Airship Guide

[BonzaiFerroni]

Sure, if you'd like! What would you like me to include there? Should I list the three spreadsheets? Various theories with supporting evidence, like favor correlating with rating? The way the grade rating (which does nothing) correlates strongest with the final sector rating? The travel/survey time formulae developed by the captain of the Gaelicat along with his derived coordinates for the sectors? Stuff like that?

I'm so glad XD \o/ I think it will be a great addition to the guide!

As for content, anything you wish! All of those things you listed sound great to include. You've discovered a lot of details that people will be interested to know about. If you wanted to start with the write-up/reference on airship configurations, I know a lot of people are really starting to ask for that information. Any other sections that you would have fun putting together, or that you feel the OP is lacking. If you have different theories about what a certain stat does, don't worry about being consistent with my post. I think people will enjoy reading multiple perspectives on the questions that we aren't certain about.

And if you have an idea that would involve adjusting my post in any way, let me know!

[Nyalia]

I'm so glad XD \o/ I think it will be a great addition to the guide!

As for content, anything you wish! All of those things you listed sound great to include. You've discovered a lot of details that people will be interested to know about. If you wanted to start with the write-up/reference on airship configurations, I know a lot of people are really starting to ask for that information. Any other sections that you would have fun putting together, or that you feel the OP is lacking. If you have different theories about what a certain stat does, don't worry about being consistent with my post. I think people will enjoy reading multiple perspectives on the questions that we aren't certain about.

And if you have an idea that would involve adjusting my post in any way, let me know!

Alright! I'll get to this at some point in the near future.

[BonzaiFerroni]

Here is an update on the question about whether stats influence sector unlocks! \o/

If you've been following this thread for a while, you may remember my plan to use a brand new workshop/airship to help us learn more about whether surveillance (or any stat) contributes to the chances of unlocking sectors. The plan was to see how far this new airship could get with just the lowest-tier bronco parts. Here are three hypotheses:

1. If the airship hit a "wall" and couldn't discover any more sectors with just those bronco parts, we would know that a higher tier is necessary for discovering sectors.
2. If it eventually discovered higher level sectors but only after very many visits, it would support the idea that a higher tier increases the probability of discovering sectors.
3. If it seemed to discover sectors at a rate comparable to the airships in our database who have upgraded their parts, it would support the idea that stats/parts are not as important as we first believed for unlocking sectors.

Results:

Sector  Rank Discovered  Parts equipped  Forecastle previously recommended 
------  ---------------  --------------  ---------------------------------
SC03    Rank 1           Bronco          Bronco
SC04    Rank 3           Bronco          Bronco
SC05    Rank 5           Bronco          Invincible 
SC06    Rank 13          Bronco          Invincible
SC07    Rank 14          Bronco          Invincible
SC08    Rank 24          Bronco          Invincible
SC10    Rank 26          Bronco          Enterprise
SC11    Rank 14          Bronco          Invincible

Conclusion:
The Champagne Supernova! seemed to discover sectors at a rate that was on-par or even better than the typical airship from our database, which used upgraded parts. The third hypothesis seems the most valid in light of this data.

This analysis has limitations. It doesn't completely rule out hypothesis #2, it could be that the Champagne Supernova! was just particularly lucky. It also only looks at the sectors up through 11. It could be that hypothesis #1 or #2 becomes more relevant for higher level sectors. I'll continue to explore to rule this out! (Hypothesis #1 actually is certain for sectors 17 and beyond, there is a minimum surveillance requirement of 90)

Further note:
This actually supports the idea of a "minimalist" approach to the workshop. The Champagne Supernova! is not getting quite as much EXP or items, and is obviously taking longer because of the unimproved rigging and hull. However, it is still making steady progress. For those who don't have the luxury of being able to come up with materials for parts easily, and especially for those who are running very small or solo FCs, this means they won't have to invest in every set of parts along the way. If they plan to use all four airships and have the most flexibility in airship configurations at higher levels, it will still be advisable. But it is also possible to target specific parts with minimal sacrifice and still make progress!

[Arcticharm]

Conclusion:
The third hypothesis seems the most valid in light of this data.

This analysis has limitations. It doesn't completely rule out hypothesis #2, it could be that the Champagne Supernova! was just particularly lucky. It also only looks at the sectors up through 11. It could be that hypothesis #1 or #2 becomes more relevant for higher level sectors. I'll continue to explore to rule this out! (Hypothesis #1 actually is certain for sectors 17 and beyond, there is a minimum surveillance requirement of 90)

This is really pretty good I can't imagine that you would have gotten particularly more lucky than any of the rest of us in finding new sectors. I for one feel convinced that as far as sector discovery goes, there's no benefit from stats at this point.

This just leaves us with the next experiment to try different ship stats on something simple like deep red/blue/green crystals for yield etc

[BonzaiFerroni]

This is really pretty good I can't imagine that you would have gotten particularly more lucky than any of the rest of us in finding new sectors. I for one feel convinced that as far as sector discovery goes, there's no benefit from stats at this point.

This just leaves us with the next experiment to try different ship stats on something simple like deep red/blue/green crystals for yield etc

Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing, seems pretty remote that stats are important beyond that 90 surveillance requirement! I'll definitely keep exploring just to make double-sure.

That's definitely the next big question! \o/ At the moment I can't yet commandeer our company airships but once we have all the aetherochemical fiber we need, I might be able to steal at least one

[Magistrella]

This actually supports the idea of a "minimalist" approach to the workshop.

That's exactly what i did ^^ First Airship was rough because unlocking went slow at the start but i got up to Sector 11 with only Bronco parts without falling back too far - when the ship hit the right level i made an all enterprise and gave the Bronco to the second ship. Now im replacing Parts as the first ship closes to 50 with Odyssey and Tatanora parts and hand the Enterprise down to the second. Got SC14 yesterday for the 3rd ship while the 2nd is Cruising around lower Sectors to find the eastern path, so its working out pretty well ;3

As im crafting/gathering most Materials myself that's been the easiest way to do it without having too many parts @ 4 Ships 50 left over that i won't use (and would've spent tons of "theoretical" money on)

[Dancetwist]

Hi everyone! The Pom exploration team has been a bit quiet on the theorycrafting discussions so far, but we thought a lot of other Airship explorers might have fun with the Airship Route Planning tool we built:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZpNk_U_YStsAE59JbEh9fzs6GyyHAjqlIn74YYho5qE/edit?usp=sharing

This planner can map out the flight distance, return time, ceruleum tank costs, and Airship requirements for trips between 1-5 islands up to Sector 19. We're still working out a few kinks with sharing it, but we're open to more feedback and ideas too!

[Arcticharm]

Hi everyone! The Pom exploration team has been a bit quiet on the theorycrafting discussions so far, but we thought a lot of other Airship explorers might have fun with the Airship Route Planning tool we built:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZpNk_U_YStsAE59JbEh9fzs6GyyHAjqlIn74YYho5qE/edit?usp=sharing

This planner can map out the flight distance, return time, ceruleum tank costs, and Airship requirements for trips between 1-5 islands up to Sector 19. We're still working out a few kinks with sharing it, but we're open to more feedback and ideas too!

Great work by the Pom Exploration Team! For my own understanding what is the captain's standard on the route planner for? Is that just to calculate standard times?

Bonzai, I think we just found our next link to add in your guide :P

[Nyalia]

Nice sheet! The route planner currently in my airship log spreadsheets determines shortest route as well as time and distance, so it only works for 1-3. So, this is nice for 4-5 stop trips. (I'm still trying to figure out how to expand it to 4 or 5, but without variables, I'm having a ton of trouble with shortest path algorithms.)

A few quick things - you have "Home" as an option in the trip planner, but that's not a valid choice. How are you determining distances between two sectors? Are you using a table where you calculated every single pair's true distance, or are you using the coords that Lauphin Faux of Sargatanas derived (they're listed in the airship log spreadsheets) along with the distance formula? (That's one big flaw with my trip planner - I'm not yet using his coords since without a lookup table, it'll increase the complexity of my shortest path algorithms by at least 2x.) Are you using Lauphin's time formula?

[BonzaiFerroni]

Hi everyone! The Pom exploration team has been a bit quiet on the theorycrafting discussions so far, but we thought a lot of other Airship explorers might have fun with the Airship Route Planning tool we built...

Neat tool, I've been playing with it! You spreadsheet wizards really amaze me \o/ May I add it to the "Community Links" section of the guide?

I'm trying to understand one of your tips:

For best efficiency, try to plan longer trips along straight line paths! Side visits only cost a survey range and the distance you move away from the centerline.

I might need the "for dummies" version of this advice!

That's exactly what i did ^^

Glad to know the concept works! Airships can be a lot for a single person to do, it is great to know there are ways to make it manageable! \o/