Oolite Bulletins

mossfoot wrote:

I have myself a goal.

About 15 years ago I bought my wife a star. You know, one of those "name a star" programs various observatories do. So I figured, why not actually GO there and see what it's like? Problem was I lost the certificate long ago.

So I contacted the observatory and got my hands on the information about it again. Unfortunately it uses a different naming convention than Elite Dangerous. The star is listed as SAO 132515 Orion (SAO stands for Smithsonian Astronomical Observatory). So I asked for some help and lo and behold I was pointed in the right direction.

Google says it is also called 'HIP 27212' or 'HR 1986' according to http://cbeams.org/deep-sky-object/HIP_27212

So I have a destination, and it's over 430 light years away from me!

ROAD TRIP!

Very cool.. hopefully your wife is suitably excited about finally getting to see her star up close..

Well there you hit upon the one thing about Star Citizen I am really looking forward to - because it would be a lot easier for her to be excited if she could play as well in the same ship as me as a co-pilot and/or gunner As it stands she just goes off and plays her other games while I hog the huge honkin TV set.

Oh, and I just got the new video card and PS Eye. Can't wait to try out FaceTrackNoIR and see how many FPS I can get out of this machine now.

Got FaceTrackNoIR to work. Tweaking the settings to something I like will take forever, though. I suspect I'll prefer the other alternatives out there when I get a chance to use them, but this is giving me more than I've ever had in the past, and I've spent enough as it is for now.

Speaking of which, HUGE improvement with the 750ti. I'm not 100% clued in on how things work, but it claims to be running at 60fps even when I swear I notice some chop - said chop might be due to the head tracking, though, as I swing around for beauty shots of a station.

If anyone can help, I'd love some advice on how to get the most out of my settings. Should I have the frame rate locked at 60 or let it run free? Should I have vertical sync on or off? Should I be using Game Booster type software or anything? That sort of thing. I know it boils down to personal preference and experimentation in some cases, but advice is always welcome.

No don't lock the FPS as you will probably get more out of it. Set everything to the highest settings then gradually reduce them until it is smooth is one option. Or start at the bottom and work your way up. But I would definitely turn vsync off as that's what caps the FPS. But it's all trial and error every PC is different. I have all settings on high and the resolution set to the highest as my card then downgrades the 4K to 1080P. But on my laptop I had mid to low settings.

I'm now on route to Earth. I know I can't go there without a permit (I'll work on that later), but I figure I'll hang out in the neighbourhood till then. Around Barnard's Star, perhaps. Got an Adder, which in this game is anything but a "Mossfoot's Burden" type of starter ship For the price it seems like a very nice all-rounder. I'll probably stick with it and soup it up for a while. Then make my pilgrimage to HR 1986 and see what's there. Maybe the money I make going out there and back (if I scan everything along the way) will net me a better ship?

Oh, got my Playstation Eye for face tracking. Used an old lampshade wire frame to attach it to my keyboard setup:





The lamp itself is now behind the TV, to help light my face up for the camera.

Did you not pre order or have Beta then? I got a Sol permit when I signed up for Beta but I'm not sure how else you'd get one, probably through Fed rep.

Need to get my Cobra back I haven't played properly in ages as I was convinced Gamma was gonna get wiped and since then I've had other games to play. Want to go exploring really but need a better ship as I'm still in a crappy Hauler!

By the way, great setup mossfoot!

Hey Mossfoot, while you hanging around Barnards Star, don’t forget to pop into McThargoids for a shake and check out the Karaoke at the Thargoid and Ferdelance bar.

http://bs-dockers.co.uk/

They say the station commander is a bit of a stress bunny and the security chief is a bit of a Nazi, but the Janxx is cold

Good luck on your bit of exploration. The set-up's looking good with the big screen.

nice setup... i cant get near my TV its always showing some show i dont like so i just sit in front of my computer screens....

SteveKing wrote:

Hey Mossfoot, while you hanging around Barnards Star, don’t forget to pop into McThargoids for a shake and check out the Karaoke at the Thargoid and Ferdelance bar.

http://bs-dockers.co.uk/

They say the station commander is a bit of a stress bunny and the security chief is a bit of a Nazi, but the Janxx is cold

Good luck on your bit of exploration. The set-up's looking good with the big screen.

Thanks again, all. I covered up the wire frame holding up the PS Eye with a square piece of black plastic... now trying to imagine how I can make that plastic look like part of the setup (it's a square black take out tray).

That looks like an amusing podcast. I might have to listen to it while I play next I actually got just outside of Barnard's Star, only to then turn around and complete some other missions many light years away. But now I have a reason to go back and dock

Been upgrading my Adder, adding cargo room, getting a multi-cannon, improving the engines, etc. The Adder seems prone to heat management problems more than the Sidewinder. Also it's kind of difficult using a gimbled mount AND fixed mounts at the same time, I've noticed.

Some quick questions: I guess the ONLY way to get paint or decals is through paid DLC? That's a bit weak. I mean, for special jobs, sure, but we should at least be able to change basic colors.

Oh, and if anyone wants to friend me, the handle is Mossfoot, naturally. I've tracked down some of you on the ED forum and in game, but the more the merrier, right?

There were some free skins for the Cobra a while back on Black Friday, and those that preordered or were part of Beta got a free decal. But yeah apart from that you have to pay which sucks.

Hopefully free ones will come in time as well...

Perhaps at some point in the future you will be able to submit an image file of a decal (that of course will have to be vetted ) according to some basic parameters, together with some in-game credits and the next time you dock, your ship goes into the paint shop for a new sign job. After all, whats the use of being a part of multi-player when you can't tell one from another except by scanning. Having said that, if you're a notorious PC smuggler or pirate, you wouldn't want to advertise your notariety by a fancy paint job!

As been mentioned in in various places around here, you've got to be able to do something with all the money


So Mossfoot (or anyone else playing E:D around here), initial impressions - is it so much of a grind as being suggested by a section of the E:D community?

Yes and no. It is a grind, in the same way as Elite and Oolite are. But I've seen that some people have made insane amount of money quite quickly so it depends. I don't play often do I haven't progressed very far. But if I had more time to spare and less other games to play I'd probably have my own fortune by now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei_Y1_cpJX4

I think I can sum up my feelings below (my response to the above IGN review)

I'm a big fan of the game, but I have to concede this much - I think he's being fair all things considered. Some reviews I've seen gush about the game, while others pan it, and both come across as a bit self-serving and not very open minded. 

Fact is, Elite Dangerous is not for everyone, and this IGN review shows why. He's not wrong about any of the downsides mentioned, but to me, they're simply not downsides. When explaining he used the expression "all killer, no filler" to explain what Elite isn't, but to me that filler is a necessary part of the immersion.  If things were more scripted or if forced encounters more numerous, basically the very thing that draws you to the game in the first place (piloting your own spaceship) would be ruined. To people like me, this game is fantastic as is, and will only get better as they expand on it, but we're not what you'd call an average breed of gamer.  We're a niche in the grand scheme of things. 

And remember, despite his misgivings he also said things like "what kept me coming back" - which is in itself a form of praise. 

Oh, and of course if the reviewer WANTED balls to the wall action, he simply should have played in one of the areas the online community are currently warring over. Tons of PVP going on in some systems I hear. I stay the hell away from those places. 

And yes, it's sad that he failed to recognize that Elite came out BEFORE Freespace and Privateer, but oh well  )