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[Hylian7]

nope. Conflict Zones are not as lucrative! A single ship in a res can account for up to 200k alone. The highest I got in a CZ so far was 50k

Yep, double that or more if you have Rating 5 with Lavigny-Duval. I can come out with 4-5 mil within less than 30 minutes generally. The key is to re-instance the Hazardous RES until you get the spawn table you want. Usually it only takes a few tries, and the quickest way to do it is to just go there, log in and out in Solo play until you see ships you want.

On that note, for the first time in like, ever I think, Lavigny-Duval is #6. I honestly believe one of the reasons she fell so far was because of people preferring convenience over actually helping. Toward the end of every PP cycle, just look at the Fortification progress for Guathiti vs Fortification progress for any other system and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.

I'm probably going to take my Anaconda out to Pleiades to see the Barnacles. I'll have to look up what planet and how to get precisely to them though.

Edit: Actually I might as well pick up and Asp Explorer, as I can get better jump range out of that instead of exchanging everything on my Anaconda.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

nope. Conflict Zones are not as lucrative! A single ship in a res can account for up to 200k alone. The highest I got in a CZ so far was 50k

Wow really? I think I killed an anaconda once and pretty sure I only got 80k.... Must just have bad luck in RES zones.

Even then, I would consider Conflict Zones more effecient especially if you get a good one. The ships go down REALLY quick with your NPC allies shooting at them.

The first time I went in I made 200k even in about 15 minutes.

 

[Burny]

Wow really? I think I killed an anaconda once and pretty sure I only got 80k.... Must just have bad luck in RES zones.

Even then, I would consider Conflict Zones more effecient especially if you get a good one. The ships go down REALLY quick with your NPC allies shooting at them.

The first time I went in I made 200k even in about 15 minutes.

You often make 200k from a single FDL in a high/hazardous RES. Up to 300k. If you're at least in a well equipped Vulture they also go down pretty quickly. The payout for ships in CZ is meagre compared to the bounties in RES. The probability for you getting overwhelmed in CZ is also higher, because there are also situations where you are outnumbered, which can get pretty nasty. ;-)

Unfortunately, not all money generating activities in Elite are created equal. Nor sensible or fun. I agree though, CZ can be pretty fun, although there is about zero strategy and tactics or even purpose for them. It's more like a long term pub brawl at arbitrary places in space ships and I fail to see how that is a good representation of conflicts between ingame factions.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

You often make 200k from a single FDL in a high/hazardous RES. Up to 300k. If you're at least in a well equipped Vulture they also go down pretty quickly. The payout for ships in CZ is meagre compared to the bounties in RES. The probability for you getting overwhelmed in CZ is also higher, because there are also situations where you are outnumbered, which can get pretty nasty. ;-)

Unfortunately, not all money generating activities in Elite are created equal. Nor sensible or fun. I agree though, CZ can be pretty fun, although there is about zero strategy and tactics or even purpose for them. It's more like a long term pub brawl at arbitrary places in space ships and I fail to see how that is a good representation of conflicts between ingame factions.

Yeah, I was doing it where I would first take a look at which faction had the other outnumbered and join that one. It doesn't seem like it really affects your standing that much anyway.

Honestly, I wasn't really able to take things down easily in a hazardous RES. Part of the reason I was doing them was so I COULD afford something like a nice Vulture one day ;p

And yeah, like 2 out of 3 times I would have ships (usually pirates) attack me while I was trying to take down a bounty.

I might give them another shot, but I was having a lot more luck in the CZ in my area.

 

[Burny]

Honestly, I wasn't really able to take things down easily in a hazardous RES. Part of the reason I was doing them was so I COULD afford something like a nice Vulture one day ;p

I don't know what you're using currently, but ships with less survivability than a Vulture and possibly less punch are going to have a hard time in hazardous RES. Go to a high RES instead and stick to the system security. That way you can even rack up some 100ks of credits in a Sidewinder in relatively little time.

Problem with the RES is the idiotic RNG spawn table. If you're out of luck, you won't find anything bigger than wanted Sidewinders, Eagles and Vipers. Meaning you have to leave if the first wanted ship you encounter is among those and immediately jump back into the RES. If the first wanted ship you encounter is a Clipper, Python or similar, you're in luck. Scan it, wait until the system security arrives and attacks it and then help them out. Never attack anything you haven't finished scanning and be careful of other ships getting into your line of fire. I also did CZ with my Viper "back in the day" for a while, but high RES are seriously more profitable.

 

[nubbe]

Just stalk the internal security ships in high RES and you will be making 1-2million/hour

Doing anything else is a waste of time

 

[BudokaiMR2]

Thanks for the tips guys. I will give high sec RES another shot. I really wanna kit out an exploration ship next so anything to help the grind is good.

And yeah, even though CZ really does just turn into a bunch of chaos I can't get enough of seeing dozens of lasers arcing through space. Will still pop into those areas every once in a while. ;p

BTW, I am running with a Viker Mk IV but it is kinda of a hodge-podge build at the moment. My weapon loadout is nonsense. haha I think I currently have:

Med: Gimballed Beam Laser
Med: Missile (I know they aren't good but I like missiles dammit!)
Small: Multi-Cannon
Small: Railgun

Basically just use the Laser to continue damage their shield, hit them with the railgun when I get a good shot to drop their shield quickly. After that I usually unload as many rounds with the multi-cannon as I can. And right before their shield is recharged I unload a full clip of missiles if I can.

 

[Burny]

Med: Gimballed Beam Laser
Med: Missile (I know they aren't good but I like missiles dammit!)
Small: Multi-Cannon
Small: Railgun

Don't use missiles.

Especially not, if you're working towards something expensive. You'll have more fun the more you can cut the grind. Meaning: Use those weapons that allow you to stay in combat the longest without having to return to refill while doing the most damage.

Last time I used the Viper (Mk3 though, Mk4 wasn't in the game then), that was pretty much two CL.2 MCs and two Cl.1 Beam lasers. Gimbaled or not depends on your preference - more time on the target and more laid back playing, but less damage, vs. more damage and more aiming work for the kill.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

Don't use missiles.

Especially not, if you're working towards something expensive. You'll have more fun if the more you can cut the grind. Meaning: Use those weapons that allow you to stay in combat the longest without having to return to refuel.

Last time I used the Viper (Mk3 though, Mk4 wasn't in the game then), that was pretty much two CL.2 MCs and two Cl.1 Beam lasers. Gimbaled or not depends on your preference - more time on the target and more laid back playing, but less damage, vs. more damage and more aiming work for the kill.

=(

Yeah, I don't really understand the full algorithms but I did notice that they seemed completely useless against anything larger than maybe a Diamondback Scout?
They were one of the first expensive upgrades I bought (I think I have B ranked seekers?) and were actually working really well for normal missions and bounties early on since the ships were smaller.

Yeah, will probably go with Gimballed Beam Lasers and Fixed MCs. Might as well just bite the bullet and change the loadout tonight.

 

[DrBo42]

I really want to play Elite these days but every time I log in to go explore I remember there's nothing interesting on the surfaces or out in the galaxy. It's a terrible feeling. Exploration needs so much love it's absurd. Mengy, don't bother replying lol.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

I'm easily pleased in games like this, but honestly just finding a cool series of canyons excites me and I challenge myself to zoom through them at 100m while spamming afterburner. Lol

 

[Pomerlaw]

I'm sure missiles will get some love or use later on.

It all depends on what you want to do.

 

[Mengy]

I really want to play Elite these days but every time I log in to go explore I remember there's nothing interesting on the surfaces or out in the galaxy. It's a terrible feeling. Exploration needs so much love it's absurd. Mengy, don't bother replying lol.

 

[DrBo42]

Damn it, mengy. We can't all just enjoy a screenshot simulator.

 

[Pomerlaw]

Damn it, mengy. We can't all just enjoy a screenshot simulator.

lol!

It will come man, it will come.

Note : Did you take a look at the Barnacles?

 

[Reckheim]

Damn it, mengy. We can't all just enjoy a screenshot simulator.

But the screenshot simulator is soooo good. Cant wait to head out again.

 

[DrBo42]

lol!

It will come man, it will come.

Note : Did you take a look at the Barnacles?

I did, actually. First reaction was "Woah, this is awesome." then the realization of "Oh...this is it. This is just more surface level detail that doesn't lead to anything. Okay." Really hope the lost colony ships storyline or whatever that turns into has actual gameplay tied to it and doesn't all play out through GalNet. Tired of such a disconnected, cold and lifeless experience. I'd like to actually do something as an explorer.

 

[Mengy]

Damn it, mengy. We can't all just enjoy a screenshot simulator.

LOL, yeah I know it's not for everyone. For me it's like Space Engine The Game. I used to spend hours just tooling around in Space Engine exploring distant worlds and sightseeing. Now with Elite I can do the same but with an added spaceship simulator, where I can buy and outfit my own ships, and even take breaks to go shoot stuff and blow things up or mine space rocks or play an economic Euro Truck in Space trading game. And now I can drive around most of the planets in a buggy too.

Yeah I love Elite, but then I own every version of the franchise and have played them all for countless hours, so I could just be a fan too. This is a game I'll be casually playing for years to come.

 

[frontieruk]

I noted that our influence in Napam Apat was 44% yesterday anyone noted it today?

I really should start charting what's happening over there...

 

[Reckheim]

I noted that our influence in Napam Apat was 44% yesterday anyone noted it today?

I really should start charting what's happening over there...

I've been charting it but haven't done it today yet, i'll do it after work. See below for what i currently have. Let me know if you want me to share the Doc with you and we can both update it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fC_MqYY5z1Qa7s3V3sKbNroagEujUtEZ84C-uDO7lcY/edit?usp=sharing

I noticed that message delivery missions actually put the economy down for NeoGAF so I stopped doing those missions all together, I've just been doing strictly cargo delivery missions. Also even tho apam napat empire is in a lockdown state their influence has been going up pretty steadily.

 

[Reckheim]

New Dev Update, quite a bit of good information about engineers.

https://community.elitedangerous.com/node/371

Hi everyone,

Following up on last week’s update revealing the addition of faces and contacts for mission givers and engineers, in this update I’ll expand on the role of engineers and how they factor into crafting. Note that in last week’s update I referred to them as ‘mechanics’, but we’ve since settled on the term ‘engineers’.

Engineers are individuals who provide the blueprints (which describe the materials and items needed for a specific modification) and can then apply them to the weapon or module. They are characters with their own back story, preferences and specialisations. Initially we’re looking at around 30 engineers dotted throughout human space and we will be able to add more in future updates.

One of the reasons that we chose mission givers and engineers first for the characterisation treatment is because in both cases you have an ongoing relationship which can change over time with the character. For the minor factions this is measured by your reputation with that minor faction (although factors like Pilots Federation rank will influence the deference with which they treat you), with the engineers the measure is taken from a variety of stats throughout the game and dependent on the nature of the individual.

For example we have an engineer who is closely aligned with the Federal Navy and so your rank with the navy is his key consideration, so the higher your naval rank the better blueprints he will be able to offer. As well as naval ranks, the Pilots Federation ranks (including combat, trade, exploration and CQC) will influence some engineers. Some engineers will be affiliated with minor factions, so you’ll need to manage your relationship with them as well. Some will use your stats for mining or trading in illegal goods as well as a host of other indicators.

As well as these initial governing factor there is a separate reputation with them, which must be cultivated along the lines of their governing factor to gain their trust and so more capable blueprints.

Not all engineers are immediately available to all players. The factor that governs their relationship with a commander has a minimum threshold that must be reached for them to deal with the player.

Each engineer has a specialisation, meaning that the deal with specific weapon types and modules. This is because they are experts in squeezing a bit more performance than the norm in their particular field. We are looking at having a secondary specialisation for engineers, just to help balancing the distribution of specialisations and of course we can add more engineers in the future. Or even remove ones if circumstances require it!

The engineers are spread geographically to add more geography to the map, but also to fit with the individual’s characteristics. They tend to be reclusive characters who are found at their own, isolated facilities on planet surfaces.

As well as working towards the 2.1 we’re also preparing a minor update to be released next week (assuming testing goes well) with fixes for season one and two clients. We’re also processing the latest batch of player group minor factions (batch 4) and the approved changes and additions should be added to the game next week.

Thanks!

Michael

I especially like the below sentence

They tend to be reclusive characters who are found at their own, isolated facilities on planet surfaces.

. Gives you more of a reason to go to the planets surface. Maybe they can add missions where you have to deliver materials to them.

 

[Caesar III]

Yep, double that or more if you have Rating 5 with Lavigny-Duval. I can come out with 4-5 mil within less than 30 minutes generally. The key is to re-instance the Hazardous RES until you get the spawn table you want. Usually it only takes a few tries, and the quickest way to do it is to just go there, log in and out in Solo play until you see ships you want

Never bothered with PP myself so far. Too much "work" I "have to do".

Edit: Actually I might as well pick up and Asp Explorer, as I can get better jump range out of that instead of exchanging everything on my Anaconda.

Yep, the ASP is a great high distance ship.

 

[Anton Sugar]

New Dev Update, quite a bit of good information about engineers.

https://community.elitedangerous.com/node/371



I especially like the below sentence . Gives you more of a reason to go to the planets surface. Maybe they can add missions where you have to deliver materials to them.

The inch-deep ocean gains a centimeter!

(once it's released)

Seriously, though, that sounds great!

 

[Hylian7]

Never bothered with PP myself so far. Too much "work" I "have to do".

Yep, the ASP is a great high distance ship.

If you have a ship that can hold a good amount of cargo (450T or more ideally), you can knock out the stuff you need to do every week in about two hours. Half your merits carry over from the previous week.

 

[Burny]

Those soft rounded molten ice cream cliffs without geometric details on the cliff faces! :'(


Intrigued by the dev update. But seriously, engineers on planet surfaces? I thought season one players were also getting some crafting?


Also, the longer I think about missiles occupying the same hardpoints and their current sorry state, the less I'm confident they're ever going to be balanced to be what missiles are expected to be. Rather than being just like homing cannons with less ammo and slightly higher hull damage:

I see the status quo as a bit of a byproduct of the way weapons hardpoint are generally handled in Elite and how the dogfighting mechanic works. Hardpoints are unified, meaning you can slap anything in so long as the size fits. Even missiles. Now the combination of hull/shield life bars and the bounty grinding mechanics mean you must be able to do sustained damage over a longer period of time to get anywhere combat wise. Good for when one wants to escape combat, because that's relatively forgiving when you're outmatched. It's probably also because of that, that missiles were nerfed into oblivion. Frontier seemingly wants to avoid instakill affairs which make it too easy to kill off higher class ships with the small ones, or to generally take hull down too quickly. They went overboard with it.

Looking at options to improve missiles on the other hand, they can't just give missiles substantial hull damage when we're able to carry them around in packs of 30s, because the hardpoint mechanic works that way. They also can't just change missile hardpoints to have just one or two missiles as the deadly near instakill weapon we would expect them to be based on what they do to planes or generally crafts in our reality. They'd be great to troll players, but useless for the current bounty hunting/CZ mechanics where you're up against dozens of ships and where an infinite ammo laser will inflict far more damage over time while it enables you to keep playing instead of having to restock after two kills.


Only WHY do missiles take the place of normal hardpoints? I'd expect missiles to be mounted on special hardpoints where they don't take the place of the otherwise more useful stuff. Why doesn't every fighter have the capability to mount a handful of deadly missiles or a limited battery on top of it's usual loadout? Take a look at the Viper Mk4!

It's even got rails under its otherwise useless spoiler thingy (Rule of cool much? Same with the imperial Eagle.)! That'd be a place to mount four high risk + high reward missiles and not affect the usefulness of the ship otherwise. High risk, because of extremely limited amount you can carry and the possibility of counter measures making the missile useless. Although there would have to be some skill in the counter measure and targeting mechanic, rather than having quasi 100% auto-counters. High reward, because a missile should rip apart small ships and tear substantial holes into the hull of big ones. Make them heavy, decrease jump range/speed/manoeverability depending on the amount carried, expensive to restock or whatever, but don't let missiles eat into the other weapon loadouts as useless firework batteries taking away important hardpoints!


Are there any counter arguments against missiles having specific hardpoints rather than being relegated to generic batteries in normal hardpoints that I'm just overseeing? Other than the required work alter existing ship models I mean?

 

[Caesar III]

If you have a ship that can hold a good amount of cargo (450T or more ideally),

I don't have that I'm at ~ 60 Mio right now if I sell everything.

[...] in about two hours.[...]

I play Elite roughly 6 hours a week if I am lucky. So that's too much time (for me) to dedicate to this.

 

[Anton Sugar]

I wonder if the spoilers on the Imp Eagle and Viper IV improve their (atmospheric) planetary handling?

 

[Skulduggery]

Hey, so I've got the base game, do I have to pay full price for Horizons, or is there a separate upgrade DLC package I can buy?

 

[RadioactiveLobster]

Anyone else going along with the Distant Worlds Expedition?

I made it to waypoint 2 (Lagoon Nebula) last night.

 

[Pomerlaw]

From unknown source

 

[Hylian7]

I went out to the barnacles yesterday. Pretty cool to see, but good god are planet coordinates a pain in the ass to use.

I don't understand why the surface map doesn't show the coordinates at all. Letting us mark a point on the surface map would be so much easier than trying to find the poles and hope you are eventually going the right direction.

 

[Reckheim]

From unknown source

wonder if that is just a glitch or intentional. Maybe it's supposed to indicate a recent impact.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Intrigued by the dev update. But seriously, engineers on planet surfaces? I thought season one players were also getting some crafting?

Huh...good point. X1 owners are fucked, too.

EDIT: Newsletter out. So boring I'm not gonna bother linking it.

 

[Anton Sugar]

EDIT: DP

 

[Mengy]

Anyone else going along with the Distant Worlds Expedition?

I made it to waypoint 2 (Lagoon Nebula) last night.

Sure am! I'm scouting ahead in the Hollow Veil right now, once I get to the Stellar Forge I'm gonna hang around exploring until the fleet catches up to us.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

So after not touching the game for something like 8 months, I hop in to try to help a friend who's starting out. When I had left off I had a bit of an under-equipped Python. In hindsight I think I had an undersized shield generator (I can't confirm this as I'll get to later) and my plan was to make a few dozen million trading and then outfit it for combat. I had kind of forgotten about that.

Anyway, I find an RES, I see Hazardous, High, or Low... That seems new... I basically stopped playing right before Power Play hit. Ok, I go to a Low because I barely remember how to play the game at this point. Nothing spawns in. There's a Sidewinder and like an Adder mining. And that's about it. For like 10 minutes.

Ok, well, fuck it, I'll go to High, I mean it's not Hazardous right? So really it's Medium if you think about it. I find a pirate Cobra, and start firing, and right then I take a broadside, shields are down to almost nothing, crime committed against me notification, and I'm like WTF... I try to remember what button I have mapped to shield cell, I have no clue. I try to hit my afterburner to start to leave but it doesn't do anything... I actually decide that I am crazy and the game doesn't have an afterburner, that's Star Citizen... anyway, I very quickly get fucked up, the guy leaves it to the NPC to get the kill shot (I guess to leave himself at a small fine rather than guilty of murder?), and messages me saying "HAHAHAHA YOU GOT REKT".

Well, after a rebuy, I am short of cash for another rebuy, so I figure out how to make a private group, and have my friend join there. Take 2. Help my buddy clear out some ships, collect some nice sized bounties for him, not so great sized bounties for me, but slowly rebuild my wealth somewhat safely right? We kill a couple of small ships, all seems well, I see an Imperial Clipper, expert rank, seems fairly easy to me, I tell my friend to make sure he gets a hit in, and start going to work. All's going pretty well, Clipper is down to like 37% hull, I'm a little sad because I was failing to hit his power core but whatever, then next thing I know, another NPC is shooting me, the clipper turns on me and very soon I am dead dead dead. At this point I had known my shield cell button, though I haven't figured out my chaff button. The shield cell delayed the inevitable, but no boost, plus a slow ship

So here's a question. Did they change how it works? The pirate ship I attacked wasn't in a wing. I am pretty sure in the past if I attack a non-winged pirate ship, another NPC isn't going to just to decide to jump on me. I don't think I accidentally shot another ship in the area, though I do recall there were other big targets floating around. I was in a wing with my friend, I thought maybe he had hit the other ship? I hadn't done much wing stuff before either, but I assume if he shoots an NPC it becomes hostile to me? Or maybe they changed something and pirates stick together? I don't know.

Anyway, didn't have enough to cover rebuy, but did with a loan. So I'm not wiped out, but I have taken a pretty sizable hit to my net worth in just an hour or two of trying to get back into this game. After checking my button mappings and looking at the game controllers thing in Windows I still couldn't figure out where my chaff was mapped. My afterburner is right where I thought it was. The button just doesn't work anymore. I press it and it doesn't light up on the game controllers page. FUCK!

Given my dire financial straits and cluelessness I realized that I can't fly the Python anymore, so I sold off its components and picked up a Viper, which was the best option at the station I was at. Outfitted it with some B and A gear, and some OK weapons, just the better stuff at this station. So now I have something with a small rebuy that I can relearn the game with. I decided to just mothball my Python instead of selling it. I can get 42 million for it (I might have bought it with a discount?), and it looks like they sell for like 56 million new.

I think I have about 17 million in cash right now after selling off components and setting up my Viper. I don't remember if that's enough to outfit a decent Vulture, but it seems like it should be. I'll check on that in a bit maybe.

One more issue with my X52, when I unplug the thing, my mouse stops working. I can move my mouse around, but pressing any button causes windows to ding, and the button press doesn't register. Also, seems like all the Saitek software freaks out and maxes out CPU. I'm forced to reboot, which I really can't afford to do every time I want to load up this game.

I had been planning on getting my space legs back real quick and then purchasing Horizons, but now I don't know, I've had a pretty shitty return so far.

 

[HelloMeow]

So here's a question. Did they change how it works? The pirate ship I attacked wasn't in a wing. I am pretty sure in the past if I attack a non-winged pirate ship, another NPC isn't going to just to decide to jump on me. I don't think I accidentally shot another ship in the area, though I do recall there were other big targets floating around. I was in a wing with my friend, I thought maybe he had hit the other ship? I hadn't done much wing stuff before either, but I assume if he shoots an NPC it becomes hostile to me? Or maybe they changed something and pirates stick together? I don't know.

Yes. They changed a bunch. Shield cell banks got a large nerf. They take longer to activate and they generate a lot of heat. You pretty much need to fire a heat sink along with every shield cell bank on most ships, if you don't want to damage your modules.

Some NPCs will attack you for nothing and sometimes it doesn't show you they're in a wing, even though they are. I had this bug a couple of hours ago. Shot one Python that belonged to a wing of 3 Pythons, but it didn't show it. So out of nowhere these two other Pythons started to fire at me.

 

[Hylian7]

One more issue with my X52, when I unplug the thing, my mouse stops working. I can move my mouse around, but pressing any button causes windows to ding, and the button press doesn't register. Also, seems like all the Saitek software freaks out and maxes out CPU. I'm forced to reboot, which I really can't afford to do every time I want to load up this game.

Install the official drivers for Windows 10, I had that problem and it solved it: http://www.saitek.com/uk/down/drivers.php

 

[GrizzNKev]

Has VR support for this game improved since 6+ months ago? That was my main draw to the game but performance dipped way more than it should and really couldn't sustain a decent framerate when playing on my rift.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

Some NPCs will attack you for nothing and sometimes it doesn't show you they're in a wing, even though they are. I had this bug a couple of hours ago. Shot one Python that belonged to a wing of 3 Pythons, but it didn't show it. So out of nowhere these two other Pythons started to fire at me.

Hmm, any thoughts on the CMDR that ambushed me? I remember something about Power Play encouraging more PVP... but I don't know. Back when I was playing a lot, getting attacked by a player while minding your own business would never happen. Especially not while hunting down a boring 20k bounty cobra of some sort. I remember people getting territorial over an RES if you'd start sniping their Anaconda bounties or something, but what happened to me here was a real WTF moment. Is it just a more hostile game now, or did I have really bad luck?

Install the official drivers for Windows 10, I had that problem and it solved it: http://www.saitek.com/uk/down/drivers.php

Good call, thanks. For some reason I was sure I had updated my drivers but apparently not.

 

[HelloMeow]

Hmm, any thoughts on the CMDR that ambushed me? I remember something about Power Play encouraging more PVP... but I don't know. Back when I was playing a lot, getting attacked by a player while minding your own business would never happen. Especially not while hunting down a boring 20k bounty cobra of some sort. I remember people getting territorial over an RES if you'd start sniping their Anaconda bounties or something, but what happened to me here was a real WTF moment. Is it just a more hostile game now, or did I have really bad luck?

Probably bad luck. What system was this in?

I've been hanging around Eravate and surrounding systems to help new players and there's this one player who keeps attacking them in a similar way with his Corvette. Every time I attack him he combat logs as soon as he realizes he has lost.

 

[Caesar III]

Has VR support for this game improved since 6+ months ago? That was my main draw to the game but performance dipped way more than it should and really couldn't sustain a decent framerate when playing on my rift.

Nope, not really. My 970 is sweating all the time and i'm not even on max settings Would like to use double sampling but no dice. I have my 75fps most of the time though.

 

[Hylian7]

Hmm, any thoughts on the CMDR that ambushed me? I remember something about Power Play encouraging more PVP... but I don't know. Back when I was playing a lot, getting attacked by a player while minding your own business would never happen. Especially not while hunting down a boring 20k bounty cobra of some sort. I remember people getting territorial over an RES if you'd start sniping their Anaconda bounties or something, but what happened to me here was a real WTF moment. Is it just a more hostile game now, or did I have really bad luck?



Good call, thanks. For some reason I was sure I had updated my drivers but apparently not.

With PP, people can grind merit by undermining. This is done by going to systems that belong to powers that aren't in your major faction (so you go to anyone that isn't Empire if your power was Empire for instance) and killing ships of enemy powers. Every ship gives the same amount of merits, so for efficiency's sake, the smaller ships are more worth their time, as taking the big ones down is just a waste of time since they aren't getting paid for this (other then power rewards of course).

It's part of the game now, and honestly it has it's up sides and down sides. I like encouraging more PvP interactions, but at the same time the grinding you have to get done each week for PP is ridiculous. I've ranted about how they should fix PP before.

 

[GrizzNKev]

Nope, not really. My 970 is sweating all the time and i'm not even on max settings Would like to use double sampling but no dice. I have my 75fps most of the time though.

Ugh.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

Probably bad luck. What system was this in?

I've been hanging around Eravate and surrounding systems to help new players and there's this one player who keeps attacking them in a similar way with his Corvette. Every time I attack him he combat logs as soon as he realizes he has lost.

It was either Eravate and Kremainn. I made a 150LY trip there to help my friend just to get zapped by some asshole!

Got a Vulture, got a few bounties and missions done, regaining my sea-legs. I didn't even know that Corvette monstrosity was a thing. Last time I played the Anaconda was still top dog.

Anyway, getting back into the groove. I shouldn't have dropped the game for as long as I did. It's fun, I should upgrade my PC.

 

[Caesar III]

Ugh.

the 970 is the recommended card for oculus (in general), so this is understandable.

To max out Elite you need at least a 980. And even with such a card I doubt you could use all settings to max and get constant 90fps in the resolution the CV is demanding.

But what was your expectation on this?

 

[keenerz]

alright I think I'm officially sucked into this game. After following the advice and getting enough cash, I now have a Viper and I gotta say that completely turned me around, having an immensly better time now that I have a ship thats significantly upgraded. I purchased a HOTAs now just for this game, I might get Horizons soon.

 

[cilonen]

So after not touching the game for something like 8 months, I hop in to try to help a friend who's starting out. When I had left off I had a bit of an under-equipped Python. In hindsight I think I had an undersized shield generator (I can't confirm this as I'll get to later) and my plan was to make a few dozen million trading and then outfit it for combat. I had kind of forgotten about that.

Anyway, I find an RES, I see Hazardous, High, or Low... That seems new... I basically stopped playing right before Power Play hit. Ok, I go to a Low because I barely remember how to play the game at this point. Nothing spawns in. There's a Sidewinder and like an Adder mining. And that's about it. For like 10 minutes.

Ok, well, fuck it, I'll go to High, I mean it's not Hazardous right? So really it's Medium if you think about it. I find a pirate Cobra, and start firing, and right then I take a broadside, shields are down to almost nothing, crime committed against me notification, and I'm like WTF... I try to remember what button I have mapped to shield cell, I have no clue. I try to hit my afterburner to start to leave but it doesn't do anything... I actually decide that I am crazy and the game doesn't have an afterburner, that's Star Citizen... anyway, I very quickly get fucked up, the guy leaves it to the NPC to get the kill shot (I guess to leave himself at a small fine rather than guilty of murder?), and messages me saying "HAHAHAHA YOU GOT REKT".

Well, after a rebuy, I am short of cash for another rebuy, so I figure out how to make a private group, and have my friend join there. Take 2. Help my buddy clear out some ships, collect some nice sized bounties for him, not so great sized bounties for me, but slowly rebuild my wealth somewhat safely right? We kill a couple of small ships, all seems well, I see an Imperial Clipper, expert rank, seems fairly easy to me, I tell my friend to make sure he gets a hit in, and start going to work. All's going pretty well, Clipper is down to like 37% hull, I'm a little sad because I was failing to hit his power core but whatever, then next thing I know, another NPC is shooting me, the clipper turns on me and very soon I am dead dead dead. At this point I had known my shield cell button, though I haven't figured out my chaff button. The shield cell delayed the inevitable, but no boost, plus a slow ship

So here's a question. Did they change how it works? The pirate ship I attacked wasn't in a wing. I am pretty sure in the past if I attack a non-winged pirate ship, another NPC isn't going to just to decide to jump on me. I don't think I accidentally shot another ship in the area, though I do recall there were other big targets floating around. I was in a wing with my friend, I thought maybe he had hit the other ship? I hadn't done much wing stuff before either, but I assume if he shoots an NPC it becomes hostile to me? Or maybe they changed something and pirates stick together? I don't know.

Anyway, didn't have enough to cover rebuy, but did with a loan. So I'm not wiped out, but I have taken a pretty sizable hit to my net worth in just an hour or two of trying to get back into this game. After checking my button mappings and looking at the game controllers thing in Windows I still couldn't figure out where my chaff was mapped. My afterburner is right where I thought it was. The button just doesn't work anymore. I press it and it doesn't light up on the game controllers page. FUCK!

Given my dire financial straits and cluelessness I realized that I can't fly the Python anymore, so I sold off its components and picked up a Viper, which was the best option at the station I was at. Outfitted it with some B and A gear, and some OK weapons, just the better stuff at this station. So now I have something with a small rebuy that I can relearn the game with. I decided to just mothball my Python instead of selling it. I can get 42 million for it (I might have bought it with a discount?), and it looks like they sell for like 56 million new.

I think I have about 17 million in cash right now after selling off components and setting up my Viper. I don't remember if that's enough to outfit a decent Vulture, but it seems like it should be. I'll check on that in a bit maybe.

One more issue with my X52, when I unplug the thing, my mouse stops working. I can move my mouse around, but pressing any button causes windows to ding, and the button press doesn't register. Also, seems like all the Saitek software freaks out and maxes out CPU. I'm forced to reboot, which I really can't afford to do every time I want to load up this game.

I had been planning on getting my space legs back real quick and then purchasing Horizons, but now I don't know, I've had a pretty shitty return so far.

Sorry to hear that CMDR.

NPC's in general had something of an AI overhaul around when either patch 1.5 or Horizons came out. They're more aggressive in general and will use tactics that the devs have observed players use, like ramming you. I'm not sure if what you observed was part of that though - you may have accidentally tagged a system security ship in the RES fight. I lost an Anaconda rebuy to that - accidentally tagged a system police Python who happened to be in a wing of three police Pythons patrolling the RES, they all instantly turned hostile, combined with the FDL pirate I was actually after I couldn't take that much sustained fire.

 

[StonedRider]

Warning for distant explorers!

Weird bug has been reported - sometimes after logging back into the game being in SRV on the surface, SRV spawns several kilometeres above ground, falls to the ground and crashes.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=187372&page=593&p=3467883&viewfull=1#post3467883

Be careful out there! It would be so annoying to accidentally lose your last SRV because of the bug in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Hylian7]

Warning for distant explorers!

Weird bug has been reported - sometimes after logging back into the game being in SRV on the surface, SRV spawns several kilometeres above ground, falls to the ground and crashes.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=187372&page=593&p=3467883&viewfull=1#post3467883

Be careful out there! It would be so annoying to accidentally lose your last SRV because of the bug in the middle of nowhere.

So it's like the exact opposite of the bug from beta where you spawned inside the planet with your ship and if you tried to fly out, you would either lose shields and take a ton of damage or just die instantly.