Community Event / Creation Buckyball Racing Club presents: Mid Week Madness - Fly Me To The Moon (19th - 21st July)
- Thread starter AkenBosch
- Start date
The race has officially ended, celebrations are over, Moon Prospect is quickly returning to its quiet routine of low traffic and small trading after the bustling hours of the Moon landing reenactment. It has been a truly amazing exhibition, both from the reenactors carefully approaching and touching down in their original Eagle lander replica and from Buckyball pilots hurtling to the ground in their racing ships, and over it in their 34th century Scarabs!
Representatives from the "Ex Luna, Scientia" society reported that their replica Command Module actually experienced an oxygen tank failure while on orbit, not much dissimilar from the one reported in our historical records of the ancient "Apollo 13" mission: prudently the reenacting crew was equipped with a complete Remlock gear on board, and could complete the requested manoeuvers thanks to the replica's dissimulated micro-fusion attitude controllers. A true testament to the relevance of our current technology, and to the bravery of these ancient men who had nothing to counter such situations but their wits and courage.
The race committee is wrapping up all the material for the final results publication and awarding ceremony, to come later in the day.
Representatives from the "Ex Luna, Scientia" society reported that their replica Command Module actually experienced an oxygen tank failure while on orbit, not much dissimilar from the one reported in our historical records of the ancient "Apollo 13" mission: prudently the reenacting crew was equipped with a complete Remlock gear on board, and could complete the requested manoeuvers thanks to the replica's dissimulated micro-fusion attitude controllers. A true testament to the relevance of our current technology, and to the bravery of these ancient men who had nothing to counter such situations but their wits and courage.
The race committee is wrapping up all the material for the final results publication and awarding ceremony, to come later in the day.
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The Hauler is a very good ship for racing if you know how to outfit it. As it is extremely lightweight (basically just a FSD with some other modules strapped to it wrapped in aluminium foil), you can get over 35ly out of it if you strip it down.
Example build: Note the mostly D-grade modules (lightweight) and the small fuel tank and the lack of shields.
For races that are less focused on jump range and more on docking, the Viper is a very solid ship (although iCourier, iEagle, Eagle with Mods and Cobra are popular choices aswell).
Example
Also if you can get access to Performance Enhanced Thrusters (Outfitting at some Engineer Bases, i.e. Farseer Inc.), pretty much every small ship (grade 2/3 thrusters) will transform into a beast.
The Asp is a very frequently used ship too, as it has a bit more range than the Hauler while being a bit more forgiving, but you'll need around 15-20mil to properly outfit it. It is a good allrounder for other parts of the game though, so not a bad ship to save up for.
The Videos are up:
[video=youtube_share;rsLphtw4xMU]https://youtu.be/rsLphtw4xMU[/video]
[video=youtube_share;YqrnzT0HvpY]https://youtu.be/YqrnzT0HvpY[/video]
[video=youtube_share;YqrnzT0HvpY]https://youtu.be/YqrnzT0HvpY[/video]
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Wall of text
Videos
Open Unlimited
Eagle Lander
Loadout and Route
Power Management (iCourier)
The 2d Powerplant is a bit weak. The heat wasn't as big of a problem as I expected, but the power wasn't enough to run both shields and the Fuel scoop simultaneously, so that needed some juggling.
Procedures:
'Launch'
Sensors off (turns FSD back on)
Takeoff
Leave Station
Shields off (turns Fuel Scoop back on)
Charge FSD
Power to Sys (for faster Shields recharge later)
Distro off (turns Life Support back on)
Jump, Scoop, Charge
Shields on (turns scoop off and charges shields for the docking after the next jump)
Jump, Supercruise to station
Final approach
Distro on (turns Life Support off)
Shields should be online about now
Just before Dropout
Power to engines
Dropout
Sensors on (turns FSD off)
Request docking
Dock
For the planetary approach at the end:
Final approach
Distro on (turns Life Support off)
Power to engines
Dropout
Hangar on (turns FSD, Distro and Sensors off)
Land, deploy SRV
Miscellaneous
Thanks again for organizing Aken B, this has been a very nice event and I've learned quite a bit.
Thanks everyone for participating!
Videos
Open Unlimited
Eagle Lander
Loadout and Route
- As all the legs were between 50 and 70ly, it was possible to do all of them in two jumps with a jumprange above 35.3 ly.
- With the Asp, I managed to do the first leg in one jump thanks to a grade 5 FSD mod. Leg 2 was just at the edge of the Asp's jumprange though and I couldn't find a reasonable loadout that could do it.
- My Courier has a grade 4 FSD upgrade, but the relatively heavy vehicle hangar made some tricks necessary to reach the 35ly mark. I had to downsize the Distributor and Power Plant to 2d to get 34.12ly normal range and then do some fuel management for the last two jumps (35.10Ly Nyanmil ---> Alrai Sector DL-Y d116 and 35.28Ly ===> Turot)
- I didn't want to drop the shields and the Pe Thrusters, so the 2d Powerplant made some power management necessary... The 2d Distro wasn't too much of a problem, because one boost per approach and takeoff is pretty sufficient with Pe Thrusters.
Power Management (iCourier)
The 2d Powerplant is a bit weak. The heat wasn't as big of a problem as I expected, but the power wasn't enough to run both shields and the Fuel scoop simultaneously, so that needed some juggling.
Procedures:
'Launch'
Sensors off (turns FSD back on)
Takeoff
Leave Station
Shields off (turns Fuel Scoop back on)
Charge FSD
Power to Sys (for faster Shields recharge later)
Distro off (turns Life Support back on)
Jump, Scoop, Charge
Shields on (turns scoop off and charges shields for the docking after the next jump)
Jump, Supercruise to station
Final approach
Distro on (turns Life Support off)
Shields should be online about now
Just before Dropout
Power to engines
Dropout
Sensors on (turns FSD off)
Request docking
Dock
For the planetary approach at the end:
Final approach
Distro on (turns Life Support off)
Power to engines
Dropout
Hangar on (turns FSD, Distro and Sensors off)
Land, deploy SRV
Miscellaneous
- The Supercruise approach to Collins Dock allowed for some nice double planetary braking. Unfortunately, I didn't get it right in any of my runs.
- The planet is 0.18g, so very good conditions for flying the SRV. Relatively large hops with hard landings in front of upward slopes worked best for me, although I had a lot of luck in the Open Unlimited Run.
- I'm pretty sure I've forgotten something in this post.
Thanks again for organizing Aken B, this has been a very nice event and I've learned quite a bit.
Thanks everyone for participating!
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If one had the mats lying around, Enhanced Low Power shields and an Overcharged Power Plant could save you some of that trouble possibly (and in the case of the shields, even reduce your mass a bit). The powerplant might have been just too much heat, though.
I intended originally to build Joyeuse as a pure racer, but my use of her as a fast transport (and the associated need to outrun any threat) has pushed her mass upwards more than I would prefer for racing.
The 3A Engine-Focused Power Distributor is just the thing for outrunning pirates, but it's a liability in Buckyball use. I'm considering compromising and downsizing to a 3D when I get my Grade 3 distributor upgrade (as soon as I get some nanobreakers).
Similarly, I find myself running a 3A power plant, because the power demands of grade 3 Dirty Drive Tuning on Enhanced Performance Thrusters are extreme. Downsizing the distributor and getting a better Enhanced Low Power shields mod (currently Grade 1) may help. One luxury of running with the 3A plant is that I can use the Low Emissions mod to offset the massive thermal load of the drive, but the fact is the 3A plant is just too heavy.
Of course, when I get my G5 Increase FSD Range (soon; I'm currently seeking to accumulate enough polonium for several rolls) that may be less of a problem.
Of course, a general-purpose racing build, even as heavily-modded as this one, is not likely to beat a build specialized for a particular race... but she's not meant to.
Essentially, the design goal of Joyeuse is not to win, but to be able to show up at any race and put up respectably fast times.
She's not quite there... yet.
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Thanks, that's some good advice! I haven't spent too much time with mods yet except for FSD Upgrades...
Surprisingly, I had no real heat problems in the Courier despite that awful Powerplant. The main reason was probably that I only had to scoop once per leg.
The Cookiebot-T7 has some Nanobreakers in stock. Drop me a line if you need a few
I think that's the gist of it. I practically always optimize my ships for the race they'll do. I don't have many modded modules yet though, which makes changes both possible and necessary. I really have to focus on getting more diverse Upgrades, so far I've been mainly concerned with putting FSD Upgrades in all the ships I frequently fly...
Thanks, that's some good advice! I haven't spent too much time with mods yet except for FSD Upgrades...
Surprisingly, I had no real heat problems in the Courier despite that awful Powerplant. The main reason was probably that I only had to scoop once per leg.
The Cookiebot-T7 has some Nanobreakers in stock. Drop me a line if you need a few
I think that's the gist of it. I practically always optimize my ships for the race they'll do. I don't have many modded modules yet though, which makes changes both possible and necessary. I really have to focus on getting more diverse Upgrades, so far I've been mainly concerned with putting FSD Upgrades in all the ships I frequently fly...
I've been having fun building a pirate-proof Courier, so I've spent a fair amount of time and effort looking into which mods are best suited to speed.
As for the Nanobreakers, I expect to spend tonight preparing for the A* Challenge run I plan to make tomorrow. After that, if they don't present themselves fairly quickly I might take you up on that.
The final leaderboards are finally here:
In the Open Unlimited class cmdr Cookiehole wins the gold award in his Imperial Courier "Crater Creator", arriving ahead of the competition with a final time of 19:30, followed by a tight margin by the late entry of another Buckyball Racing professional in the person of cmdr Alot, whose time of 19:37 earns him and his Asp Explorer "Big Bird" the silver medal (cmdr Alot couldn't provide a shot of his vessels for time constraints, hence the race committe supposed that a "White Apollo" paintjob was quite fitting with the race theme). The tenacious cmdr Bruski follows them by some distance in another Asp Explorer named "Sugar Glider"; his valiant effort, resulting in a final round time of 26:00 minutes, thus earns him the bronze award.
A special mention for cmdr ZX Spectrum who, in spite of a relatively slow yet respectable time of 39:14, has been the only pilot amongst all the competitors in the class who managed to land the bare hull of his "Moon E" without a single scratch! It seems his motto "The Eagle has pancaked" has been prophetic in an opposite way.
A huge "thank you" to everyone who participated in this race (and who tried but finally couldn't). I hope you enjoyed it, I surely enjoyed seeing you all getting a shot at it!
I apologize for any mistake I may have made in the planning and execution of my first hosted event (notably those grey areas about the SRV screens and hull damage penalty rule), let me know of anything that may have let you down, critics and suggestions are always equally welcome.
See you all at the next races
Fly fast, possibly unsafe, preferably hot. But fast above all else.
o7
In the Open Unlimited class cmdr Cookiehole wins the gold award in his Imperial Courier "Crater Creator", arriving ahead of the competition with a final time of 19:30, followed by a tight margin by the late entry of another Buckyball Racing professional in the person of cmdr Alot, whose time of 19:37 earns him and his Asp Explorer "Big Bird" the silver medal (cmdr Alot couldn't provide a shot of his vessels for time constraints, hence the race committe supposed that a "White Apollo" paintjob was quite fitting with the race theme). The tenacious cmdr Bruski follows them by some distance in another Asp Explorer named "Sugar Glider"; his valiant effort, resulting in a final round time of 26:00 minutes, thus earns him the bronze award.
__________________________________________________
In the Eagle Lander class the gold award is yet again cmdr Cookiehole's territory, who dominates the board by some margin with an astounding time of 27:03 made in his sleek-red racer "Momentum Conservation". Competition was tighter this time between 2nd and 3rd place, conquered respectively by two others venerable Buckyball veterans going by the names of furrycat, in his cold white "In Other Worlds" with a time of 29:13, and Seneh with his military green "Challenger", closing only 30 seconds later.
A special mention for cmdr ZX Spectrum who, in spite of a relatively slow yet respectable time of 39:14, has been the only pilot amongst all the competitors in the class who managed to land the bare hull of his "Moon E" without a single scratch! It seems his motto "The Eagle has pancaked" has been prophetic in an opposite way.
A huge "thank you" to everyone who participated in this race (and who tried but finally couldn't
). I hope you enjoyed it, I surely enjoyed seeing you all getting a shot at it!I apologize for any mistake I may have made in the planning and execution of my first hosted event (notably those grey areas about the SRV screens and hull damage penalty rule), let me know of anything that may have let you down, critics and suggestions are always equally welcome.
See you all at the next races
Fly fast, possibly unsafe, preferably hot. But fast above all else.
o7
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Thanks to CMDR AkenB for hosting this excellent and entertaining race. It was great fun.
Too bad Alec couldn't join in.
Congratulations to the winners. Your plaques are well deserved.
Not that it'll do me much good, but how is 28:36 faster than 28:08 ? Unless I've misunderstood the scoring rules
Too bad Alec couldn't join in.
Congratulations to the winners. Your plaques are well deserved.
Not that it'll do me much good, but how is 28:36 faster than 28:08 ? Unless I've misunderstood the scoring rules
wow, those medals are great. wish i'd had time for another run - and was a lot better at SRV driving!
thanks for the race Aken. it was great fun.
if you're not fryin', you're not tryin'
<-lightspeed->
Not that it'll do me much good, but how is 28:36 faster than 28:08 ? Unless I've misunderstood the scoring rules
Welp! That's some big brainfart you found over there!
Sorry, even if it won't do you much good I'll update the correct one asap, for sake of correctness(essessess).
SRV hull is a consumable.
Especially with those stupid rocks you really can't avoid it when driving fast
SRV hull is a consumable.
Especially with those stupid rocks you really can't avoid it when driving fast
I certainly tend to treat it that way when prospecting. I tend to burn hull faster than fuel. It helps me use up the massive piles of iron and nickel, I guess.
cheers for the advice. Gonna be online later tonight to get my affairs in order for the Buckbubble endurance race. Haven't mixed with the engineers yet will look up farseer inc and other such related locations (keep forgetting they're out there somewhere, keep forgetting about them entirely to be honest.). I've wanted myself an asp ever since I got a cobra (want to keep them both, as I traded my eagle for the cobra and have been aiming to own at least two ships in the game, but I'll definitely take stock of the other options as I don't know how much time I'll be able to put into the game this weekend (definitely less than I at first thought what with real life trying it's best to get in the way
.).thanks again for such detailed advice, and the video links. will be watching them shortly.
It may be belated. but congrats to all those that made the board and those that topped it. Enjoyed the event immensely, will try to a be regular fixture to the competitor list for any event, even if I don't stack up to the others being green as grass when it comes shedding weight, modding and piloting for a race
It may be belated. but congrats to all those that made the board and those that topped it. Enjoyed the event immensely, will try to a be regular fixture to the competitor list for any event, even if I don't stack up to the others being green as grass when it comes shedding weight, modding and piloting for a race
Happy to hear that. Welcome to the BRC!
The beauty with these races is that they really make you a better pilot. There are a lot of techniques and small tips and tweaks that enable you to fly faster no matter in which situation and the practice and experience from pushing the limits is just priceless.
Oh, and I guess it's fun aswell
If you haven't seen it already and want to read more, I can recommend the Buckyball Flight Academy for some guides and resources.
cheers for the link, and the encouraging good words. will definitely give it a look see. watched your first vid, a real testament on your statement about better piloting. There was a point where you were selecting a destination while steering away from a sun that gave me the heebies(takes me back to the first day playing the game up at my friends and he let me jump to another system without telling me I'd meet the fiery face of god at the other end.)I'm still very much a visual confirmation kind of pilot myself. That method you used to turn your ship around when parking on the armstrong(I think it was the armstrong.) was priceless, and your work in the SRV was gob smacking to say the least (or at least compared to my down time rubber banding my way across the crust of most planets.).
. That method you used to turn your ship around when parking on the armstrong(I think it was the armstrong.) was priceless, and your work in the SRV was gob smacking to say the least (or at least compared to my down time rubber banding my way across the crust of most planets.).When you follow cookiehole's advice, you are following the absolute top. Take a look at the recap of past events' leaderboards, and count how many times there are cookies at the top of them: he's one the BRC aces for a reason!