I’ve been playing a lot of Elite: Dangerous the last few months, and the game’s sandbox nature has been perfect for my ADD. I’ve spent time hunting bounties, fighting in war zones between factions, trading across several systems, mining in asteroid belts and planetary rings, and most of all, exploring. Something about running out into the big black void that is interstellar space, seeing things (even simulated) that very likely nobody else has seen before, and getting pictures of it to tell the tale, is strangely appealing.
Also, jumping from planetary body to body leaves a lot of free time to catch up on Netflix/ Hulu/ Amazon between scans and jumps. Three cheers for multitasking!
For this trip, I decided to take my trusty Lakon Type 6, affectionately named the Wanderbus, out for one last exploration trip towards Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. It’s become a bit of a rite of passage for any traveler in game to make their pilgrimage there, and I guess it’s my turn.
I’d been doing a bit of mining in the T6, so the first order of business would be to turn her back into a viable exploration ship. Out come the heavy (and heavier duty) shields, and power distributor, switching everything possible over to “D” class modules, as they have the smallest mass (since less mass = greater jump range). Largest fuel scoop I can find/ afford within reason is installed in place of one of the cargo racks, and both the advanced and detailed surface scanners are installed. I’m keeping the refinery in place, since I may decide to sample some distant rocks out in the void if I get bored, and it’s not adding anything to the mass of the ship.
As an added note, one thing I added in, but forgot to get a screenshot of before I departed, is the best Auto Field-Maintenance Unit. While the danger from pirates, trolls, and other hostile player essentially drops to zero about 600 light years from the boundary of occupied space, there are plenty of other hazards out there- black holes, asteroid fields, ringed planets that are next to impossible to see, and if cryptic hints about future updates are any clue, stranger, more dangerous things will soon make their presence known as well.
Ship outfitted and ready to go, it’s time to plot a course. First thing is to get clear of occupied space as quickly as possible, so I plot a series of fast jumps out to the vicinity of the Pipe Stem Nebula (pay no attention the anime Princess- I swear, that’s how the galactic map looked when I pulled it up):
Oh, and before we leave, a note about mods. I’m using the Screen Shot Changer mod to change the pics from the standard bitmap format to a much easier to use png format. Very easy to get up and running, and so far it’s worked flawlessly. To keep track of where I’ve been and anything interesting I find in any systems I visit, I’m using Captain’s Log, a nice little logging tool that includes an overlay option, to be able to add and edit system details while you have the system map pulled open.
Finally, it’s time to bid farewell to the relative safety of occupied space (I’m hesitant to call it civilized, if the forums and Reddit are any indication of the residents):
Last view of a Coriolis for who knows how long. Let’s get this adventure started!
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