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[Elite] Dangerous; Engineers Are GO!

DrakeDrake Edgelord TrashBelow the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
edited May 2016 in Games and Technology
Elite: Dangerous is an online spaceships game in a completely simulated Milky Way galaxy in the year 3300. Mankind has settled a volume of space hundreds of light years in diameter. Three superpowers exist here, the Federation, the Empire and the Alliance. Each of these three major powers are teeming with factions. Then there are independent factions of all types, from egalitarian democrats to dictatorial slavers. Commanders (the in-game reference to all players) can gain and lose reputation with any of these powers, including the three superpowers. And there are three ways to build your reputation. Three paths to become Elite.

COMBAT
Become a fearless combat pilot. Engage in military conflict, assassination, mercenary wetwork, bounty hunting, piracy or just go plain psycho fucking nuts and see how long you can keep going.

TRADE
Become a shrewd merchant. Ply the trade lanes, scraping every last credit you can from your cargo hold and Frameshift Drive. Collect necessary resources for a particular faction, reinforcing their strength and position. Gather food and guns for the starving and oppressed, and if are particularly charitable you just may gain allies that much faster.

EXPLORE
Roam the uncharted systems, looking for the next big strike. Planets rich with resources, the orbits of stars, planets, moons, asteroid and more are out there for you to discover and chart. The right data can make a man rich. And there is the frontier, a place stalked by alien menaces and escaped rogue AI. Wonders surely await amongst the danger.

All of this takes place in an online sandbox simulation of the Milky Way galaxy. The players are members of an elite organization, the Pilot's Federation, a kind of self policing loosely organized spacer's guild. Humanities interstellar civilization depends upon this nominally neutral organization for survival. Without them the life blood of trade and exploration would cease. The Commanders of this group have a ranking system rooted in combat kills, the starting rank is Harmless and the highest ranking is Elite. Over the years the ranking has been expanded to Trade and Exploration as well bringing us to the ultimate ranking of Triple Elite. And rank hath its priveleges. As a pilot in this federation you will engage in all manners of activity, all of your choosing. You can be a defender of the downtrodden, a murderous psychopath, a calculating and amoral criminal or whatever you set out to achieve. It may not happen overnight, but if you stick with it and pay attention to the details you just may end up living the galactic space opera of your dreams.

Here is the controversial launch trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6peGu2yG6o

Yes, it's rather combat heavy and hyperbolic. I can say that while it may not be entirely accurate I have had many moments that felt like the moments shown in the trailer. As far as hyperbolic CGI trailers for video games go it's pretty much standard fare. And there is an absolute wealth of real gameplay footage and information. Like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8umAuCmqdo4

And this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeIeZdvMS9Y

Ok yeah that ended up being a lot of combat too. I guess you do fight a lot in Elite so maybe that launch trailer isn't so out there? ;)

Even so there are other activities you can pursue, like the Buckyball Racing League.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg8pO25DtUM

Or the Fuel Rats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZj3mbZVnNI


Horizons and Beyond
Now, almost a year after launch we have a new expansion pack coming, called Horizons. The big feature here is going to be planetary landings, including zipping around in rad buggies with guns. Screenshots have already shown wrecks to explore and drones to fight. Who knows what other new surprises will be waiting for us down there? But wait I hear you say, 2015 isn't over yet! That's right. The base game is getting a few more updates before the new season launches. CQC Championship will launch practically any day now, bringing quick, round based arena combat to Elite with balanced teams. Test your skill in a level playing field where you don't have to put your savings on the line. Afterwards will come update 1.5 aka The Ships update. We'll be getting quite a few new vessels to fly around in. And the base game will continue to receive updates as well, but for the really big features like planetary landings you'll need to buy the seasonal expansions.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4sAe16UTDg

Do you have terrible stuttering in Frameshift drive? Do you use AMD graphics cards? Derrick has your back!

Drake on
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Posts

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    DarkMechaDarkMecha The Outer SpaceRegistered User regular
    First! j/k

    So I've heard alot that if you goto a place in a ring away from the RES locations you will not encounter NPCs at all. This would be patently false! I've been going to remote locations ans I've found all kinds of different NPCs out there. Far less, but I've seen a lone cop in a viper, a mining asp like myself, and a nasty wing of two deadly rated pirates who got me down to 41% hull before i beat them (with abit of help from the space cops who showed up after about 5-10min). I love it! The more the game can surprise me and not feel formulaic the more fun I have.

    Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
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    DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    Yeah I think the game is at its most interesting when you can mix up activities and find ways to do stuff that's not part of the guide so to speak. Who cares if it's optimal when you are enjoying yourself.

    But speaking of guides I ran across this one today. Same guy who did the Fuel Rats 2000th Rescue video in the OP. He has the golden voice of Apollo himself.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLsHmTe-4MU

    He has a lot of really neat stuff on his channel, some of it featuring his voicework and some of it is gameplay.

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    ZeroczZerocz Space Cowboy In SpaceRegistered User regular
    It's a great video. I do wish he'd switched back to default hud colors for it. That could be disorientating to a rookie pilot.

    Here's one I like, about the joys of learning to dock!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYPtigdFxnA

    To experienced commanders, I offer this. Once you have your vertical and lateral thrusters/throttles sorted, reach into the ship functions menu and turn off Rotational Correction. Seriously. Do it. It'll make you more of a pilot, and less of a bus driver.

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    BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    I have enough issues shooting through the mail slot at 250 or so speeds to avoid scanning and stopping before I hit the back side to worry about spin. :D

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    darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    I managed to get my younger brother in the door just before the Xbox version price increase, so it looks like I get to test my own knowledge of the game by imparting it to him as he learns it. Which will actually be quite nice!

    forumsig.png
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    TubeTube Registered User admin
    I see zero advantages to turning off rotational correction other than for an extra, somewhat tedious challenge. That's not a transferable skill.

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    RonaldoTheGypsyRonaldoTheGypsy Yes, yes Registered User regular
    I like the docking computer as I can fiddle on eddb or youtube or the forums while it lands for me.

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    DarkMechaDarkMecha The Outer SpaceRegistered User regular
    I tried doing a FA off and rotational correction off landing once. I fly on KBAM, which IMO is just fine for most things in the game. That? Not so much...but I did land it!

    Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
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    BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    edited October 2015
    MVP of that clip: 4 pip shields

    Bigity on
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    ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    I actually can't watch more than 5 seconds of that video before my head goes all spinny.

    | Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
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    DarkMechaDarkMecha The Outer SpaceRegistered User regular
    They added an auto-recenter option for the mouse that would have made that easier. I would use it now but its an always on or off kind of thing and I'd prefer to toggle it on only when I turn FA off.

    Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
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    BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    Yea once I found that setting I got alot better with KBAM (actually, trackball).

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    DarkMechaDarkMecha The Outer SpaceRegistered User regular
    Track ball!? Are you a time traveler?

    Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
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    dporowskidporowski Registered User regular
    I just figure the very first things any bunch of space pilot people would make are "thing to land my ass safely" and "thing to correct for rotation of very expensive space station".

    Manual flight around space habitats is for crazy people.

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    BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    DarkMecha wrote: »
    Track ball!? Are you a time traveler?

    I started computer gaming on a Kensington Expert Mouse (which is ironically a trackball). Using a mouse just feels wrong. I could headshot fools with a laser right in Tribes while we were both in the air, so it works. Just a matter of getting used to it and sensitivity settings :D

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    DarkMechaDarkMecha The Outer SpaceRegistered User regular
    Bigity wrote: »
    DarkMecha wrote: »
    Track ball!? Are you a time traveler?

    I started computer gaming on a Kensington Expert Mouse (which is ironically a trackball). Using a mouse just feels wrong. I could headshot fools with a laser right in Tribes while we were both in the air, so it works. Just a matter of getting used to it and sensitivity settings :D

    Most impressive!

    Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
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    BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    Ugh. I didn't realize collector limpets could be dumb enough to fly into an asteroid as it rotates.

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    DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    dporowski wrote: »
    I just figure the very first things any bunch of space pilot people would make are "thing to land my ass safely" and "thing to correct for rotation of very expensive space station".

    Manual flight around space habitats is for crazy people.

    Welcome to the year 3300.

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    BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    Well, the autopilot device thingy they did make has problems....I guess they go with the lowest bidder on those contracts.

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    TubeTube Registered User admin
    I'd love to be able to fly full fa off all the time as some people do, but I just can't keep track of my velocity well enough.

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    BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    Yea, I can't see the space dust well enough to do all of that. Maybe at some point we will get HUD displays for direction and velocity?

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    DarkMechaDarkMecha The Outer SpaceRegistered User regular
    IWar2 did that really well:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQfllAxBwCc

    Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
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    BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    Oh yea, the patch (1.4) is tomorrow.

    If only I had the cash for a tricked out Federal Assault Ship.

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    TubeTube Registered User admin
    What's the pricing on those?

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    DarkMechaDarkMecha The Outer SpaceRegistered User regular
    About 20 mil I think.

    Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
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    TubeTube Registered User admin
    Maybe I'll get two

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    DarkMechaDarkMecha The Outer SpaceRegistered User regular
    edited October 2015
    I've still not found a reason to own more than one ship. If I swap ships I just sell everything. Then again I only have 22mil to my name. I think it would be far more useful if you could have them transferred around. It would also be great if we could you know, store cargo on stations. Even if it was just using the docked ships cargo holds. I would love to stock pile commodities and watch the market for a good time to sell them.

    DarkMecha on
    Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
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    DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    I've got four I keep parked at glorious GabEn in Harma. I have an Eagle for shenanigans, I have a T6 for bulk smuggling and reinforcing. I have my Cobra set up for undermining the imps. My Asp is set up for drone pirating. I'm thinking about reconfiguring the Asp for an exploration holiday from the Pegasi Sector, just wander uncharted systems for a bit.

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    SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    edited October 2015
    I'm 1300+ light years from known space, and lo and behold I find a system with what appears to be two inhabitable planets.
    It was already explored!

    C'mon I'm millions of systems away!

    EDIT: My cat decided it would be a good time to hit the reset button on my computer shortly after posting this.

    Soggybiscuit on
    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
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    DarkMechaDarkMecha The Outer SpaceRegistered User regular
    edited October 2015
    I'm kind of tired of mining atm so I was thinking about rigging my Asp for that too. Either that or trading it in for a Diamondback Explorer. The Asp can be configured with enough fuel tanks to go over 700ly though before I need to fuels scoop, which is pretty appealing! Abit less if I throw in an AFM module, which I probably should.

    Oh do shields help reduce your heat when your near stars? If not I'm going without them.

    DarkMecha on
    Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
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    DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    Not as far as I can see. I think shields actually increase the heat load a little bit.

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    SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    4uissltntxsy.jpg

    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
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    SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    I forgot to mention I didn't explore that. I'm 1500 light years out and this one system was cherry picked out 10+ before that weren't even touched.

    This is kind of frustrating.

    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
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    SyngyneSyngyne Registered User regular
    I forgot to mention I didn't explore that. I'm 1500 light years out and this one system was cherry picked out 10+ before that weren't even touched.

    This is kind of frustrating.

    It happens. When you start exploring that far out you quit scanning every rocky planet and just go for the interesting/profitable ones to save time. I don't know how many red dwarf + nine rocky/icy planet systems I skipped over on my way back from Faust.

    Try not jumping your max distance. A lot of times when people are making a beeline for a landmark, they'll be jumping the max 25-30 light years and skipping a lot of systems inbetween. Also, if you're anywhere near a nebula, the systems there are most likely already hit.

    5gsowHm.png
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    ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    You know, I never realized how hard it is to find just the right weapon(s) for my Viper. With my PC pilot, I just picked up whatever class-2 gimbaled pulse laser I could afford. But on XBone, I've been trying to find class-2 fixed energy weapons...and all I can find are beam lasers or plasma accelerators that cost over 1mil. As a stopgap, I've reverted back to my PC pilot's Viper's config (gimbaled pulse laser + gimbaled cannons).

    However, hooray! Official retail launch of E:D on XBone inbound!

    | Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
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    PetesalzlPetesalzl vorpal blade in hand Registered User regular
    DarkMecha wrote: »
    I've still not found a reason to own more than one ship. If I swap ships I just sell everything. Then again I only have 22mil to my name. I think it would be far more useful if you could have them transferred around. It would also be great if we could you know, store cargo on stations. Even if it was just using the docked ships cargo holds. I would love to stock pile commodities and watch the market for a good time to sell them.

    i keep a sidewinder at cubeo so i can quickly see it on the map from anywhere in the galaxy

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    SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
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    RiusRius Globex CEO Nobody ever says ItalyRegistered User regular
    edited October 2015
    -Hazardous resource extraction sites added
    - Legal salvage missions added
    :whistle: tell me more, tell me more :whistle:
    - If no standard penetration depth is set for a ship, use 75% of its size in the smallest axis (rather than 100m). As no ships actually had this value set this will stop shots going all the way through ships to hit modules at the back
    - Remove spurious increased penetration distance from medium beam turrets
    - Railguns now have extreme penetration distance (will pierce to any module on any ship)
    Nice indirect buff to Railguns here. Ammo count still sucks though?

    Rius on
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    SoggybiscuitSoggybiscuit Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator Registered User regular
    I'm having a huge Doh! moment right now.

    I'm out exploring my Cobra. I knew about the Asp, but it's been too expensive for me for a long while. I didn't know about the Diamondback Explorer. I guess I should have checked up on that after not playing for 8 months or so.

    :facepalm.jpg:

    Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
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    General_ArmchairGeneral_Armchair Registered User regular
    edited October 2015
    I'm 1300+ light years from known space, and lo and behold I find a system with what appears to be two inhabitable planets.
    It was already explored!

    C'mon I'm millions of systems away!

    EDIT: My cat decided it would be a good time to hit the reset button on my computer shortly after posting this.

    Most people make a beeline from inhabited space towards a landmark and cover a lot of the same ground.

    If you want virgin territory within the relatively close sphere of space near earth (1.3k ly is not far. You're still in our backyard ), then you need to first fly tangent to your true destination and then head towards it so that you approach the landmark from a different bearing than most explorers.

    General_Armchair on
    3DS Friend Code:
    Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
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