Yes, it’s absence is highly suspicious! I suspect Ceres is the Guardian ark ship, stealthed (the real message behind the codex DW station). But the question is how to find it!!
The Quest To Find Raxxla
- Thread starter Macros Black
- Start date
Thanks for all the links, Jorki! I am in the Sol system now, gonna look around and experience the oddities of the asteroids myself. First thing I am gonna do though is fly out to the voyager probe. Not just to see it, but also because it is in a region where the theoretical Oort cloud should be close by, the inner one at least. Anyone ever found something belonging to that cloud? Seems a good candidate for mystery objects to me. Definitely a "place" where you could easily hide something important and make it hard to find because it is so far from inhabited space in Sol. Also, since it is supposed to contain many comets, that is what spiraling stars could refer to as well, since we call comets/meteors falling stars.
You’re very welcome!
Welcome to Sol! I’m floating around in the asteroid belt somewhere, not had chance to fly since Monday afternoon. But then, until I have a viable plan for a search I’m not sure there’s any point, I’ve already done a whole skinful of boring “find the asteroid”.
Yes, it’s worth visiting both Vgers, and New Horizons too. But it’s a long journey out to them, hope you’ve got the advanced Flight Assist fitted! There are IIRC four USS marked “ancient probe” but one of them is a tourist beacon at Vger1. Dont think anything has ever been found out in the Oort cloud in-game, but it would be a good place to hide mysteries. Especially off the ecliptic, the search space is vast!!. Good hunting!
Interesting link!
phys.org
Rogue planets may roam, but they’re not rouge
Kepler telescope glimpses population of free-floating planets
Tantalizing evidence has been uncovered for a mysterious population of "free-floating" planets, planets that may be alone in deep space, unbound to any host star. The results include four new discoveries that are consistent with planets of similar masses to Earth, published today in Monthly...
Rogue planets may roam, but they’re not rouge
I sure do! Perfect to make a new coffee while waiting to arrive, and maybe read something on the side
Visited all the ancient probes, then went asteroid hunting. I haven't really formulated a plan yet, so I just got myself familiar with how to find the invisible areas where the HUD suddenly jumps to the asteroid hologram. Speaking of jumping, the bouncing around the system orrery view is really weird.So far all I managed is screenshotting the edges of where the fields start. Sketched out a rough outline for 1 one of them, currently trying to do the same with another one. This is a very rough estimate how the area looks like, so don't rely on this too much when trying to hit that asteroid zone.
Yes, a better understanding of how the asteroid clusters are located will definitely help!I sure do! Perfect to make a new coffee while waiting to arrive, and maybe read something on the side
So far all I managed is screenshotting the edges of where the fields start. Sketched out a rough outline for 1 one of them, currently trying to do the same with another one. This is a very rough estimate how the area looks like, so don't rely on this too much when trying to hit that asteroid zone.
View attachment 248133
A thought occured to me this morning. We know there are 8 clusters, cos that’s the number shown in the FSS.
How about if this puzzle is similar to the data points at surface settlements-you have to visit all of them within the timer limit to enable the reward?
To pursue this possibility we need to understand better how they are located, whether their location is the same for everyone & whether it’s a repeatable sequence or it’s just RNG. Might it be that the “instant transport around the belt” (when your position jumps temporarily 15 sectors around the belt according to the orrery view) on finding one is not actually a bug, but a part of this as a timer puzzle? Is it perhaps a hint where the other clusters are located? I’ll look at the location sequence I found back in December when I was flying around the belt endlessly....
Edit: ah yes, https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-8994989
I found them in sectors 5, 17, 8, then in 21, 5, 22, 5, & then in 21, 17, 6, 15, 8, 11, 19, 5, 19 & 6. Which means I found them in 10 different sectors. However the ring is rotating so this may affect things. I spread my searching over several weeks, perhaps it needs to be done in one go? Or perhaps when 8 have been located a mysterious 9th is unlocked??? The possibilities are endless!
The main asteroid belt has inner radius 1027 ls from Sol outer radius is 1631 ls, so middle is 1327 ls. Semi-major axis distances from Sol are: Asteroid Ceres (2.7691651545 AU/ 1,381.8 ls), Pallas (2.773841434 AU/1,384.1 ls) & Astraea (2.5735 AU/1,284.2 ls). Those are just the ones I made out of the potential book title anagram, but I think Ceres is the likeliest.
Though the Hilda asteroids (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilda_asteroid) move in a sort of curved triangular orbit at ~ 4.0 AU semimajor axis = 1996 ls. Might be worth another look.
@Han_Zen: I seem to remember you commenting about the astronomical position of bodies in-game being based on current 2021 positions rather than what they would be in 3307, is that correct and where did the reference come from?
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Just wondering whether young Tyko should go on a long distance expedition and leave Jorki to Quest, there’s the Apollo XV expedition setting off in two days time...touchdown at destination on 30 July...would be a nice way to mark my 69th ring in the tree of life!
But this train of thought triggered another thought (destination isn’t all that far from Hawking’s Gap) - has anyone done all three Dynasty locations, i.e. got all the logs from all the Formidine Rift, Conflux and Hawking’s Gap bases? Any DW invitation received? The only real knowledge we have about TDW (apart from the meagre offering in the Codex) is Drew Wagar’s Reclamation and Premonition books where TDW is at the heart of the storyline; Luko, Rebecca and Salomé (& Elyssia Fields?) were members... Perhaps FD set those logs as the trigger for DW test of skill & courage? Jorki’s visited FRift & Conflux but not the Gap. Cant remember what Tyko’s visited & cant at the mo get to gaming PC to check.
But this train of thought triggered another thought (destination isn’t all that far from Hawking’s Gap) - has anyone done all three Dynasty locations, i.e. got all the logs from all the Formidine Rift, Conflux and Hawking’s Gap bases? Any DW invitation received? The only real knowledge we have about TDW (apart from the meagre offering in the Codex) is Drew Wagar’s Reclamation and Premonition books where TDW is at the heart of the storyline; Luko, Rebecca and Salomé (& Elyssia Fields?) were members... Perhaps FD set those logs as the trigger for DW test of skill & courage? Jorki’s visited FRift & Conflux but not the Gap. Cant remember what Tyko’s visited & cant at the mo get to gaming PC to check.
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Ya i meant to visit them all… but think im one short…. That filthy to-do list. Currently working on trying to narrow down the galactic omphalos.
Ps - happy new tree ring!
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You need salt,
And celery!
Wooot woot 1200 pages !!
Bit early mate, 23 days still to go!
I am notoriously bad about missing birthdays - i figured id get it in sooner rather than later
besides why not start a little early?Looked around some more within the asteroid zones, nothing so far. I will continue tomorrow, but I thought I would end the day by accepting this mission, so I get my rite of passage finally done I accepted the mission since I found the name of the guy giving me the data suspicious.
I accepted the mission since I found the name of the guy giving me the data suspicious.So, I think I’ve actually figured this Raxxla stuff out.
My Problem is that nothing happened; and I suspect the reason why nothing happened is because Fdev’s Raxxla server code is bugged out and non-functional. Since it’s so secret, I doubt quality control has ever been authorized to examine the Raxxla code; and the 2 or 3 people who are authorized haven’t checked it since the 1.0 or gamma release.
I did it in a different way than most paths taken in this forum, or at least I think so, as I didn’t read all 1200 pages. My method doesn’t require any lore or outside information, just the six letters ( R A X X L A ) and the game mechanics.
First step ( very common first step ) convert to numerical letter of the alphabet:
R = 18, A = 1, X = 24, X = 24, L = 12, A = 1
Now keep in mind one of the only, if not the only, consistent things in the game: The large orbital station landing pad numbering layout.
R - Medium Pad # 18
A - Small Pad # 1
X – Large Pad # 24
X – Large Pad # 24
L – Small Pad # 12
A – Small Pad # 1
Now the how to:
At a large orbital ( I used Jameson Memorial ) have at least 3 ships docked there ( 1 small, 1 medium, 1 large ) or even 6 ships docked ( 3 small, 1 medium, 2 large )
Now launch in the medium, turn around and Request Docking – Then Cancel Docking and Re- Request until dock control assigns Landing Pad # 18 to your medium ship, and dock.
Switch to a small ship and launch, turn around and Request Docking – Then Cancel Docking and Re- Request until dock control assigns Landing Pad # 1 to your small ship and dock.
Switch to a large ship and launch, turn around and Request Docking – Then Cancel Docking and Re- Request until dock control assigns Landing Pad # 24 to your large ship, and dock.
Switch to ( or stay in ? ) a large ship and launch, turn around and Request Docking – Then Cancel Docking and Re- Request until dock control assigns Landing Pad # 24 to your large ship, and dock.
Switch to a small ship and launch, turn around and Request Docking – Then Cancel Docking and Re- Request until dock control assigns Landing Pad # 1 to your small ship and dock.
Switch to ( or stay in ? ) a small ship and launch, turn around and Request Docking – Then Cancel Docking and Re- Request until dock control assigns Landing Pad # 1 to your small ship and dock.
What SHOULD have happened:
After completing this final dock, the server should have sent the special Raxxla elevator transition sequence where the elevator goes past small bay # 1 and continues down past racks of stored ships and arrives at the special “Raxxla” bay which is a fast travel point. Just via instancing mechanics, teleporting to other Raxxla bays in other stations would be simple to implement.
Why I think this is right - ED specific reasons:
- It fits with existing and long standing game mechanics. If you’ve ever used the glitched free camera while docked in a bay you can see that the games instancing mechanics only renders your ship and the bay that its in. A Raxxla bay would be no different for server instancing operations from a normal docking bay. A Raxxla elevator transition sequence would be no different for server instancing operations from a normal elevator transition sequence.
- It is within the understanding level of a 7 year old. The base ED game has a PEGI 7 rating. No advanced math to convert coordinate systems is required for this method, no translating greek needed, no knowledge of any culture’s mythology has to be used.
- It will not happen by accident. It is extremely unlikely that anyone would randomly and sequentially dock at these bays in this order with the RNG involved in docking control’s pad assignments.
- “There will be no clues” -Fdev. What kind of clue could you give about this method that wouldn’t 100% give it away?
Why I think this is right – general gaming reasons:
Everything about Raxxla seems to indicate that it is DB’s pet puzzle, and I think he came up with it way back in the days when Elite was being sketched out on graph paper well before a single line of code was typed into a computer. Games, like most things, don’t develop in isolation. One of the biggest and most influential games around that time was the Ultima series, and it had unlockable fast travel mechanisms ( moongates ). Some types of unlocks required walking through doors or stepping on literal pads on the floor in a specific sequence to solve the puzzles.
My guess is that these graph paper days were when the ideas of landing pads scattered on the interior or a rotating cylinder and the Raxxla puzzle that made use of them were conceived.
I’ll bet sometime between the pure graph paper days and the moment the realities of that era’s hardware limitations fully made themselves known, some notes were passed to Robert Holdstock to be incorporated into “Elite: The Dark Wheel”; notes like Lave is a star system, Cobra is a ship, Raxxla is a mystery. After hardware realities stopped stations from having today's interior landing pads the Raxxla puzzle got shelved until ED.
Why am I posting this?
I’m hoping this post makes its way to DB and that he reads it and, in particular, this next bit.
I’ve just handed you a way out.
You can now announce that this post managed to make its way to you and you realized I should have solved Raxxla, and subsequent examination and a quick test revealed there is indeed at least one bug that prevents the fast travel Raxxla bay from triggering after the correct docking sequence.
In fact it doesn’t have to be now, you have time.
Everyone understands that your time is currently fully occupied with fixing Odyssey. Since this Raxxla issue has only affected one player, yours truly, and isn’t game breaking it’s clearly not a high priority on the to be fixed list.
It can be weeks before you announce there is a Raxxla issue, and months even before a temporary placeholder fix is issued. For instance, a fade to black transition sequence could be substituted for the “bugged” elevator transition past racks of docked ships. The Raxxla bay itself could just have a 3D model very similar to existing bays just with some different graphics.
When deciding on whether to take me up on my offer you just need to ask yourself: Is your Raxxla better than mine? Mine has a simple logic behind it, it fits with existing game mechanics, and I’ve even provided you with a development origin backstory behind it. So, is your Raxxla better? Because now it has to be.
Would the player base accept it?
Firstly, is there anyone in existence who would try to claim my method couldn’t possibly be right because Fdev’s game code is so bug free and logically perfect that it would never ever fail. Yeah, no one, that’s who. There will be some who will believe I did solve your Raxxla which you put logical thought into utilizing known game mechanics; yet others will speculate you grudgingly realized your Raxxla puzzle was a sand grain hidden in a sugar bowl level of lazy and you just grabbed at my easy fix.
The tin foil hat army will march on no matter what happens.
Sincerely, your artful corrupter,
CMDR uiil
My Problem is that nothing happened; and I suspect the reason why nothing happened is because Fdev’s Raxxla server code is bugged out and non-functional. Since it’s so secret, I doubt quality control has ever been authorized to examine the Raxxla code; and the 2 or 3 people who are authorized haven’t checked it since the 1.0 or gamma release.
I did it in a different way than most paths taken in this forum, or at least I think so, as I didn’t read all 1200 pages. My method doesn’t require any lore or outside information, just the six letters ( R A X X L A ) and the game mechanics.
First step ( very common first step ) convert to numerical letter of the alphabet:
R = 18, A = 1, X = 24, X = 24, L = 12, A = 1
Now keep in mind one of the only, if not the only, consistent things in the game: The large orbital station landing pad numbering layout.
R - Medium Pad # 18
A - Small Pad # 1
X – Large Pad # 24
X – Large Pad # 24
L – Small Pad # 12
A – Small Pad # 1
Now the how to:
At a large orbital ( I used Jameson Memorial ) have at least 3 ships docked there ( 1 small, 1 medium, 1 large ) or even 6 ships docked ( 3 small, 1 medium, 2 large )
Now launch in the medium, turn around and Request Docking – Then Cancel Docking and Re- Request until dock control assigns Landing Pad # 18 to your medium ship, and dock.
Switch to a small ship and launch, turn around and Request Docking – Then Cancel Docking and Re- Request until dock control assigns Landing Pad # 1 to your small ship and dock.
Switch to a large ship and launch, turn around and Request Docking – Then Cancel Docking and Re- Request until dock control assigns Landing Pad # 24 to your large ship, and dock.
Switch to ( or stay in ? ) a large ship and launch, turn around and Request Docking – Then Cancel Docking and Re- Request until dock control assigns Landing Pad # 24 to your large ship, and dock.
Switch to a small ship and launch, turn around and Request Docking – Then Cancel Docking and Re- Request until dock control assigns Landing Pad # 1 to your small ship and dock.
Switch to ( or stay in ? ) a small ship and launch, turn around and Request Docking – Then Cancel Docking and Re- Request until dock control assigns Landing Pad # 1 to your small ship and dock.
What SHOULD have happened:
After completing this final dock, the server should have sent the special Raxxla elevator transition sequence where the elevator goes past small bay # 1 and continues down past racks of stored ships and arrives at the special “Raxxla” bay which is a fast travel point. Just via instancing mechanics, teleporting to other Raxxla bays in other stations would be simple to implement.
Why I think this is right - ED specific reasons:
- It fits with existing and long standing game mechanics. If you’ve ever used the glitched free camera while docked in a bay you can see that the games instancing mechanics only renders your ship and the bay that its in. A Raxxla bay would be no different for server instancing operations from a normal docking bay. A Raxxla elevator transition sequence would be no different for server instancing operations from a normal elevator transition sequence.
- It is within the understanding level of a 7 year old. The base ED game has a PEGI 7 rating. No advanced math to convert coordinate systems is required for this method, no translating greek needed, no knowledge of any culture’s mythology has to be used.
- It will not happen by accident. It is extremely unlikely that anyone would randomly and sequentially dock at these bays in this order with the RNG involved in docking control’s pad assignments.
- “There will be no clues” -Fdev. What kind of clue could you give about this method that wouldn’t 100% give it away?
Why I think this is right – general gaming reasons:
Everything about Raxxla seems to indicate that it is DB’s pet puzzle, and I think he came up with it way back in the days when Elite was being sketched out on graph paper well before a single line of code was typed into a computer. Games, like most things, don’t develop in isolation. One of the biggest and most influential games around that time was the Ultima series, and it had unlockable fast travel mechanisms ( moongates ). Some types of unlocks required walking through doors or stepping on literal pads on the floor in a specific sequence to solve the puzzles.
My guess is that these graph paper days were when the ideas of landing pads scattered on the interior or a rotating cylinder and the Raxxla puzzle that made use of them were conceived.
I’ll bet sometime between the pure graph paper days and the moment the realities of that era’s hardware limitations fully made themselves known, some notes were passed to Robert Holdstock to be incorporated into “Elite: The Dark Wheel”; notes like Lave is a star system, Cobra is a ship, Raxxla is a mystery. After hardware realities stopped stations from having today's interior landing pads the Raxxla puzzle got shelved until ED.
Why am I posting this?
I’m hoping this post makes its way to DB and that he reads it and, in particular, this next bit.
I’ve just handed you a way out.
You can now announce that this post managed to make its way to you and you realized I should have solved Raxxla, and subsequent examination and a quick test revealed there is indeed at least one bug that prevents the fast travel Raxxla bay from triggering after the correct docking sequence.
In fact it doesn’t have to be now, you have time.
Everyone understands that your time is currently fully occupied with fixing Odyssey. Since this Raxxla issue has only affected one player, yours truly, and isn’t game breaking it’s clearly not a high priority on the to be fixed list.
It can be weeks before you announce there is a Raxxla issue, and months even before a temporary placeholder fix is issued. For instance, a fade to black transition sequence could be substituted for the “bugged” elevator transition past racks of docked ships. The Raxxla bay itself could just have a 3D model very similar to existing bays just with some different graphics.
When deciding on whether to take me up on my offer you just need to ask yourself: Is your Raxxla better than mine? Mine has a simple logic behind it, it fits with existing game mechanics, and I’ve even provided you with a development origin backstory behind it. So, is your Raxxla better? Because now it has to be.
Would the player base accept it?
Firstly, is there anyone in existence who would try to claim my method couldn’t possibly be right because Fdev’s game code is so bug free and logically perfect that it would never ever fail. Yeah, no one, that’s who. There will be some who will believe I did solve your Raxxla which you put logical thought into utilizing known game mechanics; yet others will speculate you grudgingly realized your Raxxla puzzle was a sand grain hidden in a sugar bowl level of lazy and you just grabbed at my easy fix.
The tin foil hat army will march on no matter what happens.
Sincerely, your artful corrupter,
CMDR uiil
Well, spent an hour looking for Ceres but nothing found. Looked in both 3307 and 2021 positions according to Star Map Pro, just in case
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All right... So this is my 3rd response here. As of late I have been watching far to much of Ronald D. Moore's BSG. During the intro, at the part where the galactica jumps, it sounds like the word raxxla is said. In my mind this means one of three things. BSG has something to do with raxxla or vise versa, or the hindu chant that is supposed to be the intro music is related to raxxla, or lastly, I am finally succumbing to space madness. It is probably just nothing but I thought I would put it here anyway...
Interesting thought! It's a great series for sure, but I think what you are hearing is not Raxxla but:
oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥtat savitur vareṇyaṃbhargo devasya dhīmahidhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt
It's the Sanskrit/Vedic chant they use called the Gayatri Mantra.
Good evening sir, nice to see you. We have a new type of flight suit just in today and I’m sure you’ll like it. It’s very special. There’s plenty of room for adjustment with all these big buckles. Yes, that’s right, put your arms in first, then we’ll just tighten these buckles here. Oh your arms are fastened around your back? It’s the latest style sir. Suits you!
Please go with our two burly assistants here, sir, they’ll take you to a nice calm place for you to relax in.....
Right Fred, you can inform our Cylon overlords we’ve got another of them, holding in cell block H. Tell them to hurry collection, it’s getting crowded after we caught all those Krishna Faction pilots
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