Why does Elite tell me to slow down?

archie456

A
At various points when flying around in Super Cruse a message pops up telling me to slow down.

It makes sense when to me when I'm approaching a station as going too fast will make me over shoot.

But the message pops up when I'm flying past a star or planet - and I can't see the point of it.

What happens if I fly too fast, why is Elite telling me then - surely its better to fly faster as I can get there quicker...

Am I missing something?

Cheers
 

Pendergast

Pendergast
It's not telling you to slow down, its telling you that you are being slowed down by a gravity well. The phrasing could be better. GRAVITY WELL or VELOCITY REDUCED or something.

Of course, when you are approaching a station and go too fast to drop out I think you get it too, as they increase your speed to make sure you miss. I guess velocity changing then too so same message.
 

MarkAusten

MarkAusten
archie456 said:
At various points when flying around in Super Cruse a message pops up telling me to slow down.

It makes sense when to me when I'm approaching a station as going too fast will make me over shoot.

But the message pops up when I'm flying past a star or planet - and I can't see the point of it.

What happens if I fly too fast, why is Elite telling me then - surely its better to fly faster as I can get there quicker...

Am I missing something?

Cheers
Click to expand...

The FSD is affected by gravity. Get too close to a gravity well whilst travelling with your throttle set to over 75% and your engine starts to strain. At that point you get the 'Slow Down' message. This goes away when your either set the throttle to lower than 75% or you move out of range of the gravity well.

More or less.
 

[VR] optimal_909

[VR] optimal_909
Also, it can happen in the middle of nowhere, that's because your ship affected by objects that are modeled in stellar forge, but not yet implemented. In some cases your ship is also suddenly lit by mysterious light sources - same thing.
 

Unknown Zombie

Unknown Zombie
Yep, as stated above it means your ship is experiencing forces that are causing it to bog down and get slower.

I think the warning should read "SLOWDOWN" as one word, not two. Then it would be more apparent (or would have been more apparent to me, as a new player) that the ship is experiencing slowdown and is not, in fact, telling you to slow down.
 

babelfisch

babelfisch
Unknown Zombie said:
Yep, as stated above it means your ship is experiencing forces that are causing it to bog down and get slower.

I think the warning should read "SLOWDOWN" as one word, not two. Then it would be more apparent (or would have been more apparent to me, as a new player) that the ship is experiencing slowdown and is not, in fact, telling you to slow down.
Click to expand...
How about SLOWING DOWN?
 

Unknown Zombie

Unknown Zombie
babelfisch said:
How about SLOWING DOWN?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that could work too.

Edit:

Actually, after thinking about it some I'm not sure it would really be a good option. I think it would have the wrong implication.


In my mind, I would interpret "slowing down" to mean that the ship was purposefully and intentionally decreasing throttle (for safety or some other reason).

In my mind, I would interpret "slowdown" to mean the ship is experiencing unintentional/undesired effects that are causing it to slow down.

I think it's apparent from the awful racket your FSD makes when getting that message that the effect is unintended.
 
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Skyfire

Skyfire
optimal_909 said:
Also, it can happen in the middle of nowhere, that's because your ship affected by objects that are modeled in stellar forge, but not yet implemented. In some cases your ship is also suddenly lit by mysterious light sources - same thing.
Click to expand...

I think the 'middle of nowhere' thing might be the occasional asteroid field you see on some system maps. They don't show up as an object to target while in SC, but you can target them on the system map and drop in. They don't seem to have any useful items or materials in them.

As explained the 'Slow Down' is what's happening to your FSD when you get near a gravity well - a planet or star ... or possibly the occasional asteroid field. Your FSD is being affected by a SLOW DOWN .... and reports as such on your control panel. I agree that 'Gravity Well' or 'Slowed Down' might be a better message ....

As for flying towards a station or outpost, if you keep the time showing 7 seconds (it is possible with it showing 6 secs or even 5 secs if you are very careful) you will see your speed is slowing down. Travelling too fast is why you miss the station! The FSD transfer from supercruise to 'normal' space can only be done once you are going 'slow' enough in supercruise for it to cope with the 'transfer' .... well that's my take on the pseudo 'science' of it! :)
 
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Lightspeed

Lightspeed
This question comes up time after time (and no reason why it shouldn't !) ..... but I suspect it is #9999 on FD's list of 10000 quality of life improvements.
 

Vasious

Vasious
It isnt telling you to slow down

It is telling you, you are under the effects of a slow down.

The Slow Down warning pops up when you current speed is greater that the Speed the FSD would normally be capable of in relation to distance from that object.

I steal the below image as I am at work

2a85csm.png


But the "What is this" part is the maximum speed the FSD is capable of at the given time and circumstances

When you get slow down, you will note your current speed is exceeding that and so you are being forced to slow down

Hence why the warning shows up too late for you to avoid overshooting as it is already too late
 
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Viktor Dracul

V
It's strange because my interpretation of the reason for this warning is slightly different. As it occurs when entering the gravity well of a planet or moon I've always assumed it meant That I should slow down because I am going too fast to exit SC safely (whether I intend to stop there or not is moot as my course has taken me through the gravity well). But the other reasons given above make sense too so I guess you can make your own mind up with no hard confirmation of its meaning from FDev anywhere that I've seen.
 

Ian Doncaster

Ian Doncaster
Vasious said:
I steal the below image as I am at work

https://s31.postimg.cc/r9ksol97f/2a85csm.png

But the "What is this" part is the maximum speed the FSD is capable of at the given time and circumstances
Click to expand...
Yes. One key thing about this bit:
- "What is this" is on a logarithmic scale, with about half-way up being about the speed of light, and the very top being maximum possible supercruise speed.
- "Actual speed" is on a linear scale, relative to the current top of the "what is this" scale.

Which is why people think this...
Pendergast said:
as they increase your speed to make sure you miss
Click to expand...
...happens.

The logarithmic maximum capable speed is decreasing, but on a high-speed approach it's decreasing slower than your actual current speed, so you see your linear "actual speed" gauge appear to rise. Your speed is still going down, as you'll see if you watch the actual indicator, but your speed relative to your drive's ability to maintain control is rising, so the bar goes up.

(Careful use of this effect by flying a spiral approach can let you reach the station much more quickly than a "safe"/"boring" linear deceleration. Basically if it doesn't say "slow down" you're not going fast enough...)
 
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