9.28 Ship Racing
Using SHIP RACE or SHIP RACING syntax, players can participate in or create their own ship races. Pilots fly to the starting location, check in, and then fly through a series of Checkpoint space structures (see HELP STRUCTURES) defined by the race's creator.
Races come in two types:
Races: A synchronous race involved multiple racers at the same time. Pilots line up at the starting line and, when the race administrator says go, it counts down and everyone starts racing.
Time trials: An asynchronous race that players can attempt at any time while it is open. Pilots compete, on their own time, to complete the race as fast as possible.
Race participation
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Syntax related to participating in races includes:
SHIP RACE LIST [ARCHIVED] List space races.
SHIP RACE <#> [SHOW] Show information on a space race.
SHIP RACE <#> REGISTER Register interest in a space race.
SHIP RACE <#> DEREGISTER Deregister from a space race.
SHIP RACE <#> CHECKIN Check-in to a space race you've registered for.
SHIP RACE ABANDON Abandon any races you have checked in to.
SHIP RACE LIST will show all currently publicly available races, as well as any races you are creating that you have not published yet. SHIP RACE LIST ARCHIVED will show races that have completed. Completed races are archived for 30 RL days before they are deleted.
SHIP RACE <#> [SHOW] will provide an exhaustive description of everything you need to know about a race, including its type, checkpoints, starting location, as well as any rules (see Rules, below). For the race administrator, it also displays information about checked-in individuals along with their coordinates to help monitor their progress through your race.
REGISTER and DEREGISTER can be used to express interest in a race, but are not strictly required.
CHECKIN is used once you have flown to the starting location of a race. Turn your ship in the direction you want to go once the race starts, and shut off your engines. If you move or turn your ship, your checked-in status will be removed. If this is a synchronous race, you will be disqualified on the spot for moving before the race's starting countdown completes. There is no handling for "false starts".
If you are entering a normal race, the race administrator will manually begin the race once everyone has checked in and lined up. After that, a 10-second counter starts and players set off afterwards. If it is a time trial, you simply check in and the 10-second counter will begin immediately.
While participating in a race, all forms of warping are disabled, with the exception of Voidgates, which may be allowed if the race administrator enabled them. Tricks such as skip, flyby, or overload may also be disabled by the administrator, so make sure to read the rules carefully. Docking and landing are also disabled.
SHIP RACE ABANDON can be used at any time while in a race to prematurely exit the race.
Racers will be disqualified for any of the following actions:
- Your time exceeds the race's defined maximum duration.
- You perform hostile actions against other racers in a No PK race (this includes deployables such as mines and webs).
- Your ship is destroyed.
- You enter a spacewalk by any means.
Race administration
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To create a new race, use SHIP RACE CREATE <type> (type should be either 'race' or 'timetrial'). To delete it, use SHIP RACE <#> DELETE.
To add checkpoints to your race, you'll first need to identify Checkpoints you want to use. Browse STRUCTURE LIST CHECKPOINT, or go build Checkpoints of your own. Non-NPC checkpoint structures decay in 100 days. Note that you can use any Checkpoint in your race, it does not need to be owned by you.
Once you've acquired the ID of checkpoints you want, use SHIP RACE <#> CHECKPOINT ADD <#>. Pilots must fly through checkpoints in the order, and the order they appear will be the order you input them. If you'd like to make changes, you can use SHIP RACE <#> CHECKPOINT REMOVE <#|ALL>.
Next, define a starting location for your race, such as SHIP RACE START ALEPH 125 125 to start your race near Aleph (125, 125). Then, you can use SHIP RACE <#> STARTRADIUS <5-20> to specify how close to those coordinates players must be for check-in.
Give your race a nice title with SHIP RACE <#> TITLE <title>, and enter the editor to write a longer-form description for your race with SHIP RACE <#> DESCRIBE. You can use this space to discuss the race's scheduled time, any associated prize pool, other promotional matters, etc.
Before you PUBLISH, have a review of the Rules section below and use SHIP RACE <#> RULE <rule> <option> to tweak the rules to your perfection.
Rules
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The Rules of a race provide a lot of flexibility for race administrators to run the type of race they want to run:
- Laps: The number of times players must navigate through all checkpoints to finish the race. SHIP RACE <#> RULE LAPS <1-15>. Default 1.
- Voidgates Allowed: Allows voidgate use. SHIP RACE <#> RULE VOIDGATES <ON|OFF>. Default: Off.
- No Skip: Prevents skip trick use. SHIP RACE <#> RULE NO_SKIP <ON|OFF>. Default: Off.
- No Flyby: Prevents flyby trick use. SHIP RACE <#> RULE NO_FLYBY <ON|OFF>. Default: Off.
- No Overload: Prevents overload trick use. SHIP RACE <#> RULE NO_OVERLOAD <ON|OFF>. Default: Off.
- Open PK: Makes all racers Open PK in Space to one another. SHIP RACE <#> RULE PK <ON|OFF>. Default: Off.
- Class Restriction: Restricts a race to a particular ship class, i.e. Interceptors, Cruisers, Superhaulers, etc. SHIP RACE <#> RULE CLASS <class_name|NONE>. Default: None (i.e., any ship class can race).
- Syncs Available: Applies to Time Trials only. The number of Syncs after publishing that the time trial is available for before a winner is determined and the race is archived. SHIP RACE <#> RULE SYNCS <1-30>. Default: 14.
- Attempts: Applies to Time Trials only. The maximum number of attempts a single pilot can make on a Time Trial. SHIP RACE <#> RULE ATTEMPTS <0-10>. Set to 0 to allow unlimited attempts. Default: Unlimited.
- Hours: The number of RL hours before a racer is disqualified. Allows race participation to end smoothly in the event of disconnects. SHIP RACE <#> RULE HOURS <1-3>. Default: 1.
