Newcomer / Intro What are you up to?

[wAsh67]

Well that is impressive...Here was i thinking I had to over engineer a cutter just to feel safe.
How did you avoid the corrosive green goo?
What is extra in your phantom build that helps you survive?
I need to face my Tgoid fears and have a go at this level of fighting to speed rank from 54% competent..

I should add that I am still only using a laptop,mouse and in my face 30 inch monitor ( peripheral vision is focused when on combat, just like being there).
No sticks involved.

Avoiding the splurge is easy. The multicannons automatically cease firing when the Scout's health reaches zero, so when the guns stop, pull a tight ninety and boost away to teh next target. I run with 4 pips to shields, one each to engines and weapons and never have to touch the redistribute keys. Sometimes the reload catches you out, but the Krait is nimble enough to reacquire quickly so long as you stay in the blue zone.

If you do get splattered (I did so deliberately in the vids for meatier 'splodes), then ignore it. With practice you can despatch those 4 scouts in less than 2 minutes and with meta alloy hull reinforcements it takes ages for the hull to weaken. What you can't avoid is their missiles, which are a right pain, but even after a missile hit I can nail the 4 scouts, cook the hull to decontaminate and still be above 90% hull strength. One repair limpet restores you to 100% in the time it takes the AFMU to repair all the internal damage.

To decontaminate, wait until the scouts are dusted, silent running, keep charging up the FSD until your heat reaches 170%, then go back to cruise mode. No need to fire a heatsink as the Phantom cools rapidly.

The build itself is basic - just a gun platform for the 4 AX Mc's - everything extraneous is stripped out for hull and module reinforcements. Biweaves only ever fail when you go up against a wing of 7 scouts but the hull keeps you alive. To make the trip profitable fit an AFMU and hull repair limpets - I have a basic 4 bay cargo hold that I fill with limpets. Normally I can exterminate 20-30 scouts before having to return for repairs and rearming.

I highly recommend Scout hunting for rank advancement. From Expert to Master it was roughly 3.5 kills per percentage point of rank, which is 2 minutes work. From Master to whatever's next I'm finding it's about 5 Scouts per percentage point. I did Expert to Master in a little over a week and a half of intermittent play. And it's fun. Especially when you go into a NHSS4 and find 7 Scouts waiting for you....

 

[algwat]

Well wAsh67, very much appreciate the good advice....I will definitely need to adopt it. Should read it first....
I went and built an Ax phantom, looked at a few vids from Down to earth astronomy... and thought yeah I could try that.
I could not find a damaged system close enough, and went to the nearest repairing system. Found a hauler smoking and calling for help.
Oh, the humanity I could do nothing, not prepared. Then a Thargoid showed up. Hummm, I think that looks a little big for a scout.
May be if i get closer...Nope, Nope, Nope, nothing firing, I got Ax M/C's....damm.

I suppose I could have poked it a few time with the pointy bits on the front of my Phantom, there useless otherwise....

 

[WeComeInPeace]

I know it's "just a game", but I've never had trouble with the Thargoids. For some time I was scared of even being interdicted by them, but nothing happened, even flying around at the Seven Sisters. I read (way too much) about war and violence in the news each day, so even though the Thargoids seemed to have a beef with humanity spreading through the galaxy, I guess that didn't include all of us. The moment they try to kill me, I'll fight back, but until then we seem to get along fine.

I had the same feeling about pirates for a very short time in the game, but they kept sending me insulting messages, or even worse, they tried to put dents in my ship. Now, we can't have that now, can we? Can't remember the last time a pirate did that without regrets.

But the Thargoids? Why are you killing them? Did they shoot first?

The only contact I've had with them, was being scanned at a crash site. That was a spectacular show of eye candy, and afterwards, both the Thargoid and I went back to doing our respective businesses. It's not that I haven't scanned any aliens out there in the black, so I don't really mind being scanned.

It's not to spoil the fun. I just can't help thinking if we could have gotten along with the bugs, if the first contact hadn't ended with weapons being fired.

 

[algwat]

Agree, I always let the ship/Alien shoot first. Sometimes they get free beer if they are good enough...
Not doing Interdiction's or wet work If I can at all help it, last resort.
Will need to start just getting close and scanning the Thargoids for research.
Not up to higher Tech material hunting, so I am no threat to them, but need to happen soon....

 

[Tyres O'Flaherty]

I know hardly a thing about astronomy so please forgive the ignorance.

In reality, wouldn't flying this close to a star melt my ship sufficiently to render me radiation?

 

[Ashnak]

In reality, you won't be flying in supercruise

Anything else is engineering which, according to one of the grand masters, if sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic.

Realistically? According to what I'd guess, yes. The heatsinks on the cold side would have to glow basically ultraviolet in order to get rid of the heat arriving on the hot side. A highly reflective shield (material or energetic) could remedy that, but we never see something like that in the game.

 

[algwat]

spaceweather.com at this link soho comet . They do this, Stereo comet
They rarely make it around the perihelion corner. Usually vaporise/distintergrate.
Luckily you have shields. Don't fly below the yellow line.
Watch out for CME's.....

 

[Cmdr Nemo]

I know hardly a thing about astronomy so please forgive the ignorance.

In reality, wouldn't flying this close to a star melt my ship sufficiently to render me radiation?

In the game there is an exclusion zone around every star. Some are larger than other's based on type of star. I've never noticed it being larger or small based on type of ship. Utilizing technology known today, that exclusion zone would be considerably larger than in the future utilizing future technology. And then again, it is a game so anything goes.

 

[WeComeInPeace]

Will need to start just getting close and scanning the Thargoids for research.

I had the same thought. Maybe I should put them on the list of things to go and examine. I tried taking pictures of white dwarfs the other day, and those are not particularly healthy!

In reality, wouldn't flying this close to a star melt my ship sufficiently to render me radiation?

I'm pretty sure we would get fried. Just the amount of photons in the infrared wavelenghts should be more than enough to vaporize the ship in the blink of an eye inside the corona. Add to that, the UV, Xray and Gamma radiation, and I would assume you'd be dead even before being fried.

I once tried to take a picture of the Sun using a large telescope with a solar filter. First of all that is dangerous!!! The telescope works as a giant magnifying glass, so things at the focus point tend to burst into flames, if you forget something. That includes your eyes! I spoke to a guy trying to do the same thing, and he forgot to cover his finder scope, leading to his beard catching fire very quickly. Instead I tried to kneel down and aim my own telescope towards the Sun by using my peripheral vision (don't!!!). Lying there I realized two things. Your eyes won't look anywhere near the Sun unless you force them, and even that is hard.

Secondly I was lying there being almost blown away by the light from that nearby star we call the Sun, and it became clear how "close" it is. Then I thought about the way the heat changes when you take a single step towards a large bonfire. The Sun isn't that close. It would take a lifetime to "drive" there at 300 km/h. It's just that it puts out enormous amounts of energy.

While we're at it: All energy we spend here on Earth comes from or came from the Sun. At the same time Earth is a closed system, so all the energy Earth receives from the Sun is radiated back into space in the form of heat. Otherwise the temperature on Earth would rise considerably more than it does these days. That puzzled me when I first learned about it, because if "energy in" equals "energy out", how can we then use the energy at the same time? The explanation is quite simple and quite complicated. The photons of light from the Sun has much lower entropy than the heat Earth is emitting. It's actually the conversion of low entropy energy into high entropy energy that makes the Earth "work".

 

[LetItBleed1980]

Well after 50 days the Stellar Unknown expedition has made the turn back from the Centaurus Reach area towards the core. I thought I'd be able to finish in about 3 weeks (as there were only 3 mystery waypoints left before Sag A) but it looks like they've gone and added a couple more overnight. I was looking forward to getting back to civilization in a few weeks but a few extra weeks added on won't kill me.

 

[WeComeInPeace]

To those of you who do exploring: Do you have a good way of finding planetary nebulae?

 

[wAsh67]

I know it's "just a game", but I've never had trouble with the Thargoids. For some time I was scared of even being interdicted by them, but nothing happened, even flying around at the Seven Sisters. I read (way too much) about war and violence in the news each day, so even though the Thargoids seemed to have a beef with humanity spreading through the galaxy, I guess that didn't include all of us. The moment they try to kill me, I'll fight back, but until then we seem to get along fine.

I had the same feeling about pirates for a very short time in the game, but they kept sending me insulting messages, or even worse, they tried to put dents in my ship. Now, we can't have that now, can we? Can't remember the last time a pirate did that without regrets.

But the Thargoids? Why are you killing them? Did they shoot first?

The only contact I've had with them, was being scanned at a crash site. That was a spectacular show of eye candy, and afterwards, both the Thargoid and I went back to doing our respective businesses. It's not that I haven't scanned any aliens out there in the black, so I don't really mind being scanned.

It's not to spoil the fun. I just can't help thinking if we could have gotten along with the bugs, if the first contact hadn't ended with weapons being fired.

I was a teenager in 1984 when I first came across Elite. Being friendly to Thargoids was not an option. Old habits die hard.

 

[aRJay]

.....

It's not to spoil the fun. I just can't help thinking if we could have gotten along with the bugs, if the first contact hadn't ended with weapons being fired.

There are two schools of thought about First Contact one is that you reveal as little as possible about yourself and your society as possible the other is to be as open about such things as possible.

The weapons being fired shows that we went with the second option.

 

[WeComeInPeace]

The weapons being fired shows that we went with the second option.

Which is why I personally think 2way-Seti is too dangerous. Now turn of those radio and cellphone antennae!

I'm still out there. You don't have to get that far away from the Bub, before things get interesting. See if you can spot the large black hole in this image:

Spoiler: Hint

It's just above the horizon slightly to the right

While taking the image I noticed the asteroid in the crater, and those always go: "Na-nana-na-na", so I had to try and land on top of it. 100 meters from touchdown I noted that it was a 2.3 g planet. Tried to boost, and found my landing gear was deployed. Then it's really nice with a tiny lightweight shield, even though it lost a couple of rings. The 4D thrusters are fine. I just need to learn to keep an eye on the g's. I'm getting quite happy about this little ship. I even like the paintjob in a certain angle and a certain light.

Here's another picture of the black hole. I can't get enough of those right now:

 

[Phongsalt]

Well after 50 days the Stellar Unknown expedition has made the turn back from the Centaurus Reach area towards the core. I thought I'd be able to finish in about 3 weeks (as there were only 3 mystery waypoints left before Sag A) but it looks like they've gone and added a couple more overnight. I was looking forward to getting back to civilization in a few weeks but a few extra weeks added on won't kill me.

Dude,you're so close.
A word of caution.When you first enter the system,head directly to anchorage,do not pause to see the sights.It's only a short hop (about 350 ls),so no need to race,but it's very tempting to peek.
Even in solo there are nasty surprises for the unwary.I wouldn't even stop to honk.
Don't be that guy!Turn that data in!

 

[Rustnsawdust]

I'm just returned from the 21C equivalent of a Beluga tour - a very, very large floating vessel carried me and LOML around a large part of the Mediterranean for the last 10 days (25th wedding anniversary celebration!) A variety of 'likes' was as much as I could muster on the phone, but just wanted to express thanks for regular and enjoyable updates in this thread.

Because of arrangements for cat-feeding in our absence, I am currently without house keys, and LOML will be out all day tomorrow/today which means I'm confined to quarters. So, a day of ED awaits . I take it, from the demise of September update rants, that the galaxy has resumed some kind of normal service so my own mission to seek out new life will continue.

Keep up the good work, commanders o7

 

[LetItBleed1980]

Dude,you're so close.
A word of caution.When you first enter the system,head directly to anchorage,do not pause to see the sights.It's only a short hop (about 350 ls),so no need to race,but it's very tempting to peek.
Even in solo there are nasty surprises for the unwary.I wouldn't even stop to honk.
Don't be that guy!Turn that data in!

This is my third trip to Sag A* so I won't be more tempted to peek at it than turn in my data. During the first couple of weeks I turned in my data at some remote stations like the one at Thor's Helmet, I'd be turning it in daily if possible but it hasn't been for quite a while. Once we got so far out I think the only options were to jump ahead to EA or return to the bubble and I didn't want to do either. Once we get within a couple waypoints of EA I'll probably skip ahead and turn in my data then backtrack but I don't want to do a lot of that.

 

[Speedcuffs]

Wowsers! Completionist ! What kind of mega-super guardian-enhanced uber-rig are you building? And will it be ready in time?Will it require a fleet carrier to facilitate it's expedition? Will a squadroon be inaugurated on launch? So many questions! Your public demands answers!

Well, I'm back from the Shard sites (working properly now), raws are all maxed out.
Uber-rig. Well, turns out that because of the CG, T-6/7/9s all have a nice discount, so...
Yep, another T-9.
This one will be for Mega-Ship Rescue/Salvage.
Also considering building one for Thargoid Scouts.

Current (PC) T-9 roster:
1. Standard trader.
2. Long range trader.
3. Station salvage.
4. Painite miner.
5. VO miner.
6. Colonia trader.
7. Witch Head trader.

I like T-9s. Wouldn't explore in one though!

 

[Phongsalt]

Currently awaiting the arrival of hrp units to beef up for the coming few days.Decided to see out at least the week here,whilst plans foment.
To facilitate matters i hired on an extra pair of hands for the usual.15 mill + 12%.( So basically .15M)There are some interesting characters amongst the passengers awaiting transfer,but for the next two days i am honing my unarmed space combat skills and getting a grip on how the whole setup works with regard to the whole installation scene.

 

[A C Ender]

Which is why I personally think 2way-Seti is too dangerous. Now turn of those radio and cellphone antennae!

The thing is, any sufficiently advanced civilization to cause us intentional threat (I'm excluding us getting infected or similar) can easily see us no matter what we do now. It's too late to hide, and you can't hide and advance technologically. Even just the heat we produce isn't characteristic for an uninhabited planet, and even if we somehow manage to break known thermodynamics in the future, I very much doubt we will be able to travel back in time and stop ever emitting any light that reveal us.

Isaac Arthur have a lot of interesting podcasts, many related to the Fermi paradox and these kind of questions. If you haven't seen him on YouTube, I can highly recommend it. Turn it on while playing and listen!