Ultimate Navigation Challenge: Collect Countries in 150 Days

[Samster]

Hope no one minds me opening this up while Shadaza's Challenge is running but the latest game has given me an idea on a truly global scale. The challenge, Using Google directions, visit as many countries in the world as possible within 150 days! I likely won't be starting the challenge itself for a while yet maybe not until Shadaza's is finished. At this point I just want to see who'd be up for the navigation challenge to end all navigation challenges and also explain the rules and answer any questions you may have.

Rules.

1. If you wish to enter then state your interest by posting here. For a bit of fun I'd like you to state your nationality, which car you will use for the challenge (classic or rejectful cars are preferred of course) and the names of who will be in your party (either yourself or some fictional alter-egos).

2. The challenge will both start and end outside of Buckingham Palace in London. We hope to have her-majesty herself wave the green flag. In between you can head in whichever route you like, just try to be back in London by the final day. Penalties as explained below will be applied if you fail to return by then.

You have 150 days to visit as many countries in the world as you can. 150 might seem alot considering the first game saw us travel from Edinburgh to Beijing in a little more than three weeks but think wisely about your choice of route. It could be very tempting to get carried away with country collecting and finding yourself with not enough days to return to London. It is extremely likely that we will see a huge variation in everyone's position throughout since this isn't really a point A to point B route.

3. Points will be given as follows. You only need to drive within the boundaries of each country or capital for them to count. Only Fully Independent nations will count.
Every Country Visited - 10 points
Every Capital City Visited - 5 points
If you manage to visit every country involved in the challenge - Extra 10 points for each day under the 150 days allowed that you managed to achieve this in. You must be back in London to be eligible for these extra points.
The winner of the challenge is of course the team that scores the most points at the end. Like Shadaza I'll also have an award for the most amusing write ups each day.

4. Penalties can be given as follows.
If you fail to return to London within the 150 days then 5 points will be deducted for every 100 km (as the crow flies) from the finish point you are when the challenge ends.

5. Late Entries after the challenge has begun will be allowed but they will not be allowed to post multiple stints at once in order to play catch up. Essentially you would be playing as if you actually had set off later than the rest of the pack.

6. Stint rules will be the same concept as the previous challenges though to speed up progress I will extend maximum driving time to 15 hours a day. You must find a hotel by the end of each stint. If you are in an area where such info is hard to find then I'll accept any location that could reasonably be deemed a town or larger. For every 10 minutes over the maximum you spend on a stint, you will loose that time for the next day. As before, either post a link to your map or provide a print screen of your stint in the thread. Keep track of your country and capital count too.

If you encounter a border that Google directions cannot cross (i.e., China), just split your route either side, just as long as they add up within the maximum time allowed.

7. If you need to miss a few days of the challenge, just let me know on here and you can post your stints in advance. If you fail to let me know and miss a stint window then you loose that stint and remain where you were for that time.

8. To make Intercontinental travel possible I have created some long distance ferry services. To make use of these you must travel to one of the connecting cities shown below where your stint will end before hopping on board the next day. Depending on the length of the ferry route, you will spend a certain amount of stints on board the ferry (essentially this will be 1 stint for every 1000 km) during which you won't need to post any updates.

Real Ferries can also be used (Dover-Calais) provided they are covered by Google. You won't loose any extra time from using these.

Ferry List

Trans-Atlantic
Boston, MA - Lisbon, Portugal (5 Days)
Fortaleza, Brazil - Dakar, Senegal (3 Days)

Trans-Pacific
Yokohama, Japan - Long Beach, CA (9 Days)
Shanghai, China - Long Beach, CA (11 Days)
Brisbane, Australia - Valparaiso, Chile (12 Days)
Auckland, New Zealand - Valparaiso, Chile (10 Days)

Trans-Indian
Durban, RSA - Perth, Australia (8 Days)

Caribbean
Cancun, Mexico - Havana, Cuba (1 Day)
Miami, FL - Havana, Cuba (1 Day)
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba - Port-au-Prince, Haiti (1 Day)
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba - Montego Bay, Jamaica (1 Day)
Montego Bay, Jamaica - Port-au-Prince, Haiti (1 Day)
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - Maracaibo, Venezuela (2 Days)
Colon, Panama - Cartagena, Colombia (1 Day)

South East Asia/Australasia
Singapore - Jakarta, Indonesia (1 Day)
Singapore - Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei (1 Day)
Jakarta, Indonesia - Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei (2 Days)
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei - Manila, Philippines (1 Day)
Surabaya, Indonesia - Dili, East Timor (2 Days)
Darwin, Australia - Dili, East Timor (1 Day)
Darwin, Australia - Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (2 Days)
Brisbane, Australia - Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (2 Days)
Brisbane, Australia - Auckland, New Zealand (2 Days)

Gulf of Aden
Djibouti - Aden, Yemen (1 Day)

Persian Gulf
Sharjah, UAE - Bandar Abbas, Iran (1 Day)

Japan
Busan, South Korea - Kitakyushu, Japan (3 Hours)
Shanghai, China - Kitakyushu, Japan (1 Day)

Philippines
Hong Kong, China - Manila, Philippines (1 Day)
Balok, Malaysia - Manila, Philippines (2 Days)

Taiwan
Quanzhou, China - Hisninchu City, Taiwan (3 Hours)

Cyprus
Larnaca, Cyprus, Beirut, Lebanon (3 Hours)

Iceland
Reykjavik, Iceland - Boston, MA (4 Days)
Reykjavik, Iceland - Bergen, Norway (2 Days)
Reykjavik, Iceland - Aberdeen, Scotland (2 Days)

Sri Lanka
Tuticorin, India - Colombo, Sri Lanka (3 Hours)

Madagascar
Beira, Mozambique - Toliara, Madagascar (1 Day)

9. Finally for the sake of avoiding island hopping, the following countries are not required for a 'full house'.

Anguilla
The Bahamas
Barbados
Cape Verde
Comoros
Dominica
Fiji
Grenada
Kiribati
Maldives
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritius
Micronesia
Nauru
Palau
Samoa
Sao Tome and Principe
Seychelles
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tuvalu
Vanuatu

Hope everything is clear. Feel free to ask questions.

[Nessafox]

Yeah sure, why not. But it will probably be a month until the current challenge has ended, so it is a bit early.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

*Simtek expresses interest in competing in this challenge*

[DemocalypseNow]

150 legs straight?!

[Peteroli34]

A leg a day that's nearly 5 months its a good idea but i think 5 months is a bit too long to be doing one of these races

[Samster]

I'll make a change with legs. Instead of strictly one leg each day, I'll open up a week's worth of legs each week. This way you can dip in and out each week by posting up to seven legs at once when each week is opened, while still leaving the option to stick to posting a leg a day. Don't worry I myself wasn't going to update literally every day anyway so this adjustment should work with everyone better.

[Nessafox]

I'll make a change with legs. Instead of strictly one leg each day, I'll open up a week's worth of legs each week. This way you can dip in and out each week by posting up to seven legs at once when each week is opened, while still leaving the option to stick to posting a leg a day. Don't worry I myself wasn't going to update literally every day anyway so this adjustment should work with everyone better.

I think what he wants to say is, shouldn't it be more efficient if you can post for example 3 legs per day? I mean, do you realise how long 150 days are?

[Samster]

I'll make a change with legs. Instead of strictly one leg each day, I'll open up a week's worth of legs each week. This way you can dip in and out each week by posting up to seven legs at once when each week is opened, while still leaving the option to stick to posting a leg a day. Don't worry I myself wasn't going to update literally every day anyway so this adjustment should work with everyone better.

I think what he wants to say is, shouldn't it be more efficient if you can post for example 3 legs per day? I mean, do you realise how long 150 days are?

Yes of course I do, but there are plenty of racing seasons in this forum for instance that end up going on for at least as long. Fine, what would be easier for everyone, 150 days of only having to participate once a week or say 50 days of having to work out three legs each and every day?

[Nessafox]

I'll make a change with legs. Instead of strictly one leg each day, I'll open up a week's worth of legs each week. This way you can dip in and out each week by posting up to seven legs at once when each week is opened, while still leaving the option to stick to posting a leg a day. Don't worry I myself wasn't going to update literally every day anyway so this adjustment should work with everyone better.

I think what he wants to say is, shouldn't it be more efficient if you can post for example 3 legs per day? I mean, do you realise how long 150 days are?

Yes of course I do, but there are plenty of racing seasons in this forum for instance that end up going on for at least as long. Fine, what would be easier for everyone, 150 days of only having to participate once a week or say 50 days of having to work out three legs each and every day?

Thing is, after such a long time lapse, enthusiasm for the series will fade out, and in the end, if you're lucky, you still have 4 or 5 teams that are putting a serious effort in it. I don't think anyone on this forum has an attention span long enough. I suggest changing it to '100 days to cross all continents (excluding antarctica)'. or something like that.

[Shadaza]

There is no way a 150 day challenge like this can work. I don't mean to disrespect, but this is far too long a time to keep people occupied consistently and I love an open challenge, but with no obvious people to race against it is hard to find the competitive element to it.

My suggestion for a round the world country visit challenge would be to do it with flights. Use real life flight schedules in real time (assume any plane has a seat available) and give say a week, 2 weeks to visit as many as possible. It would make an interesting scramble.

[Nessafox]

My views on a possible third challenge are in the PMMF planning thread. It uses many elements from the first navigation challenge, but is more refined. I will use a balanced points system to determine the final results.
This will promote tactical diversity. Besides, with me running it, you have the garantuee that the host actually has enough free time to do it.
I would like to use my own set of rules. Altough these rules are not radically different from Shadaza's challenges, only more refined. It will also solve some of the problems the first challenge has faced.
But i will also listen to the ideas of Samster and Peteroli who are also considering to start a navigation challenge, because having 3 different challenges at the same time will be too much.
Secondly, i also want to see if there is actual public interest.

[Samster]

My views on a possible third challenge are in the PMMF planning thread. It uses many elements from the first navigation challenge, but is more refined. I will use a balanced points system to determine the final results.
This will promote tactical diversity. Besides, with me running it, you have the garantuee that the host actually has enough free time to do it.
I would like to use my own set of rules. Altough these rules are not radically different from Shadaza's challenges, only more refined. It will also solve some of the problems the first challenge has faced.
But i will also listen to the ideas of Samster and Peteroli who are also considering to start a navigation challenge, because having 3 different challenges at the same time will be too much.
Secondly, i also want to see if there is actual public interest.

I'll be announcing a simpler version of the challenge I created earlier when Shadaza's is closer to its end. All I'll say now is that it will be more of a point to point race simply requiring passage through all six continents. I do like the sound of your one too, perhaps we could do these one after another.

[Nessafox]

My views on a possible third challenge are in the PMMF planning thread. It uses many elements from the first navigation challenge, but is more refined. I will use a balanced points system to determine the final results.
This will promote tactical diversity. Besides, with me running it, you have the garantuee that the host actually has enough free time to do it.
I would like to use my own set of rules. Altough these rules are not radically different from Shadaza's challenges, only more refined. It will also solve some of the problems the first challenge has faced.
But i will also listen to the ideas of Samster and Peteroli who are also considering to start a navigation challenge, because having 3 different challenges at the same time will be too much.
Secondly, i also want to see if there is actual public interest.

I'll be announcing a simpler version of the challenge I created earlier when Shadaza's is closer to its end. All I'll say now is that it will be more of a point to point race simply requiring passage through all six continents. I do like the sound of your one too, perhaps we could do these one after another.

Of course you can run yours first. But the important thing is that you need to find a way to keep teams motivated.
I think my points system solves this problem in the medium length (one month) 'point a to point b' type of challenges. You already see in the current challenge that some teams are considering giving up, and we're only halfway, so it's important to give them a reason to continue.
I don't think my system will work on a global scale however. You really would need more than 100 days to complete that, so i'm curious to find out your solution to the 'short attention span' issue.

[Samster]

My views on a possible third challenge are in the PMMF planning thread. It uses many elements from the first navigation challenge, but is more refined. I will use a balanced points system to determine the final results.
This will promote tactical diversity. Besides, with me running it, you have the garantuee that the host actually has enough free time to do it.
I would like to use my own set of rules. Altough these rules are not radically different from Shadaza's challenges, only more refined. It will also solve some of the problems the first challenge has faced.
But i will also listen to the ideas of Samster and Peteroli who are also considering to start a navigation challenge, because having 3 different challenges at the same time will be too much.
Secondly, i also want to see if there is actual public interest.

I'll be announcing a simpler version of the challenge I created earlier when Shadaza's is closer to its end. All I'll say now is that it will be more of a point to point race simply requiring passage through all six continents. I do like the sound of your one too, perhaps we could do these one after another.

Of course you can run yours first. But the important thing is that you need to find a way to keep teams motivated.
I think my points system solves this problem in the medium length (one month) 'point a to point b' type of challenges. You already see in the current challenge that some teams are considering giving up, and we're only halfway, so it's important to give them a reason to continue.
I don't think my system will work on a global scale however. You really would need more than 100 days to complete that, so i'm curious to find out your solution to the 'short attention span' issue.

What I have in mind is estimated at around 50 days and I might have stint lengths at 15 hours to shorten it further.

[Nessafox]

Meanwhile i kept on adding lots of tiny bits in my own proposal, and i will likely keep on adding bits here and there the coming week.

[Peteroli34]

Of course you can run yours first. But the important thing is that you need to find a way to keep teams motivated.
I think my points system solves this problem in the medium length (one month) 'point a to point b' type of challenges. You already see in the current challenge that some teams are considering giving up, and we're only halfway, so it's important to give them a reason to continue.
I don't think my system will work on a global scale however. You really would need more than 100 days to complete that, so i'm curious to find out your solution to the 'short attention span' issue.

Thats one of the reasons why id quite like to do my idea of starting and finishing at a place of your chose and then collecting destinations. It throws in a few more tactics then just what the quickest way to travel in 10h.