Thanks for the heads up EWB. I've yet to actually need to engage any skimmers. When they have spawned at a surface location I've visited, they've disappeared when I've left the area and not respawned upon my return. Which I've always found odd.

Sendraks wrote:Thanks for the heads up EWB. I've yet to actually need to engage any skimmers. When they have spawned at a surface location I've visited, they've disappeared when I've left the area and not respawned upon my return. Which I've always found odd.

Weird. I can understand Skimmers vanishing if its a POI or mission objective as these aren't persistent, but I can't remember it happening to me.

It took me 2 re-buys of my 'conda and a trawl of the FAQs to raise a ticket. There are so many variables in ED that you don't want to raise a ticket over an actual mechanic and look like a prat. Had I collided with something, not noticed it was a high G planet, accidentally deployed or fired weapons, etc, etc? I once almost raised a ticket because I couldn't target the station to request docking, turns out my short range scanner had been taken out in combat during a *cough* tactical withdrawal and I hadn't realised.

electricwhiteboy wrote:Weird. I can understand Skimmers vanishing if its a POI or mission objective as these aren't persistent, but I can't remember it happening to me.

It was one of those bases where I'd "breached the perimeter" going in to do a data link scan. I saw the skimmers launch on my radar (I'd already taken out the defense turrets) and drove away from the base to give me a bit of a wider firing arc on the skimmers. As soon as I drove out of the perimeter, the skimmers disappeared and they never came back once I returned. This has happened a few times.

electricwhiteboy wrote:I once almost raised a ticket because I couldn't target the station to request docking, turns out my short range scanner had been taken out in combat during a *cough* tactical withdrawal and I hadn't realised.

I love that sort of detail in the game.

The depth is in the details in ED. I’m still discovering little quirks, mechanics, tactics, and vulnerabilities after two years. Did you know chaff and heat sinks stop working if you've got a power hungry shield that's taken a kicking and sucking up all the systems charge? That was a nasty surprise. Or the time my Asp fell out the sky when I deployed weapons because I hadn't set the power management correctly.

Plummeting Skimmers fix is in the patch notes.

Hopefully it'll launch at 18:00 as planned. Hello beastie!

electricwhiteboy wrote:Hopefully it'll launch at 18:00 as planned.

Not far off. Downloading now. 28 Mbps - they must have some stonking connection to the backbone

Encountered a Thargoid ship in a USS. It didn't attack me but it did deploy hardpoints when I did. The area was full of green gas and wreckage from human ships. It was also definitely hoovering up escape pods, but I picked up the black box and encoded messages.

And when you scan them they give off a string of numbers in base 8. I worked out that much on my own, people far smarter than me are now try to decode it.

I'm making progress with the Engineers and have a few G5 rated modules now. Unlocking Palin was by far and away the longest slog but, now that is done the rest of them I seem to be progressing quickly. Currently working through mining my 500 units of ore to unlock another engineer, a process I'm enjoying far more than I thought I would.

Anyhoo, Christimas is coming and so is my Occlus Rift.

Any advice from the masses of how best to configure controls for use with the rift? I'm a little confused as to how the Headlook system and the UI side panels work. Do I need to have a 4-way hat set for UI focus anymore or can I reassign that to other commands now?

*edit*

Also, since getting my Warthog, I've acquired a deep interest in more specialist sim joysticks, specifically the more sophisticated and precise gimbals produced by VKB, BRD and Virpi, who all manufacture options designed to work with the Warthog joystick grip alongside their own fantastically detailed grips. Looking to upgrade into some of this kit over the next year.

I wouldn't have thought you would need the panels bound to a hat anymore. You just look at the panel and it pops up, it IS a setting though so make sure it is set up correctly. I do still have the left and right panels still bound as it allows me to switch them off and look around the bridge of my 'conda a bit better.

I don't think I bound anything differently in VR. I did programme a few marcos in Voice Attack, simply because finding the home keys to type whilst blind is a pain. I have a few systems I visit regularly programmed in, and a few other bits and bobs. You need a VR reset button assigned, which you will probably have to press each time you launch the game.

Okaaay...Never take tourists to Hutton Orbital in Alpha Centauri without checking the distance from the arrival point first.

BlackBart wrote:Okaaay...Never take tourists to Hutton Orbital in Alpha Centauri without checking the distance from the arrival point first.

FOR THE MUG!

Also, never again.

Also, Elite Dangerous in VR is amazing and I can't play the game any other way now.

I haz a jealous.

Got a minor faction established in game a few weeks ago and we're now consolidating our hold on our home system and contemplating expansion.

Still pottering around Federation space taking missions and tourists. Should get a permit to Sol soon.

Sendraks wrote:

BlackBart wrote:Okaaay...Never take tourists to Hutton Orbital in Alpha Centauri without checking the distance from the arrival point first.

FOR THE MUG!

Also, never again.

Folk are trolling new players and telling them you get a free Anaconda for making it out to Hutton.

electricwhiteboy wrote:

Sendraks wrote:

BlackBart wrote:Okaaay...Never take tourists to Hutton Orbital in Alpha Centauri without checking the distance from the arrival point first.

FOR THE MUG!

Also, never again.

Folk are trolling new players and telling them you get a free Anaconda for making it out to Hutton.

That's an old trick.

Finally got my beautiful Clipper yesterday night.
Sold my AspE for extra upgrades, now just 100k short of the rebuy costs xp
This is the eventual load-out I'm aiming for:

The Clipper has the speed to make an effective close range fighter with Fragment Cannon.

The Clipper is great for FA-OFF as it remains very stable and can flip round easily. Which is important as you need to keep that narrow front profile towards the enemy in order for chaff to be effective in defense. Chaff and boost to range with the rear profile are also very strong, as the Clipper has insane speed (mine with engineering does 650ms). Of course you can boost away, flip around and keep guns on target but, that calls for a longer range build.