Search the Community

This is a continuation of the Air Superiority Fighter Competition Continued by @exbyde. Something something about kerbal war, something something, we don't know, it's global now, and various factions are throwing planes up in the sky at each other for reasons. 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 (that is run by me, personally, at least) 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 my 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. Ready? AIR SUPERIORITY FIGHTER COMPETITION UNLIMITED VIEW THE LEADERBOARD, AIRCRAFT RATINGS, & SUBMISSION QUEUE DOWNLOAD THE MAP (KSP v1.3.1; REQUIRES KERBAL KONSTRUCTS) 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, depending on subjective pre-match judging, will start testing against the Tier 2 #6 or from the bottom against the #10. If the #6 is defeated, the aircraft will continue testing upwards against the Tier 1 board; if the #10 is defeated, it will continue testing upwards through the Tier 2 board. If the aircraft does not defeat the #6, it will continue testing downwards against the Tier 2 board, until it defeats an aircraft or ultimately does not place. Veteran participants will have their entries start their test run against the Tier 1 #5, following the same rules. Therefore, the competition has rolling admission with no deadline for submissions. Fights will be conducted on KSP 1.4.x with BDAc 1.2.x. Privately testing your aircraft against other competitors in AI only dogfights is not only allowed but encouraged. AIRCRAFT BUILT IN 1.3.1 WITH BDA 1.0 ARE NOT VALID IN 1.4.x WITH BDA 1.2. 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 20t limit. Armor settings (per part) must be at default (0). Armor plating (the BDA part) is not allowed. 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). Rule 2.2g of forum rules (and all other rules obviously) applies here! You may not use vulgarity in any language. This includes in the name of your aircraft. If i can throw the name of your aircraft into Google translate and it becomes something vulgar, it will be disqualified. 2. Mods BDA 1.2 for KSP 1.4.2 is the current competition environment. (TENTATIVE) DCK is also part of the competition for its hitpoint editor function, as aircraft will be set to [to be determined]% of hitpoints before combat. In the interest in allowing newer designers to be competitive, all aircraft must be modified solely within KSP. Any text editing is strictly prohibited. (Though there is ongoing discussion about allowing engine thrust limiter editing, as heat rating scales with thrust, and thus provides another interesting route for competition construction meta.) 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, Kerbal Konstructs and 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) -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). All official battles are to be conducted at 'standard' unbiased locations (refer to location listing). 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. Alternatively: ASC veterans, you know who you are. 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 at the location of their choice. 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.