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[Wreav]

Just being able to look down and watch my hands on the stick is amazing.

They modeled the in game throttle and stick after the X52...it's insane when you're using an X52 how it FEELS like you're in the game. They even animated the hand hitting the correct buttons.

I only got to borrow a Rift for a weekend, but I still think ED was a transformation gaming experience with it.

 

[moggio]

You've got to be shitting me, I took a few hauling missions after the 2.02 update and got disconnected from the server. Now when I log back in I have unremovable cargo and nothing in the transactions menu.

Happened to me a couple of times but is resolved if you log in and out. Seems to be a problem with the unreliable servers today.

 

[Sinatar]

So I got the preorder (no beta, but some combat training apparently?) and hooked up my Rift and my dusty ass Logitech stick that Id had used all of twice, and hooooooly shit is this awesome.

Cannot wait for the full game. Just being able to look down and watch my hands on the stick is amazing.

It's cooler if you have an X-52 pro as the stick they modeled for the game is the x-52, so the in game hand motions will match your own down to the button.

 

[Astral/H3X]

They modeled the in game throttle and stick after the X52...it's insane when you're using an X52 how it FEELS like you're in the game. They even animated the hand hitting the correct buttons.

I only got to borrow a Rift for a weekend, but I still think ED was a transformation gaming experience with it.

I've got a Razer Orbweaver as my left hand, and noticed the little handpad in the cockpit. What'll be AMAZING is if you could map "this keyboard button is this cockpit button", and have that mapped out.

Is there a cheap way to add a throttle to my existing flightstick?

 

[Wreav]

Haven't ever seen a "cheap" standalone flightstick, you're better off getting the Thrustmaster X if you want a cheap HOTAS.

 

[SummitAve]

I've got a Razer Orbweaver as my left hand, and noticed the little handpad in the cockpit. What'll be AMAZING is if you could map "this keyboard button is this cockpit button", and have that mapped out.

Is there a cheap way to add a throttle to my existing flightstick?

I'm in the same boat. Been looking for a reasonably priced throttle to use with my thrustmaster t16000m

 

[Astral/H3X]

The Thristmaster X looks... Cramped. Although I've just noticed there's a cheaper version of the X52... Might maybe think about that one.

 

[Wreav]

The Pro version of the 52 isn't that much more, and the materials are MUCH more durable. If you're thinking HOTAS, can't really recommend the 52 pro enough.

 

[metalhead79]

The Thristmaster X looks... Cramped. Although I've just noticed there's a cheaper version of the X52... Might maybe think about that one.

According to the Thrustmaster website the throttle is detachable.

 

[Sikamikanico]

The Thristmaster X looks... Cramped. Although I've just noticed there's a cheaper version of the X52... Might maybe think about that one.

It comes apart. It's not a bad for a first HOTAS.

Just bought my dad the X55 Rhino for his 60th...I'm a little jealous.

 

[Anton Sugar]

The Thristmaster X looks... Cramped. Although I've just noticed there's a cheaper version of the X52... Might maybe think about that one.

You can detach the two different components.

 

[Astral/H3X]

According to the Thrustmaster website the throttle is detachable.

It comes apart. It's not a bad for a first HOTAS.

Just bought my dad the X55 Rhino for his 60th...I'm a little jealous.

You can detach the two different components.

That changes everything. I take it it wont have quite enough buttons on its own though, will it? Looks kind of sparse from the picture.
I may just go for the X52. Which will be at least next week before I do.

 

[Anton Sugar]

That changes everything. I take it it wont have quite enough buttons on its own though, will it? Looks kind of sparse from the picture.
I may just go for the X52. Which will be at least next week before I do.

It has quite a few buttons, but I'm too much of a noob to know if it's more or less than normal. FYI, Isinona, an amazing ED player, uses a Thrustmaster.

Watch this clip, ESPECIALLY the second half.

 

[Wreav]

Keep in mind you can use a button as a modifier button in Elite, so that nearly doubles your available buttons on the X.

 

[Astral/H3X]

Oh! I see the buttons on the back of the throttle now. Hrm. Alright. Is it considered a good quality stick? Mainly concerned about stick play, dont want it wobbling or any of that nonsense, and don't want it way too tense. Other than that, looks fantastic now that I know a bit more about it.

One thing I'm noticing about my Extreme 3D is that I have issues with it sliding around. Short of nailing it to my desk, what's the best way around this? Command strips with Velcro?

EDIT: As far as learning how to play the game goes, does the game do a good job of teaching you in-game? Or should I really be watching some videos? Because watching that video just posted I really don't know too much about what's going on.

 

[Gen X]

If you bought the game then you can download it now and play it.

I paid for the Mercenary Edition a few weeks ago. I can play the Combat Training but they haven't let me d/l the whole game already have they For when it unlocks on Tues?

 

[Mengy]

I paid for the Mercenary Edition a few weeks ago. I can play the Combat Training but they haven't let me d/l the whole game already have they For when it unlocks on Tues?

I don't think us Merc Ed owners have the full game yet. My install is taking up 1.56 GB of space. Seems kind of small to me, but maybe it is?

 

[Astral/H3X]

Saw an X52 for $60, and got that instead. Ah well, if I feel I need the pro I suppose I'll go to it later.

 

[Sinatar]

I paid for the Mercenary Edition a few weeks ago. I can play the Combat Training but they haven't let me d/l the whole game already have they For when it unlocks on Tues?

I don't think us Merc Ed owners have the full game yet. My install is taking up 1.56 GB of space. Seems kind of small to me, but maybe it is?

Guess not, my ED folder is 3.5 GB.

 

[AJLma]

Gamma 2.0 seems a lot smoother to play as a whole. Supercruise seems to have been reworked, you can adjust your speed much faster than before, which is great because I was really getting sick of exploring in SC.

The SC transition is also much less jarring.

 

[flyinpiranha]

So annoyed. We had a wind storm here and power went out when I got home and came back on sometime during the night. The night before I finally got all situated and was digging in .. hope to play some tonight.

And while I do have a DK2, this is just a better experience for me personally at this time:

I still mess around in the DK2 and will probably go back to it once I really get the controls and stuff down, but I still find myself having to look at the buttons for stuff on the X55 at times and that would cause issues with the DK2 on.

 

[Sinatar]

So annoyed. We had a wind storm here and power went out when I got home and came back on sometime during the night. The night before I finally got all situated and was digging in .. hope to play some tonight.

And while I do have a DK2, this is just a better experience for me personally at this time:


I still mess around in the DK2 and will probably go back to it once I really get the controls and stuff down, but I still find myself having to look at the buttons for stuff on the X55 at times and that would cause issues with the DK2 on.

Get Voice Attack and bind the non essential stuff to voice commands. Works great.

 

[Wreav]

FD finally responded about the decal bug. Long story short, DON'T APPLY DECALS YET.

Hello Commanders!

UPDATE: if your ship already has a decal applied and you can still access your save, you should be fine to leave it - it's the act of applying a decal that causes the bug to strike.

We've uncovered a bug that will make your save inaccessible if you apply a decal.

Your save isn't lost, but you won't be able to access it (and thus play the game).

We're working on a fix that should go out either later today or tomorrow. So if you have found yourself in the situation where you can't load your game, hold fast; we will fix all affected saves when we fix the bug.

And until we confirm the fix has gone live, please avoid applying decals.

Thanks for bearing with us!

 

[Astral/H3X]

Isn't all the non essential stuff in menus anyway? That was the impression I got from the combat tutorials anyway, looked like all the lights/landing gear stuff was available in there.

 

[FlyinJ]

Does the X52 Pro have a twisting flight stick so you can map rudders/yaw to that axis?

 

[Thanati]

So annoyed. We had a wind storm here and power went out when I got home and came back on sometime during the night. The night before I finally got all situated and was digging in .. hope to play some tonight.

And while I do have a DK2, this is just a better experience for me personally at this time:


I still mess around in the DK2 and will probably go back to it once I really get the controls and stuff down, but I still find myself having to look at the buttons for stuff on the X55 at times and that would cause issues with the DK2 on.

What joystick are you using?

 

[Orgun]

Does the X52 Pro have a twisting flight stick so you can map rudders/yaw to that axis?

Yup

 

[Caesar III]

Get Voice Attack and bind the non essential stuff to voice commands. Works great.

I need to bind stuff to this as well already bought VA though

 

[Gaz_RB]

I don't think us Merc Ed owners have the full game yet. My install is taking up 1.56 GB of space. Seems kind of small to me, but maybe it is?

We can't play til Tuesday

 

[flyinpiranha]

Get Voice Attack and bind the non essential stuff to voice commands. Works great.

I did mess around with the demo version, probably will pick it up down the road, I just really like seeing the universe on a decent screen for the first time is my main reason for non-DK2 usage. Plus, where I'm at is a bit tricky for my mic ... I have a 20-30' USB 4 prong that attaches to the back of the chair and the keyboard is wireless with a mousepad ... but getting a mic/headset over there (since the ones I have aren't USB) would be tricky ... actually, think I have a USB mic around somewhere ... oh shit! Could just have voice comms come out through the speakers and my mic through that.

WORK NEEDS TO END!

What joystick are you using?

Saitek X-55 Rhino.

Isn't all the non essential stuff in menus anyway? That was the impression I got from the combat tutorials anyway, looked like all the lights/landing gear stuff was available in there.

Yeah, most of the stuff is for sure. What you don't see in the SS is my printed sheets with penciled in assignments lol (these are the blanks I print and assign. Once I know exactly what I want for my setup will probably edit in typed assignments and laminate them)

 

[Astral/H3X]

Gotdamn those buttons.

So given that I just ordered an X52, and the ingame stick is modeled after it, is it safe to assume that when I plug it in, the game will just recognize it and perfectly map everything? With where the ingame animations are? Will I need to install drivers, or is it plug and play?

 

[Wreav]

2.03 is out now.

Seperate 'UI Back' into its own bindable input (Note this might affect players with custom bindings!)
Made backspace the default back button for all control schemes to ensure it's always at least bound to something. Control pad schemes also have B bound to back too
Fix repro'd case of spinning ship lock on load
Fix soft lock when buying data and then going to system view
Ensure that we do not send a webrequest that will result in a module being attached to a slot that it should not fit on (fixes broken decal save crash)
Fix for ATI driver crash seen when the Imperial capital ship warps in
Fix client-side bankruptcy bug - clear player's fines & bounties from the respawn system, not the one that happened to be selected
Fixed assert caused by trying to generate planets in a nebula
Fix for missions not showing up when moving servers
Fix to cobra's front hardpoint door animation being swapped
Reduce memory footprint of route finder to compensate for larger search radius
Refresh the mission list if we initially fail to accept or update a mission
Split WearAndTear into visual and gameplay parts, repaired separately
Prevent dropping out of supercruise into capital ships
Remove Electosmelters from cargo drop
A couple of galaxy map trade route improvements:
Switching on an individual commodity will now automatically toggle on its parent category
Added buttons for selecting all/none
Track IR fixes:
No TrackIR roll in cockpit fixed
Sluggishness when using TrackIR 5 fixed
Added some logging for accepting missions failing and updating missions failing
Fix for plotting jumps in the galaxy map which are too long
Added support for AV8R01 by adding it as an alternate AV8R03 scheme
Auto downgrades support added (automatic graphic settings)
Commodities market UI cargo count doesn't update when discarding cargo fixed
Fix the problem where routes plotted with jumps greater then 20LY would not show up on the navigation panel
Galaxy generation optimisation
Tweaked shadow setting in the high and medium presets
Salvage missions now correctly spawn objectives
Make normal slavery collect missions give cash not just rep
Fix for galaxy map sometimes showing solid lines on plotted routes when they should have been dotted due to insufficient fuel
Fixed trade route filters stop working if you use Clear while a heading is expanded
Upped AI bounties to make bounty hunting more viable as a career



And a server-side update too!

Prevent paintjobs and decals being applied to unsupported ship slots
Allow exploration data worth 0 credits to be sold
Activate the link between commodity markets and faction simulation
Fix some failing requests for starport news

 

[Wreav]

Someone figured out how to change the RGB values of the HUD as well.

The file is located in your installation folder: E:\Program Files (x86)\Frontier\EDLaunch\Products\FORC-FDEV-D-1002 (obviously change drive letter to suit your pc) the file is called GraphicsConfiguration

edit this section: <GUIColour> <Default> <LocalisationName>Standard</LocalisationName> <MatrixRed> 0, 0.3, 0 </MatrixRed> <MatrixGreen> 0, 1, 0 </MatrixGreen> <MatrixBlue> 0, 0.3, 0 </MatrixBlue> </Default>

all you need to do is edit the matrixred 0,0,0 and matrixblue and matrixgreen bits. the exemplar above is how I got the green HUD in my 2nd screenie.... I "think" its RGB scaling...0 being nothing, 1 being full on....you will need to tinker a bit to get the result you need. and it requires a full game restart to take effect.

OH this is "at your own risk" and I suggest you make a copy of the file first! Click image for larger version.

Name: itsgreen_zpse35b644d.jpg Views: 2 Size: 57.2 KB ID: 4275 as you can see..it wont effect orbit and jump lines..but it does effect alternate colour in your radar and buttons etc you can put increments into the numerals..like 0.33 etc to adjust if you wish....if you look further down the config there are settings for a redandlbue swap and for a desatyrated version...copy them and try.... if you use 0,1,0 0,1,0 0,1,0 then you get a really cool white HUD!!

just keep editing the <standard> setting and you will quickly get what your after with a few tries. I did try coding a "test" setting into the local config file but it wont read it....ill fiddle more with that later and maybe come up with a few codes that work really well!

1,0,0 will give a really bright red saturation. ive not had a great deal time of to fully play or understand how it works....but considering its a simple change of 1 to 0....you can quickly adjust to find something cool

If you can't find the folder, try "C:\Users[username]\AppData\Local\Frontier_Developments\Products\FORC-FDEV-D-1002"

 

[Wreav]

Detailed Wear and Tear explanations from the forums, sorry for the awful formatting.

Wear and Tear affects your maximum ship hull, 100% W&T is a max hull strength of 70%, the time it takes to accumulate W&T is gonna be reduced to about 1% per flight hour. Things that stress your ship, such as hyperspace jumping, flying in ring systems or getting shot at will also add to W&T.

EDIT:
From the 2.03 PatchNotes:

Split WearAndTear into visual and gameplay parts, repaired separately

All posts by Sandro Sammarco, Lead Designer (Hey may post more so take a look into the forum)

Hello Commanders!

Wear and tear (Which is going to be renamed and slowed down) represents your ship suffering long term damage that results in a reduction to maximum hull health (so even if your hull says 100%, if you've suffered wear and tear, that 100% will be lower than it could be). Wear and tear never reduces your maximum hull health to 0 (I think the cap reduces your max hull down by 70% - we might tweak this).

I believe there will be a nominal fee to buff up your livery, which will become its own separate thing, allowing Commanders tomake their ships look nice even if they are starting to rot on the inside.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=73320&p=1212067#post1212067

Hello Commander Monk!

The opposite, actually (sorry for my rushed explanation): if your wear and tear was at 100% (the worst it could be) then your maximum hull health would be reduced by 30%. Wear and tear is not meant to totally cripple your ship, but it should still be a significant risk. Again, though, we're lowering the rate at which wear and tear accrues, as we think it was too quick.

The effects of having a ship that looks rough compared to one that looks pristine are not in the game yet, but that is the concept we are heading towards.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=73320&page=2&p=1212246#post1212246

Hello Commander kiario!

They way we imagine it is that when your hull is damaged it is because something very clear and obvious has happened: a cannon shell has punched a hole in it, or a bracket connecting an articulate plate has sheared clean off. You can easily look at the hull, or scan the hull and detect this kind of catastrophic failure.

But even during normal operation, your ship's hull suffers lots of low-grade strain. Every time you pull hard G turns under thrust, every time the frame shift collapses and expands space, and even natural perishing processes on components, all take their collective toll on the vessel.

You can't obviously see or detect this effect without effectively having a starship mechanic look specifically fort it. Maybe a hull plate has warped slightly and is mashed slightly harder into the plate next to it under thrust. Perhaps a bracket has started to wear and become loose, but has not yet snapped or failed. Possibly the gunk has started to build up in the cooling loops, increasing the pressure of the circuit, but not yet enough to burst the system.

A whole host of fatigue effects build up in the ship's hull and associated plumbing, and whilst they don't show as obvious trauma, they do overall make your ship less sturdy and more likely to fall under extreme forces.

Our wear and tear system is a simple abstract way of representing this effect without being too complicated.

I hope this explanation helps.

Hello Commander Yanaran!

Yes, getting various repair costs perfect is quite complicated, and it will be something we keep over-watch on, making tweaks when we see all positive effect gains.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=73320&page=3&p=1212423#post1212423

Hello Commander vjek!

As I mentioned before, wear and tear is being slowed down. However, it still needs to be fast enough to have an effect in a reasonable game time. If I said that on average you might likely see a percent drop in about an hour of flight that might help give an idea.

Also, wear and tear actually accumulates by activities such as hyperspace jumps, super cruise, being in asteroid fields, fuel scooping and from combat, so the rate is variable to a minor degree.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=73320&page=4&p=1212625#post1212625

 

[flyinpiranha]

Gotdamn those buttons.

So given that I just ordered an X52, and the ingame stick is modeled after it, is it safe to assume that when I plug it in, the game will just recognize it and perfectly map everything? With where the ingame animations are? Will I need to install drivers, or is it plug and play?

Not sure on actual drivers, it's just a USB joystick according to Windows but there is an assignment app you can use to see what button is what. In the game I believe their is a pre-setup config for the X52. But I just went through them and assigned where I felt it would be best plus moving some stuff around as time goes on.

Someone figured out how to change the RGB values of the HUD as well.

EDIT: Had to login to look at them, my bad (plus forums weren't loading) ... man, that looks awesome! Here's an Imgur link for those that don't have an account:

 

[TheTrain]

Frontier's patch rate is insane

 

[Sinatar]

Someone figured out how to change the RGB values of the HUD as well.

The green one is giving me some Freespace 2 flashbacks.

 

[ys45]

Damn, I have spent like 30-40 minutes with the combat missions yesterday just testing controls .

I was wondering What are you guys using to look inside your cockpit while using a HOTAS?
With my hand on throttle and the other on the flight stick, by default its the middle mouse button to look around the cockpit but it's not very convenient with a stick .

I use a T-Flight HOTAS X btw .

 

[Sinatar]

Damn, I have spent like 30-40 minutes with the combat missions yesterday just testing controls .

I was wondering What are you guys using to look inside your cockpit while using a HOTAS?
With my hand on throttle and the other on the flight stick, by default its the middle mouse button to look around the cockpit but it's not very convenient with a stick .

I use a T-Flight HOTAS X btw .

I just don't bother with it. It's too awkward in the middle of combat even with hats dedicated to it. Something like Track IR would be good, or of course Rift if you want to drop $350 on a ghetto dev kit.

 

[Mengy]

I was wondering What are you guys using to look inside your cockpit while using a HOTAS?
With my hand on throttle and the other on the flight stick, by default its the middle mouse button to look around the cockpit but it's not very convenient with a stick .

I use TrackIR5, works great.

 

[flyinpiranha]

Damn, I have spent like 30-40 minutes with the combat missions yesterday just testing controls .

I was wondering What are you guys using to look inside your cockpit while using a HOTAS?
With my hand on throttle and the other on the flight stick, by default its the middle mouse button to look around the cockpit but it's not very convenient with a stick .

I use a T-Flight HOTAS X btw .

I have it as a toggled control. I hit my "thumb" button and one of my joysticks on the X55 become the thing to look around with. I hit it again and it goes back to whatever it was used for (think targeting stuff).

But I ordered a EDTracker for about $50 so that will solve that problem. And when CV1 comes out will not need any of it!

I just don't bother with it. It's too awkward in the middle of combat even with hats dedicated to it. Something like Track IR would be good, or of course Rift if you want to drop $350 on a ghetto dev kit.

Salty.

 

[Mengy]

Here is a fan made trailer that IMHO is much better than the official one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh73mdKf1ks

The game is good looking enough that they don't need CGI to sell it IMHO.

 

[Mik2121]

Alright guys, been out of the loop for the last 3 weeks since my PC was dead.

I downloaded the latest version of Elite and it looks great as always! I heard there won't be any wipe, but... am I correct in assuming that all the free stuff I get as a beta backer won't be available until the actual release date? I believe there was a free ship to be obtained, is that correct?

 

[Astral/H3X]

I just don't bother with it. It's too awkward in the middle of combat even with hats dedicated to it. Something like Track IR would be good, or of course Rift if you want to drop $350 on a ghetto dev kit.

Ghetto? I absolutely love mine. Its part of what pushed me to an X52.

 

[ys45]

I see , Alright then Il use it only to do some sightseeing and not during combat .
I'm planning on getting a OR but not a dev version .

 

[flyinpiranha]

Alright guys, been out of the loop for the last 3 weeks since my PC was dead.

I downloaded the latest version of Elite and it looks great as always! I heard there won't be any wipe, but... am I correct in assuming that all the free stuff I get as a beta backer won't be available until the actual release date? I believe there was a free ship to be obtained, is that correct?

Should be there, go to a station and see "where it is" I believe. Don't remember exactly but that's what I was told!

 

[Wreav]

Alright guys, been out of the loop for the last 3 weeks since my PC was dead.

I downloaded the latest version of Elite and it looks great as always! I heard there won't be any wipe, but... am I correct in assuming that all the free stuff I get as a beta backer won't be available until the actual release date? I believe there was a free ship to be obtained, is that correct?

That's correct, we'll get those goodies on Tuesday.

 

[TheTrain]

Newsletter #53 out

 

[Mengy]

Here is the "official" thread for that HUD color tweak:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=73419


And here is a video of it in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geMcu6xIifI

Looks incredible. I think I'll be doing this tweak now and then just to mix it up, maybe every time I buy a new ship!

 

[Wreav]

Newsletter #53 out

Last newsletter before release...gets a man a little weepy. It's been a fun ride, I'm stoked for FD next week.