Newcomer / Intro Hello from the new guy and a few questions

[MAD-3R_Marauder]

Hi there, new guy (but an old-timer from the days of the original Elite) here. Pre-ordered the game a few days before launch and have been playing since launch day and having a lot of fun.

Docking turned out not to be all that difficult (boy am I _glad_ it isn´t as hard as in the original! ).
The flight model is kind of strange with the limited yaw, but well, I´m getting used to it (roll _will_ stay on the pedals though. I´m not gonna switch between control set-ups between Star Citizen and Elite).

Of course, there are a few questions.

1. On the bulletin board, there are trade missions where they want me to fetch some stuff for them. Now, that wouldn´t be bad in itself (and they often pay quite well) if I would know where to get the stuff.
I´m probably just too stupid to find it, but isn´t there kind of a database of the stations I have already visited and what is for sale on those in my ship´s computers?

2. Delivery missions. They usually don´t pay that well, but when I am on my way to that system anyway, I usually take them.
Problem here is, sometimes the stations I have to make the delivery to are _way_ out in the boondocks (like 100k Ls far out in one case).
Now, I have looked at the orbital times on the Glactic map --> System Display for guestimates, but wouldn´t it be possible to just, you know, tell us how far the planets are from their sun? Surely those are not state secrets.

3. Exploration doesn´t seem to pay all that well (at least with the basic scanner, can´t afford a surface scanner yet). I hit one system that payed some 11k, two or three which payed a couple of k and the remaining 50 to 80 payed about 600 each.
Given the time it took to survey those systems, I could have easily made twice or three times as much with trading.
Not complaining, if that´s the way it is then that´s the way it is, just wondering if I am missing something.

Any hints will be appreciated!

See you in space.

 

[InfiniteGremlins]

1. On the bulletin board, there are trade missions where they want me to fetch some stuff for them. Now, that wouldn´t be bad in itself (and they often pay quite well) if I would know where to get the stuff.
I´m probably just too stupid to find it, but isn´t there kind of a database of the stations I have already visited and what is for sale on those in my ship´s computers?

Sort of. If you have the system data, you can open the System View for that system and check what each station exports, though it'll only tell you the major exports.

What I do is become familiar with what the various types of systems import and export (Fruits are usually exported from agricultural systems, Food Cartridges from Industrial one, Non-lethal weapons from high-tech systems, and so on) and then only go to check out those.

2. Delivery missions. They usually don´t pay that well, but when I am on my way to that system anyway, I usually take them.
Problem here is, sometimes the stations I have to make the delivery to are _way_ out in the boondocks (like 100k Ls far out in one case).
Now, I have looked at the orbital times on the Glactic map --> System Display for guestimates, but wouldn´t it be possible to just, you know, tell us how far the planets are from their sun? Surely those are not state secrets.

Alas, that is something of an issue, especially if you're out in the edges of human space, like all of the refinery systems near LHS 3447. Usually the stations 100,000 light seconds out are actually orbiting around a distant third or fourth star in the system.

3. Exploration doesn´t seem to pay all that well (at least with the basic scanner, can´t afford a surface scanner yet). I hit one system that payed some 11k, two or three which payed a couple of k and the remaining 50 to 80 payed about 600 each.
Given the time it took to survey those systems, I could have easily made twice or three times as much with trading.
Not complaining, if that´s the way it is then that´s the way it is, just wondering if I am missing something.

Any hints will be appreciated!

See you in space.

What I do is use exploration as a supplement to my trading. When I'm on my way to a distant system, I'll often pass through several unexplored systems. Just doing a basic ping gets me 200-500 per system; if I take a few minutes to close-scan just the more interesting planets I can get 2000-3000 per system. Surveying an entire system takes time, but you can often get most of the cash just by scanning the earth-like or high-resource planets and skipping the rest.

Keep in mind that the Basic Discovery Scanner only shows things within 500 ls; lots of system have gas giants with a half-dozen moons a couple thousand lightseconds out that are fairly easy to spot as the bright lights that move against the background stars.

 

[MAD-3R_Marauder]

Sort of. If you have the system data, you can open the System View for that system and check what each station exports, though it'll only tell you the major exports.

What I do is become familiar with what the various types of systems import and export (Fruits are usually exported from agricultural systems, Food Cartridges from Industrial one, Non-lethal weapons from high-tech systems, and so on) and then only go to check out those.

First, thanks for the reply, really appreciate it.

Second, so I am not missing something with regards to the commodity market (I have seen the base "types" and can make an educated guess on what is bought and sold) and my computer does _not_ record what is sold in a station I visit.
Um, ok, I guess I will have a word with the guy programming my ship´s computer then.
On a serious note: Drawing dungeon maps with pen and paper (in a computer game, nothing wrong with pen and paper in a, well, pen and paper RPG) got out of fashion ages ago, I didn´t expect to be kinda forced back to it in a game from 2014.

Alas, that is something of an issue, especially if you're out in the edges of human space, like all of the refinery systems near LHS 3447. Usually the stations 100,000 light seconds out are actually orbiting around a distant third or fourth star in the system.

Yeah, I noticed that. After a few bad experiences, if the companion star has orbital times of tens of thousands of days, I avoid them . Still, it seems such an easy thing to implement. Just add a line into the description of the planets in the systems view - or even better, add this info to the mission description. They tell me how many light years away the system is, why not add how far from the system´s primary the station is?

What I do is use exploration as a supplement to my trading. When I'm on my way to a distant system, I'll often pass through several unexplored systems. Just doing a basic ping gets me 200-500 per system; if I take a few minutes to close-scan just the more interesting planets I can get 2000-3000 per system. Surveying an entire system takes time, but you can often get most of the cash just by scanning the earth-like or high-resource planets and skipping the rest.

Keep in mind that the Basic Discovery Scanner only shows things within 500 ls; lots of system have gas giants with a half-dozen moons a couple thousand lightseconds out that are fairly easy to spot as the bright lights that move against the background stars.

Darn, searching for planets outside the scanner´s range never occurred to me. Of course, that would take even more time. Hm, have to think about it. At first glance, exploring on it´s own doesn't seem to be quite that high on the list of "how to make a lot of money". Still, I´m not playing to make the most money in the shortest time possible, but to have fun and I _do_ have fun exploring, so I´ll keep doing it - even if the pay is kinda disappointing.

 

[mrinku]

The best bet is to run delivery missions and explore until you have a feel for what's at each station. Not all types have the same goods - one Agricultural world might have grain and animal meat, while another may have fish and coffee.

Sometimes you can find delivery missions for commodities that are sold in that station (this is most common with philanthropy ones which are basically for buying standings).

Sidewinders are very cheap to run, so you really don't need to make much while learning the game.

 

[DaveB]

2. Delivery missions. They usually don´t pay that well, but when I am on my way to that system anyway, I usually take them.
Problem here is, sometimes the stations I have to make the delivery to are _way_ out in the boondocks (like 100k Ls far out in one case).
Now, I have looked at the orbital times on the Glactic map --> System Display for guestimates, but wouldn´t it be possible to just, you know, tell us how far the planets are from their sun? Surely those are not state secrets.

The system data DOES tell you how far a body is from whatever it is orbiting. Station orbits planet which orbits star. You will be arriving at star. Check out the semi-major axis of the planets orbit, it's 3.2 AU. 1AU=499ls, so the planet the station orbits is just under 1600ls from where you will be jumping in. You can do the same if the station is orbiting a moon or a satellite-of-a-satellite, you just trace back until you find the object orbiting the primary star and check that out. If the station is orbiting a secondary star it's a little more complex but still doable.

 

[MAD-3R_Marauder]

Oh, the Sidewinder didn´t stay with me for long

Sold it after a few missions along with my mercenary Eagle for a Hauler, made some cash and sold the Hauler for an Adder.
Now working on making enough money for either a Cobra or enhanced scanners (boy, that surface scanner is _expensive_!) haven´t made up my mind on that.

Oh, another questions:
I guess we don´t have a place to store modules we don´t currently use?
As in, say I get a Cobra and want to switch back and forth between trading, exploring and combat.
From what I have seen, I have to sell and re-buy the modules I need for the different missions all the time or go with several complete ships, each fitted for one of the different missions?

Kinda defeats the purpose of a versatile ship like the Cobra, doesn´t it?

 

[MAD-3R_Marauder]

The system data DOES tell you how far a body is from whatever it is orbiting. Station orbits planet which orbits star. You will be arriving at star. Check out the semi-major axis of the planets orbit, it's 3.2 AU. 1AU=499ls, so the planet the station orbits is just under 1600ls from where you will be jumping in. You can do the same if the station is orbiting a moon or a satellite-of-a-satellite, you just trace back until you find the object orbiting the primary star and check that out. If the station is orbiting a secondary star it's a little more complex but still doable.

Ok, I´m now officially stupid!
Completely overlooked that line.