[Not] Yet another circumnavigation

[Alec Turner]

Thanks Nick!

One more thing: looking at the map



I might just head south-west, along the canyon towards that big cratery thing. Out of curiosity and hope it might be easier to cross. Yea, need to sleep about that.

Opinions, anybody?

I don't know - that "big cratery thing" looks worryingly like the dreaded "sack" feature that caused Jonas Treesong so much trouble on Ariel.

Discussion of that feature and how to get past it starts around here and continues for several pages of tense, nail biting mis-adventure.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...umnavigation?p=7112522&viewfull=1#post7112522

 

[Florenus]

Oh, damn. I think I just got hooked on circumnavigation thread again...
Good read and I love all the screenshots

 

[Taronas]

Oh, damn. I think I just got hooked on circumnavigation thread again...
Good read and I love all the screenshots

Cool, thanks. Was bout to ask whether the shots are too many or anything.

Excellent! Always happy to see a new circumnavigation to follow. I love how you're throwing yourself into it, on a beautiful and challenging world!

Challenging oh yea, more than I asked for. And I regretted the "throwing into it" already quite a bit:
- didn't scout the moon before
- didn't bring 4 SRV
- didn't replace the remaining Passenger cabins in the T-7 with cargo holds for all the loot
- didn't put the fresh paint on the SRV!! I bought a lovely red paint only recently :-(
- didn't turn around on day one after the first taste of getting stuck.

I don't know - that "big cratery thing" looks worryingly like the dreaded "sack" feature that caused Jonas Treesong so much trouble on Ariel.

Ah yes, thanks for the reminder! Will reconsider

 

[Kris]

Cool, thanks. Was bout to ask whether the shots are too many or anything.

Pics are great. (there is never too many )

Beautiful icy body, like the bluish ice.

 

[Taronas]

Day Five: "Nothing happened"

besides a few nasty crashes against those larger boulders scattered across the plains.

It was not as dark as when I left the day before, so I assume at least one body is moving around, causing different lighting throughout the day, or so? Anyways. that made it easy to cross the valley (don't call it canyon) straight ahead.


Olelbis-Olelbis 3 a (20181121-194700)

Using that nice bridge across.

On the other side I followed the canyon valley for a couple kilometers, heading towards that big craterly thingy on the map.


Olelbis-Olelbis 3 a (20181121-200932)

Some flyfing exercises along the way. 47m/s! Later I managed even ~60m/s once. Just don't tell anybody about the landing :-(

Reached the THING:


2018-11-21 21_28_11-TCE WORKSPACE

From the rather low viewpoint of the SRV not that exciting as expected. Crossing through here would surely have been worse though.


Olelbis-Olelbis 3 a (20181121-203040)

Somehow got around that and finally turned south again. Lots of flat plains, if only it weren't for those nasty boulders everywhere!

Finally again a somewhat serious looking valley to cross:


Olelbis-Olelbis 3 a (20181121-205935)

"Just beware of the holes and you will be save" Huch, who said that?!

Olelbis-Olelbis 3 a (20181121-210705)

Lots of opportunity for more flying excercises but no big challenge overall.


Passing a little crater, for a slight change in landscape


Olelbis-Olelbis 3 a (20181121-211936)

More speeding along until I reached the next canyon valley.


Olelbis-Olelbis 3 a (20181121-215302)

Called in the ship for the night.



Started the day with 1.174km to the mark, stopped after two hours at 1.059km. Need to stop less for repairs and materials. Total SRV Mileage now at 1.05MM

 

[Florenus]

Did I mention I like your screenshots?
Makes following your progress easy and more engaging. [up]

 

[Taronas]

Did I mention I like your screenshots?
Makes following your progress easy and more engaging. [up]

Great, thanks! Let me present a couple more

Day Six: "Progress"

1059km to 816km = 245km closer to the turning point.
And one can see it on the map, halfway there! Will I make it all the way around after all? At this rate only three more weeks!
SRV Distance traveled now at 1.32MM



Crossed a couple valleys (don't call them canyons), only the last one seemed to pose a challenge but then I could climb up the wall straight line at 50° slope. And long stretches of open field in between. Only those boulders, damnit. There is always one that moves directly into your flyving landing spot :-(

Came also across some interesting spots, right when it started to get boring.

Some impressions:


Easy crossing by the flat area on the left side


Another canyon ahead


And another one


Some rough terrain in between


Canyon …


Cruising around a crater hole

Why is it that the SRV has a tendency to turn towards the mountain/higher side (right in this case) when driving across such sloped areas? Drives me nuts!


Remains of a crashed freighter(?). Sadly no survivors, no escape pods.


Guarded factory. All sentinels so far did not belong to any faction and were not wanted or anything. I better not attack innocent robots. Couldn't even reach the data point here from outside the fenced area



This looks interesting already from the distance, not as nimble as all the previous ones


Crater in front of a wall of Ice


Wall of Ice ahead


Some random ship in front of a wall of Ice


Again, no survivors :-( And nothing from scanning the data point :-(


Some kind of big insect? It's standing only on the front feet! Nice trick!


I made it! See the tracks on the ice? Love that


End of the day


The best thing so far: it doesn't get totally dark! The sky, the light from that nebula, seems to lighten up the ground quite a lot, even more than a bright full moon on earth.

Good Night

 

[Florenus]

I just returned to that system to collect CG rewards and looked at that moon more closely.
It seems the opposite site has even more varied landscape

Spoiler

 

[Alec Turner]

This is brilliant stuff and some wonderful screenshots! Despite early protestations it appears you have the heart of a true planetary circumnavigator after all! You can't possibly give up after all this, never give up! never surrender! - onwards to glorious victory now I think?

Why is it that the SRV has a tendency to turn towards the mountain/higher side (right in this case) when driving across such sloped areas? Drives me nuts!

I know, it's really quite counterintuitive isn't it (the way the SRV wants to turn to face UP a steep slope when you're traversing across it, often to the extent that you have to hold full lock against the slope just to go straight) - it fascinates me. I wonder if it's something to do with the reverse wheel steering and the weight being on the back wheels?

 

[Taronas]

I just returned to that system to collect CG rewards and looked at that moon more closely.
It seems the opposite site has even more varied landscape

Looking forward to that already, the sunny side starts to become somewhat monotone ;-)

This is brilliant stuff and some wonderful screenshots! Despite early protestations it appears you have the heart of a true planetary circumnavigator after all! You can't possibly give up after all this, never give up! never surrender! - onwards to glorious victory now I think?


I know, it's really quite counterintuitive isn't it (the way the SRV wants to turn to face UP a steep slope when you're traversing across it, often to the extent that you have to hold full lock against the slope just to go straight) - it fascinates me. I wonder if it's something to do with the reverse wheel steering and the weight being on the back wheels?

With all the spectators, giving up doesn't seem like an option anymore, talk about "no pressure", LOL And I look forward to giving your Race Track a go - once I have finished this endeavour.

Now, to the SRV, that's my only explanation for the behavior as well: the back of the vehicle seems heavier and will therefore go "down", making the vehicle face "up" on the slightest bump on the slope.

 

[Orvidius]

Why is it that the SRV has a tendency to turn towards the mountain/higher side (right in this case) when driving across such sloped areas? Drives me nuts!

I know, it's really quite counterintuitive isn't it (the way the SRV wants to turn to face UP a steep slope when you're traversing across it, often to the extent that you have to hold full lock against the slope just to go straight) - it fascinates me. I wonder if it's something to do with the reverse wheel steering and the weight being on the back wheels?

As best I can tell, it has to do with friction between the wheels and the ground. The side that has the higher ground results in the wheels biting into it harder, creating more drag on that side, and spinning you toward it.

Conversely, sometimes you'll start to tip enough that the wheels on the other side completely lose traction, and the more you fight it, the worse it gets. Turning with the spin, rather than against it, can get the wheels to slam back down and restore traction. This is more for level ground, and dealing with those bumps that make the SRV want to start rotating and tipping, seemingly out of nowhere.

 

[Alec Turner]

You know Frontier have done a stirling job of modelling the SRV's behaviour and physics when we discuss its foibles in terms of "weight" and "traction" and "drag"! [yesnod]

 

[Orvidius]

You know Frontier have done a stirling job of modelling the SRV's behaviour and physics when we discuss its foibles in terms of "weight" and "traction" and "drag"! [yesnod]

Heck yeah! I used to get very annoyed at the "Sudden Rotation Vehicle", until I started paying attention to how it was reacting to control input. I'm realizing now just how brilliantly designed it is.

 

[Taronas]

Day 7: "Live was good, until ...

Canyons, Craters, the usual stuff, allowing good progress








A bit of a shock when I jump over a hill and nearly crash into that Clipper by a wanted NPC




Finally Survivors! Somebody to rescue! My trip is suddenly becoming important!
Wasn't there an Engineer asking for those escape pods? O wait, that guy sits in Colonia!?
Good for the pod inhabitant, will be set free at the next starport then - If we make it out here eventually.




After 150km I nearly jumped right into that one:



Looking around: huh, that stretches along quite a bit, in both directions. Perhaps there in the distance, a way to cross?


I think I have now hit this one:
(the position marker seems to be slightly off, noticed that on other situations already)


I really hope that a bit further east there might be a way to cross.


I only had 5:25 hours until south pole. This dertour will add quite a bit of time again :-(



UPDATE

I might have found a place to cross that trench.






The spot ahead seems not too deep and perhaps the walls are also not as steep as they appear from the distance. Something to check out tomorrow

Live will be good again, I'm sure!

 

[Rustnsawdust]

Just caught up with this... a great adventure so far. And some challenging terrain. The amount of junk on that moon is an interplanetary disgrace, though.

Good luck, commander. You're doing fine so far [up]

 

[Taronas]

Day 8: Didn't make it …

Week two! I'm still going, unbelievable Long post ahead, beware of many pictures!

Status when I woke up today:



What a nice day, it's daylight out there. And it confirms the impression from yesterday that I found a spot to cross the trench.



Let's head back a few KM, onto that hill and take a closer look at the area.
Hm …



That looked better from the distance! But I'm not in the mood for a long dertour around this. Just back up a bit



Build up some speed and GO



That did of course not go quite as planned but I made it down safely, across the ground and with some effort and careful slow 'freeclimbing' up the other side



With that one out of the way: let's head south! Now, I was wondering the whole time where the daylight actually comes from. I think I know:



Starlight reflected off the Planet! Wonder whether I will ever see that Star at some point.
Now let's hurry as long as the light lasts.

Lots of Craters, some small, some bigger, along the way



Again some Visitors. Or is this a ship graveyard down here?



Another Valley ahead





There is something down there! Is that smoke? What could that be?



Wow, crashed ship, the mostly intact hull (is it a DBX?) still smoking. And guarded, unfortunately. I'm not going against those guardians today!



Another lazy NPC



Some more freeclimbing out of the valley



And look what we got here!





Now, that doesn't scare me anymore! I wouldn't even have stopped were it not for taking the photograph!

Actually, there were two of them trenches. More fun for me!




I hope the pilot didn't mind me bumping onto his ship, no time for going around, I'm in a hurry!




Slowly the daylight is fading away, casting long shadows




Interesting landscape around those two craters





The following part was somewhat bumpy. And System Security is watching over my safety, nice guys.




And soon I reached another interesting feature:



Went straight through, across the mountain in the middle. Easy going (anybody sea sick in here??)

Somwhere in that area, Love the view of the night sky!



I continued quite a bit, more craters, less canyons, good progress.
But didn't make it to my 'South Pole' quite yet :-(



Status when I stopped for the day:



SRV Distance travelled: 2.04MM

6 occupied escape pods collected

Tomorrow is the day, yea! (unless reallive gets in the way)

 

[Florenus]

Impressive speed [woah]

Again some Visitors. Or is this a ship graveyard down here?
(...)
Another lazy NPC

Looks like this moon is local mafia safehouse

 

[Nick Sticks]

More great pictures.

 

[Taronas]

More great pictures.

Thanks!

Oh, and @Nick Sticks, while I have your attention.... I just read about your 'pirate incident' on Eol Prou FB-I b25-50 1 and I wonder:
Wouldn't it be sufficient to just dismiss the ship? Or would the pirate then hunt the SRV?

My T-7 is getting filled with salvage (and occupied escape pods) as well and I don't want to follow your example ;-)

 

[Taronas]

Impressive speed [woah]

Thanks to the weekend I could do a couple driving sessions throughout the day between RL interferences (see timestamps on pictures).

Regarding the actual speed: I tried to learn 'flyving' like it's demonstrated by the likes of Alec etc. but I think it's not my cup of tea. But sometimes I manage to build up speed, up to 50m/s by repeatedly jumping over stuff in short bursts forward. But usually that doesn't last long - with those funny boulders everywhere.