Cars and rules for 2024

[Argammon]

What's about the Porsche 959? If realistic, it should be in between the IMSA cars and the original "slow" cars. Regarding the Pantera, I feel it had its place in the spotlight already and can take a break from the action. 

[Duplode]

What's about the Porsche 959? If realistic, it should be in between the IMSA cars and the original "slow" cars.

Good idea -- time for some testing! The updated 959 is a nice enough car, though it's actually slightly closer to Zapper's F40 than the Diablo VT. Note, though, that after driving the cars again I now realise I have exaggerated my case by suggesting the Diablo VT was close enough to the F40 for it to be an issue.

(Default NoRH times with the three cars, driven today: 1:19.55 for the F40; 1:24.05 for the 959; 1:25.60 for the Diablo VT. The difference between the 959 and the Diablo VT might look small on paper, but it's definitely noticeable in terms of driving feel.)

[dreadnaut]

I've enjoyed the Lola in the past, and I think it deserves to hit the ZakStunts tarmac 👍

I also like the idea of bringing back the F40, paired with a new car. Both 959 and Diablo sound interesting, haven't tried either though, so I'll let you argue which would be a better companion for the Ferrari. More contrast? Or close behaviour for more uncertainty?

Two more 🤔 Stratos and... Ford Ranger? Monster Truck? Interceptor?

[dreadnaut]

Regarding rules: with new cars, there will be a reshuffling of points. I might make a mess, but it might also work. With that will come some more editorial oversight on the track. Get your tracks ready early so we have time to discuss any changes

We might also see a more liberal use of "this can is not available on this track" exceptions.

Note: tracks must be submitted at least one week before the race starts, to leave time to review them for common issues and unwanted cheap powergear lines.

@alanrotoi, just a few hours left!

[alanrotoi]

Do I send it to you by email?

[Erik Barros]

I still don't have in-depth knowledge about balancing between cars, but a car that I really enjoyed driving was the Lotus Esprit.

[Erik Barros]

In order to keep the new people involved, is it possible to set up the limit of teams to 5 members?

Being part of a team helped me a lot last season, it would be a cool idea for teams to be able to adopt a new member.

[Spoonboy]

I remember that irl the 959 was seen as a competitor/stablemate to the F40. I'd take the F40, as you know!

Sounds like the Diablo is more of a contrast than the 959, would be excited to try either though.

[Argammon]

I remember that irl the 959 was seen as a competitor/stablemate to the F40. I'd take the F40, as you know!

Sounds like the Diablo is more of a contrast than the 959, would be excited to try either though.

In Stunts, Duplode's tests revealed that the F40 is quite a bit superior to the 959. The Ferrari has a grip of 436 compared to the Porsche's 256, which is surely roots back to the two cars having different authors.
However, the Porsche's average grip is not only a disadvantage. Several sliding stunts are more difficult or even impossible with high grip cars, so I feel the 959 fills a nice gap that the F40 does not. The Diabolo is quite similar to the 959 but a bit slower.

At the risk of repeating myself, I would like to see the 959! 

[Daniel3D]

A very simple and easy to understand solution is to ban a power-gear car after a win. That way, we limit the power-gear wins to a maximum of 4 per season which seems the right amount to me.

The players that can do PG wins are relatively few. Maybe replace the PG car with its Non-PG Brother after a win or at Creators request?

(for professional drivers mandatory, not the amateur league to stay in line with Zak his wish that all original cars are available so new players can always join without the need for special downloads)

That would keep the car available without the PG..

[Duplode]

The Ferrari has a grip of 436 compared to the Porsche's 256, which is surely roots back to the two cars having different authors.

Nitpick: the F40 has a non-standard asphalt grip modifier (210 versus 256), which means its effective grip is 358. That's still higher, but not quite as much (436 would be getting close to the IMSA cars already).

Anyway, that's a good analysis. I'm beginning to suspect the closest thing to a stablemate for the 959 might actually be the CERV III, though some extra testing with the 959 would be needed to confirm that feeling.

[Argammon]

Ok guys, I am brainstorming again so my idea may be silly, but here it is.

My idea is to make the current leading time system apply only to the amateur league, and to replace it with a checkpoint system for the general classification. The checkpoint system works like this:  Whoever has the best time halfway through the month gets a full point and whoever has the second-best time gets 0.5 points. To make that work a single quiet day is introduced in the middle of the month.

Reason: The last couple of years only very few pipsqueaks had a chance to compete for leading time points and hence mostly ignored it. I would find it exciting to watch the amateurs battle it out for the leading time in the first two weeks. Moreover, in the beginning of the race the amateurs would have to work on finding tricks and shortcuts themselves instead of just copying them from the top pipsqueaks. However, they would still get access to the professionals' tricks and shortcuts halfway through the race.

Thoughts? 

[dreadnaut]

Ok guys, I am brainstorming again so my idea may be silly, but here it is.

I like this line of thought, let's pull it in a strange direction:

- LTB applies only to amateurs, but gives global scoreboard points
- LTB gives one point every 100 hours (up to 6 per race, most likely 5)
  (alternatively, LTB gives 3 points every 240 hours, again up to 6 per race)

What happens?

[KyLiE]

I like the idea of limiting the LTB system to the amateur league for the reasons that @Argammon mentioned.  My understanding is that leading time would be awarded for first place on the amateur league scoreboard, otherwise it's not likely that anyone would accrue many leading hours.  @dreadnaut's scoring system sounds good, but I think it may be a little too generous.

[Cas]

I agree with Argammon in general. It's true that most of us just ignore LTB altogether so it's a feature that's not fully exploited. On the other hand, just like Argammon's original proposition or what Dreadnaut suggests, there could be many ways to implement this, so it's probably best to discuss it and mix ideas to get something optimal. I have never experienced LTB myself, so I might not be the best one to throw suggestions, though