Community Event / Creation Buckyball Racing Club presents: Tunnel Vision (25.02.3303 - 06.03.3303)
- Thread starter Alec Turner
- Start date
I had the same brainfart until Cmdr Bruski mentioned it
I claim tunnel madness got to us all
Funnily enough when I saw Bruski's comment about hull reinforcements my first thought was ... damn, I should have banned those from use in the joker run.
Hmmm, if I did that then I could get Polly's Python back onto the podium!
http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/e/e2/Cartoons-_00426962.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/320?cb=20141229175211
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Nice thinking. Too bad I always read the rules closely.
To be fair, I think not outlawing them makes larger ships possible. I couldn't have afforded to even try the python the 5 or 6 times I did otherwise. One crash without them was enough.
(4M)And they do add the disadvantage of weight. I guess it depends on whether you want to focus more on strategy (allowing them) or pure piloting skill (barring them).
Oh no, beaten by a Type-7
But she's NOT a Type-7 like all the others. All hail the Cow!
[big grin]
MLF time bonus aside, you still completed the run more than half a minute faster than me
There's also another factor that really has not been accounted for on the board, but surely had its weight: engineering. I can imagine that not everyone had the possibility to fully engineer their ship to the maximum potential, so a L5 engine/fsd tuned AspX (for example) clearly had an advantage over a L2-3 engineered build, not even mentioning a non-engineered one. My T7 is currently equipped with L3 dirty tuning on engines (393 m/s boost), and L3 on fsd range (32/33 ly unladen) because it's about the best I can afford. I'm doing guesswork here, but probably a full L5 tuning could hurl the T7 well over 450 m/s boost and 40 ly range...one day
...I'm doing guesswork here, but probably a full L5 tuning could hurl the T7 well over 450 m/s boost and 40 ly range...one day
Precisework (assuming perfect rolls, which of course won't happen)
433m/s boost and 38.96 LY range. Someday!
All hail the cow!
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Thanks Alec for hosting this race! Enjoyable and educational as always!
I've seen many impressive performances, enjoyed other racers funny crashes and met some new and friendly racers.
Although I got knocked off the podium (but it was pretty darn close!) I decided to write a post race analysis anyway. I intend to focus mainly (but not solely) on the preparations and I write mostly for the benefit of new and future members. Those of you who already know everything there is to know about racing can skip to the last section for a short evaluation of the incredible python.
Fly fast everyone!
Tomorrow I'll try to visit our new home. See you there!
I've seen many impressive performances, enjoyed other racers funny crashes and met some new and friendly racers.
Although I got knocked off the podium (but it was pretty darn close!) I decided to write a post race analysis anyway. I intend to focus mainly (but not solely) on the preparations and I write mostly for the benefit of new and future members. Those of you who already know everything there is to know about racing can skip to the last section for a short evaluation of the incredible python.
Phase 1: Planning
a) Firstly I read the rules. I did not stop me from misunderstand how the tunnel bonuses was calculated, but I did grasp some other important stuff.
b) Then I checked the distance between the systems and selected a route. This wasn't really complicated in this race, but in a race like the "Alphabet of Science" it becomes more tricky. The rule is of course to minimize the number of jumps. This may sound trivial, but keep in mind that in some multi-stop races you can actually save a lot of time by doing your research thorough. Two other past races that stresses the importance of this is Old World Hustle and Musical Science.
c) Then I choose my ship. The python had been sitting in drydock for a long time and with the MLF balancing it felt like it was worth a shot.
Phase 2: Preparing your ship.
a) I kept my 6A (dirty) thrusters but downgraded to a 6D distributor and 3D shields to improve hyperspace range. Got a 6A fuel scoop. Changing the distributor was a good call since it increased the jump range a lot and the cost in smaller capacitor and recharge rate wasn't too high.
b) Visited Felicity. 10 rolls later, I got a range of 39.5 ly which I hoped was enough. (I was wrong on this, but I didn't have any more arsenic anyway)
Phase 3: The first run
First I made a scouting run. Afterwards I had a broken windshield and some bad news. It still took me 3 jumps to go between San Tu and LFT 1748. By experimenting a bit with the outfitting, I determined that a 8+2 ton fuel tank, no shields and a 3A powerplant should increase the range enough. But I wasn't mentally prepared for that yet. So I ran a race with the current setup and only through one tunnel at each site since I misread the calculations of the tunnel bonuses.
Phase 4: Getting the hang of it
After reading the rules again I determined that doing all four tunnels instead of one would reduce my time with 63.25 s/installation. My second run showed that the time between screenshot 1 and 4 for each installation was 40-50 s. So I deduced that 4 tunnels was the right thing to do. I also bought a frag cannon to knock on the doors at LFT 1748. What I didn't do was to address the remaining problem: The 3:rd jump between San Tu and LFT 1748.
Phase 5: Endgame
Since I was unable to race on monday evening due to a highly classified mission (if I tell you I must kill you), I played the joker on sunday. But first I finally did what I should have done from the beginning: Removing shields and reducing fuel to 10 ton. This increased my range to 40+ and reduced my total number of jumps by one. But it also gave me a new headache. Now I had two unscoopable stars in my path. As scooping one of the destination stars costs too much time, I had to plot single jumps between Malaikudi-Izanagi and LFT 1748-Parutis to avoid running out of fuel. This was inconvenient, but didn't actually cost me much time. After dropping out of hyper, I just aligned as close to the star I dared and plotted my new course while the scoop scooped and the FSD cooled.
Racing with the Python: The final evaluation
Actually not a bad choice for this race. The high MLF gave me a big tunnel bonus. The agility was OK, especially with some creative use of vertical thrusters. Top speed and acceleration was a bit low, but I got where I wanted (eventually). The main flaw was the supercruise turning rate. It was frankly appaling compared to the ships I normally fly.
a) Firstly I read the rules. I did not stop me from misunderstand how the tunnel bonuses was calculated, but I did grasp some other important stuff.
b) Then I checked the distance between the systems and selected a route. This wasn't really complicated in this race, but in a race like the "Alphabet of Science" it becomes more tricky. The rule is of course to minimize the number of jumps. This may sound trivial, but keep in mind that in some multi-stop races you can actually save a lot of time by doing your research thorough. Two other past races that stresses the importance of this is Old World Hustle and Musical Science.
c) Then I choose my ship. The python had been sitting in drydock for a long time and with the MLF balancing it felt like it was worth a shot.
Phase 2: Preparing your ship.
a) I kept my 6A (dirty) thrusters but downgraded to a 6D distributor and 3D shields to improve hyperspace range. Got a 6A fuel scoop. Changing the distributor was a good call since it increased the jump range a lot and the cost in smaller capacitor and recharge rate wasn't too high.
b) Visited Felicity. 10 rolls later, I got a range of 39.5 ly which I hoped was enough. (I was wrong on this, but I didn't have any more arsenic anyway)
Phase 3: The first run
First I made a scouting run. Afterwards I had a broken windshield and some bad news. It still took me 3 jumps to go between San Tu and LFT 1748. By experimenting a bit with the outfitting, I determined that a 8+2 ton fuel tank, no shields and a 3A powerplant should increase the range enough. But I wasn't mentally prepared for that yet. So I ran a race with the current setup and only through one tunnel at each site since I misread the calculations of the tunnel bonuses.
Phase 4: Getting the hang of it
After reading the rules again I determined that doing all four tunnels instead of one would reduce my time with 63.25 s/installation. My second run showed that the time between screenshot 1 and 4 for each installation was 40-50 s. So I deduced that 4 tunnels was the right thing to do. I also bought a frag cannon to knock on the doors at LFT 1748. What I didn't do was to address the remaining problem: The 3:rd jump between San Tu and LFT 1748.
Phase 5: Endgame
Since I was unable to race on monday evening due to a highly classified mission (if I tell you I must kill you), I played the joker on sunday. But first I finally did what I should have done from the beginning: Removing shields and reducing fuel to 10 ton. This increased my range to 40+ and reduced my total number of jumps by one. But it also gave me a new headache. Now I had two unscoopable stars in my path. As scooping one of the destination stars costs too much time, I had to plot single jumps between Malaikudi-Izanagi and LFT 1748-Parutis to avoid running out of fuel. This was inconvenient, but didn't actually cost me much time. After dropping out of hyper, I just aligned as close to the star I dared and plotted my new course while the scoop scooped and the FSD cooled.
Racing with the Python: The final evaluation
Actually not a bad choice for this race. The high MLF gave me a big tunnel bonus. The agility was OK, especially with some creative use of vertical thrusters. Top speed and acceleration was a bit low, but I got where I wanted (eventually). The main flaw was the supercruise turning rate. It was frankly appaling compared to the ships I normally fly.
Tomorrow I'll try to visit our new home. See you there!
Well that was one fantastic race. Well done to Alec for it and for bringing us all together. Well done to you guys for your commitment to pain.
I'm sad to miss the podium but pleased my time is the highest placed non joker run (its marked joker erroneously but then it's been pretty intense) however I'm sure there's loads of runs faster than that that aren't listed. I'm looking for a positive here guys!
It was fun seeing you in game and in the forum. Until next time!
I'm sad to miss the podium but pleased my time is the highest placed non joker run (its marked joker erroneously but then it's been pretty intense) however I'm sure there's loads of runs faster than that that aren't listed. I'm looking for a positive here guys!
It was fun seeing you in game and in the forum. Until next time!
Thank you Alec for organising - it was a blast.
Only had 3 rebuys, one of which was when I came out of SC into the superstructure of one of the science facilities, got myself well and truly stuck and had to self destruct. But as I was only flying a Cobra III these only came out at only 279k each.
Hope to see you guys around in another event in the future soon.
Only had 3 rebuys, one of which was when I came out of SC into the superstructure of one of the science facilities, got myself well and truly stuck and had to self destruct. But as I was only flying a Cobra III these only came out at only 279k each.
Hope to see you guys around in another event in the future soon.
It's a lower case 'j' which means you'd already played a joker for that ship, but not on that run (that is right isn't it?).
- - - Updated - - -
after drawing an extremely beautiful map of the installation at LFT 1748 (which took 45 minutes
I don't know about anyone else but I for one would dearly love to see this!
- - - Updated - - -
I seem to recall a few people saying they were going to put together some blooper style crash videos. Would really love to see these if that's still a possibility.
Ah I see, yes you are quite right on that!
I don't know about anyone else but I for one would dearly love to see this!
Me too!
While I don't intend to do one myself, I will happily provide some additional footage for anyone who does.
Finally got around to reading that this morning. Full of great stuff - repped! Range 40+ eh? Looks like I need to take mine back to the garage.
Congratulations to cookiehole for another win and well done to everyone who took part! A big thank you to Alec Turner for staging the race and to the manufacturers of Remloks for ensuring that no commanders perished during the event.
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This was the first time I've raced in the Vulture, a ship I've owned for months but not flown further than an engineer or two before. After the race I took her out on the Silly Ships Expedition and visited some planets and I like the handling in both supercruise and normal space, so this is a ship I might bring along to future races. (I don't always care about huge jump ranges - often I just like to see how well I can do in whatever ship I enjoy flying at the time).
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This was the first time I've raced in the Vulture, a ship I've owned for months but not flown further than an engineer or two before. After the race I took her out on the Silly Ships Expedition and visited some planets and I like the handling in both supercruise and normal space, so this is a ship I might bring along to future races. (I don't always care about huge jump ranges - often I just like to see how well I can do in whatever ship I enjoy flying at the time).
I'd love to see any crash compilations as well - always great to see the "perfect" runs (see were I go wrong, etc) but it's nice to know others can get it spectacularly wrong as well
I always bin my failed runs - i'll keep them in the future.
A blooper reel of this would have been glorious to watch...if I didn't delete practically all of the failed attempts
I probably wouldn't have made it anyway, the software I use for editing (VSDC) does some neat things for being free, but is a chore to use for advanced cutting and composing...I'd very like to do again some more complex stuff, but I lack the time more than the will [sour].
I probably wouldn't have made it anyway, the software I use for editing (VSDC) does some neat things for being free, but is a chore to use for advanced cutting and composing...I'd very like to do again some more complex stuff, but I lack the time more than the will [sour].
I can only imagine, seeing so many tunnels in your sleep.
Nooooo, the guilt.
RIP Python.Seems about right, but don't worry, I found a spot for his next vacation!
[video=youtube;QaTN_R1b00I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaTN_R1b00I[/video]
Wow, nice analysis! It's so fun to read the experiences of other racers (as well as meeting them on the course). I really need to start keeping better logs myself.
I'll be posting my thoughts later, since I already had them written up, but them seem to be largely redundant now.
I need to prove that this:
I also wish the Python had better supercruise, it felt like a T9.
I used a 5D distro in my Python loadout, and it wasn't bad, though I had it engineered to dump all the power right in the engines. I had to do some math to figure out the exact minimum viable size while maintaining boost ability.
That allowed me to hit 40.86 LY, with 5A dirty thrusters (stolen from the Sugar Glider) and a 2A overcharged powerplant, while still filling all spare modules with 1D Hull reinforcements.
I can try, I have no video editing experience though. :-/
Soooo many Remloks. Good thing they're a perma sponsor (I think).
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The vulture is a very fun ship to fly, I love the sound of the boost thrusters.
I can fully understand why you took it out.Hmmm, I'll have to try that out. Not so great for supercuts though? I'm looking for some easy to medium to use software that's good for simple video editing. I'm competent at technology, know some basic coding, but have no video editing experience, and don't anticipate it being anything more than a minor hobby. The equivalent of GIMP for video would be great to know.
General LOL to your post (especially the spreadsheet!) but as to the above, Windows Movie Maker is pretty decent and it's free (get it as part of the Windows Essentials suite if I remember correctly).
Basically if all you want to do is stitch movies together, crop, fade in, fade out, slap on a soundtrack and maybe add some simple captions and transition effects then it's perfect.
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Warning! Confusing "map" inside. Don't look at this if you want to understand how the installation looks.I don't know about anyone else but I for one would dearly love to see this!
You have been warned
I didn't actually use it during a run, but trying to bring the installation down on paper helped getting a feel for the structure of this thing and I found one of the (green) completely free tunnels easily in the (only) run that I did afterwards (I couldn't fit any weapons on Crater Creator since my FSD roll wasn't optimal)
I'm still working on cutting all crashes and other interesting moments together* but since my editing skills are practically nonexistent the final product won't be anything more than a few clips glued together maybe with a bit of background music.
If anyone with more skill and patience than I wants to do a video I'd be happy to send you the footage aswell
*part of the delay is due to chemical manipulators (on which I wanted to stock up for FSD upgrades) apparently being pretty much unobtainable now, except for mass-murdering refugee-T9s at Convoy Beacons in Outbreak Anarchy systems (which are of course rare to find and far off) and I spent about 3h yesterday until I got a few units...
Well, here is my vid of shame It was a good excuse to try out a new editor, and it seems quite good, and is free (!). It's called Videopad and you can get it here: http://www.nchsoftware.com/videopad/
Alex: The Windows Essentials pack has reached end-of-support, and it seems you cannot download it any more
Looking forward to the next race!
[video=youtube_share;O-W7TFi-5rc]https://youtu.be/O-W7TFi-5rc[/video]
It was a good excuse to try out a new editor, and it seems quite good, and is free (!). It's called Videopad and you can get it here: http://www.nchsoftware.com/videopad/Alex: The Windows Essentials pack has reached end-of-support, and it seems you cannot download it any more
Looking forward to the next race!
[video=youtube_share;O-W7TFi-5rc]https://youtu.be/O-W7TFi-5rc[/video]
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