Explorer's log.
I've taken on a small, two day trip into the black. After painstakingly shooting every bad NPC I could find in Extraction sites and assassination missions, I gathered enough creds to buy an Asp. That's the ship I wanted, not the Cobra. I then proceeded to equip my Asp only to run out of credits so I shot some more NPCs.
The A grade FSD would give me a 36ly range however it would also cost about as much as the ship so I went with a B grade for my first trip out. Nutter's explorers guide was my go-to place and I've read over it repeatedly.
Themesong for the run: Pulsar, thanks to kamenjar's thread
Finally, I had my ship, I had my equipment and was ready to go. I wanted to see space, I wanted to see the stars, the wonders of the universe. But where?! "Space is big. Really big." Being in the middle of fed space doesn't help either. Good thing I was familiar with a few star names so I decided to go core-ward, via Aldebaran.
So here it is, my first official exploration run.
And then I actually had to plan where to go so I opened the galaxy map and turned the settings to show realistic stars. This way, I could get a sense of what interesting things might be out there. Either because I'm slightly colourblind or because of my own preferences, blue stars started standing out so I checked out a few of them on the galaxy map to see if any show promise. Some did, some did even more.
I made a short list of what I'd like to visit and plotted a general route. Some stars were a bit far away but they'll be prime candidates for a future run. I really want to see Betelgeuse up close.
Apparently I'm not the only one fuel scooping from this star.
More fuel scooping with a great view out the window in BRSO 14.
Biggest O star I've seen in HIP 97394 sitting at 117 solar masses.
One of the most interesting systems I've seen is HR 7129. Heh, human resources... Anyway, this system is comprised of quite a few brown dwarves with rings and gas giants orbiting them. And one lonely planet being cooked by the main star.
Oh, look. A friendly Clipper lining up behind me. Maybe I dropped something and he's returning it.
Nope, apparently he wanted me to "Die, wretch!". Now, I'm generally keep on helping others but I unfortunately can't do what he asks so I SC away and finish scanning the system. I jump to the next waypoint just in time to see a friendly Eagle line up behind me! Fortunately the Eagle had other plans as he dropped out of SC near a star. He must have had marshmallows.
My first neutron star, finally!
Moar fuel scooping. Unfortunately I failed to predict an emergency drop since I was too close so lost another 2% hull.
Sidewinder interdictions are hard to get out of. Also, having no upgraded shields, no guns and apparently no way to boost, it make the situation a bit hairy. I found it best to just submit and then steer towards him until your friendship drive is back up. Lower cooldown and no damage to hull if you do.
Next stop, that little white dot up ahead.
Which is, in fact, a massive star of a blue-ish colour with a nice surprise.
After nothing bad happened on my previous run in with a neutron star, I wanted to get a closer look. I mean, look at all the other pretty, huge stars I've seen.
Nope, nope! Run away! Apparently, getting closer than 0.2ls will start to cook you. I did not realise that as I was looking out the window at the time. That tiny white speck will remain just that, a tiny, white, super hot speck.
I'm starting to think other ships would have made just as good an explorer as the Asp. Sidewinders, for instance seem to be quite common. Like this friendly guy lining up behind me. Sontar ha! SONTAR HA!
I managed to get interdicted and lost some more hull. And there's no sound quite like hearing a canopy cracking when you're several hundred lightyears from something to refresh your O[SUB]2[/SUB] supply.
I'm approaching what I decided would be my midway point. After this double system, I would start heading for civilization. On the galaxy map, these two systems look amazing. They also have proper names so that has to count for something.
So, main stars and planets are scanned down. Time to make my way to the two brown dwarv... hell no!
And then it was time to visit the system. From the galaxy map, I was told there would be not one, not two but three black holes in system so I was sort of excited. I was also quite terrified at what could be waiting for me. I knew I was quite close to a canopy failure and I've seen all the black hole movies and clips. One one hand, I hoped to find a feeding one, accretion disc and jets bursting. I wanted to see it distort space around it, I wanted to jump in and immediately get an escape vector or another state of emergency. And I was terrified of that.
I was greeted by this giant blue star and nothing else. Everything seemed a big quiet. In the back of my mind I was half expecting my ship to start gaining speed towards a point in empty space.
But it didn't happen. I fired up the scanner and discovered the system. (kinda silly to 'discover' the system at the click of a button but it sure makes life easier in cases like the system before this). I I then look at the system map to see what to expect, only to be greeted by this:
My god, it's full of stars! So I go about my happy-scanny ways, glad I didn't have to get too close to any of them to scan and forgetting for a second that there are three monsters out there. But soon enough, I have to go meet them and as I turn my ship towards the undiscovered objects in the distance, an eerie light floods my cockpit. That little feeling of dread in the back of my mind returns.
I take one last look out the window at the beautiful system I explored so far.
The trip will be long so I get up and stretch my legs.
The two partner black holes are orbiting extremely close to each other. The gravitational waves they generate must be something to behold. The other is a bit further away. It's unsettling as I get closer and closer and my scanner doesn't want to activate so I'm forced to keep going. It finally comes to life a few tenths of a ls away to confirm what I already knew. And yet... there was nothing there. I looked against the backdrop of the milky way for any signs that there was something there, a point of darkness, a stretched texture but nothing. In a way, I was disappointed but at the same time, I felt a chill going up my spine. Without any of the ship's equipment telling me to stop, warning me of impacts and proximity and impeding roasting, how close would one get before realizing it was too late?
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(part 2 will follow shortly due to image limitations)
I've taken on a small, two day trip into the black. After painstakingly shooting every bad NPC I could find in Extraction sites and assassination missions, I gathered enough creds to buy an Asp. That's the ship I wanted, not the Cobra. I then proceeded to equip my Asp only to run out of credits so I shot some more NPCs.
The A grade FSD would give me a 36ly range however it would also cost about as much as the ship so I went with a B grade for my first trip out. Nutter's explorers guide was my go-to place and I've read over it repeatedly.
Themesong for the run: Pulsar, thanks to kamenjar's thread
Yes, I did keep playing it over and over on long SCs. Made time pass quicker.
[video=youtube;ZS695yIbfbE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS695yIbfbE[/video]
[video=youtube;ZS695yIbfbE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS695yIbfbE[/video]
Finally, I had my ship, I had my equipment and was ready to go. I wanted to see space, I wanted to see the stars, the wonders of the universe. But where?! "Space is big. Really big." Being in the middle of fed space doesn't help either. Good thing I was familiar with a few star names so I decided to go core-ward, via Aldebaran.
So here it is, my first official exploration run.
Aldebaran
And then I actually had to plan where to go so I opened the galaxy map and turned the settings to show realistic stars. This way, I could get a sense of what interesting things might be out there. Either because I'm slightly colourblind or because of my own preferences, blue stars started standing out so I checked out a few of them on the galaxy map to see if any show promise. Some did, some did even more.
Galaxy full of stars
I made a short list of what I'd like to visit and plotted a general route. Some stars were a bit far away but they'll be prime candidates for a future run. I really want to see Betelgeuse up close.
General route
Apparently I'm not the only one fuel scooping from this star.
33
More fuel scooping with a great view out the window in BRSO 14.
37
Biggest O star I've seen in HIP 97394 sitting at 117 solar masses.
45
46
One of the most interesting systems I've seen is HR 7129. Heh, human resources... Anyway, this system is comprised of quite a few brown dwarves with rings and gas giants orbiting them. And one lonely planet being cooked by the main star.
55
52
59
56
Oh, look. A friendly Clipper lining up behind me. Maybe I dropped something and he's returning it.
60
My first neutron star, finally!
69
Moar fuel scooping. Unfortunately I failed to predict an emergency drop since I was too close so lost another 2% hull.
73
Sidewinder interdictions are hard to get out of. Also, having no upgraded shields, no guns and apparently no way to boost, it make the situation a bit hairy. I found it best to just submit and then steer towards him until your friendship drive is back up. Lower cooldown and no damage to hull if you do.
77
Next stop, that little white dot up ahead.
Which is, in fact, a massive star of a blue-ish colour with a nice surprise.
77
After nothing bad happened on my previous run in with a neutron star, I wanted to get a closer look. I mean, look at all the other pretty, huge stars I've seen.
79
I'm starting to think other ships would have made just as good an explorer as the Asp. Sidewinders, for instance seem to be quite common. Like this friendly guy lining up behind me. Sontar ha! SONTAR HA!
85
I managed to get interdicted and lost some more hull. And there's no sound quite like hearing a canopy cracking when you're several hundred lightyears from something to refresh your O[SUB]2[/SUB] supply.
89
I'm approaching what I decided would be my midway point. After this double system, I would start heading for civilization. On the galaxy map, these two systems look amazing. They also have proper names so that has to count for something.
168
95
So, main stars and planets are scanned down. Time to make my way to the two brown dwarv... hell no!
98
And then it was time to visit the system. From the galaxy map, I was told there would be not one, not two but three black holes in system so I was sort of excited. I was also quite terrified at what could be waiting for me. I knew I was quite close to a canopy failure and I've seen all the black hole movies and clips. One one hand, I hoped to find a feeding one, accretion disc and jets bursting. I wanted to see it distort space around it, I wanted to jump in and immediately get an escape vector or another state of emergency. And I was terrified of that.
I was greeted by this giant blue star and nothing else. Everything seemed a big quiet. In the back of my mind I was half expecting my ship to start gaining speed towards a point in empty space.
100
But it didn't happen. I fired up the scanner and discovered the system. (kinda silly to 'discover' the system at the click of a button but it sure makes life easier in cases like the system before this). I I then look at the system map to see what to expect, only to be greeted by this:
dabih minor full
My god, it's full of stars! So I go about my happy-scanny ways, glad I didn't have to get too close to any of them to scan and forgetting for a second that there are three monsters out there. But soon enough, I have to go meet them and as I turn my ship towards the undiscovered objects in the distance, an eerie light floods my cockpit. That little feeling of dread in the back of my mind returns.
102
I take one last look out the window at the beautiful system I explored so far.
110
The trip will be long so I get up and stretch my legs.
111
The two partner black holes are orbiting extremely close to each other. The gravitational waves they generate must be something to behold. The other is a bit further away. It's unsettling as I get closer and closer and my scanner doesn't want to activate so I'm forced to keep going. It finally comes to life a few tenths of a ls away to confirm what I already knew. And yet... there was nothing there. I looked against the backdrop of the milky way for any signs that there was something there, a point of darkness, a stretched texture but nothing. In a way, I was disappointed but at the same time, I felt a chill going up my spine. Without any of the ship's equipment telling me to stop, warning me of impacts and proximity and impeding roasting, how close would one get before realizing it was too late?
116
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(part 2 will follow shortly due to image limitations)
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