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

[Hanekura Shizuka]

Past and future

I finally got back from Sadge today. I took my time getting back; I'd brought an ADS and DSS with me, so I made a detour to the neutron star field. I have no idea how many neutron stars I scanned; it was in the hundreds, but I have no idea.

When I finally turned my cartographic data in, the final tally? 78 million. This is roughly five times as much as I'd made in the game up to that point. Makes me wonder how many others have become better players as a result of the Bucky runs. There were questions and ideas as to what to do with this wealth... but, for multiple reasons, there's only one thing I could really do with the money.

Put simply, I want an Elite explorer's rank. And that means another exploration run like the one I just had. So, without further ado...

Intent to Race

Pilot name: Hanekura Shizuka
Ship name: Wind Dragon
Ship type: Asp Explorer

Not sure when it will be... but it will be.

Just for reference... when I made my first Sadge run? I was ranked "Mostly Aimless".

 

[Alec Turner]

I finally got back from Sadge today.

Congratulations. Getting back is quite a thing in itself. The sound of those docking clamps engaging after all that time brought a tear to me eye.

When I finally turned my cartographic data in, the final tally? 78 million.

WOW! That's ... just Wow.

So, without further ado...

Intent to Race

Pilot name: Hanekura Shizuka
Ship name: Wind Dragon
Ship type: Asp Explorer

LOL ... Bucky madness claims another victim.

Hi, my name is Alec Turner and it's been 2 months since my last Bucky run. I feel much better now and have re-integrated back into society. My friends and family are pleased to have me around and, although I still suffer the occasional flahsback (jump scoop charging parp Jump Scoop Charging Parp JUMP SCOOP CHARGING PARP PARP PARP!!!!) ... every day in every way I'm getting better and better.

 

[Hanekura Shizuka]

...and so it is done. I have no idea how it could have been done any quicker, I litterally have not stopped since I set off. I'm guessing a better fuel scoop would have cut down on the waiting but who knows.

Good job, especially for a first run. As for 'no idea how it could have been done any quicker', well, you learn. There's things I know now that I never would have guessed going into my first run - and I had the advantage of watching another Bucky runner make an attempt in person before making my own run. There's things I wish I knew before my second run - as the link near the bottom of this post will attest. You learn, you gain experience. It's all good.

Your intuition on the fuel scoop is correct, by the way. The fuel scoop is the main weakness with the DBX on a Bucky run. As for why, let's look at the DBX versus a Bucky favorite, the Asp.

Both the DBX and the Asp, when maxed out, put in a 5A Frame Shift Drive, which uses 5 tons of fuel per jump. So both use roughly the same amount of fuel per jump. Now, the best fuel scoop that a DBX can use is a 4A scoop, which can scoop 342 kg/sec. If we're max-jumping (and we'd better be), it'll take at minimum 15 seconds to replace the 5 tons burned in each jump. The Asp, by comparison, can use a 6A fuel scoop. A 6A fuel scoop can scoop 878 kg/sec. Thus, the Asp, by comparison, takes a minimum of 6 seconds to replace the 5 tons burned in each jump.

In your case, you were using a 4C fuel scoop. The 4C fuel scoop works at 245 kg/sec. That will take a minimum of 20 seconds to replace the 5 ton burn from each jump. When you consider that you performed somewhere between 800 and 1000 jumps, that's a lot of seconds.

There are other things you could have done to improve your jump range; a good, minmaxed DBX can get a jump range up to 35.48 even while carrying a DSS and ADS.

 

[AsukaZ]

Hi All,
I made it.

Departure date: 24 JUL 3301 0:38:23
Arrival date: 26 JUL 3301 11:14:53
Elapsed time: 2 days, 10 hours, 36 minutes and 30 seconds.

Departure -

Spoiler

Arrival -

Spoiler

Fit out -

Spoiler

It was quite a ride.
Now I shall sit and consider my next move.
Thanks again to the well-wishers.
And good luck to anyone who attempts this.

 

[Raiko]

Hi All,
I made it.

...and so it is done. I have no idea how it could have been done any quicker, I litterally have not stopped since I set off. I'm guessing a better fuel scoop would have cut down on the waiting but who knows. For now I am pleased.

Well done both of you!

Make sure that you remember to PM or email your details/screenshots to Drakhyr, as per the opening post of this thread, to make sure that you're added
to the leaderboard.

@Asuka, I arrived back in the bubble at Jameson Memorial just as you were coming online, so I think we're in totally different time-zones, I would have sent a good-luck message, please accept my congratulations here instead. I was tired and also needed to swap to a Type-9 to deliver a haul of medical supplies to the people of Santjalan for my friend Kancro Vantas.

Which reminds me, don't forget to post your screenshots in Kancro's Sag A* Visitor's List thread!

Lots of really helpful stuff.

@mrwonka, as Hanekura says, you really need to minimise both mass and refuel times to get the best possible time. Although your location and netconnection will also have big effect (my witchspace tunnels are normally 14-15sec, but some runner have average tunnel times of 30sec+ )
0
You need to leave your shields behind and fit a class 2A reactor (small AND cool), and a 1D distributor (tiny). For thrusters just take the smallest class D thrusters that your ship can carry (4A for an Asp or DBX) This almost maximises your jump range, a 2D reactor is lighter, but runs hot - the 2A is the safest possible for refueling.

When refueling you need to try to hit jump as soon as the cooldown timer ends, even if it gets toasty. Ziljan has shown in this thread that it's possible to top up a DBX between jumps as it withstands the temperature really well. You'll still lose time in the DBX after a run of unscoopables though, as it's possible to completely refuel an empty 3-jump (16t tank) Asp during FSD cooldown/charge-up if you ignore the temperature warnings.

Shields are just dead weight (and extra heat if switched on), other than the very slim chance of being in Sadge at the same time as a psycho hemorrhoid
you'll never need them as you're out of the bubble after 2-3 jumps and then you'll only meet another player if you arrange the meeting yourself.

I finally got back from Sadge today. I took my time getting back; I'd brought an ADS and DSS with me, so I made a detour to the neutron star field. I have no idea how many neutron stars I scanned; it was in the hundreds, but I have no idea.

When I finally turned my cartographic data in, the final tally? 78 million.

That's a great haul, I envy your willpower farming the Neutron fields. My exploration total after three Sadge runs is less than that, I gave up on Neutron farming after about an hour...

Incidentally I was following you for 15-16,000LYs yesterday! You certainly weren't hanging around on the way back.

Every time I closed to within 1000LY of you, something cropped up offline that stopped me playing for a while and I'd return to find you 2000LY ahead again. So you provided my motivation to keep on jumping, I think I eventually passed you as we were approaching the bubble. I would have hailed you and tried to arrange a rendezvous, but I was above the plane and you were below and I couldn't face passing through both the brown-dwarf layers!

If you're that fast in a Diamondback then I'm sure you'll get a great Asp time when you run again.

 

[Raiko]

LOL ... Bucky madness claims another victim...

Bucky madness??? What on Earth are you talking about? By the way, did I mention that I got my speed above 2.8Kylies-per-hour for long stretches on the way home? So I'm thinking of going again soon.

(But not until after the rares-race).

 

[AsukaZ]

@Asuka, ... I think we're in totally different time-zones ...

Quite possibly, I'm in Sydney, Australia.

... I would have sent a good-luck message, please accept my congratulations here instead ...

Certainly

 

[adipose]

I was out of town when this thread started, so I'm going to try this again.

Cmdr Marco ArmstrongSome Nights
Sidewinder

I am restarting my run, I had a cap time anyways. I also might want to do some trading before I restart.

 

[Hanekura Shizuka]

Incidentally I was following you for 15-16,000LYs yesterday! You certainly weren't hanging around on the way back. Every time I closed to within 1000LY of you, something cropped up offline that stopped me playing for a while and I'd return to find you 2000LY ahead again. So you provided my motivation to keep on jumping, I think I eventually passed you as we were approaching the bubble. I would have hailed you and tried to arrange a rendezvous, but I was above the plane and you were below and I couldn't face passing through both the brown-dwarf layers! If you're that fast in a Diamondback then I'm sure you'll get a great Asp time when you run again.

Not on the way back, no. Once I cleared the neutron star field (for me, this occurred around 16000 ly from Sol), I didn't waste much time in getting back.

And yes, I noticed you were making your approach into the populated systems last night. Oddly enough, I was having the opposite thought: "Crap, Raiko's gaining on me! Come on, I can't let Raiko beat me there!" You did eventually pass me with about 1000ly to go.

Finally, one gift for anyone going through the starfields. I wasn't paying much attention to how much I made from each system, but this was a nice one:

Spoiler

 

[Alec Turner]

Given that ElectricZ's original thread is now officially closed (and hence I can't post there) I just wanted to say a final massive thanks to EZ for his work on the Sagittarius A* run. An absolute blast for me and the 93 other pilots who took part in that first phase of this ongoing challenge and something we will all remember and hold dear to our hearts for a long long time.

Thank You.

 

[mw_aurora]

As well as a Fuel Rats piece, there is a great interview with CMDR Metta - including a mention of CMDR Alot. Some of you feature in the pics too

Fuel Rats @ 4m 15s and CMDR Metta @ 5m 30s

[video=youtube;BGjjCU3phZg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGjjCU3phZg[/video]

 

[Cheetah]

Nooooooo! I've taken the day off for a run and the servers are going down for maintenance!!! It's not fair!

 

[Alec Turner]

Nooooooo! I've taken the day off for a run and the servers are going down for maintenance!!! It's not fair!

Damn :-(

I had my Bucky A day off planned for months and was living in fear of server maintainenance in the last few days before my run. Thankfully in my case it didn't happen.
You have my sympathy.

 

[mw_aurora]

Nooooooo! I've taken the day off for a run and the servers are going down for maintenance!!! It's not fair!

Ouch, ouch, ouch!

 

[Cheetah]

Thanks guys. I'm sitting waiting knowing that the apocalypse of my wife returning home is only 5 hours away!

 

[Alec Turner]

Thanks guys. I'm sitting waiting knowing that the apocalypse of my wife returning home is only 5 hours away!

Lol, and those empty beer cans, donut boxes, washing up pile and unmade bed aren't going to sort themselves out either. Probably best if you put some pants on at the very least in case she's early!

 

[Cheetah]

/checks to see where the hidden camera is

 

[drakhyr]

Right, time for the first post-Buckyball Run update of the leaderboard...

This time we get to welcome no fewer than four new Commanders to the run! Way out in front of the group is Cmdr Grokknar Ironanvil in the Diamondback Explorer Sometimes I Wander, who wandered his way to Sagittarius A* in a very respectable time just shy of 18 hours.

Following a little behind, with times a little over two days, Quineloe's unnamed Imperial Courier managed to split the brightly-coloured Asps, coming in between Padovani's Plum Pathfinder and Asuka Zeppelin's Red Rabbit. Anybody near the core with those three is definitely going to need sunglasses!

Congratulations to all four!

Another four new finishers, and we'll be up to our 100th participant...

 

[Cheetah]

Oh! I missed the update!

Your commander's name : Cheetah
Ship name: The Sleeper Awakes
Ship type: Asp

It's been so epic! I don't think I'll get time to try on single session again which is a pity as I think I could manage sub 11 Hours but you guys who do it in sub 10!! Amazing is what you are! Wifeapocalypse cost 90 mins and the server update cost too!

Still thanks to help from Cmdrs Drakyhr, Raiko and Alot it's done. Thanks also to support from Cmdrs Alec Turner, Rusticolus and Tempest. But I dedicate the run to ElectricZ without whom none of this craziness would have happened.

 

[D8ncer]

Hi Cmdr’s,
Have the day off tomorrow and decided I am going to try the loony (A*Challenge).
.
Cmdr – Khal Rayark
Ship – Nostrodamus (Anaconda)
.
Setting off at around 8-9am GMT and hope to try and streamit for a bit of fun. You can tune in using the following link. Never done thatbefore so doing some test stuff to try and get it working.
http://www.twitch.tv/d8ncer
.
Have done a shedload of exploring already and have Elite but never taken on a challenge like this. So have a pretty good idea what a challenge this is going to be.