IM'A NOOB IN NEED! (Escape Pod)

Hey guys. Hope you're all doing well.

So, as the title states I am pretty new to the game. I played it a little when it first came out but it was boring as hell then.
Now I'm trying to get into it properly with it being more like a game and now, after all the video-tutorial-watching and experimentation and forum reading, I've just got one thing left to ask.

Basically, I'm a big fan of rogue-like 'hardcore' modes in games. Like being put in a position where all the odds are against you and you have to play near-perfectly to even barely survive. I think when I'm good enough, I may even try a One Life playthrough, too.
Anyways, knowing this, my attention was quickly captured by being able to start the game in an escape pod (I usually start a game in the solar system 'world' then spawn in an escape pod). So far all I can really do is, of course spawn, and then slowly descend into the realms of the planet below and eventually crashland (or at least, get 1,000m from the surface and then exit the escape pod and gently jetpack down) because I can't seem to control the propulsion or any velocity-related parameters to do with the pod. I then grind what's left of the escape pod up but then, I'm not sure what else to do from then, especially if I'm not near ice. I begin to build a base but then my suits energy runs out, and then the H2O and the life support.

So, to summarise, what I'm really asking for is a sort of explanation on 'getting started' when spawning in an escape pod in the solar system map. I can't find anything relating to this specific subject at all, nowhere!
Please keep in mind I've not too much experience and not a vast bank of knowledge.

Thank you guys, and have a great day! <3

 

Really it isn't more of a game than when it first came out. Lil polish and shine here and there but at the core, it is still the same as it always was.

 

I’m not sure why you can’t control the respawn vessel. Sure, it’s got limited fuel in the reactors, but certainly a fair amount of battery power so you can maneuver that pig and get it to set down near a lake. I’ve never had any trouble doing that. The respawn ships gives you everything, so it’s not much of a challenge to start building your empire.

If, however, you find yourself just standing on a planet with nothing else, and assuming that you’ve got “unknown signals” checked in the advanced settings for that map, then eventually a drop pod will spawn and drop within 5 km of your location. In a worst-case scenario, you run like a crazed zombie to the drop pod (if you hardcore-start like I do without oxygen and hydrogen bottles), and grind everything (grabbing the uranium ingot that’s in the small-grid small reactor; don’t grind that or you’ll lose it). Once that’s done, plant a large-grid rotor in the ground, grind off the large rotor head, build a passenger seat on the side of the rotor, sit in the seat, hit “I” and go to the control menu and add a small rotor head to the rotor, then exit the seat. Build a small-grid small reactor on the small rotor head, add the uranium fuel, then jump back in the passenger seat. You’ll have plenty of juice to recharge your suit. Small-grid small reactors and passenger seats...never leave home without them!

You can truly start with nothing and survive, especially on the Earthlike planet. It’s a little tougher on the other planets because you need to find a source of oxygen and, if you’re without bottles, you’ll need an assembler and silver, nickel, and iron to build one. You can get enough silver from three reactor components, the same number that’s in a small-grid small reactor. The hardest trick is to get enough computers and displays to build an assembler before your oxygen runs out. It’s much easier if you already have the oxygen bottle because then all you need is an O2/H2 generator, and those don’t take many parts. Anyway, that’s a long answer to a simple question. I hope it helps.

 

The 'escape pod' is one of the spawn ships that pre-dates the addition of planets to the game, and is only designed and intended for use in space. It's lack of facilities and materiel necessitates the use of additional prefabricated components to allow survival. The only way to survive from this starting point is to first escape the planet's gravity by immediately accelerating away from the planet centre and maintaining a trajectory vertically upwards from the planet at maximum speed until clear of gravity. At this point to bring the ship to a standstill requires rotation in all axes as it does not have thrusters facing all directions. Once stationary it can be modified for more practical controlled flight.

The lack of facilities on the escape pod then necessitates the collection of components, which means locating and harvesting other ships, be they cargo, pirate, random spawns or the 'unknown signals' pods which carry the optional suit skins, so you must have some or all of these options set on the world.

On behalf of Keen Software House, and all of us at the Space Engineers Initiative, thank you, namaste, and... good luck.

 

You're right, I was speaking in terms of the respawn ship, not the escape pod. Another brain fart on my part.

 

*passes air freshener

 

Oh, man, I'd been cooking that one all day!!!

 

ok, DON'T grind down the survival kit, your guna need it, build a couple of solar panels to keep it powered, if you get enough resources together to build a remote, then theoreticly, you can fly the pod to a better location!