Came up with a vague idea for a race track today. Behold the greatness that is my 1337 MS Paint skills.
Anyway, here's a rundown on the track:
The big black spot is the planet. The big yellow spot is the sun. The badly drawn black line is the rough race course, though you don't have to follow it exactly, it's just a rough suggestion of the course pilots should take.
The grey dots are the important ones. They're the checkpoints. You must reach each of them in order, going clockwise around the track. Each checkpoint is a small station with medical facilities and a repair bay to help racers with damaged ships or wounded crews. The course and obstacles are as follows:
1) The start/finish line. A small space station in low orbit above the planet. All ships will start here to begin the race, and the first one to arrive back wins the race.
2) The first checkpoint is also in orbit around the planet. After reaching this CP, you must travel past the planet's rings (thin brown line) to continue on the race. You can also go under/over the rings, but that will take a little extra time.
The ring itself isn't very dense, nor are the rocks and other assorted crap very large. However, they may still cause damage to your ship, or sap vital power from your shields that you may well need for later.
After getting past this ring in whatever way you choose, you go straight to the checkpoint between the ring and the ion field (3). After reaching that CP, it's on to the field itself.
3) The next obstacle is the first real challenge of any participant in the race: travelling through the system's ion field. The checkpoint you must reach is on the other side of the field, meaning you can either go through or around it.
The field itself, although too weak to effect larger ships, poses a threat to smaller shuttle-sized vessels travelling through. Advanced systems and fragile electronics are a downside in this region, as the field overloads ships' lightly protected systems violently, causing system failures and internal damage across the ship. Losing your engines or shields in this enviroment can very well be lethal, and rugged and well-defended electronics and easily repairable systems are a must-have for those that dare to journey through this region of the system.
Alternatively, racers who are more cautious may travel around the ion field. As there is no checkpoint inside the field itself, there's no pressing need to go through it. Other than to save time, of course.
After getting to the CP past the field, through one means or another, your ship will hopefully still be able to continue on with the race. You will travel sun-ward towards the next CP, located halfway between obstacles 3 and 4. After reaching this, it's on to the next CP just past the asteroid field.
4) The fourth obstacle is the system's dense asteroid field. The field is very dense and is filled with many large asteroids, some the size of a small cruiser. The lives of numerous racers have been claimed by this portion of the race. As with the previous obstacles, it's possible to either take the risk of going through the field, or take your time and go around. Though, as you can see from the map, going around will take some time.
After reaching the CP past the asteroid field, it's on to the next obstacle.
5) The system's sun, as many locals will agree, is far from calm. Violent solar flares erupt constantly from the surface of the star. As you can see from the map, the next checkpoint is almost directly opposite the previous CP. This means that the one who dares to fly closest to the sun, and survives, will manage to get to the next CP the quickest. This is not without its risks, however. Racers are in constant danger from being pulled into the sun by its vast gravitational forces, and a nearby solar flare will kill anyone who's foolish enough to try flying through one.
After getting past the sun, it's onto the next CP, situated directly in the centre of obstacle 6.
6) The next CP is located directly in the centre of the system's small nebula. Your task is to get to the CP at the centre, and then get back out and head to the next one.
Normally, this wouldn't be much of a challenge. However, the nebula has the curious effect of killing sensor systems completely. Scientists have studied this phenomena for many years, but have yet to come up with a reason for this effect. What this means for the racers, is that the moment you fly into the nebula you will be completely blind. The only way to get around is via memory, visual scanning (which is also limited given that you're flying through a giant cloud), and whatever maps you've thought to bring along. Getting in and out again won't be as easy as you'd think. Hope you brought a compass.
It's also worthwhile to point out a less thought of danger of this nebula. It also prevents sensors outside of the nebula from seeing what's happening inside. This means that it is a perfect oppertunity for more merciless racers to try to finish off the competition by launching ambushes on unsuspecting racers.
If you do manage to find your way in and out again, then it's off to the next checkpoint, located in the centre of obstacle 7.
7) The next obstacle racers will face is attempting to get to the next CP. Sound easy enough? It won't be easy when you're under attack from a flock of combat drones. Obstacle 7 is known as the Shooting Range, and for a good reason. Racers that cross the boundry (blue line) that marks the beginning of the Range will immediately become prey to the marauding swarms of automated combat drones patroling the area. Armed with weapons designed to destroy systems, but do little damage to the hull of a ship, their mission is to knock you out of the race. Your mission is to fight them off, get to the CP in the middle of the Range, and get the hell out of there again.
8 ) After fighting past the drones, the next leg of the race is rather relaxed in comparison. This bit is simply a trip via warp from the edge of the Shooting Range to the next CP. Hopefully your warp drives will have survived this far.
9) After dropping out of warp at the last CP, you're now on the home stretch. There are no obstacles here, it's just a simple sublight race to the station you started at, which now marks the finish line.
The first one to arrive in his ship at the station, regardless of what shape said ship is in, wins the race!
Rules and Regulations:
1) The rules are simple. Race in a clockwise direction around the system, reaching each of the CPs in turn. Each time you get within 100 metres of a CP, they will automaticaly transmit a signal back to HQ saying "yeah, he passed by here". You must pass by all CPs in turn to win the race.
2) There is a strict ban on shooting down fellow racers. Race HQ will be monitoring the system for all signs of weapons fire. Unless the shooting takes place in the designated areas where you are allowed to shoot down obstacles (the Shooting Range, the planetary rings, and the asteroid field), whoever fired will be disqualified from the race.
Despite race officials' best attempts, however, it is still difficult to pinpoint exactly what is being shot at, so it's not unknown for racers to try to take down their opponents in designated shooting areas, such as the Shooting Range or the asteroid field. Also, the sensor-jamming effect of the nebula makes monitoring weapons fire within that area almost impossible. It's also not uncommon for some racers to make use of less conventional weapons to take down racers. Things like ramming an opponent, or using tractor beams to slam asteroid into him or send him flying into the sun, have all been recorded as happening at one point or another. So although there's a ban on shooting down other racers, don't assume that you'll be perfectly safe from being shot at.
Thoughts/suggestions?
