RaceDepartment Formula Manager is a forum game in which you own a F1 team and manage it in seasons consisting of 10 races. In order to play the game, a daily 5-10 minutes is enough to commit. The game uses a complicated set of formulas made with MS Excel 2007. You give your orders, and i update the races 2 laps per day.
YOU CAN JOIN ANYTIME. YOU DON'T NEED TO WAIT FOR THE NEXT SEASON IF THE CURRENT SEASON IS UNDERWAY.
THE MANAGERS WHO KNOW THE GAME FROM THE PREVIOUS SEASONS, PLEASE READ THE FOURTH POST TO SEE WHAT'S CHANGED.
Before reading the tutorials below, know that you can join to the game and learn as you play along. Just get your team a name, 2 colors, 2 sponsors, tyre and engine suppliers, pick a favorite track from the calendar and 1-2 drivers and you are ready to go! You start with 2500 credits. You can find tyre-engine-driver prices in the supplier and marketplace tables below. Don't be afraid of making mistakes, i will try to help you as much as i can.
GETTING STARTED
If you are a newcomer, you start with 2500 credits. Name your team, (Don't use engine names in your team name) pick two colors, sign an engine contract, a tyre contract, pick two types of sponsors, and hire at least 1 driver. (Careful that drivers are not free, check out marketplace) (You name your drivers unless you buy a specific driver from the drivers list. BUT you have to use realistic names, please dont make names like "speed devil" or "boogey man" etc...) You should also send me your car setups via PM. (Details on car setups below)
THEN HOW TO RACE?
When your team is ready, wait for the race start. Races start with qualifying. You have to adjust your drivers' tyre compounds and fuel levels before the qualifying. Between qualifying and race, there is no chance to change them. Parc Ferme lock is applied.
First update is the qualifying in which your drivers set a single lap time. Beware as your starting fuel levels and tyre compound will be the one which is used in the qualifying.
After qualifying ends, race starts and every update completes TWO laps in the race. Between the updates, you can change your paces and engine revs. Also you can order usage of ERS. And you can call your driver to pits (When you order a pitstop, you have to inform me about tyre change and how much liters you want to be filled. There is nothing mandatory in the races regarding tyre compounds and fuel usage).
While giving your orders, you have to give orders for next 2 laps. Clearly seperated and without conditional clauses. For example; you can't say "pit if my tyre hp drops below %x in the 2nd lap". A good example of a command is just like this:
LIST OF PACES
(From Safe to Give all, the speed increases, wear increases, mistake chances increase.)
Give all
Push
Aggressive
Steady
Easy
Safe
Focus (Not available by default, the driver should have focus training, limited usage)
LIST OF REVS
High - Faster, but heats up the engine
Medium - Normal, heats up the engine, but not as much as high
Low - Cools down the engine, but slower compared to higher ones
LIST OF DRIVER ABILITIES (Driver abilities can be used only for ONCE in each race. They affect only a single lap. They can't be used in Qualifying laps.)
Play Safe - Driver drives more carefully in that lap
Pace Up - Driver gets faster in that lap
Hunt Them - Driver becomes better in overtaking/defending in that lap
Care Tyres - Driver wears their tyres less in that lap
Cool Down - Driver's engine is cooled a bit in that lap
Intimidate - Driver in front of the driver gets a bit nervous in that lap (You have to be at least 0.25 close to the car in front to be able to use it.)
HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR TEAM?
After a race ends, you will get prize money from your finishing position and sponsors. With this money, you can buy items from the marketplace and this way develop your team. Marketplace and Supplier lists below give details on what things you can buy.
SETUP SYSTEM
Please look at the calendar list in the end of this post and notice the five parameters: Downforce, Top Speed, Braking, Cornering, Shifting. The numbers below those parameters signify how effective those setups are for the track they are shown. At the beginning of the season, you make your setup for both of your drivers. They can be different from each other. You have 100 points and you distribute them between Downforce, Top Speed, Braking, Cornering, Shifting and Wet Track. Wet Track setting is not related to track characteristics, but gets effective the more wet a track gets. Each setting becomes effective as much as the track parameters number. High number means that setting effects the speed more than other parameters for that track.
You can adjust each of your cars' setups by 10 at the mid-season testings. Otherwise, you can conduct tests with your test driver and adjust your setup by 10 that way at each marketplace period.
If your test driver replaces one of your racing drivers (Test drivers should wait 5 races before replacing), they get the setup of the replaced driver.
SEASON-START DRIVER BIDDING SYSTEM
At the beginning of each season, teams have no drivers. For this reason, managers would want to get the best trained drivers on the drivers list. A bidding war takes place before the managers buy any thing or sign supplier contracts. Each manager will send me (VIA PM, not public) five bids for five drivers like this:
1- Alonso - 3000
2- Schumacher - 2300
3 - Fisichella - 2000
4 - John - 600
5 - Micheal - 600
(Minimum bid is 600 credits, there is no maximum limit)
After i get all the bids from the managers, i will compare the 1st bids. The highest ones get the drivers. Then the 2nd bids, then the 3rds and so forth... If the driver was yours in the previous season, your bid gets a 500 credits bonus. (For example, if you bid 1000 credits for your previous driver, and another manager bids him 1400, you still get him for 1000 as you have 500 bonus.) In case of a draw at biddings, the driver prefers his previous team. If the bidders are not previous teams, he picks the more succesful one in the previous season. If they are both new teams, then he picks his team randomly.
SAFETY CAR
When 3 or more cars retire in a single lap (for whatever reason), the SC comes out. It does not affect the lap it begins immediately. The next two laps are affected. After two laps, it gets green again. You can pit in the SC period. But careful that convoy is formed in the 2nd lap of SC, not in the first one. So it is better to pit in the first lap quickly before the convoy is formed. Every driver switches to SAFE/LOW automatically in the SC period. (Unless you tell me otherwise) ERS is disabled.
ILLEGAL DRIVER AIDS
After the 5th race, you can PM me secretly and install illegal driver aids to your cars. If another manager spots the strange performance boost, they can file a complaint. If an illegal aids user is reported, their cars in the race with illegal aids are disqualified and they get a penalty of -1000 credits. If a manager wrongly accuses another team, they get a -500 credits penalty. Reports should be submitted after the race publicly. 1 day after the finish, the results become official, and no reports can be submitted.
FAVORITE TRACK
Each team picks a favorite track from the calendar. Australia can't be picked as it is the first race. The favorite track brings speed boost in the qualifying and race.
DETAILED EXPLANATION OF CAR UPGRADES, DRIVER TRAININGS and TESTINGS
Car Upgrades: You can get maximum 2 levels of upgrades per each marketplace period. It does not mean you can get +2 chassis, +2 Durability, +2 Qualifying at the same time. It is 2 all of them combined. Examples of correct purchases are: +2 Chassis, or +1 chassis +1 durability or +1 durabiliy +1 qualifying.
Driver Trainings are the same. You can either train 2 levels of same training, or 1 from one and 1 from another.
Testings: As it is stated in the Marketplace list, 2 of 4 choices can be picked. You can't do the same kind of training twice in a single marketplace period.
There are two mid-season testings on the calendar, each supplier get a new random upgrade at those tests. You can also adjust your car setups by 10 points after those tests.
When an engine gets level 10 or above on any aspect (speed, durability or reliability), the customers' engine tests will have a %50 chance of failure. The half of the money is refunded to the team if the test fails. The manufacturer can still develop by picking the area he wants to be developed and instantly develop it !THIS RULE APPLIES TO PLAYER-MANUFACTURED ENGINES!
IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO ALL ENGINE MANUFACTURERS and CUSTOMERS
- Default deal is that all customer teams will pay 100 (50 per car) credits to their manufacturer team. Sister teams will pay 200 (100 per car). Payments are made AFTER each race.
- As a manufacturer, you can supply maximum 4 teams (including your own team).
IMPORTANT RULES and INFORMATION (Updated with questions from the managers)
-So if I develop my own engine and have a sister team using the same engine, Does my main team get 100cr per race from the sister team?
Yes, they pay 200 if they have two cars.
-About driver abilities: Can we use each ability once in the race, or we select one only?
You select only one. You can't use all of them.
-Another question regarding driver abilities, do we have to decide for one per driver each season, or can we change the one we use from race to race?
You can choose any one of them each race. You don't have to decide which one you will use before the race.
-Question about supplying engines to other teams: In case of an upgrade to the engine, do I get to race it first for one race before supplying others or will each team get the upgrades at the same time?
They get the same upgrades
-If I have a test driver for 5 races, does that mean I can have 3 cars racing in the next races?
You can have maximum 2 racing drivers, you have to replace one of them to let him race. The replaced one becomes the test driver, and he/she gets a 5 race waiting after the swap. The test driver gets the replaced driver's car setup.
-Can i sell my drivers?
You can't. If you want to get rid of a driver, you have to release him without any money gain. And they can't be hired by the other teams in the same season.
-PR expert only works if I have income? Not like increasing from 0 to 100cr when I fail to match the sponsors' objective?
Yes, you have to meet the sponsor objective to get the bonus 100 credits.
-What if i fail to give my orders for the qualifying or in the race?
Your drivers go on default levels. Default pace is steady, revs is low. The default tyre is hard compound. Car is %100 fueled.
-Do i have to give orders each turn?
Your pace and rev choices are carried over from the turn before. Others do not. So it is up to you.
-Can i use ERS in qualifying?
ERS is not available in the qualifying.
-Can my drivers pit in the same lap?
Drivers can pit at the same lap. But if there is not an enough gap between them (around 5.00), the latter one has to wait and loses plenty of time.
-Can we take fuel out of the car in pitstops. Let's say can we decrease a 30 lt fueled car to 10 with a pitstop?
No, it is not possible. If you tell me to refuel from the amount lower than the current fuel, it is an invalid command and your fuel level will remain the same.
-Can i found more than one sister team?
No.
-What if i go AWOL a bit?
In the course of a race, going awol has no penalties other than the fact that your cars will retire with either fuel or chassis problems. If you miss the contract-renewal period after the 5th race, you will not be able to race without any tyre and engine though.
-Can I pull my drivers out of a race?
You can't. They have to retire naturally. Only if the managers wants to quit the game for good, their drivers can be pulled out mid-race.
-Can I give the ownership of my own-manufactured engine to another player?
If a manager wishes to take-over a player-manufactured engine, they still have to pay 6500 (The usual price according to the engine tier). Also the previous owner is not paid anything. Finally, this kind of takeover can only happen between the seasons, not mid-season.
-Can I edit my marketplace purchases?
As long as there is not a technical mistake, you can't refund/remove purchases after you make your post. But if you have money left, you can buy more things before the marketplace gets closed.
-Can my budget go negative?
You can only go negative if you have to buy your first driver or get an engine/tyre supplier. In other terms, you can't go below 0 by over-spending.
END OF SEASON
At the end of the season, tyre upgrades will be reverted back and their stats will be changed randomly. Your drivers will leave the team. Engine upgrades will remain. Chassis, qualifying, and durability upgrades will be reverted back too. That is to provide a more equal ground in the next seasons. Driver upgrades will remain. There will be prize credits given according to your finishing positions in constructors and drivers championships. All drivers will be free after the season. You can carry over maximum 7000 credits to the next season. Remember to spend any extra credits you have before the final race as there is no marketplace period after the 10th race of the season.
*This page is subject to change with updates*
CALENDAR
POINTS/PRIZE ALLOCATION and SPONSORS
MARKETPLACE
Important Note: You can have maximum 2 teams under your control. So you can found maximum 1 sister team, no more.
Important Note 2: If you have extra 2000 credits after you conduct 2 tests/researches, you can do an extra Risky Research. And one more if you have 3000 more credits.
YOU CAN JOIN ANYTIME. YOU DON'T NEED TO WAIT FOR THE NEXT SEASON IF THE CURRENT SEASON IS UNDERWAY.
THE MANAGERS WHO KNOW THE GAME FROM THE PREVIOUS SEASONS, PLEASE READ THE FOURTH POST TO SEE WHAT'S CHANGED.
Before reading the tutorials below, know that you can join to the game and learn as you play along. Just get your team a name, 2 colors, 2 sponsors, tyre and engine suppliers, pick a favorite track from the calendar and 1-2 drivers and you are ready to go! You start with 2500 credits. You can find tyre-engine-driver prices in the supplier and marketplace tables below. Don't be afraid of making mistakes, i will try to help you as much as i can.
GETTING STARTED
If you are a newcomer, you start with 2500 credits. Name your team, (Don't use engine names in your team name) pick two colors, sign an engine contract, a tyre contract, pick two types of sponsors, and hire at least 1 driver. (Careful that drivers are not free, check out marketplace) (You name your drivers unless you buy a specific driver from the drivers list. BUT you have to use realistic names, please dont make names like "speed devil" or "boogey man" etc...) You should also send me your car setups via PM. (Details on car setups below)
THEN HOW TO RACE?
When your team is ready, wait for the race start. Races start with qualifying. You have to adjust your drivers' tyre compounds and fuel levels before the qualifying. Between qualifying and race, there is no chance to change them. Parc Ferme lock is applied.
First update is the qualifying in which your drivers set a single lap time. Beware as your starting fuel levels and tyre compound will be the one which is used in the qualifying.
After qualifying ends, race starts and every update completes TWO laps in the race. Between the updates, you can change your paces and engine revs. Also you can order usage of ERS. And you can call your driver to pits (When you order a pitstop, you have to inform me about tyre change and how much liters you want to be filled. There is nothing mandatory in the races regarding tyre compounds and fuel usage).
While giving your orders, you have to give orders for next 2 laps. Clearly seperated and without conditional clauses. For example; you can't say "pit if my tyre hp drops below %x in the 2nd lap". A good example of a command is just like this:
LIST OF PACES
(From Safe to Give all, the speed increases, wear increases, mistake chances increase.)
Give all
Push
Aggressive
Steady
Easy
Safe
Focus (Not available by default, the driver should have focus training, limited usage)
LIST OF REVS
High - Faster, but heats up the engine
Medium - Normal, heats up the engine, but not as much as high
Low - Cools down the engine, but slower compared to higher ones
LIST OF DRIVER ABILITIES (Driver abilities can be used only for ONCE in each race. They affect only a single lap. They can't be used in Qualifying laps.)
Play Safe - Driver drives more carefully in that lap
Pace Up - Driver gets faster in that lap
Hunt Them - Driver becomes better in overtaking/defending in that lap
Care Tyres - Driver wears their tyres less in that lap
Cool Down - Driver's engine is cooled a bit in that lap
Intimidate - Driver in front of the driver gets a bit nervous in that lap (You have to be at least 0.25 close to the car in front to be able to use it.)
HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR TEAM?
After a race ends, you will get prize money from your finishing position and sponsors. With this money, you can buy items from the marketplace and this way develop your team. Marketplace and Supplier lists below give details on what things you can buy.
SETUP SYSTEM
Please look at the calendar list in the end of this post and notice the five parameters: Downforce, Top Speed, Braking, Cornering, Shifting. The numbers below those parameters signify how effective those setups are for the track they are shown. At the beginning of the season, you make your setup for both of your drivers. They can be different from each other. You have 100 points and you distribute them between Downforce, Top Speed, Braking, Cornering, Shifting and Wet Track. Wet Track setting is not related to track characteristics, but gets effective the more wet a track gets. Each setting becomes effective as much as the track parameters number. High number means that setting effects the speed more than other parameters for that track.
You can adjust each of your cars' setups by 10 at the mid-season testings. Otherwise, you can conduct tests with your test driver and adjust your setup by 10 that way at each marketplace period.
If your test driver replaces one of your racing drivers (Test drivers should wait 5 races before replacing), they get the setup of the replaced driver.
SEASON-START DRIVER BIDDING SYSTEM
At the beginning of each season, teams have no drivers. For this reason, managers would want to get the best trained drivers on the drivers list. A bidding war takes place before the managers buy any thing or sign supplier contracts. Each manager will send me (VIA PM, not public) five bids for five drivers like this:
1- Alonso - 3000
2- Schumacher - 2300
3 - Fisichella - 2000
4 - John - 600
5 - Micheal - 600
(Minimum bid is 600 credits, there is no maximum limit)
After i get all the bids from the managers, i will compare the 1st bids. The highest ones get the drivers. Then the 2nd bids, then the 3rds and so forth... If the driver was yours in the previous season, your bid gets a 500 credits bonus. (For example, if you bid 1000 credits for your previous driver, and another manager bids him 1400, you still get him for 1000 as you have 500 bonus.) In case of a draw at biddings, the driver prefers his previous team. If the bidders are not previous teams, he picks the more succesful one in the previous season. If they are both new teams, then he picks his team randomly.
SAFETY CAR
When 3 or more cars retire in a single lap (for whatever reason), the SC comes out. It does not affect the lap it begins immediately. The next two laps are affected. After two laps, it gets green again. You can pit in the SC period. But careful that convoy is formed in the 2nd lap of SC, not in the first one. So it is better to pit in the first lap quickly before the convoy is formed. Every driver switches to SAFE/LOW automatically in the SC period. (Unless you tell me otherwise) ERS is disabled.
ILLEGAL DRIVER AIDS
After the 5th race, you can PM me secretly and install illegal driver aids to your cars. If another manager spots the strange performance boost, they can file a complaint. If an illegal aids user is reported, their cars in the race with illegal aids are disqualified and they get a penalty of -1000 credits. If a manager wrongly accuses another team, they get a -500 credits penalty. Reports should be submitted after the race publicly. 1 day after the finish, the results become official, and no reports can be submitted.
FAVORITE TRACK
Each team picks a favorite track from the calendar. Australia can't be picked as it is the first race. The favorite track brings speed boost in the qualifying and race.
DETAILED EXPLANATION OF CAR UPGRADES, DRIVER TRAININGS and TESTINGS
Car Upgrades: You can get maximum 2 levels of upgrades per each marketplace period. It does not mean you can get +2 chassis, +2 Durability, +2 Qualifying at the same time. It is 2 all of them combined. Examples of correct purchases are: +2 Chassis, or +1 chassis +1 durability or +1 durabiliy +1 qualifying.
Driver Trainings are the same. You can either train 2 levels of same training, or 1 from one and 1 from another.
Testings: As it is stated in the Marketplace list, 2 of 4 choices can be picked. You can't do the same kind of training twice in a single marketplace period.
There are two mid-season testings on the calendar, each supplier get a new random upgrade at those tests. You can also adjust your car setups by 10 points after those tests.
When an engine gets level 10 or above on any aspect (speed, durability or reliability), the customers' engine tests will have a %50 chance of failure. The half of the money is refunded to the team if the test fails. The manufacturer can still develop by picking the area he wants to be developed and instantly develop it !THIS RULE APPLIES TO PLAYER-MANUFACTURED ENGINES!
IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO ALL ENGINE MANUFACTURERS and CUSTOMERS
- Default deal is that all customer teams will pay 100 (50 per car) credits to their manufacturer team. Sister teams will pay 200 (100 per car). Payments are made AFTER each race.
- As a manufacturer, you can supply maximum 4 teams (including your own team).
IMPORTANT RULES and INFORMATION (Updated with questions from the managers)
- Maximum Drivers you can have: 3 (3rd driver becomes the Test Driver. They can't race for 5 races after they are hired.)
- Weather forecast is not %100 reliable. Just like real-life.
- There is a luck factor, please don't flame me if you get unlucky at some occasions.
- Each pitstop repairs a certain amount of damage/wear. It is impossible to repair a very damaged car completely. You can't make a long pitstop for full repairs, but you can pit consecutively to repair serious damage.
- You have to give your orders directly in the thread. Only thing you can hide from your rivals is your starting pace, rev, fuel load, and tyre compound in the qualifying session (You hide it by PMing me directly)
- Updates will usually be around 18:00, 19:00, 20:00, 21:00, 22:00 GMT.
- New tyre and engine supplier brands might appear in the further seasons. Some new rules, regulations and tools might be introduced as well. In some season refuelling might get banned, or even new systems like DRS might be introduced etc.. The game is not in it's final form.
- Team orders are allowed. Go make your Barrichello cry.
- You can change sponsors between the races, but not in the process of a race.
- More rules and information will be added with the questions of the managers...
- In qualifying, engine failure is disabled. But your drivers can make mistakes. Crashing is also not possible.
- Sponsorship prizes are calculated to each of your drivers seperately.
- Maximum grid size is 40 cars. If we get more than 40 drivers, there will be pre-qualifying sessions in which a single all-out lap (All soft tyres, 50 lt, give all-high, qualifying upgrade will not be effective) determines the fastest 40 drivers which will advance into the qualifying. DNQ drivers will get 250 credits for compensation.
- An engine can be used by maximum 4 teams.
-So if I develop my own engine and have a sister team using the same engine, Does my main team get 100cr per race from the sister team?
Yes, they pay 200 if they have two cars.
-About driver abilities: Can we use each ability once in the race, or we select one only?
You select only one. You can't use all of them.
-Another question regarding driver abilities, do we have to decide for one per driver each season, or can we change the one we use from race to race?
You can choose any one of them each race. You don't have to decide which one you will use before the race.
-Question about supplying engines to other teams: In case of an upgrade to the engine, do I get to race it first for one race before supplying others or will each team get the upgrades at the same time?
They get the same upgrades
-If I have a test driver for 5 races, does that mean I can have 3 cars racing in the next races?
You can have maximum 2 racing drivers, you have to replace one of them to let him race. The replaced one becomes the test driver, and he/she gets a 5 race waiting after the swap. The test driver gets the replaced driver's car setup.
-Can i sell my drivers?
You can't. If you want to get rid of a driver, you have to release him without any money gain. And they can't be hired by the other teams in the same season.
-PR expert only works if I have income? Not like increasing from 0 to 100cr when I fail to match the sponsors' objective?
Yes, you have to meet the sponsor objective to get the bonus 100 credits.
-What if i fail to give my orders for the qualifying or in the race?
Your drivers go on default levels. Default pace is steady, revs is low. The default tyre is hard compound. Car is %100 fueled.
-Do i have to give orders each turn?
Your pace and rev choices are carried over from the turn before. Others do not. So it is up to you.
-Can i use ERS in qualifying?
ERS is not available in the qualifying.
-Can my drivers pit in the same lap?
Drivers can pit at the same lap. But if there is not an enough gap between them (around 5.00), the latter one has to wait and loses plenty of time.
-Can we take fuel out of the car in pitstops. Let's say can we decrease a 30 lt fueled car to 10 with a pitstop?
No, it is not possible. If you tell me to refuel from the amount lower than the current fuel, it is an invalid command and your fuel level will remain the same.
-Can i found more than one sister team?
No.
-What if i go AWOL a bit?
In the course of a race, going awol has no penalties other than the fact that your cars will retire with either fuel or chassis problems. If you miss the contract-renewal period after the 5th race, you will not be able to race without any tyre and engine though.
-Can I pull my drivers out of a race?
You can't. They have to retire naturally. Only if the managers wants to quit the game for good, their drivers can be pulled out mid-race.
-Can I give the ownership of my own-manufactured engine to another player?
If a manager wishes to take-over a player-manufactured engine, they still have to pay 6500 (The usual price according to the engine tier). Also the previous owner is not paid anything. Finally, this kind of takeover can only happen between the seasons, not mid-season.
-Can I edit my marketplace purchases?
As long as there is not a technical mistake, you can't refund/remove purchases after you make your post. But if you have money left, you can buy more things before the marketplace gets closed.
-Can my budget go negative?
You can only go negative if you have to buy your first driver or get an engine/tyre supplier. In other terms, you can't go below 0 by over-spending.
END OF SEASON
At the end of the season, tyre upgrades will be reverted back and their stats will be changed randomly. Your drivers will leave the team. Engine upgrades will remain. Chassis, qualifying, and durability upgrades will be reverted back too. That is to provide a more equal ground in the next seasons. Driver upgrades will remain. There will be prize credits given according to your finishing positions in constructors and drivers championships. All drivers will be free after the season. You can carry over maximum 7000 credits to the next season. Remember to spend any extra credits you have before the final race as there is no marketplace period after the 10th race of the season.
*This page is subject to change with updates*
CALENDAR
POINTS/PRIZE ALLOCATION and SPONSORS
MARKETPLACE
Important Note: You can have maximum 2 teams under your control. So you can found maximum 1 sister team, no more.
Important Note 2: If you have extra 2000 credits after you conduct 2 tests/researches, you can do an extra Risky Research. And one more if you have 3000 more credits.
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