Return Fever - the enticing temptation of self destruct....no, yes....no....maybe?

[jacozilla]

'Return Fever' - (noun) - a mental state after exploring so long, and trip back seems so futile, the siren call of the self-destruct is a constant companion

2k LY out in my 23% power plant DBX, decided to keep going for 2k LY more. I know 4k LY is nothing compared to real Sag A type exploration but I am way, way out past usual day trip explorations.

The self destruct button...so shiny....

 

[ozrix84]

2k LY ain't worth it

 

[Haleks]

I did it. But that was back during the 1.3 update, when it was impossible to make 5 jumps without crashing.
It was kinda driving me crazy and... yeah I did it. A return trip from the core, I don't even wanna know how many credits I lost...

Don't do it : the first station you see will be shinier than the button.

 

[jacozilla]

2k LY ain't worth it

Had a steam client related smack 2k LY out into a star that burnt me crispy, down to half hull and 23% power plant. Decided to keep going instead of turning back - got another 2k, and am now just ~4k LY out from Sol.

I scan primary star + only interesting planets like metal, water, and earth. At that rate, my mere 4k is going to be a good chunk of time, probably 2-3 days to get back. I'm contemplating just doing hyper chain jumps with no scanning just to dash back.

Or the button.

 

[Marshall...]

Don't do it mate, it'll play on your mind forever more. Bring her back for some tea and biscuits. Honk n jump to speed things up, whilst getting a few extra CRs.

 

[ozrix84]

I scan primary star + only interesting planets like metal, water, and earth. At that rate, my mere 4k is going to be a good chunk of time, probably 2-3 days to get back. I'm contemplating just doing hyper chain jumps with no scanning just to dash back.

Or the button.

Yeah, dashing will get you back in a matter of hours. Scanning the area until the cooldown on your FSD wears off is an option. Personally, I wouldn't want to lose the progress on my exploration rank. Switch the game into windowed mode and play a movie over the game or something, makes the tedium less tedious.

 

[tetra]

Went through the exact same thing coming back from Sag A, only thing that kept me going was the thought of losing all that data and rendering 2 months of work partially worthless. If you're sick of it just dedicate yourself to X amount of LY per day, even just like 200. There is no real rush to be back just remember that, if you have been out a while it can wait another 10 days.

 

[Hagledesperado]

Set your map to fastest route and head towards civilization.

Scoop, honk, jump, repeat.

Practice this routine. Compete against yourself, see how quickly you can do each system. You'll be home before you know it.

(Edit: Unless you end your days inside a close binary. YMMV.)

 

[GJ51]

1.5 - 2K LY per hour is normal cruising speed.

One jump per min. @ 25 LY per jump = 1.5 LY

At a 33.33 LY per jump avg. = 2K LY per hour.

 

[jacozilla]

Went through the exact same thing coming back from Sag A, only thing that kept me going was the thought of losing all that data and rendering 2 months of work partially worthless. If you're sick of it just dedicate yourself to X amount of LY per day, even just like 200. There is no real rush to be back just remember that, if you have been out a while it can wait another 10 days.

That's kinda how my lizard brain, turned into mush out in this void, is working. If I had gone all the way to Sag A, I'd stick it out of sure because my logical brain would be telling my lizard brain - shut up, I have all this exploration data to lose.

And while 4k out and part of 4k back is a good chunk to lose, my lizard brain is saying - 'at least it isn't Sag A kinda data....do eet. push......'

I'm going to watch Lord of the Rings, part 1 on my side monitor while I just honk and dash. And sip cocoa.

 

[Jack Schitt]

Yeah, dashing will get you back in a matter of hours. Scanning the area until the cooldown on your FSD wears off is an option. Personally, I wouldn't want to lose the progress on my exploration rank. Switch the game into windowed mode and play a movie over the game or something, makes the tedium less tedious.

Yeah, definitely this. My last run out was only about 1800-2000ly over a long weekend, although I did a bit of wandering around at the furthest point looking for Earth-likes. When I got a sudden hankering for some bounty hunting I toyed with the idea of self destruct (I only had four water worlds and one Earth-like scanned) but decided to head back anyway. So I did it as a sprint thus:

• With a full tank, select a destination in the inhabited bubble (I used Shinrarta) and plot the fastest route.
• Backtrack along the route until you find the last star you can reach without refuelling.
• If that star is not scoopable, pick one nearby that is.
• Jump, honk and align, engage the FSD countdown as soon as possible.
• While it's counting down, check the system map (have a key or button bound). If there's anything of interest, abort the jump and take a closer look, otherwise...
• Continue to jump, honk and align, engage, jump, honk and align, engage, until you get to the target system.
• Align for a slow steady scoop and take a breather while the tank fills.
• Repeat from step one until you see civilisation.

2Kish took me a couple of hours in a 30ly Asp, with a handful of stops to fully scan untagged planetless systems (most stars are easy to scan from a distance) and I got just under 3 million for the data. Between that and the rebuy, I'm glad I didn't nuke the ship.

 

[Schmack]

Had a steam client related smack 2k LY out into a star that burnt me crispy, down to half hull and 23% power plant. Decided to keep going instead of turning back - got another 2k, and am now just ~4k LY out from Sol.

I scan primary star + only interesting planets like metal, water, and earth. At that rate, my mere 4k is going to be a good chunk of time, probably 2-3 days to get back. I'm contemplating just doing hyper chain jumps with no scanning just to dash back.

Or the button.

FYI, you won't find earth on other planets... just dirt. lol j/k

 

[PotatoOverdose]

Do it, pull the trigger, take the easy way out.

Imo, instead of a 'self destruct' button, they should have a drawer with a revolver and a single bullet. Engraved on the barrel of the revolver would be the words "Explorer's Respite".

 

[italktowalls]

i've been thinking about hitting that self-destruction button for the last few weeks now. i haven't seen human space since march 29th :/ i miss it soo much.... its so loney out here. just 11k LY to go....

 

[GJ51]

Do it, pull the trigger, take the easy way out.

Imo, instead of a 'self destruct' button, they should have a drawer with a revolver and a single bullet. Engraved on the barrel of the revolver would be the words "Explorer's Respite".

Nah - 2K or 4K is only 2 or 3 one hour sessions of cockpit time. Put on the music, lower the lighting, pour a goos drink and relax your way back home in no time at all...

Enjoy the trip, see the sights, don't grind.

- - - Updated - - -

i've been thinking about hitting that self-destruction button for the last few weeks now. i haven't seen human space since march 29th :/ i miss it soo much.... its so loney out here. just 11k LY to go....

At 1.5 -2 K/hr easily done over a weekend.

Don't panic

 

[Darrett]

1.5 - 2K LY per hour is normal cruising speed.

One jump per min. @ 25 LY per jump = 1.5 LY

At a 33.33 LY per jump avg. = 2K LY per hour.

I'd say it depends... I do about 300 LY per hour. I tend to scan a lot though and scoop at every star.

 

[Hagledesperado]

I'd say it depends... I do about 300 LY per hour. I tend to scan a lot though and scoop at every star.

That's not the way to get home quickly. But it's your choice, of course.

 

[Jack Schitt]

[...] Put on the music, [...]

Definitely recommended.

As a slightly off-topic aside, I used to listen to Radio Sidewinder while out exploring; a good selection of space-related tunes and the Galnet news and mock adverts helped to cement the fantasy that while I was hundreds of light years out, civilisation was no more than a few hours away. Sadly I had to stop when they began airing real adverts that shattered the illusion. While I appreciate that these things need to be funded, for me RS was a victim of its own success. It felt so much a part of the ED universe that the real world adverts destroyed it once they started.

A good playlist of music can certainly help while away the light years though. For people of a "certain age" who have access to it I strongly recommend The Mixtape playlist on the new Apple Music Radio. A quality selection of tracks, mostly from the late 70s, 80s and early 90s.

 

[Sire]

The farther you go the more that button will shine. Don't do it now go farther away, you will get more satisfaction in self destructing!

 

[GJ51]

Definitely recommended.

As a slightly off-topic aside, I used to listen to Radio Sidewinder while out exploring; a good selection of space-related tunes and the Galnet news and mock adverts helped to cement the fantasy that while I was hundreds of light years out, civilisation was no more than a few hours away. Sadly I had to stop when they began airing real adverts that shattered the illusion. While I appreciate that these things need to be funded, for me RS was a victim of its own success. It felt so much a part of the ED universe that the real world adverts destroyed it once they started.

A good playlist of music can certainly help while away the light years though. For people of a "certain age" who have access to it I strongly recommend The Mixtape playlist on the new Apple Music Radio. A quality selection of tracks, mostly from the late 70s, 80s and early 90s.

For sure. I tend to mix it up a bit as well. Radio Sidewinder on occasion unless they are on total heavy metal roll which they somtimes do. I also like Songza for commercial free genre playlists. There's all kinds of good free option available.

All good as long as you find what you like, relax and enjoy the trip.

It's when you start thinking that you're going to go out and get to Elite as fast as you can that Exploration will grind you down fast. Set the right mood, enjoy the trip, and the rest will eventually take care of itself.