Future Event Ideas

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Alan_G

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Bugman_27
First of all, we don't know what difference the new patch will make. So the point of this topic is not to get a definitive plan for a future event. But I still think it's worth everyone exchanging ideas now to see what people are interested in, not interested in, what might work and not work etc.

I was a bit reluctant to start this kind of discussion until now, as I thought Mario may be thinking of another ROC event soon, and got the feeling he enjoyed leading these events. But this evening he mentioned that it's a lot of work, and too much of a commitment at the moment for another one (...or said something along those lines!). So maybe there's an opportunity to bring about a new event in the near future.

The ROC is great; a good solution given the lag problems from FC and SCC, and I'd be interested in another one. Additionally, Derek suggested in another thread about doing some kind of league. I've been thinking the same kind of thing for a while.

A first idea I had was a Time-Trial league. Naturally this has some pros and cons. It's good because it allows people to drive in their own time. There would be no collision problems. It's a great way of really getting to know circuits/car setups (rather than just unmotivating private practice with no goal at the end), which may compliment actual races on particular circuits.

Some negatives of this idea: Maybe people are not so interested in what is effectively and offline event. Derek mentioned that it may be the same people at the top all the time (although the same could be true for races). If the new patch doesn't address the time-trial bug and wipe the leaderboards, a fair event is impossible in my opinion. I think the main problem with this idea is down to the popularity of SCC. If you look at the leaderboards in GT5P, they're so closely matched because of the popularity/competitiveness, which leads to more closely matched times, which leads to an increased chance of not always having the same order on leaderboard positions. What does anyone else think?

Another idea is similar to Jeff's 'Old Timer' events. The idea would be to capture more of a real-life championship format - perhaps a sprint (9 laps or so) and feature at 20 laps, or even two 20 lap races. The main thing is it would be with racing cars - slick tyres, aero - 348/355/430 Challenge cars, 360GT, 550GT, DB9 etc. It could be a championship of just one car across a few rounds, or it could be a new car for each round. This idea is well open for expansion!

A big issue is collisions. Racing with collisions off does take away a lot of the soul of racing. But I've had so many very enjoyable races with collisions off, and I would be open to racing with them off. In some ways it may seem like a time trial, but the big difference is that in a time trial you can throw it off the road, and all you have to do is start a new lap. In a race, it's always a race and losing time can have the same consequences as with collisions on.

So anyone else have any thoughts?
 
Not being one of the faster guys out there, (and with all respect to Mario) I was never a big fan of the ROC events. Because there are some seriously quick sim racers out there and inevitably, I know I'll be eliminated in the first 3 rounds. (3rd round elimination being optimistic). It's fun to practice for the continuing events anyway and just compare lap times and dice it out with those still in contention. But for all intents and purposes, it becomes a spectator sport once you're out. And perhaps a bit boring as a result.

I do like the idea of real life championship format. Before I started the Historic events, my intention was actually to do a real life Ferrari Challenge series, including qualifying and then race over a series of weekends. I opted out of this and decided to run the classic races as a series of one offs because (1) I know it's difficult for some people to commit to a series week after week (myself being one of them) (2) I wanted to run the first few events in a much more relaxed and 'open' atmosphere, with open lobbies and free flowing participation. (3) I wanted to show everybody that there's more to this game than the DB9R and that some of these old cars were quite entertaining, and if anything, more conducive to close racing.

But I'd like to go back to this idea at some point. My idea was to look at the real Ferrari Challenge schedules and pick and choose the tracks that are in the game in order to run a series. We could use the 348/355/430 Challenge cars. And maybe throw the 360GT or 430GT2 or even 430 Scuderia in there as well as time went by. But we'd do a whole season of 5-7 race weekends with each car. We could run a 2-3 lap qualifying with collisions off (as was done in the ROC) to set the grid order. And then the race would be run for 20 laps, about an appropriate race length for a real FC race. My only worry is that it would make the races rather boring and processional as the faster guys will sail off into the distance and most people will settle into an order where they'll never see anybody after the first few laps. I suppose it could be done reverse grid order. A 20 lap race should be more than adequate for the faster guys to work their way to the front.

But I have to say, I really do not like racing with collisions turned off. I think it completely changes the nature of the racing and lines people take. No matter how you try to avoid it, eventually people stop caring that there's a car in front of them and will just drive through you on the optimal line for a corner. At that point, you might as well no longer even be racing other people online. You're just running time trial laps. The new patch should be out in a few weeks and I'm hopeful they've managed to address the collision issues to the point where we can safely race each other without having the cars throw us into a wall or shoot backwards like a Torpedo and knock us off the road.
 
I there you guys:tup:
I just want to brig up some points off discution to this brainstorm as i agree with most of the things that were said :

1st: collisions on/off: If you notice i always open my lobbys with collisions off cause when you open a public lobby anyone can join and to prevent kubika and his species to spoil a race it's the only option.But in these kind of events people who are racing know each other and might the patch sort out those random lag/contact between cars problem i think collisions on (with or without penalty) won't be a problem as if you are bumped you know it wasn't on purpose(some times you break to late and can't avoid contact) and everybody knows contact between cars only slows you down so they only hurt no gain,and probably makes racing more interesting speccialy to the fastest guys on the pack that have to redraw new racing lines and overtaking points and will have less boring and more sweat and rewarding victories.
2nd: format:Knockout or league mode: i've to agree with jeff in this point,tought i had a good time in ROC it was more a spectator sport to me(just got GTP_Theewar-placed 4th in the competition cheers m8:)- in the very first round and despite all the trainning obviously got booted out.And i saw slower racers than me qualified to next round only because they were luckyer in the pairings or their pair quitted and qualified without even racing...and thats very frustrating.
I know despite off the format chosen faster guys will always win and the 1st four places will probably be the same but will give the non top driver like me to have no less interesting battles for the 5th ,6th 7th, places and maybe great strugles no to be the last that keeps competion on to every driver involved-just happens in real life,no?
But i also know that lag problems imposed both on fc and scc(i'm being victim week after week of this problem) the Roc format which was nice an could even co-habit ,like alan noticed, with a league format competition(like in soccer league and cups event do) but only if dave and is dev m8s allows us that pleasure by sorting out all online bugs that screw up the game at this moment.💡💡💡

uff!!! that is all for now:drool:
 
Hi!

I rather like the idea of a race series. Besides the cars Jeff mentioned also others could be considered in my opinion, like the F50GT, the FXX and the 599XX.

A full calendar season would be great in my opinion. However, most likely, each of us would miss a couple of the race-weekends due to our real life commitements and other unexpected circumstances that may occur. Considering this, and in order to get things most fair as possible, I believe that a calendar must be scheduled in advance - sort of as a Open GT Championship, where you know inadvance, the dates, time, location (lobby), and if you want (or can) show up with your car. If you cannot... that's too bad but that how it is.

I know this might seem unfair at first glance, but I believe it is the only way to get things moving otherwise a 7 weekend season would become a full year in order to get dates that suit everyone to be available at the same time.

I also believe, and accordingly to much more experienced opinions as Mario's and the ones here posted, that this is a stressful event to be on a sole person's shoulders. Therefore, I propose that everyone of us would be a part the entity that would get things rolling.

My proposal:idea::

We should organize some kind of association between us that would be responsible for, democratically, setting up the general rules for such a Champioship series and for organizing it.

This "S.C.C.D.A"-thing (Supercar Challenge Drivers Association) would pre-schedule a calendar of available dates for the races that would be part of the Championship. Once those dates are fixed between us in advance, they shall not be changed under any circumstance. If you are able to compete, great! If you're not, too bad!

To make things "flowing", I think that we should aim for an "all-consecutive" racing weekends calendar (if we optate for a 7 race championship, this would be done in 7 weeks). Exceptions would be whenever the calendar collides with world-wide significant holiday seasons, like Christmas for example.

The time for the championship races should be the one when most frequently the majority of players are likely to be online, or are more likely to be available at the time. From the Classic event experience, I believe that Sunday's, between 7pm and 8pm GMT would be a good choice.

This would set, as an example for easier understanding, a calendar similar to the following, of a 7-race Championship, if it was set to begin next weekend:

Race 1: Sunday, 7p.m., 22th November
Race 2: Sunday, 7p.m., 29th November
Race 3: Sunday, 7p.m., 6th December
Race 4: Sunday, 7p.m., 13th December
Race 5: Sunday, 7p.m., 20th December
Race 6: Sunday, 7p.m., 10th January
Race 7: Sunday, 7p.m., 20th January



The tracks
The S.C.C.D.A. would make a poll with all the tracks from SCC to vote (except the oval courses, due to the more severe lag issues experienced there, and because of the nature of the championship itself - a GT Series), where all are welcomed to vote on their favourite track. The 7 more voted tracks would be the official S.C.C.D.A. circuits for (all) GT Open Championships.

I suggest this poll, as I find it the most 'democratic' way of getting everyone agreeing on the selection, because hardly no-one would be satisfied with the track choices and, remember, this would be an Association where we all are equal, in duties and rights. My selection would be, as an example, Mugello, Misano, Silverstone GP, Hockenheim, Nurburgring, Spa and Monza, and I'm sure many of you would include in your pick others like Riviera, Mont-tremblant, VIR, etc.

So, voting for the tracks to be included in the Championship seems to be the fairest way of getting everyone reasonably satisfied and to accept the majority's choice.


Qualification
Grid positions could be determined by a 2-3 lap qualifying with collisions off to set the grid order.

The Cars
As for the tracks, I'd suggest a poll to be held during the last week of the precedent event. The more voted car would be elected for the subsequent championship. For the first event, the car poll would be held simultaneously to the track poll.

Lobby
Since everyone of us also have a live beside SCC, and not to make anyone responsible before the others, I suggest that the lobbies would be opened by the person who would be at the moment on top position in the championship table. If his connection isn't reliable enough, or in the event he miss the subsequent event, the "responsability" would be to the driver in 2nd position, and so on, if necessary. For the first race, since we would all be in the same position, we would select at the time someone to host it.

Lap times and results
We could go to ways in this: one if we all trust each other :grumpy:, and other if we don't :sly:. 1) everyone is responsible for taking note of their final position, total race time, penalties, and fastest lap. 2) everyone is responsible for taking note of the same info of the driver who finished immediatly above of his own position (5th registers 4th, 4th registers 3rd, and so on. The 1st would obviously register the last one).


This is merely a "brainstorm" out of my mind. Discuss it, criticise it, spit on it, shoot me, whatever... let's just get those minds thinking about what can we do!
 
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Alan_G
I was a bit reluctant to start this kind of discussion until now, as I thought Mario may be thinking of another ROC event soon, and got the feeling he enjoyed leading these events. But this evening he mentioned that it's a lot of work, and too much of a commitment at the moment for another one (...or said something along those lines!). So maybe there's an opportunity to bring about a new event in the near future.
Click to expand...

Alan, about a ROC Event, I plan to do another but only in 2010 (let's leave the current champion enjoy his crown for a while ;) )

About a "Online Event" that envolves lobbies (like the "old Timer" one) what I said is pretty much what you wrote. It's a big commitment to accept the organizational duties for that and I'm simply not in a position to do it. For several unimportant reasons I'm never sure what weekends I'll be at home and what weekends I will be away.

Anyway, for anyone interested, last year I did a lot of work around the concept of a "Online Event" that would last at least 22 weeks (because it was one weekend per car in FC). And, with the help of the dedicated FC online crew, we even did two "pre-season" tests ( not very humble title to those events, we were young and daring at the time :lol: )

I gladly offer that "concept" and all the work put into it to the SCC community. If anyone finds it interesting and is willing to organize something similar in SCC, please do it. :)

So, here goes, in these 3 threads are the blood, sweat and tears of the entire FC online community trying to organize a full-blown championship that would last almost one year. This concept was later abandoned (by me) in favour of ROC, in favour of jjaisli's Old Timer Events and in favour of Biggles' "FC Ladder Championship" ...


https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=112513 - FC Online Event (the idea, main discussion thread)

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=113044 - FC Online Event - Pre Season test #1

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=113506 - FC Online Event - Pre-Season Test #2
 
Personally, I wouldn't be too interested in a year-long championship as I can never be sure what I'll be doing beyond a couple of months time; a new game could be released, GT5 could be good for pad users, etc. I think the same may be true for most people. So as for duration, no more than 2 or 3 months is probably best, in my opinion. If the championship is too long you may find some people falling out in later stages, and others joining in a bit later (joining late is not a problem. But the new entrants may prefer a new championship in the near future to get a clean run at it). And if the championship did go on quite long, people who cannot commit to it as much will be at more of a disadvantage.

Personally I would prefer the same car across the whole championship. I like the idea of trying to capture more of a real-life championship - same car, 6+ circuits, 2 races per round/raceday, wide points distribution. The 348 or 355 Challenge cars are always in my mind for this.

I agree with Bullie that the championship specification should be completed in advance of the first round.

It would be good for the responsibilities to be distributed over a number of users. I don't see a huge problem for this. Personally, I spend a lot of time on this forum, have a lot of free time to host a lobby, and don't mind hosting a lobby as it's really very little trouble for me. With connection and availability issues, it would be good for uesrs to share responsibilities.

Issues of post-race results - It would be best for at least two people to be nominated to take a photograph (or two if necessary to scroll down the results) of the results screen. I think this kind of idea is better, rather than relying on each individual making a note of a particular result; the problem with this is that there's no backup if a couple of users forget to make note.
 
Alan_G
Issues of post-race results - It would be best for at least two people to be nominated to take a photograph (or two if necessary to scroll down the results) of the results screen. I think this kind of idea is better, rather than relying on each individual making a note of a particular result; the problem with this is that there's no backup if a couple of users forget to make note.
Click to expand...

I agree with your suggestion which is undoubtely better than my proposal - never thought of it since I'm a complete 0 about these things.
 
I hope you'll at least join us for the 330 P4 event this Sunday jasonb! (3:00 pm your time).
 
The event details are here: https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=122525

Get some practice in with this car and on these tracks. Send me a friend request if you like but you don't have to. Just be on line around 10 minutes before the race starts and I'll send you an invite. This time, we're doing things in a private lobby to avoid punters.
 
jjaisli
The event details are here: https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=122525

Get some practice in with this car and on these tracks. Send me a friend request if you like but you don't have to. Just be on line around 10 minutes before the race starts and I'll send you an invite. This time, we're doing things in a private lobby to avoid punters.
Click to expand...

I'll send you a friend request.

So were doing all 5 races in one sitting?
 
Nice! That's a lot of racing. :)

The only thing i won't like is the racing line being off. so far since i'm new to the game and new to all the tracks i kind of rely on the racing line to help me with my braking points. I don't follow the racing line religiously because i quickly realized the line in this game is not always the quickest way around the tracks, i just use it to help me with braking points.

so if i end up braking early in front of somebody or to late and tap somebody from behind i apologize ahead of time.
 
The rule of thumb is, if you nerf somebody off, pull to the side and let them retake the position. They'll understand it wasn't intentional.
 
jjaisli
The rule of thumb is, if you nerf somebody off, pull to the side and let them retake the position. They'll understand it wasn't intentional.
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I was actually in a group of people playing NFS Shift. Whenever there was an incident we'd call caution and everybody would regroup in the position they were in before the collision happened. Everybody was required to have a headset and use it. It actually worked out very well. So i know the importance of clean racing. If i do happen to cause anything i do apologize. I will learn those tracks the best i can before Sunday. I know Spa and Mt Tremblont pretty well, and i will work on Riviera and the Ring. I actually just bought the F330 P4 yesterday and so far i love it. It's a great car with pretty predictable handling.

I'm looking forward to it. Thanks!
 
Jason, with SCC things are a litle trickier because - at least until this is patched - lag creates very odd situations where you see your greatest friend pushing you off and keeping at it until you are stopped into a wall.

So, you must really TRUST the people you are racing to be clean drivers.
 
Yeah, REALLY trust them. Even ones named "Hun" ;)


See around the 1min 5 sec mark. :ouch:

Fortunately we know Eutechnyx is working on a patch that should go a long way to eliminating this problem.
 
Sorry, but everytime I see what happens at 1:05 and what keeps happening until the dust settles (about 1:17) I can't help myself from laughing just trying to imagine your face at the time :lol: :lol: :lol:

PS - Yeah, Jason, I'm known around here as the guy who reinvented the noble art of "brake-checking" and can actually shoot backwards ... not a gun, but the car itself! :lol:
 
Hi Guys chilli here.

Your ideas are great. Seem like we are all from different countries. why dont we make a qualfactions rounds and like a world cup event. with different cars. so in order to be a part of it the person must enter and qualify for the event. then we can see which country has the top racing drivers and they will be declared the world champions. if we have loads of poeple wanting to enter they must qualify for the event. then you can say only 2 our 4 people from each country go through to the rounds. if we have 4 groups and then the 2 top people from each group go to the quarters then semis then finals like a world cup of on-line racing. so also like Example that country can not even enter if they don't qualify, so if i finish in 3rd position in the round events i our team ZA is out?? so this put more execitment into the whole compitetion. it will also make the poeple from that country become like partners but they can face each other in the final. this could also involve a lot of red tape, i am keen for anything as well as long as we can all have fun and give it our all. i have 4 za friends that would like to enter and i know donlimpo13 and his friends would enter from spain they are to fast. lets see who like this idear, as Alan said we will still have to see what happens with the patch..

Thank you..
ChilledAnt46 :sly::sly:💡
 
We did a few classic 348 Challenge races this evening, and as collisions were on, it reminded me of this thread. In a 7 lap race at Silverstone National, most of the field lapped well within 1 second of each other, and a couple of us commented that it would be great for a events or a league. With the new patch released a while ago, I have to bring back this topic.

One of the main reasons it would be good to get this moving soon is that the 348C is a very drivable car, and it narrows the skill variance between drivers. I think it gives everybody a chance to put in a strong performance.

I would like to get some ideas together for this. Here are some points I am thinking about:

- 348 Challenge
- Default setups
- Two races per event (per "race weekend")
- Each race 20 laps (or maybe 15)
- Race 1 grid; qualifying session
- Race 2 grid; reverse race 1 results
- Both races on same circuit

As several people have mentioned earlier in this thread, a 'season' using just one car would be preferable. Also, I would prefer default setups as it would help closer racing, and also it would keep those with lots of practice time possibly being at an advantage with a good setup. Generally, I like the idea of trying to capture a real-life format; two races per day, same circuit, reverse grid for second race etc. (although default setups goes against thing, I still prefer default).

A problem is making dates and things suitable for everybody to attend each race. So an idea I have for this is, at the end of the season, to eliminate maybe the 2 worst races (lowest finishing position) for each person. This way everybody could afford to miss a couple of events.

I think it's a good idea if participants can be polled to comprise the circuits to be used.

When should this start? Well, it could wait until JJ concludes the Old Timer series, or it could fill in weekends in between. Some may think this is too much. But also I feel that most people are available and would do it in between the Old Timer events. Throughout the week and especially weekends, I see all the GTP and other regular users. A bit of extra activity really would not go amiss in SCC. People can share their thoughts on this.
 
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I work very unsocial hours but would be hugely interested in this, i love the 348C.

However, could we not race two different circuits per weekend for more variety?
 
Totally agree Alan, i even think Jeff was planning to make a racing series for this car...i only like to add your suggestions the 15 lap per race because i think 20 are very long and exausting races and i'm not even in a wheel ,but i think due to FFB probably should be very demanding for wheelers making 2 twenty lap races one after the other...but thats just my two cents...💡
 
danjama
However, could we not race two different circuits per weekend for more variety?
Click to expand...

Yes, we could do this. We can do anything!

Two different circuits is good for variety. Also it gives a better chance to cover more circuits in the season.

On the other hand, if you have a bad race, it gives another chance to do better on the same circuit. It means people will be better prepared for the circuit (bullet proof braking points etc.), and thus more competitive racing. And it's more akin to a real life format.

Actually the point about being better prepared is a huge one. I think most collisions occur in online races because of variance in knowledge of the circuit, braking points, lines etc. Having just a single circuit to prepare for would really tighten up the field and could produce some great races.
 
i am in,, was thinking between old timer events,, will come on Alan get the show on the road,, default setups yes, how about 1, 20 lapper, and a short sprint race 15 laps reverse grid,, like gp2 i guess,, this game needs pit stops i feel badly just to throw a spanner in the works i guess,,
 
hi guys
It sounds like a good idea,but if it's on sundays between old timer event at the same time,I'll cant make it.But i'll be interested to take part.I think 15-20 laps is to long as we saw in last event.People was driving alone too much.Maby 3x9 laps with qual. first and reverse position.For me it's all about the close fights and not the final position.I think the cars surgested are great cars for close battle,so no argue there.
 
a championship with a car that requiers absolutely no skill to drive, it culd leed to interesting results, i culd fall a sleep after the qualy ! :)

i suggests: 5lap qualy 2x 10Laps on the same track.
grid order culd be as discused above.
i wold be strictly against 16p lobbys.
it wold be beter to use 2wo 8p lobbys if necessary.
we culd use coms, what i find wery important in a online race
and the lag wold be almoust eliminated,
this solution wold also eliminated conection problems,
as we wold have the incomparable effectively separated!

P.S.
im sure if assists wer allowed with this car the field wold run within 1/1000 sec
not like without assists yesterday laptimes wer more or les within 1sec.
 
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Well, that's true. After I finished up with the 'classic' series, my intention was to run the Ferrari Challenge Series.

348 Challenge
355 Challenge
430 Challenge
430 Scuderia
F50
FXX

And I was going to try and run it in a format of:
- 2 laps Qualifying
- 5 lap Sprint Race
- 20 lap feature race, reverse grid

(subject to change) ;)

But honestly, don't let it stop anybody from organizing their own events. As it is, I've been short on time lately and really haven't had sufficient time to practice for the last two events. So I"m not even sure when this will come to light.
 
Hi guys,

Jeff I think that there's no sense in having people organizing separeted events.

I'd suggest that we took both Alan's initial suggestions and your intention on running the 'Challenge' Series, and gather up efforts organizing a single event.

I like the idea of having two races on the same circuit, sprint+feature. Just would like though for 10 + 20 laps, as I feel 5 quite short (I would even prefer a 15+20 lap event).

Nevertheless, here's my proposal:

1) Set a poll for voting for 7 tracks on which the Series would be held (I'll open it)

2) Car selection
we can do a similar poll for vote, though I feel that Jeff's selection is perfect, on that precise order (1st series 348 challenge, 2nd series 355 challenge, so on...)

3) Set the series calendar in advance.
We could do it in a 7 weeks straight, or every 15 days. I'd go for the straight 7 week.
4) Define the point system.
I'd go for a system that would give points from 1st to 16th + 1 extra for the fastest lap

5) Set the general rules
Open to debate and suggestions. However in order to avoid it to be a never-ending discussion, I would propose that we indicate 2 people of after a pre-established period to hear some of the proposals, they would be responsible to gather what would be good and pertinent and established a rules guide. Considering their experience on held such events, I'd propose Jeff and Mario to be those two persons (just to collect and produce a rules guide for the Challenge event.)

Hosting and supporting the event
As I've previously stated, I feel it is unfair to bear in a sole person's shoulders the full responsability of being in charge of the hole thing. Alan, at the time, volunteered to be responsible for hosting the events, so if is availability still is valid 👍 we would do it that way. However, a substitute host should be indicated in the eventuality of him not being available in a particular date.

Also, taking Alan's suggestion made previously, two persons should be nominated to be responsible for taking screenshots (photos) of the results (qualy+ race 1+ race 2). I do volunteer to be one of them.

I also do volunteer to elaborate the event's and series point table, that would be uploaded on the Series specific thread.

Give me your thoughts about this...
 

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