New Default Cars - Introduction Evening

[Tijny]

What?
We have been working on a new set of default cars, and as an introduction, I will host a variety of racing cups in place of the F1 race this upcoming weekend. This is not supposed to be a competition as such, but really more of a friendly get-together for some fun, casual racing.

When?
Sunday evening, 16th of April, 20:00 UTC/GMT (21:00 WEST (UK, Portugal), 22:00 CEST (Germany, Italy), 23:00 EEST (Finland, Estonia)).

Where?
Most likely on LVP #2.

How do I join?
It's first-come, first-served. You show up on time, and pray the server isn't full. Or, you can join only the cups that strike your fancy. Everyone will be free to come and go as they please.

Approximate schedule: (times are UTC/GMT)
20:00-20:30: Mixed rough cup; 12 tracks, 3 laps; 5 cars, free choice
20:30-21:00: 5x5 minute rough races; one track; each car driven once, same for everyone
21:00-21:30: Hot lap cup; 8 tracks, 5 laps; randomly fixed cars
21:30-22:00: Opposites rough cup; 12 tracks, 3 laps; free choice between Slider/AntiSlider, keeping same car encouraged
22:00-???: EasySlider K.O. cup; 2 laps; 1 or 2 lives, depending on number of people remaining

Not sure if this timetable is realistic, but we'll give it our best shot.
I hope to see you all there! Or at least some of you. That would be nice, too.

[Azev]

This is a great initiative, and it \/\/||_|_ be lots of fun!

But, maybe the hour is too early?

[Tijny]

This is a great initiative, and it \/\/||_|_ be lots of fun!

But, maybe the hour is too early?

Maybe, but if we start at the same time as F1, it's not going to finish at a reasonable time because I have quite a lengthy schedule. I think that for those who can't be there for the first 30 minutes, there's still plenty of fun to be had in the ~2 hours that follow. Although I guess I should try to have as many people in the mixed rough cup as possible, because that's kind of my flagship event. Not sure, maybe the order should be shuffled around a bit.

[Azev]

This is a great initiative, and it \/\/||_|_ be lots of fun!

But, maybe the hour is too early?

Maybe, but if we start at the same time as F1, it's not going to finish at a reasonable time because I have quite a lengthy schedule. I think that for those who can't be there for the first 30 minutes, there's still plenty of fun to be had in the ~2 hours that follow. Although I guess I should try to have as many people in the mixed rough cup as possible, because that's kind of my flagship event. Not sure, maybe the order should be shuffled around a bit.

Same time as F1 is too late, but maybe just one hour earlier? I want to do all the event, as this is quite unique.

[Tijny]

Same time as F1 is too late, but maybe just one hour earlier? I want to do all the event, as this is quite unique.

I think you misunderstood, it does start one hour earlier than F1. Portugal falls under BST.

[Azev]

Same time as F1 is too late, but maybe just one hour earlier? I want to do all the event, as this is quite unique.

I think you misunderstood, it does start one hour earlier than F1. Portugal falls under BST.

Ah, yes, that's perfect then!

[Mike Nike]

Thought 20 CET on first look too.
I'll try to make it at 22 CET, but i likely gonna be late due to /set zzZMode 1.
In worst case i will still have some fun as spectator, if specs are allowed.

[Tijny]

Thought 20 CET on first look too.

Mkay, I thought it was written clearly enough, but I edited it now to be even more obvious. I hope to see you there from the start, Mike!

I also set the mixed rough cup as the default mode on LVP #2 for today, so everyone can download the final versions of the cars if they want and possibly do some practice laps.

[Tijny]

Alright, that was at least moderately successful, apart from a few hiccups here and there. There were plenty of good things about this event, but more than a few bad things as well which I will take into consideration next time I host something like it. Thanks to everyone who showed up, and thanks to all those who were patient with me when I broke down or the technology did. I hope to do more of this in the future, although probably not quite in the same way.

[Keppana]

I had my suspicions after testing the new balanced default cars, but hey the cups were great fun. There was strange warps while specting the Easy K.O. cup and it was cancelled because a broken script (?), everything else went just fine i think. The cars felt a bit slower, but the races were more intense. It was nice to see many players to visit there, including oldies and newbies, which tell there would be demand and interest for the default cars. If there is comparable cups to single evening events like IHLC and IRT or a weekly hotlap cup on the horizon i would sure like to join. Ofc the cups need some unreleased tracks, could give a try for it.

[Tijny]

I had my suspicions after testing the new balanced default cars, but hey the cups were great fun.

Yeah it was fun, but the AntiSlider still felt quite overpowered: I was the only one in the top 6 of the mixed cup who didn't go anti-heavy, so I think I'm going back to the drawing board with that one. Incidentally that was the reason I kind of blacked out before the "Anti vs. Slider" cup I planned, because I simply couldn't see many people taking Slider and doing well with it.

If there is comparable cups to single evening events like IHLC and IRT or a weekly hotlap cup on the horizon i would sure like to join.

I do plan on organizing some "real" cups with these cars. Probably with some more rebalancing, I'm learning more and more about what the balance is supposed to be like and how it was yesterday just wasn't quite there yet. But those cups will have to wait a few weeks, at least until F1 is finished, so at this point I don't have any concrete plans yet. The things you mentioned are certainly among the options, but I don't know if ghost cups are really what people want.

[Kid Masters]

Just to say my useless opinion i liked very much that mixed cars cup, pretty difficult using easyslider and freakin difficult using slider so i avoided it. I liked that speeder race but i think we need some tracj where speeder's specificals can be exploited. Anyway what's the difference between spinner and easyslider? I felt just like spinner is an easyslider just a bit slower. Hot lap is not my cup so i was pretty bored with it but the problem here is mine.

Thank you T for proposing that cup and id like to partecipate if other cups will be organised.. Also if i am an amateur... Every race needs a man who arrive last, didn't it???

[Will]

I believe the most successful race format of this game throughout the years has been FC with anti-slider. Maybe it's the combination of quick races with simple rules and a predictable, although hard to master, car combined with a bit of randomness the reason for that. So we should have that into consideration when planning future events. However the F1 championship is almost the opposite of FC and it has been a huge success, and that means that people are open to new ideas.
Trying new formats is great for the game and kudos for everyone that makes that possible. You guys have been 5 stars.

[Azev]

I believe the most successful race format of this game throughout the years has been FC with anti-slider. Maybe it's the combination of quick races with simple rules and a predictable, although hard to master, car combined with a bit of randomness the reason for that. So we should have that into consideration when planning future events. However the F1 championship is almost the opposite of FC and it has been a huge success, and that means that people are open to new ideas.
Trying new formats is great for the game and kudos for everyone that makes that possible. You guys have been 5 stars.

What he said.

But also, it was weird beeing able to do some fights with Mike and Badeend, all with Anti... Maybe they are still trying to figure how to drive it in the best way? Or with this new version we (the amateurs) can get closer to the best ones?

[Tijny]

But also, it was weird beeing able to do some fights with Mike and Badeend, all with Anti...

Huh? From what I saw, nobody was able to fight with Badeend!

Kidding aside, I thnk that because these cars go slower than the default versions and especially compared to the FC car, more people can be competitive with them and racing can be closer. You have also been playing in my testing cups quite much and the same can't be said for Mike, apart from maybe some local driving he might have done.

And thank you all for the nice words of encouragement.

[Mike Nike]

I had no local driving. Stood up at 21.45cet after 6 hours of sleep. And at 21.53cet i joined the server.
Well, draft was on as well. And reverse cup order. And it was "just" a friendly get-together and no official cup.
That caused me into experimenting here, driving a hotlapline in the race there....and not caring too much on the outcome. But if i would have gone super serious, Badeend wouldnt have looked much less pwning...
Also...how the hell did Badeend win a speeder race? Wtf happened?

But maybe i shoulda tested even more different cars, once there were so many drivers around.
But i think Tijny luckily had a more educated look on the inbalances as i had on sunday.
The ghostcups were, as usual, quite yammy