This game is not friendly to newcomers?
No it isn't, it is superb. It has flaws but then so do most gems.
Nothing worth doing is ever easy.
Thanks anyway for your opinion.
When i Started this game.. (Dec 2014 - i think) I spent the first 10 hours running through all of the game tutorials until they were second nature to me.
I must have docked the sidewinder close to 1000 times before entering the game, so all of the flight mechanics were second nature to me (combat, take offs, plotting courses, approaching destinations, docking).
so when i finally started the game none of these things were an issue, just trying to make any money was the main problem (not so now)
Basically what I'm saying is, isolate the area/activity that you are having issues with, run trough the relevant tutorial section until you can do it without thinking.
Elite is a very open game with no defined path (after the first mission) so you have to make your own way, Its hard enough starting out, figuring what path to take, but it makes it a lot easier if you have the basics down first..
I must have docked the sidewinder close to 1000 times before entering the game, so all of the flight mechanics were second nature to me (combat, take offs, plotting courses, approaching destinations, docking).
so when i finally started the game none of these things were an issue, just trying to make any money was the main problem (not so now)
Basically what I'm saying is, isolate the area/activity that you are having issues with, run trough the relevant tutorial section until you can do it without thinking.
Elite is a very open game with no defined path (after the first mission) so you have to make your own way, Its hard enough starting out, figuring what path to take, but it makes it a lot easier if you have the basics down first..
The game is plenty friendly enough for those who make an effort. It's also easy enough for those prepared to think a bit.
For example, the OP mentioned overshooting their destination and flying 5000km(!) in normal flight. Totally unnecessary and self-inflicted. The tutorials definitely cover that these days, but even in the early days it took me just a few overshoots to think "maybe I'm flying too fast, maybe I should slow down". Then in about 15mins I figured out the "7 second rule", "75% throttle rule", and throttle "blue zone", all without needing to resort to embarrassing myself on a public forum.
Sorry OP, your post says more about you than it does about the game. There's plenty of good advice given above. Do the tutorial and pay attention. Read the manual (one click from the launcher). Ask questions here, we will help, but it really is a case of getting out of the community what you're prepared to put in.
For example, the OP mentioned overshooting their destination and flying 5000km(!) in normal flight. Totally unnecessary and self-inflicted. The tutorials definitely cover that these days, but even in the early days it took me just a few overshoots to think "maybe I'm flying too fast, maybe I should slow down". Then in about 15mins I figured out the "7 second rule", "75% throttle rule", and throttle "blue zone", all without needing to resort to embarrassing myself on a public forum.
Sorry OP, your post says more about you than it does about the game. There's plenty of good advice given above. Do the tutorial and pay attention. Read the manual (one click from the launcher). Ask questions here, we will help, but it really is a case of getting out of the community what you're prepared to put in.
Depends on the new player. If he lies about doing the tutorials and claims the community would teach him wrong things (which is very unlikely) I'd say it's the new player who isn't friendly.
Well, I don't know what to say to the OP to be honest. Most of us here got on just fine when there was even less to help us.
No voiced training
Punishing incursion challenges placed under the training tab
No new player zone
No assist modules
None of the quality of life improvements that have happened in the last three years
No private groups
Just got dumped in a system and let loose to figure it all out, make mistakes and learn from them yourself.
When I started I spent a couple of weeks playing the tutorials until I got flight, docking and combat enough to start. I wasn't even aware of the forum's existence until months after I started. Then because I wanted to play with a couple of friends, I had to start in Open mode.
I once spent half an hour trying to land at an outpost wondering why the docking clamps wouldn't engage until my wife walked by the TV and said "you're facing the wrong way".
The game isn't poorly designed. It's much friendlier for new players than it used to be. All it really takes is a little patience and willingness to both learn from experience and make the mistakes.
As others have said, if you're stuck there are plentiful resources now to help you. But if you aren't willing to stick with it, then there's nothing else we can do to help.
No voiced training
Punishing incursion challenges placed under the training tab
No new player zone
No assist modules
None of the quality of life improvements that have happened in the last three years
No private groups
Just got dumped in a system and let loose to figure it all out, make mistakes and learn from them yourself.
When I started I spent a couple of weeks playing the tutorials until I got flight, docking and combat enough to start. I wasn't even aware of the forum's existence until months after I started. Then because I wanted to play with a couple of friends, I had to start in Open mode.
I once spent half an hour trying to land at an outpost wondering why the docking clamps wouldn't engage until my wife walked by the TV and said "you're facing the wrong way".
The game isn't poorly designed. It's much friendlier for new players than it used to be. All it really takes is a little patience and willingness to both learn from experience and make the mistakes.
As others have said, if you're stuck there are plentiful resources now to help you. But if you aren't willing to stick with it, then there's nothing else we can do to help.
Slightly ironic and disturbing if after 2 updates totally focussed on easing people in players still have problems.
But to be honest its about learning. Once you know a few things and take it slowly it all snaps into place.
But to be honest its about learning. Once you know a few things and take it slowly it all snaps into place.
You are not being truthful. You clearly did NOT do the tutorials or at least LEARN them. You can't be lazy at this game and skip the tutorials. The tutorials SPECIFICALLY tell you to request permission to dock. Yes, there are short-cuts, but the tutorials tell you the safe and standard way to do it. To learn this game, you should spend the first several days doing nothing but the tutorials. I recently came back to the game after 4 years and I still spent 4-5 hours doing every single tutorial before I started to play the game again in particular the combat tutorials.
I still can't beat it.
Welcome to Elite OP, first, take a deep breath and step away from the game for a bit. Watch tutorials on Youtube (game changes all the time so look for most new ones) to see what is recommended to do for a new player, how to earn money/rank and so on. Once you get a hang of it its really straightforward.
Seriously, look up some tutorials, there are tons of great YT channels about the game.
Seriously, look up some tutorials, there are tons of great YT channels about the game.
One other bit of advice for the op. He mentioned his ship exploded apparently when he ran into something. Armor is the ship's skin. When you save up some credits get military or reactive armor. In the meantime get a hull reinforcement module. That should prevent you from exploding when you run into stuff. Also equip a decent shield generator when you can.
No... me neither!
The game was designed to be a modern version of the original - to appeal to the original designer and to old players like myself. Therefore it pretty much has to be "unfriendly" to newcomers. It's a niche game for a niche audience, and if you change that too much you get something no one likes.
Sorry if that sounds like "are you local ?" etc - but, it underpins why this game even exists.
Sorry if that sounds like "are you local ?" etc - but, it underpins why this game even exists.
The original had savegame slots. I call that pretty friendly.
I wouldn't really - that's just a function of it being a single player game (as it had to be then) and it would quite happily kill you very, very fast.
What was more usefull were the actuall books, manuals and keyboard overlays that they gave you that really eased the new player in to the gameworld while waiting for your tapedeck to load the thing - sadly that's sort of content is gone in all games now - digital art books don't really cut it, and the "boxed" verison of ED was just that, a box with a disc in it.
Bring back a nice heavy manual you can read in the bath I say
The original also had difficulty variation. You could choose to go to dangerous places. ED just spawns engineered AI indiscriminately.I wouldn't really - that's just a function of it being a single player game (as it had to be then) and it would quite happily kill you very, very fast.
What was more usefull were the actuall books, manuals and keyboard overlays that they gave you that really eased the new player in to the gameworld while waiting for your tapedeck to load the thing - sadly that's sort of content is gone in all games now - digital art books don't really cut it, and the "boxed" verison of ED was just that, a box with a disc in it.
Bring back a nice heavy manual you can read in the bath I say