Community Event / Creation Galactic Bar Crawl

Jhyrryl · Aug 14, 2015

Galactic Bar Crawl: Exploration Competition

The Galactic Bar Crawl is a competition of Exploration. Unlike races which define winners based on time, this ongoing event assigns a score to each participant based on their exploration activities while navigating the route. Scores are calculated using 4 different methods, as described in the linked video.

A website for registering attempts, calculating scores, and displaying leaderboards is under development, but you can get started right now! Just collect the required information and when the site is online, enter there. In the meantime, you can link to the necessary media in this thread.

Navigate to any station in human space to act as your start/finish line. Record a video showing:

your presence at that location;
the time;
your CR balance;
hull status;
ship outfitting;
an empty cartography queue;
your exploration stats.

At each checkpoint, take a screenshot of the galactic map showing:

your presence at that location;
the time;
your CR balance.

When you return to the station where you started, record a video showing:

your presence at that location;
the time;
your CR balance;
hull status;
all entries in your cartography queue;
- make sure we see:
  - total number of full pages (at 20 per page)
  - total entries on the final page
  - CR to be awarded for each of the three checkpoint systems
your exploration stats.

Then as part of the same recording, sell all of your exploration data, and show the updated exploration stats. Upload your media to an appropriate (free) sharing site, and either provide links and your calculations for a score here, in this thread. Or if I'm done with the website, provide the info there.

For any crawl to be valid, you Systems Visited stat must increase by a minimum number equal to the linear distance of your crawl / your ship's unladen jump range. This will be calculated for you by the GBC site, althoug you may need to provide the coordinates of your starting system if it has not been used in a previous attempt.

If you fail your attempt, please also record that for posterity.

Each ship type will have its own leaderboards and record holders using each of the four scoring methods, so there will be many opportunities to see your name in lights.

Be aware that this event is an endurance competition. Even the easiest method for generating a score is still more difficult than a direct run to the Core and back.

If you have any questions, or just want to make sure you've got what you need before starting your journey, please ask here.

Good luck and great skill in your attempts, Commanders.

-- CMDR Jak

http://galacticbarcrawl.com

[video=youtube_share;VxPRpk7iung]https://youtu.be/VxPRpk7iung[/video]

Jhyrryl · Aug 17, 2015

As I work on the website to manage the crawls, I am pondering the idea of letting all crawl methods take a sidetrip for repairs, and then simply breaking out those attempts into their own set of leaderboards, since they will obviously have lower scores than their no-repairs counterparts. It will give more people the opportunity to complete the Galactic Bar Crawl, and provide more "top of the leaderboard" positions to fill.

Jhyrryl · Aug 17, 2015

Scoring Update

After some feedback from a kind community member (thanks!), I'll be adding an additional requirement to all crawls, and changing the method for scoring a Prospecting Crawl.

The new requirement is that every crawl must end with a minimum increase in your Systems Visisted stat, equal to 73,300 / your ship's unladen jump range. This is to help reduce the abuse cases associated with making multiple crawls and using the earlier crawl's info to boost the newer crawl's score. This is still possible, but with the new requirement, these abuses become no worse than arbitrarily visiting more systems than needed, which just incurs uncessary risk.

While I'm at it, since someone's going to figure it out and I want everyone to have a fair shot at getting good scores, all of these scoring methods can be puffed up by running around previously visited, but otherwise unexplored (by you) systems, like those in Human controlled space. That's okay though, because pirates.

Prospecting Crawl scoring is changing to: Prospecting Score = Level 2 Detailed Scans / Exploration Profit, where before it was L2 Scans / Systems Visited. The intent here is that this crawl is dedicated to exploring asteroid clusters and other, non-profitable scans. I was informed that *all* detailed scans performed without the use of a Detailed Surface Scanner, are registered as Level 2. I'm sure I knew this once, but it's been so long since I haven't had one that I forgot.

Since I'm currently 12.36% of the way to the near end of the bar, performing a Scouting crawl, I'll see what I can do about editing the introductory video with this information, and then re-record a better, up-to-date one when I get back.

Jhyrryl · Aug 23, 2015

Jhyrryl said:
Since I'm currently 12.36% of the way to the near end of the bar, performing a Scouting crawl, I'll see what I can do about editing the introductory video with this information, and then re-record a better, up-to-date one when I get back.

I've decided to turn around and start over, mainly because I want to re-record the intro video with a better script and better editing. Besides, with all the effort being put into the site, progress for the crawl itself is....crawling.

I won't start another attempt of my own until I have a live, functional site. The 15k LY diversion has been too much of a distraction, and I may need to do additional video work before I'm done.

Jhyrryl · Aug 24, 2015

Another Scoring Update

At the suggestion of the previously mentioned community member (thanks again!), and reviewing the sales of data from my 15,000 LY Scouting mini-run, I've decided to go ahead and require a little more data from the finish of a crawl. Specifically, you will need to identify the amount of exploration profit that will be earned from the 3 checkpoint systems (if any), so that those amounts can be excluded from calculations. This will ensure a greater level of fairness for those commanders who have already visited Sag A*, and it will help commanders who make the crawl more than once.

Jhyrryl · Aug 27, 2015

New Overview Video

The new video is up. I...

Shortened it by 2 minutes;
- mostly by removing a lot of the repetition;
- and despite slowing down the rate of narration.
Updated it with the rules modifications outlined in earlier posts.
Grouped information better.
Removed all the background sounds from the game.
Used a cooler font.

http://www.galacticbarcrawl.com

Stll making progress on the actual site. Core functionality should be done by the start of next week, and I hope to have leaderboards and achievement badges done sometime the week afterwards.

Jhyrryl · Aug 28, 2015

Starting Explore Run in a Hauler

Jhyrryl said:
I won't start another attempt of my own until I have a live, functional site. The 15k LY diversion has been too much of a distraction, and I may need to do additional video work before I'm done.

I lied. With the new video up, and the current state of the site development, I'm getting bored just sitting in station.

If I don't spend some time playing, I'm going to drift to another game and then the site won't get finished.

From here on out, it should be: dev during the day, and flight at night.
(see what I did there, alliteration followed by rhyme?)

Here is my run's required video.

[video=youtube_share;ldqIH0XLZaI]https://youtu.be/ldqIH0XLZaI[/video]

Jhyrryl · Aug 29, 2015

(Yet Another) Scoring Update

Isn't it interesting how actually doing a thing can provide better insights into it, compared to simply thinking about the thing?

Having barely started my Explore crawl, I realized that to min/max my score under this formula:

Code:

[INDENT]Exploring Score = Exploration Profit / Level 3 Detailed Scans[/INDENT]

I should find the single largest black hole possible, and detail scan only it.

So...the intent of this crawl type is optimize what you detail scan, but it's still expected that you are scanning regularly. Scoring is supposed to encourage you to focus on the obviously valuable stuff. To that end, since no one else has started (that I'm aware of), and I'm only 17 systems in (of the required 2381 for my ship), I'll be changing from "Average Profit per Scan" to "Average Profit per Scan, multiplied by Average Profit per System Visited". In other words:

Code:

[INDENT]Exploring Score = ( Exploration Profit  / Level 3 Detail Scan ) * ( Exploration Profit / Systems Visited )[/INDENT]

Under the original formula the abuse case would score tens of thousands, where a spirit-of-the-competition case might only score a few thousand. With the new formula, the abuse case scores a little over 1 million, while the in-spirit case scores 10s of millions.

You still want to minimize the amount of detail scanning you want to do, but now need to make sure that you're maximizing profit.

I'll re-edit the video before the site is live.

Jhyrryl · Sep 4, 2015

Minimum Systems Visited Calculation Updated

Rather than an assumed flat round trip of 73,330 LYs, the site will be calculating the actual linear distance of your crawl, and using that distance to determine the minimum number of new systems visited that will be required for a crawl. For example, a starting system that sits at exactly 50,000 LYs combined distance from either end of the bar (the minimum required of a starting system), the the linear distance for a crawl starting there will be 70,430 LYs.

edit: ignore this

>=>=>=> SUBMIT ENTRY <=<=<=<

OBJECTIVE

Starting at Rebuy Prospect in the Fullerene C60 system, visit the stations and tourist beacons specified below, making sure to take in the views of four nearby nebulas!

LEADERBOARDS

STANDARD LEADERS

Event	Division	Time	Holo	CMDR	Alias	Beauty	Ship	Type	Notes
Route Six-66	Hauler
California Dreamin'	Small
California Dreamin'	Medium
California Dreamin'	Large

UNLIMITED LEADERS

Event	Division	Time	Holo	CMDR	Alias	Beauty	Ship	Type	Notes
Route Six-66	Hauler
California Dreamin'	Small
California Dreamin'	Medium
California Dreamin'	Large

FULL BOARDS

Not yet available.

DESCRIPTION

In recent years racers have seen significant improvements made to their vehicles, and humanity has been pushing the boundaries of the Bubble farther and farther, some organizations even establishing stations in the deepest regions of space. In celebration of all that human progress the Buckyball Racing Club is hosting Nebulosity. Nebulosity starts at the newly constructed Rebuy Station in the Fullerene C60 system, and takes racers on a whirlwind tour of four nearby nebulas, some familiar and others less so.

EVENTS, DIVISIONS, and CLASSES

EVENTS
Nebulocity is comprised of two events in order to make the race accessible to newer racers and those with restricted financial situations, an Intro event and a Main event. Racers can participate in both events if they so choose, within the restrictions detailed below for Divisions and Classes.

Both events start at Rebuy Prospect in the Fullerene C60 system and end at Ring Mine in the 2MASS J03291977+3124572 system, but have different stops along the way. Events can be run in reverse (starting at Ring Mine and ending at Rebuy Prospect) allowing pilots two opportunities per round trip to get their best time. (note: The race organizer understands that reversed courses are not always balanced against their forward direction, and is okay with that.)

DIVISIONS
The main event has multiple divisions, dictating what ship type(s) can be raced in that event. Each event division will have its own leaderboards, but a racer is only allowed to race in a single division per event.

CLASSES
Pilots choose to race in either the Standard or Unlimited class for both events. The Standard class is prohibited from utilizing Horizons-only benefits; but anything goes in the Unlimited class. This is a one-time choice made when you submit your first run. All further submissions in both events must abide by that choice. Note that this results in two leaderboards for each event/division. Both events have one or two additional waypoints for those racing in the Unlimited class.

EVENT DESCRIPTIONS

In these descriptions links will be provided to example builds, but you are free to choose and build out ships however you prefer, so long as they follow all requirements for Class and Division. For information on how to collect race evidence at tourist beacons, see the Submitting Entries section below.

EVENT 1 -- Route Six-66
Intro Event

This is the easiest event to race in, and the least expensive for which to acquire a ship. It bypasses the larger, more well-known nebula that can be seen from Human space, and instead focuses on two smaller ones.

Divisions
This event only has one division: Hauler.

Route

Start at Rebuy Prospect in the Fullerene C60 system.
Race to the BD+30 623 system. (666 LYs away)
Collect media evidence at the Little Blue tourist beacon.
If racing in the Unlimited class:
- Race to the HIP 18077 system.
- Dock at Mahon Research Base (planetary base).
Race to the 2MASS J03291977+3124572 system.
Dock at Ring Mine (planetary ring asteroid).

EVENT 2 -- California Dreamin'
Main Event

This event takes racers to a wide variety of asteroid bases and tourism beacons in deep-space, all situated in or around four nebulas in the rough direction of the California Nebula.

Divisions
Any ship can be raced in this event, but they will be separated by size.

Route

Start at Rebuy Prospect in the Fullerene C60 system.
Race to the Pleione system.
Dock at Stargazer (asteroid belt asteroid).
Race to the BD+30 623 system.
Collect media evidence at the Little Blue tourist beacon.
If racing in the Unlimited class:
- Race to the HIP 18077 system.
- Dock at Mahon Research Base (planetary base).
Race to the California Sector BA-A E6 system.
Collect media evidence at the Alliance Outpost in the California Nebula tourist beacon.
If racing in the Unlimited class:
- Collect media evidence at the Mic Turner Bark Mounds planetary tourist beacon.
- Note that it is not necessary to land; just get within range.
Race to the California Sector BV-Y C7 system.
Dock at Darwin Research Facility (solitary, stellar asteroid).
Race to the 2MASS J03291977+3124572 system.
Dock at Ring Mine (planetary ring asteroid).

SUBMITTING ENTRIES

For this race, you will submit a Google form rather than send email.

Before racing, please review the Buckyball Racing Club's "How to Enter" article for info on how to collect evidence.

TOURIST BEACONS
This race features the use of Tourist Beacons as waypoints. To collect evidence at these locations you must be within 50 meters of a beacon, have it selected, and your ship must be stationary (i.e., shows a speed of 0). For example:

DECLARING INTENT TO RACE

Before racing, it is customary to declare your intent to race by posting in the thread, but it is not strictly necessary. To declare your intent, specify the following:

CMDR Name (forum alias)
Standard/Unlimited Class
Intro Event
Hauler Ship Name
Main Event - [Division]
Other Ship Name

So my intent to race might look like:

CMDR Jak (Jhyrryl)
Unlimited Class
Intro Event
Mini Enigma
Main Event - Small (Unlimited)
Enigma Limo (Dolphin)

BEAUTY SHOTS AND HOLO-ME

If you are in 1st-place on any leaderboard the podium requires both a beauty shot of your ship, and a capture of your Holo-Me avatar.

How-To Beauty Shot

drop out of supercruise next to a class F star in Solo;
orient the ship so that the star fills the upper-left screen;
open the camera suite (CTRL+ALT+SPACE by default);
switch to the SHIP FRONT camera and hide the UI (RSHIFT+/ by default)
take a screenshot (F10);

How-To Holo-Me

Open Holo-Me from Station Services
switch to the HEAD tab;
take a screenshot;

Upload both screenshots to imgur.com or other appropriate hosting service, then include links to them with your submission.

FAQ

Coming soon!

GOOD LUCK!

Fly fast, CMDR!

Jhyrryl · Sep 11, 2015

Jhyrryl said:
I lied. With the new video up, and the current state of the site development, I'm getting bored just sitting in station. If I don't spend some time playing, I'm going to drift to another game and then the site won't get finished.

From here on out, it should be: dev during the day, and flight at night.
(see what I did there, alliteration followed by rhyme?)

Well, three incidents later, and I'm already heading back with a failure:

Unavoidable: dropped into a system between tightly packed binaries;
Rookie: turned attention to a family member and forgot to reduce throttle while in hyperspace;
Super Rookie: attempted repair of FSD while supercruising.

Too much damage for not even being halfway to the first checkpoint. Gonna make a side trip on the way back to earn some cash and try again.

robinjb · Sep 11, 2015

Jhyrryl said:
Well, three incidents later, and I'm already heading back with a failure

Bad Luck Jhyrryl, whats your guesstimate on how long an average crawl will take?.. it does seem a bit complicated how you've done it. but I think basically its a 2 waypoints x amount of distance apart thing right?
pretty sure there's a simpler way of putting it to encourage more participants.
some of the other BRC guys are planning a long race, but I don't think its in this league, personally I prefer the races that take under an hour so I wont be taking part, but I wish you all the best with it.
you ran some of the original BB runs right?.. were they just too short for you in the end?

Jhyrryl · Nov 15, 2015

robinjb said:
Bad Luck Jhyrryl, whats your guesstimate on how long an average crawl will take?.. it does seem a bit complicated how you've done it. but I think basically its a 2 waypoints x amount of distance apart thing right?
pretty sure there's a simpler way of putting it to encourage more participants.
some of the other BRC guys are planning a long race, but I don't think its in this league, personally I prefer the races that take under an hour so I wont be taking part, but I wish you all the best with it.
you ran some of the original BB runs right?.. were they just too short for you in the end?

I like the idea of longer competitions that involve solving a puzzle on the fly, and which reward intellect more than physical skill. I'm not saying that the BRC races do not require intellectual skill; they absolutely do. I just want it to be a factor during the competition, rather than being all about the race prep.

I'm actually going to scrap this event and repurpose the name for something that might be more approachable.

But not until after the holidays. The GBC will become something completely new in 2016.