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Daba wrote:Apparently I'm in Gamma Access, so I'll be downloading later today (though probably won't get to play until tomorrow). Is it playable with Mous control, or should I try and dig out my flight stick and try and make room on my desk for it?
Have you just preordered the game or kickstarted it? If the former, you'll only be able to access the tutorials (Braben announced on the premiere event that anyone who has preordered will have access to them starting today). I vaguely recall gamma access was a KS perk, too, though, so I guess you may have full access!
And it's definitely playable with M+KB, too, though you should plan for about 10-30 minutes setting everything up.
My recommendations:
- activate the mouse widget (displays a small arrow on the HUD when you move the mouse)
- set mouse thruster burn to "continuous" rather than bursts (by default, the mouse curser auto-centers once you stop moving, meaning you'd have to keep scrolling and scrolling in a dogfight, which sucks)
- set mouse control scheme to "pitch/yaw" rather than "pitch/roll", and assign roll keys
My own thruster keyboard controls are:
W/S for acceleration/deceleration
A/D for rolling left/right
Q/E for horizontal thrusters (required for landing, otherwise optional)
R/F for vertical thrusters (required for landing, otherwise optional)
Enjoy, and welcome to the Milky Way in the year 3030.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/11/26 13:57:08
Veeeeeeery slowly downloading the game. Though my laptop seems to no longer have wireless, so I had to find a network cable and plug it into the router. I'm living in the dark ages here!
ive been messin around with the exploration angle and getting more into it, its kind of almost fun, just wish there was more interesting stuff to discover and also more "logic" to the exploration mechanics. Currently it seems discovering things is a function of luck more than skill, my most successful runs have been the result of setting off in the right direction and pinking off with my scanner until i get returns (ive managed to find a few planets this way).
Meanwhile Ive now been to two or three systems that were ostensibly binary stars yet I could never find the second star despite searching desperately in the logical area for it to be located (based on the presence of thd primary stars orbit). In onr case I searched for it for so long that my speed was just shy of 1000c and I was about 500,000ls away from the primary star, yet I still hadnt even come close to reaching the far end of the stars orbit, after about 2 hours of searching I gave up and called it a night. Beyond that, it seems like there really is no way to determine if youve fully explored a system or not.
It would be nice if there was some module available which could increase scan distance, and/or provided some sort of astrometric data, information such as estimated number and size of orbital bodies, estimated eccentricity/declination etc of their orbits, etc. I mean, we can currently determine most of that stuff from earth in our quest to find exoplanets, you would think that by the point that weve established intergalactic travel they might be able to do a bit better a job of it. For a game that seems to incorporate so much science and physics its astounding to me that such an essential core area of the game is so incredibly dependant on luck and guesswork, rather than method.
Hell a "probe" system would be cool too, as in you can launch probes to search areas for gravitational anomalies etc. so that you can cover more ground faster in some of these larger systems.
Another thing that kind of rubs me the wrong way is the presence of stations in orbit around unexplored planets or moons (or stars), you would think that scanning these things down before establishing a population center would be the first order of business, but evidently not.
In any case Ive prolly made about 15k exploring thus far, about half of that from a single system, not sure if that was an anomaly or if it was unusually large or if i was just the first to scan it completely or what.
CoALabaer wrote: Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
SilverMK2 wrote:Edit: Wait, it is putting an early copy of the game on my basket and telling me it is out of stock
Maybe a leftover from an earlier visit? I still had a now "out of stock" Founder's Decal for € 0.00 in the basket.
Also used the 50% discount to get the Sidewinder Blue Mojave (because it fits to my Eagle), Sidewinder Orange Mojave (because it reminds me of Star Wars) and Hauler Yellow Terrain (because it looks like a school bus) paintjobs, though.
"That's how they get you", I suppose!
Also, quick video about the Sol system, which you can now visit (if you have a valid permit .. stinking Feds and their oppressive restrictions ):
Terraformed Mars looks awesome. See you at the party, Richter!
chaos0xomega wrote:ive been messin around with the exploration angle and getting more into it, its kind of almost fun, just wish there was more interesting stuff to discover and also more "logic" to the exploration mechanics.
There is! It just isn't explained very well, which means you have to find it out yourself (ideally via deduction from real life science) or get help from fellow explorers on the Elite forums and/or reddit.
chaos0xomega wrote:It would be nice if there was some module available which could increase scan distance, and/or provided some sort of astrometric data, information such as estimated number and size of orbital bodies, estimated eccentricity/declination etc of their orbits, etc.
Higher class scanners do extend maximum detection distance! Scanner quality yields more data that sells for higher prices.
- Basic Discovery Scanner - Has a 500 LS range and costs 1,000 cr - Intermediate Discovery Scanner - Has a 1000 LS range and costs ~500,000 cr - Advanced Discovery Scanner - Has a system-wide range and costs ~1,500,000 cr (according to the fan-edited wiki, anyways)
chaos0xomega wrote:Hell a "probe" system would be cool too, as in you can launch probes to search areas for gravitational anomalies etc. so that you can cover more ground faster in some of these larger systems.
This is part of the design document and thus may in fact see implementation in the future.
chaos0xomega wrote:Another thing that kind of rubs me the wrong way is the presence of stations in orbit around unexplored planets or moons (or stars), you would think that scanning these things down before establishing a population center would be the first order of business, but evidently not.
Nah, those systems are discovered and you likely will be able to purchase their data from those ports. It's just that they still pay you a bit for updating and confirming their charts, depending on how established that outpost is, and how detailed your scans are.
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2014/11/26 21:29:04
chaos0xomega wrote:ive been messin around with the exploration angle and getting more into it, its kind of almost fun, just wish there was more interesting stuff to discover and also more "logic" to the exploration mechanics.
There is! It just isn't explained very well, which means you have to find it out yourself (ideally via deduction from real life science) or get help from fellow explorers on the Elite forums and/or reddit.
Thats not the type of logic I was talking about, I meant process logic. Given the game is procedurally generated, there would obviously be system design logic, such as binary stars orbiting a common center of mass (even though outside of 1 or 2 instances I've never been able to reach the second star, either because I was heading towards the wrong object or just didn't go out far enough). By process logic I mean a more scientific and technologically detailed means to locating things. IRL, scientists use different methods such as searching for gravitational anomalies, changes in luminosity (probably the wrong world), radiation, etc. to locate things such as exoplanets, stars, comets, and other stellar phenomenon. In the game, for the most part, we are left solely with our own eyes to spot tiny dots that move differently relative to the background in order to locate objects around the star, woe be unto you if you have an inadequate monitor (or hell, if its a small enough object you wont be able to see it anyway). Scientists IRL have been able to determne in a few instances, by whatever black magic voodoo they do, that there is 'missing mass' in a solar system or that an orbit wasn't behaving according to a scientific model, and that there therefore must be an unknown object floating around. In Elite, we are left to assume, after sufficient flying around whilst squinting at pixels, that we've 100% discovered everything in a system. In other words, by process logic I mean that there really isn't a system for exploration, just the ability to explore, and given the amount of "science" put into the rest of the game, that just sucks.
Higher class scanners do extend maximum detection distance! Scanner quality yields more data that sells for higher prices.
- Basic Discovery Scanner - Has a 500 LS range and costs 1,000 cr - Intermediate Discovery Scanner - Has a 1000 LS range and costs ~500,000 cr - Advanced Discovery Scanner - Has a system-wide range and costs ~1,500,000 cr (according to the fan-edited wiki, anyways)
For further information (and sale value) yield, purchase a Detailed Surface Scanner.
Ah, good to know, I dont think I've seen anything but the Detailed Surface Scanner for sale, but I might not have been paying attention. In any case that is well outside my price range, and I would argue that the Basic/Intermediate scanners have too low a range, while the advanced discovery scanner is stupidly high.
This is part of the design document and thus may in fact see implementation in the future.
See thats what I'm talking about, that has logic. What is currently in the game... doesn't. At least not *good* logic. TBH, based on that doc, I'm inclined to believe that the system in game is currently incomplete, which sucks since it seems to be a major component of gameplay, and AFAIK the game is supposed to release in a month, so its kind of annoying that it hasn't been implemented.
Nah, those systems are discovered and you likely will be able to purchase their data from those ports. It's just that they still pay you a bit for updating and confirming their charts, depending on how established that outpost is, and how detailed your scans are.
Ah, okay that makes sense. Would be nice if they used a different tag instead of 'unexplored' though. Like 'outdated' or something.
Anyway, after some more mucking about for not so much gain, I decided to hang up my Eagle and Basic Scanner and jump back into my Sidewinder. I dumped the weapons and a bunch of extraneous equipment (shields, scanner) and upgraded the cargo hold so it could carry 10 tons, in the span of 1 hour after that I made more money than in my entire first week in game. My plan is to run cargo for a little bit to build up my funds until I have enough credits to jump into a ship with 1. A longer jump range, 2. More capacity for scanning gear (and hell, also better scanning gear while Im at it). I'm thinking the Cobra Mk III would be good as its cheaper than the Asp but offers good all around performance otherwise. While running missions though I had a near heartstopping moment though, I was approaching a station with about 30k creds worth of cargo when some donkey-cave tried to interdict me, since I had sold my shields I figured I was pretty much screwed if he caught me luckily I managed to get away, but then when I got to the station, I wasn't able to dock (for whatever reason the landing crosshair display wouldn't show up for me) so I had to cancel the request, and try again, directed to a new pad, still no joy, I was starting to freak out since I had about 18 minutes left to deliver the goods or get hit with a fine and otherwise useless cargo, so I jumped to the next system over, then jumped back, reapproached the station, and finally was able to dock, all the while praying nobody else tried to interdict me...
I mean, I dont know why I worry so much about being interdicted, I've only successfully been interdicted twice, and both times I was able to outrun the would-be pirate and get away, but still.
CoALabaer wrote: Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
chaos0xomega wrote:By process logic I mean a more scientific and technologically detailed means to locating things. IRL, scientists use different methods such as searching for gravitational anomalies, changes in luminosity (probably the wrong world), radiation, etc. to locate things such as exoplanets, stars, comets, and other stellar phenomenon. In the game, for the most part, we are left solely with our own eyes to spot tiny dots that move differently relative to the background in order to locate objects around the star, woe be unto you if you have an inadequate monitor (or hell, if its a small enough object you wont be able to see it anyway).
Ah, I see!
Well, I'd argue that whilst such a system would be more realistic, it would also be less fun. I mean, from how it sounds you basically want to replace oldschool mk-1-eyeball discovery - "trailblazing" if you will - with the push of a button on some computer that then simply tells you where to fly, instead of leaving it entirely in your hands and brains? Or did you have something else in mind? I think there certainly should be a sort of challenge for the human part involved, but of course there could be alternatives such as various minigames that combine a specialised UI with the exploration mechanic, similar to FSD interdiction.
chaos0xomega wrote:Ah, okay that makes sense. Would be nice if they used a different tag instead of 'unexplored' though. Like 'outdated' or something.
Yeah, that's a good point.
I mean - it makes sense insofar as they are unexplored for you, because your onboard navcom doesn't have the maps, but it's still misleading in that the primary interpretation should refer to exploration by humanity as a whole.
Something for the forums, perhaps.
chaos0xomega wrote:My plan is to run cargo for a little bit to build up my funds until I have enough credits to jump into a ship with 1. A longer jump range, 2. More capacity for scanning gear (and hell, also better scanning gear while Im at it). I'm thinking the Cobra Mk III would be good as its cheaper than the Asp but offers good all around performance otherwise.
If you want to haul cargo for a bit I'd recommend taking a look at the Zorgon-Peterson Hauler. It's a very cozy means of affordable transportation. Comes in at about 44k credits, and has a cargo capacity of up to twenty tons or so, depending on how you juggle internal compartment space and whether or not you want to keep the shields (I would, as Haulers are also juicy targets).
The Cobra is the perfect allrounder, though, pretty much a straight upgrade from the Sidewinder in that she's just as much of a multirole ship, just that she surpasses the Sidey in pretty much anything except agility.
At about 300k or so the Cobra is also fairly affordable and something you'll probably stick with for a while. Frontier cargo transportation, smuggling, piracy, exploration, the Cobra can do those nicely.
I assume you already got the free paintjobs?
chaos0xomega wrote:While running missions though I had a near heartstopping moment though, I was approaching a station with about 30k creds worth of cargo when some donkey-cave tried to interdict me, since I had sold my shields I figured I was pretty much screwed if he caught me luckily I managed to get away, but then when I got to the station, I wasn't able to dock (for whatever reason the landing crosshair display wouldn't show up for me) so I had to cancel the request, and try again, directed to a new pad, still no joy, I was starting to freak out since I had about 18 minutes left to deliver the goods or get hit with a fine and otherwise useless cargo, so I jumped to the next system over, then jumped back, reapproached the station, and finally was able to dock, all the while praying nobody else tried to interdict me...
Ouphh, I had that bug twice already, too. You do not have to leave the system - just keep cancelling and re-requesting until it works. The longest so far was three failed approaches at a Dahan mining outpost, but at the 4th attempt the pad that was previously bugged suddenly worked again. *shrug*
Glad to hear you already had a thrilling encounter, though.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/11/27 05:30:16
Lynata wrote: Well, I'd argue that whilst such a system would be more realistic, it would also be less fun. I mean, from how it sounds you basically want to replace oldschool mk-1-eyeball discovery - "trailblazing" if you will - with the push of a button on some computer that then simply tells you where to fly, instead of leaving it entirely in your hands and brains? Or did you have something else in mind? I think there certainly should be a sort of challenge for the human part involved, but of course there could be alternatives such as various minigames that combine a specialised UI with the exploration mechanic, similar to FSD interdiction.
No, I definitely don't want a push button solution, just something a bit more scientific and concrete rather than squinting hard at a computer monitor, the minigame w/ ui type deal is more along the lines of what I imagined.
Yeah, that's a good point.
I mean - it makes sense insofar as they are unexplored for you, because your onboard navcom doesn't have the maps, but it's still misleading in that the primary interpretation should refer to exploration by humanity as a whole.
They don't even show up on your system map until you search them down, even if you otherwise have the system data available. To me that makes no sense whatsoever.
If you want to haul cargo for a bit I'd recommend taking a look at the Zorgon-Peterson Hauler. It's a very cozy means of affordable transportation. Comes in at about 44k credits, and has a cargo capacity of up to twenty tons or so, depending on how you juggle internal compartment space and whether or not you want to keep the shields (I would, as Haulers are also juicy targets).
The Cobra is the perfect allrounder, though, pretty much a straight upgrade from the Sidewinder in that she's just as much of a multirole ship, just that she surpasses the Sidey in pretty much anything except agility.
At about 300k or so the Cobra is also fairly affordable and something you'll probably stick with for a while. Frontier cargo transportation, smuggling, piracy, exploration, the Cobra can do those nicely.
I assume you already got the free paintjobs?
Theres free paintjobs?
I considered the hauler actually, Im just not sure how profitable running trade routes will be and whether or not the 50k credit investment will actually increase my profits. Currently I have trouble keeping my 10 ton sidewinder capacity well utilized since most of the missions ive run (and indeed it seems most of the missions in the game that I have seen) don't require more capacity than that. I know I can just run trade routes for goods on the marketplace, but the lack of eve-online style market data has me wary of dumping too many credits on stuff and hoping that I can sell it all elsewhere for a small profit.
Ouphh, I had that bug twice already, too. You do not have to leave the system - just keep cancelling and re-requesting until it works. The longest so far was three failed approaches at a Dahan mining outpost, but at the 4th attempt the pad that was previously bugged suddenly worked again. *shrug*
ah good to know, I probably tried about 3 times myself before jumping out. I think part of it too was that another player was directed to the same pad. I was going in for the landing and another ship cut across beneath me and landed where I was directed to go. I had to wait for him to enter the station before the pad was available for me to land on, and at that point the targeting thing just wouldnt show up.
CoALabaer wrote: Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
chaos0xomega wrote:They don't even show up on your system map until you search them down, even if you otherwise have the system data available. To me that makes no sense whatsoever.
Well, Universal Cartographics wants you to buy their maps!
chaos0xomega wrote:Theres free paintjobs?
I mentioned it earlier - they're running a sort of Black Friday promotion where this new pack of six Cobra paintjobs is available for 0.00 on the webstore if you "buy" it before Monday. Also, all the other paintjobs are currently at a 50% discount, so if you want to grab some fancy colours for any of the ships you like, now's the time.
chaos0xomega wrote:I considered the hauler actually, Im just not sure how profitable running trade routes will be and whether or not the 50k credit investment will actually increase my profits.
Well, compared to the Sidewinder you basically make money twice as fast. It comes down to what you haul, but if you also consider courier missions, which sometimes pay hefty amounts of credits if you manage to arrange bulk transportation, I'd say there is definite potential here.
There's also some trade tutorials available in regards to how to read the routed on the map, what sort of goods tend to pay the most profits, or which systems would usually look for what sort of resources, and so on, but I confess that even though I did play space trucker for at least two weeks or so, I didn't really do any in-depth research. Especially as I also had "political motivations" regarding the conflict around Eranin, which saw me shipping medical supplies for the commie government trying to keep them pesky Feds at bay.
On a sidenote, the way the various explorers, traders, smugglers, pirates etc give each other tips and slowly probe how the game works is a pretty cool thing. You can really see how there are communities within the community forming. Just hours ago, I was bounty hunting in Eranin, and I got hailed by another random bounty hunter who just happened to take a look at the same nav beacon. We exchanged greetings, talked about local bounties, then went our separate ways to take down bad guys. All in a day's work.
But, I worry that if I get it, my skeleton will be found in months time by someone breaking in to my house to find out why I haven't been seen or heard from again..
Out of interest, is it on general release yet or is this still a 'beta'?
But, I worry that if I get it, my skeleton will be found in months time by someone breaking in to my house to find out why I haven't been seen or heard from again..
Out of interest, is it on general release yet or is this still a 'beta'?
Beta closed, its now in 'gamma' before a release around the 16th of December.
I wish I had time for all the game systems I own, let alone want to own...
Is there a bug in hyperspace travel? I'm doing the 'travel' tutorial, and when I go to Hyperspace, I stay there and can't even go to the 'Escape' menu to exit the tutorial (I have to close it in task manager).
Combat seems fun, though the ships feel more sluggish than they were in Frontier, and ArcElite.
I have the option to 'start' though I haven't done that yet. Also, I only seem to have one pilot, though I had a few startup packs to pick from. Does the 'pirate' one start in Lave, or did you need to back more for that?
Pacific wrote:But, I worry that if I get it, my skeleton will be found in months time by someone breaking in to my house to find out why I haven't been seen or heard from again..
I can see how that could happen.
Daba wrote:Is there a bug in hyperspace travel? I'm doing the 'travel' tutorial, and when I go to Hyperspace, I stay there and can't even go to the 'Escape' menu to exit the tutorial (I have to close it in task manager).
Hmmm. I had that happen once, but it's not supposed to happen anymore. Supposedly it had to do with the connection to the server. Does it happen every time? And only in this tutorial mission?
Daba wrote:Combat seems fun, though the ships feel more sluggish than they were in Frontier, and ArcElite.
Yeah, it's more dogfighty. Depends on the type of ship and your thrusters, too, though; a nicely kitted out Eagle can fly circles around other ships!
Daba wrote:I have the option to 'start' though I haven't done that yet. Also, I only seem to have one pilot, though I had a few startup packs to pick from. Does the 'pirate' one start in Lave, or did you need to back more for that?
Hmm, as far as I recall, the starting spawn should be mentioned in the packet's description to the right side on that screen. With exception to the Kickstarter specials who start on Shinrarta Dezhra (the pilot union's homeworld), I think all the packs offer random spawns in various specific regions ("somewhere in the Federation", "somewhere in the Empire" and "some independent frontier colony on the fringe").
chaos0xomega wrote:I dunno, I feel like the Hauler presents a bigger risk since its more likely to attract attention than my sidewinder, and isnt as fast or maneuverable
That's certainly true. It's a bit "risk vs reward", though there are ways to minimise danger (you can avoid interdiction if you keep an eye on the scanner and/or are willing to fly detours rather than a straight line from the nav beacon to the destination world). It's only got a single weapon hardpoint, too, though it is located on the belly which means you could install a turret. But basically, if you get into trouble, it's a question of trying to make the shields hold until your hyperdrive is fully charged.
chaos0xomega wrote:They arent one time use only are they? Should Inorder multiple sets? I mean they are free... lol
Naah, no worries, they are basically unlocks. The (other) paintjobs would be pretty expensive otherwise, and few would buy the "exclusive" ones!
Daba wrote:I saw (well, one turned up on nearby ships) an Asp outside station, but I take it you can't buy these yet?
You can, but it'll cost ya! The larger, newer hulls tend to go in the millions, as opposed to small second-hand ships like the Sidey or the Eagle that don't even get produced anymore. Once you do have the necessary funds and want to acquire one, high-tech industrial manufacture systems are always a good bet for ships like the Asp or the Anaconda, etc. I think there is a list on the forums where people post what they've spotted where in order to create a community-authored shipyards overview.
And don't worry about the map, you'll get used to it fairly quickly. The only thing I'm really missing is waypoints...
Spoiler:
Also, because it looks really pretty ... terraformed Mars:
Spoiler:
"See you at the party, Richter!"
Oh by the way .. that bug you encountered with getting stuck in the tutorial?
"Fix for travel tutorial getting stuck in hyperspace" -- v1.03 patch notes
Started with the Imperial Bounty Hunter package (Eagle with some upgrades, starting in random Imperial colony)
Went into the actual game yesterday. Went to an 'unexplored' system in Imperial Space, though there were a couple of outposts there. Got paid a bit for exploring, more than trading did (albeit, the Eagle is really not suited to it, but I ran a ton of goods between the systems) and more than the bounty I got when interdicted on the way back. I actually need to cash in that bounty though.
Is it safe to fire on anyone with 'wanted' (outside of no fire zones of course), regardless of their affiliation? Also, how do you interdict?
Do you generally need to travel longer routes for trading to be lucrative?
I'm also considering putting yaw back on the mouse for the precision, or maybe it isn't needed? I have roll on it, and yaw with the keyboard (it's how you play with the VTOL craft in Planetside 2).
What determines whether they will pay for your exploration data, or if it is newly explored by you, do you always get paid something for up to date data?
Im looking to score a Saitek X52 Pro flight stick/throttle on sale so I dont have to deal w the mouse/keyboard combo... now if only someone would put it on sale.
CoALabaer wrote: Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
Daba wrote:Started with the Imperial Bounty Hunter package (Eagle with some upgrades, starting in random Imperial colony)
I took the same package, except with a different starting location. That Eagle has some pretty nice upgrades that give her an impressive 12ly jump range! Perfect for pursuing a bounty, except that it's missing a hyperspace wake scanner and an interdictor.
Daba wrote:Is it safe to fire on anyone with 'wanted' (outside of no fire zones of course), regardless of their affiliation? Also, how do you interdict?
Right now there's a sort of bug with the dynamic background and reputation mechanics where local authority ships will open fire on you if you shoot a wanted guy and he was part of the same faction. Most systems have at least one faction as the established "authority", which means they control the primary starports and send out patrol craft to enforce whatever laws exist in that place. This seems to have collided with the recent expansion of reputation mechanics, where ships that share the same faction are counted as allies, and since both players as well as NPCs can grind rep with factions .. including the local authority .. well.
Frontier are aware of it, though. I think they are currently working to have authority ships disregard faction status if someone is wanted.
Daba wrote:IDo you generally need to travel longer routes for trading to be lucrative?
Not generally, except if we're talking about unique Rare Goods such as Eranin Wine (which tend to increase in value the further you move away from their point of origin). All in all, the markets are simply governed by supply and demand, which refers to the mixture of production capabilities, resource requirements, and supply lines of the starport in question. Most of the time, short journeys are less profitable simply because they tend to be frequented by other traders (both players and NPCs), but it's not a hard rule.
A dedicated trader could probably explain it in more depth than me, though.
Daba wrote:II'm also considering putting yaw back on the mouse for the precision, or maybe it isn't needed? I have roll on it, and yaw with the keyboard (it's how you play with the VTOL craft in Planetside 2).
Well, it's a personal decision - whatever works best for you - but I too have pitch/yaw on my mouse, and roll on the keyboard. See the first post on this page for my thruster control scheme, which I think works very well, at least for my taste.
Daba wrote:What determines whether they will pay for your exploration data, or if it is newly explored by you, do you always get paid something for up to date data?
I think you always get paid something, but only the first data makes the most money. The rest is simply supplementary information or updates, and the more data people throw at Universal Cartographics, the smaller are the payouts they get.
chaos0xomega wrote:Im looking to score a Saitek X52 Pro flight stick/throttle on sale so I dont have to deal w the mouse/keyboard combo... now if only someone would put it on sale.
[edit]Ah, nevermind, looks like it's out of stock already - plus they only ship to Europe (though maybe you would've had relatives or whatever that could serve as intermediates ...)
I got mine from a bulk reseller on ebay; maybe that would work for you?
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2014/11/28 15:01:56
chaos0xomega wrote:Even on ebay Im only looking at $10 off retail
Oh, you meant "on sale" as in "cheaper", whereas I thought you just wanted to buy one, period.
The X52 has become a bit of a rare commodity because it's not being produced anymore (or at least not in big numbers) but is widely regarded as being the best choice for a "middle class" HOTAS that gives you decent quality for a price below those lulzy $500 luxury kits. I assume that this rarity would also affect their price, so if you did find an offer that is below retail price, that's actually pretty fortunate already, considering that in most stores, you can't even get it in retail anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if the price goes up instead of down.
Hmm, maybe they've produced another run due to the popularity? I only know that when I looked, they were sold out almost everywhere (barring places that would charge you an arm and a leg in shipping), which is why I felt so lucky when I finally found a shop on ebay that sold these. It could certainly explain how the folks from Frontier Development managed to secure a batch for their online shop.
And I absolutely agree about the stick's performance. From what I can tell so far, the positive reviews are justified. No wonder it's become so popular.
And even in the year 3030, the X52 is still the preferred flight stick for space ships.
SilverMK2 wrote:Grrr... Wife has been using the laptop for the last two days so I've not been able to play.
Sounds like the perfect excuse to blow some cash on a gaming PC.
"Look what I got us, honey! Now we no longer have to squabble about who gets to use the laptop!"
On a sidenote, just had two awesome bounties. The first was an Asp Explorer with a 20k price on its head. Interdicted her as she was pulling away from the local star. That beast had two missile racks and four burst lasers, two of them turrets, which promised an interesting fight, but that bounty was just a tad too juicy and I knew my Eagle should be able to outmaneuver her. Twice I got into the firing arc of the turrets, but my shields held, if only barely. A minute or so into the fight as I was happily plinking away at the Asp's thick skin, three new contacts popped into the system. As they were barely inside sensor range I was unable to identify them, but of course I immediately assumed the worst and figured that the gal in the Asp has summoned her buddies. Turns out however that (due to the reset from Beta to Gamma) my emergency transponder was still active, which means my ship has notified the local authorities. Apparently my target was so popular that they sent two Vipers plus an Eagle with concussion missiles! Fortunately, the combined fire from my burst lasers and the m-cannon managed to kill the Asp before the cops got closer, though they did manage to launch two missiles at her, each striking for about 4% hull damage.
Lesson for other prospective bounty hunters: Disable the "Report Crimes against Me" feature in your functions tab to the right! If you are hunting down a mark, the last thing you need is a bunch of coppers swooping in to steal your kill.
The second bounty was a Cobra with an 8k bounty; fairly standard fare, but it seems that guy was a smuggler rather than a pirate, for instead of fighting me he immediately turned away and tried to flee. Needless to say, I diverted some power into the engines and pursued, targeting the Cobra's frameshift drive as I opened fire. After taking some damage, the wanted pilot panicked and started jettisoning his illegal cargo, one canister after another, opening comms and pleading to me that I should let him go. That Cobra was like a giant piñata; the more I shot it, the more sweets poured out of its cargo hatch. Being in an Eagle, however, I'd only have room for four tons of stuff anyways, so I continued the pursuit and finally blew him up, my computer logging the kill and issuing the customary bounty chit, to be redeemed next time I'd dock at a Federal outpost. Still having some of that white cloud of cargo canisters on my scanner, however, I deployed my cargo scoop and got me some stolen domestic appliances, which I was able to cash in for a nice bonus in the black market at Eranin Orbital.
Star Citizen has been far better managed in terms of fund raising. Roberts now has to deliver, and he has made very big promises.
Still I have to hand it to him, if he can manage to seel access to play just one ship in his new game for over a hundred dollars I have no doubt he knows how to make money.
Still I think in the future the slow and steady sequential release of the dream, making things big, but in other ways limited so you don't bite off more than you can chew, and sticking to developer schedules means that I think Elite is going to be the big winner here.
In the end both games will take us to the same place, space plus ground settings in first person. However they are travel;ling very different roads. I have a suspicion that Elite is the better of the two projects for being built around hard efficient coding and that there is a chance that Star Citizen may run into practical problems with its multi billion dollar promises.
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
But, I worry that if I get it, my skeleton will be found in months time by someone breaking in to my house to find out why I haven't been seen or heard from again..
Out of interest, is it on general release yet or is this still a 'beta'?
Beta closed, its now in 'gamma' before a release around the 16th of December.
Many thanks for that.
Think I'm going to do a pre-order from the site, goodbye world!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/11/28 23:05:54
Woo! Managed to land and shoot some cannisters - though as I could only find the broken mouse I am finding it hard to shoot the ship as the mouse keeps dropping out
Edit: And no matter what settings I change the fracking Y-axis will not let me play inverted controls
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/11/28 23:44:56
Orlanth wrote:Star Citizen has been far better managed in terms of fund raising.
From a business point of view, that is absolutely true. As a gamer, its "aggressive hype" was what actually drove me to Elite, though.
Don't get me wrong, I think SC has great potential, and in the end I'm just lucky that the genre has been revitalised by these two giants. And I am quite sure that I'll at least take a look at SC once it's out. But it just felt more like a big PR stunt rather than a game in development, and I have more trust in Elite's slow, gradual expansion rather than SC's attempt to deliver everything at once by splitting development between a dozen different studios as if the game was some big puzzle. The good thing is that SC has raised so much cash that I'm sure they will ultimately be able to deliver something good, in spite of what I'd consider inevitable waste and chaos. I mean, with a budget like that, they could theoretically start over completely multiple times, and they have wisely chosen not to commit to a deadline.
I also like how not only both games have committed to a different development style, however, but also different design aesthetics and different gameplay styles. This should ensure that there is (a) hopefully less rivalry between their fans and (b) people who enjoy space games get to pick from a greater spectrum of variety. Just like I foresee a continued future for Eve Online, because I expect that it too will be able to maintain its niche due to its focus on social features and communities.
Pacific wrote:Think I'm going to do a pre-order from the site, goodbye world!
Sweet! The Mercenary (aka preorder) Edition will not only net you a small discount, but also an Eagle fighter and a couple goodies. Welcome to the year 3030, Commander.
SilverMK2 wrote:Woo! Managed to land and shoot some cannisters - though as I could only find the broken mouse I am finding it hard to shoot the ship as the mouse keeps dropping out
That sounds like something you should fix! The idea of a broken mouse conjurs horror images of a Hauler loaded chock-full with progenitor cells smashing against the docking ring due to a "thruster malfunction".
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