Community Event / Creation Buckyball Run A*: What do you do when a mountain is there? Move it.

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Anuranium

Anuranium
CMDR Andrew Dermott said:
That would be awesome.
I'm not above reading a 126 page thread, but it's going to take a while.

I've read the "navigating near the core" advice thread. Sounds like my biggest concern going in is actually making sure I'm near enough scoopable stars that I don't end up going cold..? Be a shame to lose my Scout.
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If you are trimming the fuel tank, the ungodly sea of Aucocks is your biggest concern in my opinion. If you leave the tank be, well, I did 150LY yesterday with mine, without refuelling a single drop. However, there is always the question of range above fuel-tank if you are going for a record-run ;)
 

Raiko

Raiko
CMDR Andrew Dermott said:
That would be awesome.
I'm not above reading a 126 page thread, but it's going to take a while.

I've read the "navigating near the core" advice thread. Sounds like my biggest concern going in is actually making sure I'm near enough scoopable stars that I don't end up going cold..? Be a shame to lose my Scout.
Click to expand...

Anuranium said:
If you are trimming the fuel tank, the ungodly sea of Aucocks is your biggest concern in my opinion. If you leave the tank be, well, I did 150LY yesterday with mine, without refuelling a single drop. However, there is always the question of range above fuel-tank if you are going for a record-run ;)
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Personally I'd say that if you fancy going for a record run, then it's probably best to have a 'safe' run first, get there and back, sell all that exploration data, learn about the unique navigation problems of both the core and the badlands between galactic arms, and then plan for your record-shot.

If it gains you nothing else, then at least the first run will fund the essential and expensive A6 scoop for an Asp, and the nav problem that hits you in the core (just when you're really tired, but were in a great jump-scoop-jump routine) is worse than you ever expect it to be.

Most of the top times now are from CMDRs who were on their second/third/fourth run.

Incidentally, I did a short speed run last night (I had less than 30 minutes play-time available) and if my results are repeatable then I might not need to throw in the towel after all if one of the Asp times is below 10 hours. :D
 

Alec Turner

Alec Turner
Raiko said:
Most of the top times now are from CMDRs who were on their second/third/fourth run.
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This is an interesting point actually - EZ, do you have the data (or indeed the inclination) to modify the big board to highlight each player's first A* Buckyball Run in any class whatsoever? This is obviously a desperate and rather shabby attempt by yours truly to try and claw back some small glimmer of glory from a rapidly falling grid position but I do think there's a certain validity in comparing first runs. No? Just me? I'll get my coat ... slinks off in shame.
 
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Brayzure

B
Raiko said:
Personally I'd say that if you fancy going for a record run, then it's probably best to have a 'safe' run first, get there and back, sell all that exploration data, learn about the unique navigation problems of both the core and the badlands between galactic arms, and then plan for your record-shot.

If it gains you nothing else, then at least the first run will fund the essential and expensive A6 scoop for an Asp, and the nav problem that hits you in the core (just when you're really tired, but were in a great jump-scoop-jump routine) is worse than you ever expect it to be.

Most of the top times now are from CMDRs who were on their second/third/fourth run.

Incidentally, I did a short speed run last night (I had less than 30 minutes play-time available) and if my results are repeatable then I might not need to throw in the towel after all if one of the Asp times is below 10 hours. :D
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On the topic of speedruns, I'm curious as to how additional fuel tank(s) affect your time. I'm personally going to be attempting my run with a 64T capacity very shortly (within the hour), but the way I see it is I can plot the next 375LY stretch while I'm fueling. And of course, once you're half empty, it's as if you have a full stock tank. :)
 

Raiko

Raiko
Brayzure said:
On the topic of speedruns, I'm curious as to how additional fuel tank(s) affect your time. I'm personally going to be attempting my run with a 64T capacity very shortly (within the hour), but the way I see it is I can plot the next 375LY stretch while I'm fueling. And of course, once you're half empty, it's as if you have a full stock tank. :)
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Heading coreward I don't think a huge fuel tank is ever necessary, certainly in Asps/Condas/T6's that can refuel fast. It might be worthwhile in the 2 Diamondbacks as you'll be able to take a lower number of 'big drinks' where you are almost constantly at maximum refuel rate.

The massive extra tanks are only really useful for explorers trying to chart the big badlands areas. They're also probably good for CMDRs who are 'farming' the neutron star fields. They're much more useful heading rimwards, although the hit on jump range will be a double edged sword there as well.

By the way, since I'm miles away from the core (miles as in tens of thousands of lightyears) and can't check for myself, please could you tell me whether it's possible to 'switch off' an extra fuel tank via the modules panel?
 
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Brayzure

B
Raiko said:
Heading coreward I don't think a huge fuel tank is ever necessary, certainly in Asps/Condas/T6's that can refuel fast. It might be worthwhile in the 2 Diamondbacks as you'll be able to take a lower number of 'big drinks' where you are almost constantly at maximum refuel rate.

The massive extra tanks are only really useful for explorers trying to chart the big badlands areas. They're also probably good for CMDRs who are 'farming' the neutron star fields. They're much more useful heading rimwards, although the hit on jump range will be a double edged sword there as well.

By the way, since I'm miles away from the core (miles as in tens of thousands of lightyears) and can't check for myself, please could you tell me whether it's possible to 'switch off' an extra fuel tank via the modules panel?
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The fuel tank does not even show up as an active module, so that answers that question. :p Fuel tanks themselves don't have any mass, so if the extra mass bothers you, you can always fuel up to half full each time.
 

Raiko

Raiko
Brayzure said:
The fuel tank does not even show up as an active module, so that answers that question. :p Fuel tanks themselves don't have any mass, so if the extra mass bothers you, you can always fuel up to half full each time.
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Never mind. :(

No, I was actually thinking of using a 4t main tank and several extra tanks of various sizes when next out exploring the rim. Then I could switch tanks on and off to get the right combination of number of jumps vs range. I know that I can do the same thing by switching scoops on and off, but it's less precise and I might need to retrace my steps.

I'm heading for the rim now and will be using the 'fill half a tank' method when necessary, but I'd hoped that the new tanks would make it easier for future expeditions. In a commercial airliner or military jet you can switch tanks on or off, so I'd been wondering if ED let you. Thanks. :)
 

Brayzure

B
Well, this is embarrassing. After trekking 1.3kLY out, I remembered that I forgot to take my outfitting screenshot. Currently heading back ;-;

EDIT: I didn't realize Chance- linked the stream... Anyway, back at Lomas, screenshotting and leaving now.
 
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Rankaze

Rankaze
Raiko said:
Personally I'd say that if you fancy going for a record run, then it's probably best to have a 'safe' run first, get there and back, sell all that exploration data, learn about the unique navigation problems of both the core and the badlands between galactic arms, and then plan for your record-shot.

If it gains you nothing else, then at least the first run will fund the essential and expensive A6 scoop for an Asp, and the nav problem that hits you in the core (just when you're really tired, but were in a great jump-scoop-jump routine) is worse than you ever expect it to be.
Click to expand...

Eh, if I had taken this approach, to be honest, i'd never have done it. Blocking out the time for a single run was difficult enough.

I did do a few 1000-LY sprints in testing to establish what a realistic time estimate was and get practiced at faster scoop -》 jump transitions , but that's all the rehearsal I did, and my record stood for a couple of weeks at least.
 

Ekol Tieja

Ekol Tieja
Congrats CMDR's! If any of you want some help with an extra camera angle from a recently crowned imperial Earl, let me know.
I'm hanging out at Sadge right about now.
Brayzure said:
After trekking 1.3kLY out, I remembered that I forgot to take my outfitting screenshot. Currently heading back
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ouch... that must have been terrible..:eek:
 
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robinjb

robinjb
Its all part of buckyball a* initiation to just go for it then spend agonising hours trying to plot in the core.
of course if you set out looking for a good time 1st run, youd have read up about all the other cmdrs problems so you could learn from them.. right? ;)

on another note how can we help EZ start bb8 off, the sadge run is such a massive time sink, I miss the 30 minuters. make it so. ill send you money. ;)
or even a B race to barnards loop and back or something.. 2-3K isn't it.
 
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serraphix

serraphix
Here are some selfies with Chance. Doing 'acrobatic' space stuff.

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651F81DFA6414B3205B6E7E5271063B2C2293441
 

Rankaze

Rankaze
robinjb said:
Its all part of buckyball a* initiation to just go for it then spend agonising hours trying to plot in the core.
of course if you set out looking for a good time 1st run, youd have read up about all the other cmdrs problems so you could learn from them.. right? ;)

on another note how can we help EZ start bb8 off, the sadge run is such a massive time sink, I miss the 30 minuters. make it so. ill send you money. ;)
or even a B race to barnards loop and back or something.. 2-3K isn't it.
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I'm looking forward to some BBR8, but right now would be a really bad time for me... having trouble squeezing in much play time at all right now. Hopefully things will settle down soon.

That said, the temptation to do the A* run with a Courier over July 4 weekend is starting to poke at me. I'm trying to hammer it down, though, since the most likely outcome would be lots of fireworks when I melt my ship trying to fast-scoop in a Courier. ..
 

Raiko

Raiko
Rankaze said:
Eh, if I had taken this approach, to be honest, i'd never have done it. Blocking out the time for a single run was difficult enough.

I did do a few 1000-LY sprints in testing to establish what a realistic time estimate was and get practiced at faster scoop -》 jump transitions , but that's all the rehearsal I did, and my record stood for a couple of weeks at least.
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I understand totally, as I've mentioned before I've got a huge family and my gaming PC is normally plugged into the living room TV, so both my runs involved setting off around midnight on a Saturday night during holiday weekends (and borrowing my daughter's PC monitor for the run).

Thats also why it takes me so damn long to get back to the bubble - I have no idea why I decided to undertake some deep space exploration on the way back this time! Lol.

You've got to admit though, NASA have launched actual real-life space missions with shorter pre-flight planning phases than your Buckyball run! ;););););););) (lots of smilies, so you know that I'm joking. :))

I was just thinking that since the newsletter quite a few eager racers have declared that they're racing and set off immediately, so I thought it was worth pointing out that if they end up lower on the table than they hoped that all is not lost - my first run was 25hrs. :)
 
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