Get Things Moving!
DancingLemmur and myself think the Rift itself needs some work. The place, as we know it as of now, is huge, not well defined, and 'broadly correct' at best. So I took a closer look at the map and found out that what we could call a proper rift, i.e. an abrupt drop in star density, in much thinner than what we agree upon at the moment. And as it's unconceivable that Frontier would expect us to survey 2,000,000 systems, we are pretty much convinced that we all need to work on narrowing the area down before starting any survey.
To the point already!
Discarding any 'dark system' thing, since 1) Drew stated that it was supposed to be a thing, but that it didn't make to the game (yet?) ; 2) even it they were unscoopable/non sequence systems (= shallow or no light), there simply barely are any before and in the Rift, whereas there are hugely large layers of unscoops right
after the Rift. So I went to seek the drop, and found 2 'entry systems', being -broadly speaking- the furthest systems one can easily reach, before navigating gets instantly tricky ; and 1 'exit system', being the first system you can reach, from which plotting gets easy again. By 'easy' I mean that
visually, on the map, jumps are doable by a 28-30ly jump range ship (or I need to change my glasses). This also takes into account the RR line, since 1K northern of this, there's the Bridge, and to me, it's not a Rift anymore ; at least, the alleged meaning (Formid, dread, etc.) doesn't work at all.
I used the M class stars filter on the screenies, since they are the most common type there, it's easier to visualize.
ENTRY SYSTEM 1 :
QIEDIA OV-L B0 ___
-9,100 : -65 : -6,180
ENTRY SYSTEM 2 :
PHROEA HYPA PJ-Y C17-0 ___
-7,685 : -25 : -6,700
EXIT SYSTEM :
SYREADIAE AK-H B30-0 ___
-9,340 : -65 : -6,820
Then I used this tool (
http://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/geometry-solids/distance-two-points.php) to calculate the
∆ distance between Entry 1 and Exit, the two closest (see map below). Found out that
∆ = 683.52ly. Supposedly, that's the actual Rift's thinniest width. If a pilot were to cross it, that would be the shortest way.
But we need to check that there actually is a route there. And that it's doable by a 30ly-max jump range ship. That's why i propose that some benevolent CMDRs gather on one of these systems by, let's say Saturday 23rd, add their intel on the 'Pathfinders' tab of the spreadsheet (
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...tN-Bt3n4px8TmOoOW2YaCe2fM/edit#gid=1807654778), and that we start finding that route. Now considering the short gap (680ly), and the star density there, this really, really narrows the star count down. Add to this that we can only write down system within 30lly of reach, and I believe that with some coordination and a few people, this can be quickly done.
I recommend that
1) we wing up to facilitate coordination and comms IG (don't spam FleetComm!) ;
2) those who haven't already, join FleetComm, #formidine-rift channel ;
3) we trilaterate
every single system that falls into the abovementionned constraints.
Maybe it's nothing in regards to the Mystery itself, but at least it'll give a landmark, somewhere to start, and -maybe- a true bridge across the Rift for future explorers. Might update this post with things I forgot
(The pic looks but the maps are aligned)
The Rift ends at 8K :
This could be a pre-expedition OP, or whatever. If Dommarraa thinks it's worth it, let's add the expedition and those systems on EDSM!
Winks at Drew : colder? warmer?...
Thoughts : 'Check your six'... Careful where you jump from, you might need to jump back to find another route. Also, 'checking our six', meaning selecting Reorte/Riedquat? This can be a means to check that we are on the RR line, if both systems look aligned from the canopy. But someone has thought of that already, I'm sure!
![[Diplomacy] Carnegie](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/123/123809.jpg?1553527149){kind=avatar}
