With the recently released footage of a new, smaller and seemingly much faster Thargoid variant, speculation is rife on what role this new vessel might serve. It's even been suggested (by certain Buckyball organisers desperate for a narrative to hang their race off) that it might be designed to zip into our stations, scan for military intelligence data, steal our communication devices, and zip out again before we have time to react. Well two can play at that game, and that's where you lot come in!
Welcome to Thargoid Structure Scramble 2, the second race in the Buckyball Racing Club's Swift-16 championship. The race starts at 00:00 (in-game time) on Saturday 6th May 3309 and runs until 23:59 (in-game time) on Sunday 14th May.
The basic outline of the race is as follows
- Start (and finish) at Artemis Lodge in the Celaeno system.
- Go to the crashed Thargoid ship on HIP 17403 A 4 A to collect a Thargoid Sensor.
- Visit any two Thargoid structures (in two different systems), scan the Thargoid device at the centre of each one and also collect a single Thargoid Link (or suitable alternative) from either one.
- Return to Artemis Lodge.
Here's a tutorial video demonstrating a complete regulation Cobra run:
Race specifics- The sensor must be collected at the site specified (HIP 17403 A 4 A).
- You must use an SRV to collect it (touch and go scooping using a small ship is not permitted).
- You can use either the Scarab or Scorpion, even in the regulation Cobra class.
- You can pick your own two systems for the Thargoid structures or feel free to just use the ones shown in the video (Pleiades Sector OD-S B4-1 2 A and Pleiades Sector IH-V C2-3 1 B). You can find a list here although make sure to pick "Active" sites marked with a green tick.
- You will receive a time bonus of 1 minute 30 seconds for every hyperdiction encountered during your run as compensation for the resultant delay.
- Before setting off on your run you'll need to scout the systems you plan to visit in order to uncover the Thargoid sites (you should only need to do this once). For this you'll need a detailed surface scanner (feel free to fit one to the regulation Cobra and by all means leave it on if it helps resolve issues with these sites not appearing in the nav panel on subsequent visits). When you arrive at each planet use the scanner to fire probes at the surface. When fully scanned the Crashed Thargoid Ship and Unknown Structure Scans should appear in your navigation panel. You can't bookmark these but you can bookmark the planet itself.
- You may run into a bug where the Crashed Thargoid Ship fails to appear in the navigation panel, even when you're close to the planet. I found that landing at Research Base LV87 on the same planet seemed to fix this so I suggest leaving yourself parked there overnight so that when you log in the issue is hopefully resolved before you even start racing. You should visit this base and scan its logs once anyway as it's a really interesting location!
- You may run into a bug where the Thargoid Link fails to drop when shot. This is the reason why only one link is required from the two sites visited as it increases the odds of this issue not entirely ruining your run. It's also rumoured that not targeting the link but simply shooting at it in turret mode may help here. Further to this, Cmdr Willyum-71 has done some fantastic research and posted his findings here. Well worth a read.
IMPORTANT: See below for rule change re: alternatives to the Thargoid Link - Apparently there's a bug where adding cargo without a relog can cause the route-plotter to give you jumps that you cannot make because it fails to take the added weight into account. To circumvent this try to avoid completely filling your tank when fuel scooping.
- I suggest practicing each of the parts of this race at a leisurely pace to begin with. Learn where best to land your ship and also the internal layout of the Thargoid structure. Be warned that some of the entrance tunnels may turn out to be blocked.
- Carrying the Thargoid items in your cargo will cause corrosive damage to your ship and SRV. As long as you're fast (and that is the idea of a race after all) then this shouldn't be a problem. There is however a fairly small chance that RNG will cause this damage to weaken your cargo hold to the point that all your cargo falls out. If this happens then I'm afraid your run is forfeit and you'll just need to take it on the chin and try again.
- You will get hyperdicted! The demonstration video shows how to deal with this and, aside from a delay to your ongoing journey, this shouldn't be a problem as long as you're fast (see above). In regulation class you also won't be able to avoid the Thargoid's Shutdown Field. Don't worry tho', the 1m30s time bonus for each hyperdiction encountered compensates for this delay. In unlimited class a fast ship may be able to outrun the shutdown field in which case this may even provide a slight time benefit!
- On Tuesday 9th May Frontier will be releasing update 15! Since it has not been possible for me to change the date of this race the plan is to simply Buckyball our way straight through the middle of this update. If the update changes something which means it's no longer possible to complete the race as described then I will have to think fast and change the rules. If the update means the tunnels are now full of rampaging Thargoid foot soldiers then I suggest simply mowing them down and continuing with the race as described!
IMPORTANT RULE CHANGE REGARDING THE THARGOID LINK
If you're unable to reliably get a Thargoid link to drop then, as an alternative, just grab a screenshot of a suspended link (to show you went down to that chamber) but then, instead of trying to get it to drop, just scoop up one of any other Thargoid commodity you can find lying around the structure (Thargoid Biological Matter, Thargoid Resin or Thargoid Technology Sample). The final commodity screenshot after landing back at Artemis Lodge should show a Thargoid Sensor plus any one of the following: Thargoid Link, Thargoid Biological Matter, Thargoid Resin or Thargoid Technology Sample.
Things that are and aren't allowed
- You are NOT allowed to use corrosion resistant cargo holds. Racing against the gradual decay of your ship is part of the fun!
- You ARE allowed to have an AFMU on your unlimited class ship (I'm not a complete monster).
- You are NOT allowed to use a Shutdown Field Neutraliser (as described above, speed is your ally in that regard).
- You are NOT allowed to have either a docking computer or a supercruise assist module fitted to your ship.
- You are NOT allowed to supercharge your FSD prior to the race (yes, it is possible) but you CAN make use of White Dwarfs and/or Neutrons during the race.
- You are NOT allowed to make use of a fleet carrier during your run.
- You are NOT allowed to make use of thin atmospheric worlds during your run as these are only available in the Odyssey expansion.
- FSD injection is NOT allowed.
- You are free to start with as much or as little fuel on board as you want.
There are two classes you can enter for this race, the regulation Cobra class and the unlimited ship class. The regulation Cobra class is the standard unengineered build that's being used throughout all of our championship races. You can find the build linked here:
Please note that for this race, if you want to keep a detailed surface scanner fitted to the Cobra to help with problems getting the surface sites to appear in your navigation panel then go for it!
In the unlimited ship class you can use any ship you like with any amount of engineering, although keep in mind the restrictions described above.
You're allowed to enter submissions in both classes.
Providing evidence for your run
Once you've completed a run and wish to submit it for judging you should upload the set of screenshots described in the video (note the boxes in that video just highlight what I'm looking for in each screenshot, please include the whole screen tho) to an image sharing website such as IMGUR and then include the link to the entire album with your submission. Note that if you can't read the time in the screenshots then neither can I and the submission will be considered invalid. I personally recommend videoing your run and then taking screenshots from the video afterwards (this way you don't have to worry about hitting F10 at the appropriate moments and can also pick the optimimum start and finish times). Please note that the launch screenshot must be taken just before you launch and not just after. I will accept video submissions if absolutely necessary (e.g. because you're in VR and can't fit everything in the frame) but screenshots are preferred.
I've outlined in red what I'll be looking for in each screenshot.
With a start time of 5:07:00, a finish time of 5:35:09 and a 1:30 hyperdiction bonus that makes for a final run time of 26:39.
Use the following link to submit your run:
FAQ
- Q) Since the Thargoid Sensor we acquire at the start is basically just so we can get inside an active Thargoid Structure, once we have got inside the first one can we replace it with a Thargoid Link, so that we are only carrying one item in cargo, or do we have to finish the race with both the original Thargoid Sensor and a Thargoid Link in our hold?
A) You have to finish the race with both items still on board. Why? Because I'm evil. - Q) Why is scooping a sensor using a small ship not allowed this time?
A) Because this race is hard enough as it is for those unfamiliar with all this stuff without experienced racers having the added advantage of being able to employ hard to master tricks. - Q) Is a livesplit available for this race?
A) Yup, thanks to epaphus you can find the livesplit here.
o7
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