New Pilot!

[JonathanEngr]

Well, I must say that I'm getting excited about playing Evochron. I've always loved space sims, and after stumbling across this one it seems to have *everything* I've always wanted in such a game.

With that said, any good tips for getting started? I started through the training sessions but got interrupted, and plan to go back through them. I caught the tail end for new pilots about doing the races, cleaning solar cells and such, but where do I find these "missions"? I docked with the space station but didn't see a list of options for missions. It's probably right in font of my face!

Anyway, I look forward to participating in the forums!

[Blackthorne]

Another Visitor! Stay a while. Stay Forever! *cue manical laughter*

Welcome to the boards. As for a few starter tips...

- Earn some serious cash by mining asteroids and/or planets. Before you consider doing combat missions, pimp out your ship a little bit, especially in the shields department. Also, get a bigger frame.

- Get a grip on the controls. They're a bit awkward at first, with the newtonian flight model, but once you get the hang of it you can do interesting things with your ship.

- You will (probably) want the following items: a Class 5 Shield Booster, a cannon relay system, a tractor beam and a Class 5 Fulcrum Drive, probably also a Class 3 Repair System.

You can obtain those without even leaving Sapphire by shopping smart and (ab)using the Erato Constructor station.


As for the missions: When you are docked at a station or planetary city, you can access your inventory screen via F3 (it comes up by default, anyways). There is a "Available Contracts/Items for Sale" button/toggle in the lower left corner. Just click it, the contracts available will be displayed. Take your pick and head out there.

Take note that the Sapphire System offers no combat missions. If you want to try those, I suggest heading over to Olympus, since the missions there are rather easy (take that with a grain of salt, however...I've been around for a while - most first timers tend to feel more along the lines of "AAAARG! Macross Missile Massacre!!! Geddemoffmeeeeeee!!!).

Also, drop by the multiplayer servers. Plenty of helpful guys around there, most of the time.

-Blackthorne

[warsign]

First, read instructions well and If possible, join MP. Any question, don't hasitate to ask. Our forum is very helpful indeed.

In Evochron, learning process never ends

Welcome home.

[BraveHart]

"Welcome aboard JonathanEngr".....There are some great pilots online in MP and they are willing to answer your questions. Olympus system is a good place to cut your teeth in Combat when you are ready.

"Good Flying to You"

[Marvin]

Originally posted by Blackthorne

Geddemoffmeeeeeee!!!

Sometimes, that pretty much sums it up.

[warsign]

LOL Marvin. :P:P:P

[49rTbird]

Hello JonathanEngr, Welcome to the forum and the Sim. See you out there sometime.

[Maarschalk]

Hi JonathanEngr, Welcome to the game and forum hope to see some...

Originally posted by Blackthorne
"AAAARG! Macross Missile Massacre!!! Geddemoffmeeeeeee!!!)"
-Blackthorne

....from you out there...LOL....:P:P:P:P

[JonathanEngr]

Thanks for the replies! I would have replied sooner but have been, errrrrrrrr, playing the game! I finally figured out the mission deal, although some of them aren't very clear. I'm up making a few bucks, and have mainly been playing with the ship physics and trying to get a handle on controls. I *definitely* need a gaming mouse... mine is much too low in resolution. As for missions--I really wish you could sign up for several missions at once as opposed to getting one, launching, completing it and having to dock again. Each time I warp closer and closer to the plant to speed things up, have crashed a few times and even burnt up in the atmosphere from using my afterburners to land. Ugh.

Warsign: As for reading the instructions, you must be kin to my wife. I'll sit and fiddle with something for hours, break it a couple of times and finally get it put together. The whole time she'll stand over me, roll her eyes, hit me on the head with a cast iron frying pan and finally pull her hair out repeating over and over, "PLEASE read the instructions!" I'll grin from ear to ear and my "success" for days! Pretty sad way to get cheap thrills, but oh well. BUT... I'll probably break it out at some point to grab a few hints and tricks.

Thanks again for writing everyone. Nothing makes a game more appealing than an active community. See you out there!

[JonathanEngr]

Okay--one question. When mining, why can I mine 5 metals but only two diamonds (before it says my cargo cannot hold anything else)?

[warsign]

Originally posted by JonathanEngr
Okay--one question. When mining, why can I mine 5 metals but only two diamonds (before it says my cargo cannot hold anything else)?

She knows, better you believe in her

Jettison metals(because it is cheapest), grab diamonds and plats...

f3 shows your cargo bays, click on them for jettison.

[Blackthorne]

Originally posted by JonathanEngr
As for missions--I really wish you could sign up for several missions at once as opposed to getting one, launching, completing it and having to dock again. Each time I warp closer and closer to the plant to speed things up, have crashed a few times and even burnt up in the atmosphere from using my afterburners to land. Ugh.

Well, you can jump comfortably close to a space station by right-clicking it's symbol on the nav screen. In about 75% of the cases, you'll pop out of hyperspace at just the right height and angle to instantly dock.

Planetary cities, while they do offer missions, however are a pain the the afterburners to commute to - unless you want to grab some gold, silver, biological units or water/oxygen while you're in the area, I can't recommend going there.

But since I'm a nice guy, I'll tell you the secret of rapidly making planetfall...

1. Head towards the planet. Make sure to boost all your energy to the shields. Also, make sure you have decent shields and shield boosters in the first place.

2. Turn off the IDS and use the afterburner until your speed maxes out. Try to aim for a city while doing so.

3. Turn the ship so that the belly faces the planet surface. The "stars" you see should be passing straight up by then.

4. (Optional) If you're the religious type, now would be a good time to pray. If not, some appropriate battlecry is in order. Favorites include "For Great Justice!", "Geronimooo!", "Science!!!" and "Squeeeee!!!!".
I prefer "I am like lightning, and down I must go!", with extra cheese.

5. You should decelerate rather rapidly and reach the planet surface just a little short of leaving an impact crater. Turn the IDS back on and head to the city's docking tower.

-Blackthorne


[Edited on 2-3-2010 by Blackthorne]

[Marvin]

Joystick probably works better than a mouse. Space stations offer the same contracts as planetside cities and make for easier docking ... just set your ship's attitude to "level" (on the horizon), lock on to the desired station, and jump (intertial off). You'll glide right up to the front door.

[Oldfenster]

Welcome to the game.

I just started out myself and i've been getting my cash by selling equipment in Olympus.

Started out small with Metal Vapor Lasers and eventually started to sell Fuel Converters.
You buy those around 600K and sell them between 1.8 -2.1 mil.

I'll be damned if ppl catch me mining. I never did and never will

Currently im doing combat missions but those can be tricky as your targets never seem to run out of missiles and every now and then i get blown to pieces by those missiles.
Havent found the right tactic just yet but you can shoot them missiles, so that saves on the countermeasures!

Enjoy and goodluck

Oldfenster
TBH

[Marvin]

Originally posted by Oldfenster

I'll be damned if ppl catch me mining. I never did and never will

Find a planet where precious metals sell at a high rate ... then plop down in an empty field (without vegetation or water) close by a city and mine for silver, gold, diamonds and plantinum. Sell at the city ... then repeat until the planet is glutted.

Havent found the right tactic just yet but you can shoot them missiles, so that saves on the countermeasures!

Countermeasures come free with every fill-up (or even just a crummy 100 units) of fuel.

[Oldfenster]

origineel gepost door Marvin
Countermeasures come free with every fill-up (or even just a crummy 100 units) of fuel.

Yeah, but with a limited supply of 99 and with 4-7 missiles per target, you run out of them quite fast if u got 6-8 targets chasing ur tail.

For now i'll just have them missile spam me when i make a flyby and even trying to get some shots of.
After a few times, ill kill them off one by one.

Sometimes it works, sometimes i'll get trashed

Oldfenster
TBH

[Blackthorne]

Mh, usually those 100 are rather plentyful...

Since you're fighting the AI, here's a tip:

AI fighters can't properly handle lateral velocity. They are however more than capable of ripping you to shreds if you approach slow enough for them to actually hit you.

So, when approaching the target of your choice, turn of the IDS, use your maneuvering thrusters to move sideways, and learn to shoot down missiles. Once you're under 500 klicks, you can use your cannons for their intended purpose of putting holes in things. Toss a few countermeasures out for goods measure.

If you find combat too hard, you might want to invest in an excalibur missile system. Those have an unlimited supply of low-powered missiles that are launched in packs of eight.

And now for a sponsored commercial:

Excalibur - Instant Macross Missile Massacre in a can, for when the MFs absolutely, positively have to die yesterday.*

* = Totally worthless against other players, as they barely dent the higher-class shields. But hey, they shred anything smaller than a vonari bomber to pieces, and if you're up against tissue paper fighters they might send more than one ship to the great scrapyard in the dark.


Missiles vary from "Oh, I think something just bounced off the shields..." to "That was a Class 10 shield and three quarters of my hull...OMGWTFBBQ, what do you mean 'here comes another one' ". Cannons tend to be slightly more forgiving. When in doubt, hit the afterburners, throw CM like there's no tomorrow and then turn around to shoot any missiles still on your tail. They're nasty, and the vonari (the friendly local genocidal murderous aliens you need to kill to get your hands on delicious cake...err, military ships) tend to fire the "dude, where's my hull?" variety in copious amounts.

-Blackthorne, Veteran of the Psychic Wars.

[Maarschalk]

ROFL......:P:P:P:P..........Excaliburs can still put a hole in a class 10 shield but you have to be a very experienced pilot and know your stuff to do this.....

[JonathanEngr]

LOL! Love the descriptions. Well, as far as combat goes, I'm getting my rear handed to me by every kindergartener out there with a ship. I reeeeally need to get up to speed on combat. Right now I'm just exploring the game and having a ton of fun at it. I'm up to a class IV hull (can't remember the name), and have mined and mined. I've got about 1,000,000 credits I use for fuel, and just keep jumping from here to there. I jumped into one system with about 20 red blips, and in (literally) 5 seconds I was dead... fun!!!

Okay--one quick question about item location. I hired a science ops guy with a rating of 87, and he jabbers constantly. When we enter a new system he'll say "container at heading 227 attitude -5" (I'm not sure if "attitude" is the words he uses... my text box disappeared). Does this mean I point my compass up top as close to 227 as I can, and adjust my attitude (goes from -90 to 90) on the HUD to -5 and just go? I did as he said and have been flying for 10 mins in the middle of nowhere and haven't found a thing.

[Blackthorne]

Okay--one quick question about item location. I hired a science ops guy with a rating of 87, and he jabbers constantly. When we enter a new system he'll say "container at heading 227 attitude -5" (I'm not sure if "attitude" is the words he uses... my text box disappeared). Does this mean I point my compass up top as close to 227 as I can, and adjust my attitude (goes from -90 to 90) on the HUD to -5 and just go? I did as he said and have been flying for 10 mins in the middle of nowhere and haven't found a thing.

Yeah, that's the basic idea behind it. However, the containers in question are rather small, and space is big. Keep an eye on your radar, the boxes usually show up as blips, making it easier to correct the course. I believe if you molest the forum's search function a little bit, there's even a way described to exactly triangulate the containers position.

Since you're into digging, the science dude also increases your mining speed. Very nifty, if you're into playing asteroids.

Then again, get a cargo scanner and a decent set of guns and MAKE a few drifting containers full of goodies to scoop up. You'll learn a thing or three about combat, it's good for your wallet, you get to pick your fights and the ravishing of hapless trading ships is very calming and relaxing, almost like zen meditation.*

*= This message was brought to you by the Association of Robbing Rumbunctious Rebel Rapscallions, aka ARRRR!

-Blackthorne, card-carrying member.

[Maarschalk]

attiude of -5 is your pitch ladder setting.....and yes there are many different ways to locate lost containers, on is by visually remembering the first heading and pitch direction and jump out of the sector and jumpback in at different location and check heading and pitch again and then fly to the intersection of those two and watch for a purplish blip on your radar.....

[Sinbad]

Yes, finding hidden containers can be quite tricky especially if you have a lousy science officer. For me attitude -5 means my science officer is being flippant and deserves to be shoved into the airlock.

[Maarschalk]

LOL......:P:P:P:P

[Oldfenster]

origineel gepost door Blackthorne
Mh, usually those 100 are rather plentyful...

Since you're fighting the AI, here's a tip:

AI fighters can't properly handle lateral velocity. They are however more than capable of ripping you to shreds if you approach slow enough for them to actually hit you.

So, when approaching the target of your choice, turn of the IDS, use your maneuvering thrusters to move sideways, and learn to shoot down missiles. Once you're under 500 klicks, you can use your cannons for their intended purpose of putting holes in things. Toss a few countermeasures out for goods measure.

I kinda did that stuff but im not using horizontal or vertical trust atm as my current stick doesnt allow me to set it up.
Im thinking of using the x45 ( wich i find very inaccurate when it comes to accurate aiming at a target ) as presice aim in EL isnt needed.

No longer i would need afterburners and could use a circling manoeuvre with either horizontal or vertical thrust. Although these thrusters might not be powerfull enough. I'd have to test that a bit

If you have more suggestions, im all ears!

Oldfenster
TBH

[Blackthorne]

No longer i would need afterburners and could use a circling manoeuvre with either horizontal or vertical thrust. Although these thrusters might not be powerfull enough. I'd have to test that a bit

Won't work. The maneuvering thrusters are rather weak, whereas the afterburner gets things moving. Also, having a full cargo hold slows you down even further, as is using one of the "higher class" hulls - they're heavy, and thus slow.

My usual tactic against the AI is to approach it with about 1500-2000 m/s drift while going full burn (4000 m/s+) at them. Their guns are unlikely to hit you that way, and the missiles can be disposed off with a few particle blasts.

Given a powerful enough gun, you can usually fry whatever you target with a single approach, unless you're engaging vonari or extra-heavy frames. In this case, turn around and burn after them, but keep the drift - the AI is pretty competent at hitting you if you approach in a straight line.


Basically, IDS is a no-go in combat situations, since you'll be too slow and too easy to hit. It's only useful to stop drifting in case you've lost orientation and/or control.

Admittingly, I'm a mouse/keyboard flyer. My left hand controls afterburner, lateral thrusters and roll, while I aim and reorient the ship with the mouse. You should be able to map those controls to any semidecent joystick with a coolie-hat and a throttle.

There is a little blue square on your HUD that shows in which direction you are going. Keep an eye on that one, it's rather helpful in keeping your orientation. Also, there are 2 indicators for horizontal/vertical drift, those show you how fast you're going in a particular direction.

To cut a long story short: Head out to Olympus and try a few combat missions - you usually face only 4 enemy craft, and they're most likely to use the weaker hull types.

Set the Navpoint manually a bit further out, that way you don't end up on top of the bastards. Turn off the IDS.
Approach them by using the afterburners, fire the lateral thrusters until you've built up some speed and try to take out one or two with missiles while you're closing in. Your ship acts like a turret with the IDS off, so just swivel as you pass by and keep firing. Once you've passed them, turn around, fire the afterburners again untill you approach them once more. Repeat until you run out of reds.

It's not rocket science - actually, it is, but the main trick is moving fast while avoiding to become disoriented. Plenty of practice makes perfect.

-Blackthorne