What mini-games and time-savers do you do?

[Ian Doncaster]

I always try to get the fastest possible supercruise approach - "6 seconds" is safe, but takes about twice as long as an optimal approach using a curved trajectory and gravity braking. Especially valuable for approaching planetary bases, or orbitals hidden behind the mass shadow of a gas giant.

If there's a 20kLs or more flight, I'll do some trilateration for EDSM to help clear the backlog of unknown-position systems from before 2.1 released.

If I'm taking off from a planet and my next hyperspace destination is behind it, then I switch from gaining altitude to the much faster horizontal movement. Done at the right time, this gets the hyperspace destination in sight quicker (do it too early and it really slows things down, though)

 

[777Driver]

I always try to get the fastest possible supercruise approach - "6 seconds" is safe, but takes about twice as long as an optimal approach using a curved trajectory and gravity braking. Especially valuable for approaching planetary bases, or orbitals hidden behind the mass shadow of a gas giant.

I hope FD eventually give us a flight director on the HUD, being able to fly those approaches with precision would be a great addition to supercruise.

 

[relayer]

My main mini-game is station entrance and exit. I keep improving my aim, speed and vector so I can boost 2x at the station, get a pad number and then swoop down on it, airliner-style, using landing gear and thrusters to fit her snug as a bug and exactly on point. All this for large ships. Traffic Control is not my biggest fan.

My other mini-game is to get in and out of the flea-bitten slot without some idiot in a $@^%@!! Beluga trying to jam itself under me -_-

 

[Frank]

If I'm far away from my destination I'll sometimes flaunt the 6 second rule to get there a little quicker. I'll see how long I can hold it at 5 seconds, dicing with the loop of shame.

And I got real bored out in the Black, so I made a quick run back to the bubble. I was frameshift jumping while still fuelscooping by using heatsinks. That dash back to the bubble cost me all of my heatsink materials, and I'm still rebuilding my stockpile of them.

 

[Muetdhiver]

Login, fast ASP to location. Ship transfer. Logout. Do something else* (e.g. Civ6) while ship arrive.
Don't come back because : 1 more turn syndrom, or "This is a finely written quest (Witcher)".

Come back day(s) later.

Been doing that a lot lately. More planning to play ED than playing ED.

*Widely given advice w.r.t ship transfer immershun timer/flow breaker. Well, I follow this advice to the letter.
Works well. Although, not if one counts actually playing ED as a success ^^

I despise mechanics that break game flow.

 

[crushdepth]

Audio books. It helps me to ignore the tedious bits, which as an explorer are most of them.

 

[CMDR ANCALAGON]

I flick booggers at the ugly vase next to the tv.

 

[Askorti]

I tend to read books on my phone on the longer supercruise flights. It really helped me get through the latest series much faster than the previous one that I only read on public transportation or in queues at the grocery shop.

 

[Shiro Akai]

o7 all

As we know, there's a fair bit of flying about. Within Elite, what mini-games do you play, or what time saving tricks do you have to make the most of this "downtime"?

Mini-games sure, I call them small time RP. Time saving tricks? Some of them but mostly I perform time increasing tricks for the sake of aforementioned RP...

I've a few:

• Whilst waiting to jump to another system, I try to align the centre dot of the HUD perfectly in the target circle
• When approaching a station (et al) I come in at 6 secs, avoid "Slowdown" as much as possible, line up the station slot and try to avoid the loop of shame

Heh, I do the same as above. Tho I'm at 7s rule but still I try align with station's entry so when I drop SC I'm in front of it.

[*]When coming in to dock, I try to get through the slot without scraping the sides/other ships
[*]When landing, I don't ram it onto the pad, I try to park as smoothly as possible using all 6 DOF.
[/LIST]

Again, same here. While approaching the mail slot I reduce my speed to 99 m/s and enter from the green light side. I exit station the same way, near green light. After passing mail slot I set my speed to 25% and slowly float toward my pad. When near I deploy my landing gear, which further reduces my speed, and gently land. Last meters I move at 1-3% power, aiming directly at the very center of the pad. Takes significantly more time but I take personal pleasure from performing such slow and manual landing.

[*]When launching, I select "Launch" then select my next destination whilst the ship is going up on the lift

I used to do that, now I do exactly opposite. When in hangar I return to surface first. Take a look around (usually), turn lights on and then launch. After exitting station and before jump I turn lights off. I turn lights back on when dropping SC and approaching station.

 

[Non Grata]

Alt Tab

 

[Deleted member 38366]

When approaching a Planetary Base, I aim above it until approx. at 8.5-9km Altitude and the Base then ~50-60deg low. Then I go momentarily FA OFF (higher Glide agility) and pushover down with max deflection Controls.
This results in the Glide phase terminating right above the Base and as low as 3km Altitude.

When approaching any Outpost/Station, inside ~15-20Mm I throttle up to overshoot ETA, then go Idle.
As soon as the speed drops into Safe Disengage parameters, I throttle up again.
This allows to disengage with as little as 2sec ETA, since the Ship is still barely in valid Disengage parameters when reaching 1000km Distance.

When leaving a Station and the Hyperjump destination is right behind it, I Afterburn FA off straight ahead, go FA OFF and rotate the Ship in idle towards the Jump destination.
Outside of Mass-lock, I engage the Jump. As soon as the FSD is nearly or fully charged, I Afterburn again to initiate the jump near instantly without the conventional Throttle-up delay.

For speedy approaches to Stations i.e. around large Gas Giants, I intentionally overshoot and use Gravity Braking of the nearby Mass.

For speedy Mining, I place the Cargo Hatch some 30-40m straight above the fragment cloud, reducing Limpet turnaround times to as little as ~1.5 Seconds.

 

[piercehead]

I just have to line up for jumps so that the ship doesn't have to correct its facing as it starts the countdown. It's the law.

It's sometimes faster to plan a refueling stop at a waypoint with a close-in station than to scoop fuel.

You have a scoop small enough that it's quicker to drop out of supercruise, fly 10km, land, refuel and take off... rather than fly round a star for a bit?

 

[Stealthie]

A bit off-topic but am I the only one seeing a giant grey box which obscures almost all of page 2 of this thread, and makes it impossible to quote responses on that page etc? [where is it]

 

[Riverside]

A bit off-topic but am I the only one seeing a giant grey box which obscures almost all of page 2 of this thread, and makes it impossible to quote responses on that page etc? [where is it]

I see it too (on page 2 only). Only place I've seen it though.

 

[YinYin]

A bit off-topic but am I the only one seeing a giant grey box which obscures almost all of page 2 of this thread, and makes it impossible to quote responses on that page etc? [where is it]

Not just that, the third quote in Shiro Akai's last post breaks all following page formatting.

 

[fitzsteve]

I've got into the habit of going into hanger when I land and then going to deck as I'm plotting route, I don't set launch as I often forget something (like selling those damn mission reward cargo, claiming a bounty or just get side-tracked with something else.)

That's about it really otherwise I just get on with it, if I can't get orientation of where the station drop aligns during SC I just fly right past and then loop back as it's likely on the other side (90% of the time)

 

[Riverside]

I've got into the habit of going into hanger when I land and then going to deck as I'm plotting route, I don't set launch as I often forget something (like selling those damn mission reward cargo, claiming a bounty or just get side-tracked with something else.)

I do that too (turn the ship around immediately) but for a different reason. It gives anyone spying on you less notice that you are about to leave.

 

[Macros Black]

• If coming in too hot (and have shield), I use the access corridor to brake.
• I always boost inside the station when leaving.
• Max throttle on "Slow Down" when approaching a station, then wait for 1 sec eta to enter normal space.
• If I encounter a "Weapons Fire Detected [Threat 4]" and I'm in a combat ship, I must enter it.
• Likewise for a "Degraded Emissions Detected [Threat 3]", usually an AI Relics with lots of Pirates.
• If entering a populated system with unexplored bodies, I must scan the Nav Beacon. Unless I'm in a hurry.
• If I'm about to overshoot an USS, I throttle to zero and select another target in the Nav panel to come to a quick stop. Also allows for quick USS entry.
• If an uninteresting USS spawn, I approach it anyway, sometimes a secondary USS spawn near it.
• FA/Off in the SRV for increased speed.
• If I feel I have waited long enough for an USS to spawn, I do a 180 or 360 to 'tickle' an USS forth. Seems to work 50% of the time.
• When recalling the fighter, I start the jump sequence at zero throttle and align to target. When the fighter is close enough, I boost and go full throttle to jump.
• KWS mapped to switch on HOTAS, so it keeps firing and I don't have to manually scan targets.

 

[CMDR ANCALAGON]

A bit off-topic but am I the only one seeing a giant grey box which obscures almost all of page 2 of this thread, and makes it impossible to quote responses on that page etc? [where is it]

The rest of page two doesn't even show on mobile. Had to scroll back to top to load next page.

 

[Boff'in]

I follow the orbit lines if I need to travel from one side of a gravity well to another.
FSD never slows down from the other planets/stars since the orbits stay clear of them.

I have no idea if it's a timesaver, but I get entranced by the trying to stay on the orbit line.

Keep the srv off the ground as much as possible (0.3G's and under), by using landscape ramps, top speeds and thrusters. Then pitch down and trust away, so I can skim long distances without spin/slamming into rocks / bouncing off target due to bumps/mounds..