(race banner graphics courtesy of The High Wake)
In January 3304 the Buckyball Racing Club, in association with legendary entrepreneur and showman Bump Barnum (current whereabouts unknown), staged The Last Gasp, a death defying race which set out to prove just how far it was possible to go using the 25 minutes of emergency Oxygen provided by a class A life support module. On that occasion the answer (courtesy of Cmdr Alot) was just over 2000 light years.
Fast forward over four and a half years and we find ourselves at the final race of the Magic 8-Ball Championship, a reboot of the original Last Gasp concept but with a few changes thrown in (partly to freshen things up a bit, but mostly to stop people from simply re-running the original 3304 routes).
Source: https://youtu.be/W8F13mRozHo
For example, suppose you deliver beer mats to stations in systems which are respectively 100.32, 95.96, 99.87, 102.88 and 90.22 light years away from Fullerene C60, and that you make it back to Rebuy Prospect with 5 minutes remaining on the clock. Your distance total would be 489.25 plus a bonus of (5*60)/3 light years for a final score of 589.25.
There are also some additional rules as follows:
● You must deliver at least three beer mats, and at most five (i.e. the final two are optional allowing you to cut and run back to the finish line if your air is running dangerously low).
● You're only allowed to land at outposts or planetary ports. Starports are disallowed since entering them would restore your oxygen. You're not allowed to land at Odyssey settlements or on thin atmosphere planets exclusive to Odyssey and you're also not allowed to land on fleet carriers or megaships.
● You can only visit one station per system (unlike the previous race which allowed multiple stations).
● You're allowed to supercharge your FSD using White Dwarf stars but you're not allowed to use Neutron stars (this is to avoid everyone heading along the same Jackson's Lighthouse based route). You're also not allowed to pre-charge your FSD prior to starting your run.
● You're not allowed to use synthesis (FSD injection or life support) and you must leave your life support module turned off for the duration of the run. If life support is restored at any point (either deliberately or accidentally) then the entire run is invalidated.
● When landing and selling your beer mats do NOT select the option to enter the station (this will restore your air and invalidate the run). Instead simply select Station Services to access the commodity market and then exit and pick Launch (the act of turning the ship around ready for launch does not restore your air).
● You must survive the run (i.e. having passed back through the mailslot at Rebuy Prospect you still need to land safely).
There are two classes you can enter for this race (each with its own leaderboard).
● Regulation (this is the standard un-engineered regulation Cobra that's been used for the entire Magic 8-Ball Championship and must be outfitted exactly as shown here: Regulation Cobra Mk III)
● Unlimited (here you can use any ship and outfitting you like, including use of Guardian modules and engineering, however the ship's maximum jump range must not excede 50.00LY and you must have a class A life support fitted).
When submitting your run (via the Google form linked above) you will be asked to provide supporting evidence in the form of either a set of screenshots uploaded to an image sharing website such as imgur or else a video of the run posted to Youtube. The recommended method is to record video of the run and then grab the necessary screenshots from the video afterwards.
The screenshots required are as follows:
● For regulation class a couple of shots showing the modules fitted, for Unlimited class a shot of the right-hand ship statistics panel showing the unladen jump range (which must not excede 50.00LY).
● A shot taken just as you exit Rebuy Prospect showing the Oxygen Depleted countdown beneath the upper-right HUD Info panel (which should have just started and be displaying something like 24:59). Unusually for a Buckyball Race a launch screenshot is not necessary.
● A screenshot showing the sale of one Buckyball Beer Mat at between three and five separate stations (with the name of the station in the top-left and the time in the top-right both visible).
● A screenshot taken just before you pass back through the airlock of Rebuy Prospect showing the remaining time on the Oxygen Depleted countdown. Obviously there's a certain amount of leeway in when this is taken but it should be apparent that you're basically back at the toast rack. Screenshots taken much further out may be penalised slightly at the judges discretion.
● A screenshot taken when safely landed on a pad back at Rebuy Prospect to prove that you survived the run.
● Finally (and sorry about this, I know it's a lot but it will make my job a LOT easier), a set of screenshots in the galaxy map showing the distance to each station you made a delivery to. The best way to get these screenshots (which can be taken at the end of the run) is to simply have bookmarks for all your stations and then select each one in turn.
Bookmark screenshots as seen in Horizons (note use of prefixes to get them in order at the top of the list)
Bookmark screenshots as seen in Odyssey (I recommend adding them to favourites for easy access)
If you have any further questions about the race then post them here in this forum thread and I'll create an FAQ. Do also feel free to post here stating your intent to take part but otherwise godspeed commanders and don't forget to make every second of your remaining air count!
o7
FAQ
● Are you allowed to refuel & repair on the outposts during the run?
Yes.
● Would it be permitted to fit a smaller fuel tank to the regulation Cobra?
No (but, there are no stipulations on how much fuel you put in it).
● If I'm submitting video do I still need to show the bookmarks as per the screenshot evidence described above?
Yes please, if you could just step through each of your bookmarks at the end of the run so I get to see the distances to your chosen stations.
● If I'm planning on only 3 stops I need buy only 3 beermats, correct? I don't need to buy 5 and bring 2 back home?
That's correct. I sincerely doubt the small range advantage gained from the reduced weight of only carrying 3 will outweigh the additional points gained from making all 5 deliveries so I won't penalise short runs further by insisting that you carry more beer mats than you need.
Last edited:
Glad I can fly the Vette with engineering.
