SPECIAL GP - POSTPONED BY A WEEK

Dantski · Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Posts: 463

Ok had an idea which should please most people, here's how it works.

First weekend GP's work as before.

After that, players are handicapped by their position in the GP standings. It stays the same for both GP's.

This means if we have 30 people signed up to the championship, the person in 30th sets off first, then 29th, 28th etc. After some thinking, I reckon there should be a 4 second gap between each person setting off, this means the person in 30th gets a 1 minute 56 second headstart of the person in 1st. The gap between each person could be increased or decreased depending on what you want.

I see it as relatively easy to follow and self policing since you aren't going to want the person in front of you to set off a second too early.

Before the race everyone needs to know what time they set off. Also having the players championship position in their name would be nice.

I really like this idea myself and would be happy to see it tried out as it should provide a relatively close set of races. With people who can't always show up, they will generally start earlier which will limit the disadvantage of finishing fewer times since they'll generally finish higher.

I would also make the points scoring go from 30-1 so everyone scores if they show up.
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bunsenjetson · Joined: 12 Aug 2007 Posts: 1119 Location: Stuart Hall

Can't we just use the Lewis Hamilton solution, namely have a really strict panel of stewards who punish accomplished and exciting driving with draconian points penalties? I'll gladly sit on that panel and mete out penalties left, right and centre whilst never favouring one team over another.

Middenrat · Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 5:06 pm Post subject:

good thinking Dant, not saying it's perfectly-formed but useful.
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msquires · Spam King Joined: 12 Apr 2008 Posts: 803

Its similar to the system they used in BTCC where they put weights in the cars of faster drivers and used their championship position to decide it.

Bea · Joined: 26 Oct 2008 Posts: 55

Dant's idea seems the fairest type of handicap since the handiloops system assumes everybody in the same "group" are of the exact same skill level.

Plus Dant's points idea promotes consistency aswell.
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mad · Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:01 pm Post subject:

unfortunately I see no way to police it and it will become difficult to manage.

Dantski · Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Posts: 463

Not entirely sure what you mean mad.

The first 29 people (assuming everyone turned up) would be watched as they start. Simply saving the replay of the race would be sufficient to check the person who starts last.

Yes people can set off 0.25 secs early and gain a tiny bit of time from that, but I reckon thats a lot better than having 80% of drivers doing handiloops and letting the faster drivers in those groups get a headstart before even starting the first lap!

The idea of having championship position in name would make it easy to see who should be setting off after who.
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It's not the winning, its the taking apart

McInSanE · Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 357 Location: Germany

what if someone does a mistake and sets off too early?
I really like the idea but it's very hard to manage because theoretically, everyone could start at the same time and if someone messes around because he's driving forwards and backwards again or bla bla or someone becomes left out (23 starts, then 21, 22 is being left out) then we would have to restart the whole race...

Munkhi · Joined: 09 Sep 2008 Posts: 127 Location: Herts, England

How hard is it to remember one number? Confused

The only one you have to remember is your own and keep staring at the timer until that number comes up! Write it down if it helps :p
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McInSanE · Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 357 Location: Germany

i''m not saying that we (or i ^^) can't do it but since there is nothing that hinders someone from doing a mistake it is easy to make one (you know what i mean?...)

Munkhi · Joined: 09 Sep 2008 Posts: 127 Location: Herts, England

Nothing hinders someone from making a miscount of their handiloops too, that's the trouble with all self-regulated systems.

I imagine that miscounted handiloops would result in a penalty if the driver did too few. Same could go for Dant's time system.

Editing a replay in free cam mode gives time and camera position to see what's needed. Then just a tick people off the list when they set off correctly.

It can be done, but it'd be a little more intensive to admin than loops. But there'd be more track space available.
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Dantski · Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Posts: 463

I would punish people for setting off early with an appropriate time penalty to be added on to their finish time.

A harsher time penalty for the 2nd offence. After that they simply score 0 for the race.

Its not perfect since people can set off say 0.2 secs early and get away with it, but I don't think anyones got a good excuse for setting off much earlier than that, they signed up for the GP season via the forums, so its their (and possibly the team leaders) job to know how it works.

Any chance of testing this out on the 27th or the week after?
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It's not the winning, its the taking apart

Middenrat · Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 4:03 pm Post subject:

I reckon it's worth a trial, let's see what Mad says.
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McInSanE · Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 357 Location: Germany

if you guys send me the replays, i could check that..^^

bunsenjetson · Joined: 12 Aug 2007 Posts: 1119 Location: Stuart Hall

... or ...

I know the thrill of the race with a tight end is great, but if we're going to have a time handicap, why not just add it on at the end and see who wins then? In a way it could be more exciting because you wouldn't know your place until everyone had finished.

It would also be a lot simpler to police.

In a way it could make you push harder and possibly make more mistakes, because you'd know that merely beating someone isn't enough.

Let's not forget that in TM you don't actually have to overtake other cars - although it doesn't feel like it, it's just a load of competing time trials.

I'm happy having no handicaps at all, mind you ...

evil_homer · Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 6:21 pm Post subject:

^^ sounds a lot easier to organise

in fact it sounds great

maybe it wouldn't be possible as some people still wouldn't finish that way

DaCheese · Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:54 pm Post subject:

Hi all, sorry I'm late...actually that's a good question, what have I been doing since Thursday? Anyway...

The two handicap GPs both had elites in the top three. To me this suggests that the handicap isn't too long or short, it's about right, because it shows that it's possible for an Elite to battle through from the back and still come out on top. From the very first race of Season 1 I raced (and probably crashed out of) in that Matra skin I've always known that a GP rewards consistency. Stuff your car into a wall or to the side of a landing zone on every lap and you're not going to be on top of the podium anyway. I was as suprised as anyone by my top five finishes on Thursday and I don't want it to seem like I'm in favour of the system just because of that, but it was a lot of fun wondering if you'd be able to catch the guy in front or if a much faster driver would hijack your position. It adds a bit more pressure because you know that if you stack it, it's potentially even more costly than in a normal GP.

I can't comment on season 3 because I raced the bit of it I did as a privateer due to hardware trouble, but there was something different about season 4 compared to 1 and 2. It wasn't that the game was different or that respawns gave you another chance (in my opinion a good thing), it was that the standard of driving seemed to have reached a new level. For most of the season I was fighting hard towards the back of the field and getting nowhere; I got a few top 10s towards the end but they were damn hard work to get. Sour grapes? Well, maybe, although I don't begrudge people being faster because it would be stupid to expect to be the best at anything that takes place on an international level. Anyhow, the focus was less on wheel-to-ghostly wheel racing with other cars and more a personal challenge of going the distance. Same top 5, ho hum. That's why I agree with my nemesis and others who reckon it's time the winds of change passed through.

The options then:
1. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
Not attractive for reasons myself and others have outlined.

2. Tiers.
This would require a lot of work by the admins or others. I'd be happy to assist but Mad, Mid etc. already do way too much for us all. Then there's the complications of deciding who goes in each tier, not forgetting that if a racer improves they're pretty much stuck in that tier for the season. To sum up it's not really feasible.

3. Handiloops.
Plenty of flexibility here. If someone's doing well over several weeks, add more laps of the loop to keep the playing field relatively level. We've already established that it adds a little extra something to racing.

4. Adding time.
Another flexible option if the extra seconds went on at the end, although I'd prefer having the results instantly. Policing the start if that's when time's added could be tricky, more so if different peeps have different time add-ons, although it's all possible.

Any other ideas? I'll see if I can come up with anything. I don't suppose I've come up with anything new to the table in this post, but those are my extended thoughts.
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