Newbie asking a quick question

[Arbanax]

Hi all

right got started on Oolite as I wait for Elite Dangerous Beta to come out. So I had never played any of the previous games and Oolite seems like a good place to start.

However earlier I had ten minutes to play, jumped on to practice docking. I got to a system, then speed up and spent so long travelling to the planet, that I had to look off again. Argh.

How can I speed up the travel between the jump gate and the station, if I've only got an hour to play of an evening, I don't want to spend 60% travelling from the gate to the station! Especially as there is nothing to do on the way whilst waiting to get near the nav beacon/station.

Thanks any help much appreciated.

Ab

[hiasakite]

Use the jumpdrive/torus drive (J key).....

Make sure you are not masslocked (ie there is nothing in your scanner range) - if there is, you need fly away (or past) whatever is 'locking' you until it is clear again- then press J, and watch the space dust fly by..

[Cody]

Hi Arbanax, and welcome aboard. The Oolite Reference Sheet PDF, contained within the main Oolite folder, is very useful.

[Arbanax]

Hi Arbanax, and welcome aboard. The Oolite Reference Sheet PDF, contained within the main Oolite folder, is very useful.

Firstly thanks for the replies guys. I'd read the reference sheet, but didn't realises hiasakite's point, as I was clearly getting mass locked and spending ages just flying to the planet to the try and find the space station.

Ok thanks for that been trying to play but come up against some other frustrations.

Firstly I cannot contact the station, so when I go into dock, I get fined every time. Really annoying I've got the reference sheet that says press [shift] L but I can't raise the station to get clearance. I keep trying as I get closer and closer from the nav beacon but nothing.

Second being attacked I've started over again so many times, because I never get more than three runs in before being attacked. The last time I got attacked by three enemies, I had no chance to dodge their beams, nor target them (I'm using a mouse and keyboard and its really hard to get them in sit to be able to fire back). How can I avoid being attacked, or try and even the stakes, starting out is really hard as it is. The last time I got attacked coming to Lave, which I though was a safe system???

Anyway not finding this very fun, I hope Elite Dangerous is a bit easier for newbies.

Thanks

Ab

[Disembodied]

Firstly I cannot contact the station, so when I go into dock, I get fined every time. Really annoying I've got the reference sheet that says press [shift] L but I can't raise the station to get clearance. I keep trying as I get closer and closer from the nav beacon but nothing.

Sounds like you have Docking Clearance Protocol enabled. You could just disable this, and then you don't have to request clearance, but if you'd prefer to keep it enabled, you'll need to target the station first, and then press shift-L: see
http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Oolite ... _or_later)

Second being attacked I've started over again so many times, because I never get more than three runs in before being attacked. The last time I got attacked by three enemies, I had no chance to dodge their beams, nor target them (I'm using a mouse and keyboard and its really hard to get them in sit to be able to fire back). How can I avoid being attacked, or try and even the stakes, starting out is really hard as it is. The last time I got attacked coming to Lave, which I though was a safe system???

Lave is not a safe system: it's a Dictatorship. It's where you start, right enough, but I wouldn't recommend going back there until you're tooled up and ready for a fight. The systems are ranked, from safest to most dangerous, thus:

Corporate State
Democracy
Confederacy
Communist
Dictatorship <-- Lave
Multi-Government
Feudal
Anarchy

I'd stay well away from anything except Corporate States and Democracies until you've managed to get better equipment (injectors, ECM, and a beam laser would be my minimum combat specs). You might chance a trip to a Confederacy, if you feel lucky. You might like to check out [wiki]Mr Gimlet[/wiki]'s advice for new commanders: you can, for example, jettison some cargo if you get attacked, which can sometimes buy your way past. If all else fails, run away!

Edit: you might find this thread useful - not least as a place to post your opinions, as a new player, about getting into the game.

[hiasakite]

As above..

For a new pilot, in a 'fresh' Cobra without upgrades, you are very (very) vulnerable to pirates...

I would suggest a avoidance is the best strategy initially, (work out where they are, both in terms of which systems they avoid, but also in any given system, which areas they frequent and most importantly, the areas where they are rarer, and try to stick to areas that pirates are less often found), and once you can afford it, get tech so that you can run away if you need to ..

The very early game is probably a trade off between staying out of trouble/avoiding trouble long enough to buy a large cargo bay, and earn greater profit from this to enable further upgrades, or staying out of trouble long enough to earn enough to buy upgrades enabling you to run away from trouble, until such point that you've earned enough to allow you to try fighting back...

I've been deliberately opaque/obtuse in the above so as to give hints rather than spoilers.. if you want less subtle advice (ie do this, buy this etc) just say so..

[Arbanax]

Thanks for the replies, I didn't realise Lave was trouble, no wonder I got caught out by it. Also missed that about targeting the station for clearance. Some of the nuances had escaped me, thanks for the clarification. Duly noted and will attempt to fly clear of trouble.

Thanks guys

Ab

[hwtan]

When you get to a new system, turn 90 degree away from the planet and J (jump) away for a few seconds. If you are mass locked, just fly away from the other planes to clear it. Once you are out of the regular path that used by most planes, you should be able to turn towards the planet and J. Try to get a visual of the station and J towards it. If all go well, you can reach there in a few minutes.

[Imaginos]

Hi Arbanax. I've only been playing a week or so and have had a few of the same problems as you especially the one about how to contact the station for landing clearance. I soon figured that one out but it took me a while to figure out that Lave is not a particularly safe place to return to. Its reassuring to know that I'm not the only one.

[toudi_sk]

Hi guys, I have a little proble with fuel scoop, can´t grab fuel from sun, what I do wrong?

Try follow this manual

http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Fuel_Scoops

Fuel scoop still don´t work, but containers in space I can grab with no problems

[Venator Dha]

Welcome toudi_sk.

I wonder if you are being too cautious and pulling up too soon.

My method is to dive into the centre of the sun until the scoops engage, then to pull up and point to the edge of the sun as the fuel is taken on board, once full to head directly away from the sun and press H to jump to my next destination. Watch the temp gauge and altitude bars.
Some suns are better than others for fuel scooping. Some require you to be very close before it starts, others you can scoop at a high altitude. They also have different temperatures so will heat up your ship at different rates. A slow ship without shielding & injectors (see below) can have problems with some suns.

Recommendations:
Have Heat Shielding is very helpful, especially for hot suns.
Having Injectors helps a lot as you can inject towards the sun and scoop much faster, cutting down on the temperature rise.
The Advanced Space Compass also helps in locating the centre and edges of the sun.

Good luck Commander.

[Cody]

Pretty much what he said - and welcome aboard!

[toudi_sk]

Thx for help, I try it on Ararus sun (now I tried it only Lave and Zaonce) and I have no problem with equipment



So far I have not had any problem with fuel scoop on ZX Spectrum 128+2A
As a reminder of old times I drew and glued a few models of the 8-bit era ELITE

[ralph_hh]

Very nice !!

[toudi_sk]

Thx, but still a lot of work waiting for me.



Venator Dha, thx for advice, the problem is between keyboard and chair, I have a high altitude.