panzerknoef

Guess = "wrong" String nextPoster = @Aperture Science

Contract number: 001.Generation: 1Author: Panzerknoef/Zircon AerospaceName: Zircon LamingtonDescription: The Zircon Lamington is a twin engine aircraft designed with carrier operations in mind. It features a unique setup of engines (inspired by the La-200) with one on the tail, and on midships. This design doesn't just allow us to keep the entire aircraft slender, it also provides additional upward thrust, making for shorter takeoff runs, very suitable for aircraft carriers. Both engines also feature thrust reversers (set at action group #3) to allow the aircraft to come to a halt asap everywhere. The Zircon Lamington isn't quite capable of going supersonic at sea level, but does manage to get up to high transonic speeds (mach .97). As requested, the aircraft also features an arresting hook and reinforced landing gear. The latter achieved by mounting it on a solid steel beam separate from the wings, to minimize stresses on said wings. Armament consists of 6 machine guns (represented by antennas), 2 rockets and 2 unguided bombs. Pictures: Get your test model here: https://kerbalx.com/Panzerknoef/Zircon-Lamington Zircon Aerospace eagerly awaits your response to our bid!

I presume this would be a challenge with BDA and Aviator Arsenal for weaponry? Is there some kind of actual combat involved to decide which planes are better and worse, or is that gonna be done some other way? Are the tail hooks just something that looks right or are we supposed to use some mod to get them? Other than that, looks like it could be a nice challenge!

Due to various reasons we are currently unable to do any further battles. For that reason, this thread is currently on hold until that situation changes. This thread is a continuation of the Air Superiority Fighter Competiton Unlimited by @Box of Stardust (who's still co-owner of this thread) Blablabla there used to be something about war. Let's be honest though, we don't need a reason to build fighters, we do it for the fun of it! This is probably the most rigorous BDA dogfighting competition out there, with the loosest rule set promoting maximizing combat aircraft potential. We only care about one thing: to build the most superior dogfighter. Every battle (Which can be run by me, but I'm encouraging everyone to run their own battles to speed queues and such up) is closely examined to be able to identify and rate a fighter's performance with intricate breakdowns. If you're willing, you'll become very familiar with how BDA works and how the AI functions, as well as its various quirks, and how to apply such knowledge to dominate most other BDA competitions. So this is like Top Gun, for BDA. In @Box of Stardust's opinion, only 25% of the actual construction makes a good BDA fighter. 30% is the weapons carried and how they are used, and 45% is the AI pilot settings. Are you prepared to master all 3 of them? AIR SUPERIORITY FIGHTER COMPETITION UNLIMITED VIEW THE LEADERBOARD, AIRCRAFT RATINGS, & SUBMISSION QUEUE (Offsite leaderboard to allow easy editing by everyone at all times) we've also got a discord server This is a King of the Hill style challenge, but with changes, making it more of a "Hill or Valley" style. Two tiers of aircraft will be maintained, the 'hill' and the 'valley'. General participant entries will always start fighting against the #6, should they fail to beat this one, they will fight the #10 instead. Fail again and you will simply not make the leaderboard. On the other hand, if you manage to defeat the #6, you will continue testing upwards against the tier 1 board. Beat the #10 and you will continue testing upwards against the tier 2 board. Veteran participants will have their entries start their test run against the Tier 1 #5, following the same rules. The competition has rolling admission with no deadline for submissions. Fights will be conducted on KSP 1.6.x with BDAc 1.2.x. Privately testing your aircraft against other competitors in AI only dogfights is not only allowed but highly encouraged. Aircraft built in earlier version of KSP and BDAc will not compete since they probably won't perform at their best thanks to AI and weaponry updates. (if you've got older aircraft, basically just run them in the current environment and tweak them if necessary, then submit) RULES OF AIRCRAFT CONSTRUCTION 1. Construction All dogfights are run by BDAC AI. This means all actions must be automated, excluding initial start-up staging (however, this can be automated as well by binding engine start to SAS) and any drop tank unlocking (due to the programming of BD Modular Missile Manager); drop tanks must be programmed with Modular Missile Manager There is a maximum 100 part count and that's it. Armor settings (per part) must be at default (0). Armor plating (the BDA part) is not allowed since it gives a massive advantage with no serious disadvantages to hold it back. Once you have submitted an aircraft, you may modify the file in KerbalX until the first battle is run. No further modifications can be made after that time. You are welcome to remove aircraft before testing. Once an aircraft has made roster, it cannot be removed from the roster by administrative action and will continue to test, for fairness to other competitors. Aircraft designers are solely responsible for the modification of their aircraft. Do not ask judges to modify your aircraft for you. (However, exceptions are made for minor issues related to BDA quirks, requiring modifications that change nothing on how the aircraft performs, but just fixes any problems that might be caused by BDA quirks.) You are welcome to submit a design as many times as you like, if you modify it. Please note variants (fighter 2, fighter 2a, fighter mkII, fighter mark 2, fighter "somewordshere", fighter AUSF B, etc.). They will be subjected to the Replacement Rule if applicable (see Rules of the Leaderboard). 2. Mods BDA 1.2 for KSP 1.7.2 is the current competition environment. In the interest in allowing newer designers to be competitive, all aircraft must be modified solely within KSP. Any text editing is strictly prohibited. EditorExtensionsRedux is highly recommended for greater control over aircraft construction. Also to be able to toggle 'All Rigid' and 'All Autostruts' to reduce need for struts and general wobbliness. The mod list for this competition is generally open-ended, however, it is preferred to keep mod count to a minimum. We highly recommend Airplane Plus, though it is not a required mod. TweakScale is also permitted. Ask first if you are using a mod outside of our common list, especially parts that include new weapons, shields or armor. Mods that contain parts that introduce tactical advantages, such as radar invisibility, may be permitted if part of a larger package, but said parts are not. Judges may ask for part removal based around mods that do not serve a combat purpose, or are not usable by BDAc. This includes Infernal Robotics, Attachment systems, and ejection seat modifications. If you wish to be a judge WorldStablizer is required. 3. Weapons At no point can more aircraft be present on the tracker in BD Armory than what was originally placed on the runway; i.e., no parasite aircraft. The following weapons are permitted: -Any fixed BD Armory weapons -Any fixed Aviator Arsenal weapons -The 105mm howitzer and Abrams turret from BD Armory (for kicks) The following weapons are banned: -Turrets in BD Armory not mentioned above (USAF laser, .50 cal turret, Millenium turret, Goalkeeper CIWS, etc) and Aviator Arsenal (b-17 turret) - HEKV missile. -any mods not mentioned here that pertain to weapons (ask first) (Tenuous) There is no weapon limit. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT Fighters will begin in a standard formation arrangement on starting runways at combat locations. (Frontmost left center line, Middile right edge line, Rear left edge line). Battles are currently conducted by having start points at the KSC runway and the island runway. Fighters will sortie out against each other in missions of 3v3 maximum. There is a maximum of 1-plane-count difference; 1v3 sorties are not valid, rendering defeat for the team with only 1 aircraft left availble. Battles (defined as the full series of sorties between two aircraft types) are fought until sufficient depletion of one team's aircraft reserves, with victory awarded to the team with more remaining reserve aircraft. A unit will begin its combat debut with 7 aircraft in reserve. This reserve number will be affected by defeats or margins of victory after every sortie. Reinforcements are granted after every sortie based on amount of enemy aircraft killed, on a 1-to-2 basis; 1 additional reserve aircraft is granted for every 2 killed opposing aircraft. Reinforcements can only be granted to replace lost aircraft, with the maximum reserve amount remaining at 7. Surviving aircraft are not subtracted from the reserve. Surviving aircraft are defined as flyable by the BD AI in a stable manner, and retain some wing surfaces and an engine. Fuel is not necessary. If aircraft battle for 5 sorties with no apparent victor, a sixth, final 5v5 sortie will decide the results. Filming is conducted as follows: Sortie #1 filmed from neutral ground observer (location beacon); this reduces the effect of the game physics by staying in a neutral frame of reference (explanation here) essentially creating an unbiased battle. Sortie #2 filmed from offense team; this is for observing the combat performance of the up-and-coming craft, against an opponent that has already been observed and analyzed. Sortie #3 filmed from defense team; switching sides for fairness, as well as observing combat performance of this craft versus a new opponent. Sortie #4 switches back to offense team, and etc. RULES OF THE LEADERBOARD Veteran competitors are those who have achieved Tier 1 Rank 3 at least twice, or achieved Rank 2 or Rank 1. The Tier 1 Leaderboard is open to anyone. It is called the Veteran Leaderboard due to the high-competitiveness of the aircraft in this leaderboard. The Tier 2 Leaderboard is also open to anyone, but imposes restrictions on Veterans. A Veteran may not place in this board if at least 2 spots are held in Tier 1. A Veteran aircraft that has placed in Tier 1 cannot drop down into Tier 2 if pushed downwards after a defeat; it will be removed from the active leaderboards. Replacement Rule: This rule concerns an aircraft variant of an aircraft already placed on the leaderboard. Should these aircraft battle each other, the winning variant remains on the leaderboard. If the winning variant is the newer aircraft, it will continue testing against If the winning variant is the older aircraft, the newer aircraft will not place and its battle testing ends. Re-Advancement Rule: This rule permits a settled aircraft on the leaderboard to restart its advancement upwards upon defending its position by the number of times it is placed (e.g., #5 defended 5 times). The competitor may choose to challenge the next-placed aircraft. The battles conducted will be based on a 12-plane reserve flying 5v5 sorties, minimum of 3 required to sortie, no reinforcements granted. If the challenging plane is victorious, it will continue its climb up the leaderboard according to standard Rules of Engagement.

Nope @FahmiRBLXian

I'm afraid I'll have to let you down... Maybe @hoioh is willing to show himself

TTGL continues, but looking at it is illegal and has the death penalty on it. I wish for snow.

Maybe third time's the charm? @Vanamonde

Banned for saying "not"

banned for editing your own comment

I don't think it's currently running in any update... I suggest just using the latest version tbh, since the latest versions of ksp and bda seem to run fairly well

I would still love to participate in this competition, even took the effort to design something. As it seems however, this thread isn't really going anywhere. We should probably start coming up with some sort of solution if we want to continue this thread. Seems to me like a system that doesn't put as much of the work on @Box of Stardust's shoulders would be good. Still, I don't think we can expect everyone who wants to join to do their own battles. I'm pretty lost when it comes to solving this problem. Also, I'm not entirely sure how large a population still wants to keep this thread alive... I also know pretty well that as a person with no actual entries in the competition I don't have the expertise to really figure out a perfect solution. Regardless though, to all those who are still interested, I suggest we put our heads together and figure out a way to revive this awesome competition!

I kinda think you need at least a bit of knowledge on judging to run the challenge... Just so you know what is and what isn't good and nice to work with. Also because as challenge owner you get to make the rules, but you don't actually have to work with the planes designed by those rules if you're not judging. That, to me, seems like a pretty bad idea. Also, I know you're quite a mod enthusiast, and I'd be pretty disappointed if this challenge was to get out of hand with dozens of allowed or even required mods since I like to keep my install fairly clean. I'm pretty sure you'd also scare off a lot of potential judges that way. But if you really wanna take it upon you, go ahead, but I would strongly suggest not making any major changes without consulting the judges and possibly getting the majority on your side for new ideas. (shouldn't be too hard if your ideas are solid and good for the challenge though)

But it seems like he has abandoned you, don't worry though, I'm here to help! @Fraston

I'm gonna politely pass on that as well... My activity here isn't consistant enough and I'd feel bad about not maintaining the challenge as well...

I probably will! Depends on whether or not I come up with something I'll be satisfied with :p

I googled for "port forwarding rules"... Shoot me in the head if you meet me guys, I'm done for

A great ending to a great series! I've only recently really picked up on this thread, but I really like the way you run the challenge! Looking forward to the next season!

Correct once again! @Pascovian

Aye matey! @Triop

Correct, komrad! @Fraston

Banned for krakening too much

Njet! Next komrade will be @GRS, da!

Nope, it is but me @lapis

9/10 Every. Single. Forum. Game.