I haven't had much luck in v27, but in v26 all you had to do was get into a low orbit around a gas giant, then slow down a bit so your orbit just dips into the atmosphere... it takes forever but take it slow and just make minor corrections to keep your vector just below the horizon. Watch the atmo pressure, hull temp and altitude readings... stop time compression as soon as you have ANY atmospheric pressure readings and then just take your time. Always go for the smallest Gas Giant possible... Jupiter sized worlds will ruin your day even if hydrogen scooping is an old trick to you <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//wink3.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

WHat are the controls for the scoop?

It just goes... when your flying at the right speed... a couple kilometers per second... it just starts going.

Stay going pretty fast and pointing forward... like I said, I don't know if its still working properly in the latest version. It used to work just fine and go automatically whenever you were in the right conditions, a quarter atmosphere or so of pressure at 3 or 4 kps usually does the trick... or used to at least.

And how do you land?

Well... land on what? <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//wink3.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

On a rocky or icy world... you just get really close to it, then hit F5 to switch the Flight Mode to maintain a set speed. Set that speed at zero, then hit F6 to deploy the landing gear and orient yourself so they're pointing down. Then just tap the thrusters a bit to descend slowly, about 10 to 20 meters per second. What I like to do is set the "low power" thrusters to be weaker than local gravity (F8 brings up the menu) and then use them to override the "autopilot" that's maintaining you're hovering position by thrusting upwards. Since the thrust is weaker than gravity you "fall" but a little more gently than you normally would. Let go of the thruster controls and the "autopilot" takes over at full power to put you back into a hover.

You need to have completely separate controls for manual flight, I use "Enter" and "Right Shift" as my throttle up/down for set speed and WASDRF for manual thrusters, arrows for pointing... numpad for view (JIKL on my laptop). I don't like fighting the way it is right now, I get it and can hold my own a bit (mostly harmless!) but I have the spacebar handy for firing my trusty mining cannon <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Sorry, the reason I put Autopilot in quotes is because it's a system that technically is piloting the ship automatically for you... not the autopilot that navigates you around a star system! <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

I know what autopilot is IM NEW TO THE GAME NOT TO THE WORLD!

Not had much look at scooping in 28 but i'm new as well, so maybe just not got the trick.

On a side note, i did land on a gas giant.... not sure that should be possible considering the lack of something to land on - well, perhaps metaliczied gasses due to pressure near the core could exist (does anyone know what exists near the core or a gas giant?) but by that altitude your craft is going to be squished to a pulp.

Metallic Hydrogen... that's what I think should be used as fuel for the Sublight engines... or liquid hydrogen for reaction mass and metallic hydrogen for the hyperdrive?

Base the economy on it... scoop hydrogen from a gas giant... apply energy to convert it to Metallic Hydrogen Hyperdrive fuel...

Metallic Anti-Hydrogen Pion Rocket... how's THAT for a reaction drive that makes any puny laser or mass driver look like a bow and arrow <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_biggrin.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

You'd better read NeuralKernel's advice again, then. We have a gadget in the game called an autopilot, and a set speed mode which is like an autopilot but isn't called that.

NeuralKernel: Metallic hydrogen is just hydrogen. As reaction mass goes, water is practically the same thing and far easier to come by.

Here's a screenshot of my approach to scoop some fuel from a small-ish gas giant. My Eagle IV Bomber has atmo shielding, autopilot, fuel and cargo scoop... and a hyperdrive downgraded to a type 1. I can't remember if I currently have a mining cannon installed but I know there's room because I fly this setup regularly. With this small a ship you don't need very much hydrogen to get around.

https://docs.google....ajZKWFNtMFF6c0E

Seems like most of the Gas Giants have extremely thin atmospheres... its still too hard to scoop, I think. It is possible, just make the atmosphere start much higher relative to the surface of a Gas Giant and make the pressure gradient more gradual...

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-1hUK684APTY1F6aF80ekMyM0U

The cargo scoop still needs some work... I still think the game needs a Mass Driver... just rename the cargo scoop and give it the ability to throw cargo pods as well as catch them <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Making the main reaction drives into modular "weaponized" components this way would also solve the "Thirsty Autopilot" problem... the autopilot just gets controll over the RCS thrusters and you can just set them arbitrarily low... give the autopilot an "ion engine" level of thrust for orbital stabilization and interplanetary navigation, while you save a fully charged antimatter particle cannon (main drive...) for extreme tactical manuvers and combat. You could also just flip the function of the F8 "Low Thrust" mode into the "Afterburner" mode... a 1 tonne basic component like shielding, autopilot, scanner, etc...

And I'd give atmospheric shielding the same kind of treatment... rename it as "Kinetic Shielding". High speed interplanetary flight means you will NEED kinetic protection anyways, and there is already a component ready to go... with Kinetic Shielding you are protected from damage if you hit (accidently or on purpose...) anything going up to a dozen or so kps (Low Earth Orbit Re-Entry as a rough standard? Or Jovian...) depending on how many levels you have.

There are a bunch of overhauls like that I can think of... I'll put a detailed proposal together if anyone is interested in a kind of "Low tech" mod... though it might not actually change the way the game works. I guess I just like the idea of a starting point with no hyperdrive and some mining gear <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />