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Motorsport Manager (PC)

Riso

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FWIW reserve drivers will gain skills faster if you use them in practice.
 

Teut Busnet

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Codex Year of the Donut
I accepted promotion to the Asian Tour after 4 seasons (winning both team and - narrowly - drivers titles the last 2 years) and I have to say it's a pretty big raise in difficulty.

Was 15th and 20th after qualifying, but lucked my way on to the podium because 4 guys crashed and everybody else must have had massive technical problems.:)

Those will most likely be my only point this season though, because they use the old 10-6-4-3-2-1 system... .:?
 

SmartCheetah

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You will soon learn that qualifying sessions suck. Well, with one of the latest patches it's not that bad as you can automate it, but before it it was such a fucking time-sink if you wanted to start in a good position.
Currently i tend to simulate them or just use "automatic" option. Depends on the race and how much I care about winning it/getting pole-position.
 

Burning Bridges

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Yeah, I also find that I'm always worse in qualification than in the race.

The problem with simulating was that I already knew at which exact spot my drivers would finish, the game always puts them at the same spot every time. Also I will lose some money from the sponsor bonus if I qualify low.
 

Burning Bridges

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The first season was respectable, 5th place and 20 points which under the 1989 rules is quite a lot.

At the end of the seasons our only top driver, the mischievous Piquet left, and finding a replacement for him turned out to be a huge problem because wages have almost doubled it seems. Nobody wanted to drive for us for under 1 million, top drivers not even for under 1.5 million.

mm2017-03-3117-06-17-56.jpg


Fortunately I had saved a lot of money from my discipline to stick with a pay driver. After the season was over, I had a lot of money left and invested heavily in the headquarters and build practically everything simultaneously.

It is currently one of the greatest constructions sites in all of Great Britain.

mm2017-03-3116-49-45-55.jpg


But getting new drivers for my second season was incredibly hard, I was in negotiations with Berger and Piquet and even Prost, both turned me down in spite of insane wage offers. I am just glad that I built the scouting facility so I could eventually sign Martini. He seems to be a pretty decent catch, has both the team player / nice guy +15 and stable trait, and decent stats. And he costs about the same as the previous number 1 driver which puts me in a very good financial position for the next 2 years.

I also hired two talents, Schumacher and Barricello in the hope that I can keep one of the two. One thing I noticed is that there seems to be something wrong with Schumachers improvement rate as it is much lower than both teammates. Even with bonus he gets only 0.5% per week and I will probably have to dump him. All in all 1 million just to get rid of him withou 1 race, what a costly failure :)

Even worse, Barricelo's improvement rate (which is a spectacular 3%) gets halved when he is promoted. Is it possible drivers get more improvement per week as reserve driver? that would be really odd.

mm2017-03-3116-49-56-28.jpg


Anyway, here is the new Lotus (still with Schumacher listed). I gave it a green paint job, and put a lot of improvement in it. Hopefully it will be able to get to the podium a few times.

But since I have very low financial expense for my drivers, the pressure is low.

mm2017-03-3117-33-38-48.jpg


I actually did it :lol: I fired Schumacher before the first race of the season, and replaced him with Mika Hakkinen.

I even paid a fine of 750,000$ to get rid of Schumacher. What a dissappointment.

In scouting when you move the mouse over one of the abilities you see an age related improvmement rate, and this seems to fluctuate wildly between drivers. Hakkinen has 2.78% and Schumacher had 0.45%. There was simply now way I could hold such a sluggish learner.

Ok, so one important hidden stat discovered. This is also very important because if a driver gets past 40 the stats actually decrease.

mm2017-03-3117-41-54-14.jpg


:lol:

Michael, you had your chance in the pre season period, where you did not improve. Now pack your bags, take your 1 million $ and GTFO from our premises. We don't need you no more.
 
Last edited:

Riso

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I think you have just shown me the reasoning behind the AI decisions regarding driver signings.
 

Burning Bridges

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Can you be more specific? All I could establish is that the improvement rate varies greatly from driver to driver, between a factor of 300% and it is not only age (some older drivers have much better rates than much younger drivers).

I actually noticed this when i saw that Schumacher and Hakkinen had both started with 2 stars but Hakkinen had improved to 2.5 within 1 season, so his progress is much better even when he was unemployed.

And the second thing is that the rate is almost halved in the main driver slot, compared to the reserve driver. Hakkinen went from 2.78% to 1.68% after I hired him, and the same happened with Schumacher and Baricchelo (I tried only with the second slot).
 

Teut Busnet

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You will soon learn that qualifying sessions suck. Well, with one of the latest patches it's not that bad as you can automate it, but before it it was such a fucking time-sink if you wanted to start in a good position.
Currently i tend to simulate them or just use "automatic" option. Depends on the race and how much I care about winning it/getting pole-position.

Yeah, I don't bother with it either - unless I couldn't get over 90% configuration, then I keep tinkering with my setup.

I guess they wanted to make it more interactive, so they created the minigame - meh. It's ok if you don't have to play it.

They also decided that in my next season only the first 5 drivers will get points, despite my saved up 4 votes against it, wich doesn't make a lick of sense. Why would the majority of teams want that?
 

Burning Bridges

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That was the rule in the exciting years of Formula 1. Precisely it was 10 - 6 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
The added twist was that even getting 1 point was a badge of honor for weaker teams. Often teams finished a season with 0 points, so a single point could mean a lot (as in my Lotus job I have to get fifth best team and therefore only need to snatch a point here or there).
 

Burning Bridges

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mm2017-03-3121-35-50-69.jpg


First race of the new season and oh man, my preparation has paid off, Martini was leading until last the two rounds when mechanical when problems got him back to place 3. This is no problem though, as the team is operating way above expectiations.

I am so glad I replaced this dud Schumacher. Hakkinen is a sweet sex machine. He already raised eyebrows several times when he was tied with Martini - despite having the 2nd, inferior car - in qualification and during the early part of the race. At pitstop 1 I gave him an extended pitstop to fix damage. At the end he still got into the points in his very first race, sensational.

mm2017-03-3121-38-46-59.jpg


The only sad problem is that Barricchelo may not see the cockpit in the next 2 seasons. Only at the end of his 2 year contract there is another good chance and the way things go, he will probably hold a grudge against us because we paid him so little (50,000 per race). But that's not our fault, as he was delighted at the time.

But right ow, with two guys that both have the "nice guy" and "teamplayer" stat, morale is at a solid 100%. Marketing is also high, the drivers are improving rapidly and the car is competitive .. can anything go wrong this season?
 
Last edited:

Teut Busnet

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That was the rule in the exciting years of Formula 1. Precisely it was 10 - 6 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
The added twist was that even getting 1 point was a badge of honor for weaker teams. Often teams finished a season with 0 points, so a single point could mean a lot (as in my Lotus job I have to get fifth best team and therefore only need to snatch a point here or there).

I know 10-6-4-3-2-1 was old F1 System - that's how it it THIS season.

But they changed it again, so next Season it will be only 8 points for a win, then 6-4-2-1 IIRC. So only 5 drivers will get points.

Edit: Barrichello a 5 star talent?
 

Burning Bridges

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Edit: Barrichello a 5 star talent?

Barricchelo (as he is in the mod):

Very young (18 years)
Learns very fast
Good feedback especially for his age, so he does the practice sessions right now
Has the "nice guy" and "teamplayer" ie he adds 15 morale across the board (team mate, mechanic, manager)
Potential: 4.5 stars, the same as Schumacher / Hakkinen

I think he is absolutely one of the best options, especially because of the morale boosting effect. Though Schumacher and Hakkinen have better driving related bonuses, they are worthless on the reserve position because they add nothing to other drivers. The "Wet weather king" of Schumacher would be amazing (+2 across the board in wet weather) but with his learning problems he is imo a dud.

Concerning marketing, all 3 are very good (Schum 95, Hakk 90, Barric 75). Which is imo crucial, a lot of good guys have really bad marketing potential.

From what I saw in the first 2 races, Hakkinen is the best rookie driver I have seen so far. He consistently performed within the top 10, even at the beginning of his career, with just 2.5 stars out of 4.5, and hampered by the less reliable #2 car.

The only real 5 star driver in the mod I have seen is Senna. But drivers seem to develop past their maximum potential and I think Prost, Berger, Piquet have almost 5 stars by now. For some reason Alain Prost is currently unemployed :lol: He lost his seat to Nelson Piquet who previously drove for me. But those guys are all too greedy, hiring one of the 4.5 - 5 stars drivers costs a fortune.

mm2017-04-0100-25-04-41.jpg


Results of the first two races have been absolutely spectacular for Lotus.

Martini is even on a shared first place in the drivers championship with Patrese and Piquet. Incredible for a team that is expected to become 5th, and for a guy who had been previously driving for Minardi, at the absolute bottom of the pack.

Maybe I grossly undersold the team with place 5, but on the other hand there is no need to fly too high. I will take this one goal after another, and the first goal is overtaking Benetton to become number 4. Currently we are on a high, but the season has just started and I don't trust this yet. Still, great fun to finally see everything come together.
 

Riso

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Can you be more specific? All I could establish is that the improvement rate varies greatly from driver to driver, between a factor of 300% and it is not only age (some older drivers have much better rates than much younger drivers).

You hire drivers with lots of potential, are unhappy they don't perform magic and then waste money firing them again.
 

Burning Bridges

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If a drivers weekly improvement rate is 1/3 of another he needs 3 seasons to make the same progress. Just because there is a great name like Schumacher on him does not mean that he magically performs in the mod.

1 million contract fine is not a lot of money in this game, I waste much more for every race that I could run a better driver. With only 3 slots keeping a driver without potential is throwing good money after bad.
 

Burning Bridges

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All is good, I have talked to Diesel98 and Schumachers improvement rate will be adjusted.
 

Burning Bridges

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mm2017-04-0119-23-17-06.jpg


I am now using this Ferrari F1-88 carshape, looks pretty nice though the sponsor dont show up very well. Also, it only shows up in Formula 1.

mm2017-04-0212-43-27-65.jpg


The zoom mod here works pretty well too: https://steamcommunity.com/app/415200/discussions/0/152393186503303525/

I would just make sure to use JSGME, because it replaces a dll and that may not go well with patches. But as long as you have the original dll, there is no risk with using this.
 

Burning Bridges

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mm2017-04-0215-12-47-52.jpg


The new car shape changed a few things, so I've been experimenting with new team colors as well.

mm2017-04-0215-16-15-09.jpg


The season is going well, though I had to invest into a better weather forecasting station. Weather cost me several possible victories, because I always seemed to need more stops than the competition ot have a very bad had with wet tyre changes.

Signing Mika Hakkinen was a great stroke, even though his skill is just at 60% of his potential, he is already consistently driving among the top 10. At this rate he will be a full status driver already after 1 season. /right now he still receives somewhat less advanced material)
 

Burning Bridges

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Yeah, I really had a streak of such weird dry/rain races. 3 laps rain, 4 laps dry, etc, almost all races were decided by rain.

I could maybe have handled this better by using more fuel, but I always brought just minimal fuel (8-9 laps) would be right, because I hoped the weather would change, then it did change and I came into the pits. And then it changed again and again etc and I always lost out somehow :lol:

That means you only benefit from switching at the start of a weather change if it is longer than a few laps. But if you come in at the exactly perfect time and then the weather changes again after 3 laps you may be better off without changing at all :lol:

I got my first Pole Position but that was also ... because of tyres :lol:
 

Burning Bridges

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That was the rule in the exciting years of Formula 1. Precisely it was 10 - 6 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
The added twist was that even getting 1 point was a badge of honor for weaker teams. Often teams finished a season with 0 points, so a single point could mean a lot (as in my Lotus job I have to get fifth best team and therefore only need to snatch a point here or there).

I know 10-6-4-3-2-1 was old F1 System - that's how it it THIS season.

But they changed it again, so next Season it will be only 8 points for a win, then 6-4-2-1 IIRC. So only 5 drivers will get points.

Edit: Barrichello a 5 star talent?

This now happened to me, too :salute: Stupid rule, especially because victory dont count as much for the WDC, its more about collecting points from 1-5.
But it seems this always gets approved, even teams with 0 points (Ligier) voted for it.
 

Teut Busnet

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Yeah, should have taken the "Politician" background to prevent this nonsense, I took "Driver", but my guys would have had high morale anyway.

I checked, because I couldn't believe any series ever had such a stupid system, but apparently it was used in F1 from 1950-1959 (+1 for fastest lap).

Can't imagine any player ever voting for it - either you go for the championship or you're fighting to scrape together some points in midfield.
 

Burning Bridges

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I would still stick with ex-driver, it has important advantages. Especially the better drivers feedback. And though that becomes somewhat irrelevant if you use the same setup from last year, the cars and conditions change a bit from season to season. And you need it to unlock the bonuses during practice. So a total of 2 * +3 to feedback is quite important in my opinion (not even talking about the learning bonus).
 

Riso

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I was playing a few long races and they change the dynamic a bit with reliability and race strategy becoming more important but still isn't all that impactful.

On another note, I tried 2D mode and it seems actually slower simulating the race than 3D?
 

SmartCheetah

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Hm, using same setup from the last year race actually works? I'm curious because one youtube guy almost always got 3x perfects on his drivers. I've achieved it once maybe?
 

Riso

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That's his character name and "special power".

Hm, using same setup from the last year race actually works? I'm curious because one youtube guy almost always got 3x perfects on his drivers. I've achieved it once maybe?

It will move a few % based on parts and driver but on the whole it works.
 

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