GPRO F1 Racing

[docD]

Just want to add to what craterus said about this game, I'm in my second season and having a lot of fun. I promoted to amatuer last season and am fighting to stay this season and having a lot of fun doing it.

[DomEvo]

here is a complete setup session from beginning to end

i have unusual setup gaps due to having a TD (the majority of your setup gaps will be very close in magnitude - example with a td of zero you are going to be very near 130 setup gap for all parts <- not exact - you need to test your setup gap to find it or calculate with a magic forumula - or figure out the magic formula yourself)

setup gap here
fw 46
rw 46
E 53
B 52
G 58
S 51


Lap Lap time Driver
mistake Net time Settings
FWing RWing Engine Brakes Gear Susp Tyres Comm
1 1:13.657s 0.114s 1:13.543s 475 475 875 200 650 780 Extra Soft
2 1:12.811s 0.219s 1:12.592s 510 510 915 175 750 880 Extra Soft
3 1:11.985s 0.169s 1:11.816s 550 550 895 187 805 940 Extra Soft
4 1:11.896s 0.070s 1:11.826s 530 530 885 193 777 965 Extra Soft
5 1:11.820s 0.262s 1:11.558s 520 520 890 196 791 985 Extra Soft
6 1:11.715s 0.089s 1:11.626s 515 515 887 194 798 975 Extra Soft
7 1:10.913s 0.091s 1:10.822s 410 670 912 219 823 995 Extra Soft
8 1:10.949s 0.098s 1:10.851s 440 640 912 219 823 995 Extra Soft

Practice lap 1 comments from your driver:

Wings: I am missing a bit of grip in the curves
Engine: I feel that I do not have enough engine power in the straights
Gear: The gear ratio is too low
Suspension: The suspension rigidity is too low

Practice lap 2 comments from your driver:

Wings: I am missing a bit of grip in the curves
Brakes: I would like to have the balance a bit more to the front
Gear: I am very often in the red. Put the gear ratio a bit higher
Suspension: The suspension rigidity is too low

Practice lap 3 comments from your driver:

Brakes: I would like to have the balance a bit more to the front
Suspension: I think with a bit more rigid suspension I will be able to go faster

Practice lap 4 comments from your driver:

Engine: I feel that I do not have enough engine power in the straights
Brakes: I would like to have the balance a bit more to the front
Gear: I am very often in the red. Put the gear ratio a bit higher
Suspension: I think with a bit more rigid suspension I will be able to go faster

Practice lap 5 comments from your driver:

Gear: I am very often in the red. Put the gear ratio a bit higher

Practice lap 6 comments from your driver:

Wings: I am missing a bit of grip in the curves


now to test wing split!!! -260 vs -200 (might be between them or higher if i had a third wing split test i would draw a curve)
Practice lap 7 comments from your driver:

I am satisfied with the setup of the car

Practice lap 8 comments from your driver:

I am satisfied with the setup of the car



when determining which wings are best - ALWAYS use net time...

the above practice laps are summarized this way (add half setup gap to find centers that were used in practice laps 7 and 8)
Driver response-> Low comment No Comment No Comment High Comment
W 515 520 0 0
E 885 887 0 0
B 193 194 0 0
G 791 798 0 0
S 965 975 0 0

craterus, i'm trying to understand that split and for some reason I'm getting lost where you are comming with 260 and 200 split. I understand that your driver was happy with 520 520 and that is the minimum for that track in that particular setup. Are you taking a half of 520 to get 260???? I understand that between the front and the back there is a 260 or 200 difference but I don't understand where you got that 260 or 200 from.
Same thing applies to the previous post where you calculated that the optimum was 790. On that one I'm completely lost.

[craterus]

setup gap here
fw 46
rw 46



Lap Lap time Driver
mistake Net time Settings
FWing RWing Engine Brakes Gear Susp Tyres Comm
7 1:10.913s 0.091s 1:10.822s 410 670 912 219 823 995 Extra Soft
8 1:10.949s 0.098s 1:10.851s 440 640 912 219 823 995 Extra Soft



when determining which wings are best - ALWAYS use net time...

the above practice laps are summarized this way (add half setup gap to find centers that were used in practice laps 7 and 8)
Driver response-> Low comment No Comment No Comment High Comment
W 515 520 0 0

craterus, i'm trying to understand that split and for some reason I'm getting lost where you are comming with 260 and 200 split.

I understand that your driver was happy with 520 520 and that is the minimum for that track in that particular setup. Are you taking a half of 520 to get 260????

I understand that between the front and the back there is a 260 or 200 difference but I don't understand where you got that 260 or 200 from.
Same thing applies to the previous post where you calculated that the optimum was 790. On that one I'm completely lost.

my driver was happy with 520 but that is not the center... my gap is 46 (your gap might be 135 - it is important to know your setup gap -to find your gap you might have to throw away extra practice laps checking it by finding both the high edge and low edge... after finding it for my driver and TD - i will spot check it every 10 races or so...)

The lower edge is between 515 and 520
the center is half the gap (46/2=23) plus 517.5 = 540

center is 540 and wingsplit i am using is -260 ( minus only signifies that the wing is high in back)
fw = 540-130 = 410
rw = 540+130 = 670

[DomEvo]

my driver was happy with 520 but that is not the center... my gap is 46 (your gap might be 135 - it is important to know your setup gap -to find your gap you might have to throw away extra practice laps checking it by finding both the high edge and low edge... after finding it for my driver and TD - i will spot check it every 10 races or so...)

The lower edge is between 515 and 520
the center is half the gap (46/2=23) plus 517.5 = 540

center is 540 and wingsplit i am using is -260 ( minus only signifies that the wing is high in back)
fw = 540-130 = 410
rw = 540+130 = 670

OK now I get the gap but I'm still not sure about that 260. How are you comming up with that number?

[craterus]

OK now I get the gap but I'm still not sure about that 260. How are you comming up with that number?

since i have raced there before I generally try to use my old data (or data from friends that I have known in the past who know how to correctly find wingsplit)...

if an early test tells me that the wingsplit is somewhere above 200 - I normally attempt to do a test at my last known good wingsplit (or at least the best of my previous testing) and then test higher...

also when on a team - you can have someone find the general area of the wingsplit and then teammates can test around that area to further refine it... (there may be some variation between different drivers and wing levels but most people i have talked to think it is in the same ballpark)

if anyone has proof contrary to this... feel free to share...

NOTE:
to anyone that posts their first 4 practice laps WITH comments here - I will analyze and offer suggestions for the next 4 practice laps... would like to do this here on the board so that I don't have to type individual answers to everyone (especially when alot of you will have similar issues setting up the car) --- in order to get the most out of this experience - you will need to have at least one bad comment and one good comment for each part.

please include your driver stats... current car levels and wear (or pm them to me... if you don't - not the end of the world but it would help in a study that i am doing)

your wings must be the same level in order to do this test accurately - this is one of the reasons i need to know your car part levels...

NOTE2 - would the OO team be interested if I started a google wave for the team?

[theohall]

Note 2: Haven't messed with Google Wave at all, so don't really know.

Note 1: Traveling today, but I will definitely post those 1st 4 practice laps with comments here when they are done.

[craterus]

Note 2: Haven't messed with Google Wave at all, so don't really know.

Note 1: Traveling today, but I will definitely post those 1st 4 practice laps with comments here when they are done.

no rush

and I am thinking of NOT doing a google wave now... it looks like there is no control for wave owners...

[craterus]

another setup example...

based on info below (from a teamate in game) - this is what i see as the setup data matrix

unfortunately they did not take the opportunity to keep halving the distance for the brakes and gear

on the plus side we now know that the setup gap is lower than 75 (975-900) - i suspect it is in the 70ish ballpark

Driver response-> Low comment No Comment No Comment High Comment
W 485 496 0 0
E 900 0 0 975
B 250 275 0 0
G 500 535 0 0
S 800 0 965 999

here is my recommendation for your next lap
490 for both wings
915 engine
262 brakes
517 gear
983 suspension

after that - read the comments and halve the distance to the edge one more time

then spot check your other parts to see if their edge is similar to your engine (if 915 for engine is good then do 907 and if that is good then your gap is around 70. you would of course want a good comment at the upper end as well, but there might not be enough laps for that)

add half your gap to your low edge
subtract half your gap from your high edge

that is your setup - which should be somewhat close to this... (estimate based on current edges - WON"T be as accurate as if you dial down your edge and confirm your setup gap)
fw 525
rw 525
E 942
B 297
G 552
S 948

if you have any more laps left then you can test wings for front and back (probably in the 25 ballpark or less)



============ data =============

Practice data for Brands Hatch

Practice runs
# Total time D.Error Net time FWi RWi Eng Bra Gea Sus Tyres
1 1:21.348 00.750 1:20.598 500 500 800 250 500 800 Extra Soft
2 1:20.806 00.784 1:20.022 496 496 900 275 535 999 Extra Soft
3 1:20.664 00.638 1:20.026 485 485 999 275 535 965 Extra Soft
4 1:20.111 00.121 1:19.990 475 475 975 275 535 965 Extra Soft

Comments for lap 1
Engine: The engine power on the straights is not sufficient
Brakes: I would like to have the balance a bit more to the front
Gear: I am very often in the red. Put the gear ratio a bit higher
Suspension: The suspension rigidity is too low


Comments for lap 2
Engine: I feel that I do not have enough engine power in the straights
Suspension: The car is too rigid. Lower a bit the rigidity

Comment for laps 3 and 4
Engine: Try to favor a bit more the low revs


Current car character
Power Handling Acceleration
77 78 79


Chassis 6 32%
Engine 5 0%
Front Wing 4 0%
Rear Wing 4 0%
Underbody 8 0%
Sidepods 6 0%
Cooling 7 36%
Gearbox 5 0%
Brakes 7 0%
Suspension 7 0%
Electronics 5 20%

[craterus]

Brands Hatch appears to be one of the tracks that does not have a huge wingsplit (perhaps someone can test farther out to see if there is a double dip?)

wing graph time
21 861
-21 842
-41 851
-59 868

[theohall]

Practice Lap 1:

1:24.834 0.830 1.24.004 500 500 790 300 700 800 Soft

Wings: I am missing a bit of grip in the curves
Engine: Try to favor a bit more the low revs
Brakes: I would like to have the balance a bit more to the front
Gear: I cannot take advantage of the power of the engine. Put the gear ratio a bit lower
Suspension: The car is too rigid. Lower a bit the rigidity

Party On, Wayne!!!

[theohall]

Practice data for Brands Hatch with 4 laps run. Accidentally used Extra Soft tires for the 4th run. Oh well.

Driver response-> Low comment No Comment No Comment High Comment
W 500 575 0 650
E 610 700 0 790
B 300 375 450 600
G 500 550 600 700
S 650 700 0 800


Practice runs
# Total time D.Error Net time FWi RWi Eng Bra Gea Sus Tyres
1 1:24.834 00.830 1:24.004 500 500 790 300 700 800 Soft
2 1:25.439 01.214 1:24.225 800 800 610 600 500 600 Soft
3 1:24.413 00.713 1:23.700 650 650 700 450 600 700 Soft
4 1:24.539 01.053 1:23.486 575 575 575 375 550 650 Extra Soft

Practice lap 1 comments from your driver:

Wings: I am missing a bit of grip in the curves
Engine: Try to favor a bit more the low revs
Brakes: I would like to have the balance a bit more to the front
Gear: I cannot take advantage of the power of the engine. Put the gear ratio a bit lower
Suspension: The car is too rigid. Lower a bit the rigidity

Practice lap 2 comments from your driver:

Wings: The car is lacking some speed in the straights
Engine: I feel that I do not have enough engine power in the straights
Brakes: I think the brakes effectiveness could be higher if we move the balance to the back
Gear: I am very often in the red. Put the gear ratio a bit higher
Suspension: I think with a bit more rigid suspension I will be able to go faster

Practice lap 3 comments from your driver:

Wings: The car could have a bit more speed in the straights

Practice lap 4 comments from your driver:

Engine: I feel that I do not have enough engine power in the straights
Suspension: I think with a bit more rigid suspension I will be able to go faster

Car data

Front wing: 2 (0%)
Rear wing: 2 (0%)
Engine: 2 (0%)
Brakes: 2 (0%)
Gear: 2 (0%)
Suspension: 2 (36%)
Chassis: 1 (56%)
Underbody: 2 (0%)
Sidepods: 1 (48%)
Cooling: 1 (52%)
Electronics: 1 (46%)

Power 23
Handling 25
Acceleration 24

[craterus]

Practice data for Brands Hatch with 4 laps run. Accidentally used Extra Soft tires for the 4th run. Oh well.

Driver response-> Low comment No Comment No Comment High Comment
W 500 575 0 650
E 610 700 0 790
B 300 375 450 600
G 500 550 600 700
S 650 700 0 800


Practice runs
# Total time D.Error Net time FWi RWi Eng Bra Gea Sus Tyres
1 1:24.834 00.830 1:24.004 500 500 790 300 700 800 Soft
2 1:25.439 01.214 1:24.225 800 800 610 600 500 600 Soft
3 1:24.413 00.713 1:23.700 650 650 700 450 600 700 Soft
4 1:24.539 01.053 1:23.486 575 575 575 375 550 650 Extra Soft

Practice lap 1 comments from your driver:

Wings: I am missing a bit of grip in the curves
Engine: Try to favor a bit more the low revs
Brakes: I would like to have the balance a bit more to the front
Gear: I cannot take advantage of the power of the engine. Put the gear ratio a bit lower
Suspension: The car is too rigid. Lower a bit the rigidity

Practice lap 2 comments from your driver:

Wings: The car is lacking some speed in the straights
Engine: I feel that I do not have enough engine power in the straights
Brakes: I think the brakes effectiveness could be higher if we move the balance to the back
Gear: I am very often in the red. Put the gear ratio a bit higher
Suspension: I think with a bit more rigid suspension I will be able to go faster

Practice lap 3 comments from your driver:

Wings: The car could have a bit more speed in the straights

Practice lap 4 comments from your driver:

Engine: I feel that I do not have enough engine power in the straights
Suspension: I think with a bit more rigid suspension I will be able to go faster

Car data

Front wing: 2 (0%)
Rear wing: 2 (0%)
Engine: 2 (0%)
Brakes: 2 (0%)
Gear: 2 (0%)
Suspension: 2 (36%)
Chassis: 1 (56%)
Underbody: 2 (0%)
Sidepods: 1 (48%)
Cooling: 1 (52%)
Electronics: 1 (46%)

Power 23
Handling 25
Acceleration 24

after your lap 3 this is what i have... my only advice when you are still looking for an edge but have data for both high and low is to be slighly off center so that you can test further on one side only...

this is what i have after lap 4
Driver response-> Low comment No Comment No Comment High Comment
W 500 575 0 650
E 610 700 700 790
B 300 375 450 600
G 500 550 600 700
S 650 700 700 800

for my tool to work remember you will eventually need to remove the other side (like this)
Driver response-> Low comment No Comment No Comment High Comment
W 500 575 0 0
E 610 700 0 0
B 300 375 0 0
G 500 550 0 0
S 650 700 0 0

next test i would recommend is this (round values off to whatever you like)
537
654.5
337
524.5
674.5

then based on good or bad then do another half which should get you down to 12 on some parts... then another half to get down to 6 on some of your parts... (the others should be closer to 15 by now right?)

then I would test up from the lows by 105 if that is good then use 110 as your setup gap on the tool... and test further next race

[DomEvo]

Here is what I used to get the times where they are now.

1 1:23.808s 0.700s 1:23.108s 450 450 700 600 550 700 Soft
2 1:22.946s 0.420s 1:22.526s 550 550 750 500 600 800 Soft
3 1:22.448s 0.313s 1:22.135s 600 600 800 450 650 770 Soft
4 1:22.723s 0.443s 1:22.280s 575 575 775 350 680 785 Soft
5 1:22.810s 0.604s 1:22.206s 563 563 763 400 625 777 Soft
6 1:23.336s 1.087s 1:22.249s 541 641 769 425 637 773 Soft
7 1:22.861s 0.655s 1:22.206s 566 616 772 437 665 775 Soft
8 1:22.333s 0.144s 1:22.189s 570 588 769 443 650 775 Soft

Lap1:
Wings: The car is very unstable in many corners
Brakes: I think the brakes effectiveness could be higher if we move the balance to the back
Gear: I am very often in the red. Put the gear ratio a bit higher

Lap2:
Wings: I am missing a bit of grip in the curves
Brakes: Put the balance a bit more to the back
Suspension: The car is too rigid. Lower a bit the rigidity

Lap3:
Engine: Try to favor a bit more the low revs
Brakes: Put the balance a bit more to the back

Lap4:
Engine: Try to favor a bit more the low revs
Suspension: The car is too rigid. Lower a bit the rigidity

Lap5:
Suspension: The car is too rigid. Lower a bit the rigidity

Lap6, 7, 8
I am satisfied with the setup of the car

Once I found the low point at lap 5 I started experimenting. Just by looking at the driver mistake column I got the best time on the last lap. That is the setup I used for Q1 which gave me the 1:22:220 and the setting on pushing the car a lot. From the 6th lap I started experimenting with the wingsplit and to be honest with you still not sure how I got those numbers. I took as a given that the 563 was the low edge and 600 was the high one although I did not look wher it would fail on the high edge. I know that the driver was happy with the setup and me with the numbers but I'm not convinced on how I got them. The only thing that made me believe I was going the right direction was the driver mistake times but still I'm not convinced by that. I think its pure coincidence or luck I'll try the same aproach at the next GP. If you could share your comment on that I would appreciate.

[DomEvo]

Forgot to include the car data

Car characteristics:
Chasis 3 0%
Engine 4 0%
Front Wing 4 0%
Rear Wing 4 0%
Underbody 3 46%
Sidepots 3 0%
Cooling 3 0%
Gearbox 3 49%
Brakes 4 0%
Suspension 3 64%
Electronics 2 68%

Power 54
Handling 54
Acceleration 47

[theohall]

Here is the end result just prior to qualifying. Looks like the setup hit just right on the last practice lap. Tried the -21 wing gap around 531, but the driver error went up, so tried the -21 with the fw at 521 and rw at 552. Fastest lap, least driver error. Driver comments below.

Practice runs
# Total time D.Error Net time FWi RWi Eng Bra Gea Sus Tyres
1 1:24.834 00.830 1:24.004 500 500 790 300 700 800 Soft
2 1:25.439 01.214 1:24.225 800 800 610 600 500 600 Soft
3 1:24.413 00.713 1:23.700 650 650 700 450 600 700 Soft
4 1:24.539 01.053 1:23.486 575 575 575 375 550 650 Extra Soft
5 1:25.100 01.361 1:23.739 537 537 655 337 525 675 Soft
6 1:24.244 00.487 1:23.757 531 531 633 350 537 663 Soft
7 1:24.239 00.519 1:23.720 520 541 633 375 550 675 Soft
8 1:24.102 00.407 1:23.695 531 552 633 375 550 675 Soft

Practice lap 5 comments from your driver:
Brakes: I would like to have the balance a bit more to the front
Gear: I am very often in the red. Put the gear ratio a bit higher

Practice lap 6 comments from your driver:
Brakes: I would like to have the balance a bit more to the front
Gear: I am very often in the red. Put the gear ratio a bit higher
Suspension: I think with a bit more rigid suspension I will be able to go faster

Practice lap 7 comments from your driver:
I am satisfied with the setup of the car

Practice lap 8 comments from your driver:
I am satisfied with the setup of the car

Same car info as before.

[craterus]

driver mistakes are a result of your concentration (in practice)... net time is all that matters in practice... (for fun run the same setup 8 times in practice and let me know what you get mistake-wise)

5 1:25.100 01.361 1:23.739 537 537 655 337 525 675 Soft
6 1:24.244 00.487 1:23.757 531 531 633 350 537 663 Soft
7 1:24.239 00.519 1:23.720 520 541 633 375 550 675 Soft
8 1:24.102 00.407 1:23.695 531 552 633 375 550 675 Soft

not sure why you didn't go with 518 (half the distance between 500 and 537) there for the wings...

here is what i have for you after lap 6 (since that is when you stopped cutting in half - not sure why though)
Driver response-> Low comment No Comment No Comment High Comment
W 500 531 0 0
E 610 633 0 0
B 350 375 0 0
G 537 550 0 0
S 663 675 0 0


it also doesn't look like you took the opportunity to test the other side except for those initial high errors... the one plus is though that you can say your gap is likely to be under 125 (wings 650-500=150 650-531=119 )

since you weren't near the center wing your wingsplit tests will be inaccurate - you would have been better off halving once more and then testing the setup gap one time... (so that you could then apply it for the next 10 races). Now you just need to do it again.

Not sure what configuration of words would make it more understandable... find one edge - then find the other - then pick the middle... (and once you found the other edge once - you won't have to worry about it for awhile and you can get your setup in half the laps - every race you delay finding your setup gap is another race that you are not competitive - but learning and having fun is good too... so good luck taking another step toward success next practice)


here is what i recommend you (theo) run for the race...
fw 568
rw 568
E 674
B 415
G 596
S 721


here is the matrix for dom...
Driver response-> Low comment No Comment No Comment High Comment
W 550 563 0 0
E 0 700 772 775
B 0 0 443 450
G 550 600 680 0
S 0 0 775 777

you have nice edges but with no information about your setup gap (or driver) I can't do much for you (except to tell you if your car is setup near the edges it is very likely that it is not setup very well)

Dom... since you fly the polish flag you might want to consider contacting some of the polish players in the game... i hear they have a forum dedicated for that language and pretty much have the entire game figured out for the asking...


and I hereby withdraw my offer to assist random people on the internet... this is very time consuming and i have to focus on my team instead

[docD]

I thought I would post my driver and car info and ask for feedback here and maybe it would help some other people getting started. Just a little background, I started last season and promoted to Amateur. My plan for this season is to not relegate and prepare myself for a serious run at promotion next season. Right now I have 8 points and am safe from relegation this season. I followed craterus advice last season and this season and it worked very well for me and I'm hoping a little more advice will have me ready to compete for promotion next season.

Before I post my driver and car I have a question about sponsors. Right now I'm trying to sign Congalotto to a sponsorship contract. We are at 74% complete and no one is competing against us. I have offered to put them on the side pod and they just offered $482,000 per race. That seems low to me, I have PMS Bank paying 1.1M as a comparison. The last sponsor I was trying to sign got this point and pulled out, so I would really like to sign them to keep the sponsorship money coming in, but the amount seems very low. So my question is: how hard should I push them to get more money. I was thinking of choosing "far too low", but wanted some input before I went ahead with it.

Now here are the stats for my driver and car.
Driver:
Overall: 117
Concentration: 160
Talent: 153
Aggressiveness: 0
Experience: 77
Technical insight: 107
Stamina: 48
Charisma: 130
Motivation: 250
Reputation: 0
Weight(kg): 71
Age: 22
Salary: $1.369.805
Contract length: 9 races + 17 races

Car

Chassis 6 14%
Engine 6 56%
Front Wing 6 67%
Rear Wing 6 75%
Underbody 6 66%
Sidepods 5 88%
Cooling 5 91%
Gearbox 6 67%
Brakes 6 28%
Suspension 6 76%
Electronics 5 72%


I’ve been alternating training my driver in fitness and concentration (yoga). Any suggestions on what else I can do to get the most out of my driver?

Now my car, with 6 races left I’m going to have to replace all the parts one more time I think. My goal has been to end the season with a level 6 car across the board. Is that reasonable considering my goal of promoting next season? I haven’t been able to save a lot of money this season right now I have 11,897,000 in the bank and I’d like to have a little reserve built up for next season. So my question, what is the best way to go about putting myself in the best position to succeed next season?

Here is what I was thinking of doing for the next race.

1. Train my driver in Concentration (yoga)
2. Upgrade my Sidepods and Cooling to level 6 now. The average wear on them has been 12.8 and 13.2 respectively so if I upgrade this race I should be able to make it to the end of the season if I upgrade now.
3. Do nothing with my electronics this race. I’m averaging 12.4 wear per race on it so I should be good for one, maybe two races. After that upgrade to level 6.
4. Suspension and rear wing are my two tough choices. Wear on both of them is 22% which would put them at 97% and 98% after the race so there’s a good likelihood one or both of them could fail this next race. I’m thinking that maybe the best thing to do is drop them down to level 5 this race and plan to upgrade them next race.

So that’s my plans for right now, any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated.

[craterus]

Before I post my driver and car I have a question about sponsors. Right now I'm trying to sign Congalotto to a sponsorship contract. We are at 74% complete and no one is competing against us. I have offered to put them on the side pod and they just offered $482,000 per race. That seems low to me, I have PMS Bank paying 1.1M as a comparison. ...I was thinking of choosing "far too low", but wanted some input before I went ahead with it.

depends on the sponsor stats (negotiation and patience play a big part when you kick back)
depends on how you answer questions
depends on car location (some car locations appear to have a higher average offer amount than others)
etc

without the sponsor stats (adn the car location of the advert) I can't give you a better answer...

the sponsor that is at 74% is a good candidate to put at lower priority... when you have no competition better to be at very low and then pick up another sponsor... this will eventually allow you to have more sponsors going at once.

I will answer some of your other questions either later tonight or tomorrow...

[theohall]

Will post my last two practice sessions tomorrow sometime along with the one for the next race. I think I finally got the high/low practice thing right, except for one component, for the Imola race and actually had a decent result. Qualified 17th, finished 8th - using 2 stop strategy. When the numbers are up, it appears my setup gap is 125-135 somewhere. Hope to narrow it a little more the next race. Race before Imola I had a punctured tyre 19 laps in to the race which ended the day.

More info tomorrow - over at GPRO.

[docD]

Quick question about setup gap, is the setup gap the same for all components or is it different for each?

[craterus]

I thought I would post my driver and car info and ask for feedback here and maybe it would help some other people getting started. Just a little background, I started last season and promoted to Amateur. My plan for this season is to not relegate and prepare myself for a serious run at promotion next season. Right now I have 8 points and am safe from relegation this season. I followed craterus advice last season and this season and it worked very well for me and I'm hoping a little more advice will have me ready to compete for promotion next season.

Now here are the stats for my driver and car.
Driver:
Overall: 117
Concentration: 160
Talent: 153
Aggressiveness: 0
Experience: 77
Technical insight: 107
Stamina: 48
Charisma: 130
Motivation: 250
Reputation: 0
Weight(kg): 71
Age: 22
Salary: $1.369.805
Contract length: 9 races + 17 races

I’ve been alternating training my driver in fitness and concentration (yoga). Any suggestions on what else I can do to get the most out of my driver?

While the talent is lower than i like personally (if you have lower talent then preferably the driver has some other high stat quality like charisma or TI or Exp)... you have invested time and effort into the driver which should pay off next season...

in the short term - i would focus on yoga to build up concentration to the 180-190 area... after that I would do fitness every race... near the end of next season if you are going to promote i would attempt to get aggression in the 20's... after you get into pro and see how he performs there is a variety of choices (pumping up AGR, TI and CHR and maintaining weight below 70 and stamina over 100) or getting a good deal on a better driver (since the restricted markets give you access to drivers with a wider skill set the higher you go)

also don't forget each season reset your drivers stats will be affected depending partly on his age... usually younger drivers can gain anywhere from 5-10 concentration (so if you get concentration to 180 you might have 190 at start of next season - he will also gain some weight and have other things happen to him)

Car
Chassis 6 14%
Engine 6 56%
Front Wing 6 67%
Rear Wing 6 75%
Underbody 6 66%
Sidepods 5 88%
Cooling 5 91%
Gearbox 6 67%
Brakes 6 28%
Suspension 6 76%
Electronics 5 72%

Now my car, with 6 races left I’m going to have to replace all the parts one more time I think. My goal has been to end the season with a level 6 car across the board. Is that reasonable considering my goal of promoting next season? I haven’t been able to save a lot of money this season right now I have 11,897,000 in the bank and I’d like to have a little reserve built up for next season. So my question, what is the best way to go about putting myself in the best position to succeed next season?

You are on the right track here...

One mistake new people make... not choosing to let their car smoke at appropriate times. The game rewards losing to such an extent that you sometimes need to game the system a bit to create a stronger position in the following season. Having a part you know will have a good chance of failure in the last 10 laps of a race is NOT bad (when you are secure from relegation). It can save you money for next year... for example if this was earlier in the season I would say don't replace sidepods and cooling and let the car smoke for a few laps (but since you can last the rest of the season on this last purchase it makes no sense to wait UNLESS you will be negative money after the race which would prevent you from purchasing more parts...)

At this point in the season... electronics, cooling, and sidepods should last the rest of the season if purchased before this race (assuming low risks and no randoms)

Wings for this race should only eat up 12-15%, so you should be good there (highly recommend that you check the season wear sheet I sent you some time ago via email). After next race, it MIGHT pay you to downgrade wings one/two levels so that you can reach 90% to get money so you can re-buy level 5 or 6 wings (you might need 30% available on the wings for following race in valencia). Your last purchase for wings will likely be with 4 races to go starting at Yas... (wings can be a place to save money by being 1 or more levels lower than other parts - depends on the schedule this is one of the few seasons i have been in wear high H was encouraged throughout the season). I would consider downgrading and repurchasing to lev 5 if the percentages work out AFTER this race...

Here is what I was thinking of doing for the next race.
1. Train my driver in Concentration (yoga)
2. Upgrade my Sidepods and Cooling to level 6 now. The average wear on them has been 12.8 and 13.2 respectively so if I upgrade this race I should be able to make it to the end of the season if I upgrade now.
3. Do nothing with my electronics this race. I’m averaging 12.4 wear per race on it so I should be good for one, maybe two races. After that upgrade to level 6.
4. Suspension and rear wing are my two tough choices. Wear on both of them is 22% which would put them at 97% and 98% after the race so there’s a good likelihood one or both of them could fail this next race. I’m thinking that maybe the best thing to do is drop them down to level 5 this race and plan to upgrade them next race.

So that’s my plans for right now, any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated.

1,2,3 - I agree with... you have options on when you choose to purchase those

4 - wings should be no problem (by my calcs - which could be wrong) and i show only 15-17 wear for this next race for suspension so you should be good there... downgrading suspension AFTER the next race will allow you to make your last purchase for suspension at Yas (with 4 races to go)

5 - I highly recommend that you figure out your AVERAGE profit (shown on the economics history page) and use that as a guideline for your likely positive income for the remaining 6 races... then determine if the parts you are planning on purchasing will allow you to maintain a positive balance before the end of the season (if it looks like a close call you might want to hold off on training your driver (which i DO NOT recommend) or plan to make your last purchase for some parts at level 5 instead of level 6)

if you can AFFORD level 6 parts go for it... (it will help you start off the new season on a good note) but if not some parts at level 5 (instead of level 6) can save you a few millions (wings/engine/gear/brakes)... and then you can do some early testing and upgrade to level 6 a race or two early next season.

Quick question about setup gap, is the setup gap the same for all components or is it different for each?

(very) slightly different for each --- but as a guidline in the lower leagues using the same setup gap across the board would not kill you... the better you dial it down though - the better your setups will be if you are finding only one edge (and then adding half of the gap)

Will post my last two practice sessions tomorrow sometime along with the one for the next race. I think I finally got the high/low practice thing right, except for one component, for the Imola race and actually had a decent result. Qualified 17th, finished 8th - using 2 stop strategy. When the numbers are up, it appears my setup gap is 125-135 somewhere. Hope to narrow it a little more the next race.

If your TI is still in the 89 ballpark, I would suspect that the setup gap is closer to 100... but it looks like you are on the right track (getting it narrowed down and then refining it further in your next practice and then spot checking it once in a while is the way to go)

also most of my ti data regarding setup gap is when i have had a good staff (it is unknown to me the extent to which your staff and fac affect you gap - i suspect it does to some extent, but i have not been interested in determining a specific number since i regularly spot check my gap anyways)... it is possible that my estimate of your setup gap is lower than what it actually turns out to be... (in other words if you have data that contradicts what i think it to be - you are of course better to use that...)

[tjg_marantz]

Completely missed the boat on the race today. Had gastro all weekend and plain forgot. Sorry guys

[Mr Bismarck]

Well, my only serious competition for fourth place in my group appears to have given up - he changed drivers last race and qualified toward the back and for this race he ran Q1 but not Q2. So unless the guy in fifth can win virtually every race the rest of the season it appears I'll be in Master next season.

I had to get up there this season or lose my driver, but even so, it's a bit daunting.

[tjg_marantz]

Dum dum dum! Good luck

[craterus]

Completely missed the boat on the race today. Had gastro all weekend and plain forgot. Sorry guys

no problem... just be sure to train your driver every race and then go huge negative before the last race (leave a few parts at 99 or don't even run the last race after going -15M to make sure you don't get any motivation)

Well, my only serious competition for fourth place in my group appears to have given up - he changed drivers last race and qualified toward the back and for this race he ran Q1 but not Q2. So unless the guy in fifth can win virtually every race the rest of the season it appears I'll be in Master next season.

I had to get up there this season or lose my driver, but even so, it's a bit daunting.

congrats!

I was expecting an easy promotion this season... but it appears that 6 or 7 other people were ramping up for promotion THIS season also I will be prepping for next season the rest of the way...

[Mr Bismarck]

Next season looks absolutely brutal for car wear. I'm not sure testing will be remotely viable for much of the year.

[docD]

Well, my only serious competition for fourth place in my group appears to have given up - he changed drivers last race and qualified toward the back and for this race he ran Q1 but not Q2. So unless the guy in fifth can win virtually every race the rest of the season it appears I'll be in Master next season.

I had to get up there this season or lose my driver, but even so, it's a bit daunting.

Congratulations!

I have a question on what I should do for upgrading my car. My last race was very bad, and now I'm short on funds and need advice on how i should proceed. Even though it seems counter intuitive, I'm tempted not to make any repairs on my car, crash on the first lap and fix everything up the next race. Here's my car, any advice is appreciated.

Chassis 6 48%
Engine 6 16%
Front Wing 5 96%
Rear Wing 5 99%
Underbody 6 94%
Sidepods 6 31%
Cooling 6 22%
Gearbox 6 16%
Brakes 6 76%
Suspension 5 99%
Electronics 5 96%
Total costs:

Current account balance: $6.900.480

[craterus]

Well, my only serious competition for fourth place in my group appears to have given up - he changed drivers last race and qualified toward the back and for this race he ran Q1 but not Q2. So unless the guy in fifth can win virtually every race the rest of the season it appears I'll be in Master next season.

I had to get up there this season or lose my driver, but even so, it's a bit daunting.

Congratulations!

I have a question on what I should do for upgrading my car. My last race was very bad, and now I'm short on funds and need advice on how i should proceed. Even though it seems counter intuitive, I'm tempted not to make any repairs on my car, crash on the first lap and fix everything up the next race. Here's my car, any advice is appreciated.

Chassis 6 48%
Engine 6 16%
Front Wing 5 96%
Rear Wing 5 99%
Underbody 6 94%
Sidepods 6 31%
Cooling 6 22%
Gearbox 6 16%
Brakes 6 76%
Suspension 5 99%
Electronics 5 96%
Total costs:

Current account balance: $6.900.480

assuming you are in amatuer and in NO danger of relegation... then you could crash the rest of the season and probably make a small profit... then you can start next season with your current car parts

replacing everything that is 90 or above AND the brakes will take you to where you would smoke for the last race, BUT you would need to make sure that you are not negative (buying lower wings possibly as low as level 3 could save you some decent bucks with the bonus that your car will have lower H for the tracks that are coming up this season and next)


or

downgrade brakes down one level
downgrade wings down two levels (as long as it gets you under 75)
and then buy whatever level that makes fiscal sense for ub susp and elec which should all last the rest of the year
then upgrade brakes and wings for next race and then you are good until last race where you would still need to make a decision about chassis engine and gearbox...

you might be better off just to smoke the rest of the season... be sure to make sure you arent in danger of relegating or ending up negative (remember that you probably won't make 90% for the remaining races which means you will be at 50% of last place money)

[docD]

I have 8 points this season, so I think I'm safe from relegating. I worked out the figures and if I smoke my car and took 40th, I should still make a profit. I'm going to give it a try this race and see how it works out, if I do make a profit this race, I'll just smoke the rest of the season. If not, I'll have to make some hard choices for next race.

[Giancarlo Meneghello]

Hello everyone!

I'm a noob in need of some help. OK, a lot of help Could someone please tell me if there is possible to buy car parts "on credit" ? I mean let's say that i have an account balance of $1,000,000 and i want to upgrade all the parts, can i do this and have a new balance of -20,000,000 or so, or it won't allow me to buy anything over my 1,000,000 cash limit?

I want to save my driver in case his OA goes over the limit and this would be a nice way, if possible, it would also give me a brand new car for the final race.

Thanks!

[craterus]

Hello everyone!

I'm a noob in need of some help. OK, a lot of help Could someone please tell me if there is possible to buy car parts "on credit" ? I mean let's say that i have an account balance of $1,000,000 and i want to upgrade all the parts, can i do this and have a new balance of -20,000,000 or so, or it won't allow me to buy anything over my 1,000,000 cash limit?

I want to save my driver in case his OA goes over the limit and this would be a nice way, if possible, it would also give me a brand new car for the final race.

Thanks!

yes - you can go negative (buying on credit) anytime you have a positive balance (you can NOT go further negative when you are already negative though - you have to start out with a positive balance)

keep in mind that if you do not have a positive balance at the end of the season you cannot promote (and it is automatic relegation from the higher leagues)

if I smoke my car and took 40th, I should still make a profit.

don't forget that you want to take 50% of the money you would make for 40th (or whatever position you finish) when you don't get to 90% of the race

[docD]

if I smoke my car and took 40th, I should still make a profit.

don't forget that you want to take 50% of the money you would make for 40th (or whatever position you finish) when you don't get to 90% of the race

I did take the 50% into account, worst case if I took 40th and only get 50% of the prize money, I would still make 900K. Here's what happened last race: My car started smoking in lap 7 and I was able to make it to lap 50 before retiring and took 26th place. So I made it past the 90% marker and I made just under 6M profit for the last race. I think I was pretty lucky, but I'm going to try it again and see what happens.

[craterus]

does anyone have an alternate way of contacting pat (a former OO racing member)? I could probably help them not relegate this season... just have them send there acct on holiday for the last 2 races...

[craterus]

Good luck everyone!

For the people that might be interested in joining... now is a good time to join the game

Season 18's last race is today. The new season will start 12th of March (first race), but the first market (a chance to pick up a better driver) is the 8th of March. Now would be a good time to join so that you are ready to go when first market comes around.

GPRO referral link - this is a referral link that will give me some game credit if you join up and play for more than a season

http://www.gpro.se" target="_blank - this is a non-referral link that you can click if you are not comfortable with referral links.

[Varity]

I've reactivated my account and got placed in Rookie-104.

Still trying to get my bearings again. I've shortlisted a couple of drivers and will make offers on Monday shortly before staff market.

Is there anything else I should be doing at this point? Court a sponsor, perhaps?

[craterus]

I've reactivated my account and got placed in Rookie-104.

Still trying to get my bearings again. I've shortlisted a couple of drivers and will make offers on Monday shortly before staff market.

Is there anything else I should be doing at this point? Court a sponsor, perhaps?

feel free to apply to the team - i will send you a pm here on the board

also if you want an opinion on your randomly assigned drivers trainablility - feel free to post/pm his stats (in the old days it was an automatic that the random driver was horrible - now - not so much - there are some really nice lottery drivers getting assigned).

taking a look at what sponsor you might like to go after is a good idea... better sponsors (high patience high fiscal high neg - give you some options in the questions game)

The good thing about reset time is that there is no rush because it is 5 days to the first race... BUT if you have a horrible driver it is better to get a new one in the first market (crazy demand builds up for second market)... if you fail to get a driver in the first market - be aware that ALOT of GOOD drivers will come on the market for the 4th race (less competition for those drivers since most people have commited for the season ---- this is also a good time to LOW ball the drivers on salary (15-20% below asking price can addup) - ONLY low ball if you are highly confident that there is low demand for the driver and counter with higher bonuses)
NOTE- there are new secret bidding options so just because no one is listed as bidding on a driver doesn't mean that he doesn't have 5 bids on him... it still pays to wait as close to the market close to make your bid)

Are you a build for the future guy or a win right now guy?
(once you let me know i can also send you some links on drivers that fit your strat)


NOTE - GO tool not updated yet!!!!!
BACK UP YOUR DATA (save an end of season 18 file and send it to yourself on google mail)

the website changes might make it difficult for the guy who works the go tool to get it running fast - so don't update/upgrade until the GO guy says things are fixed in his newest version which is typically released before the first race.

[Varity]

Thanks for the invite, I've now applied to join the team.

I don't intend to keep my current driver, since all his stats are really quite low.

Code: Select all

Overall:	         69		 
Concentration:   	33		 
Talent:	         111 		 
Aggressiveness:   	6 		 
Experience:	      41 		 
Technical insight: 127 		 
Stamina:	          0 		 
Charisma:	       211 		 
Motivation:	      63 		 
Reputation:	       0 		 
Weight(kg):	      83 		 
Age:	             20 

How much effect does training have nowadays? Is it worthwhile to make the time and money investment as a Rookie if you intend to sign a better driver once you promote?

I've shortlisted 6 other drivers who all have a minimum of 3 pt/race average and would probably do fine. It remains to be seen if I have a shot at getting one without ruining myself financially.

I'm uncertain if I should even attempt to get a driver now or wait until things have calmed down a bit. I will probably take one shot at a good deal now, if that doesn't work out I'll just wait a couple of races. If things aren't better then I'll coast though the rest of this season and try to get a running start for season 20.

[craterus]

Thanks for the invite, I've now applied to join the team.

I don't intend to keep my current driver, since all his stats are really quite low.

Code: Select all

Overall:	         69		 
Concentration:   	33		 
Talent:	         111 		 
Aggressiveness:   	6 		 
Experience:	      41 		 
Technical insight: 127 		 
Stamina:	          0 		 
Charisma:	       211 		 
Motivation:	      63 		 
Reputation:	       0 		 
Weight(kg):	      83 		 
Age:	             20 

How much effect does training have nowadays? Is it worthwhile to make the time and money investment as a Rookie if you intend to sign a better driver once you promote?

I've shortlisted 6 other drivers who all have a minimum of 3 pt/race average and would probably do fine. It remains to be seen if I have a shot at getting one without ruining myself financially.

I'm uncertain if I should even attempt to get a driver now or wait until things have calmed down a bit. I will probably take one shot at a good deal now, if that doesn't work out I'll just wait a couple of races. If things aren't better then I'll coast though the rest of this season and try to get a running start for season 20.

I have sent you a message in the game... it sounds like you are a win right now kind of person (and then pick up a driver) as opposed to building a driver yourself).

Rookie is a different animal than it was when you originally played - you will be lucky to race with 15 or 20 people each race (many rookie leagues have less than 15 regular racers). The REAL game starts at amateur (where the average is closer to 30 regular racers).

I often recommend building your own driver because then you know what you are going to end up with (as opposed to getting into bidding wars in amatuer)... there is a good chance that you might end up picking up a driver in amatuer to build (and it is also possible that the driver you pick up could be a much better base to build upon). The bottomline is what makes the game fun for you.

If you are focused on advancement and then picking up a driver - i would recommend the CHEAPEST driver that can perform and build as much cash as possible (and setting a car level goal of 4/5 for end of this season)... I will send you a few links in game (the drivers i recommend won't be near OA limit of 85 because the goal would be to get you a cheaper driver to build cash).

ps- your current driver is not horrible due to the reasonable weight, decent pay and the nice charisma... the concentration would require at least 10 trainings of yoga - and then the ideal situation is that you spend another season in rookie so you can dominate the following season and continue to train yoga and crank up a bunch of sponsors... the problem is that he would be unlikely to perform competitively until around the 8th or 9th race this season... that can FEEL like a long time. (and there are higher talent cheaper drivers that you can spend time training instead)

ps2 - be sure to check out some of the recommendations a page or two back on some of the stat levels that i think are good for rookie...

ps3 - also to all - the website changes are tricky... when looking at other drivers don't forget to check the other pages (they used to populate all in one view - now you have to page through to see them all)

[mori]

I signed up and waiting to be approved.

[craterus]

I signed up and waiting to be approved.

cool - you will be number 9 on the team (with 2 people not from OO or GT) -- it is likely that you will be brought into the game after the 1st market on monday (post driver stats or pm to me for tips)

A few reminders for the new people:

1 - money is everything
resist the urge to blow through your 30M before the first race - your car will (likely due to rookie mistakes) not earn enough money to replace parts and upgrade... you will need the cushion of cash that you start out with the counter the mistakes you will make in other areas as a new player.


2 - I can't emphasis the basic method for setup enough
find upper edge
find lower edge
pick middle

the more accurate you are as soon as you are able will allow you to use your data 5 seasons from now to gain insight to the game mechanics (should you stick around that long)

3 - driver is important
aggression is bad in the lower leagues (rookie/amat) - you want as close to zero as possible to start off with...

(see my post on pg 27 for some more guidelines for driver stats for rookie/amat)

NOTE to team: I am working on the data sheet for this season and should be able to send it via email by tuesday