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Trench Crawler: The Epic Rover Challenge

13.9k ABC123  9.4 years ago
130 downloads
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Prepare for an exploratory journey the scale and daring of which are probably unrivaled in all of SimplePlanes. Your mission is to take this rover, start at the default position on the South Runway, drive straight ahead to the start of the trench, and then navigate the entire length of the trench-while staying on the ground the whole time.

WARNING:
You really must use HIGH terrain quality for this to be a worthwhile experience; everything else can be low/off. This is an EXTREMELY long and difficult mission. It can be frustratingly, agonizingly tough at times. The first time I did it, it took a few hours of play, broken up into several intervals by storing locations as "save points". When done in one sitting, it took me roughly an hour and a half, and by that time I had already had several hours of practice and was much better at driving. This requires a lot of patience and perseverance, but finally getting through the whole trench was honestly among the most fulfilling things I've done in a video game. Note: this was built and tested on iOS, so I cannot say whether or not it works on PC.

TIPS:
Detach fuel with 1 (Note: glitched fuel is only useful if attempting the whole thing in one run and can be deleted otherwise). Yaw is steering, throttle is power (reverse to brake). Pitch and roll aren't used. The different nozzle positions are used to control the direction of movement: middle is forward, down is forward with extra power (but less stability), and up is reverse. If the rover gets stuck, full reverse will almost always get it unstuck. If it flips into its back, full throttle and playing with the nozzles can almost always right it. It's extraordinarily hard (but possible) to go through the whole thing without messing up, so SAVE YOUR LOCATION REGULARLY as you go (think of these as save points). You'll mostly have to learn through practice, but I'll post more tips as comments. If you ever actually get all the way through, please let me know. I'd be thrilled to learn that even just one other person actually made it all the way through the trench. Good luck and have fun!

General Characteristics

  • Created On iOS
  • Wingspan 12.9ft (3.9m)
  • Length 26.9ft (8.2m)
  • Height 6.6ft (2.0m)
  • Empty Weight 8,849lbs (4,014kg)
  • Loaded Weight 22,826lbs (10,353kg)

Performance

  • Power/Weight Ratio 0.59
  • Wing Loading 2,281.7lbs/ft2 (11,140.3kg/m2)
  • Wing Area 10.0ft2 (0.9m2)
  • Drag Points 4631

Parts

  • Number of Parts 146
  • Control Surfaces 0
  • Performance Cost 453
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  • Profile image
    1,142 planepilot
    @ABC123 whell compard to the one i tried to make witch only got to the end ofcthe run way yours is prity good
    9.2 years ago
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    13.9k ABC123
    @planepilot Haha, this thing is very old and honestly not very good. I appreciate that you rated kindly anyway. If you want a better rover, you could try my newer rover called "Spiderman Rover" or another similar one that skydives called "skydiving rover". Other users have also made much better rovers than this one!
    9.2 years ago
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    1,142 planepilot
    i have ben triing this for a long time and could not get past the run way
    9.2 years ago
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    13.9k ABC123
    Tips: This rover is very good at its designed function, but there is nothing sacred about it. Feel free to modify it or, better yet, design your own rover to tackle the trench.
    9.4 years ago
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    13.9k ABC123
    Tips: about an hour in, you start to hit some spots that look like dead ends. I swear you can get through the whole trench, but some spots in the second half are extremely tough due to a very steep and/or narrow path. They will likely take several tries. Just before the very end of the trench, there is an extremely steep downhill that is nearly unsurvivable, but even that is passable if you are very cautious and skillful.
    9.4 years ago
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    13.9k ABC123
    Tips: In the trench, there are eventually some very steep uphills and downhills. The best strategy for uphills is generally to start slowly and increase power gradually as you go up. For the very steepest downhills, the best strategy is sometimes just to hold down the brake (full reverse throttle) and let yourself slide.
    9.4 years ago
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    13.9k ABC123
    Tips: In general, be very conservative with the throttle. You'll mostly have to learn how to control it through practice; control has a significant learning curve, but I eventually became very good with this little bugger.
    9.4 years ago