Newcomer / Intro Please Post Recommendations: New Player

Wargfoot · Feb 25, 2019

I'm taking down the names of everyone who uses puns in this thread.
I intend to murder everyone on this list.

...just as soon as I can figure out how to lower my landing gear.

In all seriousness, I can see that it is probably going to take a couple of weeks to get used to the controls and figure out how I want stuff to work. There is an element of actual training involved here. This is probably the most complex game I've ever played - especially when it comes to just getting started.

Rob At Work · Feb 25, 2019

Harry P*tter is from the Dark Side

phong · Feb 25, 2019

Buy a fuel scoop.Fly far.Good luck.

Maenden · Feb 25, 2019

Never fly in Open - join a large PvE group like Mobius.
Get a docking computer - you can learn to dock manually one day in the future when you're terminally bored.

https://elitepve.com/

Marra Morgan · Feb 25, 2019

Never let shills who are trying to promote their favourite Private Group tell you what mode to play in. Try them all and decide for yourself.

Wargfoot · Feb 25, 2019

I took a picture of my most successful landing to date.
Note that the hull is mostly intact.

Wargfoot · Feb 25, 2019

Ya'lls comments leave me with a question: Do credits earned in solo play, group play, open play all get shared with the same character?
I wouldn't know as I'm still in the tutorials.

[VR] Frank_G · Feb 25, 2019

Welcome to the void, CMDR!

Number one advice: Never grind and have fun flying a spaceship.
Number two advice: Never fly without rebuy cash in the bank.
Number three advice: Stay in Solo mode or a Private Group unless you can handle your ships function blind and with one arm tied behind your back.

fly dangerous!

o7 CMDR

Chris Simon · Feb 25, 2019

Wargfoot said:
Ya'lls comments leave me with a question: Do credits earned in solo play, group play, open play all get shared with the same character?
I wouldn't know as I'm still in the tutorials.

The only difference between the modes is whether or not you're going to see other players. Credits, reputation, ranks, ships,... all is the same. You can switch back and forth as you like

Marra Morgan · Feb 25, 2019

Wargfoot said:
Ya'lls comments leave me with a question: Do credits earned in solo play, group play, open play all get shared with the same character?
I wouldn't know as I'm still in the tutorials.

Yes, they do.

The different modes are simply filters for other players;

Open does not apply any filters - you will encounter other commanders who are pursuing their own goals and agendas.
Private Group will filter out all other players except for those in the Private Group's membership list.
Solo will filter out all players.

You can switch your mode, or filter, at will with no penalty. The factions, the states they are in and the missions they offer are the same across all the modes.

[VR] Frank_G · Feb 25, 2019

Wargfoot said:
Ya'lls comments leave me with a question: Do credits earned in solo play, group play, open play all get shared with the same character?
I wouldn't know as I'm still in the tutorials.

Game mode can be switched at any time and is not linked to your character. Everything is shared between all modes.

Wargfoot · Feb 25, 2019

That information is all very encouraging.
There are times when I want PvP danger in a game and times when I mindlessly want to do PvE.
It is nice that they all contribute to the same character.

Seems an excellent way to do PvP, IMHO.

Wargfoot · Feb 25, 2019

Frank_G said:
Number three advice: Stay in Solo mode or a Private Group unless you can handle your ships function blind and with one arm tied behind your back.

fly dangerous!

o7 CMDR

I've a friend that I want to spar with until we both learn the controls and how to defend ourselves.
I can see already it is going to take a solid month for me to get comfortable with the interface.
Dogfighting isn't part of my immediate future.

I did pick up an Oculus Rift this weekend - while the graphics aren't nearly as sharp as my monitor (pixelated somewhat) the readability of the dashboard and such is greatly improved and the experience is unlike anything else I've ever encountered. That is a big part of the learning curve for me since pretty much everything is going to have to be mapped to the stick/thruster - with 12 buttons - what a ' nightmare.

For example, I tried to map lateral thrusts to button 5 and another thingy but if I pressed them in the wrong order button 5 would boost - which is not advisable when inside a station and trying to dock. Some guy with a thick Russian accent is yelling at me - people inside the station are laughing and pointing - the lady in the cafeteria doesn't even make eye contact anymore. Terrible.

So for the month of March I'm just hoping to get basic flight controls down and run a few simple delivery missions.

Marra Morgan · Feb 25, 2019

Wargfoot said:
That is a big part of the learning curve for me since pretty much everything is going to have to be mapped to the stick/thruster - with 12 buttons - what a ' nightmare.

I have the same stick as you, and I use buttons 3 & 4 as shift-buttons, tripling the amount of functions I can map

Wargfoot · Feb 25, 2019

Kari Kerenski said:
I have the same stick as you, and I use buttons 3 & 4 as shift-buttons, tripling the amount of functions I can map

That is a solid idea.
If I take the functionality off the button entirely (using it only for shift) I won't have to worry about upsetting the guy with the Russian accent.

Ashnak · Feb 25, 2019

Another hint: as long as you don't want to use the lateral thrusters in space, but only for aligning on the pad, there's this section called "landing override" in the bindings menu. Effectively, it's another mapping that can become active whenever you lowered your landing gear. Was pretty useful for me when I played with a gamepad.

Wargfoot · Feb 25, 2019

Ashnak said:
Another hint: as long as you don't want to use the lateral thrusters in space, but only for aligning on the pad, there's this section called "landing override" in the bindings menu. Effectively, it's another mapping that can become active whenever you lowered your landing gear. Was pretty useful for me when I played with a gamepad.

OMG!
I didn't know what that was about - that makes so much sense!

Question for elite flyers: How important is the vertical thrust (straight up and down) and lateral thrust (straight left and right) out in space when fighting evil pirates that kidnapped the princess that has the total hots for you but never had the courage to admit it; however, she'd admit it if you burst into her cell shirtless because the space lizards ripped off your $200 wool turtleneck - she'd have to confess her love then - but only to a man who knows if vertical and horizontal thrust is important in deep space and not only useful for landing. She has standards, that one.

Marra Morgan · Feb 25, 2019

Wargfoot said:
OMG!
I didn't know what that was about - that makes so much sense!

Question for elite flyers: How important is the vertical thrust (straight up and down) and lateral thrust (straight left and right) out in space when fighting evil pirates that kidnapped the princess that has the total hots for you but never had the courage to admit it; however, she'd admit it if you burst into her cell shirtless because the space lizards ripped off your $200 wool turtleneck - she'd have to confess her love then - but only to a man who knows if vertical and horizontal thrust is important in deep space and not only useful for landing. She has standards, that one.

I am no space princess (far too rough around the edges and not fond of monarchies), but I know that I can beat any man in a spaceship who doesn't use his lats & verts!

Ashnak · Feb 25, 2019

Depends on what kind of scum you're fighting against. The ususal cannon fodder can barely be trusted to distinguish between forward and backwards, but the higher level NPCs (and especially those found in Combat Zones) will know (and use) every trick in the book, so a full 6 DOF setup is definitely recommended for these cases.
However, that means 6 analogue axes - not something your stick can handle. The cheapest stick that's usually recommended for that is the Thurstmaster 16000 HOTAS (or, if you want to focus on FA OFF, a dual 16000 stick setup). With the throttle, you have the three rotational axes on the stick, and the three translational axes on the throttle (main axis, plus a little analogue stick under the left index finger for u/down/left/right).

Like this: https://edrefcard.info/binds/kousfn

aRJay · Feb 25, 2019

Lateral and vertical thrusters are very useful for chasing surface features round spinning and tumbling space rocks for mining, can be very helpful when trying to avoid interdiction and are also useful in combat. I need to be in landing override to use forward and reverse thrusters as well.