- 2,085
- United Kingdom
- breeminator
- breeminator
I've seen many people complain about the unrealistic multipliers for fuel and tyre use.
I agree that the current situation is not good. The problem with accelerated use of fuel and tyres is that the pit stops take too long relative to the benefit provided, shifting strategies towards minimising fuel use and tyre wear.
However, I believe the solution is actually quite simple. The time added by pit stops should be reduced by the same multiplier. This might seem unrealistic, but it would actually be more realistic than the current situation.
Suppose in real life you'd be doing a 60 lap race at 90 seconds a lap, and tyres will last 30 laps, and everyone is doing one stop. So the race is 90 minutes, and each stint is 45 minutes. Suppose a pit stop adds 30 seconds. Suppose tyres after 30 laps are running 1.5 seconds a lap slower than when fresh, and if they weren't changed, they'd be running 3 seconds a lap slower at the finish. If you did no stops, the 2nd stint would be around 45 secs slower than if you stopped, so 30 seconds extra for a stop is a no brainer, you're up 15 seconds.
Now suppose everything is 5x, but pit stops remain the same. Now you're doing a 12 lap race, so when you get to half way, you're running 1.5 seconds a lap slower, and if you don't change tyres, the next 6 laps will take a total of around 9 seconds longer. The 30 second pit stop is no longer worth it, you're now better off not stopping. As such, this is unrealistic, if the desire is for the game to create a simulation of a real race, but scaled down in duration. By having a multiplier for tyre use but keeping pit stop duration the same, the simulated race fails to create the same strategy as the real race.
But if the pit stops are also reduced 5x, so instead of taking 30 seconds, they take 6 seconds, the trade off for the 2nd half becomes 9 secs slower due to worn tyres vs 6 seconds to change them, and the pit stop becomes worth it, just like in the real race. The proportion of time saved becomes scaled by the multiplier. In the real race, the pit stop costs 30 seconds to save 45 seconds. In the game, the pit stop would cost 6 seconds to save 9 seconds, both 2/3rds.
So as far as I can see, if the objective is to make shorter races like scaled down (in duration) versions of full length races, having fuel and tyre multipliers is fine but you also need to scale down the pit stop overhead by the same multiplier.
I'm ignoring the issue of having different multipliers for tyre and fuel. If they always had the same multipliers, then the above argument works. If they're different, then a pit stop factor could be chosen to reflect whatever reasoning was behind the choice of the multipliers.
I agree that the current situation is not good. The problem with accelerated use of fuel and tyres is that the pit stops take too long relative to the benefit provided, shifting strategies towards minimising fuel use and tyre wear.
However, I believe the solution is actually quite simple. The time added by pit stops should be reduced by the same multiplier. This might seem unrealistic, but it would actually be more realistic than the current situation.
Suppose in real life you'd be doing a 60 lap race at 90 seconds a lap, and tyres will last 30 laps, and everyone is doing one stop. So the race is 90 minutes, and each stint is 45 minutes. Suppose a pit stop adds 30 seconds. Suppose tyres after 30 laps are running 1.5 seconds a lap slower than when fresh, and if they weren't changed, they'd be running 3 seconds a lap slower at the finish. If you did no stops, the 2nd stint would be around 45 secs slower than if you stopped, so 30 seconds extra for a stop is a no brainer, you're up 15 seconds.
Now suppose everything is 5x, but pit stops remain the same. Now you're doing a 12 lap race, so when you get to half way, you're running 1.5 seconds a lap slower, and if you don't change tyres, the next 6 laps will take a total of around 9 seconds longer. The 30 second pit stop is no longer worth it, you're now better off not stopping. As such, this is unrealistic, if the desire is for the game to create a simulation of a real race, but scaled down in duration. By having a multiplier for tyre use but keeping pit stop duration the same, the simulated race fails to create the same strategy as the real race.
But if the pit stops are also reduced 5x, so instead of taking 30 seconds, they take 6 seconds, the trade off for the 2nd half becomes 9 secs slower due to worn tyres vs 6 seconds to change them, and the pit stop becomes worth it, just like in the real race. The proportion of time saved becomes scaled by the multiplier. In the real race, the pit stop costs 30 seconds to save 45 seconds. In the game, the pit stop would cost 6 seconds to save 9 seconds, both 2/3rds.
So as far as I can see, if the objective is to make shorter races like scaled down (in duration) versions of full length races, having fuel and tyre multipliers is fine but you also need to scale down the pit stop overhead by the same multiplier.
I'm ignoring the issue of having different multipliers for tyre and fuel. If they always had the same multipliers, then the above argument works. If they're different, then a pit stop factor could be chosen to reflect whatever reasoning was behind the choice of the multipliers.
