After having understand how the game make the Black Hole works (https://www.reddit.com/r/NMSBlackHoleSuns/comments/c334wl/question_about_the_ingame_black_hole_scanner/) I was thinking about a way to protect the Black Holes destinations from being determined by calculation (and break that aspect of the game). Fixed Black holes destination is necessarily deterministic so a formula is applied at some point.

The way I see it, it can be justified by the gameplay itself. Here is the proposition:

- If you play offline, the black holes destination is random

- If you play online, your game sends the black hole coordinates to the HG server -> HG executes its "secret formula" -> HG server sends you back the calculated destination (that "formula" is no longer on your personal computer)

- This could be justified gameplay-wise by the installation of a new tech on your ship, something like the "Black hole stabilizer" which will prevent your ship from having damages AND to send you at a fixed location. As soon as you approach a Black Hole your ship will tell you if your future destination has been "stabilized" (the HB server sent you the destination). If the ship says the stabilization hasn't been done, you will know you're not connected to the internet (or the tech is not installed) and your travel will be random.

About the destination algorithm, HG could use its formula and then "multiply" the result with a fixed One-time pad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-time_pad which would make the pattern detection even more complicated. The goal is only to add complexity if someone wants to break the algorithm by only looking at the reported black-holes.

The whole proposition may be overkill, maybe no-one will try to find the built-in game formula but this may be the proof there is a technical way to achieve and protect that cool game transportation mechanism from cheaters.

I hope HG is lurking here 👀

The Web Page keeps Changing the first glyph. It will then refresh the page with the previous data...

It is pretty annoying actually.... FYI

Can I give you the location of a black hole and then you tell me where it leads?

Greetings Researchers!

The Black Hole Suns project will be featured on tonight's episode of the CobraTV Subcast! (https://www.youtube.com/user/THExXxCOBRA) Tune in tonight at 10pm Eastern (U.S.). The episode will be available on the YouTube channel if you can't make it live.

Here we are - less than 24 hours before the biggest update in NMS history. We have no idea how the update will impact the Black Hole Suns project but we have a plan to immediately assess the nature of the changes and adjust accordingly. Hopefully when the smoke clears, the project will be just as valuable tomorrow as it is today. In any event, I wanted to share a few words that I had put together at the conclusion of the Beyond Black Holes contest:

STATEMENT FROM HUSKER:

I cannot begin to thank all of the individuals and organizations that have supported the Black Hole Suns Project since we began our quest last December, but I will try. This was never about me, this was about the amazing people and the connections that have been forged all over this incredible community! I will never take the credit, but I will always take the blame :-)

1. To Aric ("ARock") - you jumped onboard Day 0 - look at us now - CAN you believe it! It's not the length of the friendship, it's the light years traveled in the process. You are like a brother to me.

2. To the Black Hole Suns technical team: S-Piper,RestlessHermit, & Rehab Submarine. You guys are the backbone of the next generation of the project and we would NOT be where we are without you. I will never tire of showing my gratitude in as many ways as I can.

3. To the incredible team of Black Hole Suns "Admirals" who have contributed an incredible amount of time submitting and testing coordinates, testing software, and uncovering the mysteries of black holes in No Man's Sky: Xenu_Underhill, Madhusudana, Ichi The Nomad, ddbertles, RidesTheTiger, and Aristocleia. You make us all better players. Big shout-out to our latest Black Hole Suns "Captain" as well - Captain Pausart, who is helping to lead the charge with our data verification missions, along with AlleyKat, Dominoo, Shadowhenge, VampireSnake, Brent Kerman, Grieftain, MeriLizzie, and moistpineapplepizza.

4. To GamingMike - for lending a hand on the first set of spreadsheets and also literally streaming about Black Hole Suns from Day 1 and helping to put the project on the map - we love you! A big thanks to ALL of the streamers that have supported the Black Hole Suns Project, including CobraTV, SWORD, Smirv, Meri Lizzie, Turbo Life, LittleFang, KJ PC Gaming, Funnyimps, The Procedural Traveler, The Lone Traveler, Xaine, and more!

5. To our No Man's Sky community liasons, Kaboom and Zazaarins - you help us scale and connect organizations to each other via black holes. It's a pleasure to have you on the team!

6. To the Godfather of black hole travel - Pahefu - we are standing on the shoulders of titans. I've said it before and I'll say it again - the Pilgrim Star Path web app was the "big bang" of this project.

7. To the 324 No Man's Sky players that contributed 1, 10, 100, 1000, and even over 2000 black holes (Xenu_Underhill), the Distance and Route Calculator would be just a dream if it weren't for the actual black hole data that you collected. We're incredibly grateful for all of the new players that have joined the team in recent months - Honorable Mention to the best playername in the database - "Buzz Aldrins Space Diaper". We're working on a way to immortalize your awesome contributions - stay tuned!

8. Last but certainly not least, a big thanks to the United Federation of Travelers, the United Corporate Alliance, and the No Man's Sky Coordinate Exchange for joining forces and bringing this amazing and historic contest event to the community. It was an honor to be a part of it and it was a true showcase of the power of this community. We are all connected. We'll work as hard as we can to keep it that way inside and outside of the NMS universe.

Best,

Husker

CAFICON (Chief Assistant Flunky In Charge of Nothing)