With Shields on max, there is almost no chance of actually causing damage. Particularly past the letter box (the most dangerous place). I didn't find it fun at first, but now I have much better control of my ship, it's a great feeling when you nail it. I've done plenty of combat with mouse and keyboard, never used a joystick and had no trouble at all. The hardest part is the mind concept of 4 axis - up/down, side-side, forwards/backwards, rotation.
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Newcomer / Intro Elite: Dangerous for someone who is NOT a pilot
- Thread starter CaptainPatch
- Start date
Forgive me for being dense, but what does ^^that mean?
excuse meeeee, p.... maybe you know. Anyway I even prefer KB/M over a Joystick. Hell, I do it hard on RES with ma boi the Viper, getting around 1,5 - 2 millione credits each run, without ever in real danger of death. Imo if you learn to KB/M and master it, you can do anything as good as anyone with the best/newest joystick for 1000000 million Cr or 200€.
I like to dock myself, early it was kinda hard to do, but after you did it like 1000 times you know how to speed up or slow down and which angle you need to be.
For the User who did this theard, just play as you like. But at least try to get to know everything else as well. Or at least look at it so you can master even tricky situations. If you can get a Cobra or Viper, you will do fine with exploring but get a Fuel Scoop. Cobra would be better if you like to have more Fuel/Cargo.
Do trades to get the moneys and go to explore city. You will get caught by npcs every now and than, who will try to hunter your sweet ass. But with Cobra/Viper you can outrun anything. Just go full boost and Frameshift wuuuuuush. No fear ~
Imo, your playstyle would be pretty boring, but if you like it that way nobody should stop or tell you anything else. You can love this game for what it is, or hate it. But at the end, as long as you can enjoy yourself do it.
The letter box is the "docking hole" on the front on most stations that you have to fly through. I got cocky and attempted to fly through it at about a speed of 194 (no idea what the units are), crashed and exploded. You appear to be safe to crash into the landing pad if you have shields. Some players actually crash into the pad as the quickest way to stop!
It's really not bad though, like you are making it out to be way more of an issue than it is in practice
the 'mail slot' just means the small dash-shaped entrance that is the airlock between space and the landing pads - for space stations that have internal pads (these are several configurations of large, rotating stations). The only hard part for me was figuring out where that slot is, especially on the dodecahedron or whatever shaped stations. I read that when you align your ship to the top vs bottom view of the station, if you see it rotating counterclockwise go up (that's the top) and if you see it rotating clockwise go down (it's still the top, you're upside down)
And that doesn't even apply to the stations that are like just mining rigs with refueling stuff, the pads are right on the exterior
Once I knew WHERE to go, actually doing it was a cinch. I use a keyboard and mouse and I haven't so much as scratched a thing. Q & E (to shift left and right) and particularly R (to move 'up' while you still move forward) and F (to lower yourself on to the pad) really help. Also, I flipped the default mouse left & right and A & D to do what the other was doing. Roll and... yaw? also helped.
I don't know if I've ever seen another player, I don't know how to tell if a ship is an npc or player one. Bought a new ship today and went out hunting criminals. good times. until I warped into a group of some real badasses who demanded my cargo (I had none) and blew me away
the 'mail slot' just means the small dash-shaped entrance that is the airlock between space and the landing pads - for space stations that have internal pads (these are several configurations of large, rotating stations). The only hard part for me was figuring out where that slot is, especially on the dodecahedron or whatever shaped stations. I read that when you align your ship to the top vs bottom view of the station, if you see it rotating counterclockwise go up (that's the top) and if you see it rotating clockwise go down (it's still the top, you're upside down)
And that doesn't even apply to the stations that are like just mining rigs with refueling stuff, the pads are right on the exterior
Once I knew WHERE to go, actually doing it was a cinch. I use a keyboard and mouse and I haven't so much as scratched a thing. Q & E (to shift left and right) and particularly R (to move 'up' while you still move forward) and F (to lower yourself on to the pad) really help. Also, I flipped the default mouse left & right and A & D to do what the other was doing. Roll and... yaw? also helped.
I don't know if I've ever seen another player, I don't know how to tell if a ship is an npc or player one. Bought a new ship today and went out hunting criminals. good times. until I warped into a group of some real badasses who demanded my cargo (I had none) and blew me away
Elite has not much to do with technical realism. The galaxy is pretty realistic, but tech is not. It's something like steampunk in space, but that's how most people like it. A "realistic" elite would have gotten rid of non enhanced human pilots very long ago, even without strong AI. Elite weapons are totally ridicoulus for a game set in a time more than 1000 years from now. It's basically all technology that we already have now, just a bit more advanced. BUT: It's a game. Realism would not be good here, it would be a totally different setting.
This. Docking is (IMO) far easier than on the previous generation Elite games. For those, a docking computer was almost a necessity, now it's a relative breeze to dock up. The slight niggles (that you have to be facing the correct direction on the pad, and that you have to find the entrance on the Coriolis station) are handled by arrows on the pad indicating the direction you should be facing, and arrows on the targeted-station hologram indicating the direction of the letterbox. The rest is a matter of permission, keep speed in low blue zone, and remember landing gear.
I'm slightly confused, "the tech is not" how is it not? it all depends on your perspective on what you would have in 1000 years. The current level of technology development can't keep up forever, eventually it will slow down.
As for human pilots, would you trust the ai? would you trust a computer that can be hacked? controlled by others e.t.c? At the very least there should be a human overseer, and the ai of sorts is already helping that human fly anyway, you know, flight assist.
And that said, there is probably some requirement to be allowed to fly, pilot license or such, so you have the training?
My point being saying Elite has nothing to do with realism of the future isn't something anyone can judge real or not, because we do not know what will have happened in 1000 years. So its their view on it, not yours, frontiers. And saying someone elses view is not realistic because you have another just doesn't hold up.
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First. You can buy a docking computer. Other than that don't expect any major changes.
Second. The reason the players map starts out empty is because even new players should quickly be able to test exploration and use it as a source of income. I your proposal was implemented then exploration wouldn't be something someone could really do until much later with the right ship and equipment. More realistic? Maybe. More fun for people starting out? No.
Third. Combat is and has always been a core component of the Elite games. You can play SOLO and thus never see any other real players, but NPCs will still attack you.
So at the end of the day this game isn't really for you.
This ^^^ pretty much says it all. But, like several other players, I have been playing since PB and the only 'weapon' I have ever used is a mining laser. Although the game is and always has been based around combat and trade, the combat side of it is pretty easy to avoid. FD really are trying to make this a 'play it your way' kind of game, within obvious constraints of course.
The game favours gameplay over realism in every aspect except the galaxy simulation. Once you get your head around that idea you'll understand much better why things are the way they are.
That said, a lot of us did argue that a docking computer should be installed as a standard component on new ships and that the advantage a player could get from it would be that they could sell it (increasing their available funds) and give more space for more necessary items. To me that would have made sense in game terms, would have given beginners a shallower learning curve but kept the mechanism of manual docking by giving people a reason to ditch it if/when they were able. However, that ship sailed.
With regards your other issues (combat) it's pretty easy to configure a ship for running away and, if you play in solo, you'll find that NPCs are pretty easy to run from. I played most of my way up to the bigger ships with no weapons and no shields. Once they introduced a much greater interdiction rate I did get minimal shields and never had a problem getting away with never a scratch to my hull.
Pretty much, yes. When I tried EvE, my response was "ugh, this is horrible and dull, all this click to move spreadsheet stuff, it's not Elite"- sort of the opposite way around. They're very different games. If you aren't busting to strap yourself into a pilot's seat, and take control, then this is the wrong game for you, I suspect. It's a bit like taking up DCS World and complaining that it's fiddly and has complex controls.
Elite has been around in some form since the mid 80s, so the influx of EvE players demanding it to be made into EvE seems a little.. presumptuous
It's not that I don't sympathise- I really do, having done the same in the other direction. However, the weight of gaming history means that you're unlikely to get your wish this time. I actually hope you don't, actually (sorry!), as it would no longer be a proper Elite game- which is all about seat of the pants flying and wheeler-dealing in a cold, uncaring universe.
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But this is pointedly NOT the case. Literally anyone can jump into the pilot's seat and go barreling into the Docking Bay. What is reasonable is the assumption that a certification, given only after having passed the behind-the-wheel driving test, would be the minimum requirement for even to request to dock at a multi-billion credit space station.
That said, I really liked jabokai's statement that it had been proposed that a Docking Computer would "come standard", to be used or not at the player's discretion. Get proficient on manual operations and you get a "rebate" by selling it off to make room for more cargo. Or for hopeless pilots (like me), just sticking with the "automatic transmission" instead of learning to use a "stick shift transmission".
It's a game. It's just silly to complain that it doesn't accord with your ideas about the future.
You have to dock yourself initially - it's a basic component of the game. If you're unwilling to learn some basic flight practices, you will literally be wasting your money.
Manual docking is not going away. Nor is plotting and piloting your course yourself.
Next!
You have to dock yourself initially - it's a basic component of the game. If you're unwilling to learn some basic flight practices, you will literally be wasting your money.
Manual docking is not going away. Nor is plotting and piloting your course yourself.
Next!
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OP should get one of the X series....run a cheat to get enough cash to buy a small fleet of ships.
Then you can get them to follow scripts, buying here selling here, running supply runs to and from your stations. You can even assign other ships to provide fighter escort. All with remote camera's.
You can play X as a management game and never actually have your own ship leave dock. Not so sure about all the exploration side of things in X though, non existent really....but the different systems do look mighty purdy.
Then you can get them to follow scripts, buying here selling here, running supply runs to and from your stations. You can even assign other ships to provide fighter escort. All with remote camera's.
You can play X as a management game and never actually have your own ship leave dock. Not so sure about all the exploration side of things in X though, non existent really....but the different systems do look mighty purdy.
Not true at all, apricot mapping service and many other mods provide randomized salvage and claims. While it may not be exploring space itself, its still very much that exploration feel. I second the X games for what OP is looking for. I cant think of much else that will let you sit in one place and build a space empire without ever undocking. There will be a major learning curve though. Its not a user friendly experience.