As 1.16 is going to have an overhaul of the racing system I figured I'd start a list of what I'd like to see in it.
I wont be able to get everything written down right now so what I'll do is edit the op with new entry's to keep them all in one place but put a new post at the end of the threat when I add to it so it comes up as an unread post so peeps know I've changed it.
The first two are absolute must haves in my mind, everything else is a want.
1) The ability to enter multiple teams in each race. Perhaps how many you can enter could be dependant on the race, some might be unlimited whilst others might only allow 1 or 2 entry's per marque. I imagine you'd get full reputation gain for the team that did the best that year then 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 etc etc for each team after that.
2) If you own multiple marques you should be able to enter teams for each of them, or only one of them if you wish (the limitation above should be per marque, so if I own 4 marques and I want to enter a race with a 4 team per marque limit I should be able to enter 16 teams in total). The reputation should go to the marque that's actually racing. I think the most sensible way to do this is to have the game check the marque of the vehicle you're entering. Saves the need to find space for another UI component and stops people using a car made by marque x to race for marque y.
3) The minimum cost for entering a race should be more than 0. The minimum cost should probably vary from race to race but the slider should go from 25-100(car), 50-100(engine) or 75-100(no component) rather than 0-100. It makes no sense that you can enter a race for $5000 when others are paying $100,000 for the same race.
4) Each team you enter uses 1-4 vehicles per year (depending on the race) taken from the factory closest to the country the race is held in.
5) If there is only 1 entrant to a race then only 1 vehicle should be used plus only the first months budget but the entrant should still get half credit towards their performance reputation for that one race. This and (3) will stop people from entering races at 1% budget in very early game to get heaps of almost free performance reputation whilst not completely forcing them to have to wait for other racers to start gaining some rep.
6) Reputation gained from winning races should be reduced, say by half? It seems too easy atm the get an excellent performance rating plus this would also encourage players to enter multiple races as well as multiple teams.
24/8
7) Have a "lock expense percentage" check box like we do with lobbying, advertising and research.
8) Introduce new body types to support specialised racing like prototype race cars and open wheelers. Give these body styles zero demand worldwide. They could only be used by entering their racing event or selling them to privateers (see below).
9) More stringent limitations on all races. Eg: A modern touring car race might only allow sedan or hatch body types and would have a 1,999cc engine displacement limit or (if it was DTM) only allow sedans and coupe's powered by V8's with a maximum displacement of 3,999cc's.
10) NPC marques should use some of the race limitations to guide their designs. For example, one of the reasons there are so many 2L hatchbacks and sedans is that there were two fairly popular racing disciplines (European touring cars and WRC) around for a long time that only allowed sedans or hatchbacks with maximum 2L engines to enter and having your car already fit those limitations makes it easier to modify it to take part in said races. Ever since both of those race styles have either disappeared or changed rules significantly, the prevalence of 2L hatches and small/mid sedans has dropped right off.
Privateers:
The success of privateers have significantly influenced the performance reputation of a number of real world auto companies (BMW's E30 M3 and 3.0 CSL are really good examples) so I think it'd be really good if they were included in the game.
Here's some ideas for them:
1) Create some random name privateers early in the game, have some of them randomly die off and new ones randomly created throughout the game.
2) Only create them for races where a car is entered (because other types of privateers are already kind of simulated by the engine only and money only races) but rather than entering their own car (because they don't have one to enter) they buy their cars off marques in the game. Using whatever priority system the game currently uses to determine which cars the marques will enter but allowing them to choose from every car offered for sale in the "racing branch" (see below). There should also be some small modifier applied to the based off cost as well.
3) Rather than buying their cars from a normal branch, privateers buy their cars from a special branch found in the racing screen. This allows players to offer special prices to racers to try to encourage their cars to be used. It's also the only place there would be any demand for dedicated racing cars manufactured by players (or other marques).
4) Reputation for wins would be used to determine a privateers budget for the next year. The marque that made the car they raced in would also gain a percentage of that reputation (why else would you bother as a player?)
More to come.
I wont be able to get everything written down right now so what I'll do is edit the op with new entry's to keep them all in one place but put a new post at the end of the threat when I add to it so it comes up as an unread post so peeps know I've changed it.
The first two are absolute must haves in my mind, everything else is a want.
1) The ability to enter multiple teams in each race. Perhaps how many you can enter could be dependant on the race, some might be unlimited whilst others might only allow 1 or 2 entry's per marque. I imagine you'd get full reputation gain for the team that did the best that year then 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 etc etc for each team after that.
2) If you own multiple marques you should be able to enter teams for each of them, or only one of them if you wish (the limitation above should be per marque, so if I own 4 marques and I want to enter a race with a 4 team per marque limit I should be able to enter 16 teams in total). The reputation should go to the marque that's actually racing. I think the most sensible way to do this is to have the game check the marque of the vehicle you're entering. Saves the need to find space for another UI component and stops people using a car made by marque x to race for marque y.
3) The minimum cost for entering a race should be more than 0. The minimum cost should probably vary from race to race but the slider should go from 25-100(car), 50-100(engine) or 75-100(no component) rather than 0-100. It makes no sense that you can enter a race for $5000 when others are paying $100,000 for the same race.
4) Each team you enter uses 1-4 vehicles per year (depending on the race) taken from the factory closest to the country the race is held in.
5) If there is only 1 entrant to a race then only 1 vehicle should be used plus only the first months budget but the entrant should still get half credit towards their performance reputation for that one race. This and (3) will stop people from entering races at 1% budget in very early game to get heaps of almost free performance reputation whilst not completely forcing them to have to wait for other racers to start gaining some rep.
6) Reputation gained from winning races should be reduced, say by half? It seems too easy atm the get an excellent performance rating plus this would also encourage players to enter multiple races as well as multiple teams.
24/8
7) Have a "lock expense percentage" check box like we do with lobbying, advertising and research.
8) Introduce new body types to support specialised racing like prototype race cars and open wheelers. Give these body styles zero demand worldwide. They could only be used by entering their racing event or selling them to privateers (see below).
9) More stringent limitations on all races. Eg: A modern touring car race might only allow sedan or hatch body types and would have a 1,999cc engine displacement limit or (if it was DTM) only allow sedans and coupe's powered by V8's with a maximum displacement of 3,999cc's.
10) NPC marques should use some of the race limitations to guide their designs. For example, one of the reasons there are so many 2L hatchbacks and sedans is that there were two fairly popular racing disciplines (European touring cars and WRC) around for a long time that only allowed sedans or hatchbacks with maximum 2L engines to enter and having your car already fit those limitations makes it easier to modify it to take part in said races. Ever since both of those race styles have either disappeared or changed rules significantly, the prevalence of 2L hatches and small/mid sedans has dropped right off.
Privateers:
The success of privateers have significantly influenced the performance reputation of a number of real world auto companies (BMW's E30 M3 and 3.0 CSL are really good examples) so I think it'd be really good if they were included in the game.
Here's some ideas for them:
1) Create some random name privateers early in the game, have some of them randomly die off and new ones randomly created throughout the game.
2) Only create them for races where a car is entered (because other types of privateers are already kind of simulated by the engine only and money only races) but rather than entering their own car (because they don't have one to enter) they buy their cars off marques in the game. Using whatever priority system the game currently uses to determine which cars the marques will enter but allowing them to choose from every car offered for sale in the "racing branch" (see below). There should also be some small modifier applied to the based off cost as well.
3) Rather than buying their cars from a normal branch, privateers buy their cars from a special branch found in the racing screen. This allows players to offer special prices to racers to try to encourage their cars to be used. It's also the only place there would be any demand for dedicated racing cars manufactured by players (or other marques).
4) Reputation for wins would be used to determine a privateers budget for the next year. The marque that made the car they raced in would also gain a percentage of that reputation (why else would you bother as a player?)
More to come.