The Buckyball Racing Club Presents: Close Encounters of the Bucky Kind (Swift-16 Championship, Race 8)

Ozric

Volunteer Moderator
I wish I could take a video of what I'm experiencing.
I had the exact same experience wit an IEagle, a Hauler, an Adder, a Python and an Alliance Challenger. The rotational correction only seems to set in once I enter the mailslot.
Just a quick down and dirty one of me approaching a station from an angle. Use forward thrust initially, then swap to lateral thrusters. I try to set myself up dead centre on the station but it's nigh on impossible and watch it spin a bit. Then go forwards to show where rotational correction kicks in, while trying not to get blown up.

You can see if it's what you are experiencing. Bearing in mind I fly FAOn
Source: https://youtu.be/oqMrhgtpTHE

You can see a couple of times, especially when I stop just outside the mailslot it does look like the station is moving upwards. But because of the shape of the station and the central point it rotates around, and me not being in the dead centre of that axis line, it is more a trick of the eye than anything else.
 
There have been times when I've been hanging around a station taking screenshots and they only rotate about the one axis.
There used to be a couple of people who made time-lapse footage of them and it could be seen there as well.
Noobhammers would be even worse if the stations rotated about multiple axes!
 

Ozric

Volunteer Moderator
As far as I can remember, when I started playing, FAOn was the default setting. That was back in '22.
Yeah it's always been the default setting because you'd have to be a lunatic to want to lean to fly FAOff :D But if you are crazy enough, then in the long run you would be a far better pilot.
 
Yeah it's always been the default setting because you'd have to be a lunatic to want to lean to fly FAOff :D But if you are crazy enough, then in the long run you would be a far better pilot.
I'm not entirely sure it it would be feasible with my old controller...
Maybe in space, in combat or so... It is something I intend to try some time...
 
Even flying FA on it's useful at times. When you exit a station and the jump is behind you you can boost, FA off to turn around and start the FSD spooling up as soon as it's available. Then switch FA on again and boost towards the jump just in time to make the speed requirement as the countdown starts. It's a good way to get started on utilising FA off and get used too it.

Basic knowledge I (maybe wrongly) assumed:
The fastest way to get out of mass lock of a station is a straight line away from the center of the station, never change direction of travel before getting out of masslock (FA off lets you turn the ship without doing this).
 
I use the latter with the only proviso being if the location is entirely 180 degrees behind when I will slightly angle over.
 
Even flying FA on it's useful at times. When you exit a station and the jump is behind you you can boost, FA off to turn around and start the FSD spooling up as soon as it's available. Then switch FA on again and boost towards the jump just in time to make the speed requirement as the countdown starts. It's a good way to get started on utilising FA off and get used too it.
That sounds like an idea. I just need to find a button combo that is easy to use and difficult to fumble. And remember where I put it...

I had done the same with FA on and it worked quite well, as the boost-widened arch would move me out of the gravity lock.
 
Basic knowledge I (maybe wrongly) assumed:
The fastest way to get out of mass lock of a station is a straight line away from the center of the station, never change direction of travel before getting out of masslock (FA off lets you turn the ship without doing this).
From the physics point of view the station should work as a point - gravity kind of. One could make a hyperspace jump next to an orbis station (https://elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/Orbis) if just flewn far away from the "landing - pad - room", where the point of gravity is kind of located, to the end of the station.

Flying only FA-OFF I often change angles when leaving the station - the beauty of the vector speed does not cost me anything of time when I go further from the station with overlapping angles. I have prooven this for me by how othen I can boost till I can jump.
If it's how you learnt to fly, it would be all you knew. You might end up as good as Sanderling :D
Speaking of learning to fly - I used Moxen Wolf - Flight Assist Off Training videos.

But I have to remark - going FA-OFF costs you a lot sometimes!
  • getting your ship on the landing pad is much more difficult cause you need to find the perfect millimeter in positioning
  • taking a corner is hard if you go with a ship with weak lateral thrusters; cornering you ship from the side through the slot in FA ON is a holiday tour in comparisson to going FA OFF in a Cutter for example (doing the sanderlings - cargo scoop + boost - trick helps, thought)
  • otherwise changing vectors, even in the blue zone, is a pain in the a... this is why, I do the changing early after leaving the station and work with constant boost + lateral thrust to alaign myself to the jump, using the space - dust animation to figure out which direction I am facing.

No matter how hard - I will stay FA OFF only - and orbit lines off, too! Cause it costs the beauty of the universe in my eyes ;)
 
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My runs. I've been playing with Resolve for the first time and trying different export settings. If folk watch could you let me know if you notice quality difference in the 2 vids? Cheers.

Source: https://youtu.be/xSTpHbN_cp4
Thanks for sharing! Always great to see a run one can learn something from!
The gravity braking with that substantial angle to the target seems even quicker than the more shallow helix I was used to from a couple of years ago. The basic prinicple seems to be the same, but with more like 60° to the target compared to maybe 30° (reminds me to use my head tracker more often). Does anybody have some comparison data on that?
And it looks like you are able to accomodate an extra boost towards the mailslot in the Cobra by doing turns or s-turns for deceleration, then doing a final course correction using the boost + landing gear trick. That's brilliant! I've somehow come to tell myself that I can't boost more than once because I won't decelerate in time. Seem's like thinking only in a straight line isn't very effective :D
 
Thanks for sharing! Always great to see a run one can learn something from!
Well that's a compliment coming from you, thank you!
and awesome to see you made the race!

The gravity braking with that substantial angle to the target seems even quicker than the more shallow helix I was used to from a couple of years ago. The basic prinicple seems to be the same, but with more like 60° to the target compared to maybe 30° (reminds me to use my head tracker more often). Does anybody have some comparison data on that?
The helix on that run could/should have been tighter, the target was usually too high. Obviously I can't complain given the result but I wasn't finding the Cobra rythym like I have in previous races.

The only comparisons I have are run to run times, holding 2s with a bigger angle is definitely faster than 3s with a shallower angle, I usually expect to be 5-10s faster per approach between a scouting run with 3s approach vs race runs with 2s approaches.

This is timestamped to a good example from a previous race of a Cobra spiral that doesn't really need headlook and is still competitive:
Source: https://youtu.be/l4TA4vyTTCc?t=176


Also, @Shaye Blackwood might have more/better data on the comparison.

And it looks like you are able to accomodate an extra boost towards the mailslot in the Cobra by doing turns or s-turns for deceleration, then doing a final course correction using the boost + landing gear trick. That's brilliant! I've somehow come to tell myself that I can't boost more than once because I won't decelerate in time. Seem's like thinking only in a straight line isn't very effective :D
The endless loops at Pareco were good practice 😄
3 boosts to the front of the slot, 1 boost with landing gear going through inside as long as there's an angle to take off the speed with.
I sometimes go with 2 to slot front as I miss the boost timing or I'm rerequesting pads, trying to squeeze one in then usually means I get close and personal with the toast rack, or just don't have a boost ready and sail on by 😆
 
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Everybody will have errors.

The difference between the apprentice and the master is how they handle them:
  • The Apprentice will make mistakes
  • The Journeyman will make fewer mistakes
  • The Master corrects their errors before they become mistakes
Masters are a rare breed.
But then again, the borders in between these ranks are fluid.
 
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