The online racing simulator
#1 - aoun
Point system suggestion
I was thinking about it just recently playing in the CTRA server today. It would be good and also encourage people to drive smoothly. The points system is based on clean racing too from what i have heard, but i think it could be good to see a bit of a "+ system" integrated.

Example. Player 1 takes out player 2. Player 2 recovers eventually and Player 1 waits for 2. Player 2 appreciates this and clicks the + next to the players name. The + calculates a few points (1 or 5 or whatever) and the player is rewarded for stuff like that a computer perhaps couldn't.

It can vary though. The player could type a message in. Eg: $plus aoun. And maybe even depending on what it is, Eg: $plus2 aoun, which gives a few more points rather then just one.

That way, the driver isn't receiving points whenever he pulls over, only when the victim does so. This could maybe make drivers closer with each other and get to know each other more = cleaner racing.

Its just an idea that could be twisted or changed in any way, not exactly how i have explained it, but I'm sure you all get the just.
Very bad idea IMO. This could be abused way too easily, friends would give each other whatever the maximum points is every race for no reason etc etc...
#3 - Bean0
I think you get to know the regulars, and people you regularly battle with anyway.

You certainly get more used to a persons style the more you race against them, and with this you both learn how hard you can attack or defend against each other...a sort of mutual trust develops which leads to closer and more fun racing.
Or some... you just know you'll get wrecked by them, so you stay closely behind and make a pass that's low risk.

Then there's Dru...
You shouldn't get + points for being a good racer, but you should get - for being a bad one. As reports sometimes do this, i think thats enough.
Hi CTRA (Sam I expect),
I've not been racing actively on CTRA servers lately (nor racing this much I must say) and logged on the ctra website today.
I can see pbs added to the myctra page, very nice addition, and also a sanskript-looking bar on top of the page, telling me I got 23 GP points this month (3 XRT races on BL1, reminded me of my long demo times...except the track and car changed faster than my setups).
After clicking all links (everything working smoothly, no worries there) I can see this month's standings in all categories and many more of these "GP points"
So:
What are these GP points, and how are they (basically, please no maths!) calculated?
What are they / will they be used for? (it looks like part of a bigger plan from here, but maybe I'm just paranoid)
Would you care to enlighten my poor soul?

Thank you.
yeah good question. i have also been off CTRA for quite a while (just couldt handle the lag anymore) but the urge for some awesome racing came back yest! (and it was worth the struggle with lag!)

So i logged onto the website this morn and there appear to be some neat info addons... what they mean, other than the obvious pb ones?
#8 - SamH
Hi guys.. these stats are in their infancy at the moment, so don't place any expectations on them. As you can see, it's showing your points for this month. Technically it's only showing them from about a week into the month. October will be the first complete month.

The single most obvious flaw in CTRA stats until now has been the lack of granularity in the information available. Someone has 15,000 Single Seater points.. but WHEN did s/he get them, how long did it take, did they do it by winning or by taking part, etc.. this is what we wanted to address moving into the future.

The GP Points are raw F1 GP-style winning stats. 1st=10, 2nd=8, 3rd=6, 4th=5 and so on. They don't take into consideration the number of people that started the race and yellows aren't a factor.. you can finish in 2nd and get 8pts even if you're down a lap (as long as you're not a midrace joiner).. in fact, you can finish 2nd and get position 1 and 10pts, if the person that finished first is in a different CTRA class (GT2 vs GTR, FJR vs FO8 etc). Stats are collected per server and per car class. It's not perfect yet, by any stretch, but it is coming along.

Ultimately you will be able to select any month, week, day or hour.. and chart your CTRA stats for that time period. You will be able to compare them directly with other players on a graph in all respects, and at the same time CTRA will be able to create monthly and weekly leaderboards and histories.

Don't place any emphasis on these stats yet. We're still building on them and enhancing the information that is stored, as time permits. We may yet find that we need to wipe all and start over, to improve the value of the data that is stored as we bring more numbers into the mix. We're shooting for completion by Christmas, so that we can enter 2009 with a new CTRA statistical era.
Cool idea! I think its pretty neat idea.

But what is "CTRA:"? is this normal CTRA points?

I did 2 races (the only 2 this month) and scored 53 of the these CTRA: things.
#10 - SamH
Thanks for stating the obvious that i couldnt figure out :-)

I was a touch confused as that means that in 2 races (out of 227... just under 1%) i scored 53 points (out of 1499... just over 3.5%)

I.E i increased my total points by 3.5% by only increasing my races finished by less than 1%. guess i had 2 good races

:-)

Thanks for all the hard work Sam, really enjoy CTRA. just wish i was closer to the servers

FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG