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

[CMDR Andrew Dermott]

So... is the sticker problem permanent, or is Senator Buzzkill clamping down on all future sticker shipments?

Not that I'm not in this for the fun, but I haven't had a weekend to make the run, yet. Swag is a major determining factor in whether risking my ship in the black is actually worth my 4th of July weekend.

 

[Syntherios]

CMDR Syntherios
"Venom"
Cobra

Made it out to ~2000 ly before I decided to call it a night. Took me 2.5 hours to get there and I'm not even through 10% of the journey yet. D:

At the dock:

Spoiler

Also discovered a new, previously-unexplored system:

Spoiler

I can also post my loadout screenshots if need be, unless I should wait until I get there.

 

[c64orinoco]

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

Which is why I'm heading back. Slowly.

 

[c64orinoco]

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.

Living as I do at the End of the Earth* (Australia) a 75-second transition through Witchspace is 'normal'. 2 minutes is 'bad'. I don't think
it's possible to do a run in under 12 hours in Australia. Someone might prove me wrong, but from NW Sydney thats about the best jump times I've had.

Considering I couldn't sync into a wing with ElectricZ when we tried, I doubt it's possible for me to get a good time, ever. :-(

* - not quite true. NW Sydney isn't the End of the World. That's just up the road at Upper Colo.

 

[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.

More data - whilst at Sag A* anything over 4x my maximum jump range doesn't plot within 30 minutes. Under the 4x it instaplots. I imagine that 4x number will go up the further away from Sag A* I get.

 

[adipose]

Eureka!!!

I found a solution to Your problem, EZ. I was actually suprized how simple the solution was. uThe racer will need a watch (or any device that tells time), and a camera (again, don't be picky.) Set your watch to Galactic standard time, using the dash clock at a docking location. Simply place your watch next or under your monitor. Instead of taking screenshots, take a picture of your monitor with the clock in it. Sure, this is clunky, but it is a viable solution.

Way to go, Monkeys!

 

[Alec Turner]

I found a solution to Your problem, EZ. I was actually suprized how simple the solution was. uThe racer will need a watch (or any device that tells time), and a camera (again, don't be picky.) Set your watch to Galactic standard time, using the dash clock at a docking location. Simply place your watch next or under your monitor. Instead of taking screenshots, take a picture of your monitor with the clock in it. Sure, this is clunky, but it is a viable solution.

Way to go, Monkeys!
View attachment 46198

I like the simplicity of this (see my Buckyball 6 video), however, if we're trusting people to do this then why can't we just use the file creation timestamp that's associated with each screenshot bmp file (assuming these are preserved when the files are transferred to EZ) and then simply ask people to include their timezone when posting their entry? Actually, scrap that last bit, timezone is irrelevant if we're only interested in elapsed time.

 

[Ceska_Zbrojovka]

Living as I do at the End of the Earth* (Australia) a 75-second transition through Witchspace is 'normal'. 2 minutes is 'bad'. I don't think
it's possible to do a run in under 12 hours in Australia. Someone might prove me wrong, but from NW Sydney thats about the best jump times I've had.

Considering I couldn't sync into a wing with ElectricZ when we tried, I doubt it's possible for me to get a good time, ever. :-(

* - not quite true. NW Sydney isn't the End of the World. That's just up the road at Upper Colo.

Up here in a state further north where beer is spelt with the same letter 4 times, and everything takes one a weird shade of Purplish Red this time of year.
I'm fortunate enough to have the FttH NBN, and my average Witchspace Transition is 45sec for me.
An Australian sub-12hr run is possible. Just not with my computer when trying to plot close to the core.

 

[adipose]

I like the simplicity of this (see my Buckyball 6 video), however, if we're trusting people to do this then why can't we just use the file creation timestamp that's associated with each screenshot bmp file (assuming these are preserved when the files are transferred to EZ) and then simply ask people to include their timezone when posting their entry? Actually, scrap that last bit, timezone is irrelevant if we're only interested in elapsed time.

First thing, where did you post the buckyball 6 video? I would really like to see it.
Second off, using the file creation timestamp is about as reliable as a Uplay connection, and was hard to keep intact when transferring between your computer and the internet. The monkeys tested all the methods we have talked about insofar, and found that taking pictures of the monitor and a watch was just as reliable as video, but pictures edged out because it means less work for EZ, and more processing power dedicated to the game.

On a side note... I found a new ship
My revised entry
Commander name: Marco Armstrong
Commander ship: Distant Bazaar Some Nights
Ship type: hauler sidewinder

Yes, I named my ship after a Fun. song. because this is Elite

 

[milominderbender]

I started my Sag A* run with dreams of intense concentration and a sub 12 hour run. Instead, I ate ice cream, took several naps and did stuff for my day job. I have no idea how anuranium et al. are able to maintain focus for eight to ten consecutive hours. My Lomas Orbital (Wolf 359) to Sag A* run was a few seconds shy of two days.

I came across a neat bug where one segment of the galaxy had a higher density of stars.
https://flic.kr/p/v3SiCU

 

[Ceska_Zbrojovka]

I came across a neat bug where one segment of the galaxy had a higher density of stars.
https://flic.kr/p/v3SiCU

You found the Vogon's Interstellar Highway!!

 

[Hanekura Shizuka]

I have no idea how anuranium et al. are able to maintain focus for eight to ten consecutive hours.

It's really not all that different from a long road trip, and similar coping mechanisms can be used for both. In fact, when I first heard about the Buckyball Run A* from Rankaze, my initial comment was, "You do realize this is basically 'Desert Bus', right?" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Bus For any long trip, you prepare accordingly. You hopefully get enough sleep and have food and non-visual entertainment (i.e. music) available; if it helps, have a friend there to keep you company so you don't get bored.

 

[Stern Winter]

I came across a neat bug where one segment of the galaxy had a higher density of stars.
https://flic.kr/p/v3SiCU[/COLOR]

I've also seen this on my way back from Sag A. It's like a square patch of bright stars in the darkness. Weird.

 

[Alec Turner]

First thing, where did you post the buckyball 6 video? I would really like to see it.

[video=youtube_share;UUWuUIG2cIY]http://youtu.be/UUWuUIG2cIY[/video]

Edit: I should probably explain that this was my first ever Buckyball run and that at the time I hadn't learned about increasing jump range nor did I think fuel scoops were worth it having only tried a 1A and deemed it useless

 

[Raiko]

http://youtu.be/UUWuUIG2cIY

Edit: I should probably explain that this was my first ever Buckyball run and that at the time I hadn't learned about increasing jump range nor did I think fuel scoops were worth it having only tried a 1A and deemed it useless

That's awesome! Complete with the compulsory glass of wine!

Surely the method that you used would be good enough to verify your screenshots? Everyone can probably video their run one way or another, then we could just provide ElectricZ with simple screenshots showing that we'd arrived in the RES (or where ever) and hopefully the start/finish line(s) will be in stations as usual. If the winners, plus one or two randomly selected CMDRs are required to provide videos to back up their screenshots then that should be enough to keep everyone happy/honest.

There's always been an element of trust about the Buckyball Run as it would be almost trivially easy for a cheater to fake the screenshots anyway if they wanted to.

I'd rather just trust everyone as I can't even imagine why someone would want to cheat at a community event like this (yes I am that naive).

So... is the sticker problem permanent, or is Senator Buzzkill clamping down on all future sticker shipments?

Not that I'm not in this for the fun, but I haven't had a weekend to make the run, yet. Swag is a major determining factor in whether risking my ship in the black is actually worth my 4th of July weekend.

ElectricZ said that he'd order another batch as soon as there's enough CMDRs waiting for them to make up a bulk order. It you're planning to run though, just do it! Bumper stickers are great, and ElectricZ is awesome for organising them, but community events like the Buckyball really are the very best thing about Elite. There's likely to be quite a few CMDRs making runs during the 4th July weekend, so exchange friend requests with a few of us and get yourself to Sadge, you'll be glad that you did it, especially if you can make it in a single sitting.

Living as I do at the End of the Earth* (Australia) a 75-second transition through Witchspace is 'normal'. 2 minutes is 'bad'.

...and my average Witchspace Transition is 45sec for me.

Wow!

That kind of puts my whining about those 'slow' medium-pads into perspective. You both already had my respect, but even more so now. o7

BTW I've had my fair share of instancing/wing problems myself at Sadge with other European / American CMDRs, and also couldn't get voice-comms working when Emua tried chatting with me (I'm in the UK, I think he's Canadian). So ED's networking problems aren't entirely confined to those CMDRs down under.

 

[c64orinoco]

Up here in a state further north where beer is spelt with the same letter 4 times, and everything takes one a weird shade of Purplish Red this time of year.
I'm fortunate enough to have the FttH NBN, and my average Witchspace Transition is 45sec for me.
An Australian sub-12hr run is possible. Just not with my computer when trying to plot close to the core.

Lucky you! You're one of the 27 people or so that have it

I'm unfortunate enough to live in a tiny country town, so small you haven't heard of it... SYDNEY.

As for purplish-red? No problem! I dislike blue, especially awful wishy-washy sky blue ;-)

Also my favorite beer happens to be very easy to spell. I spent quite some time north of the border a few years back designing a small local sailing clubhouse.

 

[c64orinoco]

arrgh. typed, long complex, witty post. The best I've ever done. Then pressed back by mistake and lost the lot. So much for 'autosave' forum!

Have some pics from my voyage. Only 8,000Ly to go.

Spoiler

Yes, that is a black hole in the left image. Not the black hole, just a black hole. I accidentally got to 700km from it but survived.

 

[Alec Turner]

arrgh. typed, long complex, witty post. The best I've ever done. Then pressed back by mistake and lost the lot.

I've done this so many times now (Back or Reply again from the line above) that I now habitually Select All / Copy to clipboard before I press anything so I can always just paste if I screw up.

 

[Anuranium]

I have no idea how anuranium et al. are able to maintain focus for eight to ten consecutive hours.

Neither do I. It's propably why my fastest time is only 10h 36 mins
But seriously, preparation is the key. A good nights sleep, radio sidewinder, snacks, comfortable seating, borderless mode to alt-tab between game and forum in hyperspace, ingame chat (when it works) with someone kind enough to answer your meaningless and incoherent reasons of why you are doing this.
You just have to find your "zone" and stay there... for as long as possible.

http://youtu.be/UUWuUIG2cIY
Edit: I should probably explain that this was my first ever Buckyball run and that at the time I hadn't learned about increasing jump range nor did I think fuel scoops were worth it having only tried a 1A and deemed it useless

I just love how your throttle movements sometime matches the music. Reminds me of someone working with a caterpillar - except for the glass of wine of course

 

[mw_aurora]

Yes, I am still banging on about my problems with plotting anywhere near the core...but I have progress

Firstly, this has convinced me to upgrade my PC. So my next run will be with a shiny new CPU

Secondly, within minutes of getting shipping confirmation of my new CPU and associated goodies, I discover a new set of magic numbers that work on my existing set-up

My thoughts so far (which are entirely built upon all the great work by everyone on this thread, especially Esvandiary), and could be a repeat of something I missed before...

As we all know, the last three jumps in a plot are generally shorter, and the length of that shortening seems to depend on location. Near to Sag A* it seems to be about 90% of full range (based upon video of my recent Asp and Hauler runs).

If you calculate the maximum distance based upon those 3 shorter jumps and the rest of the jumps at maximum range, you get a number that seems to be an instaplot number (and can vary by +/- 2 LY before it slows down). I have tested this by reducing the number of maximum jumps and seeing if I can still plot and the answer is YES! Generally, if I am within 2 LY of this number I do not have any plotting issues.

Now I haven't given lots of examples as I think I have an approximation that works just as well - find the maximum number of full length jumps you need to get your distance and multiply that by your max jump distance rounded down to the nearest 0.5 (i.e. 35.9 = 35.5, 32.3 = 32.0). This seems to give a number within the same band as the 3 jump calc above and my initial tests seem to work well.

For example - my current Asp has a max range of 36.9. This is a maximum of 27 jumps to get to 996 LY. Take that 27 and multiply by the reduced 36.5 and this gives 985.5. I can instaplot in the range 984-988 LY...I have tried 20 and 10 jump variants and the resulting numbers instaplot just as well.

So on my main PC, although the 1.3.x updates have made the GalMap almost impossible for me to use normally in the core, plotting magic numbers does still work. Even if they are different numbers from my original calculations

EDIT: I will document this a little more coherently if it works for me across the bad plotting zone and add to Esvandiary's core-plotting thread