YSCAS Racing Series - Planning Topic

[Neocon]

Attention YS pilots, we need your opinions and comments! Decaff, Tfan, and I decided that we should organize our seemingly-random races into a series. Decaff has worked out a points system to keep up with over a season.

So far, YSCAS has hosted races across Tennessee, Honolulu, the ice planet Hoth, and San Andreas.

This is where you, whoever you are reading this, come in:

• First, what maps/locations would you like to race around?
• Second, what aircraft would you like to fly? These should either be GAC or GAC equivalent and free to paint without limitations to make it simple, or stock aircraft. We don't want any models that are too complex.
• Third, tell us what you think?

[decaff_42]

Maps
Off the top of my head there is the race in York Valley, the canyon in Libya from YSMajor. Overall I think it would be best to have a mix of different styles of map. Some more aerobatic and precise and others (like York Valley) with a more open and sweeping course. Mhw3 had some racing maps, but his site is down and I'm not aware of any re-hosting beyond maybe one of the packs (I seem to recall he had maybe 3 or 4 packs).

It might also be interesting to make some new maps as well!

Aircraft
On top of the different maps, we can have "Open" races where any aircraft from (for example) GAC would be allowed, and then "Single-Type" races where only one type of aircraft would be used. Last night's P-51s-only race would be an example of a "Single-Type" race. The "Single-Type" races should all have the same DAT file. I don't think we would need to color / repaint beyond the single-type races, and that is more for ease of scoring than anything else after the fact.

Racing Styles
I think it would be awesome to have a mix of these Open and Single-Type races at each event. Depending on course size, it might be worth changing the number of races held. For example on a small course we might be able to get 5 or 6 races in 30 minutes. On a longer course we might only get 3 or 4 races.

Some maps also have the ability to be run as multi-lap races, while others are more point-to-point. If we are interested in number of races, we could limit to a single lap, or open it up for 2+ laps depending on the course size.

The other kind of racing that could be done is offline where one aircraft is chosen and a course is run. Finish order is by time taken to run the course (as confirmed by replay). This could help folks who maybe cannot make it to the live event, but still want to participate. I'd propose that for every one of the Live events, there be an offline race.

Scoring
I'm working with a High-Point average scoring system, with some modification. The benefits of this system is that people can come in at any point and as long as they do enough racing, they can get in on the overall-action and if they do well, they can quickly rise up the ranks, the races that they missed will not be counted against them if they participate in enough (we need to establish a threshold. I would propose 50% of the races).

You can find the Scoring Google Sheet here!

Scoring Summary

• First place gets the total # of race participants (N) as their score.
• For all finishers, they will receive one less point than the person ahead of them. (2nd would get N-1, 3rd would get N-2, etc)
• All DNFs (i.e. started but crashed, died or otherwise could not complete the course) get 0.5 points.
• Shooting down another participant would be negative points, I'd propose negative the amount of points gotten by first place. (Once we start modding the planes to remove weaponry, this would not be a factor, but until we get to that point, it should be kept in)
• A shot down aircraft gets last finisher score - 2 points as a consolation.

The overall series score of a racer is calculated by taking the sum of their total score and dividing that by the maximum number of points they could have gotten by finishing first in each of their races. That value is multiplied by 100.

[Indy]

Although I can't provide as much input as Decaff (all of which looks very solid), I do think it'd be interesting to implement an 'Extreme Class' or something that more closely resembles a high-speed, high-G, Red Bull Air Racing style of competition. Although races in such class would be less common, I feel like it'd provide some exciting competition and great entertainment in comparison to the more frequent long-track courses such as we've seen in the past.

[decaff_42]

Indy, do any existing maps come to mind that you think could work with this style of racing right now?

[Doomsday]

Ice made some maps a while back for the YS Grand Prix a while back that may meet the above mentioned criteria. Short and quite a bit of sharp turns. viewtopic.php?f=271&t=154

Would definitely be interested in this "Extreme Class"

[Indy]

Indy, do any existing maps come to mind that you think could work with this style of racing right now?

I'm sure there are several that I haven't seen, such as the one Doomsday linked, but I do know that this would work: viewtopic.php?t=8099

As for the courses, it wouldn't be too much of an issue. All you'd need is a model of a set of pylons and you can throw a few down on any map and turn it into a course.

[Deleted User 3849]

YS has racing? I'm in.
I dont know if we're doing civilian racers or fighter jets, but i'll do both.
(several P-39s were made into racers after WWII so I know my prop racer!)

[ysmajor]

My 2 cents:

I love flying through canyons, under bridges, and through caves. It's even better when there is plenty of stock AAA present forcing you to keep your head down.

Also, faster is better imho, but not too fast, as it's hard to catch up with the rest if you overshoot a corner (like in a FormulaYS car). So generally 300-400mph, high-G, afterburning jets have preference. Stock F-16 will do actually.

I made simple race tracks in Hogtown, Afghanistan, and Libya (best one I think - has Gadaffi driving around in a limo).
Might make a Guilin race through the Karst mountains too.

For a series, it's best to use the same set of ground objects. I'm thinking we can publish a set with Pylons, Arrows, Audience stands, Starting grid, etc. Then if individuals make a map they look similar and will fit better in the series. Personally, I think the YSGP11 objects are the best, so it'd be good to use those and credit the creator(s) of that.

[decaff_42]

I like the idea of a series that shares common ground objects, but I think that would be closer to a Phase 2 expansion or mod of what we already have. If we are going to get this off the ground quickly, using what we have for Phase 1 would be best, while in the background working on new content.

Also I agree with the AAA fire. 100% adds more intensity to the racing.


Edit here is an old server list of maps:
viewtopic.php?t=6415