THE DUCK RACE
II
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(: Sponsored by GIP Enterprises, still the No.1 supporter of mindless duck carnage :)
!!! FIERCER... MORE RUTHLESS... AND MORE EXPLOSIVE !!!
Here's the deal: Due to unprecedented 'mad-for-it-ness' experienced during the length of the famed Duck Race 2000/1, GIP Enterprises will be launching another Duck Race Internet Championships, scheduled to start in the autumn of 2001. The idea is to manoeuvre your duck all the way to the finishing line in every game you play before your opponent does. Through underhand subterfuge, swaying the voting, threats, tactical intricacy or just plain luck, somehow you've got to get a fast enough duck to ultimately win either the Mallard Trophy or the Quack Cup. Ducks are moved every update by a random distance down their river (see below), typically between 5 and 35 units every update. The site will be updated every 1 or 2 days with pictures on how the ducks are doing, and winning each match involves getting your designated duck to the end of the stretch of river (100 units in total) before your opponent or opponents. This may take only a few days of E-paddling to do; equally, it may take a few weeks. But somehow, one of the ducks in each tie will get there - and hence win the points for that match. The site will always have the latest results on how the ducks are doing, with arena updates every 2 days.
Jetpacks and the Joy of Randomising: Every update, every duck currently in a game (which is normally between two ducks) will get moved a random distance, from 5 to 35 units, along the hundred-unit stretch of river. This will continue over the length of the match until one of the ducks crosses the finishing line, or both cross at once in one update. So therefore, theoretically each duck has a 50% chance of winning a tie. But one of the more controversial issues in the Duck Race 2000 was the advent of JETPACKS, which will be continued (naturally) in this sequel duck race. Basically, if your duck is not making up the ground you thought it would, you can catch up on your opponent faster by fitting a Jetpack set to one of five speeds. Each incremental speed will make your duck travel faster by adding five points to the possible ranges of your move (i.e. normal = 5-35 pts, 1-speed Jetpack = 10-40, 2-speed = 15-45 ... 5-speed = 30-60). However, using these machines mean that your duck will have a proportional chance of exploding that update, rendering the tie lost unless your opponent suffers the same fate! The percentage chance per update of exploding is equal to the strength number times five (i.e. e.g. 3-speed = 15% chance per update of exploding). You can order and cancel jetpacks at will from the site, and be safe in the knowledge also that if your duck happens to fall foul of an explosion, it will return to life for the next match - otherwise there would only be boring, non-tactical ducks left by the end!
No duck stands a chance of exploding without a jetpack but most matured duck tacticians easily win games where their opponents do not take advantage of the Jetpack offer. Therefore we would recommend you log in to the site to check on your duck's progress as often as possible. Otherwise, what is the point in conducting a duck race anyway?
All competitors should also note the new ruling in place for the Duck Race II stating that if any competitor totally loses contact from the site for over two weeks, without having a satisfactory reason, then their duck may be instantly eliminated from ALL further races.
Competition Structure: Over the course of one season, all participants will play in two competitions: the Mallard Trophy and the Quack Cup. In simple terms, the Trophy is the more prestigious and involves ducks playing all of their opponents in their 'conference', or league, once over the course of a season in two-way races, with the winner of each match gaining two points, or each duck one in the event of a tie. At the end of the League stage, the best proportion of the ducks will advance to the next stage, be that knockout or league-based. The Quack Cup will be a much simpler state of affairs, with a knockout theme - ducks who win their races progress to the next round, up to the two-way final with the winner gaining the Cup award. Ties will mostly involve two ducks racing against one another as this idea was successful in the first races. All ties will last anything from 2 updates (4 days) to the timeout period of 9 updates (18 days) at which point all timed out matches will be declared a draw. Cup ties will be decided on total points gained in this event or in a tied game, unlike the previous mathematical ruling.
This site is revolutionary. This is the very first site to try an idea such as this out on the Internet through the new, exciting idea of Play-By-E-mail; namely, the concept of total interactivity. GIP Enterprises believe that the only way to create an event like this without any special machinery or fancy video clips is to provide all competitors with the chance to affect the outcome of their games by E-mail alone.
Please note: This competition requires no skill, forethought, experience or tactics to perform well. It is primarily down to luck, as ducks will be moved every two days by a random distance down the river. This is to discourage the idea of favouritism and to make the competition fair and unprejudiced. The only way to gain the upper hand is to either apply directly to Duck HQ for a jetpack to signify your continued interest in the Duck Race Championships thereby giving people who frequently log in the upper hand. No other criteria are used to determine whose duck moves along the furthest or who should explode due to a jetpack. These championships are designed primarily for entertainment purposes and not for unnecessarily fierce competition. They are not to be taken too seriously by any members of the League (at the risk of expulsion), or members of any animal rights campaigns. No ducks were harmed at any time during the making of this Web-site.
Copyright (C) GIP Enterprises 2001.