In all my time playing Elite, I never knew about this...

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CMDR relayer got it right. SLOW DOWN should be read as SLOWING DOWN.
edit: selecting USS will slow You down also.

Ah! Didn't know that about a USS slowdown! Really, these things should be made clearer for new players or experienced ones that don't know this, as I see the "slow down when you see SLOW DOWN" get repeated enough times that it bugs me.

The message should really read "gravity well" or, as you suggest, "Slowing Down" or "drag" or something. Of course, my autopilot should know to throttle back to 75% at the 6ls mark too, but that ain't happening :/
 
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Tip: in normal space You can use landing gears as air breaks during speeding - landing, entering stations, combat, scooping, minning... Saved my asp and time many times.
 
On approach to a space station , once you have slowed down using the 6-7 second method , once you reach 6Mm from the station you can go back to 100% throttle and disengage safely at 1Mm. Just if you really need to get there quick !
 
I actually remember this mechanism from previous games. It was different (time buttons/sliders) but same principle. I binded F5->F8 to 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% so I always hit F7 when 6-7sec off the station.

Also what poster above said, when really near the supercruise exit you can punch to 100% and then press total stop. Ship will go fast and under 6sec but you have plenty of time to exit properly. It maybe needs some getting used to but it is easy to do.
 
Hmmm I've posted this before...

SLOW DOWN is not a command; it is a status reading. It means that you are brushing a gravity well and are being slowed down. You can check this yourself by flying towards a target in the same plane as other bodies in the system. Often, you will see SLOW DOWN even though you are hundreds of ls from your target - thus, SLOW DOWN can't be a command/suggestion relative to your target.

I know this from a lot of experimentation, because as a noob I took it as a command/autopilot suggestion. I'd slow down, and the message would go away, yet I'd get it again once I sped up, still ls short of my target. In other words, I'd be having a Zeno's Paradox problem, in that I'd never get to my destination because I kept on "slowing down." It drove me crazy until I started experimenting with it.

Finally, I found the 6-second rule, and that does work. OR - turn on Orbit Lines (panel 3, FUNCTIONS, Orbit Lines) and see if you're intersecting an orbit. Chances are that you are.

All I can say is, try it yourself. Make some experiments. The amount of times I see this here is convincing me I have to make a video of it (I have ShadowPlay but never used it).

Agreed, BUT..."SLOW DOWN" is just too ambiguous. And with the ALL CAPS, in RED, in the middle of the screen is way melodramatic...it implies DANGER, in every language known to humans.

I think that maybe "grav" in lowercase and a slightly smaller font, in a cool blue (default) colour, would be more appropriate.

[BOLD, RED, UNDERLINED, ITALIC] IN MY HUMBLE OPINION [/BOLD, RED, UNDERLINED, ITALIC]

(Refer avatar for the only appropriate emoji I can think of here)

Clicker
 
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I always wondered: Does a gravity well decelerate you faster than setting the thottle to zero? I had the impression that the mass effect caps your top speed but decelerates you normally and that while you are longer on full throttle it doesn't really affect your travel time.
 
I always wondered: Does a gravity well decelerate you faster than setting the thottle to zero? I had the impression that the mass effect caps your top speed but decelerates you normally and that while you are longer on full throttle it doesn't really affect your travel time.

Yes. Absolutely. It's worth watching furrycat's excellent video again ...

[video=youtube_share;gy4zca1yjKw]https://youtu.be/gy4zca1yjKw[/video]
 
I use to use a preset key for 75% speed and then a button on my throttle (X52 Pro). But then they stopped working. I submitted a ticket and it was suggested to rename the control to something else so it would reset and I could reassign my keys. Thing is it did not work. So yes, I keep it in the blue and do it all manually. But when it did work it was great.

Chief
 
I actually remember this mechanism from previous games. It was different (time buttons/sliders) but same principle. I binded F5->F8 to 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% so I always hit F7 when 6-7sec off the station.

Also what poster above said, when really near the supercruise exit you can punch to 100% and then press total stop. Ship will go fast and under 6sec but you have plenty of time to exit properly. It maybe needs some getting used to but it is easy to do.

Just to add ... 'when really near the supercruise exit' means that when the speed indicator 'needle' (bottom/left) goes into the blue zone you can go to full throttle ... just watch for the 'SAFE TO DISENGAGE' as it can be pretty quick!
 
I live by the mantra 'only a fool breaks the six second rule'

I regularly break the six second rule when I'm racing another commander to the station. I drop down to 5 seconds and speed past my competitor and then use gravity braking to slow down enough to drop out of supercruise. It takes some skill to fly close enough to the planet to slow down but not too much. It also takes skill to not drop to 4 seconds unless you can pass two gravity wells on the way to the station.
 
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