Yeah, Buckyball shields are a part of the landing system.
That's the spirit!
Community Event / Creation Buckyball Racing Club presents: Chicken Run (03-11 MAR))
Helpful video (although I wonder how much I might have been able to learn from the 'dull' bits), thanks for posting.
I can see the areas where I'm losing time, although it's a little hard to tell exactly how much since it's sped up. One area is instance loading but there's nothing I can do about that (I think it's down to the speed of my laptop loading up the assets, since simpler stations like the Coriolis and outposts load quickly but surface bases, especially cities, take longer). In terms of flying, I clearly need to speed up my pad approaches - this is the area I need to improve most, both in space and on the surface. I suspect I won't be able to get that much better without changing my control setup, though - I use keyboard exclusively and that means I have two-axis control (roll and pitch, yaw being a bit of a stretch, same with thrust) and I really need three analogue axes rather than the digital on/off of keys. I have always found attitude control very difficult and the shieldless high-g landings really show that up well (as does any attempt to fly FA-off or circle-strafe, which is why I'm so bad at combat and depend on gimbals and turrets in most cases). It doesn't help that on my laptop the night side of planets is absolutely 100% pitch black, although it does at least add some scary atmosphere... .
If I'm feeling more optimistic later in the week I might run another ship, not to be competitive but to improve my handling. Thanks to this race I've already made noticeable improvements in how I approach a surface base quickly (Trader's Rest being on a planet with over 1g). Until then, though, I'll probably just relax and do some mining.
There is!
For the sake of educational value
, I only cut the inter-jumps parts, hence sorry for the low-quality, 30 mins video:[video=youtube;o1_hvfxRBts]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1_hvfxRBts[/video]
@Camisade - jump to minute 31:00 to see a practical example of the stone skipping I wrote about earlier in the thread.
I'd have liked to have another go at a Healty Hauler run this evening, but for some reason after years I noticed again the FTL icon sitting on my desktop and couldn't help but click on it. Damn game is a sticky trap. Must be said though, Ozric made one hell of a run in that space coffin, hat off!
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12, 13, 14, and 36 are my favorite, they line up nicely with the mailslot, so boosting out from them can be very fast (if your ship fits sideways or you can turn fast).
I feel like the station manager must hate that we spread that trick around. ;D
They're so FUN! And now that new engineering is here, I managed to get Varangian Lightning up to 888 m/s, which makes her insanely hard to handle.
Speaking of which:
Intent to Skip n Smash n Jart
CMDR Bruski
Varangian Lightning
Imperial Courier
Open Unlimited
Sent you mine, check PMs.
Although I'm starting to think the DBX might be the winner here.
But I'm running out of time to engineer the RazorBear
^ This guy gets it.
Keep racing, once you get the need for speed, you'll never look back.
After all, the crazy is contagious.
That's interesting! I haven't used VA for a while and I wasn't aware that it can give additional in game information like where your pad is. Does it do this automatically or do you need to set it up somehow? Perhaps you could explain how to use VA in this manner?
I stopped using VA because my voice profile kept getting corrupted as I'm not a fan of headphones (I don't find them comfortable) and hence the game audio messes up my voice profile within about a week. Forcing me to reload the trained voice profile again. That just became too onerous to bother doing. If it can provide information though without using the mic, that could be useful!
Do you have a video of your run? It would be great if we could
Thanks for posting this Alec, very helpful and I entirely agree with the lawn darts analogy made by another cmdr! Four times the speed makes it hard to really see what is going on. I slowed the playback down to a quarter so that I could see what you were doing in real time (the audio is God Damn awful then but it's a such a relief when you put it back to normal speed later lol!).
On approach to the planet you seem to try to keep the target station at the 'North Pole' and approach keeping your eta at 5 seconds. You circle around the North Pole (station) of the planet until you have bled off the excess speed for landing. Interestingly, you don't use pip management during your Lawn Dart manoeuvre and keep it at 240 the whole time instead of 420... It doesn't seem to make much difference, the shields get knocked out but not a big deal.
Thanks again for posting this video! It has been Very 'educational'!
And a salient reminder of just how lazy I am as a pilot and how far I need to improve to even get half way as good! I'll never be an FAoff, All Guns Blazing, flying Ace but there is definitely room for improvement
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There is!
For the sake of educational value
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1_hvfxRBts
@Camisade - jump to minute 31:00 to see a practical example of the stone skipping I wrote about earlier in the thread.
I'd have liked to have another go at a Healty Hauler run this evening, but for some reason after years I noticed again the FTL icon sitting on my desktop and couldn't help but click on it. Damn game is a sticky trap. Must be said though, Ozric made one hell of a run in that space coffin, hat off!
Hi AkenBosch,
Many Thanks for posting this video (and in real time). You use a similar 5 sec - North Pole approach as Alec. I'll practice that one. I liked the technique of using the back blast plate of the landing pad to stop dead and drop on the pad... It looked cool
You also use pip management (420) when about to land. Very nice flying there btw! <Envy> it was very helpful seeing your videos and I've learnt a few things today about flying properly! Bit of an ego smash seeing how I should be doing it but I needed the slap across the canopy to get me out of my complacent lazy landings!
Seeing these videos has made me want to get on with my Re-Engineering and get another run or two done! I'll post the video of my next run as soon possible so that you can
I'm quite comfortable about making a total of myself in public, so don't hold back your
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Thanks for posting this Alec, very helpful and I entirely agree with the lawn darts analogy made by another cmdr! Four times the speed makes it hard to really see what is going on. I slowed the playback down to a quarter so that I could see what you were doing in real time (the audio is God Damn awful then but it's a such a relief when you put it back to normal speed later lol!).
On approach to the planet you seem to try to keep the target station at the 'North Pole' and approach keeping your eta at 5 seconds. You circle around the North Pole (station) of the planet until you have bled off the excess speed for landing. Interestingly, you don't use pip management during your Lawn Dart manoeuvre and keep it at 240 the whole time instead of 420... It doesn't seem to make much difference, the shields get knocked out but not a big deal.
Thanks again for posting this video! It has been Very 'educational'!
Hiya, apologies for x4 speed but it would be unthinkable for me to post a race video without a soundtrack and I'm running out of excellent 30min tracks!
Luckily it seens Aken has done the honours.
Re: the planetary approach, I'm basically coming in with an approximately 0:04 eta and then using a combination of pitching and corkscrewing (a balance of right yaw, left roll and pitch up) to keep that speed under control (it's all in the sound really, you can totally hear the difference between a speed that's too docile, a barely controlled deceleration and an acceleration that's gonna take you right past the planet and out the other side). I guess ideally I'm aiming to skim under the planet, past the landing spot and then a hard pitch up to leave me heading down at 45 degrees with the eta just this side of 0:06 but invariably it's always a bit more organic than that. The final descent to those high-g landing sites sems to take ages. I haven't quite figured out the "too fast for orbital cruise" cut-off point but I reckon I could probably push those descents a lot harder than I do.
And as for the pad landings, apart from the first couple I think you're probably wasting your time trying to approach from the right side ... just hit the pad and then worry about orienting your ship after you've bounced. Oh, and re: the pips, I did put 4 to shields on my first attempt but quickly found that I wasn't doing enough damage!
Welcome to Buckyball Racing ... it's quite possibly the most underrated learning experience in the game for flight mechanics (especially supercruise).
Ozric
Volunteer Moderator
OK I'll knock something up tonight, although as others have pointed out trying to high wake while upside was probably my biggest mistake
However from memory my successful attempt was also upside down (I really don't think things through I just do them )I always high wake as soon as I can, "The Race" has permeated my entire game. I'm constantly racing, even if I'm not. I can't even remember the last time I didn't use gravity braking when approaching a station, even if I'm in my fully laden Python which is a real struggle to make work.
Unfortunately I really don't think that will make a difference, I deactivate the Cargo Hatch and Power Distributor in all of my ships. Once your cargo hatch drops below 80% health there's a low chance of losing cargo, the chance increases the more health it loses.
I would imagine it would be dependant on your thrusters, mass and gravity of the planet. But to be fair I haven't done enough testing to prove that you'd never overheat if you're the right way up. Achenar 3 would be the place to test that
It does need your password though, which isn't going to happen
When I'm in a medium ship I just have the pads closest to the slot memorised (also written on a notepad) so I can re-request docking if I get one of those. Obviously I'm always hoping for pad 37 as it's the best
If I'm in a small ship I'm not as worried, but do try and avoid the closest ones if I can.
I think my brain just exploded. I forecast greater incidents of hull damage in my future. ...and, oh, by the way, I'm not sure my participation in these events will continue to be viewed good-naturedly by the PF Insurance folks (though in my defense, I've not actually lost an entire ship doing this, yet...)
Absolutely a best-kept secret. It's amazing how satisfied I was with my pre-Buckeyball
Keep racing, once you get the need for speed, you'll never look back.
I'm with another Cmdr in here, who made the observation that, having now competed, EVERY mission becomes a "race" (and, as a result, I've now blown more planetary insertions by coming in too hot (and overshot more stations trying to figure out gravity braking) in the last week than in the previous two months combined)!
I normally reserve this for the VR threads but I think, in this instance, it's entirely appropriate to chant ...
ONE OF US, ONE OF US, ONE OF US!
Ozric
Volunteer Moderator
All of my deaths except for 3 have been from Buckyballing
The website does have some good videos it's recommended to watch http://buckyballracing.org.uk/videos.html
I did make this video after I nailed a gravity braking manoeuvre during Yggdrasil, it may or may not help
[video=youtube_share;wWSPWL7Atsg]https://youtu.be/wWSPWL7Atsg[/video]
I normally reserve this for the VR threads but I think, in this instance, it's entirely appropriate to chant ...
ONE OF US, ONE OF US, ONE OF US!
Heh -- you might not be so quick to open ranks if you saw my last 42:12 submission where, in my aptly named lime-green DBX "Frog Auger," I manage to pancake into the terrain on EVERY high-G landing (once upside down (!), then right side up, and then actually manage to get stuck half off the pad, cockeyed on the ground at a 45^ angle, on Weber's Legacy, where I flounder around FOREVER trying to get unstuck and back in the air!
Seeing that performance, once one's sides uncramped, it would be entirely understandable if the Buckeyball Racing Commission banned me from using their logo pending submission of proof of "an unspecified (but large) amount of pilot improvement." :O
PS: I'm available for licensing talks for any organization who wishes to use my last race submission as a series of examples in what NOT to do.
All of my deaths except for 3 have been from Buckyballing
The website does have some good videos it's recommended to watch http://buckyballracing.org.uk/videos.html
I did make this video after I nailed a gravity braking manoeuvre during Yggdrasil, it may or may not help
https://youtu.be/wWSPWL7Atsg
Repped - quality instructional video!
You will do. The vast majority of my rebuys are are self inflicted during races.
This still happens. You'll spend the whole week pulling off the best run you possibly can, so going into the final day you'll know that if you can just fix one or two mistakes you're in with a shot.
Then cookiehole turns up.
Welcome to the Buckyball Racing Club commander!
One of us...
My brother set it up for me on a visit, and I wasn't paying close attention.
I *think* this is where you start:https://github.com/cmdrmcdonald/EliteDangerousDataProvider
Thanks to Alec Turner, AkenBosch and Ozric for posting their videos, I'm now starting to get an idea of why I'm so far off the pace.
I occasionally do a little gravity breaking, usually when I'm coming in too hot and know I'm going to overshoot but I see you guys plan to do it and clearly can save a chunk of time if you get it right. Then of course there's the act of landing on the pad - I now realise I need to stop approaching like a space-shuttle gliding back to earth and more like a meteorite about to leave an impact creator on the landing pad
If I get time tomorrow, I'll give it another run and see how I get on, maybe I'll be lucky and move up to 2nd last on the leaderboard
DogsBody.
PS I noticed some talk of jump ranges earlier in the thread, one of the DBXs was doing about 50LY if I recall - my cargo laden Cobra is only making late twenties but I don't think thats a big issue on this track, as the stages all seem fairly close together.
I occasionally do a little gravity breaking, usually when I'm coming in too hot and know I'm going to overshoot but I see you guys plan to do it and clearly can save a chunk of time if you get it right. Then of course there's the act of landing on the pad - I now realise I need to stop approaching like a space-shuttle gliding back to earth and more like a meteorite about to leave an impact creator on the landing pad
If I get time tomorrow, I'll give it another run and see how I get on, maybe I'll be lucky and move up to 2nd last on the leaderboard
DogsBody.
PS I noticed some talk of jump ranges earlier in the thread, one of the DBXs was doing about 50LY if I recall - my cargo laden Cobra is only making late twenties but I don't think thats a big issue on this track, as the stages all seem fairly close together.
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I forget the exact range of my DBX but I can do all but one of the stages in a single jump (5 G. Capricorni to Ross 905 takes two). I reckon 3 or 4 of those stages might be taking you 2 jumps and each of those is costing you an extra minute. It's not a big issue but it all adds up and could be adding 4 or 5 minutes to your total time.
That said I think Ashnak has done an excellent job of finding such a nice range of different gravity planets all within 50ly or so of each other.
And tonight I have a lot of free time - Oculus Rift is down