Today marks the 10th anniversary of my arrival into Sagittarius A*.
The Supermassive Black Hole at the centre of the galaxy, Sagittarius A*, was always something I wanted to see. Back in the Gamma release of the original game ten years ago, before proposed changes (that never really materialised) to the way FSDs wore out after overuse would have been implemented. Seeing that Sagittarius A* was actually in the game, then after making a little bit of cash in gold trading and getting a class A FSD for my explorer-class Kickstarter backing Cobra Mk III, all 22 LY of it, I took the plunge.
I hoped to actually see it before the end of Gamma, before everything was reset. It was difficult: server stability issues due to the nature of the early code and graphical rendering in the Core slowed things down a lot. There was no route plotter, no neutron boosting, no engineering, no Fuel Rats or Hull Seals, no FSD injections, and I had no idea what I needed to explore apart from a FSD, a (what was then) Advanced Discovery Scanner, and a fuel scoop. I even took beam weapons, a heavy shield and an old-school docking computer with me. In addition, for some reason I was pursued all the way by bandits, right up to the core itself, and occasional interdictions would send me crashing into the suns' coronas, causing hull and canopy damage. Worst of all, close to the target itself, the game would refuse to let me jump into specific systems at all, so getting into Sagittarius A* itself was a lottery.
Thankfully, they let me in.
I ended up staying in the sector for a few days, also moving up to the Galactic roof to see the spiral arms sprawled below me, an idea based on a recommendation of things to do from the much missed Michael Brookes.
I hurried back for personal reasons, and a week later successfully docked at Abraham Lincoln Station in Sol.
The original journey took four days, eventful due to failed jumps and critical errors, and mentally and physically exhausting, and without today's modern tools and technologies. Back then my 22LY Cobra Mk III took four days, but with neutron highway plotting and scooping, FSD engineering and Guardian boosts, a Cobra Mk III with more than double the base range of my original can now do the journey in less than 12 hours.
I was glad to have seen it, but never expected to be the first. It changed my outlook somewhat, and made me believe in the one most constant galactic presence that would outlive humanity and Thargoids alike, and even the stars and planets around us for centillions of aeons: The Supermassive One.
Today, of course, thousands have made the trip there. A permanent human presence is now there in the form of Explorer's Anchorage a few LY away thanks to the input of Distant Worlds II, and also countless player fleet carriers. It's a busy place now.
This week, amid the most troubling existential crisis faced by humanity, I decided to make another visit to Sagittarius A*. The place has changed a lot, it feels more beautiful today. Perhaps the Supermassive One has one last trick of divine intervention to save us. I can only hope.
The Supermassive Black Hole at the centre of the galaxy, Sagittarius A*, was always something I wanted to see. Back in the Gamma release of the original game ten years ago, before proposed changes (that never really materialised) to the way FSDs wore out after overuse would have been implemented. Seeing that Sagittarius A* was actually in the game, then after making a little bit of cash in gold trading and getting a class A FSD for my explorer-class Kickstarter backing Cobra Mk III, all 22 LY of it, I took the plunge.
I hoped to actually see it before the end of Gamma, before everything was reset. It was difficult: server stability issues due to the nature of the early code and graphical rendering in the Core slowed things down a lot. There was no route plotter, no neutron boosting, no engineering, no Fuel Rats or Hull Seals, no FSD injections, and I had no idea what I needed to explore apart from a FSD, a (what was then) Advanced Discovery Scanner, and a fuel scoop. I even took beam weapons, a heavy shield and an old-school docking computer with me. In addition, for some reason I was pursued all the way by bandits, right up to the core itself, and occasional interdictions would send me crashing into the suns' coronas, causing hull and canopy damage. Worst of all, close to the target itself, the game would refuse to let me jump into specific systems at all, so getting into Sagittarius A* itself was a lottery.
Thankfully, they let me in.
I ended up staying in the sector for a few days, also moving up to the Galactic roof to see the spiral arms sprawled below me, an idea based on a recommendation of things to do from the much missed Michael Brookes.
I hurried back for personal reasons, and a week later successfully docked at Abraham Lincoln Station in Sol.
The original journey took four days, eventful due to failed jumps and critical errors, and mentally and physically exhausting, and without today's modern tools and technologies. Back then my 22LY Cobra Mk III took four days, but with neutron highway plotting and scooping, FSD engineering and Guardian boosts, a Cobra Mk III with more than double the base range of my original can now do the journey in less than 12 hours.
I was glad to have seen it, but never expected to be the first. It changed my outlook somewhat, and made me believe in the one most constant galactic presence that would outlive humanity and Thargoids alike, and even the stars and planets around us for centillions of aeons: The Supermassive One.
Today, of course, thousands have made the trip there. A permanent human presence is now there in the form of Explorer's Anchorage a few LY away thanks to the input of Distant Worlds II, and also countless player fleet carriers. It's a busy place now.
This week, amid the most troubling existential crisis faced by humanity, I decided to make another visit to Sagittarius A*. The place has changed a lot, it feels more beautiful today. Perhaps the Supermassive One has one last trick of divine intervention to save us. I can only hope.
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