Ferry services to Collonia may finally be a thing!

[maehara]

Co-ordinate the FCs / players providing this service. Picture this:

22kly to Colonia, so 44 FCs required at max 500ly jump each. Number 'em 0-43.
At 17:00 IGT every other day, FC0 starts spin-up to jump to FC1's location. 10mins later, FC1 starts spin-up to jump to FC2, and so on down the line until FC43 spins up for the final jump to Colonia.

I get on FC0 and jump with it. I've got 8mins (gotta allow for the 2min lockdown process) to haul my behind over to FC1 before it jumps to FC2; same again at each stop.

44 jumps x 10mins per jump, I'm at Colonia 440mins after starting.

Next day, FC fleet reverses the process for anyone going back to the Bubble.

Sure, give me a properly-configured Jumpaconda and I can Buckyball to Colonia even quicker than that. My best time's about 6hrs game time, in a Clipper. But with the Colonia Carrier Relay™ I don't have to do much actual flying. Bonus!!

(OK, the possibility of herding that many players to actually do the Relay is probably zero. Would still be fun to try, though..!)

 

[Quantis Trap]

No need now with the changes. Everyone with 6 billion now gets their own Ferry to Colonia! Woohoo!

 

[Alec Turner]

Co-ordinate the FCs / players providing this service. Picture this:

22kly to Colonia, so 44 FCs required at max 500ly jump each. Number 'em 0-43.
At 17:00 IGT every other day, FC0 starts spin-up to jump to FC1's location. 10mins later, FC1 starts spin-up to jump to FC2, and so on down the line until FC43 spins up for the final jump to Colonia.

I get on FC0 and jump with it. I've got 8mins (gotta allow for the 2min lockdown process) to haul my behind over to FC1 before it jumps to FC2; same again at each stop.

44 jumps x 10mins per jump, I'm at Colonia 440mins after starting.

Next day, FC fleet reverses the process for anyone going back to the Bubble.

Sure, give me a properly-configured Jumpaconda and I can Buckyball to Colonia even quicker than that. My best time's about 6hrs game time, in a Clipper. But with the Colonia Carrier Relay™ I don't have to do much actual flying. Bonus!!

(OK, the possibility of herding that many players to actually do the Relay is probably zero. Would still be fun to try, though..!)

OK - so on this subject - I've been having discussions around the idea of organising an in-game event where we use a chain of 52 carriers carefully synchronised in the way you describe to make a Buckyball speed run from Sol to Sagittarius A* (or Colonia I suppose). The pads on a carrier go into automatic lock-down 3 minutes before the jump so the theoretical minimum time to run this entire sequence would be 52 x 3 mins which is 1hr 36mins. Rather hilariously this theoretical time is just 1 minute faster than the current Buckyball Sol to Sag A* record of 1 hr 37 mins 47 seconds. Of course this assumes you can get from FC0 to FC1 in zero time so in practical terms it's going to be more like a 500ly jump every 5 minutes which will be a total journey time of 2 hrs 40 mins. I do think this would be an absolutely awesome event to run tho'. It'll take careful planning to work out the optimum interval between each jump (my guestimate of 5 mins only allows 2 mins to leave one fleet carrier and board the next before its pads go into the three minute lockdown). I would want it to be tight so it feels like a proper race, but not too tight. The great thing is that once the chain has been set up (and each of the FC owners has their allocated jump time) as many pilots as want to be involved (and across all platforms) can make the attempt to ride the high speed conveyor belt (not everyone will succeed of course, some will miss their connections). It would be an absolute hoot and go down in the Elite record books alongside things like Operation HOT MESS as one of the great Elite: Dangerous in-game events. Also, we could run the event again (maybe the next day) to try and get everyone back again. Of course, the other big problem is that it will only take one broken link in the chain, one FC commander to mis-time their jump, and the entire endeavour would fail. Exciting huh?

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

Even though I'm not yet completely sold on Fleet Carriers, I cam excited about one possibility!

I'm excited by the possability that there might soon be player supported ferry lines to Collonia!!!

Back in March of 2017, I suggested a ferry megaship service to Colonia and we didn't get it. When we finally did get ferry megaships, it was too short and to somewhere no one cared to go.

Here's what would have to happen given what we currently know. A very dedicated player or more likely a group of players could provide carrier(s) and dedicate it/them for a ferry service. They would need to manage these things:

1. The scheduling of one or more carriers for the purpose.
2. Conducting the ~45 jumps over 4.5 to 5 days for each carrier. <- Hopefully the minimum times shorten based on beta feedback.
3. If not free ... and why would it be:
   1. the making of a mechanism for taking payment.
   2. The management of entrance into the carrier probably facilitated by a 3rd part website.
   3. The buying / donation / mining of fuel. To save time, fuel will need to be procured just twice when using the 25000 tons of storage for fuel!
4. The layover of each carrier at each end point would need to be a day or two to allow players to get on and disembark so each trip would be a week given current specs.

One thing which could completely derail this idea could include if a full complement of ships negates the 25000 tons of storage. It would be nice if during the beta we make sure that we can have a full complement of ships on board without loosing storage which will be need for fuel! I would also be nice if we could get Frontier to double the storage for carriers to make them better for this!

I would probably pay for this service. Would you? Think of what it would do for Collonia.

That's again one of the problem with FC.
If I have to play this game, for sure I want to be the one that offers the service, and like me probably most of the community. So in the end we will have thousands of Fleet Carriers set up for the Colonia ferry service and only few ships willing to get on board.

 

[maehara]

I would want it to be tight so it feels like a proper race, but not too tight.

I would absolutely take part as a 'passenger' if you manage to get this up and running.

(not everyone will succeed of course, some will miss their connections)

And this will be part of the fun for the folks making the journey in not-Carriers. Make it a challenge for people to get from Carrier to Carrier in time, see how many are left standing at SagA* and how many are left abandoned along the way and have to make their own ways back home.

My exploration-build Imperial Eagle awaits the call..!

 

[Alec Turner]

And this will be part of the fun for the folks making the journey in not-Carriers. Make it a challenge for people to get from Carrier to Carrier in time, see how many are left standing at SagA* and how many are left abandoned along the way and have to make their own ways back home.

Oh god ... it's so awesome. This HAS to happen. I'm totally up for organising it once FC's go live.

P.S. if we turn it around the next day and race back again then at least the stragglers have a chance to catch the conveyor belt on the way back!

 

[Buur]

This is completely amazing.
You HAVE to do the return conveyor as well ...just brilliant. So in love with this.

 

[Northpin]

Oh god ... it's so awesome. This HAS to happen. I'm totally up for organising it once FC's go live.

P.S. if we turn it around the next day and race back again then at least the stragglers have a chance to catch the conveyor belt on the way back!

Please make it happen during a weekend.
I dont want to take days off for that

 

[maehara]

I'm still thinking. Do the challenge in Open, and at each transfer point there's a little incentive for me to, say, snipe another player's FSD to make sure they miss the jump. And possibly a few gankers, too (but you'd respawn at the Carrier you just arrived on, so not a massive disruption).

Or do the run in Solo / PG if you prefer safety. Commander's choice.

 

[Quantis Trap]

I would absolutely take part as a 'passenger' if you manage to get this up and running.


And this will be part of the fun for the folks making the journey in not-Carriers. Make it a challenge for people to get from Carrier to Carrier in time, see how many are left standing at SagA* and how many are left abandoned along the way and have to make their own ways back home.

My exploration-build Imperial Eagle awaits the call..!

Don't think anyone would get left behind with 52 in a row.

 

[Quantis Trap]

OK - so on this subject - I've been having discussions around the idea of organising an in-game event where we use a chain of 52 carriers carefully synchronised in the way you describe to make a Buckyball speed run from Sol to Sagittarius A* (or Colonia I suppose). The pads on a carrier go into automatic lock-down 3 minutes before the jump so the theoretical minimum time to run this entire sequence would be 52 x 3 mins which is 1hr 36mins. Rather hilariously this theoretical time is just 1 minute faster than the current Buckyball Sol to Sag A* record of 1 hr 37 mins 47 seconds. Of course this assumes you can get from FC0 to FC1 in zero time so in practical terms it's going to be more like a 500ly jump every 5 minutes which will be a total journey time of 2 hrs 40 mins. I do think this would be an absolutely awesome event to run tho'. It'll take careful planning to work out the optimum interval between each jump (my guestimate of 5 mins only allows 2 mins to leave one fleet carrier and board the next before its pads go into the three minute lockdown). I would want it to be tight so it feels like a proper race, but not too tight. The great thing is that once the chain has been set up (and each of the FC owners has their allocated jump time) as many pilots as want to be involved (and across all platforms) can make the attempt to ride the high speed conveyor belt (not everyone will succeed of course, some will miss their connections). It would be an absolute hoot and go down in the Elite record books alongside things like Operation HOT MESS as one of the great Elite: Dangerous in-game events. Also, we could run the event again (maybe the next day) to try and get everyone back again. Of course, the other big problem is that it will only take one broken link in the chain, one FC commander to mis-time their jump, and the entire endeavour would fail. Exciting huh?

What to call it? Maybe The Great Fleet Carrier Relay Challenge? Or maybe Last Call for Flight Sag A?

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Doesn't really sound practical.

 

[Quantis Trap]

Doesn't really sound practical.

That's exactly why you try it.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

That's exactly why you try it.

Ye, I know. I was about to write "doesn't sound fun" first, but I reconsidered. Much more agreeable, with still different conclusions to draw from individually.

 

[Alec Turner]

Doesn't really sound practical.

Practical be damned ...

 

[Krash]

We might have enough FC owners to install 2 FC at each relay for redundancy? Sign me up.

 

[Snowymonk]

OK - so on this subject - I've been having discussions around the idea of organising an in-game event where we use a chain of 52 carriers carefully synchronised in the way you describe to make a Buckyball speed run from Sol to Sagittarius A* (or Colonia I suppose). The pads on a carrier go into automatic lock-down 3 minutes before the jump so the theoretical minimum time to run this entire sequence would be 52 x 3 mins which is 1hr 36mins. Rather hilariously this theoretical time is just 1 minute faster than the current Buckyball Sol to Sag A* record of 1 hr 37 mins 47 seconds. Of course this assumes you can get from FC0 to FC1 in zero time so in practical terms it's going to be more like a 500ly jump every 5 minutes which will be a total journey time of 2 hrs 40 mins. I do think this would be an absolutely awesome event to run tho'. It'll take careful planning to work out the optimum interval between each jump (my guestimate of 5 mins only allows 2 mins to leave one fleet carrier and board the next before its pads go into the three minute lockdown). I would want it to be tight so it feels like a proper race, but not too tight. The great thing is that once the chain has been set up (and each of the FC owners has their allocated jump time) as many pilots as want to be involved (and across all platforms) can make the attempt to ride the high speed conveyor belt (not everyone will succeed of course, some will miss their connections). It would be an absolute hoot and go down in the Elite record books alongside things like Operation HOT MESS as one of the great Elite: Dangerous in-game events. Also, we could run the event again (maybe the next day) to try and get everyone back again. Of course, the other big problem is that it will only take one broken link in the chain, one FC commander to mis-time their jump, and the entire endeavour would fail. Exciting huh?

What a great idea.

It'll be a sort of 'devil takes the hindmost' type race to get into the pads before the shutters came down.
You would be able to undock from the carrier en masse at each system they jump into but docking control on the departing carrier would naturally prune the ship numbers.
Commanders would be frantically jumping from ingressing carrier instance, low waking to egressing carrier instance, and frantically requesting docking access before it became too late.

Commanders would need to run the odds on the best ship type to go for - Small ships because they will have less contention for pads, medium ships because there so many options / variations that could be tailored to be successful or possibly large ships to cover off the risk of being left behind at any stop.

Ships would need to be sufficiently light weight to allow speed and maneuverability but with sufficient build to allow them to make it to either onto colonia or back to the bubble if they get left behind. (Fuel scoop, AFMU, begging to rejoin the previous carrier)


.... you might find that this will instead have to just be a carrier bucky ball with ships along for the ride.

 

[Rick6549]

Going to colonia takes like, 4 hours. Why bother with a 12 day trip when you can do it yourself in an afternoon

 

[Vandaahl]

Imagine if you would be able to shoot these things, with all the ships on it...

 

[maehara]

Going to colonia takes like, 4 hours. Why bother with a 12 day trip when you can do it yourself in an afternoon

The thread / suggestion has progressed somewhat from the original Colonia ideas. We're now talking about using a Carrier relay to race to SagA* in about 3 hours. Do keep up.