I hate supercruise

[DocLooshkin]

Started in December, it's now late March and this thread is 31 pages long and still going. I take it as read that there'll be other threads airing much the same grievances. They have a point, particularly the OP here, who shouldn't have been started somewhere so out of the way (if memory serves, didn't they fix this one? I'm sure I read something in the patch notes, at some point).

Now, I love this game and I like the supercruise mechanism. I like the feeling of a vast, magnificent universe. I think the phrase "frame-shift drive" is one of the most beautifully-cheeky pieces of technobabble since the Heisenberg compensator. I like flying my lump of virtual tin around in big, graceful arcs, trying to find the most aesthetically-pleasing curve to reach a space-station.

But there are times when it is too much. Last night, I wandered across a solar system - Bob, I think it was? - and the far side of it was over a million light-seconds away. I had to scan it, just because it was so stupidly far away, so I went and made myself a small meal while I was waiting. After eating it and falling asleep for a quarter of an hour (I'm old, now - I get tired), I woke up to find my ship was still ten minutes away.

It's only my opinion, but a gameplay mechanic that wastes such an outrageous amount of time is one in need of at least a little reconsideration. Better acceleration and deceleration would be a good thing, it seems to me. I have yet to hear any real case at all for the status quo, other than people quoting Douglas Adams. Space may be big (really big), but that doesn't mean Elite: Dangerous should be a game where my single greatest challenge is not falling asleep while I'm playing it.

 

[Deyn]

Much the same as when you fly through a prominence while fuel scooping or get hit by a highly energetic laser weapon - Not a lot unless you choose to stay there for a while.

If you can sit in a ship under 1 ls from a star with just the canopy glass and your shields as protection then the shields must be blocking a lot of radiation to prevent you getting a terminal sun-tan. It's not some super future wonder-glass in the canopy because I've been that close to a sun with a broken canopy and was not vapourised.

Regular dangerous encounters when exploring would (unless they rethink the auto-repair to work on everything and not need "ammunition") render long distance (10,000ly+) exploration almost impossible.

I thought more around the lines of interference with your scanners, shields degrading when rushing through a ionic discharge with supercruise speed or maybe even certain electronic components taking small damage, let's say not enough to kill you, but so you may need to use the new reboot feature.
As well, as the concept of space anomalies should not just be a random punishment for eager traders or explorers, but give you a little something to consider when planning a route to your destination.

Of course it should be possible to avoid this and if not, it shouldn't kill you...nor damage beyond an onboard repair.

 

[Deyn]

a lot of people seem to think that supercruise is a simple travel mechanic which it actually is not. it's much more than that. actually, i would consider the hyperspace jump a travel mechanic. supercruise is more like a core mechanic. a lot of stuff happens in supercruise. exploration, signal sources and interdictions. these are all core mechanics that just wouldn't work without supercruise.

sure, it can be tweaked but that is true for everything. anything and everything could be tweaked. but it doesn't have to. it works totally fine. potential changes are only based on subjective opinions.

speaking of them... here are my opinions: i don't like that supercruise acts dynamic all the time. your speed is always just relative to your destination and to stellar objects that are in your vicinity. you don't have actual absolute control over the speed. it gets adjusted automatically, all the time, except you've reached the minimum speed. i would like to have more direct control over the speed. even if it requires different "stages". for example: stage1: 0 - 1c, stage2: 1c-100c etc... you get the idea. so, when i'm in stage 2 and my throttle at 50%, i fly at a speed of 50c. simple as that. i don't like the automatic adjustments, because often it feels like it's random. it's not random but having no direct control over your speed makes it feel like it is.

another minor thing is the acceleration and deceleration rate that are too slow. i've recently started to use the frameshift interdictor and when you're near a planet and want to interdict a ship that's maybe 50ls away from you, it's basically impossible for you to reach it, because your acceleration is so slow.

Whole heartedly agreed! Even if they would give us fine and direct control until 50% throttle and after that logarythmic control to set a desired target speed, it would be better. Yet again, simply look at I-war... when you pinch the idea of LDS drive for Frame-shift-drive, why not pinch the already working and well received mechanics?

 

[dayrth]

I'm sure if all the thargs were killed you popped back into normal space? No?

No, but you could target another system and jump to it from witchspace. If you had enough fuel that is. If not you were stuck. (Original elite BBC B 1984).

 

[Midnight_Wyvern]

Get the ETA counter to reach 0:07 and then manage your throttle to hold it there. You'll never overshoot.

 

[Tonkinn]

Get the ETA counter to reach 0:07 and then manage your throttle to hold it there. You'll never overshoot.

Easy way to do that is set a key for 75% speed and HIT it once counter is 0.07.

I've done this since december 20 2014.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Its the only reason why i dont play Elite. I dont want to spend 90% of my playing time supercruising and concentrating on the throttle (thats for trading, havent
had a chance to try anything besides that, as without money its hard to get into fighting).

Thats it. Im not complaining, no one forces me to play Elite. Just leaving my 5 cents here.

Easy solution, set a key for 100% speed and one for 75% speed.

Hit 75% speed once ETA is 0.07 and it will decelerate and give you an ETA of 0.06 all the way to the station or nav point or USS.

I started doing this december last year.

 

[zzzornbringer]

Easy solution, set a key for 100% speed and one for 75% speed.

Hit 75% speed once ETA is 0.07 and it will decelerate and give you an ETA of 0.06 all the way to the station or nav point or USS.

I started doing this december last year.

and you haven't evolved this technique? i don't remember how long it took me but after a while i tried different approaches. i ended with using the planet's gravitation to drastically slow me down. til ~150ls, i use full throttle then keep it at the top corner of the blue region and try not to collide with the planet. you also have to change your entry vector so that you get between the planet and the station, so that you can exit supercruise with the station's entrance pointing at you. with this method, i don't even look at the ETA anymore. only distance and speed are relevant. the ETA is just a dynamic calculation based on those two factors. it doesn't help you though.

just simply flying statically, straight from the star and hit a certain speed at a certain distance is not efficient or fast, nor is it fun. the game isn't static. planets move around and stations move around the planet. so, you really should at least align yourself so that you exit supercruise between the planet and the station.

 

[SquidgyB]

and you haven't evolved this technique? i don't remember how long it took me but after a while i tried different approaches. i ended with using the planet's gravitation to drastically slow me down. til ~150ls, i use full throttle then keep it at the top corner of the blue region and try not to collide with the planet. you also have to change your entry vector so that you get between the planet and the station, so that you can exit supercruise with the station's entrance pointing at you. with this method, i don't even look at the ETA anymore. only distance and speed are relevant. the ETA is just a dynamic calculation based on those two factors. it doesn't help you though.

just simply flying statically, straight from the star and hit a certain speed at a certain distance is not efficient or fast, nor is it fun. the game isn't static. planets move around and stations move around the planet. so, you really should at least align yourself so that you exit supercruise between the planet and the station.

Lol, this is going to sound seriously pretentious but...

...I sometimes find myself absent mindedly ignoring the eta and end up flying in "by feel"... I think it's down to the rotational damping that's directly correlated to your current rate of deceleration or possibly more correctly the optimal rate of deceleration. You can kind of tell when you're "out of the pipe" and have to loop around to bleed off some speed, or cut past a planet to slow down just by how your ship handles in SC.

 

[Tonkinn]

and you haven't evolved this technique?

I always fly in a arc, to avoid too much interdiction when flying a pure cargo ship like my T7 and I also usually try to get between the planet and the station for faster docking.

 

[EdzUp]

As a cmdr that can use Supercruise I still prefer the old Elite Jumpdrive, as a coder myself I'm adding a jumpdrive to my game and its bloody fun whizzing around the star system

Getting mass locked when you get to close is also a good encounter system.

 

[tdshooter]

Or you could just stop being a noob

 

[ScottGust]

NO Sir....you are simply wrong.

 

[wash out]

Bind the 75% speed to a key and push it when you are 8-9 seconds from your destination works every time