it was searching for Elite that drew me to this page, gaming and cooking together is very random, well done.
my cobra is almost the same set-up as your own though I may ditch my weapons like you have.
I don’t know if you reply to comments via email but I work 50 hours a week, I have three kids so my game time is really limited to the time after everyone is asleep, if im not too tired myself that is.
is 4-5 hours a week enough for exploration as you have done? or do I really need to be sinking more time into it?
For a quick answer, i have 3 kids too, so my time is limited to evenings too, after everyone’s fed, washed, and in bed. And Elite isn’t the only game i play either, so yeah, 4-5h a week is enough i’d say.
Basically, an hour session in the evening is plenty of time to fly across systems, i find. With the ~23ly jump range, i do between 500 and 750 ly in an hour i’d say, which includes in-system flying to scan interesting planets. If you focus on travel speed though, it’s much faster, as you jump, quick scan, and jump again. You can cover lots of distance like that if you’re limited in time and have a precise distant destination. That’s what i did in my first few thousand light years to get well out of the thoroughly explored systems. You’ll probably find out then that you spend more time scooping fuel than traveling as the Cobra’s best fuel scoop is rather weak. Another option if you feel like it is to go with another ship: an Asp can get you a ~35ly jump range if you have the money for it, and i believe you can get ~30ly with an Adder, allowing you to explore further out in the same amount of time. I didn’t feel like trading more for the Asp personally, and really love the Cobra design (was a huge fan of the Asp in Elite 2, but in E:D i think they ruined it look-wise) so didn’t have the heart to replace it. It’ll take me more jumps, but that’s as many more stars and planets i’ll get to see on the way.Â
The main thing you want to keep in mind if playing on limited time is that if you want to get the credit for all the scans (your name on the first discoveries, and the money for all the systems/detailed scans), you’ll need to fly back home. And the return home will be long too. Now that’s not an issue if you’re enjoying the exploring itself, as you can just pick another route back and keep discovering while slowly getting back home. But if you feel like going back to trading/fighting/powerplay/etc, then it’s going to be annoying if you’re too far. Some players far away have felt so depressed at the idea of having to fly back that they ended up self-destructing! So if you feel like you may be missing any of these, it’s probably a good idea to target a star or nebula not too far and do that as a first trip.
I did a first trip to galactic north, before it got too spaced out for my 18Ly range, so will need to get it extended by dropping weapons etc,
I play on the xbox and do worry its not as diverse as the PC but guess I need to find out for myself
Rebma's Net 
it was searching for Elite that drew me to this page, gaming and cooking together is very random, well done.
my cobra is almost the same set-up as your own though I may ditch my weapons like you have.
I don’t know if you reply to comments via email but I work 50 hours a week, I have three kids so my game time is really limited to the time after everyone is asleep, if im not too tired myself that is.
is 4-5 hours a week enough for exploration as you have done? or do I really need to be sinking more time into it?
good effort all round, glad I found this site
Thanks for the post. 🙂
For a quick answer, i have 3 kids too, so my time is limited to evenings too, after everyone’s fed, washed, and in bed. And Elite isn’t the only game i play either, so yeah, 4-5h a week is enough i’d say.
Basically, an hour session in the evening is plenty of time to fly across systems, i find. With the ~23ly jump range, i do between 500 and 750 ly in an hour i’d say, which includes in-system flying to scan interesting planets. If you focus on travel speed though, it’s much faster, as you jump, quick scan, and jump again. You can cover lots of distance like that if you’re limited in time and have a precise distant destination. That’s what i did in my first few thousand light years to get well out of the thoroughly explored systems. You’ll probably find out then that you spend more time scooping fuel than traveling as the Cobra’s best fuel scoop is rather weak. Another option if you feel like it is to go with another ship: an Asp can get you a ~35ly jump range if you have the money for it, and i believe you can get ~30ly with an Adder, allowing you to explore further out in the same amount of time. I didn’t feel like trading more for the Asp personally, and really love the Cobra design (was a huge fan of the Asp in Elite 2, but in E:D i think they ruined it look-wise) so didn’t have the heart to replace it. It’ll take me more jumps, but that’s as many more stars and planets i’ll get to see on the way.Â
The main thing you want to keep in mind if playing on limited time is that if you want to get the credit for all the scans (your name on the first discoveries, and the money for all the systems/detailed scans), you’ll need to fly back home. And the return home will be long too. Now that’s not an issue if you’re enjoying the exploring itself, as you can just pick another route back and keep discovering while slowly getting back home. But if you feel like going back to trading/fighting/powerplay/etc, then it’s going to be annoying if you’re too far. Some players far away have felt so depressed at the idea of having to fly back that they ended up self-destructing! So if you feel like you may be missing any of these, it’s probably a good idea to target a star or nebula not too far and do that as a first trip.
cheers for the quick reply.
I did a first trip to galactic north, before it got too spaced out for my 18Ly range, so will need to get it extended by dropping weapons etc,
I play on the xbox and do worry its not as diverse as the PC but guess I need to find out for myself