Nice view! Best of luck for the rest of your run
Community Event / Creation Buckyball Racing Club presents: The A* Challenge
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Thanks, everyone.
About 10000 light years in, I started feeling sick. Anxious, desperate. It had already been eight hours and I was less than halfway there. Each jump became harder and harder. I slipped up a few times, got too close to the star I was scooping. Each T-tauri or brown dwarf I came across nearly made me break down in tears. And then I started seeing things... Every time I entered frameshift, the spacial distortion looked more and more like an eye. I saw faces in witchspace, and was compelled to close my eyes or look away each time I hit the button so they wouldn't see me. Space madness had set in.
Or maybe it was just all the caffeine. I'm feeling better now. Less than 10000 light years to go!
EDIT: Oh, and special thanks for that route plotting guide, Esvandiary! o7
About 10000 light years in, I started feeling sick. Anxious, desperate. It had already been eight hours and I was less than halfway there. Each jump became harder and harder. I slipped up a few times, got too close to the star I was scooping. Each T-tauri or brown dwarf I came across nearly made me break down in tears. And then I started seeing things... Every time I entered frameshift, the spacial distortion looked more and more like an eye. I saw faces in witchspace, and was compelled to close my eyes or look away each time I hit the button so they wouldn't see me. Space madness had set in.
Or maybe it was just all the caffeine. I'm feeling better now. Less than 10000 light years to go!
EDIT: Oh, and special thanks for that route plotting guide, Esvandiary! o7
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Do note that the board hasn't been updated in a little while. The current Cobra record is actually 19:09:39 by yours truly. Good luck, hopefully I'll see you out here!
I noticed that after I posted. I'm coming up on 14:30 now with a little over 6000 LY to go. I think I'll be closer to your time than the Clipper's posted record.
EDIT: Made it in 18:45:31, after some issues with plotting the route for the final leg (ended up plotting a route past Sadge and then hopping off along the way), and I am exhausted. Proof (look for my final submission via PM): http://imgur.com/a/LE8eF
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Congratulations! Awesome time, very well done!
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So, I've finally decided that I ought to head back. I've been here staring at Sagittarius A* for almost a week now, and honestly, it's been the most fun I've had in quite a while.
I've met quite a few CMDRs on their own trips through, and gotten a lot of selfies with them all. There's even been a bit of action with a couple members of a player group coming out after Metta. (I think I bring him bad luck...)
It'll probably be a few days until I make it back to populated space, but I'll make sure to take plenty of pictures and document this.
Hopefully I make it back in time for the Border Hopping run.
See you all soon.
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Excellent time, Kopachris! Well done!
As the board gets ever longer, I really ought to start putting it in spoiler tags:
First of the four new times from the last couple of weeks was Cmdr pum1127. His ship Saggy Asp (funnily enough, an Asp Explorer class vessel) parked itself squarely in amongst the "leisurely cruise" group of Asps around the 1 week travel time mark, with a total journey time a few minutes short of 7 days and 5 hours. Reports suggest that Saggy Asp was only semi-intact upon arrival, but the signal unfortunately cut out without providing any more details.
In the midst of the pack, the times for best Cobra mkIII continue to tumble. After Cmdr Max Sterling set the ball rolling three weeks ago, finally taking Cmdr Michey's long held position on the "Top Time by Ship Type" board, others have risen to the challenge. Veteran A* runner Cmdr Mangel was next up to the plate, Back to Basics becoming his third ship to make the run, and the first Cobra to make the run in under a day, with a time of a little over 19 hours.
Unfortunately, Mangel was only able to hold on to the spot for just over four days. While he was still enjoying the sights in the galactic core, a new entrant in the form of Cmdr Orion Starbard in the good ship Urania was setting off from Lomas Orbiter. This celestial wandering singer made very good time in his first run, establishing a new record for the Cobra mkIII of 18 hours 45 minutes. Well done commander!
The remaining entrant this week, Cmdr Skkruff, managed to sail serenely past the scrapping Cobras in his Diamondback Explorer Jumping Jill. Skkruff's time of 15 hours 13 minutes was just enough to nick the position of fourth-fastest DBX, and get him into the top third of the board.
Well done to all four Commanders for completing the A* Challenge! And enjoy the scenic route home
First of the four new times from the last couple of weeks was Cmdr pum1127. His ship Saggy Asp (funnily enough, an Asp Explorer class vessel) parked itself squarely in amongst the "leisurely cruise" group of Asps around the 1 week travel time mark, with a total journey time a few minutes short of 7 days and 5 hours. Reports suggest that Saggy Asp was only semi-intact upon arrival, but the signal unfortunately cut out without providing any more details
.In the midst of the pack, the times for best Cobra mkIII continue to tumble. After Cmdr Max Sterling set the ball rolling three weeks ago, finally taking Cmdr Michey's long held position on the "Top Time by Ship Type" board, others have risen to the challenge. Veteran A* runner Cmdr Mangel was next up to the plate, Back to Basics becoming his third ship to make the run, and the first Cobra to make the run in under a day, with a time of a little over 19 hours.
Unfortunately, Mangel was only able to hold on to the spot for just over four days. While he was still enjoying the sights in the galactic core, a new entrant in the form of Cmdr Orion Starbard in the good ship Urania was setting off from Lomas Orbiter. This celestial wandering singer made very good time in his first run, establishing a new record for the Cobra mkIII of 18 hours 45 minutes. Well done commander!
The remaining entrant this week, Cmdr Skkruff, managed to sail serenely past the scrapping Cobras in his Diamondback Explorer Jumping Jill. Skkruff's time of 15 hours 13 minutes was just enough to nick the position of fourth-fastest DBX, and get him into the top third of the board.
Well done to all four Commanders for completing the A* Challenge! And enjoy the scenic route home
Just made it today in the good ship "The thief of bad gags", my trusty lakon type-6 stripped out for exploration.
Visited and and scanned about 1500 systems en route, only took me since May (with time off for holidays and good behaviour ).
Home again jiggity jig, should be quicker as I'll probably not do as much scanning on the return leg...
K.
i'll post my screenshots etc. tomorrow when I can convert them to jpgs etc...
Visited and and scanned about 1500 systems en route, only took me since May (with time off for holidays and good behaviour
).Home again jiggity jig, should be quicker as I'll probably not do as much scanning on the return leg...
K.
i'll post my screenshots etc. tomorrow when I can convert them to jpgs etc...
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Ok, so here's the completion time for the good ship "The Thief of Bad Gags".
Type:- Lakon type-6 transporter
User/Commander:- Krebsy
Start: - 16/06/3301 @ 15:35:41
End: - 15/09/3301 @ 13:41:32
Duration: - 90 days, 22 hours, 5 minutes and 51 seconds.
"Infinity welcomes careful drivers."
[h=2][/h]
Type:- Lakon type-6 transporter
User/Commander:- Krebsy
Start: - 16/06/3301 @ 15:35:41
End: - 15/09/3301 @ 13:41:32
Duration: - 90 days, 22 hours, 5 minutes and 51 seconds.
"Infinity welcomes careful drivers."
[h=2][/h]
Congratulations commander, an epic achievement. 90 days eh? sheesh ... If your outbound vs. homebound journey ratios are anything like mine you should make it back in time for christmas ... 2016.
Well, if I hadn't stop to scan hundreds of systems en route then it would've probably been faster, plus the few weeks I had off whilst abroad..
.K.
I'm not sure I can agree with that. I personally find pushing myself beyond my limits to be quite useful.
Besides, time for sightseeing can come on the way back.
Well done to all the new finishers!
Enjoy your visit to Sadge.
Enjoy your visit to Sadge.
I totally disagree, I think that everyone should sightsee on the way there. If I get pushed out of the top 10, I'll have to go and make another run.I'm not sure I can agree with that. I personally find pushing myself beyond my limits to be quite useful.
I totally disagree, I think that everyone should sightsee on the way there. If I get pushed out of the top 10, I'll have to go and make another run.
There's an easy way around that feeling.
Commit yourself to an anaconda run - the best possible run you can make, under the best possible conditions. I have not done that yet; I am one huge and expensive fuel scoop away from making such an attempt. Until I do so, the race is still on.
Take your time Hanekua, grinding for the best fuel scoop is incredibly boring if done too fast, you run the risk of catching the deadly infamous Elite Dangerous "Great Grinding Ground-Down" disease, in fact I'll recommend that you switch to bulk trading in a Sidewinder, which will give you plenty of time for a solid carefully planned build up of credits
(I think that my 8'th place has now been secured, Hanekura will achieve the needed credits in 3333, when using that Sidewinder...)
(I think that my 8'th place has now been secured, Hanekura will achieve the needed credits in 3333, when using that Sidewinder...)
Only one new entry over the last week, which was from Cmdr Krebsy as previously reported in this thread. Many will no doubt be wishing that The Thief of Bad Gags really lived up to its name, as that could have given us three months (and counting, for the return trip) blessedly free of poor jokes. Oh well... Well done to Cmdr Krebsy for completing the trip in his Type 6, and for being prepared to admit to the second-slowest recorded A* Challenge time!
It's funny. I finally realized today what the real thing that has kept me from taking another shot at this, maybe trying to recapture the Hauler record, or taking up the challenge in another class.
It's not the trip there, as daunting as that can be.
It's the trip back.
When I made my first run, I fully intended to self-destruct at the end, only to find that I couldn't bring myself to do it. Some strange combination of sentimentality and dedicated roleplaying wouldn't allow me to click that button.
And the trip home, with no goal to pursue, was miserable.
And it's the dread of the long trip home that has kept me from running it again.
Stupid of me, probably, but... I can't seem to get around it.
It's not the trip there, as daunting as that can be.
It's the trip back.
When I made my first run, I fully intended to self-destruct at the end, only to find that I couldn't bring myself to do it. Some strange combination of sentimentality and dedicated roleplaying wouldn't allow me to click that button.
And the trip home, with no goal to pursue, was miserable.
And it's the dread of the long trip home that has kept me from running it again.
Stupid of me, probably, but... I can't seem to get around it.
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