Official Kerbal Dakar 2017 results thread

[DoctorDavinci]

7 minutes ago, SpannerMonkey(smce) said:

I do appreciate where you're coming from here, but as mentioned earlier, a level playing field is not a KSP feature, individuals knowledge and craft building skills swing the balance wildly. In my case the vehicles are built to go as fast as possible and use the Cooper motors ethos of just enough to get the job done and it doesnt matter if it falls apart as it crosses the line.

I cannot achieve anywhere near my times with stock vehicles but I know that should Doc Davinci was to run his original stock vehicle entry then my times would not look so impressive,as I recall he achieved sub 5 min stage 1 times  very early on in testing, which sort of proved that it could be done in the first place. 

With electric propulsion you have two things to make sure of, only imo of course , that your wheels are in contact with the ground as much as possible and your vehicle is as light as possible, any air time is wasted time , you cant drive fwd with airborne wheels and don't have the mass benefits of gas powered vehicles.

Yes, I did make times that were sub 5 minutes with my first protoype but those runs were total flukes as the Bad Beaver was unreliable with landing jumps and had a tendancy to RUD

Hence why I created Bill's Big Bad Beaver which is slower but can take more punishment

Edited January 5, 2017 by DoctorDavinci

[Madrias]

For me, the fun of the challenge was simply to get a vehicle to finish the run.  My 2-hour time is dismal compared to many of the Fuel/Electric Hybrids, and is beaten by a lot of the Electric-Only runners.  But, I can say honestly that I had a lot of fun, I spent probably 30 minutes running Kerbals back to the Dead Bug after rolling it down a hill, and that it's definitely a mark of a good run to have 70% of a functional vehicle at the end.  Even if your only source of light is the Kerbal's helmet lamps because every other light got smashed.

[gilflo]

Hello

I just discovered this challenge today and as I won't be here from January 7th to 20th, I am not sure i will finish it.

So  i decided to use my "Gliding Cheetah" a mix of Big catamaran on Wheel i used to break the Elcano Circumnavigation challenge in 1 day and 5H, but it was mainly in sea.....But the machine is very strong and quite stable on ground.

It's a 150T catamaran running TO KE-90 Dudley turbojet and he won't need any refueling to perform the whole race.

Mod OPT tanks - B9 wings -MK2

Here are the picture of the run from flag 1 to flag 1

Departure brakes on at 00:4:00

Greatest speed achieved after departure: 133.5m/s.

We are often  running on our  kinetic energy with throttle down..... small jump

Longest jump after the last hill before arrival

Arrival on flag 2, still at 50m/s, it's not easy to see the flag: Time 10:34

Total time 6:34

i am not sure it will be so easy in the mountain....

I made a small film if you need

 

Edited January 6, 2017 by gilflo

[Magzimum]

Here's my first submission for the Kerbal Dakar challenge. Jeb competes in the solar/electric category. It's a skinny little car, but it is rock solid - there is absolutely no way to flip this thing on its side.

A few specs:

• Mass: 5.154 ton
• 10 large solar panels
• 1 Battery
• 12 Wheels
• 2 small reaction wheels (for the big jumps)
• Lots of metal beams

Time: 

Start	Finish	Time
5.22.00	5.34.31	12.31
5.40.01	5.50.18	10.17
5.54.00	0.05.02	11.02
0.07.00	0.18.06	11.06
0.22.00	0.34.15	12.15
0.36.00	0.47.14	11.14
5.05.00	5.14.32	9.32
TOTAL		1h 17m 57s

Spoiler with pics of the Start/Finish of each stage, and some in-between pics of the rover on its way (jumps and top speed). 

Spoiler

Stage 1, START

The car can do a little over 50 m/s on the flat.

Stage 1, FINISH

Stage 2, START

Some climbing. Hills are no big problem.

Doing 32 m/s on a real climb - managing nearly 10 m/s vertical.

This was the highest point in the race for Jeb.

What goes up must come down. At 61 m/s, using nothing but solar power! 

Some big jumps. According to KER, the car is 11.8 m above the surface. In big jumps like these, the reaction wheels are essential. The back wheels must hit the ground first, because the nose cone is the weakest point of the car. It's not needed to do a precision landing though. Just slam it into the ground, and the car is fine. 

Stage 2 FINISH

The quickest way to slow this car down it to spin it. So, it approaches the flag at full speed, and slams on the brakes and makes a sharp turn when its <100 m away. 

Stage 3, START

After spinning the car at the finish, I put its nose in the direction of the next flag before each start.

Some more jumps during stage 3...

I chose a bumpy route...

More jumps...

Stage 3, FINISH

Stage 4, START

I was getting pretty good at hitting F1 when I made a jump (while also frantically pressing some of the QWEASD keys to manage a good landing).

Flat ground is easy.

Somehow managed to jump even on the flatter part of this stage.

Stage 4, FINISH

Stage 5, START

I went around the first hill, choosing a safer route over the straightest (the flatter route will give a higher top speed, so I hope that it was quicker).

Approaching a seam - Kerbin needs some ducttape.

Stage 5, FINISH

Stage 6, START

The top speed for this race (at least that I have on a screenshot): 64.1 m/s! 

Bouncing towards the finish of stage 6...

Stage 6, FINISH

Stage 7, START

I tried to do this stage on the same day, but the sunlight was too weak, and the rover did not make it up one of the hills. So, I reloaded, warped to the next day and tried again. (I wasted altogether about 18 minutes in between the stages - and I started stage 1 quite late in the day... I am sure that this rover can do the whole race in 1 day). 

The terrain textures make this look faster than it really is. It's just another day in the office for Jeb. 

Approaching the finish.

The last climb...

Stage 7, FINISH

With one last spin, the car made it to the finish. 

Celebrations and medals. 

Time to add jets to this car and try again

Of course, it did not all go according to plan. A few reloads were needed (I saved the game after every stage). One reload before stage 7, because I ran out of sunlight no a steep hill and the car came to a complete stop, which seemed to me to be a bad thing in a race... And a few crashes. I made 2 screenshots of the most amusing bloopers.

Spoiler

One time I had the brilliant idea to quicksave the game during a jump - as you cannot do that while driving, but you can when you are flying. But after a crash, I reloaded, and it confused the hell out of the game. Stuff instantly exploded, and it parked itself in a mountain. Also, it appears to think that the surface speed is 175 m/s, when it is clearly 0 m/s.

This was also cause for a reload - back to the start of the stage. I did not include a mechanism to right the car. 

Imgur album here (but I put all the pictures in this post - so nothing new there).

Thanks for reading!

@gilflo, make sure that your vehicle comes to a complete stop at each flag, and take a screenshot. For more info, see the rules of this challenge.

 

[capi3101]

Alrighty - my entry is ready to go, I think:

Here's my craft of choice - a modified Hellhound 7 rover:

Yes, I chose to race with a Mün rover. I did try to do something more Kerbin-centric but came back to this tried and tested design when it did better during a trial run. I originally created this rover back in v0.19, so I imagine this is probably the oldest craft making the run. The Hound is a 4.5 tonne, six wheel science rover powered by six PB-NUK RTGs, capable of autonomous operation but with open seating for two Kerbals. For Dakar, the skycrane was retrofitted with a Mk2 Lander Can to satisfy the Kerballed requirement, its main probe core, antenna and science instruments were removed and a pair of fuel tanks with Wheesley engines were added for extra propulsion, a battery and large ASAS wheel were added for extra stability and a pair of structural intakes were added - the add-ons tripled the normal mass of the rover. The regular drive systems were left intact for auxiliary propulsion; the jets did most of the work. The initial intake setup was insufficient for the job, so a pair of "resupply" plane flights were done during my run (prior to Stage 2 and Stage 4) to add additional intakes to the craft. Jeb drove, while Bill took the right-hand seat to perform repairs. Popped several tires and lost my flag during Stage 2, lost a strut during Stage 3 which Bill KIS repaired, and lost an intake five kilometers short of the finish line.

Anyway, my run is here - http://imgur.com/a/hI8jK

And my times are as follows: 

Stage 1: 0:02:33 -> 0:16:54 = 0:14:21
Stage 2: 0:25:45 -> 0:37:32 = 0:11:47
Stage 3: 0:38:48 -> 0:55:40 = 0:16:52
Stage 4: 1:10:18 -> 1:21:58 = 0:11:40
Stage 5: 1:22:41 -> 1:34:33 = 0:11:52
Stage 6: 1:34:54 -> 1:45:00 = 0:10:06
Stage 7: 1:45:20 -> 1:54:13 = 0:08:53

RACE TIME TOTAL: 1:25:31

So, towards the back of the heap. Oh well - I think for driving an antique, I did pretty well...

Pretty sure I didn't cause any shenanigans but if y'all see any say something.

Edited January 6, 2017 by capi3101

[Leafbaron]

Do to a hiccup during stage 2 i had to restart. Electric wheel power only. 

Stage 1 start time 0:02:00. 

End time 00:17:19 

 

Waited till daytime to start stage 2.... start time 03:12:00

End time stage 2 03:23:48

Stage 3 Start 03:26:00

Stage 3 End time 03:39:03

Stage 4 start time 03:40:00

Stage 4 end time 03:53:07

Stage 5 start time 03:54:00

Stage 5 End time 04:08:36

Stage 6 start time 04:13:00

Stage 6 end time 04:26:30

Stage 7 start time 04:27:00

Stage 7 end time 04:37:49

Stage 1 total time: 15 minutes 19 seconds. 

Stage 2 total time: 11 minutes 48 seconds.

Stage 3 Total Time : 13 minutes 3 seconds.

Stage 4 Total Time : 13 minutes 7 seconds.

Stage 5 Total time 14 minutes 36 seconds.

Stage 6 Total time 13 minutes 30 seconds. 

Stage 7 Total time 10 minutes 49 seconds

TOTAL TIME : 1 hour 32 minutes 12 seconds

Edited January 12, 2017 by Leafbaron

[Leafbaron]

On 1/5/2017 at 10:34 AM, SpannerMonkey(smce) said:

I do appreciate where you're coming from here, but as mentioned earlier, a level playing field is not a KSP feature, individuals knowledge and craft building skills swing the balance wildly.

It would be very interesting to see Dakar Summer 2017 come with a stock vehicle in which every opting for that division would use. This would really determine who has more skills behind the wheel not just achieving an "upper hand" from design alone. I also assume the stock vehicle would have its various quirks to contend with.  Naturally. I assume individual design and entries would be welcome. 

Edited January 7, 2017 by Leafbaron

[mrmcp1]

On 06/01/2017 at 2:21 PM, Magzimum said:

Of course, it did not all go according to plan. A few reloads were needed (I saved the game after every stage). One reload before stage 7, because I ran out of sunlight no a steep hill and the car came to a complete stop, which seemed to me to be a bad thing in a race... And a few crashes. I made 2 screenshots of the most amusing bloopers.

 

 

11 hours ago, Leafbaron said:

Do to a hiccup during stage 2 i had to restart. 

As far as I am aware quick loading is not allowed. It was a rule in the old thread which was locked and does not appear in the new thread, hopefully @Triop will confirm.  Nice designs though 

[Flamingo]

1 hour ago, mrmcp1 said:

 

As far as I am aware quick loading is not allowed. It was a rule in the old thread which was locked and does not appear in the new thread, hopefully @Triop will confirm.  Nice designs though 

 

Im just going to confirm this so Triop can do other things instead  

Have you ever seen the people in the real Dakar reseting or going back in time? no, didn't think so, so therefore the only there is to say is that:
Quicksaving/loading is NOT allowed. I had a long discussion-ish-thingy with Triop and Panda in the old thread about ether it was or not. But it ain't if you loose a wheel you can either use KAS to take a spare wheel from your car and then attach it, or you can use KIS and KAS, and then have the wheel in a container. 
 

So you will have to do those two stages once again @Leafbaron and you will have to do the whole race again @Magzimum, sorry mates, but those are the rules and the only way to win is to practice the stages again and again, until you know you have to watch out. 

And now i guess i just have to say: good racing!
(and try to do better than those \I/)

Edited January 7, 2017 by Flamingo

[DarkOwl57]

Stage 1: 00:20:40

Total time: 00:20:40

Edited January 7, 2017 by DarkOwl57

[Leafbaron]

6 hours ago, Flamingo said:

 

Im just going to confirm this so Triop can do other things instead  

Have you ever seen the people in the real Dakar reseting or going back in time? no, didn't think so, so therefore the only there is to say is that:
Quicksaving/loading is NOT allowed. I had a long discussion-ish-thingy with Triop and Panda in the old thread about ether it was or not. But it ain't if you loose a wheel you can either use KAS to take a spare wheel from your car and then attach it, or you can use KIS and KAS, and then have the wheel in a container. 
 

So you will have to do those two stages once again @Leafbaron and you will have to do the whole race again @Magzimum, sorry mates, but those are the rules and the only way to win is to practice the stages again and again, until you know you have to watch out. 

And now i guess i just have to say: good racing!
(and try to do better than those \I/)

I didn't quickload. I crashed in stage two. recoverd the vehicle and started again from stage 1 with a new vehicle. Thats why i made a second post. My first one was from last weekend. 

[Triop]

11 minutes ago, Leafbaron said:

I didn't quickload. I crashed in stage two. recoverd the vehicle and started again from stage 1 with a new vehicle. Thats why i made a second post. My first one was from last weekend. 

Let it go dude, no accusations here , just have fun

[Norcalplanner]

Here's my entry, the OTE-1.  It completed the rally in 1:39:41.

Built around an orange tank, the OTE-1 (Orange Tank Explorer) masses 35 tons and is supported by four of the largest rover wheels.  A Wheesley jet engine at the rear provides supplemental thrust for going up steep hills, but was only used about 5% of the time.  Most forward momentum was created by using the differential steering trick, which regularly got the rover up to 50 m/s or higher.  The third attempt is the one that actually completed the race.  The first version didn't have the stylish beams projecting forward and backward (resulting in a RUD and Jeb's death), and the second version still had the oxidizer, which was emptied in the final design (with oxidizer, one of the front wheels broke after a landing).  Bone stock, the only adjustment was to increase the spring strength on the wheels to 1.2 times standard.  Photos and stage times are in the spoiler.

Spoiler

Start of Stage 1, time 00:30

End of Stage 1, time 15:23

Stage 1 time - 14:53

 

Start of Stage 2, time 16:20

End of Stage 2, time 31:30

Stage 2 Time - 15:10

 

Start of Stage 3, time 32:34

End of Stage 3, time 50:21

Stage 3 Time - 17:47

 

Start of Stage 4, time 53:20

End of Stage 4, time 1:05:51

Stage 4 Time - 13:31

 

Start of Stage 5, time 1:08:00

End of Stage 5, time 1:21:55

Stage 5 Time - 13:55

 

Start of Stage 6, time 1:22:45

End of Stage 6, time 1:35:35

Stage 6 Time - 12:50

 

Start of Stage 7, time 1:36:07

End of Stage 7, time 1:47:42

Stage 7 Time - 11:35

Total Time, All Stages - 1:39:41

 

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

7 hours ago, Norcalplanner said:

Here's my entry, the OTE-1.  It completed the rally in 1:39:41.

Nice one, does anyone else see a stick insect when they look at the rover ?     Possibly the first to use those large wheels to complete a circuit?

[Magzimum]

17 hours ago, Flamingo said:

 

Im just going to confirm this so Triop can do other things instead  

Have you ever seen the people in the real Dakar reseting or going back in time? no, didn't think so, so therefore the only there is to say is that:
Quicksaving/loading is NOT allowed. I had a long discussion-ish-thingy with Triop and Panda in the old thread about ether it was or not. But it ain't if you loose a wheel you can either use KAS to take a spare wheel from your car and then attach it, or you can use KIS and KAS, and then have the wheel in a container. 
 

So you will have to do those two stages once again @Leafbaron and you will have to do the whole race again @Magzimum, sorry mates, but those are the rules and the only way to win is to practice the stages again and again, until you know you have to watch out. 

And now i guess i just have to say: good racing!

@Triop, Could you confirm that this is indeed part of the rules? And if it is, could you do me and fellow members a favor and put this not so unimportant bit about reloading in the OP of the rules of the challenge? Thanks.

I read the rules carefully. I also read the OP of the results thread. But I did not read the 36 page long discussion thread where, among many other discussions, the "discussion-ish-thingy with Triop and Panda" happened. 

[Flamingo]

Here you go @Magzimum! From this post and down it gets clarified that quicksaving/loading is not allowed:

But I very much agree with you that the rules are incomplete.

[DoctorDavinci]

6 hours ago, Flamingo said:

Here you go @Magzimum! From this post and down it gets clarified that quicksaving/loading is not allowed:

But I very much agree with you that the rules are incomplete.

This is wrong and misleading ... I refer you to the following post that confirms that you are allowed to save between stages ... Meaning that if you complete stage 1 you can save at the stage 1 flag, however if you crash and burn on stage 2 you are not allowed to revert to the stage 1 flag save and must restart the rally from the SPH (same goes if you RUD on stage 6 ... if you RUD you cannot go back to your previous save and must restart the race from the beginning)

 

[Flamingo]

30 minutes ago, DoctorDavinci said:

This is wrong and misleading ... I refer you to the following post that confirms that you are allowed to save between stages ... Meaning that if you complete stage 1 you can save at the stage 1 flag, however if you crash and burn on stage 2 you are not allowed to revert to the stage 1 flag save and must restart the rally from the SPH (same goes if you RUD on stage 6 ... if you RUD you cannot go back to your previous save and must restart the race from the beginning)

 

The only point i can see in saving then, is to make sure that if your plane lands on your car you can reload, i find this very unlikely tho. But if this is what you mean, then you are right.

[DoctorDavinci]

12 minutes ago, Flamingo said:

The only point i can see in saving then, is to make sure that if your plane lands on your car you can reload, i find this very unlikely tho. But if this is what you mean, then you are right.

Actually the reason that you can save between stages is because not everyone doing the challenge is able to sit through and complete all the stages in one go ... let alone that the original idea started out as a new stage each week which would require you to be able to save between stages

For instance, I have stuff to do and I also have issues with my hands (among other things) which prevents me from being able to sit and complete the whole race in one go

[DoctorDavinci]

Stage 3 completed with the Mad Moose ... Time was 13:36

Screenshots:

Spoiler

Video:

Spoiler

 

 

[SasquatchM]

Stage 1 done: 5:46

 

 

[capi3101]

Quick question on the whole business of not being able to quicksave/quickload: how is that intended to be enforced? Honor system only, or what?

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

1 hour ago, capi3101 said:

Honor system only, or what?

Hi, no other way to do it unless you're happy sitting through a two hour or more video of somebody's attempt. I think most competitors have played the honorable game, even if they haven't who cares, most regard it as cheating, a lot of the competitors are regular challenge entrants so know how to play the game. A couple of my poorer stages would definitely have been improved by a quick revert and course alteration

[DarkOwl57]

10 minutes ago, SpannerMonkey(smce) said:

no other way to do it unless you're happy sitting through a two hour or more video of somebody's attempt.

Well if I'm bored on a summer day... I might just pull up a full run of the winner

[Triop]

1 hour ago, capi3101 said:

Quick question on the whole business of not being able to quicksave/quickload: how is that intended to be enforced? Honor system only, or what?

There will be cheaters, but I don't think they will have the proud and satisfied feeling at the finish like non-cheaters do.

I'm not taking this to seriously, I just want to have fun.