Some of these have no doubt been mentioned by other people in the past, but I thought I'd like to add my own experience of Exploring into the pot. So here goes.
1. Space is BIG incredibly big
2. Advanced Discovery scanners are your friend. I do remember exploring in the bubble in the early days before I could afford on ADS, and I did actually learn to use the parallax method to identify in system bodies.
For those that don't know, you essentially fly your ship and look for points that move relative to the background stars. Then you centre on that point and head towards it. It's worth learning the method in the early game, if nothing more than to say you've done it. Once you get an ADS though, one honk and the whole system is revealed to you.
3. Depending on where you are, the skies can get interesting. I'm currently out near Colonia heading back to the bubble. There are a lot of stars visible out here. I'm also about 1,000 light years below the Galactic plain, which means I can see a clear demarcation line above me.
There are better views to be had in Nebula's and the like, but I do find this view awe inspiring.
4. Neutron Stars are your friend, if you are careful. Certainly before I learnt how to discover the Neutron Star Superhighway - with the help of posts on this Forum, the thought of travelling out this far filled me with dread. It can get boring doing nothing but exploring systems. There's currently little else to do but.
Remembering to refuel every so often. Dropping in on a Neutron Star and Supercharging the FSD, has certainly made it far easier to get out here. I've misjudged a couple of times and gotten too close to the star, fortunately not in the path of the jets though. Obviously you cause damage to the FSD this way so you have to have a repair module installed and an SRV to collect the elements to refill it. But on the whole it's definitely a good thing.
5. Exploring is lonely. While you can possibly look for a like minded group of people and wing up with them, which makes exploring systems more efficient, most explorers will be out there on their own. After all, if you all explore a system that no-one else has found, who gets the credit for the first discovery of each body?
6. The Anaconda handles like a brick in Supercruise. So much so that if you are exploring planets near a gas giant, in can be easier to drop out of SC to align on each one quicker, before jumping back into SC to move to the next major body.
On the whole I do like it when I get out here. But it can be immensely boring, so you have to be in the right mindset when you plan to explore.
Tim
1. Space is BIG incredibly big
2. Advanced Discovery scanners are your friend. I do remember exploring in the bubble in the early days before I could afford on ADS, and I did actually learn to use the parallax method to identify in system bodies.
For those that don't know, you essentially fly your ship and look for points that move relative to the background stars. Then you centre on that point and head towards it. It's worth learning the method in the early game, if nothing more than to say you've done it. Once you get an ADS though, one honk and the whole system is revealed to you.
3. Depending on where you are, the skies can get interesting. I'm currently out near Colonia heading back to the bubble. There are a lot of stars visible out here. I'm also about 1,000 light years below the Galactic plain, which means I can see a clear demarcation line above me.
There are better views to be had in Nebula's and the like, but I do find this view awe inspiring.
4. Neutron Stars are your friend, if you are careful. Certainly before I learnt how to discover the Neutron Star Superhighway - with the help of posts on this Forum, the thought of travelling out this far filled me with dread. It can get boring doing nothing but exploring systems. There's currently little else to do but.
- Jump into Systam
- Honk with the ADS
- Fly to each body to scan it.
- Jump to next system
Remembering to refuel every so often. Dropping in on a Neutron Star and Supercharging the FSD, has certainly made it far easier to get out here. I've misjudged a couple of times and gotten too close to the star, fortunately not in the path of the jets though. Obviously you cause damage to the FSD this way so you have to have a repair module installed and an SRV to collect the elements to refill it. But on the whole it's definitely a good thing.
5. Exploring is lonely. While you can possibly look for a like minded group of people and wing up with them, which makes exploring systems more efficient, most explorers will be out there on their own. After all, if you all explore a system that no-one else has found, who gets the credit for the first discovery of each body?
6. The Anaconda handles like a brick in Supercruise. So much so that if you are exploring planets near a gas giant, in can be easier to drop out of SC to align on each one quicker, before jumping back into SC to move to the next major body.
On the whole I do like it when I get out here. But it can be immensely boring, so you have to be in the right mindset when you plan to explore.
Tim
