Post here if you're interested in running the test lap.

Schedule

Wednesday, March 26th @ noon EDT: Starting position bids are due.
Friday, March 28th @ noon EDT: 1st turn orders are due.

Subsequent turns are due on Monday's, Wednesday's, & Friday's of each week.

New entries are allowed up to the start of the race but after tonight (midnight, EDT) you will not be able to bid for starting position. You will be placed in the back of the field.

Please refer to general info thread for more details or ask me if you need help with any aspect of the game. This is, after all, only a test.

The test lap

The real purpose of the test lap is not to simulate a 10-12 driver race but to get some practice with the process of ordering cars and me getting some experience with the graphics side of it. It also doesn't hurt to have a race going on as I market this project.

We'll use a relatively easy track that still presents challenges to a small field (mostly two lanes). Hello Monaco!

I plan on running a car so you'll have to trust me that I'm locking in my plots prior to looking at anyone else's.

Confirmed Racers

Mike (red)
Kal (black)
Brad (blue)
Dave (pink)
Dan (orange)

Scroll down to later posts to see track.

I've added starting positions to the track (arrows). We will not start three abreast thus giving some incentive to bid for the pole position.

If the corner speeds are hard to see, here are the numbers:

Using the WBC rules for car builds, here is my build for this test lap:

Acceleration: 1 (60 mph)
Deceleration: 0 (40 mph)
Top speed: 1 (180 mph)
Start speed: 0 (60 mph)
Wear: 0 (6 wear)
Skill: 0 (9x1, 1x3)

If you decide to play, send me your build and a color preference for your car (if you have one).

Since this is only a test, I decided to post all the car builds. What's cool about this is that we all have very different ideas on where to put our points. It will be interesting to see how much difference the builds make once the race starts. I do know that Kal will jump out to the lead quickly even if he's in the 2nd row.

I'm still working on the graphics side of things. At home I use GIMP on my Mac which is a very powerful (& free) image manipulator but confuses the hell out of me. At work I use MS Paint which is very easy to use but doesn't provide much flexibility. Anyone have ideas on something in-between that is both free and can run on either platform?

SLOTerp wrote:Since this is only a test, I decided to post all the car builds. What's cool about this is that we all have very different ideas on where to put our points. It will be interesting to see how much difference the builds make once the race starts. I do know that Kal will jump out to the lead quickly even if he's in the 2nd row.

I'm still working on the graphics side of things. At home I use GIMP on my Mac which is a very powerful (& free) image manipulator but confuses the hell out of me. At work I use MS Paint which is very easy to use but doesn't provide much flexibility. Anyone have ideas on something in-between that is both free and can run on either platform?

Paint.NET is a good app for Windows and is free. Better then MS Paint, friendlier than GIMP but similar features. I'm tinkering with Pixlr Editor for Chrome, an online editor like GIMP/Paint.NET that would work for both platforms, if you use Chrome.

So with all the CARS references, can we expect a custom Willy's Butte track to emerge from your efforts?

Dave (SuperAnt) is joining in the pink car. We're up to four!

I'll go check out paint.NET. I don't use Chrome but it doesn't mean I can't if your test of Pixir is positive.

Sorry, no Willy's Butte. No ovals, road racing only. Drifting would be cool, though.

The field grows.

Welcome Dan (Alpha)!

Here's the schedule for the test lap:

Position bids are due Wednesday at 12 noon EDT. You may bid any number of wear and/or skill points wherein 1 wear point = 2 skill points. Thus, if you bid 1 wear and 1 skill, your total bid is 1.5. Tied bids will be broken by a roll of the virtual dice. Bid amounts are permanently lost (cannot be used in race). You're basically trusting me on my bid - I did email it to myself although that more serves as a reminder to myself than proof of anything. I'll be doing the same for my turn orders which I'll write within an hour after posting results.

Any drivers joining through midnight EDT tonight can bid - add that information to your car build. Drivers joining after that point will be automatically placed in the back of the field.

1st Turn Order Deadline: Friday, March 28th @ noon EDT

Thereafter, there will be three turns per week, due on Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's at noon EDT. I anticipate a 15 turn race so you're looking at a five week time-frame.

Starting positions have been determined.

Starting Grid:

Row 1, lane 1: Brad
Row 1, lane 2: Kal
Row 2, lane 1: Mike
Row 2, lane 2: Dan
Row 3, lane 1: Dave

Bids:
Brad 10 skill (really wanted the pole)
Kal 1 wear (wins tie-break, rolled 18 on d20)
Mike 2 skill (rolled 8 on d20)
Dan 0 (wins tie-break, rolled 14 on d20)
Dave 0 (rolled 11 on d20)

In the future, I will include all players in the DR emails (I didn't want to pop it on you today with a WTF response). I will consolidate them into one set of rolls when possible.

Turn 1 Deadline: Friday, March 28th @ 12 noon EDT or 4 p.m. GMT

I will accept new drivers up to the deadline. You will start at the back of the grid.

I've locked in my turn via an email to myself (more for my memory than trust - you'll simply have to trust me during this test).

Track with cars in position and bids subtracted from wear/skill columns:

Turn 1 Results

Summary

Kal jumps out in front, passing Brad and his pokey start speed. Dan also passes up Brad, setting Brad up for a slipstream. Mike rolls the dice to increase his start speed by 20 mph to catch Brad (success). Dave pulls up to Brad & Mike, making it three wide going into turn 1.

I'm hoping this is the final correction!.

Turn 2 Deadline: Monday, March 31st @ 12 noon EDT or 4 p.m. GMT

Of the three cars in the third row, the one with the highest plotted speed for the upcoming turn moves first. The tie-break is inside to outside lane (Brad, Mike, Dave).

Notes

-- I forced a die roll (with my start speed) to make sure the die-roller works. Let me know if you didn't get the die-roller email.
-- Brad & I did not notate corner/ss/pass/block in our plots. Defaults for not plotting these: SS/pass/block are assumed to be 'no' and cornering (if applicable) will be plotted by the RM to minimize wear and/or skill use.
-- Brad will be in a position to slipstream Dan as long as Dan's speed is 120 mph for the upcoming turn.

Let me know if you think format for providing results can be improved. We're here to get all the kinks out!

We're in the narrow part of the race course now and some tight corners ahead. Anything can happen!

Turn 2 Summary Corrected

Kal uses up some tread taking the first, and easiest, corner at + 20 mph. Dan burns up even more rubber careening around corner one at + 40 mph, catching up to Kal on the short straight. Brad also goes + 20 mph and slipstreams Dan (+ 1 space) to keep up with the leaders. Mike pulls in behind Brad, taking corner one at + 20 mph as well. Keeping with the trend, Dave burns a wear point to stay with the field. Brad and Mike have slipstream opportunities in turn 3 but with a series of corners coming up will they be able to take advantage?

Dice rolls

Brad exceeded his acceleration limit by 20 mph. He applied a +3 driver skill to the roll, passing through unscathed (no need to actually roll dice - guaranteed outcome with modifier).

Turn 3 plots due Wednesday, April 2nd @ 12 noon EDT or 4 p.m. GMT

All bunched up and not much room to maneuver...

Turn 3 Summary

Kal takes the racing line (RL) through corner two. Dan must ride the outside 80 lanes but is well set up for the RL in corner three. Brad pulls up to the corner in the RL lane forcing Mike to the inside. Dave must emergency brake to avoid a crash, burning a wear in the process. He is, however, set up for the RL in corner two.

Turn 4 plots due Friday, April 4th @ 12 noon EDT or 4 p.m. GMT

I think Kal is intentionally trying to cause some accidents behind him...

Turn 4 Summary
Kal moseys through corner 3 at a leisurely 60 mph, blocking the RL for Dan. Anticipating (?) this cruelty, Dan also slows down to 60 mph and sets up the RL for corner 3. Is there some backdoor diplomacy going on? Mike moves before Brad (inside position) and takes the 80 mph lane in corner 2, pulling up beside Dan. With nowhere to go, Brad must emergency brake to avoid a pileup. Dave brings up the rear, also taking the 80 lane, and pulls even with the braking blue car.

Turn 5 plots due Monday, April 7th @ 12 noon EDT or 4 p.m. GMT

Just out for a joyride - like Lightning McQueen dreaming about Sally, when I should be racing. :-)