Announcment - Race Training Available

[Xeen]

With the addition of the 'org shinies' a few weeks ago, I've been systematically attacking my own flaws (I know what they are  ) in pursuit of said shinies.  Combat was easily done on the weekend the shinies were announced.  Racing, my weaker suit, took a bit to complete for various reasons beyond racing itself, but a good bit of practice was needed too.  The objective was completed October 31, the last day of the inaugural month on the first available day 1 week after leader board reset (required delay to qualify for a medal).

Since then, I've been refining my technique, and I've been thinking about  teaching racing.  I've even practiced teaching it to a few people (a new Imperium recruit and a couple streamer buddies).

 

First is learning how to handle your ship - each one is a bit different, some may be large differences like primary maneuvering thrust axis, control modes and indicators are critical knowledge too

Second you must learn each course - Ring placement and obstacles, where you are and where to go

Third is learning to fly each course fluidly with some principles of racing/general piloting - Attitude control, constant awareness of TVI (exactly where you are moving), size of your ship, planning your course for the next gate while attacking the turn for the gate you are approaching, etc.

Lastly (this one will irritate you if done out of order), work on shaving down every possible meter/second from your course/turns as you slip through the rings and plot the best possible course, riding the fine line between g-loc and tapping out your fuel, mere meters away from certain doom as you fly the entire course

 

Now I can't perform flawlessly every single time, and personal improvement is hard to note because of it being gradual as you approach the limits of what you and your ship can do, but with time, increasing the quality of and reproducing quality laps consitently becomes more and more frequent.

My original shiny-worthy attempts on Defford Link landed me at a bit over 8 minutes after initial learning and practice.  With persistence and applying understanding of the system, I earned a medal with a 7:47 race time relatively shortly after (in terms of in-game time).   I've now shaved that time down by 30 seconds! (which is freaking huge in a race)

With that said, I now feel confident in my ability to offer racing instruction to the public.  I don't have a set course to teach racing, but it is something that I want to do, and I will develop a course over time (rough outline above, last part is on you, practice, practice, practice).  So, if you want to get some serious piloting practice while avoiding the hassle of pvp combat and constant balance changes to weapons/missiles AND earn some pretty good REC, come learn to race!  I've already been told by a student that they now enjoy racing and do it much more frequently because of their new found understanding!

We currently stand at #2 on Defford Link as an Org!

From a near-medal-qualifying run at over just over 8 minutes...

To improving further with practice and qualifying:

To shredding my own personal best:

(had a slightly better lap time than 2:24 several times, just not in this particular race, consistency won out here. 7:17 total, opponents gave up)

Wake up, Imperium, and come get your race on !!  AC 2.0 is right around the corner and you will be glad you got some practice in  

Ironing out the particulars of piloting on the race track piece-wise vs jumping directly into combat and having to do it all has its benefits, and you can then apply learned piloting/racing skills to combat, making for a much smoother ride.

 

Available to teach General SC Info/Flight School: combat or racing

Monday - Thursday 17:30 CST to 22:00 CST (UTC -6)

Expected run time for general course and combat flight school is ~3 hours (depends heavily on the number and prior knowledge of students + questions and the will of the server gods)

Expected run time for racing course is 1 hour (assuming we do nothing but racing and skip the general briefing)

Limit 1 lesson per day and 7 students per lesson

PM me if interested.  Try to schedule 24 hours in advance.  We will use Imperium TS3 for communication and TheBaseRadio for some racing jams ( lol, optional  )

Edited November 4, 2015 by Xeen

[RedMenace]

Interested.

In Connie racing!

[Xeen]

That'll be fun to see, if they are even allowed on the current race tracks and will they fit through the rings

[Switch]

I'm always down to learn new things! I only use he M50 though. =]

[Xeen]

I'm always down to learn new things! I only use he M50 though. =]

The M50, of course, is a very capable racer.  Just don't expect to beat the favored 350R on the easy tracks.  With the current game balances, the 350R is king on even the most challenging course, but the M50 can still do very well.  If you want a shiny, I'd fly the 350R  

[Genesis]

I would have waited a bit longer for Alpha 2.0 since everything is going to change again.

 

But like always, do whatever is fun.

[Xeen]

Hmm  @Chimaera

 

Someone (Shive) appears to have opted out of the leaderboard, thus shifting everyone up a slot.  I have screenshots to prove this   I moved from 6th to 5th because of his record being hidden.. or gone?

 

Just another exception to consider with the medals.  As I suggested to you before, expand the qualifying range by 1 per Imperium member that has qualified.  If not, we could always just opt-out and hide our record to make it easier for others we are helping (or who are doing it on their own) to get in.

Edited November 5, 2015 by Xeen

[Wyvyrias]

Hmm  @Chimaera

 

Someone (Shive) appears to have opted out of the leaderboard, thus shifting everyone up a slot.  I have screenshots to prove this   I moved from 6th to 5th because of his record being hidden.. or gone?

 

Just another exception to consider with the medals.  As I suggested to you before, expand the qualifying range by 1 per Imperium member that has qualified.  If not, we could always just opt-out and hide our record to make it easier for others we are helping (or who are doing it on their own) to get in.

Imagine you actually wasn't even the 6th but the 1006th because 1000 others hid their records as well. lol
Now I can trust the leaderboard even less.