CMDRs
Halo Jones and PrimetimeCasual
present
Powered by EDSM.net
In cooperation with Paradox Wing
And The Buur Pit
Event artwork by Allcrowsareblack
What is a SpeedBowl and why should I care?Halo Jones and PrimetimeCasual
present
Powered by EDSM.net
In cooperation with Paradox Wing
And The Buur Pit
Event artwork by Allcrowsareblack
SpeedBowl I was conceived out of CMDR PrimetimeCasuals find that high G worlds break the speed limiter built into our ships. Using the correct technique, CMDR Sanderlings final run achieved over 9.000m/s in normal space during the SpeedBowl.
The premise is using a combination of FA OFF, angle of attack and vertical thrusters to prolong your fall towards the surface while accelerating all the way down. And not dying in a massive fireball at the end.
The beauty is that this DOESN'T need any special ship builds or engineering - initial flights were done in a Hauler and Sidewinder, while the podium was taken by three different ships!
If you are looking for a quick introduction to FA OFF, enjoy speed and a challenge but can't invest the time and resources to build a bespoke ship - this event is for you!
A short retrospective on SpeedBowl I
SpeedBowl I, as it was, was a tremendous success in our eyes. All participants enjoyed it and it even caught the eye of Frontier Developments enough to help us with organizing and distributing the prizes.
We were amazed how well the event was received, and how everyone pushed the limits of physics. The rules were simple and loose, which helped lower the entry threshold, and although there was a last minute (literally) upset, everyone kept to the spirit of general lunacy and friendly sportsmanship.
That said, there were a few drawbacks that we aimed to address and eliminate this time. Basically, the venue is a lot more accessible, there is a shipyard at the finish line, race runs are significantly shorter, and while top speeds are down, adding an element of accuracy makes good use of the increased control pilots have over their ships.
In short - SpeedBowl II is bigger, better and ballsier than ever!
[video=youtube_share;h6C6WJbEG_U]https://youtu.be/h6C6WJbEG_U[/video]
[video=youtube_share;h6C6WJbEG_U]https://youtu.be/h6C6WJbEG_U[/video]
Major changes for SpeedBowl veterans
If you participated in SpeedBowl I, you might think you know all about bowling. Right? Wrong!
SpeedBowl II takes the same ingredients, but mixes them up.
- Drop-in altitude has been severely reduced!
- Instead of a set of starting coordinates, you'll have a set of target coordinates!
- There is an upper altitude limit for the finish line!
- This time, we recommend recording video, but will still accept screenshots.
- Gaps on the leaderboard will be even closer!
- Race run duration is down to less than ten minutes!
- Rebuy your pancake candidate right at the finish line!
Event location
Event location is GCRV 52424 A 4, a nice, calm world of 4.99g only 107 ly from Sol.
The finish line is Bombelli Prospect, a planetary outpost that has landing pads and may serve as rebuy point in the likely case CMDRs pancake their ships during training or race runs.
There are also full-sized stations in orbit, so even the maddest of all Bowlers can park their Corvettes there, ready to drop in at a moments notice.
Event date
All times referenced are according to the ship clock and calendar.
The date for the SpeedBowl II race weekend is the SAT 8. / SUN 9. December 3304. Any submissions showing a cockpit clock between 00:01 on the 8th and 23:59 on the 9th are valid. Please try and not cut it THAT close, again.
Please be aware, that due to timezone differences the final results won't be available until the evening of the 10th of December. We will aim to publish preliminary results as soon as possible though.
Signup
There is no signup. Just turn in up to three submissions during the 48 hour "Speed Bowl Weekend" and you're in! In order to better judge the amount of organizational work needed, we'd still appreciate a short "I'll go bowling" in this thread.
Ship and engineering limitations
None! Bring whatever you're ready to risk!
Open / Private Group / Solo / Beta
Whatever you want! Lone wolf or pack racer, everyone is welcome!
And if the Beta is still going by the time SpeedBowl 2 comes around - bowl as you like, we take both beta and live submissions!
Platforms
Like the first SpeedBowl, this one will be open to ALL PLATFORMS, even though we acknowledge it might be harder on consoles to secure the footage or screenshots required as race entry submission.
Rules for event submissions
0) Each contestant has a limit of THREE official submissions. Try as often as you like, but once SpeedBowl weekend is here, you have THREE submissions to make it count. Details are outlined below.
1) The official race venue is GCRV 52424 A 4, Bombelli Prospect. Submissions from other locations will not be accepted.
2) All entrants must use normal space thrusters (no frameshift / supercruise / orbital cruise entries accepted).
3) No limitations on flight techniques as long as you stay in normal space and do not exceed the 200km starting altitude.
4) All entrants must submit an initial screen shot at zero metres per second at 200 km altitude with Bombelli Prospect selected and visible as target.
4b) The distance to the finish line is recommended to be between 1400 km and 1600 km. There are no fixed starting coordinates.
5) Finish line is the towers of Bombelli Prospect, with an altitude between 1 and 1000 m! Distance to Bombelli on the target display has to be 2000 m or less!
5b) All entrants must submit a screenshot taken at the highest possible velocity with an ingame timestamp visible while crossing the finish line. Due to the exclusive nature of the prizes, we will request video footage of podium runs. Use the one where the distance to Bombelli Prospect is as close as you can get (keep it targeted).
5c) Alternatively, this time, we will also accept submissions of entire recorded race runs.
6) Survival is mandatory! All entrants must submit a survival screenshot at a timestamp shortly after crossing the finish line, showing a vertical speed of zero and a forward speed of zero.
7) Editing your submission post is discouraged to prevent tampering with the contained screenshots or video.
Contestant do NOT need to land. Keep Bombelli Prospect targeted on all screenshots.
Submission - screenshots
Three proof screenshots are required for each valid submission. This will be referred to as a ‘submission set’:
A) Start altitude at speed zero
B) Maximum velocity at below 1000 m and above 0 m
C) Survival at speed zero
B) Maximum velocity at below 1000 m and above 0 m
C) Survival at speed zero
Three submission sets are permitted for each contestant (i.e. a total maximum of nine screenshots).
Contestants are encouraged to label each submission as follows: CMDRName_Racerun_2A, where ‘1’ refers to the submission set number (i.e. 1 of 3) and ’A’ refers to the screenshot (A, B or C as defined above).
Submission - video
Submitting a video is a lot easier and given the nature of the race, highly recommended. Due to the exclusive nature of the prizes, we will request video footage of podium runs.
Simply record your race run, upload it to a provider of your choice and drop it here in this thread (or Discord), numbering them as you would submission sets (I.e. "PrimetimeCasual_Racerun_2").
Prizes
We will also award a judges "most entertaining sports- and showmanship" prize for a participant outside the podium at our discretion. This might be for the most engaging livestream, most persistence at getting a run, most spectacular submission, most entertaining pancake, going the extra mile in helping other bowlers, etc. Basically, for showing the proper SpeedBowl spirit!
Frontier came through, once again, and this time allows us to distribute exclusive paintjobs and decals that can't be bought on the store!
You can find the selection of community event packs here: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/244719-Community-Prize-Packs
Tutorial
CMDR PrimetimeCasual has put together a short introduction to Gravity Effect Flying, or "SpeedBowling". This should help first-time participants to understand the concept, while also serving as a baseline for veterans as to what speeds to expect.
Current trials point to 3500 m/s top speed as baseline competitive, while the podium spots are expected to exceed 4400 m/s.
Communication and submitting screenshots
There will be two ways to communicate and submit screenshots.
Discord - Paradox Wing was kind enough to provide us with a place to chat, hang out and boast in text and voice. We will accept submissions in the official Discord channel - in fact, Discord is preferred, if you are able and willing to head over there. You can also use the provided voice channels to organize yourself into groups for the event or just for chatting with fellow speedfreaks!
https://discord.gg/tt6rZcH
Everyone entering the Discord will be invited to self-assign the role “SpeedBowl” by typing !join Speedbowl in the #bot channel. This will open access to the dedicated SpeedBowl channels for chat, voice and submissions. If you are unfamiliar with Discord, Don’t PanicTM! A member of the admin team will respond if you ping them with any issues or queries.
Forums - Please also continue to use this thread to chat about ships, engineering and techniques, as well as post your race submissions for all to see during the event weekend.
Twitter - While there is no official Twitter channel for submissions, we propose using the official #SpeedBowl2 hashtag for all tweets related to this event. You can also follow @Cmdr_Halo_Jones and @PrimetimeCasual for more event coverage:
https://twitter.com/PrimetimeCasual
https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Halo_Jones
As well as The Buur Pit on YouTube for special event coverage.
Rules FAQ
Q: I have this amazing speed run screenshots that put me on the podium and...
A: Sorry, we are aware this is a last minute change, but due to the exclusivity of the podium prizes, we require video footage for all podium finishers.
Q: Do I have to fly in a straight line?
A: No. But you must not exceed 200 km at any point in time.
Q: How precise do I have to be above Bombelli Prospect for it to count?
A: "Above" Bombelli Prospect is counted being within 2000m from the sensor point - keep Bombelli targeted.
Q: What if I impact at Bombelli and survive?
A: Ineligible. We have means to verify if your run impacted or not. Having video evidence makes this a lot easier for both judges and pilots.
Q: Can I use different ships?
A: Totally! The only limitation is that each CMDR can not have more than three submissions but that can be three different ships, obivously.
Q: Do I HAVE to start betweein 1.4 and 1.6 Mm?
A: It is recommended by experience. But you CAN start from farther away or from closer by. It will probably either slow you down or make it a lot harded, though.
Q: What if I go below the terrain, but due to being too fast for the netcode to catch me, I survive flying underground?
A: Altitude has to remain positive at all times. This is clearly a bug in terrain generation / collision detection and would, by common sense, constitute an impact.
Q: Can I use Force Shell Cannons fired by another ship to boost acceleration?
A: Dude. No. Just, no. Creative thinking though!
Updates
Please keep an eye on both this top post and the second post in the thread in advance of and during the SpeedBowl event. They will be regularly updated to communicate any changes to the rules and to keep track of officially submitted speeds.
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