Distant Worlds - A journey beyond the Abyss

This week, on January 14th 3302, we depart colonized space and begin our first steps out into the galaxy; crossing the Frontier and traveling out to Waypoint 1.

Players should gather at Pallaeni, Planet 1, and land close to Brooks Point. Brooks Point (Base Camp 'Zero') is a secure location so don't 'buzz' them unless you want a 400 CR fine and a wanted status. Our landing site is around 3kms away at the coordinates in the table above. Its rough terrain so if you want a good parking spot, get there early. A lot of players will probably be there a couple of hours early to film and livestream ships coming and going.

As you are aware by now (if you read the announcements! ), there are many players from many different timezones taking part in the expedition. So some time back it was announced that the fleet will have a Euro Zone and a US Zone, as these constitute the vast majority of players who have signed up. The US Zone is 6 hours behind the Euro Zone.

Everyone should depart Base Camp Zero at :
20:00 Gametime (UTC), 14th Jan. 3302 (for Euro Zone players), or
02:00 Gametime (UTC) 15th Jan. 3302 (for US Zone players).

There will be no announcement on here telling you to take off and begin the journey, but a reminder will be posted in the Skype & Discord announcements channel and players will most likely make everyone aware on TS too, but on the whole this is the time to leave and head towards our first Waypoint - out near the Shapley 1 Wolf-Rayet star, ~900 LYs away. Our exact destination is the system designated :

Fine Ring Sector JH-V C2-4, Planet 1. Base Camp coordinates for that Waypoint (Laika's Rest) are in the table above.



Launch Day Livestreams:

Euro Zone Livestream begins from 19:00 Gametime (UTC), 14th Jan. (to be confirmed).
Blackneto twitch.tv/blackneto

US Zone Livestream begins from 01:00 Gametime (UTC), 15th Jan. (to be confirmed).
Katejina twitch.tv/katejinaakami



Base Camp Guides:

The original plan was to ask FD to put some landing lights out at each camp but sadly it wasn't possible, so we'll be relying on experienced pilots finding the coords and guiding other lesser experienced pilots in. If you need help locating a Base Camp, check out the visual guide(s) linked below - they will give you an idea of what to look for when in low orbit, alternatively use local in-game text chat to request landing assistance - there's a good chance that other pilots will already be there and willing to add you to their wing and drop a wing beacon for you to lock onto.

A visual guide to the Waypoint 1 Base Camp can be found here : Approaching Laika's Rest
More in-depth information, guides, charts, and navigational help on the POIs and Base Camps we'll be visiting can be found here : [Distant Worlds] FGE Astrographics Department

For players new to Horizons and planetary landings, I highly recommend you practice landings on a variety of terrains and worlds before we leave, and practice picking a coordinate on the surface and trying to locate it. It can be a tricky skill to master. There is a brief guide to planetary landings and locating surface coordinates located in Post #2 of the main DW thread, under the heading "6.. Planetary Landings Guide & Locating Coordinates:". But its no substitute for practice.


The wider schedule :

Of the 23 Waypoint meetings scheduled on the expedition, 5 will be midweek events - this is because a lot of players cannot play on a weekend so it allows those players to at least have some social gatherings to enjoy during the journey to Beagle Point.

The vast majority of meetups will last the whole weekend, with players arriving on a Friday evening and exploring the designated POI area until Sunday, before pilots begin to drift away to the next Waypoint scheduled later that week.

The times posted are guides - no one expects you to arrive at the exact time stated or leave at a specific time either. Get there early if you can, or get there late if you can't ... point is you'll have a whole weekend to meet fellow explorers and join in with the organized excursions that the FGE Cartography Wings will be running (info on these Wings can be found : Here). Again, no one is obliged to join in any events, if you want to explore with friends or alone, its entirely up to you. The fleet comms that players have set up are there for you to use if you need them.


Week 1 in summary :

Gather at Base Camp Zero on Thursday 14th January and set course to Waypoint 1 at 20:00 gametime Euro Zone / 02:00 gametime US Zone.

We'll spend the weekend out in the Fine Ring Sector. Its close enough to home for players to pop back to a station and repair, or refit, if they think their ship isn't up to the long long long journey ahead!

On Sunday 17th Jan, once you've had enough of Shapley 1, players can drift away and begin prepping for the trip across the Sagittarius Gap to the Lagoon Nebula 3,800 Lys away. The details to the WP2 rendezvous will be posted next weekend during our Shapley 1 visit.

For more detailed information on each Waypoint, and the distances between each POI on our journey, check the main DW thread (its all there under each map).

More info, check: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=219666