Community Event / Creation Buckyball Racing Club presents: The A* Challenge

[Rankaze]

Japanese-style, with family name first, of course.

What Rankaze was referring to in this case was that both myself and Gamlain were physically at his place when he was Haulin' A*. Or, to quote Don McLean, "Oh, and there we all were in one place, a generation lost in space, with no time left to start again..."

Yep, it was thanks to CMDR Hanekura (and yes, this was why I asked about name format. It feels weird typing out your full CMDR name with the CMDR title, but CMDR "personal-name" would be even weirder.) running 1000-ly split times for me that I once observed I was pretty confident I could break the 12-hour mark if I did it again (Of course, then someone went and broke the 11-hour mark in a Hauler, rendering that moot). It was just a matter of getting the bad segments to look more like the good segments. Also, CMDR Hanekura brought the drinks (real-cane-sugar Dr. Pepper in this case - best stuff there is), and CMDR Jaereth ordered the pizza and answered the door so I wouldn't have to.

Besides, some things are just more fun with friends.

 

[drakhyr]

Spoiler

The rate of runners returns to a more leisurely pace this week, with only one new entry, from newcomer Cmdr Derakros Zrux (and I'm glad I don't have to try to pronounce that one!). Broadcasting live from his Asp Explorer, The Lycaon, Derakros Zrux reported an early encounter with the classic sauna-like features of an A* Challenge run. The final recorded time of just under 13 and a half hours gets a spot in the top quarter of the board, though Cmdr Zrux reports that he may prefer to stick to shorter races in future

On the subject of which, I do update the top of the thread with our other races, but I possibly ought to include them at the bottom of the thread as well. So, keep an eye out for details of Escape Velocity (20-23 December), My True Love Sent To Me (25 Dec - 6 Jan), and Buckyball Run 9 (expected very early January) - the website at buckyballracing.org.uk will have links to the full details when they are available.

 

[Raiko]

Well done to all of the recent runners, especially Alot putting Rhonda back at the top of the board (at least until StokeMeAClipper's next run), sorry I wasn't there to greet you this time Alot.

 

[Hanekura Shizuka]

On the subject of which, I do update the top of the thread with our other races, but I possibly ought to include them at the bottom of the thread as well. So, keep an eye out for details of Escape Velocity (20-23 December), My True Love Sent To Me (25 Dec - 6 Jan), and Buckyball Run 9 (expected very early January) - the website at buckyballracing.org.uk will have links to the full details when they are available.

Sorry I won't be there for them, as other events call. That said... Alot and Arple look rather lonely up there. I have no illusions about beating Alot's time, but I'll see how close I can get.

 

[Rankaze]

Sorry I won't be there for them, as other events call. That said... Alot and Arple look rather lonely up there. I have no illusions about beating Alot's time, but I'll see how close I can get.

May the winds be at your back. Go get 'em.

 

[Hanekura Shizuka]

May the winds be at your back. Go get 'em.

Shot down due to Horizons upgrade. At this point, I'm tempted to do the unforgiveable - destroy my ship - just to get a run done in time.

 

[Esvandiary]

Well done to all of the recent runners, especially Alot putting Rhonda back at the top of the board (at least until StokeMeAClipper's next run), sorry I wasn't there to greet you this time Alot.

No worries, you had much more important things to attend to. I'll run into you soon enough I'm sure

Shot down due to Horizons upgrade. At this point, I'm tempted to do the unforgiveable - destroy my ship - just to get a run done in time.

Welp... Well, best of luck once you do manage to get a run in! Hopefully the servers stabilise relatively quickly...

 

[Rankaze]

No worries, you had much more important things to attend to. I'll run into you soon enough I'm sure


Welp... Well, best of luck once you do manage to get a run in! Hopefully the servers stabilise relatively quickly...

Yeah, I'd forgotten the upgrade was today, which is funny, since that was the reason I was in such a rush to get my FdL... I didn't think the rumors of a price hike were very credible, but I also had no intention of taking any chances. I guess once I actually got it, the actual date of the upgrade fell back off my radar.

 

[Hanekura Shizuka]

Yeah, I'd forgotten the upgrade was today, which is funny, since that was the reason I was in such a rush to get my FdL... I didn't think the rumors of a price hike were very credible, but I also had no intention of taking any chances. I guess once I actually got it, the actual date of the upgrade fell back off my radar.

There may be time for one more run. Maybe. This might be interesting... but, in my case, it HAS to be done within a week. That said... does this mean the black paint jobs are in? Not a fan of the Gold Anaconda... but they were promising a midnight black paint job available to those who'd pre-ordered, and that would be much preferred.

 

[crotalus]

There may be time for one more run. Maybe. This might be interesting... but, in my case, it HAS to be done within a week. That said... does this mean the black paint jobs are in? Not a fan of the Gold Anaconda... but they were promising a midnight black paint job available to those who'd pre-ordered, and that would be much preferred.

The black paint jobs are available

Spoiler

 

[Rankaze]

There may be time for one more run. Maybe. This might be interesting... but, in my case, it HAS to be done within a week. That said... does this mean the black paint jobs are in? Not a fan of the Gold Anaconda... but they were promising a midnight black paint job available to those who'd pre-ordered, and that would be much preferred.

Oh, yes, they are in. And on my Fer-de-Lance, the black paint looks sooooo much better than any of the other options. To say nothing of the Imperial Courier, which finally has a paint option other than white!

 

[Hanekura Shizuka]

I hesitate to ask anymore, but there aren't any more planned outages around, say, Sunday or Monday, are there? Didn't see anything written on the forums, but...

 

[Rankaze]

I hesitate to ask anymore, but there aren't any more planned outages around, say, Sunday or Monday, are there? Didn't see anything written on the forums, but...

There is always the possibility of a bugfix patch... Horizons does have a few bugs that need to be squashed yet (though this is by far the most stable release FD has done yet, I think!). I would think it would be highly unlikely that we would see one on a Sunday. Monday may be a different story.

 

[drakhyr]

There is always the possibility of a bugfix patch... Horizons does have a few bugs that need to be squashed yet (though this is by far the most stable release FD has done yet, I think!). I would think it would be highly unlikely that we would see one on a Sunday. Monday may be a different story.

I would expect patches on Monday or on Tuesday morning to be highly unlikely, given that there is a 24hour charity livestream running from noon Monday to noon Tuesday

 

[Rankaze]

You know, I just realized something.

Horizons potentially makes doing another run a lot less painful for me, and for one reason. FSD Boost.

No, not to get there. I'd presume we're not allowing that since it would destroy any continuity with the previous record book.

No, I would use FSD boost to get BACK. If I can manage to stock up on enough materials for a few hundred 100% FSD boosts, I could cut HOURS off that long, boring return trip. Sure, finding that much Vanadium is going to be a pain in the butt, but I happen to enjoy cruising around on planets shooting rocks, so I'm likely to build up a supply anyway.

Maybe I'll end up making another run after all.

 

[Esvandiary]

No, not to get there. I'd presume we're not allowing that since it would destroy any continuity with the previous record book.

An interesting question, for sure... I think I'm personally against a shared leaderboard for boost vs non-boost, for the following reasons:

• At the moment, materials are Horizons-only, giving a free advantage to people with the expansion
• Only the craziest will be willing to go find enough materials to do a fully boosted run, widening a gap that some feel is already too big and making people feel like they "have" to do it to be competitive
• It diminishes the accomplishments of existing runs (looking particularly in Takaru Minari's direction )

As well as this, boosted runs make the penalty for a ruined run (e.g. due to server issues) even more severe - not only are you out the time, but also the materials.

With that said, the aim of the challenge has always been "how fast can you get to A* by any means necessary," so I'm happy to be shouted down.

No, I would use FSD boost to get BACK. If I can manage to stock up on enough materials for a few hundred 100% FSD boosts, I could cut HOURS off that long, boring return trip. Sure, finding that much Vanadium is going to be a pain in the butt, but I happen to enjoy cruising around on planets shooting rocks, so I'm likely to build up a supply anyway.

Ah, I don't want to burst your bubble... But I believe 60 uses of 100% jumponium is the most you can carry (unless you collect more along the way). Still a reasonable chunk off the journey, mind!

 

[Hanekura Shizuka]

There is always the possibility of a bugfix patch... Horizons does have a few bugs that need to be squashed yet (though this is by far the most stable release FD has done yet, I think!). I would think it would be highly unlikely that we would see one on a Sunday. Monday may be a different story.

Scary thing is... the more work I get done, the more TONIGHT sounds like an interesting option. Start, say, 4 AM Buckytime...

To expand, this weekend is usually really busy for me. Insanely busy. OMGWTFBBQ busy. That said... I just got the main work done and out of the way. So...

 

[Hanekura Shizuka]

You know, I just realized something.

Horizons potentially makes doing another run a lot less painful for me, and for one reason. FSD Boost.

No, not to get there. I'd presume we're not allowing that since it would destroy any continuity with the previous record book.

No, I would use FSD boost to get BACK. If I can manage to stock up on enough materials for a few hundred 100% FSD boosts, I could cut HOURS off that long, boring return trip. Sure, finding that much Vanadium is going to be a pain in the butt, but I happen to enjoy cruising around on planets shooting rocks, so I'm likely to build up a supply anyway.

Maybe I'll end up making another run after all.

Hmmm... not crazy enough you are thinking. Crazy enough I have.


Consider the following: 6 Anacondas, spaced every 4000 ly or so, stocked to the gills with jump-stuff. Pilot burns through those 60 boosts at double-distance, gets a refill from a 'Conda, burns through those 60 at double-distance, gets a refill...

 

[Mangel]

Hmmm... not crazy enough you are thinking. Crazy enough I have.


Consider the following: 6 Anacondas, spaced every 4000 ly or so, stocked to the gills with jump-stuff. Pilot burns through those 60 boosts at double-distance, gets a refill from a 'Conda, burns through those 60 at double-distance, gets a refill...

Cant transfer materials.

 

[FoxTwo]

Welp... now that I've had a romp in the Cobra Mk 4...

I don't think I'll be making a trip out in it to Sadge. Can't get the jump range further than about 21 LY. Gonna be an 18hour trip at best, and likely to be a 2-day trip, knowing that I can't sit still for that long Kinda comparable to a Vulture.