Multi Elite - Dangerous by David Braben

Is it a book?

 

Books! Jeff Noon Wrote three books, Vurt (1993), the sequel Pollen (1995) and (confusingly) the prequel to Vurt called Nymphomation (1997). They are very of their time, but very good fantasy novels. Vurt carries the most awesome critical review summary ever: "Too harsh for hippies, too beautiful for bikers". And it is.

All three refer to a powerful hallucinatory drug which comes in the shape of brightly coloured feathers. Their colour indicates the nature of the hallucination. You use the feathers by sticking them in your mouth and sucking them; when they're spent they turn white.

All feathers have a name. The light blue 'Tapewormer' is one of the most common and harmless drugs, just making you experience an idyllic world in which everything is wholesome. On the other end of the spectrum is the rare 'Curious Yellow' which frankly can get you killed if you're even slightly off your game. Pink ones are porn fantasies, black ones are illegal bootleg remixes, and a rare silver one, the 'Sniffing General' gives you root access to all users' trips.

Because it turns out that the hallucinations are in fact alternate realities (what we imagine here --dreams, mythology, the archetypal imaginings of humanity-- is real in a parallel universe somewhere), collectively called the Vurt (short for Virtual Reality), and the feathers act as a sort of portal. This ride is not for the weak: if you get harmed or killed in the Vurt, you are really harmed or killed. There is also the Hobart's constant to consider: what is taken from the Vurt back into our universe must be replaced by something of more or less equal value. As such, people have got lost in the Vurt in exchange for something coming back to our world...

It's kind of required reading for the computer geek, because it's fantasy with a hint of Sci-Fi, featuring myths, maths and virtual reality and a strong dose of allusions to computer gaming.

 

I will buy them on amazon.

Is it worse than sniffing glue?

 

I'm trying to get into ED, but I'm finding it somewhat tedious and boring. I've started a character, picked up a missions and headed off towards it. And then I give up as traveling to destinations takes forever! I'm using the FSD but after 40 minutes of traveling I get bored and quit. Is the majority of the game just traveling forever or am I doing something wrong?

 

If it's taking you 40 minutes to get there then yes! Most missions are within 3-5 jumps of the issuer.

There are two 'fast' flight modes, one called super cruise, and the other is a hyper jump between stars. Super Cruise is for gallivanting around a solar system, where as hyper drive jumps allow you to keep hopping between stars.

But yes, the game is tedious, but normally the feeling does not hit for a few weeks...

 

Is the mission to Hutton orbital? that's about an hour away from the jump in point.

As mentioned above make sure you're in the right "mode" (super cruise or sub light). Also a little time to destination (at current speed) should be viable on the target, this should give you a good indication of when your in the correct mode.

Oh! and for coming out of super-cruise: fly at your (in system) destination at full speed (in super-cruise) when your time to destination reads 7 (8 till you get the hang of it) seconds quickly reduce throttle to about 30% and you'll decelerate nicely.

 

I'm officially Deadly!

Going from Dangerous to Deadly took longer than Harmless to Dangerous.

So, community combat goals are now the order of business from now until I rage quit.

 

For all Bounty Hunters

NB. there is a whole album https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLclnxmO431HD8vdhLmE7WDvYQREs8MCP6

 

Are there any combat community goals (or just a RES site) people would be interested in forming a wing for this (late) afternoon (between 4 and 7ish)?
Floating about solo in combat gets tiresome in my anaconda.

Ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta ships beta!

- The cutter -
A bit underwhelming. The hardpoint placement is pretty good, the power distributer really holds it back though! The distributer can just about keep four med beam turrets going (it's a size below the anaconda). The less said about the agility the better, it's fast though.

-Corvette-
Very similar in speed to the anaconda, far more agile though. I find in the anaconda I have to tank a lot of damage because I just can't keep behind a lot of ships, the corvette does much better at this.
The jump range (with mostly empty internal slots) is about 14LY, painful next to an anaconda which will have closer to 23LY.
The real kicker for me is I don't like Plasma accelerators or cannons, so I'm using C3 weapons in the huge slots, effectively reducing the fire power below that of an anaconda (3L, 1H on the annie vs 1L 2H on the corvette)

-Compromised Navigation Beacon-
Like a Hazardous RES but near the star and without the risk of pancaking your ship into an asteroid.

 

Meet the new trading overlord! 728 ton cargo hold and shields!






Hmm, images not working... try:
http://imgur.com/a/0cvV3

 

So, guess once I'm combat Elite it will be time for a Cutter to go with the Clipper.

Now if they could just bring out a dedicated explorer vessel with a 100LY jump range, that would be awesome.

On another note, just saw the Keelback, Type 6 Gunship anybody

 

I wouldn't be in any rush to get the cutter (other than trading), it's just dull to fly (see my comments on the last post of the previous page).

On the exploring front: On the map screen there is an option to overdrive your fsd which uses huge amounts of fuel but greatly increases your jump range, it's non functional though, maybe in horizons.

 

That is the exact opposite of what an explorer would want to do, I want multiple long range jumps using as little fuel as possible. The idea of super jumping to a non-fuelable star and getting stuck is not one I like to entertain. For ferrying my Combat Python about that could be usefull, it's got a 9LY jump range thanks to all the guns and armour.

As for the Cutter, that's exactly what I have in mind, grinding Elite Trader will require maximum hull space and little else. Plus it's got eight utility slots, which is enough chaff to ensure never getting scanned on station entry ever again.

 

For Trading you can't do better than a cutter, I'm working out the cheapest viable load out at the moment.

I meant the super jump to be helpful for exploring the edges, where you sometimes need a bit more jump range than we currently have in game.

 

That gives me nightmares.

Once I've got Elite Combat and Trade I'm going for a trip to the farthest point in the game, wherever that may be. Ain't taking any dumb risks to get there though, imagine losing a month plus of data!

 

I think I've settled on my trade cutters initial load out.

Luckily I don't need an A class FSD straight away since my go to trade route it will still be three jumps (two in the conda).

I just need to save a bit to be able to cover the cargo and insurance!

Oh, and get what ever rank I'll need.

 

My God. That's a lot of credits...

 

Just got destroyed in about 10 seconds by one commander -=Aed=- in Cubeo near the low intensity conflict zone. No reason, comms or warning, just a griefer, didn't even get a shot off. I didn't realise I wasn't in solo til I got interdicted & saw it was a real player.

Diddies like that are the reason I don't play many online games, like spawn campers in FPS games, stat padding.

 

You're annoyed at the time, but really that's the adventure of open play! Makes it MUCH more exciting and real.

Only cowards play solo.

 

Cowardice sounds appealing when most of your mates are playing other games, wings isn't really that reliable and you don't get enough time gaming to actually develop any real skill. Full time job, 2 kids and a wife in healthcare working variable shift patterns, at least in solo I can run away from the bots....