Thanks guys!
Awesome feedback chaps, thanks. I've been away from home working this week, so nice to see some replies now I'm home.
To address a few points raised with my thoughts so far:
Awww...people go to those kinds of things just to see rockets crash....
Exactly... that recluse morbid fascination in us all is always a turn on when it comes to hi-tech, hi-danger sports!
What good is this concept without functional multiplayer?
It's exactly because we don't have a fully working MP version that I suggest a time-trial base approuch. It means we can all have some interactive competition with what orbiter currently offers us. Time Trials are also the way the RL Rocket Racing League plan to opperate.
Sounds cool, I would definitely participate, time permitting.
I also think the XR vessels, or the DGIV would be preferable, mainly because they crash if the ship heats up too much. This is what would make the race tricky, otherwise it would be full-thrust all the way, and unrealistic reentries to save time.
Exactly. It would be about tweaking that SCRAM ascent to get every m/s of speed possible without breaking up... same with re-entry. Flight strategy and tactics should hopefully allow for some real competition. And also, the idea is also to have different duration races, so that those with limited play-time/skill/experience can still have a bash at competing.
Rules question:
APU and Main Isp realism settings to "Expert" for the XR1?
(seems reasonable)
I would think something like this yes. I would have s look at the setting options and have a word with Doug to get his feelings on it, since he knows the XR insides like nobody else.
I like this idea... I likes it a lot... I have started to research something similar when I discovered the nav beacons that autopilotMFD has to incorporate fuel deliveries to various runways around the world...<<<<snip>>>> Also maybe on the other side of Ascension, you could put up some racing pylons and that stage for when you just wanna try out your piloting skill
I know the XR series were not designed for sub-orbital per-se, all spacecraft are designed to get to space. But the SCRAM engines do also lend themselves to very fast hi-altidude flight and their management requires manual input and skill.
Very interesting.
Get a look into
this thread if you want to include "fake" contestants so the human pilot will not have to fly alone against himself.
Using this kind of trick, if the best timed pilot could provide his playback for your racing league, this playback could be made into one of those fake contestant.
Oh, interesting idea indeed! Thanks for bringing this up. It would be great to have the record holders playback available for all to see how the 'pro' did it. However, I would also be completely happy with keeping flight plan strategy secret, so that people can protect their winning formulas. But that can be something the racing community can address/decide.
Here's my question on this: How much faster would a suborbital hop be compared to managing to stay in high atmosphere and being able to use lift to keep you up? Would the time gained from being at speed outside of the atmosphere make up for the time lost from re-entry on such a short race? <<<snip>>> The more variables there are, the more fun it is to figure them all out, and see what works! Scramjets, variable wings, twiddling fuel mixes (something I'd like to play with myself, even if it's -mostly- useless...), variable fuel, whatever you can think of. I may be being silly with the last set of thoughts, but the MFD question still stands. ^_^
Cheers for your detailed thoughts. As to your first question. The fact you are asking is surely a reflection fo the fact that we don't know the best/fastest way to do it, no? this means players can try different tactics until they hit upon the winner.
Secondly, yes it would be great to have some custom coding done for the racing vessels. However I also know how much work Doug has done to date to make the XR class ships available to the community. He is a real trooper and i wouldn't expect him to be willing to delve into the millions of lines again... But we shall see. But certainly I will encourage custom skins for people to represent their racing team and stuff. I know it's not the same, but it would be cool.
As to MFDs and such. I would suggest something like having Surface as a requirement, but allowing the other to be optional. So Basesync or map or similar, or whatever a pilot chooses to use. I would however definitely say NO to autopilots. This is about racer skill, not computer skill.
Lastly, I like the idea of having limited periods for each challenge, but I also like the idea of having a rolling league table that updates weekly or whatever. Remember that not everyone has much play time, so it would be a shame if people missed out on a chance to compete just because they have a job or families or whathaveyou. But maybe we could compromise and have some special one-off timed events too.
Ahhh! Awsome. Nice one Doggie, and excellent stuff bj! This would allow us to have multiple classes and a broarder range of vessels. I think I would probably start it with a limited field so we don't get diluted and then gauge the popularity of the concept, before expanding it.
To everyone else who I havn't quoted but who offered support and whatnot... thank you!
I'm planning on releasing Wideawake International by the end of the weekend. Depending on how long that takes me, I may well try and get together he ORRL as well.
keep your thoughts coming!
