There is Stracker, which does: "The server-side app automatically stores all laps, sessions and drivers in a database on the server. It can provide web pages with interesting information for access with a browser. See the
NEYS AC server statistics for an example."
We already use sTracker, and yes it is useful, but it's not something that everyone has to download to use as people without pTracker will still show up in the times. More over, pTracker is not necessary when it comes to running a league.
About Broadcasts, what is currently missing and important for hosting a "televised" league for the public to watch.
It depends if you want to necessarily broadcast it or if you want to offer your Premiums a more serious competition other than with t
The inability to provide proper overlays, a proper spectator mode that doesn't require the usage of a car slot on the server and doesn't need to use ESC+BTP when the race starts to get the broadcasters car off the track. The same goes for the two or three commentators. It is do able but, in a broadcast where presentation is everything, it's incredibly clumsy and looks awful.
But have you made an objective list and presented it to the devs to what is required to have a well presentable and not hard to setup broadcasted league races? I'm not trying to enter the debate if they should know all about it without you needing to mention it, but trying to cooperate to present your needs objectively. Perhaps if they don't have a clear idea about it, they don't have the same effort for doing it, as they need a good plan before starting development on something.
Not sure if you saw but we wrote a rather long Open letter. It contained many elements required for league racing that are simply not present in the game, or much like the 'spectating' function, is very poorly implemented.
We have made an objective list many times. So here it is again...
- Collision Netcode needs a massive improvement. Colliding cars over react to tiny bumps. In fact, the netcode for general car behaviour has changed almost naught since NetKar Pro. Look at the car movement in that video. It's near on identical to the car movement in AC... And that game came out 10 years ago! TEN!
- A penalty system that actually works. At the moment there's only cutting penalties and they are inconsistently applied at best which means it's better to turn the system off entirely.
- The flag rules are non-existent as they're purely cosmetic. You can ignore blue flags until the cows come home and you will receive zero penalty.
- Then of course there's the spectating mode, or lack thereof, which requires a car slot for each member of the broadcast team. They then get spawned on the grid when the race is about to start (23:19 of that video if it doesn't automatically take you there) and you then have to esc+btp when the race starts by going through menus which totally detracts from the idea of presenting realistic virtual racing.
Then there's a whole host of other things that aren't necessarily required for league racing, but just help the atmosphere of things massively like timed races, time of day progression in MP (which I hear is coming in 1.5 thankfully), formation laps, sector times, rolling starts, a safety car, false starts, engine stalling. All of these things add to the authenticity of a league race (or even a public server race!), yet none of them are present.
Then there's also the fact that you can Esc+BTP and rejoin the race, which in league racing is an absolute no no. Even if you do rejoin the track having to re-complete that lap again, the fact that you can do it in the first place is simply unacceptable.
I love Assetto, but it's just not suitable for leagues (and please don't point me in the direction of the ACRL because I've seen that league and... just, no). I've run 3 seasons of AC leagues now and weekly club races ever since MP was released, so I know pretty darn well what it does well and what it doesn't do well. It's fine for just casual club racing or public server racing, but not for leagues.
Anyway, I'm done commenting about this subject as I now feel like a broken record. So, here's to a successful 1.5, and hopefully it will come with some nice improvements.