Announcing the “Beyond Black Holes” Contest - Research Black Holes - Win Prizes!        

In recognition of the Beyond update, The NMS Federation, United Corporate Alliance, and the NMS Coordinate Exchange have teamed up to bring a new contest to the entire No Man’s Sky community!  All you have to do is research and submit black hole data for your chance to win!

Black Holes, WUT?: Back in December of 2018, a small group of travelers had an idea. Now that the exit points of black holes in No Man’s Sky are fixed, we should write down their details and use them to shorten the number of warps needed between two points in the galaxy.  Thus, the Black Hole Suns project was born.   Phase 1 was a database and a Distance and Route Calculator (DaRC) based on Google Sheets.  The beginning was a wild adventure and many lessons were learned.  To date, over 8,360 black holes have been logged by 144 travelers across many galaxies for all three gaming platforms (PC/XBox, PS4).  The DaRC is reducing trips on a daily basis (for example, the trip from the Pilgrim Star to New Lennon went from 600+ to 20 jumps).  Phase 2 is now active, which features two brand new web applications, one for the database and one for the Distance and Route Calculator (DaRC).  

What:  In order to have a chance to win, you must submit “black hole data sets” from any galaxy in NMS.  A black hole data set is made up of two parts:  The Region name, System name, and Signal Booster coordinates must be collected from the side where the black hole exists, and also the side that you exit to after taking the black hole.  The combined six (6) elements are the absolute minimum required to enter a black hole set (you have the option to enter more data if you wish - more on that later). You must submit at least 10 black hole sets to earn one “ticket” and have your name entered into the drawing. For every 10 black hole sets submitted, you will earn an additional ticket.  For example, a player that submits 10 black hole sets will have their name entered once into the drawing pool.  A player that submits 60 black hole sets will have their name entered into the pool 6 times.  In the event a player submits 100 black hole sets, they will be awarded an additional 5 tickets (for a total of 15).  Five “bonus” tickets will be awarded for every set of 100.  

Prizes: The contest is divided into three (3) classes:  PC, PS4, and XBox. Players will be entered into a drawing based on the gaming platform that they entered data for during the contest.

• The PC player that wins the drawing will win a brand new, SEALED Oculus Rift VR headset kit (model CV1), complete with 2 controllers, 2 sensors, wall mounts for the sensors, 2 16-foot USB3 extension cables, and extra aftermarket foam padding.

• The PS4 player that wins the drawing will win a brand new, SEALED PS4 VR headset kit, complete with the camera and two (2) wireless controllers.

• The XBox player that wins the drawing will win a $300 gift card.  (The gift card may be substituted for vendor-specific cards from companies such as Steam/Sony/Amazon/etc).  

When:  THE CONTEST BEGINS NOW (MONDAY, JULY 1 0900 EASTERN US) and ends at MIDNIGHT (EASTERN US) on SUNDAY, JULY 7.  

Winners:  Winners will be announced LIVE on CobraTV’s stream during the 2019 Convergence Event on SUNDAY, JULY 14 at 10:00AM Eastern time.  You do not have to witness the stream to win, but wouldn’t that be exciting?  Other prizes will be given away during the stream as well!  

CONTEST RULES:

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Earn a “ticket” to enter into the drawing by submitting at least 10 black hole sets (as described above).  Additional tickets are awarded for each additional set of 10 black hole pairs, including bonuses for sets of 100.  
2. Black hole data can be submitted at the Black Hole Suns database site.  Full documentation on how to research and submit black hole data can be found on the guide (also by clicking the “About/FAQ” link at the top of the database site).  
3. If you are a PS4 or XBox player, there are two ways to enter data.  The documentation walks you through both methods.  If you are a PC player, there are three.  Pick the one that works best for you, there is no right or wrong way! IF FOR SOME REASON THE WEBSITE IS EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, ENTER YOUR BLACK HOLE CONTEST DATA ON THE BULK SHEET AND UPLOAD THE EXPORTED .CSV FILE.
4. Before you even think about entering the contest, make sure you have completed the ATLAS PATH MISSION so that you can see any black hole on the NMS Galaxy Map in-game.  It’s simply the easiest way to find black holes and record the associated data.
5. Yes, taking a black hole in No Man’s Sky damages technology in your general slots in your starship.  Here’s a hint - consider using one of your ships as a dedicated black hole research vessel, and put as much technology in the Tech Slots of the ship as you can, as they do not take damage when going through a black hole.  Many members of the Black Hole Suns team use Explorer-class starships that feature 12 tech slots.

ATTENTION - MEMBERS of CIVILIZATIONS, CORPORATIONS, and OTHER NMS ORGANIZATIONS:

The contest presents a special opportunity for organizations within the NMS community to:

1. Make it easier for travelers to navigate to your region of Civilized Space by researching black holes in your area.  To achieve this mission, please refer to the Black Hole Suns Guide for Civilized Space.  This document describes the best practices for researching and submitting black hole navigation data so that players can use strategic black holes and travel to and from your area (without using portals).

2. Claim credit for black hole research!  The new database application gives players the opportunity to affiliate their research with their organization, whether it’s a civilization, corporation, or even a subreddit (such as r/NMSCoordinateExchange).  The organization that submits the most black holes will receive recognition during the CobraTV cast, so encourage your members to assign an organization to their name. [Note: The drop-down list of civilizations and corporations is derived from the information on the Civilized Space entry on the No Man’s Sky Wiki.  If your organization would like to be considered for an exception and added to the list in the database application, please join our Discord and look for zazaarins or kaboom443 to request consideration.]

QUESTIONS?

If you have any questions, feel free to submit them on the main contest announcement post at the following locations:

Finally, thanks to all of the individuals and organizations that teamed together to being a truly unique event to the NMS community!  This event has been worked on for months and could not have happened without the support of everyone involved.  There is always the risk that we cannot make everyone happy in terms of the contest logistics, but please understand we did our very best in order to give everyone the opportunity to participate!

Note - please feel free to share the contest announcement link with other NMS communities online (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

FAQ:

1. Can I participate from any galaxy?  Yes, you can contribute data no matter where you are located.  Euclid is the most-populated galaxy in No Man’s Sky, but we encourage (and need) data from other galaxies!
2. Can I participate from any game mode? You can participate using any game mode that has black holes - Normal, Survival, or Permadeath.
3. I play NMS on GOG - am I able to participate?  Yes - the PC data is the same!
4. Why is the contest seven (7) days?  We wanted to be as fair as possible in terms of giving players (students, parents, people on summer vacation, part-time workers, full-time workers, weekend workers, etc.) ample time to participate to the extent that you can.  If you only have one hour over the course of the week, you should be able to participate. You even have time to complete the Atlas Path mission if you haven’t already.
5. Why are you giving away the Oculus Rift (CV-1) for PC and not the recently-released Oculus Rift S? This event has been in the works for months, and involved coordination between NMS players and communities all over the world.  As a matter of principle, the prizes were acquired first so that there would be no supply issues regarding rewarding the winners. During the planning period, the Rift S was not available, and there was an opportunity to acquire a completely sealed Model CV-1, which was extremely rare.  Additionally, based on reviews and a few differences between the two products (e.g.,audio, focus options), it was decided that the best option was to give the winner the ultimate choice of keeping the CV-1 and using it, or selling it to acquire a Rift S.  This is the best of both worlds, as a brand new CV-1 is still holding a lot of value online.