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

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Is it 20 seconds? I thought I tried it earlier and counted 15, but I might just have not been paying attention. (Edit: oh, I see what you meant, they've made it longer in the beta... ?!)
It's 20 seconds for premium in both live & beta (although I've not tried it in beta 2). 15 seconds for standard and 10 for basic boosts.
 
Important question about the new respawn rules: If I do an A* run from Galileo and hit the self-destruct whilst at Sgr A*, where will I respawn? If it's Colonia, that would be a big pain for repeated attempts.
 
Important question about the new respawn rules: If I do an A* run from Galileo and hit the self-destruct whilst at Sgr A*, where will I respawn? If it's Colonia, that would be a big pain for repeated attempts.

I believe that since Sgr A* is uninhabited, you will respawn wherever you last docked (unless you somehow committed crimes during your run!)

From the relevant Focused Feedback post:
You respawn at a location dependent on the circumstances of your ship’s destruction, in a hierarchy:
- If you were detected as wanted or hostile you respawn at the nearest appropriate detention facility
- If you were not hostile or not detected as wanted you respawn at the nearest non-hostile starport in the system
- If there are no suitable starports in the system you respawn where you last docked.
 
65.59/73.35

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Only one new entry to report from January. Having obviously achieved his original goal in the Diamondback Explorer after several attempts in December, Cmdr Darplata94 switched ships to the Asp Explorer. Slightly surprisingly, this is actually the first Asp Explorer in Unlimited class. Incognito's improved fuel scooping ability compared to the DBX appears to have more than made up for the reduced jump range, leading to an improved time of just over five hours and 49 minutes.

With the galaxy's engineers reportedly having found numerous ways to further enhance ship modules, and Lakon trailing a substantial core module upgrade to the Type-7, hopefully there will be a little more activity in the coming months, and no doubt some more records falling!
 
So my run from Asellus Prime doesn't count? I did it under 10 hours without neutron boost or jumponium only with engineered FSD when I did Asellus Prime->Beagle Point run in 32.5 hours. Here I am about to jump to Sagittarius A* https://www.twitch.tv/videos/228636891?t=03h26m53s

There have been a few runs that didn't use Galileo or Lomas as a starting station, so if you extract the correct start / finish screenshots from your Twitch recording (see first post) and send them to Drakhyr then I'm sure you'll be added to the Leaderboard. Runs that begin at an incorrect station have a small penalty applied though. :)

This is all assuming you've not already send evidence to Drakhyr - if you did then you'll appear in the next update (the boards don't include runs from February yet.

Great run by the way, I've still not made it to BP.
 
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I'm looking forward to the 3.0 update and will hopefully have time to plan out a decent route.

I managed to make The Nomad the longest range Asp-X in the "post your jump range" thread, but then felt a little guilty and didn't make a Sadge run. So I like it that 3.0 will level the board with a hard limit for each module.
 
Ok here is my entry:

I did run for Beagle Point and did go through Sagittarius A*. I started at Asellus Prime because I don't have Sol permit yet and because it is second start point for Beagle run.

CMDR nouspiro
Ship Kuroitsubasa DBX
9:51:26

So here is start and arrival https://imgur.com/a/wEhnh
Outfitting https://imgur.com/a/70g3V only FSD was engineered. Also I didn't used neutron boost or jumponium.
whole stream https://www.twitch.tv/nouspiro/videos/all[/QUOTE]
 
Recent weeks have seen a few commanders making multiple trips along the highway to the core...

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We start in Unlimited class, with the big news of the week: we have a new record! Cmdr Alot has returned to the course with upgraded engineering on Rhonda. At the conclusion of three attempts with the same day, Alot has succeeded in breaking through the two-hour mark, setting a new record time of one hour, fifty-five minutes and eleven seconds. Very well done, Commander!

Only a little further back, Cmdr Darplata94 continues to show that he's obviously been taking tips from Cmdr Crotalus on run frequency, with four runs in four days, only three weeks after his previous attempts. This time he switched routes to the neutron superhighway, with both ships (the Asp Explorer Incognito and Diamondback Explorer Dark Runner) setting times close to three and half hours, in the process setting two ship type records.

Just outside the ten-hour mark we welcome Cmdr nouspiro, whose Diamondback Explorer Kuroitsubasa was actually making a run to Beagle Point. The 15-minute penalty for starting in the wrong system leaves nouspiro's recorded time at just over 10 hours.

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I mentioned Crotalus' run frequency above, and he's keeping up the tradition. First of his entries this time round becomes the second entry in Neutron class, taking an un-engineered ship down the neutron star superhighway. Cmdr Crotalus obviously wasn't entirely happy with his time in the Asp Explorer Cleo, with the time of nearly eight and three-quarter hours being reported as "a very slow run"!

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And finally to Classic class, where Cmdr Crotalus has kindly saved me from putting up an empty line on the "top times by ship type" board. Less than a week after its release, the Alliance Chieftain has complete its first A* Challenge run in Crotalus' experienced hands, with Libertas setting a benchmark time of just over 14 and a quarter hours.

Well done to all!

This month's updates leave a few questions, of course: Who will be first to take advantage of the upgraded jump capability of the Type-7 and Type-9? Can that Chieftain time be beaten? And how long will it be before Allitnil takes a shot at reclaiming the overall crown?
 
Recent weeks have seen a few commanders making multiple trips along the highway to the core...


We start in Unlimited class, with the big news of the week: we have a new record! Cmdr Alot has returned to the course with upgraded engineering on Rhonda. At the conclusion of three attempts with the same day, Alot has succeeded in breaking through the two-hour mark, setting a new record time of one hour, fifty-five minutes and eleven seconds. Very well done, Commander!

Only a little further back, Cmdr Darplata94 continues to show that he's obviously been taking tips from Cmdr Crotalus on run frequency, with four runs in four days, only three weeks after his previous attempts. This time he switched routes to the neutron superhighway, with both ships (the Asp Explorer Incognito and Diamondback Explorer Dark Runner) setting times close to three and half hours, in the process setting two ship type records.

Just outside the ten-hour mark we welcome Cmdr nouspiro, whose Diamondback Explorer Kuroitsubasa was actually making a run to Beagle Point. The 15-minute penalty for starting in the wrong system leaves nouspiro's recorded time at just over 10 hours.


I mentioned Crotalus' run frequency above, and he's keeping up the tradition. First of his entries this time round becomes the second entry in Neutron class, taking an un-engineered ship down the neutron star superhighway. Cmdr Crotalus obviously wasn't entirely happy with his time in the Asp Explorer Cleo, with the time of nearly eight and three-quarter hours being reported as "a very slow run"!


And finally to Classic class, where Cmdr Crotalus has kindly saved me from putting up an empty line on the "top times by ship type" board. Less than a week after its release, the Alliance Chieftain has complete its first A* Challenge run in Crotalus' experienced hands, with Libertas setting a benchmark time of just over 14 and a quarter hours.

Well done to all!

This month's updates leave a few questions, of course: Who will be first to take advantage of the upgraded jump capability of the Type-7 and Type-9? Can that Chieftain time be beaten? And how long will it be before Allitnil takes a shot at reclaiming the overall crown?

What the hell? When did Alot do this?!?! Did I miss a forum thread or did he just quietly slip this one under the net?

Anyway, breaking the 2hr barrier is probably worthy of a "Best of Forum" thread post at the very least I'd have thought - coming soon.

Congrat's also to Darplata94, nouspiro and Crotalus - awesome Buckyballing one and all!

o7
 
I see crotalus is continuing his steady path towards world domination. :D

What the hell? When did Alot do this?!?! Did I miss a forum thread or did he just quietly slip this one under the net?
The silent ones are the deadliest. ;)

I did the run on Saturday ... by which I mean I did three runs on Saturday. I may have been a little frazzled afterwards. :p

Attempt 1
Only reached about 25% distance before I foolishly took a risk regarding letting my FSD go below 80% integrity for a few jumps. I did not know how FSD malfunction mechanics worked. I spent enough time figuring out how FSD malfunction mechanics worked that I had to scrub the run.
Lesson to be learned: know how mechanics work beforehand or don't rely on them.

Attempt 2
Had a pretty good first half of the run, then made a few silly mistakes in the second half but remained on course for a reasonable time.
Then, with three jumps to go, I proudly pasted the next system name into the galmap only to find that said system was supposedly a little over 8000Ly away. My ship is not able to jump 8000Ly.
Lesson to be learned: transcribe system names correctly, and/or actually double-check them before doing a run.

Attempt 3
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Lesson to be learned: if at first you don't succeed...

It was a pretty decent run (at the third time of asking) and I don't feel like I made many significant mistakes, but I still have a feeling Allitnil will rip right through it when he has a go. :p
I can't seem to consistently hit much under 60 seconds per jump once refuel and repairs are taken into account - see also: 115 jumps in 115 minutes and 11 seconds. Based on his previous times I think Allitnil's cracked that somewhat better than I have (edit: or maybe I just didn't realise how good his previous route was!).

Either way, I'm happy for now. It was a somewhat more expensive day than anticipated, both in rebuys and materials, but it panned out in the end. :D



Who will be first to take advantage of the upgraded jump capability of the Type-7
Ssshhhhh!! Why'd you have to go and say that, I was hoping nobody noticed ;) :D
 
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Grats Alot! I'm not at all surprised that the 2 hour record has gone but I wasn't expecting it to be by that much. My previous time was 117 jumps in 121 minutes so I for one consider an average of 60 seconds per jump something that's a bit beyond by capabilities at present.

The other way to beat it would be to find a route with fewer jumps, but 115 sounds good as it is effectively knocking 3 off my one (since I'm assuming you can't now do the double neutron boost to Sol for a freebie at the start of the run). Jump ranges may be higher but not by much really.

I'll probably give it a try when I'm back from my current trip as I would like to go under 2 hours. But I would probably need the leaked Guardian module to beat your time...


Grat's also to Crotalus, Darplata94 and nouspiro for fine runs.
 
Grats Alot! I'm not at all surprised that the 2 hour record has gone but I wasn't expecting it to be by that much. My previous time was 117 jumps in 121 minutes so I for one consider an average of 60 seconds per jump something that's a bit beyond by capabilities at present.

The other way to beat it would be to find a route with fewer jumps, but 115 sounds good as it is effectively knocking 3 off my one (since I'm assuming you can't now do the double neutron boost to Sol for a freebie at the start of the run). Jump ranges may be higher but not by much really.

I'll probably give it a try when I'm back from my current trip as I would like to go under 2 hours. But I would probably need the leaked Guardian module to beat your time...

Oh wow, I didn't realise your route was only 117 jumps! I'm now instead wondering how the heck you managed to make that route with your previous jump range. :D I guess the double-neutron at the start helped, but still... I think mine was 124 or something similar. I guess I didn't make much use of neutrons on the way out from the bubble on my previous route, which probably makes up most of the difference.

Yeah, the 60s per jump was hard to keep up - mostly just because so many of the neutrons on my route were little wispy ones that you have to be really careful with. It's a difficult balance - go too carefully and you're losing time, but go too aggressively and end up out the other side and you're losing much more.
Then again, I'm not sure if I prefer the wispy ones or the mad millisecond pulsars that break the game audio for about 30 seconds after you go anywhere near them! I had a couple of those that were right next to M class stars, to the point where I was momentarily fuel scooping during the drop in; that certainly woke me up a bit. :eek:

And yes, I'm rather liking the sound of that Guardian FSD booster...
 
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Congrats Alot o7 :)

Congrats to everyone else as well, lots of excellent runs this month. :D

What the hell? When did Alot do this?!?! Did I miss a forum thread or did he just quietly slip this one under the net?

Anyway, breaking the 2hr barrier is probably worthy of a "Best of Forum" thread post at the very least I'd have thought - coming soon.
I spotted Alot rapidly increasing distance on my contacts list on Saturday, checked the Galmap and sent a good luck message.

As for the breaking news of a sub-2hr time, I can't wait for the endless forum posts of "now that 'condas take less than 2hrs to reach Sagittarius A* why can't we just insta-jump anywhere!?"

Then again, I'm not sure if I prefer the wispy ones or the mad millisecond pulsars that break the game audio for about 30 seconds after you go anywhere near them! I had a couple of those that were right next to M class stars, to the point where I was momentarily fuel scooping during the drop in; that certainly woke me up a bit. :eek:
Next time I expect you'll be using those to save you time on refuelling stops. [woah]
 
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I spotted Alot rapidly increasing distance on my contacts list on Saturday, checked the Galmap and sent a good luck message.
Which I spotted, and felt slightly guilty about being a little busy to reply to. :D

Next time I expect you'll be using those to save you time on refuelling stops. [woah]
Honestly I was more worried that it'd mess up the remainder of that leg! A few of the legs were rather finely balanced when it came to fuel... There were a few ending on <1T of fuel, and one jump in particular that I just checked my journal entry for - fuel use of 7.991T out of the 8T max per jump. Wouldn't have wanted to take on any extra weight before that one. :eek:
(I was actually slightly concerned that my ability to make that jump might be dependent on how full the reservoir was...)

Thanks for the kind messages folks! :)
 
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Who will be first to take advantage of the upgraded jump capability of the Type-7

Ssshhhhh!! Why'd you have to go and say that, I was hoping nobody noticed ;) :D
Well done setting a new record
Now I am considerig buying Type-7

The chieftain run didn't go well, mostly due to my internet connection
My mean jump time was around 5 seconds slower than the Type-6 which had some issues with slow witchspace, I had 44 jumps that took over a minute
The route itself was 15 jumps shorter than the route I did with the Clipper
 
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