Blog | The Fuel Rats

TRAINING DRILL – DEEP SPACE RESCUE WITH DEVELOPING CASE RED

BACKGROUND:

After choosing a relatively remote system near the edge of the bubble where most surrounding systems are complex names, client positioned in system somewhere between primary star and nearest system, traveling some distance to the secondary star before heading towards the nearest system. This drill is intended to exercise coordination of client location both in galaxy and in system as well as management of an oxygen depletion timer.

Positioned as a client per the images in this album, the drill instructor provides details on their location as pertinent to simulate a client in distress.

PREMISE:

An explorer misses a scoopable system by one jump, notices a second star in the system and heads towards it, but scans soon reveal that both stars in the system are T Tauri. Without enough fuel to jump to the adjacent system, client turns in supercruise in direction of adjacent system, but remembers Fuel Rats and stops to make the call.

SUMMARY OF PERFORMANCE:

Exemplary effort on parts of dispatch and rats to locate and rescue client with minimal risk, resulting in 1 minute and 45 seconds of oxygen depleted after case red developed. Commendable demonstration of dispatching by Mathesar, having little previous experience with the task and managing to capture several elements that can easily be overlooked by dispatchers. Much learned about this particular scenario and considerations in handling it. See Summary of Lessons Learned for overview, Debrief for discussion.

SUMMARY OF LESSONS LEARNED:

If client does not communicate oxygen depletion timer exists (no case red), verify fuel consumption rate after modules are shut down. If client reports that fuel is being consumed (greater than 0.00/h), they are at risk of developing a case red at some point in the rescue, and it may be recommended to have them log out to be conservative, unless rats are nearby.
When providing or repeating coordinates and a transcription error is made, the entire corrected coordinate string should be provided, to prevent any confusion as to which coordinate was in error.
When a case red develops, it may be recommended to confirm that the client can establish communication with rats in order to proactively determine if instancing issues exist prior to having client log back in.
Rats assigned a case may be recommended to be on each other’s friends lists; in the event that the client cannot or does not invite both rats to the wing, the rat in the wing can invite other rats into the client’s wing.
The wing beacon has a drop radius of 5X the top supercruise speed at the location where the beacon is placed. In this instance, at approximately 100k from the primary star, the top supercruise speed is around 800c. This means rats have to be within 4000Ls in order to drop to the client. If they are further out than this, as was the case on the first wing attempt for this drill, time is being lost in a case red scenario while they close the gap. There is no client penalty on the oxygen timer when a client logs in or out, the timer resumes when the HUD renders at whatever value it was at when the client logged out. [Data for this lesson was obtained through testing after the drill, as suggested in Debrief]
A rat should always understand the capability of their vessel and whether they can support a case. The corollary to this is that dispatch should always get a firm jump count response from each rat that intends to support the case, and each rat should not jump to the client unless they provide this count and are assigned to the case by dispatch, or are close enough (7 jumps or less) that it does not put them out much to have dispatch later stand them down. See activity from Beefjeef in this drill, who was equipped with a 9Ly range Adder (approx. 25 jumps).

Read more to see the transcript for this drill and debrief discussion.

DRILL TRANSCRIPT:

Session Start: Sun Aug 30 15:24:00 2015
Session Ident: #RatDrill
[16:02] <RadLock> Drillsignal, CMDR RadLock, Col 285 Sector VA-E C12-10, PC
[16:02] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Welcome, If you are on emergency air please make sure you tell us your system and LOG OUT NOW. Otherwise turn off all modules in your right panel EXCEPT Life Support. Please state which action you have taken
[16:02] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Your system is to hard to track down, Please look at your left hand navigation panel and find me a simple system [One or Two words] close by.
[16:02] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Can any rats get jumps from that sys name?
[16:02] <Alot> Not searchable for me
[16:02] <RadLock> Modules are off, I still have some fuel. There are no systems in my navigation panel with a shorter name.
[16:03] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, can you go to the galaxy map and find your grid reference?
[16:03] <RadLock> I have -160 -82 150 below me.
[16:04] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Rats, using -106:-82:150, can you locate Col 285 Sector VA-E C12-10?
[16:04] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> -160*
[16:04] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> My bad
[16:05] <Iomrais[PC]> got it
[16:06] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Iomrais[PC], jumps?
[16:06] <Iomrais[PC]> 6 jumps
[16:06] <Beefjeef> (psst add me to the wing)
[16:06] <Iomrais[PC]> (me?)
[16:07] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Iomrais[PC], go
[16:07] <RadLock> Oh, if I move around the map, I see HIP 100428 is nearby.
[16:07] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, can you send a friend request to Iomrais[PC]
[16:07] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Can anyone find anything using HIP 100428?
[16:07] <RadLock> Done.
[16:07] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> find it*
[16:07] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Iomrais[PC], confirm fr?
[16:07] <Iomrais[PC]> received and accepted
[16:08] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, send Iomrais[PC] a wing request
[16:08] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Beefjeef, any luck locating the system?
[16:08] <RadLock> I am not familiar with how to do wings.
[16:09] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> To add a rat to your wing, press 2 for comms panel, press Esc then press E to get to friends panel. Select their Cmdr name and invite them to a wing.
[16:09] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> If you do not have the standard keybindings, please let me know
[16:09] <RadLock> I have 2 bound to something else.
[16:09] * Tman3555 (Tman3555@mib-DBC67DDC.res.bhn.net) has left #RatDrill
[16:09] <Beefjeef> I’m en route
[16:09] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ok, RadLock, could you first send Beefjeef a friend request?
[16:10] <RadLock> Sent.
[16:11] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, could you temporarily set your control scheme to the Keyboard and Mouse preset and then try the previous instructions?
[16:11] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Beefjeef, confirm fr?
[16:11] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Iomrais[PC], distance to system?
[16:12] <RadLock> Escape keeps closing the comms panel on me. Should I skip that?
[16:12] <Iomrais[PC]> 2 jumps
[16:12] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Yes, make sure you’re not typing in chat, then press E

**FIRST RAT ARRIVES IN SYSTEM, TRIGGERING CASE RED TO PREVENT EASY WING BEACON LOCATION**

[16:12] <RadLock> Okay, I think I figured it out.
[16:12] <Iomrais[PC]> got the invite
[16:12] <RadLock> But there’s a countdown timer on my screen now.
[16:12] <Beefjeef> fr confirmed
[16:13] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ok, RadLock, log out to main menu please
[16:13] <RadLock> Okay, I logged out.
[16:13] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> What was the timer at?
[16:13] <RadLock> It was around 7 minutes.
[16:13] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ok, don’t log in until the two rats are in the system
[16:13] <RadLock> Ok
[16:13] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Code r3d
[16:13] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> [don’t know if keywords fuk with people]
[16:14] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ok, Beefjeef, Iomrais[PC], status?
[16:14] <Iomrais[PC]> just arrived in system
[16:14] <Beefjeef> Planet farther than i though
[16:14] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Planet?
[16:15] <Beefjeef> Star I mean
[16:15] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Update when in system
[16:15] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, don’t log in yet
[16:15] <Beefjeef> That may be a awhile
[16:15] <RadLock> Okay
[16:15] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Beefjeef, how long? Distance?
[16:17] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> R@tsignal, any other rats in the vicinity of HIP 100428 (sys close to target)
[16:17] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> ?
[16:18] <RadLock> (cough Alot)
[16:19] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Beefjeef, jumps?
[16:19] <Alot> 8 jumps for me
[16:19] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Alot, go
[16:19] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Target is Col 285 Sector VA-E C12-10
[16:19] <Beefjeef> Going down!
[16:20] <RadLock> (For clarity, the oxygen timer is simulated, not real)
[16:20] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Beef, elaborate
[16:20] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> (I know xD)
[16:20] <Beefjeef> The sun hates me
[16:20] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, can you send Alot a friend request please, without going into the game (from the main menu)
[16:20] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Beefjeef, actually going to die?
[16:20] <RadLock> Sent.
[16:21] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Alot, confirm fr please
[16:21] <Alot> FR received
[16:21] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Alot, please confirm when in Col 285 Sector VA-E C12-10
[16:21] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Beefjeef, status?

** RAT OUT OF FUEL ON CASE **

[16:21] <Beefjeef> dead in the water
[16:21] <Beefjeef> Okay I cant complete my mission
[16:22] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Beefjeef, elaborate? System failure or death?
[16:22] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Beefjeef, stand down
[16:23] <Iomrais[PC]> Permission to go grab a smoke while Alot is enroute?
[16:23] <Alot> sure
[16:23] <Iomrais[PC]> k brb
[16:23] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> (ooook)
[16:23] <Alot> i’m still three jumps out and i may or may not be rescuing Beefjeef 😀
[16:24] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, you’re just gonna have to hold on for a bit, still don’t log in
[16:24] <RadLock> Okay, holding on.
[16:24] <Beefjeef> Systems are down but life support many major malfunctions
[16:24] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, can you remember roughly how far you were from the star and if you were near any navigation points? (e.g. planets, stations)
[16:24] <Beefjeef> I sent out a ratsignal
[16:25] <Alot> ok, sounds like someone else is enroute so i’ll continue the drill i guess?
[16:25] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Alot, Yeah, leave him for the live lot
[16:25] <RadLock> When I looked at the navigation panel I think the main star was about 10k away and I was maybe 200k from the other star.
[16:25] <RadLock> I found out too late both weren’t scoopable, so I was trying to supercruise to another system…can’t remember the name of it though
[16:27] <Beefjeef> I got trapped in a bunch of un scoopable star system with no stations
[16:27] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, It looks like the nearest two systems are B24-0 and B24-1, does that ring any bells?
[16:28] <RadLock> B24-1, I think. I don’t quite remember how close I was to it, though.
[16:28] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Iomrais[PC], can you check nav pane for the nearest system?
[16:28] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ah, he’s smoking
[16:28] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Alot, you near?
[16:29] <Alot> 1 jump out
[16:29] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ok, when in system, check nearest system please
[16:29] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Then we’ll wait for Iomrais[PC] to get back, then position you two
[16:30] <Iomrais[PC]> im back

**SECOND RAT ARRIVES IN SYSTEM**

[16:30] <Alot> i’m in-system
[16:31] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ok, I need Iomrais[PC] and Alot to target Col 285 Sector RB-I B24-1
[16:31] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> From nav pane
[16:31] <Alot> ok, so client is estimated 10kLs towards B24-1?
[16:31] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Yes
[16:31] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Alot, move to 9.5kLs, Iomrais[PC] to 10.5kLs
[16:33] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, when I tell you to (not yet), log back in, invite both Iomrais[PC] and Alot to your wing, and activate your wing beacon, can you remember how to form a wing? And do you know how to activate your beacon?
[16:33] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> Beefjeef, is safe
[16:33] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Good good
[16:33] <RadLock> Understood, I remember the wing details. How do I activate beacon?
[16:34] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, you’ll need to press 4, press S until you get to the Beacon option, press Space, select Wing, and press Space
[16:34] <RadLock> Okay.
[16:34] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Status Iomrais[PC] and Alot?
[16:34] <Alot> ok, i’m in position at 9500Ls
[16:35] * Beefjeef (Mibbit@mib-8E70A79F.hsd1.tn.comcast.net) Quit (Quit: //www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client)
[16:35] <Iomrais[PC]> in position at 10.5k
[16:35] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Verify distance to second star in system?
[16:35] <Alot> 205.2kLs here
[16:35] <Iomrais[PC]> 205.8kLs
[16:35] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Sounds about right, you might be a little away from RadLock
[16:36] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ok, when you get wing invites, confirm, then when you see beacon, move to it and drop in
[16:36] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> If you see neither, shout
[16:36] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, if anything goes wrong I’m going to ask you to log back out, to ensure your timer doesn’t drop too low, ok?
[16:37] <RadLock> Okay.
[16:37] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Everyone confirm friends?
[16:37] <Iomrais[PC]> i have client, i do not have Alot
[16:37] <Alot> i have client, do not have Iomrais
[16:37] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> (I don’t think that’s required?)
[16:37] <Iomrais[PC]> (i dont think it is, just making sure though)
[16:38] <RadLock> (In certain circumstances it may help to have a rat invite other rats to the client’s wing, but no, not required)
[16:38] <Alot> (i think not required but could be helpful under some circumstances, basically)
[16:38] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ok, RadLock, I’m going to copy-paste the wing info, then I want you to log in, form a wing with Iomrais[PC] and Alot, then activate your beacon
[16:38] <RadLock> Okay
[16:38] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, you’ll need to press 4, press S until you get to the Beacon option, press Space, select Wing, and press Space

**RATS IN POSITION FOR FIRST RESCUE ATTEMPT, INITIAL POSITION ESTIMATE FOUND TO BE IN ERROR**

[16:39] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Log in and start please
[16:39] <RadLock> Alright, logging in.
[16:39] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Invite Iomrais[PC] and Alot to a Wing
[16:39] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Iomrais[PC] and Alot confirm when recieved
[16:39] <RadLock> Oh wow I’m sorry I just looked at my nav panel again, my distance is 100k, not 10k. Jotting down rest.
[16:39] <Alot> no invite so far
[16:40] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, please log back out
[16:40] <Iomrais[PC]> 93k

**57 SECONDS OF OXYGEN LOST**

[16:40] <RadLock> Logged out.
[16:40] * @Steamlined[PC] (Steamlined@mib-764E9E9.range31-48.btcentralplus.com) Quit (Quit: Steamlined Alert: Wing Frame Shift Drop Detected)
[16:40] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, did you write anything else down?
[16:41] <RadLock> Okay, I got 104k and the star below it at 276k
[16:41] <RadLock> There were a bunch of unexplored things below that also at 276k
[16:41] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ok, interesting
[16:41] <RadLock> The system I was heading towards was B24-1, 3.93Ly
[16:41] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Alot or Iomrais[PC], can you check to see which star has the unexplored objects?
[16:41] <Alot> (might be worth asking whether the client noted the exact time left on the O2 at this point? just to give us another reading to go off)
[16:42] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> (Good idea)
[16:42] <Alot> secondary star (~200k away) has the unexplored objects
[16:42] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, did you see how much time you had left on your O2?
[16:42] <RadLock> Sorry, I was trying to write down the distances and didn’t get a good look at it. Maybe 6 minutes or so.
[16:43] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Alot to 103.5k, Iomrais[PC] to 104.5k please
[16:43] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> (God I hope you didn’t deviate from the line from the star to the other system RadLock)
[16:43] <Alot> (given the distance to the two stars we should be able to make a good stab at it)
[16:43] <Iomrais[PC]> (I managed to align to the wing beacon before it left)
[16:44] <Alot> (you should have mentioned that you got a beacon, i had no idea :D)
[16:44] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Very useful Iomrais[PC]
[16:44] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Alot, did you not see the beacon?
[16:44] <Alot> no, i never got a wing invite
[16:44] <Iomrais[PC]> (it was only there a second, it disappeared as i was typing)
[16:45] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, make sure to invite both Rats to your Wing next time we attempt this please
[16:45] <RadLock> Okay, I thought I did.
[16:46] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Status everyone?
[16:46] <Iomrais[PC]> little ways to go yet
[16:47] <Iomrais[PC]> i am at 104k to first star, and 276k from second star with the other stuff
[16:47] <Alot> ok, i’m in position on the direct line at 103.5k, but the secondary star is at 277.5k for me.
[16:47] <Alot> should i move sideways to account for the difference?
[16:48] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Attempt to balance it Alot
[16:48] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> You should both be close enough
[16:48] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, do you remember how to add them to your wing then activate your wing beacon?
[16:49] <RadLock> Yes
[16:49] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Alot, Iomrais[PC], confirm positions?
[16:49] <Alot> ok, confirmed: 103.35k from main, 276.0k from secondary
[16:49] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ok, that’s good, Iomrais[PC]?
[16:49] <Iomrais[PC]> 104.5k, 276.8k from secondary
[16:49] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Alright, everyone ready?
[16:50] <Alot> yes
[16:50] <Iomrais[PC]> yes
[16:50] <RadLock> Yes
[16:50] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, log in, invite Alot and Iomrais[PC] to your wing, then activate your beacon

**SECOND RESCUE ATTEMPT INITIATES**

[16:50] <RadLock> Okay, logging in.
[16:50] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Alot, Iomrais[PC], I’m waiting on confirmations
[16:50] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> RadLock, please let me know when you’ve done both things
[16:51] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Or if there are any issues
[16:51] <RadLock> Done
[16:51] <Iomrais[PC]> got it
[16:51] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Distance?
[16:51] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Alot, got it?
[16:51] <Alot> refueling now
[16:51] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ok, confirm when completed
[16:51] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Rats, use nav lock to make the drop-in easier

**48 SECONDS OF OXYGEN LOST BEFORE FUEL ARRIVES – TOTAL DEPLETION 1 MINUTE 45 SECONDS**

[16:52] <Alot> i did – it was instant XD
[16:52] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Fuelled?
[16:52] <Iomrais[PC]> same lol
[16:52] <Alot> yes
[16:52] <Iomrais[PC]> fueled
[16:52] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Board is clear
[16:52] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Good work guys
[16:52] <RadLock> Well done everyone.
[16:52] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> \o/
DEBRIEFING BEGINS:

[16:53] <RadLock> Alright, debrief time.
[16:53] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Shoot
[16:53] * Alot does the imaginary paperwork >:D
[16:53] <RadLock> Let’s start from the top and we can bounce feedback around for each section.
[16:53] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> ^^
[16:54] <RadLock> 1. Client Acquisition. Deep space is tricky, lacking a good named system, coordinates are the way to go here, so good on you for putting that request out.
[16:55] <Alot> for reference, i actually never managed to find the system directly even with the coords
[16:55] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> you got it done though Alot and thats what matters
[16:55] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ok, that’s down to practicing using the map, it’s a little confusing at first
[16:55] <RadLock> I did notice that, so that’s something we can work on.
[16:56] <RadLock> Any other comments in trying to locate the client system?
[16:56] <Alot> i’ve found systems via coords before, it just didn’t seem to exist at the coords mentioned for me
[16:56] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Should have asked for alternative system from the galaxy map, you specified you looked at the pane
[16:56] <Alot> ohhhh, i’ve got why now
[16:56] <RadLock> Yes, I waited a few minutes and then chimed in with that alternate system that I found. Could have done it sooner if prompted.
[16:56] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Nothing else to note
[16:57] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Yeah, my bad there
[16:57] <Alot> 00:04:15 Mathesar[Drillspatch] | Rats, using -106:-82:150, can you locate Col 285 Sector VA-E C12-10? │ RadLock
[16:57] <RadLock> Quite alright.
[16:57] <Alot> 00:04:53 Mathesar[Drillspatch] | -160*
[16:57] <Alot> i read that as a correction to the last coordinate, not the first
[16:57] <RadLock> Oh
[16:57] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ah, shit
[16:57] <Alot> (and ignored the – like an idiot :D)
[16:57] <Alot> that’s at least partly on me 😛
[16:57] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> My bad all over there
[16:57] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> mistype and not a clear correction
[16:57] <RadLock> Okay, so lesson learned there – repeat coordinate strings in entirety when making a correction.
[16:57] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> yes
[16:57] <Alot> right, that explains a lot anyway! 🙂
[16:58] <Alot> anyway – sorry, continue!
[16:58] <RadLock> Okay, before we move onto friends and wings, I do want to touch briefly on beefjeff.
[16:59] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Yeah, that was interesting, wasn’t sure how to deal with that
[16:59] <RadLock> I did spend some time talking with him and he is currently running an adder with a 9Ly jump range. It is hard to know what ships a rat has when they respond to dispatch, but we should try to get a solid jump estimate out of each rat and stand them down if out of the race.
[16:59] <RadLock> Unfortunate in this scenario since we really wanted to get beefjeff in on some training.
[17:00] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> INFO: BeefJeef had to be rescued with Rsig
[17:00] <RadLock> But we can handle a shorter scenario later and maybe after beefjeff has had an opportunity to do more outfitting.
[17:00] <RadLock> Yes, which is probably another lesson learned for rats in general.
[17:00] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> ^^
[17:00] <RadLock> Before responding to a call, we need to be able to assess whether the client is out of our reach.
[17:01] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Yeah, definitely
[17:01] <RadLock> This is of course something each rat can only do for themselves, so I’ll leave it there.
[17:01] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> RadLock, I would say that usually falls on the rats to know the limitations of their ship. This time we were unlucky with a freah rat
[17:02] <RadLock> Aye.
[17:02] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> I didn’t get a jumpcount from beef, should have done that
[17:02] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> He just said “en route” and I took that as him being close
[17:03] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> He should have been forcoming with his jumps Mathesar[Drillspatch]
[17:03] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> you asked the rats to call the jumps BeefJeef didnt
[17:03] <RadLock> Indeed. Another way to look at it, is that a rat really shouldn’t start jumping unless: A. They’re close enough it doesn’t matter or B. Dispatch assigns them to the case
[17:04] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Ok, thanks for clarification on that
[17:04] <RadLock> Moving on to friends/wings, this is where I wanted to throw the curveball of a deep space c-red rescue, as estimating a client’s position under the gun is one of the most difficult things we have to do.
[17:04] <Alot> so i had some thoughts on this, but i wasn’t really sure how to air them because you lot have infinitely more experience at this and i might sound like a complete idiot
[17:04] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Yeah, that was rough, DerryBear[Dispatch], that copypaste you sent me seems to be slightly wrong or out of date
[17:04] <Alot> but here goes 😛
[17:05] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Just shoot
[17:05] <Alot> i feel like for a deep-space rescue (not near a star) like we just tried, exact coordinates may not matter all that much
[17:05] <Alot> don’t get me wrong, if we can get them then obviously we should
[17:06] <Alot> but given the speed you can immediately accelerate to in SC, plus wing beacons (which seem to work based on your speed relative to the distance left to the beacon?) you can drop on people from mighty far away
[17:06] <Alot> it might be worth doing testing to see how far that actually works for?
[17:06] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Do you mean map coordinates or position against star? I wouldn’t want you to travel 100kLs under code red with other possible issues ahead
[17:06] <RadLock> True. I am not sure of the limits, but the biggest problem will be planetary bodies around you. Once you’re in deep space, you can make up ground pretty quick.
[17:06] <RadLock> In this case position in-system against star.
[17:07] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> And when wings was released I think the range was 3Mm on the insta-drop
[17:07] <Alot> no way, it’s much more than that
[17:07] <RadLock> We could certainly do some testing before we leave this system.
[17:07] <Iomrais[PC]> me and Alot were probably ~10kLs from each other and both got insta drop when we navlocked
[17:08] <RadLock> Aye, so we’ll test the limits of that and see how approximate we can be in client position and not lose time.
[17:08] <RadLock> But as to how the drill played out…
[17:08] <Alot> i’d say nearer 1kLs than 10, but still – that kinda scale for sure
[17:08] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Sounds good, back to debrief
[17:08] <RadLock> Despite totally botching my memorization of the coordinate references, this actually ended up playing out alright. Let’s just call it simulated client jitters.
[17:09] <Mathesar[Drillspatch]> Yeah, thought that was intentional
[17:09] <Alot> haha… i assumed that was part of the drill, seemed very realistic to me 😀
[17:09] <RadLock> I did try to play it off as such 😉
[17:09] <Iomrais[PC]> nicely played 🙂
[17:09] <RadLock> Now on the first login attempt, I did get Iomrais into a wing. I invited Alot, but it did not go through–I had already swapped over to the systems panel so I wasn’t looking at the comms panel to see if there was a communication error message.
[17:10] <RadLock> At that point I looked over at the nav panel (so still not looking at the comm panel) and noticed the directions I gave were way off, which Iomrais noticed when the beacon was 94k away.
[17:11] <RadLock> I think the most direct approach to this problem is a print screen request and log out, but again it really depends on how sensitive the nav lock range is.
[17:11] * Mathesar[Drillspatch] is now known as Mathesar[PC]
[17:11] <Alot> i did call no invite, but i think it was all pretty quick – so you were logged out before it mattered much
[17:12] <RadLock> Aye, so we didn’t lose much time there, my stopwatch showed a little under a minute of lost air, and a lot of information on the client location.
[17:12] <Mathesar[PC]> Yeah, good jotting
[17:13] <RadLock> Granted, I had a pretty hefty 7 minute reservoir to start with, a lot of times we get hit with a 2 minute c-red, so that exercise would have lost half our time.
[17:13] <Mathesar[PC]> Would have been rough for a 3min life support though
[17:13] <RadLock> I had these already prepared for reference during the drill: //imgur.com/a/tDFIJ
[17:14] <RadLock> Now, not knowing how far off we were, the real question will be whether logging out is the right call, or whether Iomrais could have closed the 94k gap and we could have gotten Alot into the wing, in the time that would have been lost logging out and logging back in.
[17:15] <RadLock> The depletion timer mechanics during relogs is not something I have played with, but I may need to do some science on it to answer that question.
[17:15] <Alot> yeah, i would be very interested to find out when the timer actually starts
[17:15] <Alot> (/stops)
[17:16] <RadLock> I’ll run a test today when I get back.
[17:16] <Mathesar[PC]> Seemed like a big risk considering the rats hadn’t friended and I wasn’t sure about the speed they could get there, don’t know about the timer, assumed it paused on quit rather than end of load screen
[17:16] <Mathesar[PC]> ty
[17:16] <Alot> imo for this scenario it was very clear cut, there was no way we could do 94k (or as close to for the beacon to be in range) in less time than a logout/login
[17:16] <Alot> but i agree that there are likely to be some cases where it’s up in the air
[17:16] <RadLock> I think it was the conservative call to make, which in these situations is often the right call.
[17:16] <Iomrais[PC]> the distance to the 2 stars wouldnt have been enough i think without getting that nav beacon direction from 94k
[17:17] <Alot> mmm, not sure i agree – i didn’t have that direction, don’t forget
[17:17] <RadLock> Yes, that is the trick, the third leg of trilateration was a star measured in Ly.
[17:17] <Alot> oh sorry i see what you mean now
[17:17] <Mathesar[PC]> You were both in range for the drop, only one had direction
[17:17] <Alot> i thought you meant the direction of the beacon, not the other star
[17:17] <Alot> yes, i think we’d have had serious trouble without the initial star direction
[17:18] <Mathesar[PC]> Agreed
[17:18] <Iomrais[PC]> hmm, dont recall how far off it was from the initial direction for me
[17:18] <Alot> not much… i noted on the way out from 10k -> 100k that you weren’t quite exactly behind me
[17:18] <RadLock> That was another element of my initial description that didn’t play out explicitly as directions.
[17:18] <Alot> but it wasn’t a massive difference
[17:19] <RadLock> When I got into the system I found the first star wasn’t scoopable, so I started heading towards the other star–when I found out that wasn’t scoopable (about 50k or so away) I targeted the nearest system and headed there.
[17:19] <RadLock> I found out too late that both stars weren’t scoopable. Hard to read between the lines though in order to get that.
[17:19] <Alot> yeah, that is one thing that could be beneficial
[17:19] <Alot> “describe your movements after you entered the system, to the best of your knowledge”
[17:20] <Mathesar[PC]> That did register, but not well enough apparently, good spot
[17:20] <RadLock> Aye, if you’re lacking enough coordinates to pinpoint an approximate location, recreating client movements may be good enough.
[17:20] <RadLock> The trick then is that you’re relying on client memory instead of facts from the game.
[17:20] <RadLock> But some information is better than none.
[17:21] <Alot> yeah, the trick is merging the two to get the actual reality 😀
[17:21] <RadLock> Now, there is one curveball that I did not see play out, but at the same time I did not see anyone looking for it: Instancing.
[17:21] <Mathesar[PC]> I was praying
[17:22] <Alot> haha
[17:22] <Mathesar[PC]> It clearly paid off
[17:22] <RadLock> Both rats could have gotten to the system and upon logging in and inviting to wing, nothing.
[17:22] <Mathesar[PC]> That’s why I asked you for confirmation, to verify the beacon was up
[17:22] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> I fight with instancing every day and I have to try really hard to win
[17:22] <RadLock> I am not entirely sure what the best SOP on this is just due to the variable nature of instancing issues, but verifying direct contact is usually a recommended approach.
[17:22] <Mathesar[PC]> I would have then asked the rats but they said “refueling” so….
[17:23] <RadLock> In the circumstance of a c-red, you know the client is safe on the main menu, so you can confirm text or voice communications with them there before asking them to log in.
[17:23] <Mathesar[PC]> Should have prepped with voice comms, yeah, just in case, good thinking
[17:23] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> Text or voice comms open with client can solve instancing issues alot of the time
[17:24] <RadLock> That said, the approach still isn’t foolproof. I’ve had issues communicating with a rat on the main menu, and have it be resolved when I log in. So, hard to make it part of SOP, but it’s a simple thing to do.
[17:24] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> if it doesnt rats and client log out and we try again
[17:24] <Mathesar[PC]> SOP?
[17:24] <RadLock> Standard Operating Procedure.
[17:24] <Mathesar[PC]> ty
[17:24] <Mathesar[PC]> Yeah, would have gotten all to log on inst problem
[17:25] <RadLock> So, fortunately instancing was on our side and after the reposition the rest of the drill went off without an issue. If we had run into instancing problems, we would have some time to address them.
[17:25] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> RadLock, what was the time on the clock when the limpet hit ?
[17:26] <RadLock> On hit it was probably around 5:30, 5:15 with fuel delivered.
[17:26] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> Thats pretty good
[17:26] <Alot> so… another potentially unpopular opinion: imho a lot of the instancing issues can be solved by having local networking configured correctly. it’s been a long time since i had any issues connecting to people (which made me find it very interesting that you had a failed wing invite to me the first time RadLock!)
[17:26] <RadLock> I have also not run tests to see just what that time delay is between launching the limpet and fuel being transfered.
[17:26] <Alot> the P2P is *much* more reliable when at least one end is connectable (and in our case it’s much easier if that’s us…)
[17:27] <RadLock> Yes, I should have been looking closer at the comm panel to see if there was an error message or if somehow frantic button pressing had canceled the request.
[17:28] <Mathesar[PC]> Can’t expect a stressed client to get it perfectly right, should have gotten the rats to add eachother to solve some possible wing issues
[17:28] <Alot> indeed, if it hadn’t been a case of “log in, oh god there was an extra zero on that ’10k’, log out” i would have started shouting louder about not receiving an invite
[17:28] <RadLock> Aye, which goes back to the earlier recommendation we had talked about with rats being on friends lists, so that if a client fails to invite a rat, another rat can do it for them.
[17:29] <RadLock> Though back on the topic of having time…does anyone have any ideas why this became a c-red?
[17:29] <Mathesar[PC]> You ran out of fuel?
[17:29] <Iomrais[PC]> client turned off his life support?
[17:29] <Alot> when you called that the timer had come up
[17:29] <Alot> (key words there: “you called”, perhaps?)
[17:30] <Alot> i don’t remember seeing any instructions for what to do if you went onto emergency O2
[17:30] <RadLock> An amusing possibility Iomrais[PC], which may have some merit, but not in this case.
[17:30] <Mathesar[PC]> “Welcome, If you are on emergency air please make sure you tell us your system and LOG OUT NOW. Otherwise turn off all modules in your right panel EXCEPT Life Support”
[17:31] <RadLock> I did originally report all other modules disabled when searching for the navigation data, then some time later after inviting to wings I ran out of fuel.
[17:31] <Mathesar[PC]> Was in the first message
[17:31] <Alot> Mathesar[PC]: yeah, but initially RadLock wasn’t on emergency O2 (iirc?)
[17:31] <Iomrais[PC]> (fyi i have to go in 5, gotta get ready for work)
[17:31] <RadLock> At the time of that message, I was not on emergency air, and turned off all other modules.
[17:32] <RadLock> The trick here is that, even in doing so, I may still be burning fuel due to my ship/equipment setup.
[17:32] <Mathesar[PC]> Thought that was it, maybe initial welcome needs a “if you see a timer, log out” point
[17:32] <Mathesar[PC]> Ok, try to wrap up quick for Iomrais[PC]?
[17:32] <RadLock> The recommendation here is, after modules are off, confirm with the client that their fuel consumption is 0.00/h.
[17:32] <Mathesar[PC]> I have nothing else to raise
[17:32] <Mathesar[PC]> I see, good idea
[17:33] <RadLock> That was the only other broad note I had. DerryBear[Dispatch], any comments?
[17:33] <Mathesar[PC]> Can it be 0.00/h with life support on?
[17:33] <RadLock> Yes.
[17:33] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> Mathesar[PC], Dispatcher have the right to declare any case a code red. is you do declare a case Cred then state it clearly in the chat
[17:34] <Mathesar[PC]> I think I did
[17:34] <Alot> Mathesar[PC]: heh, i literally just tabbed back in to check that 🙂
[17:34] <RadLock> I get the feeling though if you have a higher power life support system, you could be pushed above 0.00.
[17:34] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> I know Mathesar[PC] just letting you know
[17:34] <RadLock> I’ll have to do some testing on how power consumption relates to fuel consumption.
[17:34] <Mathesar[PC]> Ok
[17:35] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> Mathesar[PC], my last note is a bleak one. we cant save everyone, dont take it to hard if we loose a Cmdr , aslong as you try your best thats all we need
[17:35] <Mathesar[PC]> Alright, will do 🙂
[17:36] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> 🙂
[17:36] <RadLock> Agreed. Instancing will be the bane of our existence. But if we think on our feet and follow the SOP, we should be able to save all but the most stubborn of connections.
[17:36] <RadLock> And that is a good point on c-red, it’s primarily used for oxygen emergency cases, but it is at the discretion of dispatch to declare it at any time if they need order in the channel.
[17:37] <Mathesar[PC]> Ok, I’d like to request a detailed list of procedure for the Dispatcher, theres the great tabular one for rat and client
[17:37] <Iomrais[PC]> gotta run guys, thanks for the drill, look forward to more of them 🙂
[17:37] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> cya Iomrais[PC]
[17:37] <Mathesar[PC]> Oh I see, assign c red even if not an O2 situation
[17:37] * Iomrais[PC] (Iomrais@mib-20664510.hsd1.ks.comcast.net) Quit (Quit: )
[17:37] <RadLock> Well, there is this–and I think someone is working on a more detailed up to date guide: //fuelrats.com/dispatch-standard-operating-procedure/
[17:37] <Mathesar[PC]> Hadn’t seen that, ty
[17:38] <RadLock> Most rats will probably think c-red is an O2 situation, but it does not necessarily have to be, according to the SOP.
[17:38] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> Im ashamed to say I never read this lol
[17:38] <Mathesar[PC]> “(Currently we are using RED because we hate the colorblind)” ahahahhaha
[17:38] <Alot> so not sure what others thought, but from my point of view i think that was one of the best dispatches i’ve seen in my short time here
[17:38] <Alot> for the most part it was clear, unambiguous and thorough
[17:38] <Mathesar[PC]> 4 test
[17:38] <RadLock> Yes, it was very well executed.
[17:38] <Mathesar[PC]> test
[17:38] <Mathesar[PC]> I see
[17:39] <Mathesar[PC]> Thanks for the drill everyone
[17:39] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> Both the rats and Dispatch adapted well to the changes in the case . Very well performed rats and Dispatch
[17:39] <RadLock> Apart from instancing issues, this was one of the most challenging scenarios that we run into.
[17:39] <Mathesar[PC]> I feel a lot more prepared
[17:39] <RadLock> Now, the real challenge for dispatch is handling this scenario…
[17:39] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> LOL
[17:39] <RadLock> …and then 2 other cases at the same time.
[17:39] <Alot> yeah 😀
[17:40] <Alot> that’s one potential piece of advice actually
[17:40] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! lol
[17:40] <Mathesar[PC]> What other 2 cases?
[17:40] <RadLock> clients in need of refueling.
[17:40] <RadLock> As dispatch, you’re the conduit for all of it.
[17:40] <Mathesar[PC]> Tough ones like this one?
[17:40] <RadLock> Statistically not so much.
[17:40] <Mathesar[PC]> Yeah, working on multitasking
[17:40] <Alot> if you’ve got a relatively “easy” client (not on O2, in the bubble) and an experienced rat, you could ask the rat to deal with it via in-game comms once it’s past a certain point
[17:41] <RadLock> We get one of these maybe once or a few times a day.
[17:41] <RadLock> Most dispatches will be straightforward go to system X rats are a few jumps away, no instancing issues.
[17:41] <Mathesar[PC]> I saw the 1.8kLy one today
[17:41] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> Alot, I ask rats to deal with it in in games comms if we have mutiple cases open and Alt Tab is an issue
[17:41] <Mathesar[PC]> That takes some dedicated rats
[17:42] <RadLock> We do have a fair number of them.
[17:42] <Alot> DerryBear[Dispatch]: yeah, that’s the kind of situation i’d be advocating it in
[17:42] <DerryBear[Dispatch]> The Bane of my existance is Instancing and Alt Tab LOL
[17:43] <RadLock> Once you have rats assigned to a case and the FR/Wing instructions out, you can usually hand over comms to the primary rat and just ask for status if something changes.
[17:43] <Mathesar[PC]> Alright, good thinking
[17:43] <RadLock> If you need to lighten the load at least.
[17:43] <Alot> RadLock: want to quickly try some wing beacon distance dropping before i fall into bed?
[17:43] <Mathesar[PC]> Yeah
[17:44] <RadLock> Sure, got kicked out, logging in.
[17:44] <Alot> likewise
[17:46] <Mathesar[PC]> Thanks all for the drill, good work
[17:47] <RadLock> You’re welcome, great work yourself–get out there and dispatch, you’re ready for the big leagues!