Manatee in the Deep: A Starbase Tale of Woe
8-9-2021
After much gathering and selling, the Endo known as Durasteel had finally acquired a Manatee. Initially used to support corporate operations in the Safe Zone, Durasteel gathered many materials needed for corporate research. That finished, and it was time to go into the Deep, for better materials and, if we’re being honest, to see what is there.
Endo Negative agreed to accompany Endo Durasteel on the journey. Here is that tale.
It was calculated that with 18million units of propellant, that the ship could reach to 350km (Zone 3) safely and return, with a reserve of approximately 2 million. Out of an abundance of caution, crew insured that the hold had adequate stacks of all basic materials, including nhurgite and ice, for both repair and refueling as needed. It was hoped that none would be needed, but having the tools and the materials in case of collision or recovery after attack were deemed essential.
The outbound leg recovered some Aegisium and Exorium. Fuel consumption was in line with calculation, if not better. But when the ship reached Zone 3, things began to go awry.
During two outbound mining episodes, it had been noticed that some of the ore slots had become “bugged.” The slot indicated a material type in the slot, but this slot did not indicate quantity, nor could it be grabbed – effectively ending use of the slot. By the time Zone 3 had been reached, some 12 ore slots (10% of the ship capacity) were bugged.
Upon reaching the Zone 3 at Z+350000, fuel reserves were in line with plans at about 65% of capacity. A “planetoid” asteroid was encountered, but it was determined this was of no value. In fact, the crew spotted 5 planetoid-sized asteroids during the journey, including the deeper areas of Zone 2. Endos apparently lack the technology to mine them.
In Zone 3, a large asteroid with over 125k kv of Nhurgite in ice was encountered, without exhausting the asteroid, the remaining non-bugged cargo slots were filled. The crew also replaced the fuel rods. Though no collision was detected or deemed possible by the crew, the ship suffered minor damage which did not affect operations. A reboot resulted in the remaining parts of the Nhurgite asteroid disappearing completely.
Further exploration in Zone 3 yielded nothing futher, and from a distance of 354km it was decided to return to the corporate station. After about 10 minutes of travel, the game became a slideshow for the pilot, about 3-5 fps. The ship became unresponsive to normal commands, making maneuver to avoid collision difficult. At the same time, during the slideshow, it was noticed that fuel consumption was now much higher than planned, with 1m units yielding only 30-35km travel distance. By the time the crew had reached 125km from SZ, it was calculated that the ship would likely not make it to the Border.
A collision due to slow framerates occurred at approximately 135km from the Border. Most function was restored and the ship able to be flown without durability issues. However, slow framerates remained a problem.
An emergency refuel with the reserve ice store was initiated. Bugged ore slots resulted in the loss of 1 ice stack, and a vokanium stack, ceasing this operation after only 1 tank had been refueled. At this point the crew had 3.2m units of fuel and about 110km distance to go, a ratio deemed insufficient to complete the journey. However, crew Negative decided to make the attempt anyway, whereupon the ship became derelict at 6km from the Border, became derelict and lost.
Other problems during the journey were also noted, including the lack of function of one of the two resource bridges, inability of an Endo with access and in the group to see the blueprint and durability issues of the ship, and so on. Though the crew was fully prepared, trained and supplied, anticipating all likely difficulties, bugged execution of the algorithms essentially doomed this operation despite many successful workarounds.
8-9-2021
After much gathering and selling, the Endo known as Durasteel had finally acquired a Manatee. Initially used to support corporate operations in the Safe Zone, Durasteel gathered many materials needed for corporate research. That finished, and it was time to go into the Deep, for better materials and, if we’re being honest, to see what is there.
Endo Negative agreed to accompany Endo Durasteel on the journey. Here is that tale.
It was calculated that with 18million units of propellant, that the ship could reach to 350km (Zone 3) safely and return, with a reserve of approximately 2 million. Out of an abundance of caution, crew insured that the hold had adequate stacks of all basic materials, including nhurgite and ice, for both repair and refueling as needed. It was hoped that none would be needed, but having the tools and the materials in case of collision or recovery after attack were deemed essential.
The outbound leg recovered some Aegisium and Exorium. Fuel consumption was in line with calculation, if not better. But when the ship reached Zone 3, things began to go awry.
During two outbound mining episodes, it had been noticed that some of the ore slots had become “bugged.” The slot indicated a material type in the slot, but this slot did not indicate quantity, nor could it be grabbed – effectively ending use of the slot. By the time Zone 3 had been reached, some 12 ore slots (10% of the ship capacity) were bugged.
Upon reaching the Zone 3 at Z+350000, fuel reserves were in line with plans at about 65% of capacity. A “planetoid” asteroid was encountered, but it was determined this was of no value. In fact, the crew spotted 5 planetoid-sized asteroids during the journey, including the deeper areas of Zone 2. Endos apparently lack the technology to mine them.
In Zone 3, a large asteroid with over 125k kv of Nhurgite in ice was encountered, without exhausting the asteroid, the remaining non-bugged cargo slots were filled. The crew also replaced the fuel rods. Though no collision was detected or deemed possible by the crew, the ship suffered minor damage which did not affect operations. A reboot resulted in the remaining parts of the Nhurgite asteroid disappearing completely.
Further exploration in Zone 3 yielded nothing futher, and from a distance of 354km it was decided to return to the corporate station. After about 10 minutes of travel, the game became a slideshow for the pilot, about 3-5 fps. The ship became unresponsive to normal commands, making maneuver to avoid collision difficult. At the same time, during the slideshow, it was noticed that fuel consumption was now much higher than planned, with 1m units yielding only 30-35km travel distance. By the time the crew had reached 125km from SZ, it was calculated that the ship would likely not make it to the Border.
A collision due to slow framerates occurred at approximately 135km from the Border. Most function was restored and the ship able to be flown without durability issues. However, slow framerates remained a problem.
An emergency refuel with the reserve ice store was initiated. Bugged ore slots resulted in the loss of 1 ice stack, and a vokanium stack, ceasing this operation after only 1 tank had been refueled. At this point the crew had 3.2m units of fuel and about 110km distance to go, a ratio deemed insufficient to complete the journey. However, crew Negative decided to make the attempt anyway, whereupon the ship became derelict at 6km from the Border, became derelict and lost.
Other problems during the journey were also noted, including the lack of function of one of the two resource bridges, inability of an Endo with access and in the group to see the blueprint and durability issues of the ship, and so on. Though the crew was fully prepared, trained and supplied, anticipating all likely difficulties, bugged execution of the algorithms essentially doomed this operation despite many successful workarounds.