MISSION: GET THE FREIGHT OUT! (OR HOW TO GTFO

MISSION: GET THE FREIGHT OUT!

(OR HOW TO GTFO)

COCO ST. GEORGE

The night was pitch-black, and I was beginning to question the wisdom of flying a new helicopter for this mission. To be honest, by then I was questioning the wisdom of this whole new venture. Somewhere in the grid, someone had decided that they urgently needed fruit baskets, and now my mission was to deliver that cargo.

What was I doing there, anyway? It was late in the evening, and I still have several seasons of “Six Feet Under” on my watch list. Why wasn’t I home, comfortably cuddled in my bed, safely sipping a hot cocoa cup instead of being here, struggling with a helicopter I don’t even feel capable to control?

Yes, I know— I know I could have said no. But I got the call. And when you get the call, you just have to deliver. There is a lot on the line, especially your reputation. No, you don’t want to ignore the call. Besides, dollars are involved. Maybe only a few, but enough to put bacon on your table. And of course, in case you make more money than your neighbor, it gives you bragging rights, which are not negligible in this time and age.

Delivering the freight, though, was the least of my concerns. Loading and unloading the crates, albeit hard when it was about a heavy load, was in fact the easy portion of the mission. I wasn’t even worried about the possibility of going off course. Not at all. Modern instruments have that very well covered, and I know my GPS is as reliable as any. Following the right course was not the issue.

The real problem was the sim crossings. Every few kilometers, my helicopter entered an unruly spin, threatening to send me spiraling downwards and crash onto the bottom of the sea, or the roof of a building, whichever I hit first. I was cursing the moment I decided to try a new helicopter for this job. I missed my old, reliable Grumman Goose so much! That is a plane you can control, not this tin can with a propeller! And don’t get me started with its particular lingo! As I am flying, I need to remember that collective means height, and cyclic, speed. Who came up with these terms, for crying out loud?!

Suddenly, a long-forgotten neuron woke up in my brain, and I remembered something my instructor at fly school told me. Well, he told me a lot of things— maybe that’s why this particular piece of information was buried beneath a ton of accessory data: “You’ll want to take on sim crossings at a right angle,” he told me while I was spinning senseless after crossing from one sim to another. I was very happy to remember that snippet of knowledge just in time to use it: my radar was warning of yet another sim crossing. I steered my helicopter to put it at the right angle and… it worked! I crossed into the next sim seamlessly (OK, granted, not exactly seamlessly; I still felt a slight bump on the road, but compared with the previous havoc, it was even enjoyable). From that point on, my journey went hunky-dory.

Get the Freight Out (or GTFO, as it is known in an NSFW acronym) is a game of travel and exploration, for which you need a HUD (there is a free trial version, and a paid more advanced version), where the goal is delivering freight from one point to another. It was created by Rez Gray in 2016, and to this date, many original players are still taking part in what evolved into a vibrant, active community. The player, or operator, gets paid both in XP and G$. You level up as you have

And, of course, you need a vehicle. You may use any supported vehicle to travel by air, road, space, or railroad. If you don’t own any vehicles yet, you may want to visit the HLTAirfield, where you will find a free helicopter to get you going.

Your starting point will be getting the free trial HUD, which you can find at Bruissac Bay. Wear the HUD, ride your vehicle, click the HUD, and that’s when you’ll get the call to start your adventure.

If you think you need more information, you should check the GTFO’s website. Good luck, and happy delivery!