I have no idea how sims are developed. All I have played around with is some 3d programs...

But all this StepneyGate, and talk of trying things in the 'sim' got me thinking.

If a stable sim environment could be made... tracks, and environment etc..... could we develop a championship where, within rules, have teams of developers designing cars to compete against each other... like in real life....

Is this an actual possibility. Could a framework be developed that this could happen.

Of course how it would be developed, and then actual work??? It might just be impossible. But is this an area which could be looked at, or is it just total rubbish? I like the idea of teams of mod builders, and devs competing.

Real-time aero modelling to any significant degree isn't possible.

Right now from looking at open physics code such as rFactor, its all a matter of decimal values. A programmer (read: any guy with notepad) can change the physics to say Drag=0 Downforce=maximum and Power=900 no matter whether the vehicle in the game is a streamlined Group C prototype or a London double-decker bus.

Granted, thats a simplified example, but the whole truth is that the physics coding in most if not all games is entirely independent of the graphic/3D modeling.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Real-time aero modelling to any significant degree isn't possible.

To the best of my very limited knowledge, Xplane is the closest we've got to it atm.

@ Intrepid, i guess it's not such a bad idea, but, would it really appeal in our virtual world ? The number of Sim Racers out there is very small to start with. Would there really be a big enough market for this to justify the time and expense in developing it ?

Think bigger picture. Step away from the driving perspective and look at it from an entertainment view.

What drives F1? Is it the drivers? No it's the spectators. If there were no spectators there would be no F1 like it is today.

If there was a simulation that did these things well and they created a quality show from them there is no reason why it's not feasible other than the processing power of todays computers limiting the simulation.

I mentioned an similair idea to Victor except the difference is that each team would have a budget and the devs would have made the parts themselves already and its up to the team's budget of earning credit (or $ in real life terms) through winning races and championships to spend more on their cars, allowing them to make faster machines. As well, the teams system would be quite close to real life, you'd have a set of mechanics who would deal with purchasing and making further developments on the mechanical and electronic side of the car (e.g.: engine, gearbox, suspension, hydraulics, differential, etc.) and then an Aerodesigner who would do research on the various aerodynamic designs available and choose the most efficient and then a team head who would provide the budget and would make the ultimate decisions when it comes to actually purchasing the parts or not. Then, a cool added extra, there can be prices for drivers. For example, a driver like Biggi or Bawbag would cost say 3 Mil. to hire and then someone like me, 250,000 or something.

Victor actually considered my idea and he said he would think about implementing in future. I think this idea could take LFS waay above the competition.

I like your concept too Intrepid but I'm just thinking that for it to be fair, the developers would have to do some serious protective programming to prevent other teams hacking the game and gaining access to the other teams' cars, thus using it to their advantage but hey, I suppose if that happens, you could have LFSFIA to deal with it.

Sounds like you'd be taking an already small niece market game and making it into an even smaller niece market game. If I'm understand you right it would take a lot of time, effort and people to even make the car let alone race it.

I can't see it ever happening, sorry

First, not that bad idea, but I don't think it can be done properly...

There is a reason companys spend millions of pounds developing a car... So either you are able to design a car from the ground up (styling and engineering), then chances are you already work with a car company and have no time and/or no wish to do further designing in your free time anyway... Or you are not able to do this... For that, you'd have to simplify that designing process of developing a car to the point it's just another NfS plagiarism where you just exchange body panels and put a better engine in...

Quote from garph :

Sounds like you'd be taking an already small niece market game and making it into an even smaller niece market game. If I'm understand you right it would take a lot of time, effort and people to even make the car let alone race it.

I can't see it ever happening, sorry

Well, like I said in my post, I've talked to Victor directly on Skype and he said its an idea to consider so its not an impossibility.

Quote from Leprekaun :

Well, like I said in my post, I've talked to Victor directly on Skype and he said its an idea to consider so its not an impossibility.

I was talking about the original post and I think Victor was being polite, imagine the shear number of ideas he gets put forward to him.

Quote from Viper93 :

What drives F1? Is it the drivers? No it's the spectators. If there were no spectators there would be no F1 like it is today.

It's a wonder sometimes how F1 still has such a huge following given the quality (or lack thereof) of some of their races. And I don't think many of those fans actively follow and marvel at the design of the cars. They want to see good racing, and to see their favorite driver win.

Why is F1 freezing engine development and reverting back to 90's aero rules for 2009? Cuz they think it will improve the on-track show, which is all racing is about these days.

I can understand people wanting to design and build the ultimate car, both in real life and in simulated form and I would like there to be a sim platform for that end. But, as an entertainment device, the question begs asking...who'd want to watch it?

i bet you'd get more programmers interested if you turned it the other way around.. ie, create a game engine with a common API for driver input, use a "spec" car, and let the programmers try to develop an AI that can drive it the fastest.