Traveling without warp gates?

[InterFaced]

I've put in a bunch of hours over the weekend, and I'm absolutely loving the game. I'm confused about one aspect of Evochron, Here's a quote from the features page:

Everything you do in the game takes place in a seamless universe without system 'walls' or 'rooms' that require a jumpgate 'door' to access. There are no required warp gates or trade lanes to restrict your travel and hold you back. You can travel anywhere you want, with or without jump drives and gates, as long as you have the fuel and time to get there.

So say I'm in Saphire, and I want to get to one of the gate-linked systems without the benefit of a jump gate? Do I simply fly to the edge of the sector? I take it there are many other sectors in between Saphire and one of the gate linked sectors right? Is there an easy way not to get lost?

Its one of those things I can't really test myself yet because of my nooby fulcrum drive and pitiful fuel reserves.

Can anyone explain to me exactly how all this works, and any tips that might be useful?

[verbosity]

Originally posted by InterFaced
So say I'm in Saphire, and I want to get to one of the gate-linked systems without the benefit of a jump gate? Do I simply fly to the edge of the sector?

fly to the edge of a sector and keep going and you'll be in the next sector along the game is completly seamless

I take it there are many other sectors in between Saphire and one of the gate linked sectors right? Is there an easy way not to get lost?

many, usually hundreds.
an easy way to not get lost is to records the setor coords you want from the quadrent map, set that as your destination position turn toward the nav point you have set and hit alt+f2, this will take you the maximium distance your fulcrum drive can take you, usefull for long journies, but recheck by repeating every so often. Make sure you stay at a pitch of 0 though, almost all the systems are on the galactic plain.

Can anyone explain to me exactly how all this works, and any tips that might be useful?

follow the steps above, and keep rechecking that youre going in the right direction, use the quadrent map to get an idea of where you are and where you want to go. this is a skill you will need to have it you want to complete the beacon quest, and once you get the hang of this you'll be in a fine position to find some of the uncharted systems.

[Edited on 2-9-2009 by verbosity]

[InterFaced]

Thanks!, that's very helpful. That aspect of Evochron is one of the coolest things about the game, but its not very apparent to new players.

So my next question. Is there any way to set a waypoint to a far off system using the quadrant map? (without already having bookmarked it)

[Edited on 2-9-2009 by InterFaced]

[verbosity]

yeah on your nav screen at the top right are 6 boxes, 3 for in-sector cords, 3 for sector coords, you can stick any number you want in there, just remember there is a lot of empty space out there, but in theory you could enter
sx2000000
sy2000000
sz2000000
pretty vast eh?
( the game universe is actually only a fraction of that, but its still around 20,000x20,000 sectors in size )

bear in mind, that you need to point toward the nav point and keep on using alt+f2.

alt+f2 reassigns the nav to the farthest point you can jump to, but if you don't turn, you can do this a few times in a row

( my max is 500 sectors only going 10 sectors off course)

[Cougar_DK]

Thanks for the Alt+F2 tip, verbosity!

[InterFaced]

Okay next questions

- Can you get the coords for important sectors from the quadrant map? (I'd check this out myself but I'm at work) heh

-Lets say I want to just go explore a bit, is there a way to view neighboring sectors in the nav map? I 've tried right clicking on the edge and of the map but nothing happened... do I just need better sensors?

Thanks again verbosity, you've already cleared up alot for me.

[Edited on 2-9-2009 by InterFaced]

[Edited on 2-9-2009 by InterFaced]

[verbosity]

yes the quadrent map gives you coords for all the charted systems.

your ship has limited sensors, its been expanded in legends ( range used to be abot 3 sectors), but they still only have a limited range, partly this is to make exploring a bit more of a challenge, also once you have a mantis drive, you'll be able to jump farther than you can see - which adds a little risk for the trade off or being able to explore farther,quicker.

you'll find since the universe is soo vast, often 'hidden items can be in the range of 100 sectors away, but often in one direction ( left right up down, sometimes in diagonals), so if you want to explore, choose a heading (0,45,90,135,180,225,270,315) and head off in that direction for a few jumps.

I usually keep my nav open at the lowest 'zoom' to see more.

Some pilots prefer a 'circular' search pattern, I find this too easy to get lost, but I have found it usefull on occasion ( finding pluto for instance)

[tha_rami]

Also, to point your ship at a location, use ALT+F. It'll launch autopilot and point your ship at your navigation point. Then, turn it off and start jumping.