Newcomer / Intro So..my first days

Thoris

T
I had seen the announcement of it being developed, but hadn't followed it closely. So I just now bought the game. I played Elite on my Amiga back in the days, so I'm somewhat familiar with the setting. Otherwise, this new game is completely fresh for me.

First roadblock...sitting in the cockpit, and wondering how the heck do I control anything here lol. Luckily, the tutorial videos helped a bit, and reading the manual also helped quite a bit :)

However, my first jump was done before I had read the manual, so I had no idea about escaping interdiction or stuff. Of course I was interdicted right away (NPC pirate, sure, go for my 4t of grain :). Managed to shoot him down, and he actually had a bounty on him! Nice 4k bonus for a total newb!

But that was about it in excitement. Since then I've been looking into trading options, however, in the starting system and many systems around pretty much every station is on lockdown currently. This is extremely frustrating, because I can't trade and I also can't travel far without being able to dock somewhere to refuel! Didn't look into a fuel scoop, not sure if the sidewinder can even equip one.

Currently I feel kind of stuck there, and wondering where a better place to go might be. Also, another annoyance: Is there a way to make the galaxy map keep my settings (distance, rotation)? Currently when I switch to system view, and go back to the galaxy map, I'm centered back at my current position. I would much prefer if the map stayed where I was just looking at, and if there was a key to center me back..is there a way to do this?
 

gooddoc

gooddoc
Welcome cmdr, trading is difficult to start with, i moved away from my start point by around 50ly & eventually found a good trade route between two systems to make my money.
Yes you can fit a fuel scoop to your sidewinder.
No the galaxy map doesnt save your settings apart from fast route/economical route.
I found doing some exploration of nearby systems helped me in my first few days, it found me my trade route. Also you can do some board missions to gain you rep with factions

Also reading these forums gives you ideas on what you can be doing to improve your experience
 
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Undecided

Undecided
Thoris said:
...in the starting system and many systems around pretty much every station is on lockdown currently. This is extremely frustrating, because I can't trade and I also can't travel far without being able to dock somewhere to refuel!
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This has me very confused. What's telling you the station is locked down? A state of unrest should only drive up prices, you should be able to dock whatever the political climate.
 

Thoris

T
Undecided said:
This has me very confused. What's telling you the station is locked down? A state of unrest should only drive up prices, you should be able to dock whatever the political climate.
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Hmm I arrived at one of the stations I wanted to go to, requested docking permission and got "denied" response. Then I looked at the station on the system map and it said "status: lockdown" or something like that on the left side. I took this to mean "You cannot dock there". Am I wrong?
 

the100thmonkey

the100thmonkey
The "lockdown" status refers to what's happening to the population. You can still dock, if the station traffic controller will let you.

Denial of docking permission happens because the station is full. This is a small outpost, right, and not one of the big spinning jobs?

If you're at a station with lots of human traffic, you might have to wait a while until a pad becomes clear. If there aren't many players around (their radar icons are hollow; NPCs are filled) then the queuing algorithm was updated recently to make an NPC leave the station almost immediately after you request (and are denied) docking permission. Just try again about 30 seconds later. You can often see the ship leaving, so in that case just wait until it has completely cleared the pad.

Stations where the major faction is in lockdown, civil unrest or civil war tend to have a rather volatile security climate. I was docked at a station in civil war with another local faction last week, when the station itself was attacked! That was fun - a Python, a T9 (seriously!), a Cobra and a Sidwinder showed up and started shooting the platform. As I was allied to the faction running it, I undocked and killed three of the four (the station got the Sidey). However, as I'd fired in the no-fire zone, I got a fine, then a bounty for repeated firing and also killing "clean" ships :/. After I killed the three ships, the station defence force showed up in an Anaconda and started shooting at me, so I hightailed it out of there rather than kill my allied status by killing my e-mates. I SCed out, waited a while then went back in and paid my fines and bounty off. They still let me dock even though I was wanted by the very same station faction at the time.

As for the feeling of being stuck, get out of the Eravate/LHS3447/Frigaha area ASAP (that's my guess as to where you spawned). The 100,000ls distance between nav beacon and main starport in LHS3447 is huge, and leaves you wide open for interdiction. You can find a system to your liking within 50ly, the Empire is only 75ly below you. The Alliance is further - about 100ly "up" from the galactic plane), but there are some great systems up there too.

I'd recommend an independent, high security, high-tech system with industril/refinery and extraction systems nearby - that would enable you to set up a nice little three point trade run - ores to the refinery, metals/superconductors to the high-tech and technology (resonating separators, auto-fabricators, you know - high-tech stuff). Of course, prices might not be as good in systems with high security - traders will preferentially trade with them after all - but at the moment, I suggest that it's better to stay safe than get dead.

Bounty-hunting is actually a good starting career - you learn the basics of combat very quickly, and the payouts are better than initial trading in a Sidewinder. Pew pew is more fun too, imo, unless you like counting beans.
 
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the100thmonkey

the100thmonkey
Demiga said:
Im posting here because I also am a new player and I am curious about this as well.
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Curious about what, specifically, Demiga?

If you have a specific question, post away and a scrum of people will offer their advice and opinions. If you are just curious about the game before buying, or don't have any specific questions, the stickies in this forum and the first page of threads are really informative.

Happy reading :)

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Thoris said:
Thanks a lot the100thmonkey, that explains a lot. So, lesson learned for me...don't assume too quickly :)
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Any time!
 

Verz

Verz
Just reading this is making me want to get this right now. Really can't wait for the weekend to burn some cash and get into space!
 
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