Community Event / Creation Buckyball Run A*: What do you do when a mountain is there? Move it.

[drakhyr]

A few numbers from my run today, for the record:

Number of jumps: 740
Average time per jump: 45.6 secs
Time per 1000LY: 21m 42s (over 25,900LY - I don't know the exact total distance travelled)
Light years per hour: 2765 (ditto)
Emergency stops: 1
Forced replots due to unscoopable stars: 0

Entire route was scouted in advance, keeping plotting time to a minimum - apart from the one leg where, despite having plotted quickly a couple of weeks ago on the test run, this time the navigation computer decided to throw a wobbly .

Interestingly, I also found on the way back from my test run that just because A to B will plot quickly, doesn't mean that B to A will!

 

[robinjb]

Entire route was scouted in advance, keeping plotting time to a minimum

Great time Drakhyr, I wondered if anyone had the patience to pre plot it. nicely done. maybe in a conda you could give A lot a run for his money.
youd have to replot your route though.

 

[drakhyr]

Great time Drakhyr, I wondered if anyone had the patience to pre plot it. nicely done. maybe in a conda you could give A lot a run for his money.
youd have to replot your route though.

And I'd need to find the 150m or so additional credits I need to be able to afford a racing 'Conda...

 

[TunaMage]

Wohooo, made is back to civilisation, ....finally! ALmost took me two months to get back from Sag A

Now to load up on some shields and guns and go sell data.

Talking of which, any advice on best places to sell/community goals, etc?

any tips much appreciated

 

[Alec Turner]

Wohooo, made is back to civilisation, ....finally! ALmost took me two months to get back from Sag A

Now to load up on some shields and guns and go sell data.

Talking of which, any advice on best places to sell/community goals, etc?

any tips much appreciated

I shouldn't say this 'cos you'll probably knock me out of the top 5% but sell your data at Lembava. You should easily make top 5% which will get you an extra 15 million.

Edit: don't forget to sign up to the CG before you start selling.

 

[TunaMage]

Thanks Alec ... I'll head on over there tomorrow...

 

[Raiko]

Interestingly, I also found on the way back from my test run that just because A to B will plot quickly, doesn't mean that B to A will!

The complexity of the plot is higher I guess heading towards Sadge, especially for the last couple of thousand LY.

I've never recon'd my route in advance, but I used approximate waypoints spaced out at 500LY intervals for my runs, but then found that I couldn't even cut and paste into the Galmap past half way.

 

[Skinbak]

Cmdr Skinbak starting the run now. 2mins till launch will post verifying pics later and details of names etc...

 

[Ceska_Zbrojovka]

To all my fellow Buckyball Racers.

Spoiler

I'd like to invite you all to my Promotion Ceremony.

 

[Alec Turner]

Just tidying up my screenshots folder and thought I'd just post this one of Anuranium's greeting at the moment of my Sag A arrival ...



Oh what the hell, and one more of Sag A through a frosty window ...



Edit: did anyone else experience a kind of Sag A withdrawal when they were back in the bubble?

 

[mw_aurora]

did anyone else experience a kind of Sag A withdrawal when they were back in the bubble?

Why do you think I have been back twice

 

[Stern Winter]

The complexity of the plot is higher I guess heading towards Sadge, especially for the last couple of thousand LY.

I've never recon'd my route in advance, but I used approximate waypoints spaced out at 500LY intervals for my runs, but then found that I couldn't even cut and paste into the Galmap past half way.

Hmm, I pre-plotted all my waypoints at very, very close to 1000Ly and was able to paste into the GalMap all the way in - but that was in 1.2.

 

[Macros Black]

Just tidying up my screenshots folder and thought I'd just post this one of Anuranium's greeting at the moment of my Sag A arrival ...

Alec, they seem a little blurry to me, could you post a new set of new photos?

;-)

 

[Chance-]

I've also not really got a clue, but maybe screenshots without the clock would still work? So long as it's not the start or finish - or maybe I'm just too trusting.

Most of us record our 'normal length' Buckyball Runs (I've just never gotten around to uploading any of mine to Youtube yet). Maybe require everyone to record their runs and ensure that all the winners at least upload their's?

Personally I agree with this. Almost everyone is capable of recording their runs or atleast their final jumps into systems. I personally haven't participated in any shorter buckyball runs but I did record both my launch and landing at Sag A* as well as some rather "interesting" footage with serraphix. I'm too lazy to render it though lol.

 

[Raiko]

Hmm, I pre-plotted all my waypoints at very, very close to 1000Ly and was able to paste into the GalMap all the way in - but that was in 1.2.

Yes, this was during 1.2 as well, I've not made any runs since 1.3.

My cut&paste lockups happened at the same time as the slow plots began anyway, so 1000LY plots wouldn't have plotted.

Personally I agree with this. Almost everyone is capable of recording their runs or atleast their final jumps into systems. I personally haven't participated in any shorter buckyball runs but I did record both my launch and landing at Sag A* as well as some rather "interesting" footage with serraphix. I'm too lazy to render it though lol.

Yes, I think that as long as the overall winners, and the 'best of class' are required to upload their runs then it should keep everyone honest (I think we're generally a trustworthy bunch anyway ). I'm determined to upload my own runs next time anyway.

A few numbers from my run today, for the record:

Number of jumps: 740
Average time per jump: 45.6 secs
Time per 1000LY: 21m 42s (over 25,900LY - I don't know the exact total distance travelled)
Light years per hour: 2765 (ditto)
Emergency stops: 1
Forced replots due to unscoopable stars: 0

Entire route was scouted in advance, keeping plotting time to a minimum - apart from the one leg where, despite having plotted quickly a couple of weeks ago on the test run, this time the navigation computer decided to throw a wobbly .

Interestingly, I also found on the way back from my test run that just because A to B will plot quickly, doesn't mean that B to A will!

No replots due to unscoopable stars is dead impressive, recon paying off well. Out of curiosity, were you using a 2 or 3 jump build? I think I can get around the same pace using my existing build with 16t tank and scanner, so I'm not sure whether to risk a 10t tank. I'll definitely be carrying at least an ADS as I can't bring myself to self destruct The Nomad. I'll save the one-way trips for when I can afford an Anaconda (ETA early 3303!).

Also, did you have any of those 75 second witch space transitions in either your recon or your real run? I've not had any so far since 1.3, which is great but might just be a fluke.

 

[drakhyr]

No replots due to unscoopable stars is dead impressive, recon paying off well. Out of curiosity, were you using a 2 or 3 jump build? I think I can get around the same pace using my existing build with 16t tank and scanner, so I'm not sure whether to risk a 10t tank. I'll definitely be carrying at least an ADS as I can't bring myself to self destruct The Nomad. I'll save the one-way trips for when I can afford an Anaconda (ETA early 3303!).

Also, did you have any of those 75 second witch space transitions in either your recon or your real run? I've not had any so far since 1.3, which is great but might just be a fluke.

I was using a standard 3 jump Asp setup (including scanners - I mean to bring my ships home, which means I want to be able to scan on the return leg!) - didn't have much choice as the recon run started before 1.3 came out. There was one spot where I needed it (two unscoopables in a row), and a couple of others with unscoopable stars close together where the flexilbility on fuelling was helpful.

I didn't have any ridiculously long witch-space transitions either time. Some were longer than normal, but nothing anywhere near 75 seconds, thankfully.

 

[Alec Turner]

Personally I agree with this. Almost everyone is capable of recording their runs or atleast their final jumps into systems. I personally haven't participated in any shorter buckyball runs but I did record both my launch and landing at Sag A* as well as some rather "interesting" footage with serraphix. I'm too lazy to render it though lol.

Are we talking about needing video recordings of our runs using something like fraps? If so, I have to say (and I know one of the early principles of the Buckyball Run was being open to all) that I'm fairly sure my PC won't be up to this. Before I run Elite I typically kill as many background tasks as possible in order to maximise CPU availability. Even then I only get around 20fps. Running fraps in the background would almost certainly kill it.

P.S. yeah yeah, I know, I need a new PC ... I'm holding off until early next year so I can get something well suited to running an Occulus.

 

[mw_aurora]

I have started playing with the GalMap and my problem does seem tied to my main PC. I can plot away from Sag A* with relative ease on my laptop, whereas I cannot get a single plot to work first time on my desktop.

Obvious answer is to use my laptop for runs...but it has developed a stutter when flying close to objects, such as stars. It makes fast fuel scooping a little too exciting for my taste

Raiko, I think you mentioned having a similar processor to me - I wonder if this is the cause of our problems?

 

[adipose]

Are we talking about needing video recordings of our runs using something like fraps? If so, I have to say (and I know one of the early principles of the Buckyball Run was being open to all) that I'm fairly sure my PC won't be up to this. Before I run Elite I typically kill as many background tasks as possible in order to maximise CPU availability. Even then I only get around 20fps. Running fraps in the background would almost certainly kill it.

P.S. yeah yeah, I know, I need a new PC ... I'm holding off until early next year so I can get something well suited to running an Occulus.

Good news, I have a solution that won't kill your pc, I just want to test it first (I am on a ferry to Stellacom right now). Stay tuned!
EDIT: I think the original post was looking for a solution that won't exclude those who can't record on your pc, which is why That was only mentioned in my first post on the subject.

 

[Raiko]

I was using a standard 3 jump Asp setup (including scanners - I mean to bring my ships home, which means I want to be able to scan on the return leg!) - didn't have much choice as the recon run started before 1.3 came out. There was one spot where I needed it (two unscoopables in a row), and a couple of others with unscoopable stars close together where the flexilbility on fuelling was helpful.

I didn't have any ridiculously long witch-space transitions either time. Some were longer than normal, but nothing anywhere near 75 seconds, thankfully.

Thanks.
I'll keep the same 16t tank + scanners config that I've already used for my next run then, so whether I can get close to or faster than your time or not, at least it'll be in a similar spec ship.

In my speed runs on the way back I've been getting just over 2800LY/h over 3-4000LY runs. I've needed replots, but only because I was pretending that I had a 2-jump config and replotting any time that I had two unscoopables in a row.

So I'm confident that I can easily beat my own personal best, but to match your time I'd need to keep that pace up for the whole 9 and a half hours or so. I'm not sure if I'll be able to manage that, so your run may well be beyond my abilities to match.

I should hopefully make it back to the bubble in the next 2-3 days, then I'll sell my data during the rest of the week. I'm kind of hoping that I might then be able to make another run and get back again before the Serius CG finishes on the 2nd July - that way I'll definitely be back in the bubble for BB-8!

Are we talking about needing video recordings of our runs using something like fraps? If so, I have to say (and I know one of the early principles of the Buckyball Run was being open to all) that I'm fairly sure my PC won't be up to this. Before I run Elite I typically kill as many background tasks as possible in order to maximise CPU availability. Even then I only get around 20fps. Running fraps in the background would almost certainly kill it.

P.S. yeah yeah, I know, I need a new PC ... I'm holding off until early next year so I can get something well suited to running an Occulus.

I wouldn't want any solution that stopped anyone from competing. And I'm quite sure that ElectricZ and Bucky wouldn't do that.

I have started playing with the GalMap and my problem does seem tied to my main PC. I can plot away from Sag A* with relative ease on my laptop, whereas I cannot get a single plot to work first time on my desktop.

Obvious answer is to use my laptop for runs...but it has developed a stutter when flying close to objects, such as stars. It makes fast fuel scooping a little too exciting for my taste

Raiko, I think you mentioned having a similar processor to me - I wonder if this is the cause of our problems?

I think that I'm having less plotting problems than you, but my processor is a '1 generation newer' equivalent of yours. The map never locks up badly enough for me to prevent me switching destination stars.