how many buttons the game needs for even basic operation you'll need to muscle-learn some button combos, but that's fine (the ones that the game has set up by default are mostly ok, although you'll probably want to add a few new ones as well.)
 
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