Newcomer / Intro Exploration Questions....Semi Noob

Bugman_oO

Bugman_oO
So I bought this game about a month ago, really enjoying it. Got myself a Cobra, upgraded somewhat, and a few hundred thousand credits. I've shot many a bad-guy, a couple of good guys, and started ranking up my Federation rank.

I'm still trying to get my head around the scale of this game - I heard/read somewhere that there are around 400 billion systems?!

Recently I've been exploring a lot, got myself a detailed surface scanner and have made a few quid from scanning planets and stars etc.

I really want to get out into the far reaches of the galaxy, but have a few questions before I do:

1) What is the best way to plot a course for a random far off point to get to?

2) At what point are there no longer any stations to dock at?

3) Are there NPCs or players only up to a certain distance?

4) Is it possible to become totally stranded? As in, no stars or systems in range to jump to, like a dead end?

5) Should I choose fastest routes or economical routes?

6) Are there any space penguins?

Any other tips would be appreciated, i'm planning to make this my weekend.

Thanks in advance..
 

Feldspar

Feldspar
1) You can only plot a maximum of 1000 LY, so pick your direction, zoom out a bit and then scroll over that way until you find a system just shy of 1000 LY away and plot a route there (make a note of the system's name because you might log out before getting there). If you are looking at somewhere further than that you will have to plot your journey in stages.

2) If you switch your map to show allegiance and then scroll out you will see the boundaries of human space. Stations thin out and then stop altogether.

3) You only get NPCs up to something like 400-500 LY, but they will decrease the closer you get to the limit.

4) Yes, if you use the last of your fuel to get to an unscoopable star (you can only scoop on F,O,G,K,B,A and M stars), otherwise you will always be able to jump back to where you just came from.

5) Depends if you want to get somewhere or just dawdle about. Plotting an economical route can get you past a region of unscoopable stars, my ranges are about 150 LY fastest and somewhere over 600 LY economical depending on star density.

6) Space crocodiles ate all the space penguins.
 

willowfan

willowfan
1. What I do is pick one of the named parts of the map eg POLARIS or ELEPHANT'S TRUNK NEBULA and head more or less in that direction. No set route.

2. About 300 ly from the centre of populated space.

3. Yes, up to about 400ly from point 2.

4. Yes.

5. Depends. Do you want to get there quickly (fastest) or not? Obvious really. I actually don't plot a route at all and take it system by system.

6. Yes, and they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.
 

Bugman_oO

Bugman_oO
Thanks..

One more question - I understand that 'Earth like' planets are the most valuable in terms of universal cartographics, how rare are these? And once scanned, does it literally say 'Earth like planet', or does it have some other designation?
 

cmdr lowest

C
I've been exploring for about a week now, couple of hours per night and I've just found my first Earth-like (undiscovered too!). They are quite rare indeed.

Nice little system it was. Had a bunch of high metal planets, 3 water worlds and 2 gas giants with water-based life. I think I'm heading back home at the weekend and see how much of a return I get for a week's worth of exploring...

To answer your initial questions:

1) What is the best way to plot a course for a random far off point to get to?

Zoom out of the galaxy map and click something far away at random is how I do it. I always choose fastest route for the biggest jumps so I get further away.

2) At what point are there no longer any stations to dock at?

Go to the galaxy map and zoom out. You'll see a small bubble which is 'populated' space. Outside of that it's lonely although you still get interdicted (I found) for a couple of hundred lights years outside of that. After that you never see a living soul...

3) Are there NPCs or players only up to a certain distance?

As above - once you get about 800-ish LY you never see anyone.

4) Is it possible to become totally stranded? As in, no stars or systems in range to jump to, like a dead end?

Yes. If you travel far enough there may be some jumps you can't reach. That's also dependent on what ship you have and what the jump range of the FSD you have fitted. And also how heavy your ship is etc. You can also run out of fuel if you are not careful. When things are looking tight for fuel, filter the galaxy map by star type to make sure your next jump is a scoopable star.

5) Should I choose fastest routes or economical routes?

How fast do you want to get away from populated space?

6) Are there any space penguins?

Do you mean the futuristic chocolate biscuits? I think they've been outlawed.

My top advice. Buy the biggest (highest class possible), most expensive fuel scoop you can. Essential piece of kit for exploring.
 

graham.reeds

G
What I do is orient my ship so the target is just visible on my left (usually a nebula). Cycle through the stars in the jump list and pick the one that is closest to the target. You get about 15ly jumps. Not 5ly like eco does and not tank draining 30ly jumps like fastest does.
 

Zenith

Zenith
Bugman_oO said:
Any other tips would be appreciated, i'm planning to make this my weekend.

Thanks in advance..
Click to expand...

These are the things you need at the very least to consider deep space exploration:
A class FSD
Fuel scoop (bigger is better)
Advanced Discovery Scanner
Detailed Surface Scanner
D class for all the other modules to save on weight.

Optional heatsink launcher if you like.
I'd recommend a loadout like this for an exploration Cobra (25 ly range)...
http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=602,5QG5QGmpU0Wg,2-6u6u6Q5K5K5K6k,4-E0MM7Q40JE2jw2UI

I won't deny that it's expensive, and over 60% of it comes from the FSD and scanners alone.

cmdr lowest said:
I've been exploring for about a week now, couple of hours per night and I've just found my first Earth-like (undiscovered too!). They are quite rare indeed.
Nice little system it was. Had a bunch of high metal planets, 3 water worlds and 2 gas giants with water-based life. I think I'm heading back home at the weekend and see how much of a return I get for a week's worth of exploring...
Click to expand...
That system should be a nice cha-ching for you when you get back home!
 

Hudsonn

Hudsonn
Being a deep space explorer is my long term goal at the moment. Trading my way to an Asp. I am planning a trip in my hauler first....sometimes Elite can be a harsh learning experience no matter now much advice you get, something always bites you in the . I suppose as long as you've got the insurance covered you're good to go, but losing data would be the sting in the tail.
 

Pyrion

Pyrion
One ship that's often under estimated as an explorer vessel is the T6. Has anything you need and a nice jump range.
Here is my build for a prospector type T6 (going into the unknown and bringing back mineral samples):

http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=60W,H7ympT0Wg0Wg,2-5K6u6Q3m5K3m6k,50U08c0bg0M27Q42UI2jw

If you skip the mineral part or use a less expensive refinery and scoop you can bring the costs down considerably. Just shy of 29 LY jump range, makes a nice exploration vessel.
The idea would be looking for that new mineral, painite, out in the dark, since nobody seems to have found it yet.
 

Dommarraa

Dommarraa
I thought Painite was available rarely as a USS, or as cargo on one of the new "Rare Convoys" (A T9 winging with a couple of hard Condas)
 

Whiterose

Whiterose
Bugman_oO said:
Thanks..

One more question - I understand that 'Earth like' planets are the most valuable in terms of universal cartographics, how rare are these? And once scanned, does it literally say 'Earth like planet', or does it have some other designation?
Click to expand...

very rare, about 1:400-500 systems scanned, and it should say "Earth like World"
 

Dirkki

Dirkki
I've managed to explore in my Cobra with D class FSD giving me a range of about 20ly. So you can do it with less than optimal settings if you want to get out there immediately.

I'm about 1000ly from Sol and I'm finding unexplored systems everywhere. Some are however first discovered by someone else, but they haven't bothered to scan the planets.
 
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