Mining for money?

Darthey · Post by **Darthey** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:52 pm

Hey guys,

Picked up the demo after it was previewed on RPS. I've found it quite hard to get into, despite being familiar with the genre. Spent the length of the demo trying to figure out how to play it, didn't actually get round to any combat (which is meant to be quite good?).

Found some weird sort of bug when doing solar panel missions...I go to the location, polish it all up with my tractor-laser-thing, but nothing happens. Did the whole thing again, even tried doing the other side, but no 'mission complete'. If I try leaving the area I get a mission failed. What's up with that?

This seems like the sort of thing I could really sink my teeth into, the level of detail and planetary physics being an awesome touch, but the thing that makes me hesitate to part with cash is the clunky user interface.

The navigation map is probably the worse offender here (and I see there's already a thread on that), but there are a few other issues that bug me.

The missions don't come with any coordinates and very little information (plus I spent half an hour trying to figure out where the mission log was). I had to cancel a few when I messed up transit, and restart.

Not being able to target objects or space stations directly just doesn't feel right (and a waste of screen space; I don't care what inter-system traffic is about when I'm trying to dock with a space station).

If there's a way to turn off the cockpit graphics I couldn't find it, but it would be a nice feature.

The only other thing was the training missions, which I dutifully sat though but were so 'wall of text' in places I couldn't keep up; "I press what key to do what now?". Wasted a lot of the demo trying to figure different things out. I think a newbie tool-clip would be a nice feature to help remind players of what different things do and get them orientated.

verbosity · Post by **verbosity** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 5:19 pm

Originally posted by Darthey
I've found it quite hard to get into, despite being familiar with the genre. Spent the length of the demo trying to figure out how to play it, didn't actually get round to any combat (which is meant to be quite good?).

yeah its kinda of intensive at first, though its worth it, combat is pretty good, you could have just shot a nearby 'green' to find out

Found some weird sort of bug when doing solar panel missions...I go to the location, polish it all up with my tractor-laser-thing, but nothing happens.

if you are to quick you might miss a speck on a panel, even if it looks clean, sometimes this forces you to re-do the whole thing.

Did the whole thing again, even tried doing the other side, but no 'mission complete'. If I try leaving the area I get a mission failed. What's up with that?

contracts are sector specific, if you leave the sector its assumed you've just abandoned the contract.

The missions don't come with any coordinates and very little information

once you accept a contract your nav point is set to there, and there is also a green marker that will appear to show this

Not being able to target objects or space stations directly just doesn't feel right (and a waste of screen space; I don't care what inter-system traffic is about when I'm trying to dock with a space station).

this is delibrate, you can 'target' these things with your nav marker. This is useful later on in the game when you will also need to be aware of other ships at the same time.

If there's a way to turn off the cockpit graphics I couldn't find it, but it would be a nice feature.

you can turn the cockpit off in the options menu of the game, also you can turn your hud off using the 'h' key.

It can take a while to get used to the game, and yes the training is quite full on, but it has a lot of information to deliever. Have a read of the manual to get the hang of some of it, and skip past the training areas you think you understand.

with the demo, once the training area has went through the lessons you can fly about in the training area without time restraint, allowing you to learn the controls at your own pace.

If you've run out of time on your Demo ( which it seems like you have) uninstall, delete the sw3dg folder then reinstall, you'll get your 90 minutes back.

[Edited on 2-10-2009 by verbosity]

Post by **Vice** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 5:51 pm

Found some weird sort of bug when doing solar panel missions...I go to the location, polish it all up with my tractor-laser-thing, but nothing happens. Did the whole thing again, even tried doing the other side, but no 'mission complete'. If I try leaving the area I get a mission failed. What's up with that?

You didn't clean all of them completely. That is a contract which can penalize you if you try to rush through it. Just keep panning the beam over the solar cells until the contract is complete. Those with a sharp eye can often spot which remaining tile(s) is/are still dirty.

The missions don't come with any coordinates and very little information (plus I spent half an hour trying to figure out where the mission log was). I had to cancel a few when I messed up transit, and restart.

The missions have coordinates seamlessly built into them. All contracts are local for the sector you are in. Once you accept a contract, the data is imported into your navigation system, setting the nav marker and a waypoint marker to the location you need to go.

Not being able to target objects or space stations directly just doesn't feel right (and a waste of screen space; I don't care what inter-system traffic is about when I'm trying to dock with a space station).

In this game, you can track both types of objects simultaneously with different systems designed to give you the information you need for each type, rather than having to give up tracking one or the other. For non-ship objects, you can't trade with them with the trade console, they don't move, they don't change their orientation, you can't harm them, and they don't shoot you. The only real information you need for them is their location and distance, which is provided for you buy the navigation tracking system (along with your 3D radar and HUD). Not having to give up tracking ships while simultaneously tracking other objects will become much more important the further you get into the game.

If there's a way to turn off the cockpit graphics I couldn't find it, but it would be a nice feature.

Click on the '3D Cockpit' line in the Options menu until it reads 'Off'.

The only other thing was the training missions, which I dutifully sat though but were so 'wall of text' in places I couldn't keep up; "I press what key to do what now?". Wasted a lot of the demo trying to figure different things out. I think a newbie tool-clip would be a nice feature to help remind players of what different things do and get them orientated.

Here are some keys to help manage the training:

- Numpad * = Remove all message text
- Numpad / = Remove one line of message text
- Alt Numpad / = Recall one line of message text (in case you miss something you want to read later)
- Enter = Advance to the next training stage
- Alt Enter = Recall the last training stage

Using these options lets you proceed through the training stages at your own pace.

spelk · Post by **spelk** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:08 pm

I thought the Window cleaning missions were quite amusing to begin with, never seen this sort of thing in a space sim that I can remember. They are a bit obsessive compulsive, because even though you methodically follow the panels, with your tractor beam, you can often leave one or two panels that haven't been totally cleaned. So it pays to take the beam through the panels slowly just to make sure.. on occasions I didn't get the mission complete statement, then I had to do another sweep.

With a lot of the starting missions, panel cleaning, asteroid clearance, commodity dropoff, item searching the payout doesn't seem commensurate with the amount of time each activity takes, which sort of leans me towards finding the most lucrative and speedy endeavour - which at the moment is commodity dropoff. It's nice to have the other pursuits available, but since the impetus is on collecting money to get equipment, time is money (so to speak) and thus the time taken to clear an asteroid field or to meticulously clean solar panels isn't balanced financially with the amount of commodity drops I can get done and collect more money. I wonder if these other pursuits should be awarded more financial rewards or other benefits (and perhaps they are rewarded with more faction reputation - I don't know). Just a thought.

@Darthey, the game has so much key information for the new pilot to know about, that your tutorial introduction can seem overwhelming, my tutorial was made much better when I could just sit back and listen to the spoken tutorial whilst concentrating on the HUD, rather than be torn between with the "wall of text" and monitoring the effects on the HUD display. Perservere with it though, because the IDS system and the use of Inertial travel can be key to you saving expenditure on fuel and also take a part in combat. I feel the interface system (Nav, Inventory, Trading) does feel crammed at first, but as you play the game you'll realise that everything has a mode of use, and its simply getting used to how to proceed. In fact a lot of the functionality of the Interfaces seem totally geared to real world things you'll want to do and do often. eg. right clicking on stations to set Nav points, and warping there, and sailing straight into dock without a lot of lining up and flying.

The game is a sandpit, and to be able to make sand castles and throw sand in the baddies faces properly, you'll need to learn, experiment with and use the bucket and spade tools that have been made available. I hope you give it another try and delve deeper into what the game has to offer.

PingBosun · Post by **PingBosun** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 8:05 pm

Have you tried mining the 'roids before blowing them up?

More easy mony to start off with, especially if you get lots of Platinum and diamonds, easy to do if you ditch the metals as they are added to your cargo bays. This is because you cannot mix commodities in the same cargo container. So once one container is full with Plat, then it will simply add to the next.

Rotating the ship so that the beam is constantly moving over the surface of the 'roid also speeds up mining!

Star King · Post by **Star King** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 8:18 pm

After you mine the roid with your tractor beam and it goes into your cargo bay where and who do you sell the ores too? How do you empty the ore and get paid?

WeirdWill · Post by **WeirdWill** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 8:24 pm

Dock with a station and sell the ores with leftclick on the cargobay in the inventory menu.

spelk · Post by **spelk** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 8:43 pm

@Ping, yes I began by mining them, then blasting them, but that could take a lot of time, and the pay for zapping 20 roids, didn't match up against the pay out for a simple drop off mission.

Seems like mining planetary resources is also more lucrative and a lot easier than flying round some roids. I can flit between planet city and land the craft on the ground, and then mine the resources there, without any fuel expenditure. Quick burst to get back to the city, sell, and turn around, freefall to the ground and begin the mining again. Plus you can leave your tractor beam on and rake in the Oxygen whilst in transit and docked in station, so a bit more cash (handy tip from Blackthorne).

Another tip (from Vice) is to leave a unit of resource in the cargo bay to dedicate it prior to mining, if you know specifically the types you want. Personally speaking I've been a 5 cargo bay hoover, with Oxyg in one, and Diamond, Plat, Gold and Silver in the others.

krayzkrok · Post by **krayzkrok** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:44 am

I also failed the solar panel cleaning the first time, and I think a little hint in the mission description that those panels have to be spotless for payment would be enough of a clue that you must be thorough. A lot of these early "what the hell" problems could be fixed with just a little extra onscreen information. I know a lot of this stuff is in the manual, but most people are unlikely to read through all that if they're just trying the demo for the first time.

warsign · Post by **warsign** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 7:47 am

Mining has better income.
With 5 cargo bays, you can earn lots of money.
I like mining in the deep space.

BraveHart · Post by **BraveHart** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:08 am

I remember when I 1st played ER....ha-ha-ha I did my fair share of new guy mistakes, but I loved the Game for it's unique challenges and I played off line in SP for 30 days I think before I went online. And yes getting that solar panel squeaky clean was fun....I too thought I had it clean, but I went back and did it over and saw a slight tint over one panel and Poof...instant pay. When you finally get a good hang of the game, especially flying, you will feel up with pride of accomplishment

"Good Flying"

Darthey · Post by **Darthey** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 3:30 pm

Thanks for the tips guys. Will probably end up buying this over the weekend (time permitting).

Something still bugs me though. I clearly missed some speck on those solar panels...yet I repeated that mission three times, and each time I didn't give up until I was sure I'd plastered the whole thing with my tractor beam and was sure I couldn't see anything amiss.

A few months back I took one of those eye-sight tests for differentiating colour shades and got full marks, so I know its not my eye-sight at fault. It just feels as if the game should make it a bit more obvious which panel is left to finish. Once the novelty of being an inter-galactic window cleaner wares off, having to hunt for that last speck introduces an element of tedium (which is never good).

And I still think the tool-clips would be a good improvement. Even getting rid of the wall of text in the training missions doesn't change the fact that there's a lot to take in for the new player...and people only retain a portion of what they listen to or read in their memories. Tool-clips to jog the memory while a new player gets himself orientated would be very helpful.

Zenith · Post by **Zenith** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 3:38 pm

I've had the same problem Darthey, but I usually find the offending pane and complete the contract. Depending on the light in the particular sector, it can be hard to see.

Just give it another go, take it slowly and don't be afraid to redo the whole thing again, there's nearly always one pane that remains, for whatever reason, to be done.

ShaggyMoose · Post by **ShaggyMoose** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:33 am

Originally posted by Darthey
Something still bugs me though. I clearly missed some speck on those solar panels...yet I repeated that mission three times, and each time I didn't give up until I was sure I'd plastered the whole thing with my tractor beam and was sure I couldn't see anything amiss.

I always end up having to go back over the whole array before I get the "mission complete" message.

A few months back I took one of those eye-sight tests for differentiating colour shades and got full marks, so I know its not my eye-sight at fault.

Because of the reflections of any nearby suns, its difficult to tell whether a panel is dirty or just reflecting the light. Its easier just to slowly go over the whole thing again. Especially on the edges, I notice you have to put your crosshair actually a little outside the panel to get the tractor beam to clean it.

[Edited on 12-2-2009 by ShaggyMoose]