A proper race weekend proposal

[Sainted]

I guess this idea is as old as LFS itself, but I think it isn't any worse because of that.

I suggest it would be loads of fun to run an event that resembles a real-world race weekend of pretty much any racing series in the world. A few highlights:

Weekend format

- Blackwood GP circuit
- 1 hour qualifying with unlimited laps, the fastest times determine starting positions
- 30 laps race with 1 compulsory pitstop
- pit window between laps 3 and 27, so people can get creating with their strategies

Entry criteria:

- recognized PB lower than 1:34:50
- RT (safety rating) at AA Blackwood GTI server at least 80%

Time and date of the race should endeavour to fit most participants' real lives.

Any thoughts?

[AA™| joruss]

One hour long qually? That's waste of time... If you got the talent you should do it in one go!
Some time ago we had one-shoot qually in event and that was quite entertaining on itself. Adrenaline rush from the get go, no place for mistake.

[Sainted]

One hour long qually? That's waste of time... If you got the talent you should do it in one go!
Some time ago we had one-shoot qually in event and that was quite entertaining on itself. Adrenaline rush from the get go, no place for mistake.

I disagree about the talent thing. Even the best racers rarely get their best lap in from 1st attempt. The point of my proposal is to get the maximum out of your setup and skill.

However, I do admit that 1-attempt 1-lap qualifying is a nice idea. Could potentially shuffle the field up a bit.

[AA™| Seven]

In Live For Speed I've never seen a 1-hour long qualifier from any event I've had a part of. The longest I've seen is 30 minutes and even that was a push, everyone was comfortable by the 15 minute mark meaning anything over than 20 minutes is probably (as JoRuss said) a waste of time. The best racers in LFS usually get very near (or on) their PB within the first 5 minutes as most will warmup before coming on the server or even ON the server before the event start. Even the outlap-hotlap-hotlap-inlap format used in events like the Kyoto 250 works well.

I think the PB limitation is possibly a bit strict as well, in long sprint/enduro racing it's not just about how fast you are, but how consistent you are. You can be DrifteaCent on the track but if you're not consistent you can find yourself killing tires, fuel, etc. Perhaps PB 1:35 would suffice? I'm not the fastest racer, I only recently set a new PB after 2 years.

As for timing, anything after next week is fine by me. A good two week's notice should be enough as not many people check the forums really, but this can always be fixed with an automated message featuring the event in-game.

Nice idea - I haven't done border-line enduro stuff for a while. I'm not skilled enough in a GTR / TBO to sign up to one of the S2 leagues.

[AA™| Jacques]

Welcome to our forum Sainted! Glad to see new interest for events coming outside the team.
Ironing out specifics like qualify format or restrictions is easier - but is there a willing member to organize such event and try get participants to join it? Also a question if this was meant as a one-time event or a re-occurring one?
Has anyone been looking at our automated events on Demo Racing, has there been any participants lately?

[Sainted]

I do now agree, that 1 hour qualifying is a bit too much. I believe 30 minutes could do the job well. In reality, the only reason why there should be a long session is to accomodate 100 cars, but long gone are the days of such popularity of LFS, I guess.  

Jacques, I do have interest in running the event, but I have zero skills in server administration and all the setup procedures. So, at least for this first race (if it happens), I don't think I can be of much help.

As for PB, 1:35 could work, however my observation is that quite a lot of so-called 'crashers' are quite capable to turning 1:34:90, and then proceed to create mayhem on the track. But for the tryout purposes we can allow 1:35 people on the track, provided there will be an immediate ban for deliberate crashes.

It's nice to see there's at least a meaningful conversation about this here. :-)

P.S. Another idea, probably more appealing to hardcore NASCAR fans would be to hold a race at Fern Bay Oval. ;-) Would require some construction work (walls, markings, etc.), but nothing could be better than a days' work under Caribbean sun and a nice race afterwards. :-)

[AA™| Seven]

100 cars? You can only race 32 on track at a time!

I could volunteer my assistance on the race day - having run entire leagues by myself I know how to set the servers and do scoring. I will happily teach Sainted how to do this, but obviously without giving them power over an AA server, just the skills on how to organize the event and run it, etc. I also have power over the AA Facebook page to post to our 335 odd followers.

Even if we do get crashers dedicated enough to put them through a qualifier into the race, props for their dedication, but you'd just boot them off the server and send out a pace car while people who need it pit and get back into position.

____________
Fern Bay Oval would be the smallest NASCAR race ever ahah - you'd have competition with New Dimension Racing and a few other NASCAR enthusiasts on that one though, many NASCAR events are run on the LFS Forums. I missed the Kyoto 250 this year, was caught up in work and school. >.>

[AA™| Jacques]

Seven, we do a member to run such event if it takes place on our servers - if you would have time for that.
Facebook page has been gaining on popularity oddly enough, even when our servers are suffering from inactivity. Disabling midrace joining should help with the crashers..

[Sainted]

Seven, we do a member to run such event if it takes place on our servers - if you would have time for that.
Facebook page has been gaining on popularity oddly enough, even when our servers are suffering from inactivity. Disabling midrace joining should help with the crashers..

Is there way to limit race participants to those, who have registered a time in qualifying? Naturally, a time should be reasonable, no 1:47 mess.

[Caedrion]

I am wishful that this project takes wings and flies, despite the seemingly all time low of players in LFS , it was something that i always wanted to see in Demo, as only S1/2 get all the fun , and most , me included , have no laps whatsoever on most cars ,other than the XR/XF combo's , hopefully it could spike the interest of more ppl to both try to improve their times & !rt, wishful thinking here i know , also try show to players that are Demo only ,that LFS can give more ,other than the usual 4 laps sprint > Survive T1 > win ? > flex ..

Id vote for a re-occurring type event and would like to add to the discussion pot ,a 2 pits mandatory instead of one ? to shuffle things even more up as Sainted pointed out and in order to try and get ppl that usually go for a "NO Gas > No tire Change" type of strategy, like myself, to actually care about it.

Regards,
nFs.