I'm starting a thread for this thing, which I have posted a few updates about in the "What are you working on" thread.
The original idea is set out at the link above, but to recap - I am trying to make a single-player career tool that is not focused on the player only. As in, it simulates progress across a wider racing 'world' in a somewhat dynamic way, beyond the series you happen to be racing in. This will hopefully lead to interesting scenarios and narratives beyond the typical linear 'career ladder' you tend to get these days.
For want of a better name, I am (still) referring to it as DSRW (Dynamic Sim Racing World).
What it will (hopefully) do:
- Track progress of multiple racing series across multiple seasons.
- Schedules, teams and drivers will change from season to season, with drivers retiring, losing their seats and moving through the ranks, etc
- AI drivers' and teams' performance levels will evolve over time.
- The player will be offered drives for the next season based on performance and availability (with an element of chance).
- Driver moves will have knock-on effects through multiple series as seats are back-filled.
- A pool of 'free agent' drivers and new teams will add to mix.
- Along with being able to check results/standings in other series, basic news 'headlines' will be generated to keep you in the loop.
- It will be configurable/scalable - so you could have a 'world' consisting of three fictional sprint race series with only a few rounds per season, or you could in theory try to replicate various real world series in as much detail as you like.
How it will work:
- DSRW will be a standalone app run outside AC.
- DSRW will import series 'modules', track and driver data as JSON files (easily editable/configurable - ideally these will be created/edited within the app in future).
- Once a career has been started, each player race weekend will generate a 'Quick Race Weekend' preset file to load in Content Manager.
- Once you complete a race weekend, you then import the results (CM session file) back into DSRW.
- Series points and standings are tracked in DSRW (in theory allowing multi-class racing/scoring systems)
- All non-player series results will be simulated in the background within DSRW in line with each series' schedule.
Progress:
Phase one is to implement managing a single series over multiple seasons. This is progressing reasonably well (if slowly, as I am slow). I can now set up a series, export race weekend files and import results. I've made a start on managing driver and car attributes (level, aggression, ballast, restrictor). I appreciate these are not an exact science in terms of how they work with the AI and various types of car, but I am hopeful that it will help generate a more engaging 'career' experience by giving opponents more defined characters/traits.
Phase two will be to simulate a non-player series in parallel, with an end of season process that deals with driver and team changes, schedule track changes, etc for the following season. If I get that far, then the original full concept isn't too far off - i.e. multiple non-player series, a 'dynamic world', so to speak.
Why am I doing this? It's a niche thing, but I guess I am my own customer - if this already existed I would use it.
Why does it look like a text game from 1989? Well, because I kinda like it, but mainly because it also allows me to concentrate on the functionality and not get too bogged down in UI for now.
Should this be categorised under Apps or General? I don't know.
Any feedback welcome
The original idea is set out at the link above, but to recap - I am trying to make a single-player career tool that is not focused on the player only. As in, it simulates progress across a wider racing 'world' in a somewhat dynamic way, beyond the series you happen to be racing in. This will hopefully lead to interesting scenarios and narratives beyond the typical linear 'career ladder' you tend to get these days.
For want of a better name, I am (still) referring to it as DSRW (Dynamic Sim Racing World).
What it will (hopefully) do:
- Track progress of multiple racing series across multiple seasons.
- Schedules, teams and drivers will change from season to season, with drivers retiring, losing their seats and moving through the ranks, etc
- AI drivers' and teams' performance levels will evolve over time.
- The player will be offered drives for the next season based on performance and availability (with an element of chance).
- Driver moves will have knock-on effects through multiple series as seats are back-filled.
- A pool of 'free agent' drivers and new teams will add to mix.
- Along with being able to check results/standings in other series, basic news 'headlines' will be generated to keep you in the loop.
- It will be configurable/scalable - so you could have a 'world' consisting of three fictional sprint race series with only a few rounds per season, or you could in theory try to replicate various real world series in as much detail as you like.
How it will work:
- DSRW will be a standalone app run outside AC.
- DSRW will import series 'modules', track and driver data as JSON files (easily editable/configurable - ideally these will be created/edited within the app in future).
- Once a career has been started, each player race weekend will generate a 'Quick Race Weekend' preset file to load in Content Manager.
- Once you complete a race weekend, you then import the results (CM session file) back into DSRW.
- Series points and standings are tracked in DSRW (in theory allowing multi-class racing/scoring systems)
- All non-player series results will be simulated in the background within DSRW in line with each series' schedule.
Progress:
Phase one is to implement managing a single series over multiple seasons. This is progressing reasonably well (if slowly, as I am slow). I can now set up a series, export race weekend files and import results. I've made a start on managing driver and car attributes (level, aggression, ballast, restrictor). I appreciate these are not an exact science in terms of how they work with the AI and various types of car, but I am hopeful that it will help generate a more engaging 'career' experience by giving opponents more defined characters/traits.
Phase two will be to simulate a non-player series in parallel, with an end of season process that deals with driver and team changes, schedule track changes, etc for the following season. If I get that far, then the original full concept isn't too far off - i.e. multiple non-player series, a 'dynamic world', so to speak.
Why am I doing this? It's a niche thing, but I guess I am my own customer - if this already existed I would use it.
Why does it look like a text game from 1989? Well, because I kinda like it, but mainly because it also allows me to concentrate on the functionality and not get too bogged down in UI for now.
Should this be categorised under Apps or General? I don't know.
Any feedback welcome
