If you could build a Online Auto Racing Sim...

SirFozzie · 07-09-2007, 03:45 PM

I like BatRacer very much, it's closer to the perfect auto sim then most out there.. but just out of curiosity, can autoracing be a FM like Sim?

Or in other words, what would you do to make a BatRacer Type game better?

1) Graphical representation of the track, live PbP. It'd be awesome to log in, midway through your race, and see a weather forecast saying. "Rain on about Lap 35" and know that come lap 30, you might want to put the intermediates on instead of the dry, and then have to pit again five laps later. It'd also be great for watching position battles and for replaying "The Big One" when those massive pileups happen.

2) Further Customization. I know folks get tired of the round and round in circles of NASCAR, but it's #1 or #1a most popular race series in the world.

And 3 and most importantly..

3) Career functions. Hire drivers, pit crew, etcetera. BatRacer is a fun single season sim, but if you suck halfway through a season, there's no real reason to continue except pride. Build a top team over years..

Brillig · 07-09-2007, 08:23 PM

This is what I threw together mainly for point number 3, based on my exhaustive week of experience...

BATracer Teams

Overview:
Creates a team structure that acts as an overlay to the current BATracer universe. Adds persistance and career-building to the game, as well as solving some current problems with the dynamics of interactions of BATracer players.

Concepts - The Team Leader:
The Team Leader is, of course, the one who starts the team. He's in charge of, well, everything. All of the activities will be detailed later, but these include hiring and firing drivers, dealing with sponsors, and assigning races to drivers. Now you might think that with all the power, everyone will want to be a team leader... I'm thinking not. It's also a major headache to deal with all the players, so the glory and pain are somewhat balanced.

Concepts - The Team Second:
Designated to take over from the Leader if the Leader goes inactive. Can be delegated some of the Leaders powers. If the Leader fails to choose a Second, the next-longest tenured driver in the team is the Second.

Concepts - The Team:
Each team is a semi-static group of players that operates as a team within the BATracer universe. Teams will join specific racing series as a team, which allows any driver from the team (within race/course limits) to race in that series. Assignment to a race is at the discretion of the Team Leader, but a Team Leader who fails to keep his drivers happy will find himself leading a team of one.
The Team also has a maximum size, which should probably be around six to eight drivers.

Concepts - Joining a Team:
Any driver may join a team at any time. Upon joining a team, the driver is given the opportunity to select two racing traits - these traits will be persistent, i.e., cannot be changed except by leaving and joining another team.

Concepts - Leaving a Team
Any driver may leave a team at any time. There may be consequences for both the team and the driver though. You may not change persistent traits on leaving a team, only when joining your next team. While not on a team, you may not, of course, participate in any team-based racing.

Concepts - Persistent Traits:
Not only are the traits persistent, but they will improve over time (and races). Each trait starts out 50% as effective as currently, but will improve rapidly to the point where they are 100% as effective as they are now. From that point, they will continue to improve, but at a slower rate, to 150% of current effectiveness. So, while you can switch teams to switch traits, if you change your traits you will lose all the 'experience' built up with that trait and have to start over. Choose wisely.

Concepts - Team Reputation:
Reputation is the currency of BATracer Teams. Teams accumulate reputation by winning races, and lose reputation by poor performances, especially crashes. Reputation is used to qualify for certain racing series, and also to sign up better sponsors.
The idea goes like this - a team signs up drivers and begins racing. If they are successful, their reputation grows, and the team is able to sign up better sponsors (i.e. better equipment) as well as qualify for more competitive series. If they're unsuccessful, their current sponsors will abandon them (forcing them to work with worse equipment), and so on.

Concepts - Driver Reputation:
In addition to team reputation, drivers will have their own reputation. This should not be confused with how other drivers see you! Rather, this is just a reflection of how the driving world sees you. Win races, and your rep will increase. Keep crashing, and you'll find yourself doing qualification at the local go-kart track.
Driver reputation will impact team reputation. If a team signs a driver with high reputation, it will improve the team's reputation somewhat (over a period of time). Similarly, if a driver with high reputation leaves a team, that team's reputation will decline. In the long run, a Team Leader's success will hinge mainly on his ability to keep his good (high reputation) drivers happy.

Concepts - Racing Series:
Racing Series will work like they do currently, with a few new wrinkles. First of all, there will be 'Restricted Series', which will only be open to teams with a certain amount of reputation. This will allow teams to compete against others in their weight class, so to speak. Then there will be 'Unrestricted' or 'Open' series, where anything goes, and the first time teams can sign up to get crushed by the mighty

Generally speaking the rewards (reputation increase or decrease) will be based on the relative reputation of the teams involved. If you beat teams of a similar rep, your own rep will increase at a 'normal' rate. If you want to earn reputation at an accelerated rate, you'll need to beat teams with a higher reputation - which can only happen in an Open Series. Similarly, if you lose to a higher reputation team, you won't lose as much rep as you might against a team of your own level (it's expected, after all). But, if you crash a bunch of cars trying for miracles, the sponsors will NOT BE PLEASED. (Crashing always hurts your rep.)

Concepts - Sponsors:
Sponsors, as mentioned above, will supply the teams with the gear they need to race. A starting team will have a basic set of sponsors for Tires, Engines, Chassis. I leave it to others to argue the relative ratings of the manufacturers

When a team accumulates enough reputation, they can sign up a better sponsor - it's up to the team leader to choose which area of the cars he wants to improve. Should a team lose enough reputation that one of their sponsors choses to abandon them, that choice is made by the sponsor (i.e. randomly), and that aspect of the car will be downgraded.

Problems Addressed:
I think the addition of the team system will not only improve the overall BATracer experience by giving an additional layer of complexity to the game, but will reduce certain problems that are currently experienced. With the team structure, you can rely on your teammates to be good teammates - anyone that causes trouble will be swiftly shown the door by the team leader. On the other hand, a team leader that acts capriciously will see all his rep fly out the door as his better drivers flock to more stable, better managed teams. Problems caused by over-aggressiveness on the track will also be reduced, as crashing now has more consequence than just being out a race - repeated crashing will cause both the driver and the team rep to decrease, and a team leader will not tolerate absurd recklessness, under pain of losing the team's reputation.

fjvieane · 07-09-2007, 08:27 PM

http://www.medleygames.com/forums/index.php

Here ya go Foz, TC is currently working on one.

Brillig · 07-09-2007, 08:38 PM

Looks interesting, but it's a little disconcerting that the developer journal hasn't been updated in nine months.

fjvieane · 07-09-2007, 09:21 PM

Trust me, TC is working very hard on it. Ill shoot him a PM and let him know, or he may just read it here, lol.

hoosierdude · 07-10-2007, 01:10 AM

Yeah I haven't updated the journal in awhile. That is my fault, and I should have done more. I love the batracer stuff, and maybe in future versions I can include a lot of what they have, and expand on what I am doing now.

Sounds like I need to update the journal and then give everyone an update on what is going on with all the games over in our humble area.

Brillig, a lot of what you Sir Fozzie have spoken of I am working on. If you would be willing to discuss ideas and thoughts, etc.. I am willing to listen.

Fire off an email and let's start the discussion! I love being able to discuss games and the process, and what people are looking for in their games. I can't always satisfy everyone, but I will be willing to listen.

tcdale at medleygames dot com

07-09-2007, 08:23 PM	#2
Brillig College Prospect Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Mountain View, California	This is what I threw together mainly for point number 3, based on my exhaustive week of experience... BATracer Teams Overview: Creates a team structure that acts as an overlay to the current BATracer universe. Adds persistance and career-building to the game, as well as solving some current problems with the dynamics of interactions of BATracer players. Concepts - The Team Leader: The Team Leader is, of course, the one who starts the team. He's in charge of, well, everything. All of the activities will be detailed later, but these include hiring and firing drivers, dealing with sponsors, and assigning races to drivers. Now you might think that with all the power, everyone will want to be a team leader... I'm thinking not. It's also a major headache to deal with all the players, so the glory and pain are somewhat balanced. Concepts - The Team Second: Designated to take over from the Leader if the Leader goes inactive. Can be delegated some of the Leaders powers. If the Leader fails to choose a Second, the next-longest tenured driver in the team is the Second. Concepts - The Team: Each team is a semi-static group of players that operates as a team within the BATracer universe. Teams will join specific racing series as a team, which allows any driver from the team (within race/course limits) to race in that series. Assignment to a race is at the discretion of the Team Leader, but a Team Leader who fails to keep his drivers happy will find himself leading a team of one. The Team also has a maximum size, which should probably be around six to eight drivers. Concepts - Joining a Team: Any driver may join a team at any time. Upon joining a team, the driver is given the opportunity to select two racing traits - these traits will be persistent, i.e., cannot be changed except by leaving and joining another team. Concepts - Leaving a Team Any driver may leave a team at any time. There may be consequences for both the team and the driver though. You may not change persistent traits on leaving a team, only when joining your next team. While not on a team, you may not, of course, participate in any team-based racing. Concepts - Persistent Traits: Not only are the traits persistent, but they will improve over time (and races). Each trait starts out 50% as effective as currently, but will improve rapidly to the point where they are 100% as effective as they are now. From that point, they will continue to improve, but at a slower rate, to 150% of current effectiveness. So, while you can switch teams to switch traits, if you change your traits you will lose all the 'experience' built up with that trait and have to start over. Choose wisely. Concepts - Team Reputation: Reputation is the currency of BATracer Teams. Teams accumulate reputation by winning races, and lose reputation by poor performances, especially crashes. Reputation is used to qualify for certain racing series, and also to sign up better sponsors. The idea goes like this - a team signs up drivers and begins racing. If they are successful, their reputation grows, and the team is able to sign up better sponsors (i.e. better equipment) as well as qualify for more competitive series. If they're unsuccessful, their current sponsors will abandon them (forcing them to work with worse equipment), and so on. Concepts - Driver Reputation: In addition to team reputation, drivers will have their own reputation. This should not be confused with how other drivers see you! Rather, this is just a reflection of how the driving world sees you. Win races, and your rep will increase. Keep crashing, and you'll find yourself doing qualification at the local go-kart track. Driver reputation will impact team reputation. If a team signs a driver with high reputation, it will improve the team's reputation somewhat (over a period of time). Similarly, if a driver with high reputation leaves a team, that team's reputation will decline. In the long run, a Team Leader's success will hinge mainly on his ability to keep his good (high reputation) drivers happy. Concepts - Racing Series: Racing Series will work like they do currently, with a few new wrinkles. First of all, there will be 'Restricted Series', which will only be open to teams with a certain amount of reputation. This will allow teams to compete against others in their weight class, so to speak. Then there will be 'Unrestricted' or 'Open' series, where anything goes, and the first time teams can sign up to get crushed by the mighty Generally speaking the rewards (reputation increase or decrease) will be based on the relative reputation of the teams involved. If you beat teams of a similar rep, your own rep will increase at a 'normal' rate. If you want to earn reputation at an accelerated rate, you'll need to beat teams with a higher reputation - which can only happen in an Open Series. Similarly, if you lose to a higher reputation team, you won't lose as much rep as you might against a team of your own level (it's expected, after all). But, if you crash a bunch of cars trying for miracles, the sponsors will NOT BE PLEASED. (Crashing always hurts your rep.) Concepts - Sponsors: Sponsors, as mentioned above, will supply the teams with the gear they need to race. A starting team will have a basic set of sponsors for Tires, Engines, Chassis. I leave it to others to argue the relative ratings of the manufacturers When a team accumulates enough reputation, they can sign up a better sponsor - it's up to the team leader to choose which area of the cars he wants to improve. Should a team lose enough reputation that one of their sponsors choses to abandon them, that choice is made by the sponsor (i.e. randomly), and that aspect of the car will be downgraded. Problems Addressed: I think the addition of the team system will not only improve the overall BATracer experience by giving an additional layer of complexity to the game, but will reduce certain problems that are currently experienced. With the team structure, you can rely on your teammates to be good teammates - anyone that causes trouble will be swiftly shown the door by the team leader. On the other hand, a team leader that acts capriciously will see all his rep fly out the door as his better drivers flock to more stable, better managed teams. Problems caused by over-aggressiveness on the track will also be reduced, as crashing now has more consequence than just being out a race - repeated crashing will cause both the driver and the team rep to decrease, and a team leader will not tolerate absurd recklessness, under pain of losing the team's reputation. Last edited by Brillig : 07-09-2007 at 08:24 PM.

07-10-2007, 01:10 AM	#6
hoosierdude High School JV Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Indiana	Yeah I haven't updated the journal in awhile. That is my fault, and I should have done more. I love the batracer stuff, and maybe in future versions I can include a lot of what they have, and expand on what I am doing now. Sounds like I need to update the journal and then give everyone an update on what is going on with all the games over in our humble area. Brillig, a lot of what you Sir Fozzie have spoken of I am working on. If you would be willing to discuss ideas and thoughts, etc.. I am willing to listen. Fire off an email and let's start the discussion! I love being able to discuss games and the process, and what people are looking for in their games. I can't always satisfy everyone, but I will be willing to listen. tcdale at medleygames dot com __________________ TC Dale SCR Programmer "Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud - Sophocles"

07-09-2007, 08:27 PM	#3
fjvieane Mascot Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: California	http://www.medleygames.com/forums/index.php Here ya go Foz, TC is currently working on one.

07-09-2007, 08:38 PM	#4
Brillig College Prospect Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Mountain View, California	Looks interesting, but it's a little disconcerting that the developer journal hasn't been updated in nine months.

07-09-2007, 09:21 PM	#5
fjvieane Mascot Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: California	Trust me, TC is working very hard on it. Ill shoot him a PM and let him know, or he may just read it here, lol.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)