Racing

One of the several race tracks.

There are several race tracks in the Vendetta universe. These race tracks require the most agile of ships and a very talented pilot, one wrong move and your time won't score, or your ship will explode. Most pilots use the Centurion and Vulture class ships. Those that use the Centurion will most likely use the Itani and Orion variants. Those using the Vulture will most likely choose the Serco variant. While the Vulture provides better handling than the Centurion it has a higher chance of damage upon collisions due to the large wingspan. The current set of race tracks are located in Sedina B-5, D-5, E-5, F-5, G-5, H-5.

Race Track Layout

Entrance to Race Track.

This is the first thing that you see when you enter any of the race tracks, the entrance. The entrance is distinguished by its three green lines on either of its sides. Once you enter the race track you will see a message on your screen saying "Go!" but with more exclamation points. From there on it is a race to get the fastest time.

Checkpoint.

Every race track has several of these checkpoints. When you pass through one you are told your time and the checkpoint's number. This information is good to gauge your progress while traveling through the race tracks.

Curvy Race Track Section.

Most of the race tracks are of a simple design involving very few or no splits in the track. This is not true for a couple of them, these contain several decisions the pilot must make and most of the possible decisions are the wrong one and will remove the pilot's chance of success. These decisions are always a loop that will bring you back to where you entered it, the simplest of which is pictured. Several of these loops are very long and may contain more loops to further confuse the pilot.

Exit of Race Track.

Here you see the end of any of the race tracks, which looks very similar to the entrance except it has three red lines on either side and an opening that appears to have a force field. Upon crossing the finish 'line' you will be told the top five times for this track ever and the top five times for the ship you used. You will also be told your best time and your current time along with a message congratulating you if you did better. Also, your ship will be fully repaired for your next attempt at scoring a record.

Race Track Locations

Sedina B-5

Click to Enlarge

Top 5 Racers
Seconds	Pilot	Ship
48.768	BoxCarRacer	IBG
50.048	Mick	IBG
50.560	Apex Azimuth	IBG
50.561	Mick	IDF
50.624	silentsuicide	IBG

Sedina D-5

Click to Enlarge

Top 5 Racers
Seconds	Pilot	Ship
71.231	BoxCarRacer	IBG
73.023	Niki	IBG
73.344	Kixkizzle	RevC
74.176	Mick	IBG
74.368	silentsuicide	IBG

Sedina E-5

Click to Enlarge

Top 5 Racers
Seconds	Pilot	Ship
83.520	BoxCarRacer	IBG
85.375	Mick	IDF
85.568	Mick	IBG
87.418	Kixkizzle	RevC
87.744	Gavan	IBG

Sedina F-5

Click to Enlarge

Top 5 Racers
Seconds	Pilot	Ship
79.296	BoxCarRacer	IBG
82.176	Mick	IBG
83.135	Kixkizzle	RevC
83.201	Mick	IDF
84.032	Apex Azimuth	IBG

Sedina G-5

Click to Enlarge

Top 5 Racers
Seconds	Pilot	Ship
44.417	BoxCarRacer	IBG
45.440	Niki	IBG
45.441	Kixkizzle	RevC
45.888	Mick	IBG
46.207	Gavan	RevC

Sedina H-5

Click to Enlarge

Top 5 Racers
Seconds	Pilot	Ship
77.505	BoxCarRacer	IBG
81.216	Mick	IDF
81.473	Mick	IBG
82.113	Kixkizzle	RevC
83.009	Apex Azimuth	IBG

Deneb Run

Galaxy-wide race. Starts in Odia M-14 and makes a clockwise loop around and back to Odia M-14. Racers must fly though Serco & Itani space and return to Grey Space.

Corporate Sector Run

UIT Corporate race. Starts in Helios B-14 and makes a clockwise loop though UIT controlled systems, though Grey Space and back to Helios B-14.

Racing Events

The Vendetta-Online universe offers player-run events such as the galaxy-wide Deneb Runâ„¢ and the Corporate Sector Runâ„¢. In these large-format events, racing is open to all participants, with cash prizes usually offered by a sponsor.

The Deneb Run

The Deneb Run is the original 'marathon' race in Vendetta and was the brainchild of Martin and the mercenary guild [BLAK]. It would be really great if Martin would add some background here.
After [BLAK] dissolved, the sponsorship of this popular race was taken up by the [TGFT] and [EnB] guilds, the two largest trade guilds extant in the Vendetta universe. As of this writing, it is customary for the lieutenant of [TGFT], Screwball, to host the races, deliver running commentary, and to hand out the prize monies. Veteran racers also have been known to be substitute-hosts in Screwball's absence.

Deneb Run Results

Credit to Screwball for a good chunk of the latter summaries
Installment #1 - Runs #1 through 12

Race #1

• nuthou5e DNF because of an unfortunate crash with an NPC (Atlas, I assume)
• The Deneb Run was originally called "The Race Around the Galaxy"
• The race originally started and ended at the Odia B-13 wormhole to Sedina sector
• The Deneb Run (as it is now called) began in April 2005 (4433 RP-wise)
• The prizes totaled two million credits, not the current four million (thanks to the sponsorship of the race by TWO guilds)

Race #2

• BLAK started to sponsor the race at this point.
• The race start/end point shifted to Odia M-14, still it's current home.
• The race time was 11pm GMT (6pm EST)
• The unofficial "moral" rule of No Pre-Race test Runs or Scouting is established.
• A dev, a1k0n, raced in this run, though he DNF.
• The name "Deneb Run" is included in the race's name

Race #3

• The start time is moved to 1am GMT Sunday (8pm EST Saturday)
• The first semi - writeup of a race is posted in the form of the BLAK member Holdan Caulfield interviewing LeberMac after the race. Though Martin's write ups are shorter than the current ones done by Screwball et al.
• First guild sponsorship of a racer, LeberMac and TGFT, is done, though Leber only came in 3rd that race, much to the chagrin of TGFT and Leber's jaw.
• The race is officially renamed "The Deneb Run" at this point.

Race #4

• Shape did not finish this course... correctly. He started off going the wrong way and kept on going. He achieved a time of 29:36, just one second behind Calder, but was disqualified for the obvious reason.
• Mavrick and untilmyaccountgetspaid also went the wrong way and were disqualified or eliminated(?), but did not finish the course regardless, unlike Shape.
• Mecha Touriuas dropped from the race due to time outs, the first such incidence causing a DNF.

Race #5

• Klox brings up the now well known "Iventory Lag Factor" through a link. Racers with large stashes of goods, ships and weapons will have larger loading times those those who don't. This speeds up race times considerably.
• LeberMac saves the day when Martin accidentally loses his log files, providing his own for the race stats.
• "That 27-minute time of Ghost's will probably stand for a while" - quote from LeberMac, one which was true for fifty-nine races, until broken in Deneb Run #61 by Blue Streak
  

Race #6

• First time a Warthog Mk2 is used in a race, a common racing ship nowadays. Despite Racer only coming in in 3rd place and nearly 7 full minutes after the leader, everyone saw the potential in the ship (as long as they dropped the heavy mine launcher). Thanks to Racer, the Warthog Mk2 secured it's place as a race placing ship.
• The Warthog Territorial Defender was introduced with it's amazing boosting ability, though no one raced with it just yet.
• M'at makes the first recorded detour through Helios instead of Initros during the race, one of two forks along the race (both of which are in Serco space).
• This was the first time a Heavy Battery was used to race with, by The Algae, though it's not really a good idea...

Race #7

• It looks like Three-Oh-8 does the first in-race ship change and pitstop in a Deneb Run, switching from a heavy battery to an infiniboosting ship.

Race #8

• This is the first time an Ultra Fast Charge Battery was used in a race, by mr. spuck.

Race #9

• Larry LeBeuf was eliminated with prejudice by an asteroid, the first such incident of a roid-racer collision (though collisions during the race wren't new, see Race #1)
• Dr. Lecter had entered a storm and was racing for the exit point when he timed out. He was destroyed by the bots in the area. this is the first incident when a time out caused a racer to die (though time outs have made racers drop from the race, see Race #4)
• This was the last race sponsored by the now dissolved Black Lance of Kraz guild.

Race #10

• Screwball and TGFT take over the now popular Deneb Run from Martin and BLAK, respectively.
• The One Million Credit Bonus to anyone who could beat _Ghost_'s record was instituted (a reward that has still not been claimed).
• The now familiar write up style of the race by Screwball makes it's debut.
• This is the first race in which it's founder, Martin, actually raced in it, placing a respectable second place.
• Dragon of Fire begins to form the goal of beating _Ghost_'s record, as a storm in Bractus cut his dreams.

Race #11

• A total of 8 racers participated in this race, a record attendance.
• _Ghost_ now points out the near impossibility of breaking his record, as the Valkyrie Rune was no longer infiniboostable.
• The first full length write up is done.
• The first attempted race with a Behemoth was done by Gruumsh. Unfortunately, he did not finish the race.

Race #12

• The Earth and Beyond guild decides to co-sponsor the Deneb Run from this point on, doubling the prize money to four million credits total.
• This was the first time anyone even thought about (much less tried to) race in a stock EC-88. He did not finish, which is not a surprise really.
• The CDC One Man blockade managed to not only take out the two leading EnB racers, but also distract the other leading EnB racer into heading to the wrong wormhole in Verasi. (Thanks to Captain 'Nice' Hardrive for the help :) )
• This race had the most deaths in any race thus far at four.

Race #13

• The sister race to the Deneb Run, the now on-hiatus Corporate Sectors Run, is started at about this time.
• This was the only race in which all the racers used Valkyries of various makes. This domination by the Valkyrie would be one of the reasons for a rule creation later on.
• EnB came as close as it ever did to sweeping a Run, taking 1st and 2nd place. The 4th place EnB racer was only 2 seconds behind me, the 3rd place guy.

Race #14

• The Enb Guild Competition prize is instituted. If one pilot from another guild competes, and places ahead of the top EnB racer, the get 50% added to their prize. If two or more racers from another guild, each of their pilots that beat the top EnB racer had 100% added to their prize. So, it was possible for a first place non-EnB guild racer to win FOUR MILLION CREDITS.
• Obsidian completed the Deneb Run in a Behemoth, the first to successfully do so.
• Ory'Hara shot down two other racers as he ran the Run himself, a record for kills by any racer.

Race #15

• LeberMac begins his advertising service anew, introducing his first ad poster.

Race #16

• Martin picked up his microphone once again to run this race in Screwball's absence.
• The first major impact by pirates was seen in this race, as B-8 killed 50% of the racers.

Race #17

• The "No Valkyrie" Rule was temporarily implemented for this race. It was so popular however, that it stuck. This ended the era of racing dominated by the Valkyrie and ushured in the wide range of racing ships we now seen flown today.
• The most racers to ever participate in a race, a record of ten people ran in this Deneb Run (50% of them were CDC members).

Race #18

• This is the first time a racer used a medium battery in a race (not as bad as the free battery idea, though).

Race #19

• The only time that an even amount of racers from each nation ran in the Deneb Run.

Race #20

• This race ran counter-clockwise, ie through Itani space first and back through Serco space.
• This, and the results of the CSR, were abismal. "The Bloody Weekend", only 2 of 12 racers finished these two races. The pirates came out in force and with a vengeance, intent on killing all the racers.
• I created a record by winning three consecutive Deneb Runs with this finish.
• Comical Note: an Orion Hornet outran an IDF Valkyrie from Jalilk to Sol II, eventually losing the Valk behind it.

Race #21

• This race had an all-time low attendance (understandable after the previous week's race) with only two racers showing. Screwball had to fill the third spot, MCing and racing at the same time.

Race #22

• I MCed for this race in Screwball's absence, the first time he had not been able to run it since Deneb Run #16.
• Five of the six racers perished in this race, a continuation of the Pirate's campaign against the racers.

Race #23

• Dr. Lecter stole third place from fooz2916, pulling into the dock only one second before his competitor.
• This race had 9 participants, the highest since Deneb Run #17.
• Joyce Sanders MCed this race for me, who was supposed to MC for Screwball in his absence.

Race #24

• Four out of five racers were killed in this race, the pirates renewing their anti-racer campaign.

Race #25

• The "Prize for Pirates" Rule is established, though not a pirate had not claimed any... yet.
• Pirates began using a new method in their mercenary hits, the "Dealy Tactic". Their employers usually pay to see that a certain person does not win. This can be accomplished in several ways but is usually done by killing the racer (just for shits and giggles).

Race #26

• The first race in a good long while since not a single racer died to a pirate (not to say that racers didn't die...)

Race #27

• This race only had four racers, the lowest since Deneb Run #21
• UIT swept the winning spots in this race.
• This is the first race in which most of the racers lived, yet no one could get better than a 39 minute time.

Race #28

• All the racers finished within two minutes of each other.

Race #29

• Six of the seven racers were downed.
• mr_spuck earned two million credits for downing the third and second place racers before they could dock.

Race #30

• This was the first race to use the earlier timeslot, designed to allow the Europeans more participation. It worked, for this race at least.
• The fastest infiniboost time after the first ship rebalancing was achieved this race (and third fastest time overall), 28:01 by Erik C.
• There were thirteen racers this race, the most thusfar.

Race #31

• Four of the five racers were eliminated.
• After being disqualified for going the wrong way, Blackhole Goldclaw came back to the finish sector and mined it. He killed two of the remaining three racers, earning him two million credits. Mining a Corvus station was *later* deemed an exploit.
• Lag issues caused Calder to remain in the dock a bit too long, being taken out by BG's Lightning mines.

Race #32

• Exactly three of the eight racers finished.
• 75% of the racers carried one form of weapon or another.

Race #33

• Only four racers showed up for this early timeslot, one of them actually European.
• The Orion Hornet Convoy Guardian did not win any spots this race for the first time almost ever.

Race #34

• Only three of the eight racers finished this race (again)
• Joyce Sanders MCed in Screwball's absence.
• Mike-L begins his racing career, racing ships no one else would dare to fly. He flew a fully loaded Prometheus this time.
• mr_spuck officially starts his counter event to the race, his "Make Race Fun Squad", offering 500k per dead racer.

Race #35

• This race had the most participants ever (and probably for a long time) with fifteen racers.
• Only two of the six racers finished in this early timeslot race.

Race #36

• Four of the seven racers finished this race.
• There were many storms in this race.

Race #37

• A new rule is introduced to deal with the station camping issue of pirates for the race. No credits were awarded for any kills in odia M-14. This does not stop the "reavers" as it was aptly put.
• All nine racers failed to finish this race, making it the deadliest race of all, tied with a few other 100% racer killed races (at least percentage-wise).
• The new timeslot starts to show that it does indeed attract more racers, but also, disproportianally, more pirates too. Are most European players pirates? That's a question for someone else.

Race #38

• This race had the most participants ever (and probably for a long time) with fifteen racers.
• The first disqualification ever was issued to Baron Koob, who used a certain lua command to speed ahead at 500m/s.
• Eight of the racers were eliminated (one, as mentioned above, by disqualification).
• A TeamSpeak setup was tested out this race. It was only used for a race soundtrack for this race but there are possible plans for it's use in the future otherwise.

Race #39

• Seven of the ten racers were eliminated this race.
• Is it just me or is a <50% completion factor for racers to be expected now?
• Blue Streak began hiring an anti-pirate squad, which worked quite well.

Race #40

• The No Valkyrie Rule is dropped due to the second ship rebalancing to occur in the race's history.
• Six of the ten racers were eliminated one way or another.
• With the ship rebalancing, any chance of breaking Ghost's record is lost (for now).

Race #41

• A fair number of the racers were killed by Lightening Mines while trying to dock at Corvus Hold. Using Lightening Mines at the station entrances is widely viewed as somewhere between a cheap tactic and an exploit. Thanks to Relayer for providing the would-be #2 and #3 finishers (auouymous and Spaceranger) with credits equivalent to what they would have earned if they didn't die. To be fair, she also gave a bonus to the LeberMac.
• The Deneb Run #41 marked the 1st anniversary of The Deneb Run. Since it began a year ago, over 150 million credits in prizes have been awarded. Martin, if you're reading this, take a bow for starting a great Vendetta tradition.

Race #42

• 4 Seconds! After travelling all the way around the galaxy, the margin of victory was 4 seconds!
• There were no pilots killed by pirates this week. None, zero, zip, nada, the null set, the complete lack of any number above 0 and only the presence of a big round "o" representing, you guessed it, jack squat. Perhaps the pirates were feeling the after effects of hijacking all those holiday supply shipments of Peeps?

Race #43

• Wow, this was a huge race... 14 racers!
• After Kites had 2 impressive kills in Serco space, knocking out the then #1 and #2 racers, the pirates fell short and didn't manage to take out any more racers.

Race #44

• Seven pilots killed by 3 pirates, Niki bagging three, mr_spuck and Jolly Roger two each.
• There was a problem with VO dropping lines and Mick missed the start of the race, so he quit.
• There were ten racers. So only two made it...

Race #45

• This was the largest Deneb Run yet with 16 racers!
• This marks the first time ever that someone has completed The Deneb Run in a stock free bus. Congratulations to Erik C!
• The new pirate NPCs are pretty nasty. They killed at least one racer as they passed through Sedina.
• This was also the race that momerath tested out his Deneb Run mission, with mixed results.

Race #46

• Maybe I should change the starting theme from Ride of the Valkyries to Flight of the Bumblebee. Orion Hornets for the win!
• mr_spuck and Mecha Toriuas, ie the "no u!" spammers, complain about how the Deneb Run clogs 100 too much for them. And so, Screwball begins using channel 500 instead.

Race #47

• With the small number of racers, I'm surprised the pirates didn't kill anyone and claim some of the prize money.
• Valkyries make a strong return against the Orion Hornet this week, though I think luck/planning in hitting or missing storms also had a big effect on the outcome.

Race #48

• The pirates made no kills this time, as many of the recent races.
• Mick is on a roll, winning the last two Deneb Run and countless Corp Runs.
• Breazle supposedly killed a Hive Queen and did 5 prospecting missions while racing.

Race #49

• In an amazing display of high speed docking prowess, Mick actually docked to repair his hull (which was down to 11%) in Geira Rutilus, and he still won.
• NPC pirates killed 2 racers before they even made it to Latos. Player pirates had only 1 kill (Joyce as she was trying to dock). (fooz2916 dropped out before finishing.)
• During the race, the pilots started a discussion about the fairness of the Valkyrie vs other ships, because it has such good acceleration. And thus, the "No Valkyrie Rule" would be instituted again.

Race #50

• There was a small group of racers this week, which had a few players salivating at the easy chance to earn some money by killing the racers.
• Breazle managed to dock under hostile conditions and was the only player to complete the race. Nice work!
• Once again, Mick docked to repair during the race, which probably kept him alive after taking lots of damage early on. This time it wasn't enough, though. After leading for most of the race, he had a connection problem in Bractus which resulted in him being blown up by Moby Dick. Due to the problem being out of his control, Mick was awarded the prize money for 2nd place and Moby Dick was awarded the 3rd place kill prize.
• Deslock got ganked by NPC pirates coming out of the wormhole into Bractus.
• toshiro dropped out early on after making a wrong turn in Ukari.

Race #51

• In a nice bit of symmetry, Blue Streak, host of the Corporate Sectors Run, won this Deneb Run using the exact same ship config that I used to win the CSR earlier in the day.
• Continuing the symmetry, Mick took 2nd in both races.

Race #52

• Sigma Shipping Company came as close as EnB did to be the only guild to entirely sweep the winning spots. Alas, it was not to be, as third place was taken by toshiro.
• All those who did not place, died.
• This began Blue Streak's retirement (however short lived it was). Racers around the universe breathed a sigh of relief.

Race #53

• No data is available for this race. Only one of two that nothing was reported for.

Race #54

• Six Racers. Very vanilla race.

Race #55

• Thanks to Miharu for awarding a 500k prize for 4th place.
• Apparently skill still beats technology, as Mick flew a non-infiniboost Vulture MkIII to victory, posting a very impressive sub-30 minute time. This has since become his signature ship.
• LeberMac once again earns sponsorship money from TGFT (something he did previously in The Deneb Runs #3 and #5).

Race #56

• Another six racers. Another very vanilla race. A pattern perhaps?
• Mick comes close to breaking into the 27:-- barrier with his Vulture MkIII.

Race #57

• Blue Streak returns as a one off in this race and wins second place!
• Moby's choice of a 180m/s Marauder surprised me, but nowhere near as much as the fact that he finished. Congrats!
• The race was started in a sector other than Odia M-14 for the second time since it started last year. (The first time was in Odia B-13 and it was for the very first Deneb Run.) This change occurred because of the new Deliverator pirates, who now spawn in station sectors.
• fooz2916 added a secondary prize to the race: four lawguns to first place, two to second, and one to third. The lawguns were "valued at 60k each". The second place winner declined his share.

Race #58

• Congratulations to firsm for collecting the 800k prize for eliminating Mick from the race.
• But there were only three racers.

Race #59

• This was the first race cancelled due to not a racer showing up.
• It was picked up next weekend, though, with the same race number.
• It was a clean sweep for the EC-107.
• The race between Miharu and Mecha was actually pretty close, with them each swapping positions several times. Also, Dr. Lecter/John Galt tried hard to solicit pirates to kill Miharu, as well as trying to do the job himself, but all racers managed to dock safely.

Race #60

• This race was run by Spaceranger.
• Three out of five racers made it.

Race #61

• Ghost's long held fastest time of 26:55 was shattered by Blue Streak's time of 26:36.
• And there was much rejoicing...
• ...
• yay...
• This race was run on Sunday in lieu of the Saturday Run, which did not occur.
• Spaceranger and Aleksey were neck and neck until Space hit three (or four?) storms in Setalli, which set him back to last place. goes to show how one system can be the death of place holding dreams.

Race #62

• Erik C. , aka Blue Streak, begins his newfound campaign to take the fastest Behemoth racing time as well. He got shot down this race, though. Despite this, he was not in last place when he was killed.
• Orion Hornets sweep the race this week!
• The three pilots that didn't finish were killed in the last few systems by pirates.

Race #63

• Only 2 racers finished this week, earning Dr. Lecter 800k for killing the final racer (who would have taken 3rd) in Pelatus. The kill was Erik C. and his Behemoth again.
• Captain Nordal Zuretha made it to Rhamus and then had to drop out for out of game reasons.

Race #64

• 2nd place goes to a Behemoth!!!!1111 Way to go Erik C.
• Congrats to all involved as there were multiple sector failures encountered by multiple pilots during the race, yet everyone managed to complete the race.
• Congrats to Joyce C. for not placing last despite an approximately 900ms ping time for almost the entire race.
• All five racers finished this race.

Race #65

• Deadly Run. Stellars fell to the Sedina pirates, Fasten to the Serco Strike Forces, and Mick to notorious pirate fooz2916 when he had reached Bractus in first place.
• Blue Streak took the storm attractor with him and hit a lot of storms, such that one time fell to fourth place and later gave up all chance to catch up to Surbius.
• Still, some luck was with him because he survived fooz2916's attack, docked to repair, and still managed to nab second place.
• BDC pilot Omni Vorcyber attacked MC Joyce Sanders before the race started, damaging some racers, because she had earlier stated her dislike for the BDC. Demostrating typical BDC incompetence, Omni failed to kill Joyce on his surprise attack while using a spamrag. Later, BDC Lt. Makunouchi Ippo tried to defend his underling's actions, claiming Joyce is part of the "Axis of Itani Evil", but in the end Omni Vorcyber left the BDC.

Race #66

• This was a deadly race, with three of the four racers being killed by pirates. After the first racer was killed, Bonen merolus/firsm killed Joloc and Joyce C. to claim the 800k and 1.2 million credit prizes.
• This was the first race ever for both Joloc and Daggoth Korronoth.

Race #67

• Blue Streak, Mick, and Ion Storm are all very skilled veteran racers, so this was an exciting race.

Race #68

• Joyce C. experienced an Internet connection problem mid-way through the race and had to withdraw from the race. She was not shot down.
• The pirating that was so rampant once has seen a major decline, a big relief for some and to the grumbling of other racers.

Race #69

• This race was amazing, with every racer holding 1st, 2nd and 3rd at one time or another along the course.
• The end was a photo finish; I actually had to go to my logs to check who had docked first. Swag man had docked a split second before Joyce C. did.
• However, their times were the same if you counted from when they began the race, as Joyce C. was exactly one second slow starting.
• Mick was taken down by the SCAR duo waiting in Odia M-14: Mike-L and Cunjo. He would have placed first.

Race #70

• This was a very competitive race, with all three veteran pilots completing the race in under 29 minutes.

Corporate Sector Run

MonkofAkan better add some stuff here... oh, wait that's me.