Newcomer / Intro New player help - first post

[Triffskii]

OK just about 2 weeks in so I am about 1,500 ly outside the bubble. I started off just doing A-B trade routes so I got enough to get a non engineered AspX and just set off.

There is no way to know how much credits my data has collected. Is that right?

I am finding many planets that have been discovered but not mapped. I ignore rocks and icy stuff and map the metal and above. Sometimes I find whole systems undiscovered and FSS them then map the metal and above.

Am I doing it right? At what point should I turn around to hand in the data? I know some have billions of credits so they can carry on regardless but I have just enough for about 3 rebuys for my AspX. Should I concentrate on going back to the bubvble and engineering my kit?

 

[Marcus Machiavelli]

I do mine until space madness kicks in and I get bored... Thats when I come home

 

[Marcus Machiavelli]

I think there is no real way to do it "right" you can max/min but this game is really all about playing it your way. So if you want to go back to the bubble and engineer then that sounds a good plan to me

 

[Marcus Machiavelli]

like wise if you are out there having fun and it would be a drag flying all that way again then stay and keep going

 

[Triffskii]

Yes I get there is no right and wrong I just thought maybe there was some consensus about flying around in an unengineered AspX and that might put limitations on the experience.

If I can stay out here for 6 months or more in this really basic ship then what is the point of engineering?

Is there a way to see how much data credits you have without going back to the bubble and docking?

Cheers

 

[[PS4] Lorenzo Waringos]

OK just about 2 weeks in so I am about 1,500 ly outside the bubble. I started off just doing A-B trade routes so I got enough to get a non engineered AspX and just set off.

There is no way to know how much credits my data has collected. Is that right?

I am finding many planets that have been discovered but not mapped. I ignore rocks and icy stuff and map the metal and above. Sometimes I find whole systems undiscovered and FSS them then map the metal and above.

Am I doing it right? At what point should I turn around to hand in the data? I know some have billions of credits so they can carry on regardless but I have just enough for about 3 rebuys for my AspX. Should I concentrate on going back to the bubvble and engineering my kit?

Hello and welcome.

There is no way to know the value of the data you have collected until you cash it in,

As has been suggested above, it depends what you want to do. If you're enjoying your trek, stick on it. If not, come home.

Why did you go on the trek in the first place?

It sounds as though you are doing it 'right' in the sense that you're scanning stuff and you have decided what you will bother with and what you won't.

You could go back and engineer your ship, it might give you a better jump range, if that is what you are after.

I suppose the thing is, the first brave pilots didn't have all the options we do now and they took off in un-engineered ships and stayed out for months. It can be done.

If you have survived this long in the ship you're in (not a judgement on your ship), then you sound fairly capable. You sound like you actually know what you're doing without knowing what you're doing

If you do decide to go back an engineer, stop of on a few planets on the way back and pick up some materials, you will need them.

Best of luck!

 

[Marcus Machiavelli]

Yes I get there is no right and wrong I just thought maybe there was some consensus about flying around in an unengineered AspX and that might put limitations on the experience.

If I can stay out here for 6 months or more in this really basic ship then what is the point of engineering?
Cheers

I am so old school that we played and explored pre engineering so I would only engineer to get out there faster again or reacch some really far away point that you could not get too otherwise

 

[SciTrekker]

Welcome. As others have said, keep doing what you're doing if you're having fun doing it.

Before you come back to the bubble or go to Colonia, research the engineers. Some of them reside in a permit-locked system. To get the permit will require becoming friendly/allied with a minor faction. Selling your data is an easy way to do that.

There's also the PowerPlay guy, Li Yong-Rui, who gives a bonus for carto data. Check the Powers UI using the HUD right panel for his rewards at different ranks/ratings.

 

[Ashnak]

If I can stay out here for 6 months or more in this really basic ship then what is the point of engineering?

For explorers: staying out longer, getting there faster, for few borderline cases (now obsolete due to fleet carriers) getting there at all - and sometimes the improved ability to get back in one piece.

Is there a way to see how much data credits you have without going back to the bubble and docking?

Not really, although EDSM can keep tabs on your discoveries (if you get an anccount, and run one of the data collection apps on your PC) and make a guesstimate on how much your stuff is worth. In my case, I think it was a factor of three or so too low.

Depending on where you are, though (1500 ly is not that far), there may be closer possibilities to dock and sell your data - you won't gain any rep with the permit factions this way, though, and if you sell on a carrier, will lose 25% to the carrier tarrifs (half to UC, the other half to the carrier's owner).

 

[withnail67]

Sounds like you're settling in very nicely! I did something similar, although on a somewhat smaller scale, so had a similar decision to make.

On one hand, you're already finding undiscovered systems so you may want to keep exploring. On the other, you may want to cash in your data if the credits would allow you to further upgrade your ship. One of the best tips I was given prior to setting off into the black was, fit a large, good quality fuel scoop to keep refueling time down to a minimum.

Two other things to keep in mind: Should disaster strike and you loose your ship, you also loose all the data you've collected - although the risk of that happening is fairly low (keep an eye on the strength of gravity when landing!) Also, when it comes to having your name as the person to discover or first to map a planet/moon, it goes to the first person who delivers their data to Universal Cartographics, although the risk of being pipped to the post is probably much, much lower than loosing your ship. In the end, for me, vanity won the day and I wanted to see "Discovered by Withnail67" on the map as soon as possible.

 

[Para Handy]

I don't think anyone has mentioned it already so just in case you feel like turning back soon, it is worth ensuring that you have travelled 5,000 ly from your starting location (you can see this statistic in your stats in the codex in your right-hand UI) - that 5,000 ly is a qualifier for both Palin and Chloe engineer invites which you will see later in your progress.

good luck

BTW:

............
Is there a way to see how much data credits you have without going back to the bubble and docking?
......

As well as the EDSM site mentioned already, if you are on PC then EDDiscovery will provide a relatively accurate figure for your scan values. It is also useful for indicating terraformable planets etc. I wouldn't run Elite without EDDiscovery running too, it has so many useful features (and I don't use a tenth of it's capabilities).

Release - EDDiscovery 18.X is now out! New modules panel upgrade and Engineering

ED Discovery is a Windows/Linux application which assists you in piloting in the Elite Dangerous universe. Started by Commander Finwen, it has been greatly expanded in the last few years by a team of programmers who have added many features. Major Features: History of your journey through...

forums.frontier.co.uk

there is also now a "lite" version (I have not tried that).

 

[Hawk of Battle]

Sounds like you've done exactly what I did when I first started. I too got an unengineered Aspx and took it for a spin to get some exploring in. I didn't turn back until I was a good 15kLYs out, which turned out to be pretty decent, as that amounted to around 1000 or so jumps and 350mil, enough to reach Elite status in 1 journey

So I'd say keep going, until you're about 10x the distance you are now. Once you get a couple thousand more light years out you should also almost stop seeing other player tags and most everything you come across will be all yours. Also if you filter for A, F and G class stars you'll likely increase your chances of earth-likes as well, and then you'll be in the real money.

Happy hunting CMDR!

 

[sinisalo]

I use EDSM and find it pretty accurate. The thing is it only counts things other registered players submit, not the player base at large, so there is a disconnect there between the EDSM users and the Elite users as a whole, leaving a possible large discrepancy between what EDSM estimates and what you get when you turn it in.

I'm surprised that Ahsnak had EDSM estimate too LOW. I can easily see it being too high -- that is systems discovered by non-EDSM users already turned in -- but how does it work the other way around?

 

[GlowyHedgehog]

Would point out that if you somehow die, you will lose all that exploration data, and your name will not appear on any new discoveries you made. I would take advantage of at least the DSSA's fleet carriers and consider selling your data at some point. A loss of 25% is preferable to 100%, especially if you have put in so much effort in to the data collection by now.

You can see if there are any nearby fleet carriers in-game using the galaxy map, there is a filter for that, but really it's difficult to do so. I'd use Inara or one of the other available tools, including the DSSA information on here, to see where a "nearby" carrier is.

 

[VR StarLightPL]

it is worth ensuring that you have travelled 5,000 ly from your starting location

Very good point. Also you're doing fine, but should you get stranded without fuel somewhere out there, be sure to contact Fuel Rats, they will help for free.

 

[Thwarptide]

Here's a close idea of what system values are when you FSS scan.
You can make plenty of loot scanning previously disc systems. You won't get the small bonus or your name in the credits. You can make money just by honking systems. Who cares. Money is better. You can can FSS scan sys in the bubble and make plenty of money.

 

[Para Handy]

Here's a close idea of what system values are when you FSS scan.
You can make plenty of loot scanning previously disc systems. You won't get the small bonus or your name in the credits. You can make money just by honking systems. Who cares. Money is better. You can can FSS scan sys in the bubble and make plenty of money.
...

Firstly, just honking does not make money, not really, as all it "discovers" is stars and also any bodies within the passive detection range of 30 ls (ish).

Secondly - I think you will find that hologram payout is now rather outdated, here is the graphic I have showing the approx various payouts and I think the values are still valid:

The actual image is 4096x2551 - to see that, click on it, right-click "view image" - click with the "+ magnifying glass" pointer or click save as (actually the website reduces it to 4000x2492 - sorry).

 

[Thwarptide]

Oopsie

 

[Thwarptide]

Firstly, just honking does not make money,

Secondly, yes, yes it does.
It won't make you rich. I've made a million just making a habit to honk every system I jump in, in the bubble over the course of a few weeks, dep how often you jump.
It's easy money for honking. Pays for fuel.

 

[Ashnak]

Firstly, just honking does not make money, not really, as all it "discovers" is stars and also any bodies within the passive detection range of 30 ls (ish).
...

Secondly, yes, yes it does.
It won't make you rich. I've made a million just making a habit to honk every system I jump in, in the bubble over the course of a few weeks, dep how often you jump.
It's easy money for honking. Pays for fuel.

You're both right - or wrong.

Simply jumping into a system will resolve the primary star, which will give you the payout (plus first discovery) for the star and anything else in passive detection range (hmmm.... have to check, if I ever come across one, what happens with giant primary stars, where you re-enter and scoop outside of what would actually be passive detection range...).The payout for the star will be the base value of the star plus a percentage (IIRC on the order of 10%) of the system's scan value - negligible in case of the ususal collection of ice marbles, but can be significant for systems with multiple terraformables.

Honking will then resolve any other star or star-like body in the system, that includes any orbiting brown dwarfs and similar crap in addition to the secondary and further stars. You can check that by running e.g. Elite Observatory, which will, after the honk, for example announce any wide rings among ringed brown dwarfs orbiting the secondary.

So:

• not honking makes you some money
• honking can make you a little more money in system with multiple stars or star like bodies
• but the real money is in FSS and DSS