Newcomer / Intro Help: First Mission

[aioun]

So my very first mission, I managed to crash in the airlock, which resulted in a fine, then a bounty. There was no way I could find to pay the bounty and I kept getting shot down everytime I tried to complete the mission, so I restarted.

Now, I've managed to accept the mission, I've made it to the destination, I've managed to land and dock successfully, but I can't find the contact to get my 10K credit.

My mission was to go to Eravate, Sylvester City and deliver data. Once there I'm instructed to contact a representative of Future LHS 3447. I've spent over 3+ hours searching the navigation and contact panels. There is no one and no way to contact anyone. So I'm sitting at this station for hours with no way to complete the mission.

What do I do now?

This game is so frustrating on how it doesn't actually help you or tell you what you need to do other than ambiguous "contact this person" without telling you how.

 

[Ashnak]

You finish a mission the same way you (usually - don't know about the first mission) start it: on the mission board.

When you're docked, select "starport services" from the docking menu.
Then, select "mission board" (or something like that) on the left side in the window that comes up and basically takes up all of your forward view. You should then directly be in the "complete mission" dialogue screen. "Should", because with multiple active missions for the same destination it happened to me that I had to go through this cycle multiple times to get the completion screens for al of the missions.

 

[CMDR Mr. Boombastic]

I'm assuming you managed it by now, but just to add: when you select 'Mission Board' one of the factions/mission givers on the left panel there should be an exclamation mark next to the number of missions available. When you click the panel with the exclamation mark, then on the right panel there will be an option to complete your mission.

 

[Ankor Grammaten]

Concerning the problem with docking ... I am just a bit less "new" than the OP, and found docking to be the greatest obstacle to getting into the game. It requires a lot of fine control of your ship in three dimensions plus the ship's attitude that a new player doesn't have. Plus, the penalties for failure are ridiculously harsh.

The answer I found was to do the "docking" training mission over and over until I got the hang of it. Don't just do it until you succeed once, keep at it, try different methods. Eventually, it all gets a lot easier. Something they don't tell you is the use of the special version of the controls that become available when over the landing pad. You can set these to whatever you want to make the final positioning easier.

I could give a lot of tips about what I've found that helped me, but I imagine someone has done that already somewhere.

 

[aioun]

Thank you all for your answers. They helped and I finally got it figured out.
Ankor Grammaten: I did what you suggested with the docking training as well. I can usually get it about 80% of the time now, although it's clumsy and awkward.
I still have trouble maneuvering around to find the airlock on some stations and matching rotation just doesn't happen on entry. I know that's important with bigger ships, but I haven't been able to figure that out yet.
I'm sure there are lots of helpful tips elsewhere on the boards, but it's hard finding the really simple stuff for a newbie. A lot of Q/A assume you know certain things (like where to find the mission panel), which can be a challenge in and of itself to simply locate where anything is with all the different keys and sorting through menus with Q, W, S, etcc..
I would appreciate you replying with any helpful tips .... I'd REALLY appreciate it.

I bought this game thinking it looked cool with no idea what was involved. I tried playing with just keyboard, but that was impossible, so I bought a Thrustmaster, which makes things easier, but the learning curve on this game is ridiculous.
Thanks

 

[CMDR Mr. Boombastic]

You might want to look at the videos in this recent thread for some docking tips: My new Tutorial Series

 

[gds1972]

Docking in the game is not easy to start with but If I remember correctly if you keep your speed under 100 you will generally not get a fine for any collisions with the station or other ships.

 

[Chris Simon]

Thank you all for your answers. They helped and I finally got it figured out.
Ankor Grammaten: I did what you suggested with the docking training as well. I can usually get it about 80% of the time now, although it's clumsy and awkward.
I still have trouble maneuvering around to find the airlock on some stations and matching rotation just doesn't happen on entry. I know that's important with bigger ships, but I haven't been able to figure that out yet.
I'm sure there are lots of helpful tips elsewhere on the boards, but it's hard finding the really simple stuff for a newbie. A lot of Q/A assume you know certain things (like where to find the mission panel), which can be a challenge in and of itself to simply locate where anything is with all the different keys and sorting through menus with Q, W, S, etcc..
I would appreciate you replying with any helpful tips .... I'd REALLY appreciate it.

I bought this game thinking it looked cool with no idea what was involved. I tried playing with just keyboard, but that was impossible, so I bought a Thrustmaster, which makes things easier, but the learning curve on this game is ridiculous.
Thanks

Like the two commanders above me said, there are several video guides going on, right now, even here in newcomer's section.
Two quick points - Be sure to have all the lateral thrusters bound in comfortable places. You'll use them a lot during the whole game and it makes things much easier. When I play on the keyboard (if you play with KB/M, that is), I have the roll and yaw switched from the default bindings - yaw on the mouse and roll on A and D keys, "strafing" on Q and E and verticals on R and F. It may be just that you aren't familiar with all the controls, yet, but if it feels weird, don't be afraid to experiment. Otherwise docking becomes easy really soon.
Regarding finding the letter box on the Coriolis station (which is the one that gives you trouble, I believe):
1) The "Face" rotates always counter-clockwise, so when you stop and look at the thing, you will be able to imagine where the entrance is very easily.
2) When you target the station, then the hologram on the bottom left of your HUD has arrows on the walls, all pointing towards the entrance.

Fly safe! o7

 

[Kiwirat]

Also when you enter a station, as you go through the mail slot check your little radar (or whatever its called) to the left of your main radar screen. The white dot will point you to where your landing pad is. I have never ever used a docking computer and prefer to crash land my ship much the way I crash land an aeroplane on a (very short) runway.
Checkout my short youtube clip which shows a quite lucrative trade run, and on approaching destination will demonstrate locating the hologram arrows on the target station as Chris describes above plus the simple crash land technique.
This Bestii - LTT 8517 trade run still returns reasonably well btw...
https://youtu.be/GPUmxFrU2Ac

 

[Manticore]

This game is so frustrating on how it doesn't actually help you or tell you what you need to do other than ambiguous "contact this person" without telling you how.

Welcome the wonderful world of Elite Dangerous.

There is a learning curve and this game doesn't do any hand-holding.

As others have said there are plenty of helpful videos/tutorials.

With everything in this game practice makes perfect. Be prepared to put in the time and a bit of grind and you will find the rewards are limitless!

I have 1200+ hours in the game and I still find new stuff to do and ways to do it.

Get out there, fly safe, explore and enjoy!

See you out there!

 

[Conde]

"and matching rotation just doesn't happen on entry. I know that's important with bigger ships, but I haven't been able to figure that out yet."

Hi, ditto on the previous advice and if I read what you are saying accurately, it sounds like your Rotational Correction isn't switched on. Every ship has this available to keep you "steady" inside a Starport using maneuvering thrusters. Obviously it's not needed when landing on outposts or ground bases. You can bind it to a key, I use R for example. Select Options->Controls->Flight Miscellaneous->Rotational Correction and select toggle, otherwise you'd have to hold the button down all the time! Apart from when landing in a Starport, I usually switch it off as it increases the ship's noise level.

Although there is a body of opinion against using one, apart from power and taking up a slot, I would highly recommend you invest in a Docking Computer for now, even some hardcore Elite veterans will use one just because they want to relax a bit. There have been a few bugs tho with people reporting it crashed their ship and so on. And my ongoing bug which has been there before 2.1 is the DC stops working just after it lowers the landing gear (same with every ship I tried). The answer for me it to manually lower the gear BEFORE you slow down for auto dock.

"which can be a challenge in and of itself to simply locate where anything is with all the different keys and sorting through menus with Q, W, S, etcc.."

Try binding the up/down/left/right/select/back controls to the Joystick Hat switch and fire buttons 1 & 2 as well as keyboard. The joystick buttons can be doubled (or tripled) up without affecting you primary functions, which I assume is combat! So in my set up, the Hat does 3 jobs. Moving the view around in free look mode, moving selections in menus and using hat up and down to select sub-targets back and forth when in combat. Experiment to find the best combination that suits you. Hope the above helps!

 

[aioun]

Also when you enter a station, as you go through the mail slot check your little radar (or whatever its called) to the left of your main radar screen. The white dot will point you to where your landing pad is. I have never ever used a docking computer and prefer to crash land my ship much the way I crash land an aeroplane on a (very short) runway.
Checkout my short youtube clip which shows a quite lucrative trade run, and on approaching destination will demonstrate locating the hologram arrows on the target station as Chris describes above plus the simple crash land technique.
This Bestii - LTT 8517 trade run still returns reasonably well btw...
https://youtu.be/GPUmxFrU2Ac

Hey, that's a helpful video, thanks for sharing it. But how do you align yourself with the rotation of the station slot? Your approach almost perfectly matched the rotation of the station on the outside. I know FA helps once inside, but I'm always spinning and yawing around trying to match the rotation and half the time, just spin my way in.

 

[aioun]

I think I figured it out. I've got Flight Assist bound an on, which helps with landing inside a station, correct?
I've now located Rotational Correction in the options menu and it's not bound to anything. So I'm going to bind it, and go try it. That'll help me align with the slot on spinning stations, hopefully. I'll be back in 12 minutes if it doesn't work, which is shorter than the amount of time it takes for the Galaxy Map to load 8-0

 

[aioun]

Ok so figured out both flight assist and rotational correction. I was going to go buy a docking computer, but I'm actually kind of getting the hang of it now. I'm still awkward and it's not always pretty, but I haven't taken any hull damage or had any mishaps on the past 15 landings.

I still have millions of questions, but I'm making progress

 

[Kiwirat]

But how do you align yourself with the rotation of the station slot? Your approach almost perfectly matched the rotation of the station on the outside. I know FA helps once inside, but I'm always spinning and yawing around trying to match the rotation and half the time, just spin my way in.

I am always using flight assist. It also helps that I have a good joystick and just use gentle roll/yaw to counter the station rotation as I am approaching. Also took me a few crash n burns when I first started.. lol

 

[D.G.Cerberus]

I am always using flight assist. It also helps that I have a good joystick and just use gentle roll/yaw to counter the station rotation as I am approaching. Also took me a few crash n burns when I first started.. lol

^ This

You will find that this becomes natural and subconscious very quickly, but when lining up the mailslot, pick a spot that ISN'T moving - i.e. the centre of it and make that your approach vector. As you get nearer, flicker a glance at the toast rack...if you can see too much of it then correct by using Up/ Down thrusters or if you are in anything of medium pad or smaller size you can use pitch/ roll/ yaw to correct the alignment.

On final approach, use your peripheral vision to sense the rotation direction and speed. Using SMALL stick inputs, match that rotation whilst keeping your eye on the same non-moving spot in the centre, which if you are lined up correctly will very shortly turn into the red light at the back of the station.

Oh, and try and "keep to the Greens" - there is a right and a wrong side of the slot to enter, which makes no difference at all unless a T9 happens to be exiting at the time you are coming in!

I wouldn't go for a DC - I used to have them on all my ships through sheer laziness and also because doing smuggling runs with full speed mailslot punching, they are extremely effective at preventing you hitting the back wall of the station! lol
However, they were not infallible, certainly not to the tune of getting up for a cup of tea whilst it docks for you - many times returned to find a ship stuck in the toast rack, or in the station but not landing......
In 2.1 they were broken for a while which forced me to remove them from all the ships. Now I have all those slots back!

And as you get better at it and start taking those smuggling missions, you will be switching the DC off anyway (or rather not using it - it only works at zero throttle) so really, why bother! (Although I will say it used to be useful for outposts where it was occasionally a pain to vector round to your landing pad....)

Hope the above works for you anyway....

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Hi,
Just wanted to encourage you. The beginning is tough for everybody. In a short time, you'll be much more relaxed and landing easier.

I practised the tutorial till I could do ten straight successful landings. It took a while to get it all straight. When going to the slot, it should be tilted a little off horizontal like this \

That lets it turn to fit you as you go in.

You absolutely need Rotational Correction on all the time. Put all pips to shields when landing for safety till you master it.

Welcome to space. The Pilots Federation is glad to have you aboard.

 

[Codger]

Welcome to the game.

Yes, it is very hard getting started. And it kinda stays hard, as you go along, too. Not so much the docking or flying, but there are a lot of challenging things to do in the game.

It's a very addictive game once you start to get the hang of it. So many cool ships to own and fly (eventually ). I started back in April, and ED has become a sort of obsession for me. It's a very unique game.

I'm sure you'll get the hang of things soon enough!

Always feel free to ask questions here.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

I can dock my ships just fine, but I do not like docking at the round(ish) stations you'll hear me refer to as "Space Balls". It took me forever to figure out how to tell which side I was facing, and where the "mail slot" was on these things, so I spent the 4500 Credits and bought a Docking Computer. I've never been happier with such a simple module. Aside from putting an end to playing "which way is this thing spinning", I never have to worry about playing Find-the-pad or worse, finding the wrong pad and getting fined. And the 2001 homage makes me laugh every time.

So if you find docking hard, tedious, or bothersome, invest in your ship, add the Docking Computer and enjoy!

 

[Chris Simon]

I can dock my ships just fine, but I do not like docking at the round(ish) stations you'll hear me refer to as "Space Balls". It took me forever to figure out how to tell which side I was facing, and where the "mail slot" was on these things, so I spent the 4500 Credits and bought a Docking Computer. I've never been happier with such a simple module. Aside from putting an end to playing "which way is this thing spinning", I never have to worry about playing Find-the-pad or worse, finding the wrong pad and getting fined. And the 2001 homage makes me laugh every time.

So if you find docking hard, tedious, or bothersome, invest in your ship, add the Docking Computer and enjoy!

The Station's target hologram has ARROWS pointing to the entrance.

Plus if you approach the station from between the planet and the station, you will always arrive in front of the mail slot (or within 45 degrees)