The log of Kontiki VI

Cdr Voorheez · Jun 27, 2015

DAY 1
Well I have 'exploration kitted' my recently tested Type VI explorer 'KONTIKI VI' for an exploration 'east' of the galactic ring starting out from Sol (Abe Lincoln stn). My journey has no set direction yet. I will initially plot courses to nebulae and will probably plot a course to Sag A* before aiming off to explore deeper still in my white hulled lunchbox of adventure and derring do.
The purpose of my venture into the great vastness is this:

1. True exploration. A chance to splash 'Voorheez' on as many stars and planets as I can.
2. Make as much cartographic data cash as I can
3. Buy a shiny Asp. Tool her up. Kill as many bad guys as humanly possible.

At least im honest. I prefer bounty hunting and exploring is definitely a means to an end. You never know i may grow a beard and rock gently to myself in the cockpit of my Type VI in months/years time and giggle to myself "Lovin' this".

Ill try and post daily. And ill use words not pictures. Less bits and more descriptive.

I have got 'morale' to pack into my empty cargo hold. I'll see you all when I return.

Cdr Voorheez. Signing off.

Alex Brentnall · Jun 28, 2015

My plan was to get access to founders world with Exploration, did the mandatory Sagittarius A trip getting only 35% of the requirement for Elite but found it oddly relaxing. 3 weeks back in the human bubble and boom, 2nd trip planned, I got the bug.

See how it goes but at some point you will either succumb to space madness and enjoy it or you will set Exploration aside as a bad idea

Looking forward to the updates, if you want any suggestions on good/bad nebula let me know, I've seen most of the ones on the way to Sag A

Fen Harel · Jun 28, 2015

Good luck Commander!

As an incentive: fitting an ASP out with 4 multicannon is very fun. Not the most effective combat ship out there.. but really fun to fly to a RES.

Cdr Voorheez · Jun 28, 2015

DAY 2
My final decided rig for this long haul: http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=70W,,2-4s6u6Q3m2C3m6k,08c08c4-42jw7Q40nE2UI
750 LY out. Just passed coalsack dark area nebulae. Explored this region fully and was suprised to find very little in terms of unexplored worlds.
On a course to 'statue of liberty' nebulae at the moment. Many unexplored systems now opening up to me.
Conservimg fuel. All non essential systems now off: (Shields/power distr/cargo hatch). Have decided to keep discipline in mind to stay focused. Being military (Fed Navy Warrant Officer) this is so far easy.Simple things like:

1. Shaving twice a day (non water shave)
2. Using the partial gravity gym I had installed in my empty cargo hold to keep physically and mentally alert
3. Daily entries into this journal

All plans 'never survive first contact with the enemy' and the enemy out here is solitude. I hope I can keep a focus. I need good suggestions on interesting nebulae to navigate to after statue of liberty. I will be reading mainly today.

Cdr Voorheez. Signing off.

Nathanael · Jun 28, 2015

hmm, another ev nova player?

Cdr Voorheez · Jun 29, 2015

Never played it. Name is an adaptation of Richard Voorhees from the many coloured land trilogy and Im not a trek fan (more star wars actually). What is this game you refer to? Is it good?

Cdr Voorheez · Jun 29, 2015

DAY 3.
Disaster. After 1200LY out and lots of newly explored planets and stars my decision not to take an AFMU caught up with me. Let this be a warning to all Cdrs.
I exited FSD jump into a preplanned system: M class star
Good fuel candidate etc. My routine was set in my head:

-Throttle back to 30km/s
-Detail surface scan star
-Advanced discovery scan system
-Analyse data
-Refuel
-Explore system

However. Plans have a tendency to go awry. What actually happened was:

-I exited too close to the giant K class I mistook for an M class
-I got drawn into its gravity well and fried most of my systems so badly I was faced with a decision

Go back to nearest starport repair and buy an AFMU or go on?

Most systems were down to 98% and my hull was in a similar state but it was a warning to me. I needed that AFMU. As much as I like her my type VI is a modified trader and she is small fry out here. If I want to seriously explore I need to do it properly.

So decision made I turned tail and headed back to Sol to repair and refit my fried lunchbox.

Sat in dock fully repaired with a Trailblazer rating and sligjtly less credits than before (few thousand) but not deterred in doing this again. Regular space is waaaay too crowded dont you think?

Setting a course today and setting off tonight. Hopefully not to return until I finish my circumnavigation of the disk.

Cdr Voorheez. Signing off.

Cdr Voorheez · Jun 29, 2015

REBOOT DAY 1

Set off from Sol, again, quietly in a rebooted and rekitted KONTIKI VI. I have a new B1 AFMU and a faster more efficient fuel scoop (The C5 rated scoop is way better than the B4 rated scoop I had by 100 units a second faster).

I set a course directly from Sol to PLEIDES so that I am exploring sysyems below the Galactic disk parrallel. The plan is to hit the PLEIDES nebula and then forge onto CALIFORNIA nebula before reassessing and carrying on my journey. Nebula are a good way to navigate this rather big space.

Hit a few opportunistic pirates who tried to spoil my day, Its nice knowing you can out-interdict pirates in a type 6. I made the big mistake of doing the following:

Saw a weak signal source 350LY out
Thought I was safe to investigate as it was outside of the 'bubble'
Realised my mistake when 4 pirates started to persue me into FSD jump

Lesson learned here. My shields saved me, no doubt: no hull damage and no module damage, I was very lucky. I outran 4 pirates in a type 6 and my shields mitigated all damage thrown at me. without a doubt my A4 FSD saved the day too with its rapid exit interface.

Always keep shields on when exploring sources of any transmission, also keep them on if exploring asteroid belts. They dont need to be kept on all the time, saves fuel to turn them off in supercruise, but trust me, shields may be heavy and the may restrict your jump range but they are now my best friend out here.

125LY outside of PLEIDES and need to get a bite to eat, I will update you tomorrow of my findings.

Cdr Voorheez. Signing off.

Nathanael · Jul 6, 2015

Its a top down asteroids style space game. It has landings, multiple major story lines and lots of minor ones. Theres a large variety of ships which can be upgraded and have all sorts of additions. There is also a huge archive of plugins available that can add all sorts of things into the game as well as whole new story lines. One can mine, explore, pirate, trade and work for military. Lots of fun and I have been playing it off and on for years. Its not free, however I do not think it can be purchased any more. Its available from everyones favourite swedish designed software site.

Other good (and free I think) games in a similar vein are 3030 Deathwar, NAEV, Starsector and Transcendence.