Interesting System Report ...Discovery and Exploration Rank.

The interesting system for this update would be Hosus, It has several planets and they are all High Metal Content planets. It was worth right at 85,000 credits, this was with all objects detail scanned.

 

 

 

 

 

I also found another first discovery system, this system was right at the edge of settled space around the Hosus area. Again they are still out there to be found if your willing to scan systems off the main routes outward.

 

 

And finally I have gained another rank in exploration, Pathfinder. The farthest out I have been is approx. 200 LY from settled space. I have mainly just been scanning systems between known systems with a short foray out every so often when I get bored. I have also only Detail Surface Scanned about 30% of the systems that I visit. I usually only detail scan if I see an interesting planet or if I catch a system that has a first discovery in it. (Some systems still have firsts in them even though they have been scanned, as the person scanning didn't want to fly out to the object to scan it).

 

 

My updates haven't been coming very often lately but I will try to rectify that. It's mostly due to work but also because I have been doing some repetitive things lately and didn't want to post a lot of the same things.

 

 

Until next time.....

 

 

Fly Aimlessly!

 

 

First Discoveries

I wandered off aimlessly exploring as I got bored again and made the following first discoveries:

Nothing amazing but my name is now forever attached to those systems which is pretty cool if you ask me.

The first discovery system is pretty neat as well. When you go to sell your data it automatically lets you know that you were the first and also gives you a nice bonus for it as well.

Get out there and scan some undiscovered systems and get your Commander name attached to a system too!


Fly Aimlessly!

Alliance Faction etc....

I'm currently up in Alliance space working on faction standings. I have found a neat system with both an Industrial and Agriculture station. I run commodities and missions between the two to raise my faction standing faster.

Industrial stations are always looking for grain, algae, coffee etc.... and it seems the Agriculture station gives regular missions for Food cartridges even though they don't like to buy them on the open market. I usually buy enough for my mission and then fill up on Crop Harvesters for profit.

I will get back to exploring soon as I really love the new route planning up to 1000LY. It is a lot faster to plan routes now.


I have also been doing a bit of bounty hunting around the Nav site and enjoy it. It's not nearly as profitable as trading but it works. I really don't need a lot of money as I can afford the ships I'm currently flying plus insurance many times over.


Until next time .....

Fly Aimlessly!

Ideas of things I would like to see, etc....

There are very few things in game that annoy me but there are a few items that would make life a touch bit easier.

One of the things I would really like to see is the ability to sort the outfitting screen by equipment type. (I think this is coming in a update soon).

Another thing I would like to see is the ability to target Orbital Bodies from the System map.

This would speed up exploring so very much. I'm still trying to figure out how to target that one Unexplored "Earth like world" in a system full of Icy planets without just randomly scanning each one until I find it.

Another thing I would really love to see is a "tag" in the Galaxy map annotating whether I have visited a system before or not. This would really help planning routes.

Speaking of planning routes the ability to only show stars within "X" light years of a specific system would be awesome! For instance 100 LY radius from Altair and it would then hide all the others stars on the map. This when added in with "tagging of systems visited would allow you to more easily explore all the systems in a specific area.

I'll add more as they come to me but those are a few items I would really like to see implemented into the game.

Here's a few more screenshots of interesting systems:

 

 

 

And some cool sights in those systems....

 

 

I also gained yet another rank! Trailblazer

 

Until next time......

Fly Aimlessly!

Cartographic Adventures

I broke down and pulled some trading in order to wrap up the funding for my exploration outfitting. I really hate trading but right now it is the most efficient way of making cash in the game. I did end up progressing to Dealer rank using my two system trade route I found. I was making right at 110k round trip so not a bad little route using a Cobra with only 40 cargo space.

 I promised last post I would include more screenshots into my next post so I will take it to the extreme and showcase the highlights in the systems I travelled through yesterday.


Firstly my ship:

I'm starting off in a sidewinder to show it is possible. Its still a hefty investment with the Detailed Surface Scanner and the Advanced Discovery Scanner.

I love Binary stars so close together


Some system with life:

I found it interesting how many gas giants have life. I could have swore I found a lot more systems with life in them but I still get screen shots that don't take. (I have to use the fn key along with F10 in game to get it to take screenshots and it doesn't always work).

More beautiful shots:

I ended my journey for the night at the space casino! First time I have ever seen a outpost like this...

Lots of amazing sights to be seen out there while exploring. I have upgraded to an Adder for more range and fuel control. It also gives me the option to fit a fuel scoop which does help to keep me in space longer without having to plan my route along with station stops for refueling. I still stop every 3 systems or so to sell data which after you start building up some data lets you cash in a good chunk every time you stop.

The Advanced Discovery Scanner does take a lot of the fun I was having out of exploring as it locates every object in the system. I no longer have to use the tricks I picked up to locate objects out of range of my scanner, which was a lot of the fun I was having while exploring. It does make it a lot more efficient though so I just have shifted my fun factor over to locating interesting objects, those with life or those that look cool.

Until next time ......

Fly Aimlessly!

Update on adventures.

I have been bouncing all over the map doing many different things. I have ran missions, bounty hunted at Nav Beacons-RES's and USS's. I have even started trying out trading which has been my driving motivator for the past few days.

I mentioned in a previous post that I was clearing the unexplored systems around Altair for a specific reason. That reason was to open up the system data as it helps me when I'm hunting for a trade opportunity. I know there are web sites out there that you can plug in data to get this info very quickly but for me that takes the fun out of it all. I like to grab pen-n-paper, search out the systems and figure out for myself where to find bargains and how the system works. Opening up the systems data allows you to check the economy on individual stations as well as letting you see if a station is far away from the Primary star. I usually skip missions that require me to fly to a station located far away from the Primary star.

I really suck at it but its a fun distraction and I'm getting better all the time. After a while you start to put the patterns in order and you can pretty much guarantee if you pick up commodity X and haul it to a particular economy system you will make a profit. For instance Ag Meds to an Agriculture system should always turn a profit. It may not be a awesome profit but if you are flying to a system anyway to check it out and know its an Agriculture system then load up on Ag Meds or Crop Harvesters.

I plan on writing up a post on how I go about trading and finding a system at some point. I just don't feel confident that I'm doing it in such a way that will make sense or be helpful to others. I would hate to write something up only to lead others down the wrong path.

My clearing of the systems around Altair led me in to an exploration trip as I am easily sidetracked. I started looking for a decent trade run and have now ended up around 130LY away from Altair. I cleared all the unexplored systems on the way with an Intermediate Discovery Scanner and a Detailed Surface Scanner. I know there were several systems where I did not find all the objects but that's not a huge concern as there are plenty more to scan.

I fit a Hauler for travel for the trip and I like it for the most part. I like the equipment layout on the Adder better but I can't quite get used to sitting "off center" in it. I briefly bought a Cobra and while I like the ships performance it suffers from the same "off center" seating arrangement. I know with time I could get used to it but the smaller ships are performing the tasks I need done at the moment. I have a Hauler outfit for scanning, and a hauler outfit for trading (I found a nice system where I make 1300/unit one way and 700/unit on the return trip).

I also just outfit another Sidewinder for combat, I know the Eagle or the Viper is a better ship overall but there is something about an upgraded Sidewinder that I really like. I like the way this little ship handles and I can fly it fairly well.

That's a fairly long winded post so I will cut it off with my tip for the day: Always check your Transaction Tab before you log out for the day, as soon as you don't you will fail that "fetch me some beer" mission you forgot you took earlier in the evening!

I apologise for the lack of screen shots and will make up for it in my next posting.

Until next time....

Fly Aimlessly!