Community Event / Creation Buckyball Racing Club presents: The Mischief Mile (5.12 - 13.12)

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Can you fly across the most populated part of the galaxy without running out of fuel? Do you know where the Fuel Rat Mischief is based? Where do most Commanders run out of fuel in the galaxy? All these questions will be answered with this rat race from one side of civilised space to the other.


Final Leaderboard

Regulars
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Crazies!
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THE EVENT IS NOW OVER - CLOSED FOR ENTRIES

Welcome Commanders! This is the fourth week-long warm-up race, designed to be a short diversion from everyday trucking, hunting and exploring.

I'll be hosting the event from the cockpit of my faithful T6, although you will have to excuse any delay with the comms as I am currently somewhere in the core, heading away from Weyl Gateway as fast as I can. It turns out Fat Tony doesn't have a sense of humour - who knew I was only to deliver the products in the Bootlegger Challenge, not actually use them at the spa with Mrs Lonnegan? I am not sure if it was drinking all the Mega Gin or giving Carmela a sensual massage with Herculis Body Rub that tipped him over the edge...so I thought it would be a good time to see the rest of the galaxy.

Anyway, the race was inspired by a visit to the Rat Cave - home of the Fuel Rats. Those of you who like a bit of back story, read away, otherwise skip straight into the details of the race.

I sat down at a table in a dark corner, towards the back and overlooking most of the Rat Cave.

"Hey Rusti, long time no see."

I turned to the sound of the voice and noticed that I wasn't alone at my table - there was a figure sat in the deepest shadow, keeping a watchful eye on the rats in the cave.

"Hey SB! Just the Rat I wanted to see."

"What’s up?" the dark figure replied.

"I am heading out on a long journey, so won't be doing many rescues until I am back. Actually, I won't be taking any limpets as I want to keep the weight down to maximise my jump range. I'll make sure I keep connected to the mischief through ship comms, just won't be firing any limpets for a while."

Surly Badger nodded, the movement barely visible in the shadows.

"No problem Rusti, we have plenty of young, keen Rats to keep the limpets flowing. In fact, I overheard a couple of them talking when I came in", Surly chuckled and continued "They were arguing if you could fly across the width of the galaxy without a fuel scoop."

I snorted "The width of the galaxy...as in 80,000 Light years?"

"Yeah, I don't think they have been out much. I think they meant the bubble, one side of populated space to the other. What is it? About 400 Light Years?"

"Something like that. And it would be easy nowadays with extra fuel tanks and stuff."

Surly Badger sighed "I guess it would be."

"Anyway, I need to find Orange Sheets to let him know I'll be absent for a while and then I want to get going. Laters SB."

"Fly safe Commander."

I got up and headed through the cave to the front, passing Alec the holographic bar tender serving strong coffee to the Rat in the dispatch chair. Looking up I saw it was DerryBear, running dispatch on several rescues at once.

"Hey Uncle Rusti! How’s the rocking chair?"

I smiled and replied "Gonna need someone to keep it warm. I’m heading out on a walkabout."

"Well take some limpets and drop them at stations out near the edge of the bubble on your way out. I've been getting reports that there has been a shortage out in the frontier systems"

Nodding I said "I'll see what I can do. See you later Derry."

A little later I was sat in the cockpit of my Lakon Type 6 Exploration ship, waiting for the docking clamps to release so I could start my journey. I decided to make one last call before I left.

"Hey Drakhyr! I have an idea for a race..."

The basic principle is to fly as fast as you can from one side of populated space to the other, paying a visit to the Fuel Rat’s home system of Fuelum and the systems that see the most rescues. About 400 Light Years. Sounds easy doesn't it?

There are a couple of catches.
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No Fuel Scoop.

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No extra fuel tanks.
This means that you may need to find a fuel source as you make this journey across the bubble. There are plenty of outposts, stations and, of course, Fuel Rats that could help you out.

The route is reversible, so you can start at either Hooke Hub in Tepech or Ocampo Station in Mirateje but you must always visit Wollheim Vision in Fuelum (official home of the Fuel Rats), NLTT 48288 (most popular place in the galaxy to run out of fuel) and MCC 811 (second most likely place to run out of fuel). You finish at either Tepech or Mirateje, depending where you started.

Bonus Snickers
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Fuel Rats love Snickers, almost as much as they love Limpets. So for an extra challenge, why not deliver some Limpets to Mirateje? This will require you to start at Hooke Hub in Tepech and collect a fixed number of Limpets (see tables below) from Wollheim Vision and deliver them to Ocampo Station in Mirateje. Bonus Snickers are not eligible when starting from Mirateje and entering the Bonus Snickers is optional.

Ship Classes
The distances between the race checkpoints means that the ships split into two classes – Fuel Rat Regulars that can make most of the distances without needing extra fuel and Fuel Rat Crazies that will need to make additional stops for fuel (ideal if you feel the need to dent more stations or receive more limpets).

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Note that the Asp and Diamondback Explorers have reduced fuel tanks from a standard build!

Leaderboard

There will be one leaderboard during the race, but three sets of podiums at the end – Fuel Rat Regulars, Fuel Rat Crazies and Bonus Snickers. There may be a special mention for the Commander delivering the most Limpets during the course of the week…if anyone delivers any at all!

How to enter
1. Get to Hooke Hub in Tepech or Ocampo Station in Mirateje. Make repairs, fill with fuel, and ensure your ship is outfitted exactly how you want it for the race.
2. Open the Outfitting screen and capture a screenshot (F10) of your ship. Be sure to capture Power Plant, Thrusters, Frame Shift Drive and Power Distributor statistics as well as your ship's mass.
3. Return to the surface and prepare for launch.
4. Hit F10 to take another screenshot, or start your video capture, showing your start location and time.
5. Call at the following systems, in any order. At each one, take a screenshot on the landing pad (Wollheim Vision) or the Galaxy Map (NLTT 48288 and MCC 811).

  • Wollheim Vision in Fuelum
  • NLTT 48288
  • MCC 811

NOTE: if doing a Bonus Snickers run you will need to take an extra screenshot of your Cargo screen (from the right panel) when you have purchased limpets in Wollheim Vision)

6. Get to your finish station (Hooke Hub or Ocampo Station), taking another screenshot on arrival.
7. Send a PM to me (mw_aurora), or email rusticolus <at> buckyballracing <dot> org <dot> uk, with the following:

  • Forum user name
  • Commander name (i.e. your in-game name)
  • Ship name
  • Ship type
  • Race entry class (open play, solo or private group)
  • Bonus Snickers Entry (Yes/No)
  • Refuel method (Station or Limpets)
  • Race time
  • Either a link to your video, or a link to your screenshots. There should be 6 screenshots in total: outfitting; start; 3 x waypoints; finish. Or 7 if doing the Bonus Snickers.

For guidance on what to capture on screenshots, see the How to Enter page of the Buckyball Racing Club website.

Rules and Stuff

  • Race starts 00:01 on 5th December and finishes 23:59 on 13th December.
  • Fastest time wins.
  • You can enter with multiple ship classes.
  • Sorry, what happens in Beta stays in Beta - entries must be in the released version.
  • No Fuel Scoops are allowed.
  • Do not exceed the maximum amount of fuel allowed per ship class.
  • Wings are allowed but you must not use Wingman Navlock to drop out of Super-Cruise at a station or outpost.
  • It is good form to state your intent to race on this thread, but not required.
  • Have fun and fly fast.
 
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Notice of intent to race.

Cmdr: Alec Turner
Ship type: unknown Asp Explorer
Ship name: unknown The Wedding Anniversary
Entry class: Open
Refuel method: probably station (unless anyone fancies doing a pair of runs around 6am UK time one day next week where we alternate on fuel rat/tanker duty for each other*)
Other details: unknown

* I'm guessing simply running out of fuel and then lighting the Ratsignal would be a) slow and b) frowned upon
 
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Good to see some early entries coming in, and nice to know Kerenn is watching from afar :)

I have updated the post with the ship class tables, and noted that the Asp and Diamondback Explorers need to run with a smaller than standard tank (thank you Alec for catching that dropped ball :D ).

5.5 hours to launch!

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

I'm guessing simply running out of fuel and then lighting the Ratsignal would be a) slow and b) frowned upon

Slow - yes, but I am sure the rats would love the extra paperwork to file ;)
 
Intent to race, though I'm not quite sure yet exactly when (probably mid-week before I'm back from exploring).
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Cmdr name: Edelgard von Rhein
Open Play
station refuelling (hopefully)
.
Fuel Rat Regular:
ship type: Cobra Mk 3
ship name: Null Geodesic
.
Fuel Rat Crazies:
ship type: Imperial Eagle
ship name: Toya
possibility of bonus snickers! (will decide later)
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I was a bit disappointed that I didn't find the time to fly my Imperial Eagle in the Kessel Run, so if I have a chance to make another attempt I shall be taking it out on this course. Like the 'Null Geodesic', I bought it purely for racing and it was the ship that really helped me to get the hang of gravity braking during the Bump 'n Grind Outpost Dash, so I want to see how far up the leaderboard she'll take me this time!
A quick limpets question: can you buy them without having a limpet controller? Also, how do you sell them (I tried this once after switching mining loadouts in my Python and in the end had to discard them)?
 
No scoops allowed... This ought to be fun! How many people will light the Ratsignal, and how many will just self-destruct in shame...?

CMDR Mangel
Reckless Abandon
Hauler
Open
Station fueling (if I don't wind up refueling by Fuel Rat...)
Snickers for life.

Do note, you need to have a controller to buy/sell limpets. Sell them in the same screen you buy them.
 
Cmdr: ElectricZ
Ship type: Asp
Ship name: Shipwrecked and Comatose
Entry class: Open
Refuel method: 1.75L bottle of Jack Daniel's
Other details: Heading out to Tepech tonight, gonna grab a full load of limpets and Snickers for the trip, gonna try not to dip into either store for the race, we'll see how it goes.

Though as I pointed out on #ratchat, somebody's got a foil-wrapped lunch/science experiment in the back of the fridge in the Fuel Rat breakroom at Wollheim and if it goes on for another week or so its about to achieve sentience. Someone should check in on it...
 
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Welcome everyone and make sure you polish any Limpets you carry - the shinier the better :)

On purchasing Limpets - thanks for the reminder Mangel - you need to fit a controller of some description (Fuel would be appropriate, and there is a 1D variant for those who worry about weight) and you buy and sell Limpets on the Ammo screen. You need the controller fitted to be able to buy and sell Limpets (most Rats learn this one the hard way...often repeatedly).

On calling the Fuel Rats for fuel - it would be faster and lead to less complaints from concerned citizens, at the frivolous waste of a valuable service, if you organise any refuelling...off the books. Several of the BRC regulars are also Fuel Rats and can put you in touch with a willing pro-fueller if required...or even offer to fuel you themselves. Although they may not be as quick, especially if you are just behind/in-front of them on the board :D

EDIT: And those planning on running with an Asp or DBX - note the reduced tank size requirement. I don't want to have to reject any entries due to not reading the fine print ;)
 
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Courier standard build is 8T fuel. The table shows an allowance of 4T with no annotation as with the Asp and DBX. Is it intentionally limited?
 
Courier standard build is 8T fuel. The table shows an allowance of 4T with no annotation as with the Asp and DBX. Is it intentionally limited?

No, that was intentional to check people were reading the fine print. Or I am just an idiot.

Expect an updated table.

Expect me to get people to proof read this stuff in any future events I organise.
 
No, that was intentional to check people were reading the fine print. Or I am just an idiot.

Expect an updated table.

Expect me to get people to proof read this stuff in any future events I organise.

While you're double checking things, is the number of limpets right for the different Federal ships? The dropship is the one with the most cargo space, normally...
 
Intent to race! Have to get back from the Core before that though.
Details on ship(s) and class(es) will probably follow as soon as I get my hands on a inside-the-bubble-ship again.

No scoops will mean less molten ships but maybe more police viper engine pod integrity checks... :D
 
While you're double checking things, is the number of limpets right for the different Federal ships? The dropship is the one with the most cargo space, normally...

The number of Limpets is correct because the FAS has a slightly longer range than the other two. Well, when I say it is correct, this is based on coriolis.io so I could still be wrong ;)
 
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The number of Limpets is correct because the FAS has a slightly longer range than the other two. Well, when I say it is correct, this is based on coriolis.io so I could still be wrong ;)

Ah, OK.

As it happens I'm not actually planning to use my Dropship for the race. Instead it will be my trusty Cobra :)

Commander name: Samwell Drakhyr
Ship name: Back of Beyond
Ship type: Cobra mkIII
Race class: open (no snickers at this time)
Refuel method: station
 
What if, due to piracy or muscle memory forcing you to surf stars even though you have no scoop, you were to lose some limpets?

Also what, other than bragging rights, is the bonus imparted by delivering limpets?

DBX is likely to be my choice for this event. It's just a question of refitting the Black Riband again or buying a different different colour vessel for the race.
 
What if, due to piracy or muscle memory forcing you to surf stars even though you have no scoop, you were to lose some limpets?

You won't be eligible for a finish on the Bonus Snickers podium, as you need to deliver the Limpets. Looking for CMDR honesty here as...

Also what, other than bragging rights, is the bonus imparted by delivering limpets?

...it is all just for fun and bragging rights. And the chance to be on the Bonus Snickers podium :)
 
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