Games Elite: Dangerous

[Raven]

Crikey, don't think mouse and keyboard will cut it then

 

[Jupitus]

Crikey, don't think mouse and keyboard will cut it then

Many people are using KB/M successfully, but the consensus does seem to be that a flight setup is easier...

 

[Athan]

I tried KB/M out briefly. I decided I did want mouse to be pitch/yaw, rather than pitch/roll. Obviously I also swapped A/D to being roll rather than yaw. I also reduced the deadzones from the default. It was then vaguely playable. I tested killing the Sidewinder in the 2nd SP mission and did manage the kill first time, however 'Crimson Triumph' in the 3rd SP mission handed my ass to me.

It's still far, far, far easier/more intuitive to fly with my Saitek X-45 HOTAS.

 

[Zarjazz]

The developers themselves are playing with joystick / HOTAS setups and admit they've put most of their effort into those controls and that the keyboard + mouse configuration still needs more tweaking.

However I'm using KB/M and don't feel it's unplayable. Far from it. I can complete all the combat tutorials and usually hold my own against human commanders except when the good HOTAS users turn flight assist off for better manoeuvrability, that's the only time I feel at a disadvantage.

 

[Mabs]

What Athan said is true only if you play the Multiplayer mode, which in beta is the only option. IIRC on actual release the options are:

• Single Player: offline, static galaxy.
• Single Player: online, dynamic galaxy affected by other players, e.g. commodity pricing, events etc, but you will only meet NPC ships.
• Multiplayer: as above but some of the ships you meet could be other players. Given the size of space you'll be very lucky to meet other humans except at the congestion points around the core worlds. Space stations, mining locations etc

Multiplayer will actually be two modes. There's a single life hardcore option where you'll only meet other hardcore players (dedicated shards I'd guess). Die in that mode and you're finished but you do have the option to carry on in the normal multiplayer shards if you wish.

is there a "play on your own with a few mates and no random fuck brains" coop/mp option though ? :f

 

[Zarjazz]

is there a "play on your own with a few mates and no random fuck brains" coop/mp option though ? :f

There's been lots of discussion about those kind of ideas on their Alpha/Beta forums. However they haven't released any of the "friend" matching or coop interface updates yet, and probably won't until much closer to release, so until they do we honestly don't know.

 

[Athan]

There's been lots of discussion about those kind of ideas on their Alpha/Beta forums. However they haven't released any of the "friend" matching or coop interface updates yet, and probably won't until much closer to release, so until they do we honestly don't know.

Basic friends lists and being able to form a group from them will be in the Standard Beta starting tomorrow, ref: News Letter #30: A Match Made In Heaven

You will be able to create friend lists, and just play with a group you create from that list.

 

[Athan]

So, it's Standard Beta Day. Servers are going down shortly, but may take quite some time to update

Hi everyone,

just a heads up that we'll be shutting the servers down as 2pm BST today as part of the Beta 1 roll out process. Note that we have a lot more to do than the usual rollouts so this may take several hours. We'll of course announce when the build is available.

Michael

 

[Athan]

Servers are up, but things are very unstable. Difficult to get online at all. I'm having FPS hitching, I think even in SP (and I'm on i7-4790k and GTX 780 Ti these days, so it's not lack of hardware). Managed to add some IRC folk to friends list. My one attempt in MP got me to just about to land inside station when it CTD'd.

Hopefully they'll be patching rapidly the rest of this week to iron out showstoppers so we can start testing everything else.

There's a huge changelog to read.

 

[Zarjazz]

There have been too many network problems since the Beta 1.0.x release for me to play online for more than a few minutes. Hopefully they fix the issues before the weekend

In the mean time ... http://i.imgur.com/dmcH21h.jpg

 

[Athan]

I've been mostly playing 'Solo' as well due to the network issues. I did have fun with some First Great Expedition guys in a private group last night though, despite some network issues.

 

[Zarjazz]

They seem to have fixed all the problems I'd been suffering since they released the 1.02 patch and also adding more servers. I managed to get a good session in last night.

The mission stuff is a very welcome addition, gets you some much needed credits early on. The addition of fuel and jump ranges has completely changed trading, much more realistic. I'm still adjusting the KB/M configuration as the controls feel slightly different now, too soon to tell if that's for the better.

 

[Urgat]

Now rocking a viper with...

2xC2 cannons
2xC4 cannons
Cargo scanner
KWarrent Scanner

When I get interdicted by scrub NPC pirates, they mouth off to start with, then when I deploy the hard points and start scanning them, they turn round and try to leg it before I even fire a shot.

The viper is Fuckin' BOSS!

 

[Hawkwind]

Finally received my X52 setup so will be firing this up and trying it out tonight.

 

[Urgat]

+1 for the x52. Love mine.

Its almost like the devs had it in mind when designing controls.

(Even the in cockpit stick and throttle look like an x52 IMO)

If you can stretch the 60 or so quid to get an ebayed trackIR it is also well worth it!

 

[Zarjazz]

This beta is currently far too easy, I guess intentionally to get all the new players up to speed. The flight assist off + boost trick means you can just run away from interdiction every time so there's no danger of combat, and so trading is 100% safe. Also the new Lakon 6 ship is a beast for making money. only 220k to buy with 100 cargo and a great top speed & jump range. I read some posts on the ED forums that it's now almost impossible to make any more from combat and piracy, especially with the stricter station security.

Can't wait for the next update that brings player interdictions while in SC, then it'll swing back the other way

 

[Hawkwind]

+1 for the x52. Love mine.

Its almost like the devs had it in mind when designing controls.

(Even the in cockpit stick and throttle look like an x52 IMO)

If you can stretch the 60 or so quid to get an ebayed trackIR it is also well worth it!

Ordered the TrackIR and TrackClip Pro, Hope it fits my razer headset. Could only find from their (NaturalPoint) US store, $200 with shipping. None on Amazon an ebay is a pain for international even with a UK and US shop and ship account/address. Looks cool, saw some vids on youtube and was very impressed.

Now just want them to build in proper triple monitor support, like the flight sims.

 

[Hawkwind]

Really enjoying the game, X52 makes it so easy. Request to landing and docked in around 2 mins without rushing at all. Had a blast yesterday testing stuff out. Finally got to 200k Cr and got myself the Cobra Mk III. Trading some more to get decent weapon sets on it. Out of interest which laser are regarded as the best? Are missiles worth having?

Off exploring the systems and adding to my trade chart prices

 

[Hawkwind]

Any tips on good trade points?

Up to 2 mill Cr, with the Lakon type 6. Running Terrain Enrichment systems from Aulin to CHI Hercules, 121k per run.

 

[Athan]

~120k per run is the most you'll make in Type-6. The trick is finding such a run with a good return leg profit. I ended up just doing Gallium from Ross 1051 to Asellus Primus for 120k and then Resonating Separators back the other way for ~75-80k.

There's a triangular setup using Asellus Primus > Acihaut (Resonating Separators 126k) / > Ross 1051 (Bertrandite 75-80k) > Asellus Primus (Gallium 120k), but even the very low extra time setting up the extra hyperspace jumps probably kills the profit/time. I didn't actually bother timing it, but went back to the simpler route as just easier to remember what I was doing next.

In both cases at least one of the trips has to go via an intermediary system, I'll let you figure out which one(s) .

 

[Hawkwind]

Actually just found a better run in my type 6. Athica to Aulin (via morgor or something like that) with Palladium makes 154k if memory serves. Problem the return selling Enrichment makes only 56k ish. Two jumps each way so takes 15 mins for a round trip to make 210k. I managed two round trips in 30 mins this morning whilst on a telecom before leaving for the office

The intermediate points don't take long to set up and only add 2 minutes or so. Positioning the entry point (jump exit) when you get to the station makes the biggest difference. That and don't use docking computers with take 4-5 mins from just outside the station. Can do the same thing in 1:40-2:00 mins without it.

Closing in rapidly on the type 9 upgrade but then need enough Cr to keep buying higher priced items.

 

[Jupitus]

I've not played so much, but I did spend a day chugging around in a Hauler and got up to about 140k Cr, so I have bought a new sidey and armed it up a bit for some combat practice and experimentation...

 

[Zarjazz]

I'm in a Type 9 now and can make ~400-450k each way on my particular route. Though I think I'm affecting the prices as the profits are dropping fast!

Just need a few more jumps and I'm upgrading to a fully decked out Anaconda and switching to piracy

 

[Hawkwind]

I'm in a Type 9 now and can make ~400-450k each way on my particular route. Though I think I'm affecting the prices as the profits are dropping fast!

Just need a few more jumps and I'm upgrading to a fully decked out Anaconda and switching to piracy

That's my endgame from this trading

 

[Fweddy]

I'm still struggling through the single player missions. Haven't had much time to play at all though.

 

[Athan]

I'm still struggling through the single player missions. Haven't had much time to play at all though.

As soon as you can beat the 3rd mission you're pretty much set to play multi-player. The 'Recon Wing' is mostly tricky because it's four ships all at once, so don't get hung up on it if you can't find a way to beat it.

Having said that, the usual advice is:

1. Get set up behind one ship ASAP, laser its shields down ASAP then launch 2-3 missiles to finish it off, but don't wait for them to hit...
2. Try to get on a second one now, but if it gets too hot just 4 pips engines and RUN to 4-5km to get shields recharged.
3. Now either do 'zoom and boom', i.e. run at them all weapons blazing, but continue on past before turning at 3+ km to do it again, or....
4. Slam it into reverse and slowly reduce (backwards) speed until you reel them in, killing a ship at a time.
5. OR, of course you can be god's gift to piloting and just stay in the initial furball and kill them all, but then you wouldn't need to read this.

I've always ended up pulling the reverse trick.

 

[Fweddy]

As soon as you can beat the 3rd mission you're pretty much set to play multi-player. The 'Recon Wing' is mostly tricky because it's four ships all at once, so don't get hung up on it if you can't find a way to beat it.

Having said that, the usual advice is:

1. Get set up behind one ship ASAP, laser its shields down ASAP then launch 2-3 missiles to finish it off, but don't wait for them to hit...
2. Try to get on a second one now, but if it gets too hot just 4 pips engines and RUN to 4-5km to get shields recharged.
3. Now either do 'zoom and boom', i.e. run at them all weapons blazing, but continue on past before turning at 3+ km to do it again, or....
4. Slam it into reverse and slowly reduce (backwards) speed until you reel them in, killing a ship at a time.
5. OR, of course you can be god's gift to piloting and just stay in the initial furball and kill them all, but then you wouldn't need to read this.

I've always ended up pulling the reverse trick.

Heh, I must have got lucky then. I did that mission first try by charging straight in and killing them all. Also, I have missiles!?

The one before that against the single opponent took a few goes and now I've had quite a few tries on the one with a wingman against the Cobra and not got passed it yet. Like I say I haven't had much time to play so I've not spent any time configuring controls or anything and just jumped in. Hopefully I won't have too much trouble once I have an evening free to set it all up properly. Though from what you say I might get away with just jumping into multiplayer. Hmm....

 

[Urgat]

I'm in a Type 9 now and can make ~400-450k each way on my particular route. Though I think I'm affecting the prices as the profits are dropping fast!

Just need a few more jumps and I'm upgrading to a fully decked out Anaconda and switching to piracy

Piracy in a conda wont work.

Even in silent running mode... A conda is a resolved contact at about 2.5km.

Your targets will simply run from you.

Remember the idea of piracy is to liberate cargo... Not destroy your target (doing so in the final game will NEGATIVELY affect your elite rating)

You will struggle to maneuver to disable drives / cargo with a conda, IMO.

(Viper = perfect for piracy / bounty hunting)

 

[Urgat]

Out of interest which laser are regarded as the best? Are missiles worth having?

Honestly... If you want to use lasers... There is little point in anything other than pulse lasers at the moment. The other types offer no meaningful differences for much higher prices.

Missiles, when used right... Are devastating (dont use them against shields) but they are also devastatingly expensive to reload... So they are more a last resort "kill that shit NOW" weapon rather than one you will use in every fight.

Rail guns are excellent alpha strike weapons, but lack sustained damage due to heat issues. Fun fact... You can 3 shot the power plant of a conda with 2x rail guns. Resulting in catastrophic explosion without ever touching the hull.

Multi cannons are great at shredding hulls.

Cannons provide excellent damage all round PROVIDED you can aim well.

(I favour cannons... They are deadly punishing in the hands of someone with a decent aim)

 

[Zarjazz]

Piracy in a conda wont work .... (Viper = perfect for piracy / bounty hunting)

I now have my Anaconda almost fully kitted out (just need that Class 8 plasma) and more money than I should ever need. I guess I technically don't need to do piracy, I just want to blow stuff up now