toblix

Elite: Dangerous (Kickstarter)

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Finally managed to get a few hours of Elite in last night to do some rare good trading - haven't played for about 3 weeks. The 1.2 patches seemed to make piloting a LOT easier for me. Is it me or did I just never notice that the navigation screen listed your origin > destination system + X Jumps while doing a long haul?

 

The other thing I noticed is that I never got interdicted once, whereas three weeks ago I could count on getting interdicted every 3-4 jumps or so. Maybe I"m just flying through a calm spot in the galaxy.

 

Third observation: Heat levels while scooping from stars are WAY down. I used to stay at 94-99% heat levels while getting 40-50 fuel/second...Now I'm getting 40-55 fuel/second at 65-75% heat.

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The temperature thing has been rejigged, so that damage starts occurring at 100% heat (mostly to modules), with hull damage only at very high heat... the temperature gauge has now been split into three regions because of this. Since damage started at 150% in the old system! you need to multiply by 1.5 to get the old heat.

That number of jumps thing is a great new addition, while interdiction does seem to be down on 1.1, which was at a very high rate.

I'm currently on my first big expedition, having converted my asp to full explorer mode with a 6B fuel scoop that cost more than my ship, but gulps 752 per second! I'm off to see the Crab Pulsar, around 7000 ly from where I started, and am currently 5000 ly from where I left off... The whole journey will probably take ~20 hr or so, and is a nice change of pace. It's me against the galaxy now, trying to plot a course where a) there are enough stars to get me where I'm going, and B) I can refuel every 200 ly or so. Every now and then I get too friendly with a star, and my modules are suffering a bit. I have a field repair module, but that may dry up and I may have to end up canibalising non-vital modules to keep me going (another new feature).

This s very much podcast play, but I like that I can progress in big chunks or just a few minutes. There's been no sign of life for hours, no discovered by tags, and part of me wants to keep going after the crab Pulsar... It's weirdly awesome

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Outfitting an Asp for Deep Exploration and getting out there is another goal for me, once I finish outfitting my Cobra and get a Viper equipped for combat. I'm currently re-listening to the idle thumbs archive and will move on to other podcasts in my industry once I get into deep exploration as it sounds like there's time to think between scans.

 

Love the fact that you can cannibalize modules to repair your ship now.

 

752 fuel/second sounds insane. It takes ~2-3 minutes for me to refuel at 55 fuel/sec in my cobra. I assume the Asp has larger fuel requirements and larger tanks.

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I cashed in my Lugh reward and bought an ASP, after trading my Cobra I had 17 million and spent 15 of that on outfitting but I think I'll need another 15 mil to get it up to max spec.

 

Also I saw Migeru Shiyamoto last night, I did a double take on that one :)

http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc/36366598039135856/E086DF212D3DEEB36FA4FC14BE6372892C3383D7/

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I cashed in my Lugh reward and bought an ASP, after trading my Cobra I had 17 million and spent 15 of that on outfitting but I think I'll need another 15 mil to get it up to max spec.

 

Also I saw Migeru Shiyamoto last night, I did a double take on that one :)

http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc/36366598039135856/E086DF212D3DEEB36FA4FC14BE6372892C3383D7/

Ooh, Lugh is over? I'll have to find out which side won! 

 

Congrats on the Asp, it's my favourite ship so far; I maxed it out to my liking as an all-rounder  for about 23 million, but I do have access to the Founders' World thanks to my Kickstarter pledge. I've not put any armour on it though. I also did an explorer configuration which was more expensive thanks to the giant fuel scoop I used. It's not something I would use in general since it loses 64 tons of cargo, so I am glad that buyback for equipment is 100% cost (crazy). 

 

Right now I'm in a Lakon Type 7, just to try it out while I'm getting enough Imperial reputation to get the Clipper. It can carry about twice as much as my Asp, but is so much slower, shorter range, and vulnerable that I think I'm going to switch back. It would be fine in a wing, but I'm usually pretty anti-social :P. Also there's the fact that Asps can use medium pads, meaning that they can land on outposts.

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Interesting, I saw the 64 capacity cargo in the ASP and immediately wondered about the trading potential. I have a Type 6 and it only has 100 capacity (I think it can go slightly higher with some sacrifices) so I might as well sell that now.

 

It took a little while to adjust to the ASP, the first time I took it out I misjudged a situation and almost got killed by a wing of Cobras. Now I've been taking out pythons, anacondas and imperial clippers with relative ease. That's in bounty hunting though, I'm sure in wars I'd have a bit more trouble.

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I'm back in my Asp (named after the snake, not an acronym). Even though I liked the Type 7 (the cockpit is amazingly cavernous), I felt too uncomfortable when flying it. My do-it-all Asp has 104 ton capacity, but can jump up to 30 ly, has 4 gimballed multicannons and 2 gimbled beams, has an advanced discovery scanner and a detailed surface scanner. The 3A  fuel scoop is fairly nifty too (but nothing like the 6B monster). It is in every way an upgrade over the Type 6, but cost way more :P.

 

The Asp isn't really a combat ship, although it can often hold its own... if you want to go into a war zone, then a Vulture is probably a better bet.

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I'm enjoying making 200k every half hour or so. Now just 2 weeks of that to get to a Vulture.  :wtz:

 

Yeah mostly was looking for an excuse to use that. Still though, some variety would be nice. Hoping trying some wing community ops are going to help.

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Dr Wookie, that Asp sounds pretty sweet. Yeah it's a general purpose ship but I was going into war zones in Lugh in a Cobra :)

I'd quite like to get a vulture and try it out because I've not actually used a dedicated fighter but the temptation to save up for a Python is strong.

 

Pepyri, you can make a bit more than that by bounty hunting in the right locations. Resource extraction sites are the places to go, I was at BD-15 447 last night and was making about 1 million an hour roughly.

Remember though that you need a lot more than the asking price for outfitting.

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Dr Wookie, that Asp sounds pretty sweet. Yeah it's a general purpose ship but I was going into war zones in Lugh in a Cobra :)

I'd quite like to get a vulture and try it out because I've not actually used a dedicated fighter but the temptation to save up for a Python is strong.

 

Pepyri, you can make a bit more than that by bounty hunting in the right locations. Resource extraction sites are the places to go, I was at BD-15 447 last night and was making about 1 million an hour roughly.

Remember though that you need a lot more than the asking price for outfitting.

 

I just put together a Viper to check out combat.

 

Is the bounty hunting at any resource extraction point roughly that good or do you have to go to sites with more combat activity?

 

I guess what I'm really asking is "in an outfitted Viper, where can I go for maximal bounty hunting when I'm tired of running rare goods in my Cobra."

 

Secondly, is going for a Type 6 Lakon hauler instead of a Cobra worth it or should I just go for the Asp on my way to the Type 9 Hauler (where I hear running normal goods becomes more profitable than rare good hauling)?

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I'm not sure exactly. I heard that you should look for systems with low security with resource extraction in metallic rings around planets.

The place I was hunting had 3 sites, one was on the dark side of the planet so I avoided that one (not being able to see the massive chunks of rock can be dangerous) and one was ok but didn't seem to get anything bigger than a Cobra turn up. The good one though has Pythons, Anacondas and Imperial Clippers turn up, they're worth anything from 50-190k each. I don't know for sure though that it wasn't just weird luck that meant one was crap and one was great though.

 

Dr Wookie or someone else could probably answer your Type 6 question better but I'll give it a stab. The Cobra can hold about half the capacity of the Type 6 and has almost as good range but it is much better at defending itself so it's a tough call. Since bounty hunting is quite profitable now, it might be better to wait a bit longer and get the Asp.

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The Type 6 is is good at hauling cargo, and is surprisingly fast and nimble; it's also pretty decent for exploring. If you do a rare run from the Old Worlds for example  (Lave, Diso, Leesti, Orrerre, Uszaa [sp?], Zaonce) then you can often get more rares than the Cobra can hold, making the Type 6 good for this.

 

Prior to the Wings update, I would say you could probably outrun most trouble in a Type 6 with A grade boosters and power distribution, now I'm not so sure. Safe places seem to have lower margins than dangerous ones, so you could probably make as much trading in the outer rim in a Cobra as you could cozily in a Type 6.

 

The Asp is a no-brainer, unless you're really into combat; I hear similar things about the Python.

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I've probably asked this before but I just got my tax refund so I'm gonna shell out for a HOTAS setup, do any of you have the X55? I really like the aesthetics of that over the X52 (those switches look fun as hell), but the 52 seems like it might have a better build quality? The price difference is pretty negligible for me.

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Busby, I'm still using the cheapo Logitech but after some combat I may join you in the HOTAS crew. I'd like a comparison of the X52 and X55 as well.

 

Cute Elite/Nvidia contest:

 

The NVIDIA labs, in association with Reynhardt IntelliSys, are pleased to announce that prototypes of the GeForce GTX Titan Black graphics card are now available for purchase from one exclusive outlet.
A masterpiece of engineering, the NVIDIA Geforce GTX Titan Black represents the cutting edge of display technology. It balances a sleek design with uncompromising performance and unparalleled processing power, making the Titan Black one of the most desirable display modules in the entire galaxy.
To celebrate the pre-release of the new module, NVIDIA are offering 5 lucky pilots the opportunity to win a commercial grade GTX Titan Black. Winning the competition couldn’t be simpler. The first 5 pilots to sell a canister of NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan Black Prototypes back to NVIDIA HQ aboard Godel Ring will be rewarded with a commercial model as soon as they become available. The only problem is NVIDIA isn’t saying where the prototypes are being sold.
Happy hunting Commanders.

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Welp, went ahead and ordered the X55! So please don't tell me it sucks. I'll definitely report back if some of the common complaints I've seen are happening or annoying me.

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Yeah, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the X55; my only experience with HOTAS is the X52 and X52 Pro when volunteering to demo Elite at E3 and PAX East. I'm a lefty, so the set-up is pretty awkward for me, but I might look into using two joysticks, as others have done. The 360 gamepad has been fine so far, but if I go into PvP I imagine HOTAS would be superior.

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The Nvidia competition is live now so I've been doing some rare runs out on the fringes and checking stations en-route then I thought I should probably look at the rules on the Elite forum announcement because this being Elite, they never tell you much in-game. It turns out you have to be in open play and there's effectively a player blockade of the station you have to deliver to, so even if you are lucky enough to find the station(s) selling it, you are going to have a tough time delivering it.

 

I find this situation interesting from the outside but entirely unappealing to take part in so I'll go back to playing as normal.

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Welp, went ahead and ordered the X55! So please don't tell me it sucks. I'll definitely report back if some of the common complaints I've seen are happening or annoying me.

Everything I've read about the X55 says it's not as well-constructed as the X52 Pro. I was also looking at buying a HOTAS setup with my refund and picking up Elite, so I'll be curious to hear your feedback.

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I've spent the last few days currying favour with the Imperials, and have finally got my sweaty mits on an Imperial Clipper! I've been totally irresponsible in getting it with only a few million left over, so I thought I would take it exploring. As it happens, the Alliance are planning expansions, and are paying for exploration data over the next 2 weeks (check Galnet for details).

 

Here is a gratuitous shot of my clipper at the edge of a nebula (slightly ruined by facebook compression, but never mind)

11070767_10153827768859152_7165379580163

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Got my X55 the other day. haven't had a chance to configure it fully yet, but it does feel rather light for how cool it looks. the switches are really cool, and the throttle feels nice, though it is stiff until you jiggle it up and down a few times. The joystick itself is fuckoff huge and I have to move my hand from the base to comfortably reach the top button and hat switch. These are pretty minor annoyances though. I didn't have time to set all my bindings so i had to use some of my old setting to navigate the galactic map and stuff, but everything seems to work alright and it's really fun to use. It's MASSIVE though, and a lot of the button placement on the throttle is really close together. all the knobs and switches on the right side of it are really cramped. Usable, sure, but still cramped for how giant this thing is.

 

The software from the saitek website to configure it is fucking awful though. It straight up doesn't work for me at all. I don't know if there are workarounds or third party solutions or if it will be updated, but it's really bad. Still trying to figure out how to turn off the lights.

 

I'll try to see if I can get everything going smoothly tomorrow.

 

It feels fucking GREAT to throttle up on this thing though. Holy shit.

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I don't even play this that much anymore, but man am I tempted by those nice sticks.

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Hey guys, disregard my last post, I'm a dumb idiot who downloaded the software but not the drivers and that's why it wasn't working.  :getmecoat

 

This is the only HOTAS setup I've used but holy shit does the game feel so fucking rad with switches and buttons and knobs and not touching my keyboard at all save for comms and system lookup. I'll have to rebind some stuff from the defaults but good lord this is amazing. The throttle still needs you to lossen it up a bit beforehand but after that it's golden. the stick feels great and I still need to move my hand to hit all the buttons, but its not that big of a deal because you don't really need to hit all the buttons at once. The POV hat in particular is super handy.

 

I'd recommend you try to find a place to test drive it before dropping the cash, or maybe just go for the X52 unless you really want the cooler switches like I did. I'm apparently lucky in getting a pre-greased stick, though I don't know if they are all like that and it was just a bad first batch or what. 

 

It helps that the first thing I did after I got acclimated to the new setup was secure a 72k bounty on an Asp in a REP. Finally got my eagle kitted out a bit! 

 

This game owns.

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Hey guys, disregard my last post, I'm a dumb idiot who downloaded the software but not the drivers and that's why it wasn't working.  :getmecoat

 

This is the only HOTAS setup I've used but holy shit does the game feel so fucking rad with switches and buttons and knobs and not touching my keyboard at all save for comms and system lookup. I'll have to rebind some stuff from the defaults but good lord this is amazing. The throttle still needs you to lossen it up a bit beforehand but after that it's golden. the stick feels great and I still need to move my hand to hit all the buttons, but its not that big of a deal because you don't really need to hit all the buttons at once. The POV hat in particular is super handy.

 

I'd recommend you try to find a place to test drive it before dropping the cash, or maybe just go for the X52 unless you really want the cooler switches like I did. I'm apparently lucky in getting a pre-greased stick, though I don't know if they are all like that and it was just a bad first batch or what. 

 

It helps that the first thing I did after I got acclimated to the new setup was secure a 72k bounty on an Asp in a REP. Finally got my eagle kitted out a bit! 

 

This game owns.

Fantastic(k)!

 

I am tempted to get a HOTAS when I go back to the UK in a couple of months, but am a bit concerned because I'm a lefty.  I've used X52s at E3 and PAX East; the throttle is great, but my crappy hand tells the craft where it's pointing, and I'm not sure whether that is better than just using a gamepad, like I have been up til now. Then again, the HOTAS setup *feels* amazing... I love having the safety switch over the "unleash hell" button, and on the Giant Bomb Quicklook, Drew said that throttling up to engage hyperspace was his favourite part, andI kinda agree.

 

Back to me now, and I am extremely impressed with how fast the Clipper is- I only have 6C thrusters, and I can haul 170 tons of cargo at >400 m/s! Very 6C :P. I've gone back to the shield and run approach to interdictions for now while I build up my ship... there's very little that can keep up with me, so I don't even try to engage. When I load up on eventually load up on guns (or bring my friends :P), I might work on getting my combat rank above Novice :)

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MAC BETA RELEASED!

 

The Mac version is now in beta for alpha or beta backers... cross play with pc version will be tested in a few weeks. Recommended spec is as follows:

27 inch iMac (Purchased in 2015, current line)

3.4 GHz quad core intel i5

8 GB RAM

Nvidia GeForce GTX 775M with 2GB / AMD Radeon R9 290X with 2 GB

Mac OS 10.10

 

There are optimisations planned, and the final specs are expected to be lower.

 

Tested specs include 2013 13" Macbook Pro with Intel 4000 at 35-45 fps

                                   2012 Macbook Air i7, 8GB, Intel 4000 19fps in station, 20-40 fps in space

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