Race

Races are player-made events where users must try and be the fastest one to pass through a series of race gates.

Preparation

Necessary Materials

In order to build a race track, you need the following:

• Some race gate controllers and race gate modules, to construct your race gates
• A Marker beam to connect the gates together
• Something capable of emitting a Logic Signal, such as a Button
• Optionally, some blocks to create the actual track path or to contain the button in some sort of room

Building your tracks

To begin, place a set of Race Gate Modules, as well as a Race Gate Controller. Select the Controller with C, and use Left Shift + V to connect all the modules at once. Repeat as many times as you want to build the desired track.

To connect your gates and make a track, get out your Marker Beam. Fly over to the first gate and right-click on it with the tool. (Don’t worry, this does not remove the gate.) Next, go over to the second gate and left-click it. The gates are now linked. Now, right-click the second gate, travel to the third, and left-click that. Repeat for all other gates. Once you have left-clicked the last gate, be sure to right-click it, then left-click the first gate. You have now linked your gates in a continuous loop.

Finally, get out the button and place it. Just like how you connected the gates, use C and then V to connect the button (or other logic device) to the first Gate. Sending a signal to this will begin the race.

Congrats, you’ve done the biggest part. Your track is finally completed. Get ready to race!

Starting the Race

Open the dedicated race menu (open any interface, click Player, and select “Race”, or just open the Radial Menu with Tab and click “Race” from there). From here, you can manage (and join) any race.

Once the first gate has gotten a signal, the race will start. All players will have the next gate marked for them so that they know where to go next.

Racing tips

• One loading hint says that you can use tractor beams to your advantage and keep opponents from getting too far ahead.
• Configure your thrusters! You don’t need to keep the defaults and prioritize rotation over speed. Change the settings to increase forward thrust so that you can speed ahead of the competition.

Optional additions

Shipyard pitstop

Racing can be rough, on you and your ship. It is a good idea to have a place where users can repair damage mid-race. Although (just like in a real race) this takes time and causes a severe disadvantage, it is good if thrusters or armor was damaged during the race and you can’t wait until the end to fix it.

Because of this, you should have at least one shipyard so that users can repair the ships at will. Give them plenty of room to dock, call a repair order, and get back into the race as quickly as possible.

Be sure to stock it properly and create blueprints ahead of time. The last thing players want is to guess which blueprint is which, not have a blueprint at all, or have to wait for a factory to supply the materials that are needed. This is especially important if you use stronger armor, as this means you need to put items through up to three separate factories per block.

Spectator Stand

Although you probably won’t amass hundreds of users to fill one, a spectator stand is a nice aesthetic touch if you want to get fancy with your track.

Storage

Storage bags for your ships are a nice addition, and give you somewhere to store them once you are done. (If you want to use the Shipyard Pitstop idea above, you can put the shipyard in the storage bay - the shipyard modules would fit perfectly in the walls!)