Land speeding Challenge Prep.

[Guest doughbred]

What we need is a land speeding area, not just the runway. What I am saying is that, I am wondering if there is a good flat surface for a vehicle to ride on for long distances, and also, for it to move very fast. Something that can be comparable to the Bonneville Speedway, save for the salt. Is there a way to get a rocket powered vehicle onto the flat? This may require a transporting vehicle. Better yet, we need to build a vehicle that can act as a ramp to get off the runway.

Imagine this, you have a very large vehicle designed to stay on the ground, and you drive it down a ramp that is actually a separate vehicle staying in place. You then speed down a given straight, and record your speed. But there are other things to discuss like where to start and stop, I need some help.

[Foamy]

I am defiantly going to be a part of this.

From a quick look it seems like going directly west from the KSC is the best direction, even any other way inland gives you plenty of room to speed up and slow down, getting off the runway is tricky though.

I\'m just about to try my first car out after a successful chute test on the runway.

EDIT: The road coming off the runway is a great way of getting down but my turning circle is extremely poor.

[Guest doughbred]

I am defiantly going to be a part of this.

From a quick look it seems like going directly west from the KSC is the best direction, even any other way inland gives you plenty of room to speed up and slow down, getting off the runway is tricky though.

I\'m just about to try my first car out after a successful chute test on the runway.

EDIT: The road coming off the runway is a great way of getting down but my turning circle is extremely poor.

Because of my somewhat lack of vocabulary skills except for neatness (though this varies), do you mean you are in or not.

[Tosh]

IIRC polar ice was reported to be pretty flat.

[trbinsc]

Polar ice is completely flat, and would be the best place to do any racing, due to it\'s flatness.

[Foamy]

Because of my somewhat lack of vocabulary skills except for neatness (though this varies), do you mean you are in or not.

Yes i am.

Polar ice is completely flat, and would be the best place to do any racing, due to it\'s flatness.

The problem is how far away it is, Building something to get the car off the runway is easy enough but to ship it halfway across the world just for it to explode in 5 seconds is a bit much.

[rkman]

Cheat-edit the persistence file, and nuke the place drop it from orbit? Or from low altitude.

^{Either way it\'s the only way to be sure.}

[Guest doughbred]

Yes i am.

The problem is how far away it is, Building something to get the car off the runway is easy enough but to ship it halfway across the world just for it to explode in 5 seconds is a bit much.

Well, then we will stick to the KSC. Then we will have to decide not for how much time a vehicle could run, but for how far it can travel like the drag race challenge. So the issue is, how will we get the player to know when he/she has traveled a long enough distance. This makes the North pole ideal, but I guess we have to make a mod that will allow the player to spawn there.

Aside of that, we may make it official that we have to use the surround area of the KSC... for now. If I could remember, there is an air race challenge that utilizes some sort of 'rails' to guide the player through a route. Whatever mod was used to situate the air race flight path, we may be able to use it as track barriers to guide the player, and to signify where to stop a vehicle.

Though if we will make a modded map, why not just make the player spawn on the edge of the polar ice cap, and make him or her travel for a given amount of time. That will make things much more interesting, it may allow for larger vehicles. We can have separate cups for different vehicle sizes. But then we will have to make regulations. Obviously, no RCS as the main form of propulsion. Unless we can have, you know, a RCS driven cup.

[Foamy]

I had no idea that guide stuff was possible; I\'m fairly sure we can\'t change the spawn point yet though. We\'ll need to see how far you can go from the KSC in different directions before it gets bumpy, the test run i did the other day got to the trees a lot faster than i expected.

[Kryten]

Whatever mod was used to situate the air race flight path, we may be able to use it as track barriers to guide the player, and to signify where to stop a vehicle.

That entire course was one giant part, made up of multiple models, centred on the launch pad. Any terrain made using the same technique would be constrained by the maximum size of in-game parts, 2km across; probably not enough for this kind of event..

[Foamy]

Damn that\'s disappointing. I wonder if a mechjeb style plugin could be made that acted like a GPS of sorts to show you where to go and when to stop.

[Excalibur]

Regarding the ice caps I can definitely say they\'re the best place for land speed records.

Here\'s one of my previous attempts in 0.14.4

[Steve5451]

IIRC polar ice was reported to be pretty flat.

The poles are completely flat but the only way to get your vehicles there is to send it into orbit and reenter with parachutes.

[Frostiken]

Editing the persistence.sfs isn\'t very hard. Just get a standardized value for the starting point.

[Steve5451]

And cheat?

[Excalibur]

Editing the persistence.sfs isn\'t very hard. Just get a standardized value for the starting point.

Screw cheating. Just make your record attempt car in the VAB. Add some wings and tail plane with radial decouplers to make it into an aircraft. Place a rocket beneath it and launch it into a -90 degree suborbit. When you reenter jettison the rocket stage and fly to the pole. Once you land jettison the wings and you\'re done. 15 Minute flight time (ish) and no cheating.

[JebThrillMaster]

May I suggest a rule?

No Aerospike Engines!

[Guest doughbred]

Screw cheating. Just make your record attempt car in the VAB. Add some wings and tail plane with radial decouplers to make it into an aircraft. Place a rocket beneath it and launch it into a -90 degree suborbit. When you reenter jettison the rocket stage and fly to the pole. Once you land jettison the wings and you\'re done. 15 Minute flight time (ish) and no cheating.

So it is official, we will make our vehicle, add wings, make a detachable rocket, and fly to the north pole. OK.

[Guest doughbred]

May I suggest a rule?

No Aerospike Engines!

Well, we can make multiple cups, but that be a separate challenge.

OK so the first cup will be air turborockets.

[JebThrillMaster]

making my craft now, got top speed of 154m/s with 3 basic jet engines.

[Foamy]

So it is official, we will make our vehicle, add wings, make a detachable rocket, and fly to the north pole. OK.

What\'s the point in regulating the method of arival? This is meant to test the ground vehicle not how easy it is to get it to the north pole.

[Rich]

409.9 m/s, I have 2/4 wheels on the ground so technically I am not flying .

Edited September 1, 2012 by Rich

[Excalibur]

So it is official, we will make our vehicle, add wings, make a detachable rocket, and fly to the north pole. OK.

I realise I may have sounded a little arrogant there, not my intention. It did take me quite a while and a fair bit of trial and error to get my abortion of a vehicle to work. But when it did the satisfaction was rather nice...

What\'s the point in regulating the method of arival? This is meant to test the ground vehicle not how easy it is to get it to the north pole.

At the end of the day it\'s a land speed challenge - doesn\'t matter where you achieve it or how you get to your destination. I didn\'t want to force anyone to use any particular method - just to discourage hacks or .sfs edits that\'s all.

[Guest doughbred]

OK, so we\'ll just have people go tot he northern ice caps whatever way they like. SO here is the rules if you manage to get there once. You simple drive your vehicle as fast as you can. Prior to putting it on the ice cap, test the vehicle on the runway.

Upon arriving at ice cap, you will have several scores:

5 second burn: velocity of vehicle after 5 second burn

15 second burn: velocity of vehicle after 15 second burn.

30 second burn: self explanatory

top speed

NOTE: should the player reach max speed before any of above scores, and reach top speed immediately, the score does not have to be imputed without penalty. Think of it as Bonneville, the purpose is to go as fast as you want. Set your own goals, any vehicle.

ANOTHER NOTE: Should the player have a very large vehicle, he may add higher burn time scores- going to 45, 60, and 75 seconds, and so on.

[Foamy]

Is there an easy way of tracking your speed over time?

Also, every test i did on the runway showed a top ground speed far higher than is possible in the end of mission window; I have no idea why.

I will do a test on ice tomorrow evening if i have time.