Horizons ** WARNING ** Explorers beware

PiggyPiggyPig

PiggyPiggyPig
Explorers beware.Take great care with planetary landings. Like everyone else I was looking forward to Elite Dangerous Horizons since its announcement and handed over the money there and then even though I was nearing the ETA Carina Nebula and therefore unable to purchase the hanger for the moon buggy thingy, I enjoyed flying around a few planet surfaces and landing in creators but today my ship went into free-fall during the glide stage for no reason and I hit the surface which destroyed my ship, taking with it 8 very lonely months worth of exploration data. Nose up, full power failed to stop the free-fall.

I had scanned all worth while systems from SOL to the Soul Nebula, then passing between the Seagull and Rosette Nebula's, then on to the outer edge of the galaxy and finally all the way to ETA Carina Nebula. LOST ALL DATA! Hundreds maybe a thousands of water, terraforming terrestrial, ammonia life based worlds all gone and a handful of outdoor Earth like worlds never to be seen again. : (
I'm more upset about the data than the credits believe it or not. I was on a mission to explore far and beyond. I can't go on, I can't start over. I haven't the will. I now give up with Elite. Its been great. Take care out there guys.
 
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PiggyPiggyPig

PiggyPiggyPig
CMDR-AD said:
Sorry to hear it.

What ship were you flying, and what was the gravity on the planet you crashed on?
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Thanks man. I was flying the Cobra MkIII. You mention gravity, ah. Do you think the gravity was too much ? I had no idea that gravity was a thing when landing. That might explain the sudden fall.
The planet I was landing on had a ring system. It was so unusual that I thought it would offer a fantastic view from its surface. I was still high above the surface and heading for a creator when it happened. I must confess that it happened once before, last week. My shields went from 87% to 32% after a similar free-fall but I was able to thrust off the surface. I promised myself that I would not never risk landing again after that putting it down to pilot error but the lure was just too great with the ringed planet. I took the approach very carefully all the way in. I held my head in my hands for a while when the ship exploded. :/
 

CaptainKremmen

CaptainKremmen
Gravity has a massive impact (pun intended). Gravity is shown on the HUD, on the bottom right.

If you're trying to fly around a high-gee world, you can put your ship on a one-way trip to the ground very easily... just by touching the vertical thrusters, in fact. When you thrust UP, you will indeed go up... but as soon as you STOP thrusting up, you'll drop like a stone! And don't even think about using DOWN thrust.

Test out high-gee landings on Achenar 3. Over 6G, and quite a challenge. You need to use the nose pitch to fly gently down to where you want to land - no verticals!
 

Spdrmn7

S
Yep. Sounds like you met a High-G planet. Without reading the gravity of world's, it's essentially a gamble. Gravity plays a major role in flight behavior of ships, particularly larger ships. If it pulled your Cobra down that quickly, then it must have been a pretty big planet. Always check that gauge. Sorry for your loss, CMDR. Hopefully that will to go on returns. It has happened to the best of us.
 
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Tony.W

T
And of course most Explorers won't have the 'best' thrusters fitted too interested in jump range and not landing :/
 

Mysturji

Mysturji
CaptainKremmen said:
Gravity has a massive impact (pun intended). Gravity is shown on the HUD, on the bottom right.

If you're trying to fly around a high-gee world, you can put your ship on a one-way trip to the ground very easily... just by touching the vertical thrusters, in fact. When you thrust UP, you will indeed go up... but as soon as you STOP thrusting up, you'll drop like a stone! And don't even think about using DOWN thrust.

Test out high-gee landings on Achenar 3. Over 6G, and quite a challenge. You need to use the nose pitch to fly gently down to where you want to land - no verticals!
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Thanks for the tip. I landed there in Horizons Beta. I could hover by not touching any controls, and I tested the effects of vertical thrusters at a safe height and thought I could crack it (it WAS Beta), so at about 1 km altitude, I touched down thrusters for a microsecond, then sat heavily on the up thrusters for the whole way down.
I survived with about 27% hull left.

PS. That was the second time. The first time, I pancaked.
 
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Lestat

Banned
Lestat
Not sure but don't strength of the thrusters help. I have not crashed in a planet but I have a wicked setup for landing. Dual flight stick. So I can micromanage my Thruster input.
 

[VR] Deggial

[VR] Deggial
Tony.W said:
And of course most Explorers won't have the 'best' thrusters fitted too interested in jump range and not landing :/
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This.

I am afraid, the days of ultra-lightweighted explorers are over. (And weigth might take another hit, as soon as potentially hostile aliens are implemented. On the other hand - maybe this is already the case. Do we know, if all those missing colonies act friendly towards guests? I might have to reconsider my Asp's weapon arsenal...)

--

Edit:
But I feel your pain, Piggy. This really sucks!

I guess, a pause is definitely needed, now. Take a time-out until your fingers are itching again to fly your Cobra (with upgraded thrusters).
As massive as this let-down might be - I predict that it will be earlier in the year 2017 than you might think... :)
 
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Dielos

Dielos
My ASP Explorer is fully D fitted, including thrusters, and a 1.8G world already is a freaking challenge to land on! Anything above it, and there are tons of world that have higher G's, are basically a no-go for my ASP. For my next trip I'll have to consider A thruster... But yes, looks like you tried to land on a high G world...
 

h347h

h347h
So yeah, if you want to explore surfaces you need good thrusters, shields, and IMHO a good power distributor. So my planetary exploration Anaconda has roughly 31LY jump range and can land on 6G planets. It wont have the impressive 41 LY jump range of my space exploration Anaconda set up.

While out exploring I most likely wont land on anything greater than 2.5.
 

Saltyseadog

Saltyseadog
Interesting thread for some like me planning a long term exploration jaunt in the near future. I have tried landing my Cobra MkIV on a couple of planets in my home system just to set the binds for the buggy etc, but these were low G planets of 0.06 & 0.07G. Now I remember seeing the gravity as a readout in the control screen head view that appears when you approach a planet but is there any way to know that before even attempting an approach when it might already be too late in the event of a really high G world. I can't remember if it shows in the system map or not and would it show at all if it was an unexplored system?.
 
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Gédéon_Lecanard

Gédéon_Lecanard
PiggyPiggyPig said:
You mention gravity, ah. Do you think the gravity was too much ? I had no idea that gravity was a thing when landing.
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giphy.gif


Sorry, could not resist.

I really really really feel bad for you. Feelings aside, yes, gravity is quite a thing when landing. Even now I can be quite careless, and after a fast approach I have to literally point the ship nose all the way up and spam the booster to avoid being splattered like a fly on a windshield.

That said, that much data loss... I understand you feel like leaving the game for a while. Hopefully you'll come back soon.
 

Iron Orchid

Iron Orchid
Sympathies - I've also had a run in with a high g world but survived. It's a lesson that you learn quite quickly. Always check the g before attempting a landing.

Don't forget that you may have equipped not the most powerful thrusters (to save weight) and it's been reported that sometime even if you manage to land you may have trouble leaving.
 

Chazzie

Chazzie
I feel your pain, I really do. Don't quit the game altogether though - take a break from it for awhile though.
Something worth remembering though, Elite is at least 'part' sim so be very careful with what your doing, especially when exploring.

Chin up commander! We've all done daft things!
 

Zenith

Zenith
I held my face in my hands when I was reading your post Piggy because I could see where it was going.
While I've not suffered a huge loss like that, I can totally understand the feeling because I know how I would have felt to lose 4 months of data. That you've lost 8 months is like having a punch in the gut. I'm really sorry you found out the hard way about high G worlds
 

QziQza

QziQza
aw man, sympathies. exploration is a calling, and once it has you, you are pretty much at it's mercy. how could an explorer not want to land on planets? not want to touch down on the very things they have been cataloging, capturing images, preserving memories and forwarding to the cartographers that which you have discovered and which others may never see?

i hope your experience of being on the frontier, the imagery and memories you have collected, offer some form of consolation, while that feeling of frustration and upset settles down. from what has been hinted at, there is much more yet to be seen, and it will be commanders like you, out there on the fringes, shining a torch in those dark places that will be bringing the light of those discoveries to the rest of us 'bubble bound' commanders.

hope the lure of distant places, and new possibilities, gets you back in a Remlok, and route planning.. Fly Safe Commander o7
 
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