Newcomer / Intro My God, am I actually nervous?

Spekx

S
Played Elite Cassette on the BBC B, got to Dangerous
Played ArcElite, achieved Elite in 2-3 months, got the customised sweatshirt to prove it

Roll on 20 years... more than a few grey hairs, a wife, house, toddler, job, motorbike, pilot's licence, house chores that are never done... a lot has changed, and now that the day has finally come, I've come to the realisation that I'm actually nervous of crashing and burning as soon as I launch. I'm even possibly scared of docking.

Trouble is - ever since I started earning real earth credits, I've not gamed much - had a dip into Battlefield 2 back in the day, played every naval sim I could find (loved Harpoon), did a lot of Starcraft 2 when it came out - but am more than likely a bit rusty. My laptop has always been a work one, never much more than integrated graphics.

So, from my last memories of Elite being be able to poke my head out of my left view on a full speed run to an anarchy system's planet, and hose an entire line of pirates with my military laser without even slowing down, I'm now wondering whether I'll even be able to launch the damn ship. Anyone else in that boat?

I've deliberately avoided the beta and gamma because, well, there's real world stuff to do first, but this is the big day, and if my download ever completes, I'm going to be navigating my way around first the keyboard, then the local system, soon enough. I just can't believe that I'm actually a tiny bit anxious about it.

Wow. I sound like my Dad probably did.

Roll on the download.. It's still ASX<>?ETM<TAB>, right?


Spekx
 

Altissimus

A
Welcome to the game. Had the same feelings when I started in the beta a few months back.

My advice:

1) practice docking until it's smooth. Then you know you're safe at the end of a mission, not facing the hardest part. There are techniques, but best advice I can give you is: maneouvre with your landing gear down (it slows you); use the thrusters not the flight controls (left and right thrust, yaw, vertical thrust); take your time, no sudden moves.

2) EXPECT to die the first few times and don't buy anything on your sidewinder until you know you aren't going to blow it up in spectacular fashion on the side of a space station or planet. FD have accidentally ordered a surplus of starter sidewinders, so they are currently free. Use this.

3) Sell stuff you don't need. If you're going to trade or explore, strip off the lasers/scanners/whatever to make cargo space but also to make jump distance. Run, don't fight.
 

synchromesh

synchromesh
If your really weary start off in Solo mode......You cannot harm anyone but yourself.....And if you do well you can just go into Open Play...Nothing changes you keep all your money and ships.
Worst case scenario is you delete your save in the options and start again .... We have all done it :)
 

Juby

J
Welcome!

I only started playing on 16th and for me it has definitely been worth the wait. As a '84 I was elated to see that it plays in a very similar way to the original - just with much, much more going on.

Take time to get yourself oriented and watch ALL the tutorial videos - this will help remove some of the confusion you will inevitably get trying to work things out by just playing the game. Docking for me seems very simple compared to the '84 version, I haven't died one yet whilst docking. Just make you you get permission before docking otherwise the in station defences will take care of you.

Just like the original version you will need to start slow (at least I am). Doing some milk run missions and trading with a few safe systems to ear the credits to get the equipment in order to earn the right to be successful in combat. to be honest though you will probably spend the first few hours just wandering round with your mouth agape, dumbstruck at how stunning everything looks.

And, oh, if like me you spawn into a station that doesn't have a commodities market - don't half an hour trying to figure out how to buy cargo. If there is no "Commodities Market" showing in the "Station Services" then there is no way to buy cargo in that station (unlike '84 not every station has a market) - try picking up a simple mission instead... I felt like such a noob.

Hope you enjoy your first foray into deep space!
 

tarazed

tarazed
You asked: "Anyone else in that boat?"

Yup and, trust me, you'll do just fine. Take your time, get your key and stick bindings all set, and, remember, you can always Clear Save and start over - so go ahead and burn through a few sidewinders while making your "learning errors". Remember to throttle back and turn away from the looming star as soon as you exit Frame Shift (HyperSpace) and be sure your gear is down BEFORE you enter the stations. They made this game for US, my Brother, and it ROCKS!!! Start with trading and light duty and, before you know it, you'll be grinnin' like an idiot :)
 

CmdrJacks

CmdrJacks
Had the same feelings. It's early days yet but it feels like I'm picking up where I left off, making a bit of money flitting between systems but so far avoided any combat or risky business like smuggling. Frontier was my game and it is truly how amazingly close this feels to it, feels like coming home. I've been watching these fora(ums) for years and admit to have gotten a little disillusioned with cryptic promises and non-committal hints but I don't mind admitting now that I am blown away. I'm too old for gaming really, but we all know this is much more serious than a game. See you out there.
 

OrientalHero

O
Coupla points that a lot of newbies are having issues with (been there and done these two myself!)
a) Don't forget you need to be closer to a station/outpost (about 6.5km) to get docking/landing permission. it will be refused otherwise. You typically come out of SC about 9-10 kms from the station.
b) Also you need to be the right way round on the pad before you get locked into the docking cradle (when you are really low).
The image of your ship in the ILS bit needs to show your rear. If you can see the front of your ship in the ILS bit, you need to rotate 180.

Something another poster has mentioned, the network of jump lines you see is dependent on the current max jump distance of your ship. Load up with cargo and you might not have sufficient jump capability to make it. OTOH, you can dump/lose/swap modules you don't use for ones you do want to use to increase your range!

Have fun and watch this for how not to do it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYPtigdFxnA
 

Phaser

Phaser
Use your thrusters to dock. Dont forget that as well as the other four, you have backward and forward thrusters too.
 

turkina

turkina
Welcome commander.
There are a lot of us 84'ers out there and yes I would say a high percentage also had butterflies when first starting on this latest Elite adventure.
The practice scenarios help a lot, set up your key bindings whilst in these as well.
These forums are also a great place to get any advice you may need too.
There is also a brilliant manual to be had at https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=34437
Best of luck out there.
 

CMDR Inigo

C
Landing gear not really going to snag in the small starter ships

The key benefit of slowing your speed is that it also prevents accidental boost into solid space station!
 

Johnny Cyclops

Johnny Cyclops
Welcome back Commander

Many of us from the class of '84 are here. I nearly gave up in my first week back in Beta testing (I backed the game, but never really expected to play, esp. on a standard laptop, using keyboard only). The tutorials have a practice docking run now. Do that 20 or 30 times until you can mostly do it without dying. Then build up, one skill at a time. I started with basic flying. You'll need to learn to evade interdictions (keep the blue target centre screen). Then I moved on to trading, fuel scooping, exploring, missions, mining and finally finally fighting. Learn also how to run away :)

Patience is the watchword, BUT you will find all sorts of latent 20/30 year old muscle memory and instinct for the game. Plus, it's so beautiful, just push out into the void.

Finally, avoid the Anarchy systems for now. System Maps show security levels for systems, so keep to the Highs and Mediums for comfort.
 

Antmax

Antmax
It's a good habit to have the gear down before you enter. then you won't forget and try and land without it. The game is a lot more forgiving than it used to be though.
 

Spekx

S
Thanks all (and sorry for the late response).

Well - training went OK. I only died once in all the missions, when going head to head with the Type 9 and trying to outrun it, before realising it was an escort hammering me. Muscle memory is coming back fast - it took me TWENTY FIVE MINUTES to kill the Sidewinder, and the Cobra was mostly my Wolfpack's work... having big issues with keeping on target, which I need to work on. The roll seems hugely over-sensitive, but I am usnig default mouse and keyboard configs for now.

Launching was fine - easy enough to line up. Docking was actually completely fine too - I get the impression there's a little assistance in matching rotation, seems too easy.

Think I'm ready to hit the big wide galaxy. Still figuring out controls and ship management, let alone quirks and strategy, but with an hour a day at best, guess I'll learn on the job.

Cheers!


Spectr
 

nexxo

N
It's OK, commander. In space, no-one can hear you fail embarrassingly and repeatedly. :p Well, unless you're live-streaming on Twitch.
 

zenoic

Z
Most important thing about docking is to ensure you have permission. You must have permission to enter the docking bay, if you don't then getting back out in 30 seconds is quite tough. I've died at least 5 times because of this basic error.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom