Elite: Dangerous search and rescue with the Fuel Rats

Elite: Dangerous can be a lonely place. The entire Milky Way, all 400 billion star systems, are there for players to explore and go just a bit too far in any one direction and you're on your own. Plot your jumps wrong, and it's pretty easy to run out of gas.
Until just a few months ago, the only way out of a jam like that was to scuttle your ship, blowing yourself and all your precious loot up in the process.
And so the Elite community has gathered together to create an in-game group of rescuers, part interstellar full-service gas station attendants and part special forces strike team. They call themselves the Fuel Rats.
In the video above I meet up with Matt "Commander RadLock" O'Connor to find out more.

[@trevorn2969]

I was on my first journey to Sag A, and on the way back i hit a huge chain of red dwarfs and no fuel. I posted my coords on their site asking for help asking for help. I had the O2 timer and right as it hit the 2 min mark a rat came out of the blackness of space. Its amazing how you can do stuff like this

[@yuvrajbhasha7654]

Yes

[@bluelagooon]

I'm disgustingly late, but this is why Elite Dangerous is such a amazing game.

[@Mujaki]

Two years later, they're over forty thousand rescues. Much praise to the Fuel Rats!

[@unseendawnproductions8267]

58,000+ rescues now

[@liambean7663]

@@unseendawnproductions8267 and I bet it's STILL climbing!

[@harryjsj7206]

30 off 100,000 now, its mental!

[@marcushull9719]

Broke 100,000 recently.

[@Miaew]

Probably around 150k now

[@cogspace]

"We have fuel. You don't. Any questions?" Really love that motto.

[@yuvrajbhasha7654]

Yes

[@CptRanger]

I've had the misfortune of running out of fuel, and the pleasure of meeting the Fuel Rats. They were a life saver!

[@jimbob3291]

As a fuel rat: We're here for those who are in need. It really is a reward to see our clients flying off with a smile on their face.

[@CptRanger]

@@jimbob3291 There are 2 stories I always love to hear. 1) Massive screw over's in Eve Online, 2)Fuel Rat stories in Elite Dangerous! :)

[@dominostabz8234]

There was a fuel rat rescue that took 600 hours because of how far out the person was

[@fakiirification]

People who say elite has "nothing to do" either have a completely non-existent imagination (so sad), or they played the game right after launch when it WAS bare bones, and put it down and never touched it again. It does get stale after a while, but there is no shortage of activities to create for yourself.

[@richardthomas8371]

Stories like these are the reason Elite and games like it are soooo interesting. Rad!

[@WOLFv61]

you guys saved me from been a floating corpse,,only took about 5 mins for somebody to show up and refuel me,,havent ran out of fuel since.

[@DrummahMike]

That miner dropped into a hazardous RES to do some mining, that's sooo cute.

[@Incadazant01]

I’ve heard fuel rats say “Fly Safe” as a closing greeting a lot. I also hear Scott Manley say it. Is Scott Manley a fuel rat?

[@unseendawnproductions8267]

no, it's like o7, it's an elite dangerous community thing

[@harlisviikmae6240]

@@unseendawnproductions8267 Aren't both somewhat universal space game things?

[@hobosamurai1175]

Congrats to 100k rescues rats!

[@athousandfeethigh]

This is a great sci-fi novel concept.

[@spaceonisorceress4406]

I just started a week ago, currently a Bounty Hunter saving up to test the Fer-De-Lance vs Mamba. It's really cool to see that stuff like this exists! Right now I'm still getting my feet wet and haven't connected with the larger community yet. But I just found out about the Fuel Rats and I already really love the concept. Thanks guys :)

[@gillywibble]

Has a fuel rat ever needed a fuel rat?

[@brodylamont8138]

Lol

[@cptncutleg]

Doubt it, they usually have Fuel Scoops and a lot of fuel capacity in addition to their limpets.

[@JimmyCrawford]

Happened to me twice. Once on PS4, once on PC. Both times involved Sidewinders.

[@BeanutButterBoy]

Apparently they have, i've seen a fuel rat talking about needing a fuel rat before.

[@seantaggart7382]

Well actually they do

[@Avetarx]

RadLock's voice is amazing. Is he a voice actor?

[@polygon]

+Avetarx Part time, yes. - Charlie

[@margretfortune1524]

I know very sexy voice. Wonder if he likes short, skinny nerd girls?. lol Think I am going to go run out of fuel somewhere with a nice view. You never know.

[@Thmyris]

@@margretfortune1524 ...

[@thunderthunderstorms8828]

Watched a vid on a person killing an rat killer can’t believe that those types of people exist. Stay safe rats!

[@MsRmaclaren]

I have used the Fuel Rats twice. Once as a nOOb and once when I wasn't paying attention. Thank you Fuel Rats! I do not play the game any more. Too boring. But was really glad these people were there.

[@margretfortune1524]

Very informative thank you CMDR Ploygon

[@harriehausenman8623]

great community!

[@deatedy8907]

they also help if your ships thrusters have broken or you’re too badly damaged to travel

[@gonforlunch]

I think I need to see stories about groups like this. I stopped playing because I just couldn't imagine what I was going to do (especially when I would get shot down after an hour of doing space trucking grr).

[@DayOldMeat]

+James Cheshire There's a load of player groups now. You've got various organisations built around the politics of PowerPlay, there's the Arcannonn research group scientifically investigating the alien objects, and there's the Black Knights doing the same thing, but from a xenophobic Thargoid hunter angle. There's these guys, and there's also the CODE, a bunch of twats that kill people. And there's more than that, explorer groups, little paramilitaries, the Racers... Yeah, it certainly brightens up the galaxy!

[@gonforlunch]

+Crusty Pete's Day Old Meat Platter Nice! Great to see people getting creative. hopefully the planetary landing module should introduce loads more possibilities!

[@Animenite97]

+Crusty Pete's Day Old Meat Platter Q: is this game hard to get into? the UI looks...complicated.

[@DayOldMeat]

+Adam Collier (Animenite97) You don't need that all the time, but I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a definite difficulty curve. Really, the amount you need of the UI is based on what role you do. If you're exploring or trading, you'll only need to pay attention to stuff like fuel, but if you're doing PvP combat, you'll need to manage power distribution, sub-targets, keep an eye on the shields. You'll get used to it, though. The majority of the game is surprisingly intuitive, especially if you use a joystick.

[@Animenite97]

Crusty Pete's Day Old Meat Platter I literally couldn't find the fuel in this vid..

[@mreboric2215]

"The Rats Rock" -everyone

[@kharjo8099]

Yep... the rats rock

[@senpaiyaa]

Wow. 5 years late on this game. Just started playing it. Polygon making a video about the Fuel Rats is amazing! Never knew these fuel guys are real people. Thought they are just part of the game as NPC. Elite is sure full of surprise!

[@Karn3fice]

Thank you for your service

[@unseendawnproductions8267]

thanks

[@Gangreen167]

This is awesome!!!

[@martingarcao3653]

Saved my skin today! Thanks 👍

[@canmanu.k.7354]

Great vid, I love the fuel rats

[@myrmeko]

Wait... Is this game from the same series as Elite on NES?

[@WeaselLevelDesign]

+Myrmeko Me Yep!

[@myrmeko]

+Weasel Level Design Quite a big graphics upgrade. But everytime a new Elite game comes out, it has way better graphics than the one before. Elite 1 is black and white vector graphics. Elite 2 is flat shaded polygons. Elite 3 is textures polygons. And Elite 4 is just amazing looking.

[@Askar1]

yee

[@jesusluna2428]

Wow bro that’s amazing

[@Guttabee]

I've never ran out of fuel in this game, but sort of wish I did at some point because of these guys lol. KGBFOAM

[@Spaced-Station]

Keep up the Elite Dangerous press!!!

[@Sheppardsg1]

they save my life once stuck myself with brown dwarf star xd

[@NightOwlGames]

i wasnt completely outta fuel i got lost in brown dwarfs but could not make the next jump, i still had power, i needed more fuel to jump contacted the fuel rats and instantly got help the cmdr was very quick to save me no waiting around we figured my map filters were not set, remember to set your star filter up KGB FOAM then your gonna get scoopable stars.

[@ChozoSR388]

So, the T. Tauri stars DO drain your tank? I wasn't just imagining it?

[@jonathanwhiting22]

Lol I needed that a few days ago

[@springfield197]

The one thing I want to ask is that “Do you have to talk to fuel rats” I mainly ask this because my daughter is starting to play this but she suffers from PTSD after being bullied in school, she cant really talk much or at all sometimes with out freaking out and going into a panic and apologizing. I just was wondering if there was any verbal communication that is involved and a way for her to show her appreciation with out seeming to be rude on PS4.

[@Red3245]

Do any of the fuel rats use twitch while on the job?

[@jerryvanderwal3836]

It worked 😆 a NPC saved me but I reached out to them and they answered immediately

[@user-tc5qc4ql8m]

resisting the urge to roast charlie for pronouncing sol like "saul"

[@TheLukemcdaniel]

Dude asked for fuel, he was fucking full ....

[@yoshikagekira4471]

I’ve been thinking about buying this game, but it does seem very tedious (in a good way). How tedious is it in actuality?

[@kazegakun]

4:55 Watching this in 2020, that figure is so untrue now! Got my AspX only a couple days in and a Python not long after. Farewell Borann A2, you'll be missed!

[@powergamer332]

That helmet would be your Remlok Visor

[@powergamer332]

Also, I like how you provide what is basically FREE HEALTH CARE

[@springfield197]

I wish I could ask them questions myself

[@SanyaTheNightWitch69420]

I've been playing for 5 days and I already have a type 9. I Had the asp before but Sold it because i wanted to haul more and more cargo

[@thefoolishhero3264]

why do people not keep stocked on fuel? i have never come close to running out of fuel lol

[@omegapng]

+TheFoolishHero Chains of Red Dwarfs

[@fakiirification]

it used to be a major problem before all the new filters in the galaxy map to exclude non-scoopable stars from your route. I came close a few times myself. But an alert commander will notice his fuel bar getting into the danger zone, and go into the map and plot a direct route to a fuel star and not continue jumping until empty.

[@MrSpy13011]

Will they expand to Xbox one or mac?

[@MrSpy13011]

***** I meant the Fuel Rats. Will they be expanding to Xbox and Mac?

[@MrSpy13011]

***** Sweet!

[@HeyGuy4321]

+MLXeeTV I just bought it last week. I didn't know it was available 😭

[@D4veJap4n]

Er the reporter said there’s nothing to do? What? Is he playing the same game?

[@shingshongshamalama]

Fucking IRC saving pilots.

[@Krystalmyth]

Pretty sad it's peer to peer. I miss when games provided servers.

[@bobtony6036]

he trying out for NPR? why he talking like that?

[@GeoffCottorone]

+bob tony Exactly what I was thinking - the interviewer sounds like Ryan Warner of Colorado Public Radio. Great interview guys, that was broadcast level professional and a good way to show how we can still DO something in Elite D until Frontier addresses the dearth of gameplay.

[@polygon]

+Geoff Cottorone Aw, thanks Geoff! - Charlie

[@votpavel]

my anaconda wouldnt start after fuel rats gave me 7 tons of "their own fuel recipe" please be weary of bad fuel they supply

[@vini2003]

+RE-L Mayer Lol

[@minimumdorifto6595]

One time I drank it. It was supposed to be rat-brew... Let's just say my cockpit was covered in some sort of liquid.

[@MrMartGonzo]

You can make your own fuel? I've been playing for a year and I still don't understand 90% of this game.

[@vini2003]

It was a joke .-.

[@fakiirification]

you can synthesize jumponium, to make your jump drive go farther. =)

[@kovanova9409]

Dbx is superior to the asp is all I'm gonna say

[@killerp11205]

This videos b******* I am stuck in the middle space with no fuel how do I supposed to get help

[@Karn3fice]

Thank you for your service

[@unseendawnproductions8267]

thanks.2