The Planetary Circumnavigation Club

Well I ain't eroding my middle finger's fingerprint for hours, so I mapped it to throttle axis. And I have to eat and uneat sometimes. There's one specific that can be seen when I got looongly stuck in a rock / phone call. But yeah, it's a fair objection even if you prefer to ignore when I have to jump rocks, avoid falling on deeper craters, etc. I'd accept if it's discarded even though it's just because I was smart mapping the controls to preserve my physique. After all, the real achievement would be to actually go and walk the route to Santiago instead of staying in front of my screen lacking sleep for a few days with a video game.
 
Setting up a machine to continue doing things AFK is well, quite disappointing. I really thought you had completed it whole while seated at your PC. It is like circumnavigating a world in a Tesla autopilot self-drive SRV. I doubt that would be accepted by anyone here [shakes head in surprise].
 
Hey Alex, thanks for being open about how you've done it. I can see that there's times where you're clearly in control, but then also long periods where the pitch doesn't change at all as well as getting stuck on scenery.

You are the first to do it and you've done it the way you wanted to and i personally think it should be recorded (it's not a competition after all)
However, knowing you've been afk diminishes how I view it I'm afraid, kinda like using an autopilot to reach Beagle Point.

I did enjoy your blog thread, linking it with the camino was great

o7
 
I agree with @sgurr... A lot of documentary work was put in to your journey @Alex_Fighter. Nevertheless, IMHO Frontier do say they frown on AFK completion of missions, use of scripts that automate game process, and all that goes along with that.

As sgurr says, it's not a competition but I would hope we have a minimum amount of standard to achieve before a circumnavigation is considered a SUCCESS.

I'd like to see your journey recorded in the records but perhaps appended with comment 'DISALLOWED'. That way it would still leave open the ability for anyone to make a true 'first' footfall circumnavigation claim.

A full journey on foot is certainly not something I would try myself but someone, perhaps sometime soon, will truly achieve success in this endeavour, gain our fullest of respect here, and well earn that first foot circumnavigation EDSM badge.
 
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Hey Alex, thanks for being open about how you've done it. I can see that there's times where you're clearly in control, but then also long periods where the pitch doesn't change at all as well as getting stuck on scenery.

You are the first to do it and you've done it the way you wanted to and i personally think it should be recorded (it's not a competition after all)
However, knowing you've been afk diminishes how I view it I'm afraid, kinda like using an autopilot to reach Beagle Point.
This.
I'm not discussing whether this should be recorded or not, but doing it AFK makes it pointless IMO. There's nothing there, not even fun experience for the player. Wasting electricity while keeping the game running when making dinner, talking over the phone or watching tv isn't something worth talking about. Bitcoin mining would've made more sense. There should be a challenge of some sort for it to be worthwhile and noteworthy, but just waiting certain amount of time is not exactly that.
But he did circumnavigation. Proved something too, I guess.
 
I guess it should be recorded for posterity if only to show others how it should NOT or NEVER be done. Looking at it objectively, I would have to conclude that the journey was not in the whole an agreeable 'standard' attempt and as such any replication would be a waste of time for any player. A continual hands on skill is what counts in this endeavour and only then can the respect of fellow participants be gained.
 
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I would have to conclude that the journey was blatant cheating (if that's not too strong a term)
Let's not go that far. There were never any rules AFAIK, so he broke none and he was open about it, did not try to hide it.
He just made it in most efficient way he could think of, to a point where it completely devalued the achievement in my eyes, but I guess it's not his fault that it can be done this way.

It just proves that on foot circumnavigation isn't exactly interesting achievement.
 
First up, just wanted to say that I've kind of walked away from Elite for a short while. I've been on holiday since last Sunday, got back yesterday and I'm currently not feeling any desire to log back in. So apologies to @rootsrat and others for not updating the records here but being heavily involved with Elite is just not high on my priorities at the moment.

As for Alex's achievement, I'd like to say in his defence that his beautiful log entries and willingness to record and share his adventures are VERY much in the spirit of this club (some of the better examples in fact) and would also like to direct people to his wonderful adventures climbing The Wall Of Ice as testament to his credentials as a first class explorer and adventurer. As to going AFK during significant parts of this on foot circumnavigation, I'm not quite sure what to say. On the one hand it's clearly not exactly in the spirit of the thing ... on the other hand, walking long distances in Odyssey is mostly a really tedious occupation compared to driving the SRV and I'm not entirely clear if/how to rule against it. I'm not going to say that circumnavigators must keep their finger on walk for the whole journey for example, although I would like to think that they were actively engaged in the whole endeavour. I've never insisted on complete incontrovertible evidence that people have completed every inch of their circumnavigation, just reasonable evidence that their heart was in the right place and that, to their best of their knowledge and understanding of the challenge ... they honestly and genuinely went all the way around a planet (and didn't accidentally just go around the pole for example).

I'm almost tempted to turn this around and ask Alex how he would like me to record his circumnavigation. If he feels it was a SUCCESS in the spirit of a planetary circumnavigation then I may just record it as that, or if he'd rather I qualified it in some way then tell me how but also, and this goes for everyone, tell me seriously what you would expect of an unqualified SUCCESS?
 
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My personal definition of an unqualified success in circumnavigation would be that the player is the one who must complete the achievement fully and not the machine (be it PC or Console in part). Any AFK admission should IMHO invalidate the claim.

What we should remember is that this is about a major milestone in Frontier Elite Dangerous history. "The first person to actually walk completely around a planet." Such an achievement is likely to be reported and written about extensively in the gaming press to provide crucial media attention for Frontier..

How would it then be if several or more players were to openly dispute the claim and quote the players own written AFK admission.

"Well I ain't eroding my middle finger's fingerprint for hours, so I mapped it to throttle axis."

Not only would that cause embarrassment to the player, the publications that delivered the story, but also to Frontier.

If we accept a player taking what is in effect a bus or taxi ride around a planet, when the achievement is to walk, then it would take away the achievement of any future player who actually completes a 'truthful' circumnavigation on foot.

I myself will never walk around a world in Odyssey but I'm sure someone will and I expect quite soon. It should be that dedicated person who deserves the glory.
 
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He did it - he circumnavigated the planet "on foot".
But he also proved that there's nothing to it - that all it requires is time and not even a conscious person in front of a PC.

I mean, we can do lots of stuff in the game and not everything is equally challenging.
Reaching Hutton Orbital before Carriers update required zero skill and equally minimal human control, yet it was achievement of some kind. Nowdays, when you can just jump there in FC, I'm not sure if visiting Hutton is even really worth mentioning anymore, but going there in SC can still be considered the same achievement - going through really long SC travel.
So, not only what you do counts, but also how you did it.

When circumnavigation is considered, some people can do it in SRV by reaching insane speeds and flyving into orbit. It still requires skill (lots of skill, actually) and attention, but not nearly as much commitement as driving with wheels to the ground for weeks, yet there seems to be no doubt that achievement is equal. I've circumnavigated one planet, but it's hard to compare that with what Sgurr did on Pomeche for example, yet we both can claim the same thing - we both circumnavigated a planet.

For me its not the "achievement" that counts, but the style - some people write great reports that are records of fun they are having in game. It's truly inspiring.
Sgurr could have botched his Pomeche circumnavigation near the end and never finished it, but it would not take away anything from his experience, exciting adventure he reported on regularly and astonishing achievement. If he would just flew over the planet in his ship, nobody would care, even if tehnically that would be the same thing.

So yeah, Alex did "technical" circumnavigation. 1 bonus point for doing it, 0/100 for style.
 
@Florenus your statement is correct when you say it was achieved in part by "not even a conscious person in front of a PC." If this style of gameplay is accepted then that would really make a mockery of the skills involved in this 'Planetary Circumnavigation Club'... If Alex Fighter's "Tesla auto-glide walking boots" becomes an accepted norm then by all means let's all start binding our SRV's and Boots to the self-drive throttle. Most humbly, I think if any such 'no-skill automated gameplay' becomes accepted, then it would devalue the way this club and its membership achievements are viewed forever.
 
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Firstly respect for the thoughtful posts here even if I don't agree with some of the points.


I honestly think what Alex has done is an unqualified success.
He broke no rules, there were no macros or hacks, just a bound throttle which is exactly how I move my avatar.

Going afk is not what I would personally do, (I won't ever do an on foot navigation unless something changes that can make the journey itself interesting,) and again it does make me think less of the achievement.
But it was there to be done and Alex did it, has been open about how, and also spun a good yarn with the camino. Maybe that's his version of the spirit in what is currently a test of grind tolerance and all I hope is that Alex actually got some enjoyment out of the journey itself.

Alex, if you've not been put off your voice matters here and imo you are the first to do it.
 
I've spent the past few hours on YouTube looking at the many ways in which players have utilised AFK processes that enable them to earn millions of credits by running Elite Dangerous in a fully automated mode.

Search YouTube: 'Elite Dangerous AFK'.

The number of AFK video tutorials is surprisingly high. Indeed, a good few have been made by well known creators

So whether or not anyone agrees with implementing an AFK process or not, the fact is that from the amount of likes these tutorials receive is a good indication that many players find this area of gameplay interesting.

The rise in exponents who clearly support AFK may simply be a result of what would otherwise be tedious repetitive gameplay; perhaps a direct fault of Frontier themselves.

So, in conclusion, if AFK is freely available and is used in all other areas, then why should it not be applied to Planetary Circumnavigation, whether one happens to be in an SRV or on foot.

If AFK is being tolerated by Frontier in such a massive way then who am I to complain. It's human nature to find the easiest solution to do and achieve things.

So, I am willing to conceded that considering the above, Alex Fighter has indeed done nothing wrong. AFK processes, unless condemned by Frontier are available for anyone to use.

Well done Alex then for using your initiative to achieve what other Commanders are achieving in all other areas of gameplay!

Unless Frontier makes their voice known and says a definite NO, then AFK appears to be an available opportunity for legitimate use. I hope this post helps to bring an end to the division of thought we have all whitnessed in this Forum thread today. The amount of AFK videos on YouTube have certainly changed my opinion. Of course, whether or not to apply these processes is a matter of choice for the individual.
 
My .02 credits:

While the ability to walk away from the keyboard and keep walking does affect my perception of how "hard" the accomplishment was, I don't think it changes the fact that it was a notable accomplishment worth celebrating and recognizing. I don't think there's any value in insisting on doing it "the hard way" for the sake of doing it the hard way, when the game clearly doesn't require you to do so. Personally, I don't even see taking hands off the controls as "against the spirit of the thing" at all.

If I could have gotten away with an AFK bathroom break during an SRV circumnavigation, or even watched a movie / read a book while keeping things on course in the background, I don't see why I wouldn't have. SRV doesn't let you tune out to that extent, any more than real-life road driving does. But walking in the real world, I can and do tune out and read a book / phone while my subconscious autopilot plugs away the distance. It's just how it is.

IMO there is no need to add an asterisk or tag to qualify the accomplishment: if someone wants to know how it was done and what shortcuts were used, the journey is openly logged. We can celebrate it for exactly what it is, the first (and so far, only) on-foot circumnavigation in Elite.
 
Wow. Seems I revolutionized the thread :D I haven't answer until now because, you have the right to don't believe me, I lacked a lot of sleep because of the circumnavigation. I used a week off and the first night didn't go to bed, and ended up with changed night/day cycle sleep for the third day. For then I started taking small naps every 4 hours more or less (when my suits batteries depleted) while I copy the saved files in a safe place (they're more than 80GB each). The fifth day I was already so near than I made a push and left bed for after publishing everything, and spent sleeping a whole day.

So yes, I did my best to stay in front of the screen, to a point that I got asleep several times for short periods and thanks that I bought a new chair a couple of months ago, my neck hasn't suffered a lot. And yes, for doing something that's really very dull I made things as easy for me as possible, inside of what the game allows to do by itself. So I basically cared for avoiding the biggest craters, jumped only the big rocks, and sprinted from time to time when I got too bored. Since the planet's not so charming, I only stopped for screenies or small captures a few times. Yep, I'm a sysadmin and I'm good at what I do because I know how to avoid unnecessary work.

There's one thing, though that maximizes the sensation of AFK when you see the accelerated video: the pitch (sgurr mentioned it). I deliberately tried to touch it the less possible, even when I had to change directions or adjust the heading a bit. From the beginning I was recording to publish the video highly accelerated to fit a reasonable time and space in Youtube, so I tried to achieve two things, thinking more in everyone in general than in myself:
  1. To perceive the night / day cycle on the planetoid, by letting the many bodies around move seamlessly through the screen. It is a nice effect, and even when I was going to go up or down a high elevation I thought that it would pass way fast in the final video and it was worth to keep the angle. Maybe it was only four or five times that I was too bored of seeing too much sky or too much ground and changed it anyway because after all I had already maintained it still for hours.
  2. To not provoke motion sickness when watching it.
Again, it's just my word for it. You can believe it or not, and regardless of that, agreement or disagreement about if this is an achievement or not is totally reasonable and, if anything, I think what I've done and how open I've been with that is positive, because there has been (and can still be) an exchange of views about many things that have been overlooked for much time, and it has made all of us think.

Ok, so that's for giving you more details.


Now for "The Issue"
My own opinion has been asked, so here it comes

For my personal record:
  • CMDR Alexfighter did circumnavigated the planetoid. That's a incontrovertible fact.
  • What's a stake here is: do we believe that the real person behind the character does deserve to be recognized for that? Over that I think it's not elegant from my part to push in any direction. I've put all my cards heads up and put myself to the feet of the community. If anything: I'm not apologizing for being smart but I do feel for you if you've been disappointed.

For "a general case":
Sometimes someone else may come and could do it with "more style", but good luck checking it and defining "style". In many of the cases the best we have (and we're talking about SRV which providing evidence is less demanding) is some screenshots and the word given through an avatar. Yet we trust him/her.​
And the means for doing things easier are there. SRVs even have the function builtin into the game (SushiCV said about the off-hands driving: "SRV doesn't let you tune out to that extent, any more than real-life road driving does" but that's untrue). It's not only that you could map (as most people with HOTAS do) throttle to an axis like I did with walking. You can even engage in-game's drive assist that does exactly that: maintaining the speed you set. It's not as easy as walking because you're going faster but if you manage the speed to not jump around you wouldn't even have to care for the steering. Or you can just watch and correct direction when you spin, exactly as I did when a rock was too high to be jumped. So you're talking about me because I'm transparent, but you can't rule out flagrant cheating could already be done.​
So if we want to refine the requirements we must acknowledge that we could be, as we say in Spanish, "putting doors in the countryside". Because what would we check to discern "AFKness"? How many times the character gets stuck or spins? What number or frequency is adequate? Must you to move the camera once every 5 seconds in the same manner that a train driver must push a button to indicate (s)he is alive? And if so, then will we suddenly require a whole video at 1x so that we could check that people are complying? An in-house camera to check that the whole thing was done by a single person and not by turns between many?​
Well, I don't have a good answer for that. That's also another thing I'm good at: making invisible problems visible for everyone or finding questions nobody saw before. I wish I was as good for getting solutions, too.​
 
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And the means for doing things easier are there. SRVs even have the function builtin into the game (SushiCV said about the off-hands driving: "SRV doesn't let you tune out to that extent, any more than real-life road driving does" but that's untrue). It's not only that you could map (as most people with HOTAS do) throttle to an axis like I did with walking. You can even engage in-game's drive assist that does exactly that: maintaining the speed you set.
I think what SushiCV ment was (at least that's how I see it) that when driving you just can't leave your SRV unattended for long, because it will very soon hit the rock, change direction upon impact, fall into a crater and/or explode.
 
I think what SushiCW ment was (at least that's how I see it) that when driving you just can't leave your SRV unattended for long, because it will very soon hit the rock, change direction upon impact, fall into a crater and/or explode.
Yep, this. And I have to admit I was thinking more particularly of flyving, which is the most popular way to "drive" the SRV long distances and can't be done at all on autopilot.
 
Some thoughts of Odyssey...

Amazing video Alec! One that shows skillful acrobatics, a determination to succeed, and portrays the very essence of what I believe this Club is all about. Indeed, each of the historical Records Of Achievement, within Horizons, may be summed by two short words, "True Grit".

Unfortunately, the often flat landscape of Odyssey has made circumnavigation that much easier. Gone are the steep mighty mountains, deep jagged canyons, and perilous craters that can devour both player and SRV in an instant.

In Horizons, it was like I faced hazard and danger at every turn. However, during my first circumnavigation of a world in Odyssey, I found that I would often consider myself lucky to see terrain that was not flat or featureless.

Odyssey is a huge step backwards IMHO...

Exponents of SRV Driving and Flyving might consider the new style of terrain perhaps a little too easy. Indeed, the days of nitty-gritty, edge-of-the-seat, circumnavigations in Horizons may soon become a thing of the past.

Today, anyone with little or no skill can imagine themselves as "Christopher Columbus"; while mocking the greatness of his accomplishments by travelling effortlessly, gently, and mindlessly, around FDevs 'newly generated' worlds.

For me, circumnavigation in Odyssey offers little to be proud of... I just hope 'the powers that be' in FDev do not downgrade Horizons to the bland and dismal state we see in Odyssey. It is on that day my SRV will be mothballed inside its garage and will stay confined for all eternity.

But until that day, I will spend most of my free time just happily bouncing from peak to peak over the beloved terrain we call Horizons; and enjoying each and every mile of the journey.
 
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