The Distant Worlds Expedition

[Primeh]

Yeah I have fully read whats required the other week when I stumbled on the page.

Its things like that, that makes me so undecided. Aside from the obvious challenge of landing Connies on planets, no having touched Horizons yet. Its also things like the cost of crashing a Connie, and the fact you'll only get one attempt out in the Black. Also how hard is it to obtain the minerals to make the Jumponium and can I get sufficient quantities in time.

There is also the obvious perils with flying with randoms, or more to the point landing with them. Not only is there the risk of griefers, but honest accidents with people landing on planets in groups. Any of which can only happen to you once and you are out.

That's why I really want to take the Connie, but its very hard to decide.
Obviously the risk of my own error is greater, but less risk from numpty random pilots accidental crash landing into you.
Plus I can comfortably fit the Connie with fuel limpets and weapons.

Suffice to say although Coriolis hasnt updated for Horizons yet, I've been playing with builds for days now!
Ah... decisions decisions!

ps. I've signed up without specifying a ship. Also put my faction down as the Order of Mobius

[Digga]

You can add 6T of weapons to simulate a Class 2 Hanger.

I will be going in an ASP, with lightweight downgraded (in class) components to make that 34Ly jump that is required near Beagle Point, I would not be trying to land a conda.
I took this build and landed it on Achenar 3 (6.73g), just a touch on the thrusters will drop the Asp 1km with the upward thrusters being next to useless. My max range is identical to that build with the weapons adding the 6T.

Expect that build or very close will be the ship I'm going in, I might also avoid planets over 4g

Anyone considering this and trying to spec a ship to go 35Ly or more, this thread lists Ships - Thrusters - Planet Landings.

[Roger Wilco Jr]

Also how hard is it to obtain the minerals to make the Jumponium and can I get sufficient quantities in time.

I wouldn't worry too much about that. You'll have 10 weeks on the way out to mine the minerals with tons of prospectors pointing out where you can get them - at least I assume so.

I think I'm going to so this. The question is Anaconda vs. Asp? I'm a little worried I might kill myself in an Anaconda, but there is probably no reason to land on high gravity, or even medium gravity, planets. I'll have to do some experimenting before Horizons releases. I'll also have to think about giving up 3 1/2 to 5 months for this, though I don't really have anything better to do.

I probably won't make official until after Christmas.

[TorTorden]

The 25% boost is pretty easy to find. Vanadium is not terribly rare on metal planets, Germanium is sourced from rocky and sometimes ice planets.

Rocky planets usually gets you loads of Srv repair paste and fuel too.
In fact I think you will be more excited about rocky planets more than those high in metals.

But not terribly rare I mean you should find a piece in 15-20 minutes hunting with the wave scanner, after looking at more than just metallic world's I have like 5 lvl1 fsd boosts.

Well that is in my experience.

I have however not managed to get level two boost...

[Roger Wilco Jr]

If that's the case, then even a fairly tanked up Anaconda could easily make the final jump with a level 1 fsd boost.

I'm thinking it might be good to go well armed in case we run into Thargoids and they are not friendly. But then you sacrifice jump range the whole way there and back again. Hmmm.

Decisions, decisions. Well, at least there'll be 3-4 weeks after Horizons drops to make a final decision.

[Primeh]

With the news that FD have their eyes on this event, I wouldnt be shocked to find some sort of inactive Thargoid settlement/outpost on our route. One can only hope.

As to landing on medium to high G planets. If I take the connie it just makes sense to only land on the lowest G planets, and with the amount of people signed up with a Connie i'd hope the organisers will pick base camps at minimum G locations.

You make another good point. Jumps! With my old 34ly Asp trip to Sag, I totted it up to about 900-1k jumps. That was reasonably direct, with a couple of ziggy zags for a few nebulae along the way. So that makes it at least 2000 jumps to beagles point, and lets face it with the route planned and stop offs along the way its going to be way more than that (i'd slap another 1k on that easy).

With a lets say 20-25ly tanked out Connie, I dont want to think about it Plus it would be foolish of me not to point out that is one way.

As much as i REALLY want to take a kitted Connie, common sense is nudging me to the Asp.



..... but then again, it's going to be a massive undertaking regardless of ship taken. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and take the Connie and go in style! (ps wish the Vette had better jump capabilities )

[TorTorden]

With the news that FD have their eyes on this event, I wouldnt be shocked to find some sort of inactive Thargoid settlement/outpost on our route. One can only hope.

As to landing on medium to high G planets. If I take the connie it just makes sense to only land on the lowest G planets, and with the amount of people signed up with a Connie i'd hope the organisers will pick base camps at minimum G locations.

You make another good point. Jumps! With my old 34ly Asp trip to Sag, I totted it up to about 900-1k jumps. That was reasonably direct, with a couple of ziggy zags for a few nebulae along the way. So that makes it at least 2000 jumps to beagles point, and lets face it with the route planned and stop offs along the way its going to be way more than that (i'd slap another 1k on that easy).

With a lets say 20-25ly tanked out Connie, I dont want to think about it Plus it would be foolish of me not to point out that is one way.

As much as i REALLY want to take a kitted Connie, common sense is nudging me to the Asp.



..... but then again, it's going to be a massive undertaking regardless of ship taken. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and take the Connie and go in style! (ps wish the Vette had better jump capabilities )

Higher G planets aren't the major problem for the connie, but +4G and a tiny mishap will lead to the big explosion regardless of what you are flying.
Couple of reasons in my opionion that goes against the conda is that it is big, you won't always find a landing spot where you want to, and it is slow for planetary scouting, as well the nose on it pretty much hides the surface, and the ground surface rader isn't all that revealing.

Tanked up, well all you need are maybe a class 3 D or A rated shield gen, no need for boosters etc so, the difference in landing with 150MJ shields or 500 is slight, you would probably blow through the 500MJ shields as well if you messed up.
The damage ramp goes pretty much.
None, nothing, tiny, OH THE HUMANITY !!

The greatest jump range I have gotten out of an anaconda with landings has been just about 35ly, considering a pre horizons build would get you 39 and some, well yea.
The same goes for pretty much all ships, you will loose about 5-6ly range with what's needed for planetary landings and what has been considered ok until now.
The Asp builds I have tried has ended up just shy of making the 34ly mark, but 25% FSD boost isn't an issue.

I'm honestly tempted to take a clipper and the most I get out of that is 24ly, 25 or so at half tank. I would need at least a 50% FSD booster just to get out to beagles point :S

And I can probably multiply your jumps guesstimate by 2 :S

Since so many are going to need a 25% boost anyways now, we might as well assume it as mandatory, and say to get where we want to go you need standard jump range of 27.6 in order to get there.

If I'm taking my clipper I could barely get there using a 50% boost, and I'm guessing I will need one back

[Digga]

I'm sorry TorTorden, but I have to disagree with a couple of your points and I want to post this for the benefit of other pilots.

Higher G planets aren't the major problem for the connie, but +4G and a tiny mishap will lead to the big explosion regardless of what you are flying.

I disagree with this, I had a mishap in an Asp while landing on a 6.7G planet, it resulted in effectively hitting the surface twice. The first time took out most of my shields, shortly followed by a landing that did 6% hull damage.
If I was in an Anaconda then I expect it would have destroyed the ship and this is based on the link I posted previously where people have taken the time to land on high G planets in various ships with various thrusters fitted and report their findings, reading the post makes it clear that an Anaconda will suffer far more greatly than an Asp, even without mishaps.

The same goes for pretty much all ships, you will loose about 5-6ly range with what's needed for planetary landings and what has been considered ok until now.

I am not finding the loss of 5-6Ly when fitting a ship for landings.

Based on the Asp I posted before with everything fitted for landings:
Including a class 2 hanger with 1 SRV, costs 0.66Ly
Including a class 4 hanger with 2 SRV's, costs 1.09Ly

An Asp with 2 SRV's, with 50% fuel can still jump 34.8Ly
An Asp with 1 SRV, with 50% fuel can still jump 35.2Ly

Note: The class 4 hanger calculations is based on the Class 4 being 10T, this was the case in an earlier beta but I have not checked since. The class 2 hanger was 6T in beta 5.

[Roger Wilco Jr]

I was thinking something like this.

This is if I think I may actually have to fight Thargoids and have a chance of survival. So there are two kinds of weapons in case one doesn't work against them, plus decent shields and even a backup SCB in case I don't run fast enough. And since I'll need an FSD boost anyway, I beefed up some of the other modules, but still tried to keep a decent jump range. I'm guessing I'll have about 20% more jumps, but spread over 10 weeks shouldn't be too bad. The hull reinforcement packages are just to simulate a hanger bay and two SRVs (assuming SRVs are 4.5T each).

If I give up on the idea of fighting Thargoids, then I'll probably go with an Asp. Just 1 SRV and no guns (hull pkg & 2x heat sinks to simulate weight). It sure costs a lot less. (updated: forgot fuel scoop)

My guess: if there are Thargoids, they will be peaceful for now. They won't start hating us until after they get to know us better.



ps. can you scoop fuel at Beagle Point?

[Digga]

I was thinking something like this.If I give up on the idea of fighting Thargoids, then I'll probably go with an Asp. Just 1 SRV and no guns (hull pkg & 2x heat sinks to simulate weight). It sure costs a lot less. (updated: forgot fuel scoop)

1 SRV doesn't weigh that much, it is just 6T.
Here is a fully fueled ASP with class 2 hanger and 1 SRV fitted.

asp.jpg (59.04 KiB) Viewed 2836 times

ps. can you scoop fuel at Beagle Point?

I was wondering the same thing!