Hey everyone, title pretty much says it all.
I’ve managed to snag a set of keybinds that works for me, played around in Arena Commander offline. I’m hooked, had a ton of fun but I feel like my arms are sore from cranking the sticks so much.
Really looking for advice pertaining to ergonomic setups, like what kind of mounts should I grab. I have two Gladiator NXT EVOs, both the left and right hand versions. I didn’t buy anything else though, as I wasn’t that impulsive, so currently it’s unmounted and I’m just rolling with it.
On top of those recommendations, specific guides on how to get better at combat would be good. I’m open to buying other space flight sims as well, if it would be easier to practice there (ideally I’d like to stick to Star Citizen).
My main fear is trying to hop into the main game and getting my shit rocked, losing what little resources I have trying to learn how to not crash. I tried it a little bit, managed to get my first ship impounded lol. If anyone has tips on ensuring I can ping the hangars correctly I would greatly appreciate that as well.
Sorry for the word vomit, still very new to space sims/flying sims in general. Not really sure how to word what I’m asking. Thanks to anyone that takes the time to read and answer!
Welcome to the Verse! I can’t give you much advice regarding how to secure your sticks considering that I’ve been flying with unmounted sticks in SC for over a decade now. That said, I can tell you that playing AC repetitively will burn out your hands and wrists much quicker than in the Persistent Universe (PU) given the much more repetitive nature of the AC maps. If you are like me then you will likely spend a lot more time in the PU doing other things than ship combat, like simply traveling between POIs as well as FPS combat, mining, salvaging, looting, etc. I do ship combat to be sure, but when it’s interspersed with other things then I find it less taxing on my hands and wrists.
I’d also encourage you to go ahead and jump into the PU and not worry too much about losing resources as this is still very much an Alpha game and it’s very likely that your character will be reset in the PU with the next major update anyway. You can always buddy up with someone experienced in the PU by asking in chat or utilize the Guide System to locate one of the many, helpful volunteer guides. I would also recommend doing the tutorial if you haven’t already, but if you didn’t do it initially I don’t think it will give you the option again until after the next wipe.
The only tips I can give regarding combat is first to practice and second to make sure you are never flying in a straight line while in combat. Combat has changed in 3.23 with the introduction of Master Modes, so many of the resources I might suggested for reading/viewing are a bit out of date. Still, you might want to check out the Legacy Instructional Series. Again, some of the information is a bit dated in regards to the mechanics of things, but the core concepts they put forth for combat training still largely hold. There are also a number of resources listed on the official “Learn How to Play”(https://robertsspaceindustries.com/playstarcitizen) page on the RSI website, which you might want to check out.
As for requesting a hangar, that can be done either using the comm’s MFD in your ship, the comms app in your Mobi (port ATC is listed under Friends), or by mapping the request landing keybind (it may be already bound to hold N, but I can’t say for sure right now as I have a custom mapping for that action [backslash]). The mapping can be found in the Options menu by clicking “KEYBINDINGS” -> “ADVANCED CONTROLS CUSTOMIZATIONS” -> “Flight Movements” -> “Request Landing”.
Again, welcome to the verse and I sincerely hope you enjoy your experience.
Thank you very much for your response!
I’ll give the resources you’ve provided a better look tomorrow when I’m not so tired.
How friendly are people in this game? Is it actually common to receive help from other players like that? I know I’ve seen some players doing things like stowing away and robbing players, is that something that I need to worry about?
I believe I did go through a portion of the tutorial, but it seemed like it got bugged when it pointed me towards leaving the city. Apparently flying into orbit isn’t enough, and I couldn’t really figure out how to trigger the next part of the tutorial. That was when I got my ship impounded, as I’d given up to go to bed and rushed into a hangar after spamming the hangar request (I think you’re correct about it being bound to N, I’m still learning keybinds so it’s kind of overwhelming and I’m not sure I can trust my memory without looking in game).
I didn’t realize that the game wiped, that does make me feel a bit better about losing resources. I know this game has had a very long development cycle, how often are major updates/wipes?
Sorry to blast you with even more questions, I do appreciate the direction you’ve already pointed me in. Thank you again!
How friendly are people in this game?
It’s a mixed bag, but most are reasonably friendly or at least not outright hostile.
Is it actually common to receive help from other players like that?
Depends on the request, but I’d say it’s reasonably common.
I know I’ve seen some players doing things like stowing away and robbing players, is that something that I need to worry about?
Yes. Just take reasonable precautions and you should be OK. There will always be the potential to be ganked and/or robbed by other players. Just keep your wits about you and keep an eye out for players doing unusual things like following you in stations, loitering near ASOP terminals, hanging out near landing pads, etc. Also be cautious of players offering exorbitant payouts for medical beacons or using medical beacons excessively. It’s a sign they may be trying to lure others into a trap. I generally recommend not equipping your character with something you don’t really need for whatever mission/activity you are trying to do. Using mostly looted gear will at least mitigate any loss should you be robbed or just die as a result of a game bug and your body becomes unrecoverable, which in my experience is the more common occurrence.
I know this game has had a very long development cycle, how often are major updates/wipes?
There’s usually major new build in the LIVE channel once a quarter, but it’s not always on time. Also, they will sometimes extend a particular patch cycle if the changes in the build under development/testing is particularly complex and/or problematic such as was the case with the 3.18 build. FYI: Wipes aren’t always full. The most recent LIVE build they wiped only currency (aUEC) and, of course, the non-permanent inventory items (medpens, ammo, sustenance items, etc.). Everything else including personal weapons, armor, ships, and components were carried over via Long Term Persistence (LTP).
There’s a 3.23.2 build coming soon-ish (hopefully) with some fairly significant updates, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they do a partial wipe then again. But usually with .x patches they don’t do full wipes. They just reset characters and your home location. Your inventory will retained via LTP as will be your money.
There will almost certainly be a wipe with 4.0 planned for later this year. The extent of that wipe isn’t known yet. CIG will usually announce before they release the build to LIVE, but it’s going to be a big patch with lots of changes, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they do a full wipe then.
Don’t fuss about resources, many players (myself included) are happy to take a new guy on for missions and are often looking for crew members.
You can ask in chat if someone has a specific ship that they are willing to call for you or if someone does a specific gameplay loop and is in need of a pair of hands. For example miners often look for ppl. be it as miner or scout.
I am deeply in love with Orision and thus recommend the crusader system security forces as a good starting point. A couple of missions and you should be able to do the ‘liberation / defend’ missions on the planet where you fly to them living platforms to stop a raid on Orision. There a bunch of boxes with food and drinks if you don’t like buying that and you can take the npcs weapons and armor. Each mission is also decent pay imo.
I can’t offer much advice in terms of using the sticks. Better in combat, tbh do a bunch of bounty hunter missions and just go blow (npc) ships up. Alternatively join events like jump town. There is always some form of pvp going on that trains you.
For guides to get better at combat, don’t look at anything older than a month or two. The latest update has made some major changes to the combat mechanics. (And in general for this game, older guides for anything get outdated quickly).
If you want to get better at ship combat, check out the videos from Avenger_One. He does a ton of research into ship combat in the game and has put out a lot of useful guides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfS0VRkxI24
And if you really want to get into it, checkout his Foundations course here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6PTNBCeyrc8LvzCedBkwp-4RB-YNsB-G
As far as landing in hangars, there’s a proximity assist setting that’s enabled by default to allow you to easily make minor adjustments as you’re landing your ship in a hangar. The problem with this setting is that it drastically cuts the power to your thrusters while you’re going into a hangar, so if you already have a lot of momentum… you’re not stopping until your ship has become a pancake.
If you mean ping the hangars as in asking the ATC for a landing pad, you can do that in any of your ship’s displays, just go to menu and then look for Comms. You can also open up your mobiglass, go to chat (F11 takes you straight there) then look for the ATC and click the button to call them.
Most pilots just use the Alt+N keybind (tap, don’t hold!) to quickly request takeoff/landing.