Out For A Quiet Sunday Stroll

[Zarkon]

I jumped into the Federal Cruiser Combat Bond mission and found many commanders but only a few NPC pirates. One pirate wasn't attacking, so I moved in close for a screenshot. I hadn't noticed before but it looks like FD has added more detail to the exterior view cockpits at some point. Very nice!

Not really up for MP or the desperate attempts to kill a pirate before the next commander does, I decided to skip the combat stuff today and set out to reach one of the planets. This is much more doable than before, now that we can save our progress. Here are a few shots of me flying from the Federal Bond mission to Iota Cruxis One. The Cobra Mk.III is much faster than a Sidewinder, but it still took a few hours to reach lower orbit.

A few things I learned today; If you wander too far away from a combat mission, the Nav Menu adds it back onto the list as a targetable jump location. Also, the surface of Iota Cruxis One shows to be a little over 2,000 km from the Federal Bond mission. Later today I think I will try landing on the planet's surface, though I doubt I will be very successful.

 

[MortVader]

Great

 

[Zplintz]

Good luck. If surface flight is implemented (ie it works for you - I expect there will be a mad rush.

+1 explorers rep for you.

 

[ATARI.]

* Arrives at surface after 28+ hours... Crash*

 

[graham.reeds]

* Arrives at surface after 28+ hours... Crash*

To surface or to desktop?

 

[Stoo]

I very much doubt you'll reach the surface

 

[acr0b3rts]

Good job! I (like many others, I'm sure) started out on that journey in a sidewinder. It got very old very quickly!

 

[el_tel]

I tried that in an old Alpha version (dunno which one):

Don't click the spoiler if you don't want to know what happened

Spoiler

It disappeared as I got close. Took 3 hours or thereabouts. Pitching up for a 'planet skim' made it reappear

 

[Zplintz]

* Arrives at surface after 28+ hours... Crash*

To surface or to desktop?

hahahaha! (I hope that was meant to be funny - it certainly made me laugh).


@ATARI - 28+ hours of continuous flight (using saves but no crashes)?

 

[Dead Fred]

To surface or to desktop?

Microsoft Surface Desktop?

I'm confused....

 

[Zarkon]

Don't click the spoiler if you don't want to know what happened

Yeah that's what I was expecting. I'd seen screenshots and vids made by others but I have been wanting to do this since day one. I did have to take a lot of breaks during the journey. At one point I turned off my cargo latch and within moments the ship froze up. I am surprised at how balanced the Cobra's power usage is. Had to close up my vents to warm things back up.

From where I logged back in, it took less than an hour to reach the point where the surface starts to disappear. At a guess I would say I was a few hundred kilometers over the planet. I was going to land if possible, but there's no way of knowing where the surface is (if there is any yet), so I cruised over the planet for a while then jumped back to Zelada Station.

Who knows, next Sunday I may wander over to Zelada itself and skim under the cloud layers... maybe

 

[Styggron]

Moved from the Alpha forum to the General forum at the OP's request.

 

[scrufferpops]

Nice. When you get close to the surface the textures are blurred but thats to be expected at this mid stage...When they fully implement planetary landing no doubt it'll be crisp and clear

 

[Zarkon]

Thanks Styggron! I wanted to move the thread as it really isn't productive in any way, but I would like to share some of the images I've been taking on my recent adventures. After returning to safe haven that is Zelada Station, I tried flying to the planet but the game kept crashing when I reached a certain distance away from the station.

I spawned into Zelada one time and meet the Unknown Commander. Other PCs where checking this shadowy cobra out as well. Who was that masked player anyway?

On approach to the station, a glitch in my weapon grouping caused me to 'accidentally' fire upon the station. I escaped the wrath of the turrets, but fought a half dozen feds around the back of the station. Oddly I did not get a crime filed against me.

I have decided to continue exploring the wild black yonder, and headed to Contested Space to try flying into the eclipse and see what the other side of that moon looks like.

 

[Patrick_68000]

Indeed, you approached from the planet. At this altitude, we will be able already see beautiful things on countless planets

 

[Patrick_68000]

When they fully implement planetary landing no doubt it'll be crisp and clear

If there are no storms

 

[Zarkon]

Flying from Contested Space, I travelled for 2 hrs towards the eclipse, almost 2200 km before finally saving and logging off. Might be another 6+ hrs before reaching the moon's lower orbit.

I logged back in to discover a sun with no planet, and the blue nebula of the Zelada system filling the sky. Turning around I found 3 moons in conjunction. All with different surfaces, one very small.

It took 2 hrs to reach the edge of the 1st moon. There were no dust particles in this region of space, so the trip felt kind'a eerie. Shortly after the last screenshot I CTD.

Logging back on, I'm still in the Zelada system with the 3 moons, but find myself all the way back at my last login point. It'll take another couple of hours getting to where I was just at. It might take 8-10 hrs to reach the middle moon from my current location. The small moon has a different texture than the other two, and looks like it may have a thin atmosphere.

 

[legal666]

This is why you explore! Just for the joy of seeing what is out here.

 

[Zarkon]

Thanks, legal. Here's my final report:

The three moons orbit their host planet as a group, with the strong magnetic properties of the middle moon keeping the other two in pace. Gravitational proximity of the two shepherd moons are continuously pulling at the smaller satellite, keeping it's core very hot. There appears to be intense subspace emissions radiating from the central moon, causing my ship's internal systems to constantly CTD. I flew as close as I dared, maxed out my imaging resolution, lowered the FOV, and focused on the radar to get the best picture possible.

The smaller moon looks similar to this world, which I believe falls within the same classification as Jupiter's Io. If so, this could be a very rich mother lode of minerals that some lucky miner can retire on. No doubt the Feds already have all of Zelada under corporate control. Still, this little gem is hidden between two larger moons. Normal deep space scans might have missed it. I'll file a claim as soon as I return to the station.

/end transmission

 

[Wolf]

OMG, that is beautiful!
I can already see the flood of pictures like that rolling in starting with Alpha 4.0.
This is exactly what we have been waiting for since 30 years!

No I really have to take care not to forget that I have obligations in real life once beta 1 comes out.
Too easy to get sucked into this fantastic Elite universe!