Newcomer / Intro My Return to ED ......

[Wombat1940]

I'm trying to read the over 900 messages I've been associated with here at the forum. I assume they are made up of my threads/posts and all your very generous replies. There's so much useful information! In fact too much. Unless I'm applying it or trying to apply it, it's very hard to absorb. Everything from ship and weapon selection, fuel scooping, docking, earning money, and on and on. It's also so boring. I what to fly. And I haven't got through 10% of them yet!
I'm going to start again as a raw beginner. It's sad I can't remember many of the skills I had, but so be it. I know I have been in the same position before, as many of you will remind me! But there's nothing else I can do.
Just be patient with me .......... again ........
PS. What I will do is list the topics we covered. And refer to them as needed. They mustn't be wasted. They're too valuable and a great starting point for me on any particular topic.

 

[Chris Simon]

I'm trying to read the over 900 messages I've been associated with here at the forum. I assume they are made up of my threads/posts and all your very generous replies. There's so much useful information! In fact too much. Unless I'm applying it or trying to apply it, it's very hard to absorb. Everything from ship and weapon selection, fuel scooping, docking, earning money, and on and on. It's also so boring. I what to fly. And I haven't got through 10% of them yet!
I'm going to start again as a raw beginner. It's sad I can't remember many of the skills I had, but so be it. I know I have been in the same position before, as many of you will remind me! But there's nothing else I can do.
Just be patient with me .......... again ........
PS. What I will do is list the topics we covered. And refer to them as needed. They mustn't be wasted. They're too valuable and a great starting point for me on any particular topic.

Honestly, starting over is much better than trying to pick up where you left.
I have several MMOs that I play once in a while, but although I technically play them for 10+ years, I always have to start anew becaus I have no idea how my build is supposed to work, what each spell does, etc. and rather than spending hours by reading and trying, I just go fresh from the tutorials.

 

[Wombat1940]

.

 

[Wombat1940]

Honestly, starting over is much better than trying to pick up where you left.
I have several MMOs that I play once in a while, but although I technically play them for 10+ years, I always have to start anew becaus I have no idea how my build is supposed to work, what each spell does, etc. and rather than spending hours by reading and trying, I just go fresh from the tutorials.

Thanks. That's really helpful.

 

[Wombat1940]

Thanks. That's really helpful.

However, as I previously said:
"What I will do is list the topics we covered. And refer to them as needed. They mustn't be wasted. They're too valuable and a great starting point for me on any particular topic."
and I'm sticking with it except maybe I won't start with them. I'll gain the skill through the tutorial(s) first, and then refer to them in case I can pick something else up.

 

[Wombat1940]

Ok. Here's the first of my stupid questions: If I go to the External Panel by pressing key <1>, how do I move from Navigation to Transaction and Contracts? I've checked by searching here at the forum and looked at my key bindings, but found nothing useful.
Thanks.

 

[Para Handy]

Ok. Here's the first of my stupid questions: If I go to the External Panel by pressing key <1>, how do I move from Navigation to Transaction and Contracts? I've checked by searching here at the forum and looked at my key bindings, but found nothing useful.
Thanks.

 

[Wombat1940]

Obviously, I didn't look hard enough. Thanks Para.

 

[Wombat1940]

It's not operating as I expected ...... I push <1> to go to the External Panel and <E> or <Q> to go to Transactions or Contracts. So what is <LShift> (ie. UI Focus) for?
When I press it while looking at the External Panel, it takes me back to the front facing cockpit view ........

 

[VR micmacmoc]

I just spent ten minutes raging at my pc, set up, elite, microsoft......I'd accidentally unplugged my keyboard. Heartening to think theres a senior group here, I shall feel a youthful 56!

 

[Para Handy]

It's not operating as I expected ...... I push <1> to go to the External Panel and <E> or <Q> to go to Transactions or Contracts. So what is <LShift> (ie. UI Focus) for?
When I press it while looking at the External Panel, it takes me back to the front facing cockpit view ........

UI Focus button - when held, your POV HAT (or cursor keys IIRC) moves your view to focus on one of the four panels (left, up, down. right) - it also has a use in "pulling-back" your point of view for a more "wide" view - so when pulling a turn and the scanner view swims out of vision, holding the UI focus button / key brings the cockpit back into view.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

It's not operating as I expected ...... I push <1> to go to the External Panel and <E> or <Q> to go to Transactions or Contracts. So what is <LShift> (ie. UI Focus) for?
When I press it while looking at the External Panel, it takes me back to the front facing cockpit view ........

One of the "challenges" of Elite Dangerous is, each time you do an activity for the first time, such as driving an SRV, you have to go into control settings and set up the key bindings you want to use. It does demand some patience from you. I saw other posts talking about how you might use a HOTAS joystick etc. One maddening thing is when you connect / disconnect to play away from home the HOTAS joystick the game falls back on default settings. It cannot seem to cope with this change and keep your key bindings. I work around this by copying the contents of C:\Users\<your user name>\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Bindings into a folder called "kbm" for the keyboard and mouse set up, and a "joystick" for the joystick set up and then make sure I have the appropriate set of files in place depending on whether I have the joystick plugged in or not.
My main focus is exploration, and after a lot of game play I have built my idea of the ultimate exploration ship. I have tried Diamondback Explorer, ASP Explorer and Anaconda (too cumbersome to fly) on the way to completely engineering a Krait Phantom for exploration. I did use a cheap Hauler for a while, and when you have few credits to spend, taking a Hauler on a "road to riches" tour (google search this one) is the fastest way to earn credits until you can afford a bigger ship. Use the sidewinder to help the local system authority to blow up a few pirates in a Low (risk) Resource Extraction site to get enough credits for the Hauler plus kit for exploring.
20 stops on a road to riches list should let you sell the exploration data for enough to get an ASP Explorer. Stick passenger cabins in it and the Robigo Mines to Sothis Sirius Atmospherics passenger missions (see youtube videos) give you a way to get more cash for other ships to try.

At some point you will probably need to engineer at least the FSD drive for increase range plus mass manager.
There is something called an engineered FSD V1 available from technology brokers when you have collected the materials for it. Best FSD in the game and it only comes in size 5. It will go in a Diamondback Explorer (DBX), ASP Explorer, Krait Phantom but not a Dolphin (some have suggested it as a cheap exploration ship, but I'd take the excellent Diamondback Explorer over this). Guardian FSD Booster is another major increase in jump range. You can create one in several sizes up to 5. A size 5 will not go in a Diamondback Explorer (size 4 is best for this ship), but it will go in any other ship with a size 5 or bigger internal slot. You can make as many FSD Boosters as you collect materials for. Youtube has videos on how to get this, and a Diamondback Explorer with a point defence on top is the most effective ship for getting the Guardian FSD booster parts. It's small so can land on rough ground almost inside the Guardian ruins and shoot down missiles with it's point defence while you are out in your SRV. I'll leave you to discover why there will be missiles
I would use a Diamondback Explorer as my main exploration ship if I could put a size 6 fuel scoop on it, but the size 4 scoops too slow for me. I keep a DBX for messing around in the bubble because it's such a fun little ship.

Other engineering on an exploration ship gives smaller returns on jump range, but lower power so you can have a smaller lighter power plant and lighter weight D rated options are best except for the power plant which should be an efficient A rate module to reduce heat generation. Engineering further means you have to start jumping through more hoops to get access to engineers, like, you must have mined 500 tonnes of something, or, you must have traded with at least 50 markets, and so on. I made quite a lot of credits trading around 50 markets in an Anaconda blowing up pirates who interdicted me. It was fun.

Definitely hit youtube for the most efficient way to collect engineering materials, unless this whole proposition puts you off...

Source: https://youtu.be/iHl-SsKQfe4

 

[Wombat1940]

UI Focus button - when held, your POV HAT (or cursor keys IIRC) moves your view to focus on one of the four panels (left, up, down. right) - it also has a use in "pulling-back" your point of view for a more "wide" view - so when pulling a turn and the scanner view swims out of vision, holding the UI focus button / key brings the cockpit back into view.

Thanks. Let me try this ....... but busy with other (non-ED) things at the moment .......

 

[Wombat1940]

One of the "challenges" of Elite Dangerous is, each time you do an activity for the first time, such as driving an SRV, you have to go into control settings and set up the key bindings you want to use. It does demand some patience from you. I saw other posts talking about how you might use a HOTAS joystick etc. One maddening thing is when you connect / disconnect to play away from home the HOTAS joystick the game falls back on default settings. It cannot seem to cope with this change and keep your key bindings. I work around this by copying the contents of C:\Users\ ............

I need time to absorb this ........ Needs a little time which I don't have at the immediate moment. I'll be back .......... but thanks

 

[Wombat1940]

Thanks. Let me try this ....... but busy with other (non-ED) things at the moment .......

"UI Focus button (it's set to the <LSHIFT> key in my case)- when held, your cursor keys (mine are set to <1> for the LEFT Panel, <2> for the UP Panel, <3> for DOWN Panel, and <4> for RIGHT Panel) moves your view to focus on one of the four panels (left, up, down. right) ."
But in my case, I don't need to hold the UI Focus key to do this. I just press the <1> key to go to the LEFT Panel and press it again to return to the front-facing view. There's no need to use the UI Focus key to do this.
" ........ it also has a use in "pulling-back" your point of view for a more "wide" view - so when pulling a turn and the scanner view swims out of vision, holding the UI focus button / key brings the cockpit back into view. "
In regard to "pulling-back", that does seem to work.

 

[Codger]

Yeah I never use the UI Focus key, don't need it. Some folks find it useful, I guess.

 

[Para Handy]

"...
But in my case, I don't need to hold the UI Focus key to do this. I just press the <1> key to go to the LEFT Panel and press it again to return to the front-facing view. There's no need to use the UI Focus key to do this.
..

The 1, 2, 3 and 4 keys are the preset shortcuts to the four UI screens and of course do not need the "UI Focus" button to be used. In reality, UI focus button is useful for joystick or HOTAS use - enabling you to bring up a UI panel without taking your hands off the controls.

 

[Para Handy]

Yeah I never use the UI Focus key, don't need it. Some folks find it useful, I guess.

I use it A LOT. In fact I very rarely touch the keyboard.

 

[Wombat1940]

One of the "challenges" of Elite Dangerous is, each time you do an activity for the first time, such as driving an SRV, you have to go into control settings and set up the key bindings you want to use. It does demand some patience from you. I saw other posts talking about how you might use a HOTAS joystick etc. One maddening thing is when you connect / disconnect to play away from home the HOTAS joystick the game falls back on default settings. It cannot seem to cope with this change and keep your key bindings. I work around this by copying the contents of C:\Users\<your user name>\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Bindings into a folder called "kbm" for the keyboard and mouse set up, and a "joystick" for the joystick set up and then make sure I have the appropriate set of files in place depending on whether I have the joystick plugged in or not.

Good one! I have both a TM HOTAS and K and M like you. Although I'm focusing on the K and M simply because I don't take my HOTAS with me when I spent 8 months in Bali away from Australia.

My main focus is exploration, and after a lot of game play I have built my idea of the ultimate exploration ship. I have tried Diamondback Explorer, ASP Explorer and Anaconda (too cumbersome to fly) on the way to completely engineering a Krait Phantom for exploration. I did use a cheap Hauler for a while, and when you have few credits to spend, taking a Hauler on a "road to riches" tour (google search this one) is the fastest way to earn credits until you can afford a bigger ship. Use the sidewinder to help the local system authority to blow up a few pirates in a Low (risk) Resource Extraction site to get enough credits for the Hauler plus kit for exploring.

That's really useful. My aim is on Galaxy(s) exploration. I've no wish to mine, fight, build ships or colonies, trade, etc; I just want to explore and map what and where I've been. I'd be quite happy to fly around totally unarmed but that might be a bit risky. So I will learn to defend myself, trade and mine to earn money, but all to buy/build an exploratory ship.

20 stops on a road to riches list should let you sell the exploration data for enough to get an ASP Explorer. Stick passenger cabins in it and the Robigo Mines to Sothis Sirius Atmospherics passenger missions (see youtube videos) give you a way to get more cash for other ships to try.

So what ship have you finished up with? Your Galaxy exploration ship?

At some point you will probably need to engineer at least the FSD drive for increase range plus mass manager.
There is something called an engineered FSD V1 available from technology brokers when you have collected the materials for it. Best FSD in the game and it only comes in size 5. It will go in a Diamondback Explorer (DBX), ASP Explorer, Krait Phantom but not a Dolphin (some have suggested it as a cheap exploration ship, but I'd take the excellent Diamondback Explorer over this). Guardian FSD Booster is another major increase in jump range. You can create one in several sizes up to 5. A size 5 will not go in a Diamondback Explorer (size 4 is best for this ship), but it will go in any other ship with a size 5 or bigger internal slot. You can make as many FSD Boosters as you collect materials for. Youtube has videos on how to get this, and a Diamondback Explorer with a point defence on top is the most effective ship for getting the Guardian FSD booster parts. It's small so can land on rough ground almost inside the Guardian ruins and shoot down missiles with it's point defence while you are out in your SRV. I'll leave you to discover why there will be missiles
I would use a Diamondback Explorer as my main exploration ship if I could put a size 6 fuel scoop on it, but the size 4 scoops too slow for me. I keep a DBX for messing around in the bubble because it's such a fun little ship.

Interesting. However, as far as traveling around a planet in an SRV, I'm just not interested. Yes, I might land to have a look at the terrain, but moving about, forget it.

Other engineering on an exploration ship gives smaller returns on jump range, but lower power so you can have a smaller lighter power plant and lighter weight D rated options are best except for the power plant which should be an efficient A rate module to reduce heat generation. Engineering further means you have to start jumping through more hoops to get access to engineers, like, you must have mined 500 tonnes of something, or, you must have traded with at least 50 markets, and so on. I made quite a lot of credits trading around 50 markets in an Anaconda blowing up pirates who interdicted me. It was fun.

Ha! I'll keep that in mind. I'll need funds, so this sounds a good way.

Definitely hit youtube for the most efficient way to collect engineering materials, unless this whole proposition puts you off...

Source: https://youtu.be/iHl-SsKQfe4

No ....... it doesn't and I'm not opposed to giving anything a try.

Well .......... thank you. Most informative. Just makes me even keener to come to grips with ED.
It all seems so real.
Example: I had to look upon Google as to what an FSD was. I finished up reading about FSD development, the secrecy, the company JUST AS IF IT WAS BLOODY REAL!!!!! And I just love that!!!! It moves simulation to reality and what is better than that. And I think that is what is so good about ED.

Hello? Yes?
Sorry CMDR ....... I've got a call coming in ........ somebody wants me to deliver something ...... it'll fit in my ASP explorer (I wish ....... ) my plain old Sidewinder ....... just have to leave the fuel scoop behind which I won't need on this trip .......... blah, blah, blah ........

 

[Wombat1940]

The 1, 2, 3 and 4 keys are the preset shortcuts to the four UI screens and of course do not need the "UI Focus" button to be used. In reality, UI focus button is useful for joystick or HOTAS use - enabling you to bring up a UI panel without taking your hands off the controls.

Yes ...... that makes more sense. Thanks.