Noob finding it very difficult to get into the game

ImpeccableTaste

I
I played elite 2 tons when it first came out. literally for hundreds of hours.
For some reason I was never interested in Elite dangerous because MMO is not my thing, but because of the sale price, I decided to give it a go.

First things are
I'm finding the control system really not very intuitive. There seem to be a couple of "modes" and I can't tell which one I'm supposed to use or what the difference is. I'm talking about frameshift and supercruise. One is B and one is J, but they seem to do the same thing most of the time. If I target something by pressing "1" key and selecting in the control panel, then I point the ship towards the target and push B or J I get there, but sometimes it will tell me to slow down and completely overshoot, and other times it will just stop right in front of the space station. I'm confused how to get this to work every time it seems totally random.
Flight control is tied to Z but seems to do nothing, every time I push it. What is this for?
One time I damaged my auto dock by flying too close to a sun and attempted manual docking, I tried to land on the highlighted area but it said I was blocking the landing zone and I got blown up.
I tried to explore and almost everywhere had 0 population until I eventually couldn't go anywhere and ran out of fuel. I have no idea if the sidewinder you start with has a fuel scoop but I was dead in the water before I made it to the nearest star anyway.
I know some of this stuff I need to read or watch videos or something, but it just seems unnecessarily complicated. I can't even figure out how much fuel I have.
Maybe I just got really old and can't learn games anymore? Could this be the problem?
 

Zieman

Zieman
Starter Sidey does not have a fuel scoop fitted, you need to buy one.

The 'slow down' message isn't a reminder to do so, but a notification that slowing down is happening. Not helping anyone to actually approach the target.
 

DesertSocks

D
the game is rather complicated to just be able to just jump into and learn as you go. id recommend doing the tutorials ingame at least. or find a mentor to help teach ya the game if you have any friends that play it.

the supercruise and frameshift are 2 different things kind of. if you have a nav lock on a target in the same system both buttons will do the same thing and go into supercruise. but if you have a lock on another star to frameshift jump to pressing the suprecruise button wont jump you to it. basically supercruise is go really fast in the system your in and frameshift is to jump to next system over.

dropping out of supercruise at a station or target the magic numbers are 7seconds till arrival and 75% engine power or bottom edge of the blue area on throttle.

your landing at a station you likely landed on the wrong pad as any landing pad will light up and glow if a ship is heading to it, average in closed play is about 5 lit up at a time and you have to look at the number your assigned to land at just above your radar where the countdown timer for landing permission is and then look for the pad with that number glowing at it

not sure about the zero population and what you mean by it.
 

Ooj

O
I remember the same frustrations. I am not going to try and answer all your questions. I'm no good with buttons, I have HOTAS and VR, I look at panels and they appear, you will need further button presses to access the Panel systems in the ship.
The term Frameshift Drive is ambiguous. Moving from planet to planet within a system requires the use of Supercruise and can be activated a number of ways, as an example, moving from Earth to Mars would require you use Supercruise if you want to do it anytime soon. Hyperdrive is used when travelling between systems, Earth, Mars etc belong to Sol, our system, if I wanted to move between Sol and Alpha Centauri another system then Hyperdrive is required, Hyperdrive will always be necessary to travel between systems. Hyperdrive and Supercruise is created by a module called the Frame Shift Drive, this module size defines how far you can Hyperdrive jump, this will vary depending on the mass of your ship. Frameshift Drive will be engaged when you enter both Supercruise and Hyperdrive, it's confusing until you know what buttons you are pressing or you know where/what you are travelling to. Hyperdrive can only be engaged when you have a system as the target or waypoint, Supercruise can be engaged at any time. Hyperdrive automatically stops itself at the target system, Supercruise, unless you stop will allow you to go straight past your destination and keep on going. Gravity has an effect on your approach when in Supercruise, when you are not far away you will be unable to slow yourself down and you will have to do a "loop of shame", I still do them all them time, don't worry.
Navigation, based on where you are looking at defines whether you will use Supercruise or Hyperdrive, there are a number of ways of choosing how to get where you are going, you have panel systems on your left and right, the left hand side has three tabs, from left to right, Navigation, Transactions and Contacts. The Navigation tab is able to list Systems, Planets, Moons, Stations, Points of Interest and there's a hierarchy to it, it can be filtered. There are icons to all the listings shown in the Navigation tab, these are meaningful. The content of the Navigation panel is respectful of the System you are in and the Hyperdrive jump capabilities of your ship. Another way of understanding what you are looking at is by the units Light Seconds(ls) and Light Years(ly), if the distance is Light Years then you will probably engage Hyperdrive, if the distance is Light Seconds the you will probably engage Supercruise. At the top of the Navigation tab is the Primary Star and all bodies will be listed below it, it gets a little more confusing when there are multiple stars, using Sol and our system as an example, Sol would be uppermost then the list would be ordered according to distance to you, closest to you would listed at the top, after all the planetary bodies of the System, the neighbouring System you are able to Hyperdrive to will be listed.
This is diet, lightweight information and by no means comprehensive, however I hope it helps.
 

Cmdr Nemo

Cmdr Nemo
First and foremost ED is a "Sandbox" game. Sandbox games most generally do not come with instruction but similar to ED, most will come with one or more tutorials which are useful to assist a noob learn some of the aspects involved in playing. Sandbox games in general have a considerably higher or longer depending on ones ability, a lengthy learning curve.

Frontier recently closed off a section of the game to allow noobs who wish to learn in safety and not fall prey to the more advanced player's, a noob zone. Be advised, playing in the noob zone means that one is only protected from advanced player's whom have either played previous to the noob zone or have taken the 100,000 cr mission and left the noob zone never to be able to return. Because a player can have multiple account, an advance player can still reek havok upon noobs even in a Sidewinder so a noob isn't completely safe, thus ALWAY'S WATCH YOUR SIX!
 

ImpeccableTaste

I
guys thanks for the tips, I'll keep trying. TBH i do not know if I'm even in the noob zone anymore. I have no outstanding missions. I am in the Sol region, but I cannot travel there because I lack the permit.
 
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Lowbee

Lowbee
ImpeccableTaste said:
I played elite 2 tons when it first came out. literally for hundreds of hours.
For some reason I was never interested in Elite dangerous because MMO is not my thing, but because of the sale price, I decided to give it a go.

First things are
I'm finding the control system really not very intuitive. There seem to be a couple of "modes" and I can't tell which one I'm supposed to use or what the difference is. I'm talking about frameshift and supercruise. One is B and one is J, but they seem to do the same thing most of the time. If I target something by pressing "1" key and selecting in the control panel, then I point the ship towards the target and push B or J I get there, but sometimes it will tell me to slow down and completely overshoot, and other times it will just stop right in front of the space station. I'm confused how to get this to work every time it seems totally random.
Flight control is tied to Z but seems to do nothing, every time I push it. What is this for?
One time I damaged my auto dock by flying too close to a sun and attempted manual docking, I tried to land on the highlighted area but it said I was blocking the landing zone and I got blown up.
I tried to explore and almost everywhere had 0 population until I eventually couldn't go anywhere and ran out of fuel. I have no idea if the sidewinder you start with has a fuel scoop but I was dead in the water before I made it to the nearest star anyway.
I know some of this stuff I need to read or watch videos or something, but it just seems unnecessarily complicated. I can't even figure out how much fuel I have.
Maybe I just got really old and can't learn games anymore? Could this be the problem?
Click to expand...

First of all, welcome! 😊

You've gotten a pretty good general explanation of supercruise and hyperdrive already so there you go.

Flight assist is on by default. When you use a key to apply a directional thruster you make your ship rotate around that particular axis. When you let go of the key flight assist acts like it assumes you want the rotation to now stop and automatically applies thrust in the opposite direction to attempt to stop it and bring you back to level flight. If you turn it off, you will continue to rotate after you let go of the thruster key until you intentionally apply thrust in the opposite direction enough to stop it. It can be disorienting until you learn to use much smaller applications of thrust and to "quiet" your ship. However, you have many more movement and orientaion possibilities with FA off so in combat it can be very useful to be moving in one direction but be facing in another, eg. firing at someone behind you while continuing to move forward.

Ships don't have fuel scoops by default, you must purchase them as an optional slot item. You really do need one if you're traveling long distances or between a series of uninhabited systems that have no stations or planetary outposts at which to refuel, unless there is a fleet carrier nearby that will allow to land there.

The learning curve is steep and there's a lot to know, but there are plenty of good videos out there, as well as 3rd party tools and excellent websites that can help you sort out all that stuff. Many things cannot be rushed and just take time, practice, and familiarization.

What everyone here will agree on is that, as you get all these things under your belt you'll be rewarded with bucketloads of fun and fascinating discoveries. You'll also meet lots of friendly folks who will gladly share what they've learned with you. :)
 
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Codger

Codger
Yeah, we've all been there. It's not your age, though, trust me. I'm well over 65 myself :)

The game has a very steep learning curve, and there are a lot of things that don't act as you'd expect. It's a journey and a constant learning experience. I'm still learning 4 years and 4000+ hours later. So don't be discouraged.

Do all the tutorials, they will help a bit. Ask questions here as needed. Google helps, too :)

As for your question about travel modes, I'll try to explain. There are 3 ways your ship can travel:
1) Normal space - This is the slower-than-lightspeed travel mode, and the one in which you do combat, docking and landing, etc. Uses thrusters.
2) Supercruise - This is the in-system faster-than-light travel mode, for going between stars and planets within a single system. Uses Frameshift Drive.
3) Hyperjump - This is how you get to other star systems, by leaping across the lightyears in one big jump. When you arrive you drop into Supercruise. Uses Frameshift Drive.

There are a couple of keybindings for using the Frameshift drive. One puts you in Supercruise regardless of your target. This is useful for when your target is obscured, or you just want to cruise the system without a target. The other has a dual function. IF you have a target system, and IF your target is not obscured by something (a star or planet in the way), then it does a Hyperjump. If your target is obscured, it fails. On the other hand, if you have NO target at all, then it puts you into Supercruise instead of trying to Hyperjump.

See how complicated that was to explain (and I probably missed something)? That's how this game is. Lots to learn, and not entirely intuitive.

I suggest you just bumble around in your Sidewinder until you get the idea a bit better. The starting Sidewinder is a loaner, and costs nothing to replace if you get destroyed (at least, until you start upgrading it -- then it will start to cost money to replace when you die).

Once you're out of that starter ship, though, remember the first rule of Elite Dangerous: Never fly without a rebuy! (that means have enough cash on hand to rebuy your ship if it gets destroyed. You can see the current rebuy value in your right panel). If you don't have the cash, you lose the ship forever! So, don't do that. :)

Have fun. That's the main thing.
 

Xious

Xious
Which system are you starting in?

If you're not in Eravate, I would go there, look for some missions that pay good or try some in-system trading.

Data delivery missions should pay well and you won't need cargo space.
 

michalfoc

M
After clocking over 1000hrs I can honestly say I am still learning myself and the key for me to really develop where I am now ( just finished engineering my corvette and working towards Imperial Cutter) was:
Play tutorials - that's a must for a new player, nobody will teach You how to land and all the basics, if You have to play it multiple times (I did the combat training at least 3 times and still sucked at it but better get blown up in free sidey than fully engineered FDL - experience here)
Go to Youtube - an absolute goldmine when it comes to knowledge and community is awesome, check CMDRs: ObsidianAnt, Howkes, Down To Earth Astronomy. Those 3 will get You started and from there it roles by itself. I don't even dare to admit how many times I hit the wall regarding many concepts of the game and They saved my space ass with tips and tutorails.
I don't see this mentioned so here it goes - Join a squadron, as above 98% of community are golden people, don't let odd ganker discourage You, I am solo player, but when Odyssey comes out I might decide to go live into open and I will most likely join a squadron straight away if any willing to take my lazy ass onboard.
Google usefull websites, like this forum (obviously), Elite section on reddit, Inara (I have it open before I even fire up the steam to launch Elite), eddb.io and many many many.... You get the point.

All in all there are multitude of materials for You to learn on, which direction You take is Your own, like Cmdr Nemo LXXI rightly said, it's a sandbox game, You set out Your own goals: peaceful loving merchant, grafting miner, post man, space vigilante, battle - hardened pirate, space shuttle driver, pioneering explorer, alien hunter... to name the few. Maybe a bit of all, whatever digs You.

If You don't want to invest in the game by getting a joy or HOTAS, try using XBOX controller, that's how I got into it and soon enough I was ploughing through space dust on my first HOTAS. Dunno why, but even with limited controls, it felt far more intuitive especially in combat and the thumbs gave so much more control over the ship that even when I got my t1600 I still used controller for combat for a while.

Finally, do not get discouraged by learning curve which is steep as mentioned by others, but think about it as a challenge for Yourself. After all, how many of us were where You are and we stayed and spent far more time in space than a sane person would endure (yes You read that right Your sanity is gonna get tested... alot...).

I hope this lengthy answer shed a bit of light on that pitch black abyss... I would not be surprised if it confused the hell out of You even more though :)

Welcome to community CMDR, fly safe
o7 (I honestly just learned what that o7 is all about today by accident when read something random on reddit, that's how mind bugging this game can be:p)
 

michalfoc

M
Lowbee said:
First of all, welcome! 😊

You've gotten a pretty good general explanation of supercruise and hyperdrive already so there you go.

Flight assist is on by default. When you use a key to apply a directional thruster you make your ship rotate around that particular axis. When you let go of the key flight assist acts like it assumes you want the rotation to now stop and automatically applies thrust in the opposite direction to attempt to stop it and bring you back to level flight. If you turn it off, you will continue to rotate after you let go of the thruster key until you intentionally apply thrust in the opposite direction enough to stop it. It can be disorienting until you learn to use much smaller applications of thrust and to "quiet" your ship. However, you have many more movement and orientaion possibilities with FA off so in combat it can be very useful to be moving in one direction but be facing in another, eg. firing at someone behind you while continuing to move forward.

Ships don't have fuel scoops by default, you must purchase them as an optional slot item. You really do need one if you're traveling long distances or between a series of uninhabited systems that have no stations or planetary outposts at which to refuel, unless there is a fleet carrier nearby that will allow to land there.

The learning curve is steep and there's a lot to know, but there are plenty of good videos out there, as well as 3rd party tools and excellent websites that can help you sort out all that stuff. Many things cannot be rushed and just take time, practice, and familiarization.

What everyone here will agree on is that, as you get all these things under your belt you'll be rewarded with bucketloads of fun and fascinating discoveries. You'll also meet lots of friendly folks who will gladly share what they've learned with you. :)
Click to expand...

I will sub to that, whatever You do appart from combat, don't leave station without fuel scoop, what ever ship You use, whatever activity You do, ALWAYS have a fuel scoop :)

o7
 

ImpeccableTaste

I
Xious said:
Which system are you starting in?

If you're not in Eravate, I would go there, look for some missions that pay good or try some in-system trading.

Data delivery missions should pay well and you won't need cargo space.
Click to expand...

I don't remember the system where I started... the name began with a D i think.
Well I got the hang of basic navigation. I've been doing a no-risk cargo run from this system called abrogo, you can find tritiu there for a ridiculous cheap price3 or 4k something like that. Upgraded the sidewinder to 8T cargo and I have 1.6m. Doesn't seem to be any better ships on offer anywhere around, I might need to do some faction missions to get access to better ships.
 

michalfoc

M
only ships ou have to unlock are 4 federal and 4 imperial, all 29 others (i think) are available straight away for You to buy
 

Xious

Xious
Ship availability is different from station to station.

Stations - EDDB

Stations in Elite: Dangerous - search, filter, find and sort stations ... and find modules and ships!
eddb.io eddb.io

According to that link, you can find a Cobra Mk III in Cavins at Alcala Hub which is about 12ly away from Abrogo.

You can check prices and work on loadouts here...

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
coriolis.io coriolis.io
 

CMDR UBEN HADD

C
I learned by doing but Elite is a MMO so you can ask someone to be your wing person to show you the ropes. I would volunteer but for the next couple of weeks, I'll be grinding for Guardian stuff in the Synuefe sector. However, here are some of my tips. Play solo. There are griefers in the open play that like messing with Newbies.

1. If you are willing, invest in a throttle and stick. I use and recommend Thrustmaster T.1600 FCS HOTAS. It just makes the flying easier than a keyboard and mouse.

2. Learn what the four corners of the ships UI can provide you. Left - Navigation, Up - Communication, Right - Ship Status, Bottom - misc info

3. Learn to Hypercruise within the star system. This game is a grind. It can take 5 or more minutes to hypercruise to a plant or station within a star system. It all depends on how far away the object is from the system star. i.e. don't get discourage because the closest station is 130,000 ls. Just aim towards the object, throttle up, and relax for a few minutes.

3a. This took me a while but learn how to drop from Hypercruise safely. Rule of thumb: watch the count down clock. When it reaches 7-8 secs, throttle down to the middle of the blue area. Your ship will start to slow down incrementally and eventually your speed and distance will be in the blue. You will the get the ok to drop from Hypercruise safely and you will be within 8-9k from the station.

4. Learn to Hyperjump from star system to star system. Much easier to Hypercruise because once you jump, the ship will automatically drop from jump and you will be Hypercrusing. Remember to maneuver away from the sun.

5. Learn how to dock. I did buy a landing computer but honestly it not to hard, especially if you have a throttle and stick. Frees up a ship slot for other things.

6. Earn credits. The safe way is to trade and missions. I started by doing missions between two side by side star system, mainly courier mission and also fill my cargo hold. This is your first grind until you get enough credits to buy a new ship, more cargo holds, better weapons. You can do combat missions but I would wait until you are very comfortable with manipulating the controls.

7. If you don't like the keyboard layout, change it. It is in the settings.

BTW, I don't know how old you are but in my good old days, games came in boxes with printed manuals. I would read the heck out of manuals before playing the game. My favorite was Might and Magic because the extras in the box were outstanding. Anyway, with downloadable games, to include manuals, I tend to just jump into things and learn by doing, which makes games in general "hard" at first.

If you still need help after a couple of weeks, look me up in the game. I should be back in the bubble by then and can give you a hand.
 
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