Isn't it sad the way things are now?

So, Ferrari have done what they've done. You know what, I really pity them.

It's a sad sign of the times. They have managed to commercialise something that was hardly commercial. It was a complete overreaction, but, I guess that's all we should expect from a limb of a company too big for its own good.

Really, is this anything a certain man called Enzo would approve of? If it was still his company, they wouldn't care, they'd have just got on to building a racing car of some description. Which is exactly what they should be doing now.

Also, could you imagine all of the wonderful people in organisations like Williams, Silverline, Roush, 888 or Penske giving a flying fig about our little corner of the internet. (The internet has many corners. BATracer is a few miles from the edge, this is the edge. Maybe I could contrive it to a little more edgy than this, but not easily).

My point is, something that, for most of it's time was all nice and cosy, is now destructivly commercial. It really is sad.

Which is all why I'm glad that the manufacturers are leaving F1. It really wasn't motorsport. Sure, for next season, things might not be so good, but manufacturers should provide engines or possibly some chassis, little more. Anything else, it ends up ruining it. Give these people too much power, and it'll all go wrong.

Getting people interested in the clan

The Rising Stars is a big clan, full of people who are largely otherwise unconnected in any other way, it is truly a stand alone entinity in BATracer, nothing else. Therefore, it isn't easy for one person to manage the whole thing, I should know, I did it for long enough.

So, what I came up with last April was to have a committee, ten people who run the clan. Each member would have a special responsiblity, and would also vote on issues. It works well, except for the fact that we have over 50 members, but not 10 who really want to do it.

The first six months, we soldiered on with 7, although this became 6. And now, I wanted to boost membership, so we go about asking for new members, with the possiblity of a vote for the new members.

This was successful, we now have 9 enthusiastic members, but still, not 10. I just don't really get it, I can understand somebody who's busy not wanting to put in time, but still, people complain about things that we don't do perfectly. It's happened a lot with the RS, it's gone through periods of high and low activity. It was good at the start, then wained, then I became leader and it bounced back, before waining again, then picked up, then wained, then kinda recovered to a normal state of affairs with the committee, and has stayed there since. And everytime it goes a bit quite, people start to complain, sometimes leave. But when you give them an oppertunity to make a difference, what do they do?

It might have worked out better if it was an official BATracer thing, instead of something I do. Maybe I should suggest it officially, but then and again, I guess that there are better things for the developers to be working on.

But still, I'd like to see more enthusiam. Just be nice and all.

How do they do it?

Ozzy has previously said that it's all the more remarkable that I'm so involved in carset making and clan management and previously the RLB because I don't play very many games, because it shows that I'm not addicted, and you wouldn't expect me to care.

The truth, of course, is that I know what's best for me. Jules is right with the 1 carset advice. I'm in an odd situation: there are few carsets that I truly get enthusiastic about, and I don't want to play them all that often, really. So I stick to one public at a time, excedpt in exceptional circumstances, such as the rush of new carsets.

And I do anything in addition to that mainly because I have to. Nobody gives me a choice about joining the clan games, or the workshop privates, it's my duty to do these to show willing and encourage others. It's not that I don't enjoy these, quite the oppersite, but, when I'm in a private with 12 in it, I don't think that it, on it's own, is doing much for me. Being teamed with Rob, racing agaisnt these people who we see about often on the workshop, that's what makes it worthwhile.

So yeah, no matter what, I try to keep my games down. I was trying to keep them down during the summer holiday, for various reasons, mainly so not to lump my sitter when I'm on my travels with too many games, but just because I know that's how you get more fun out of it. I must have had 4 active games, and that felt like a lot, 6 would be unmanagable.

And now it's even worse. I've started college, and I simply don't have the time for all this. And this is the first week.

Now, Ozzy quite wisely last year cut back as he started his studies. I don't think that I need to cut back, I'm not exactly doing all that many games as it stands, but it has got me wondering, how do people do it?

12 games would last me three or four months. If you have three accounts, all full (and what's the point of having multiple accounts not to fill them up?) then it's just madness, you'd have 12 games finish in what? 10 days?

How do people live a normal life and put so much into this web game? It truly baffles me, and I think some are doing themselves no favours by doing that. It just seems like it will stress you out, and you won't enjoy it. You won't get to know the games, you might make mistakes (I know I would, just now I looked at the team talk and realised I hadn't hit the button and got the message in team talk for my (non-KT) teammate to see, and that's with 3 games to survey, would I have picked it up with 20?), you simply won't enjoy it all that much. So it's simple, don't join games. I find it awfully easy to just browse the new public games, and not join any. Maybe it helps me in the long run.

Yeah, Jules is definatly right, one game for 5 minutes is the way to go.

Four new carsets, time I commented on them

So, I'm back to do this once again, and to keep updating this little corner of the internet.

The big news is those four new, shiny carsets, three of which were, at least in part, made by yours truly. The dust has settled, the guineas are over, so, what do I think of them all?

GP2

Personally, I don't like it. It just seems so, difficult to like. It does nothing for me, it's openwheelers, going round F1 tracks, all in the same car, just nothing really interesting. I really don't like spec series, and I think that people will tire of this one quickly.
That's not to say that it isn't nessaccary and appropiate to have this carset. It is unqiue simply in what it is: a spec series with multi car teams, and that's something interesting. But it suits me as a private game carset, which is a shame.
The tyres allocations are all out. You get three for the first race, and three for the second, instead of three overall. I'm not sure if 2+1, like with F3 and FC is good, but it isn't for me to decide. And then there is the feedback and runs, which might be better with more, and the inclusion of the thinker and charisma traits.
Now, some will like it, will get it hooked up, and will love it, but I just see nothing. It's bland, it's durge.

Formula 3

This is the carset that I was most involved in the creation of, and I'm proud of what we've done here. It's neat, it works nicely. I like having many options of chassis, engines and tyres, and I know that people will come back for that, and the many different ways of signing up, with up to four car teams, means that no game is the same, which I guess is my main gripe with GP2.
The calendar just feels right. The 2008 Euroseries just seems perfect, mostly on the varied DTM tracks, but with Pau, a unique and historic street circuit in a country with few other races in, in place of this year's Eurospeedway, which lacks character, history and is in the same country as all too many of the other rounds in the series. And then there's Macau, which is brilliant, just because it's Macau, it's the hardest circuit in the world for F3 cars, and is so very special, and I hope we've portraid that well with the unique race format.
I understand what people say when they comment that there is no strategy, and it's a fair comment. Butg, in many ways, I think it shouldn't be needed, there are plenty of other series with pitstops similar to this, and these cars are actually quite good for passing compared to other openwheelers.
Some will say that the races are too short, but I'm not convinced either way. I don't think that lengthening those races by a reasonable amount will actually help cars further down the grid to get in the race for points. And anyhow, it will require the tyres to be completely changed.
Speaking of the tyres, there probably needs to be a change here, so that those on Avons can finish races with reasonable wear. The trouble here is it's a tough one, between keeping the tyres balenced and keeping all from going off no matter the slider setting for some races.
Other than all that, we need to look at the race 2 points, and also maybe runs and setup feedback. And there's also word of bringing out the Ligier, Lola and Dome, not sure though.

Ferrari Challenge

Nice carset. Neat and tidy. Very pleased. Just what I wanted, really.
OK, so some will say that there's nothing special, but they're missing the point. this carset is about fun, not competition. You're supposed to enjoy the quality of the racing, which is really good. This sin't a full professional championship, so really, the passes come often. It's great in that respect.
Yeah, some will miss the point, but I do like this carset. It's not quite like Bat 7s in the unpredictable races stakes, but still. I guess this is in the same class as 7s, actually, so it's marmite.

Classic Trans-Am

It was worth it. This carset does actually work. The race format is interesting, as I hoped it would be. It has long races, with pit stratergies for tin tops, which is nice. It's short as a season. From that point of veiw, it works.
However, a few things got jumbled. The cars that were in but weren't in but shouldn't have been in but were in are one of the things that is, questionable. The same goes for the last few races.
But it's a load of fun. From a gameplay point of veiw, it is actually perfect. I'm proud of what I've done for this one.

Let's just hope we get this more often in future. Four carsets in as amny days, what a treat. There are planty more where that came from.

Photos Vs Images

So, let me explain everything to you people who don't notice every last detail (nobody's corrected my mistake in IndyCar yet, seems like a typo gets them all flustered, but an actual error goes by without notice) in a carset, and who don't follow the workshops, I will explain it to you in words that you should understand.

For every car, be it a team, or a genuine car, available in carsets, you see a picture, of that car, most often racing (exceptions to this inculde the Paul Cruishank car in V8s, and the Cadillac BLS in S2000, we really couldn't find any pictures of a racing Cadillac). However, recently, Matt decided that instead, it would be neat to have a scaled down version of the livery, and have the logos and stull in the background.

Now, personally, I don't much mind. I like the real photos, and, for carsets where I get a say, I will insist on them, but for other people, that's really their choice. But reall,y I just think that the little images with the BAT liveries, they just don't add stuff. What do you see from that which you can't see elsewhere.

However, I will respect that other people may disagree with me, for I can see that those images do look very much different, and could look sleek and professional, and yes, I appreciate that the pictures are only small and show little detail, but still, I like the pictures.

But Pieczar, Matt and various other people think that the images are better. When there was a poll on the workshop, 13 people wanted images, 11 pictures.

Now, that isn't really fair or represntative. The thing is, people on the workshop are (with the obvious exception of myself) more likely to be interested in the high quality liveries, and the graphics for use in game. The whole community might think differently from that lot.

But still, people convinced Pieczar that this is his set, and he should do what he wants, and that is images. And that is fair enough, I suppose.

Except that Jules doesn't want images. He wants real pictures. Now, personally, I agree with him, and he has every right to ask this kind of thing of Pieczar (and, frankly, he simply changed the logo for IndyCar without my knowledge, I say that, with the exception of the actual templates and liveries, he has every right to change everything that we submit to the builder).

But, all in all, I also think that it's a minor issue. Nobody's going to notice, and few, apart from the people who worked on the set, will make a big fuss. I wouldn't of minded if the other workshop went ahead with the images, it would have given each workshop a completely separate style, and would have given us some distinction, but either way is fine.

I guess that all I'm trying to say is that people shouldn't make a fuss when there isn't one to be made, and should just go about these things, and respect other people's decisions.

Or I'd hope so at least.

Some Thoughts on the carsets in progress

Bad news from this week. I mean, that ruling from Paris and the WMSC. It's just terrible. And it's even worse for the BAT community.

Seriously, it's a big problem. The new system will pretty much assure that championships are decided eariler, and gives less fair results (seriously, what were they thinking) so it doesn't help us one bit. Do you want to play in a championship like that?

Anyhow, with everything that is normal, it's looking good. Things are progressing, we have a DP template, it's all looking good. There is hope, really.

EDIT: Anyhow, looks like we're good after all. Hmm.

Why I'm not looking foward to DTM (as a player). And why I'm really looking foward to it (as a carset maker).

Now, first things first, I mean no disrespect to anybody who has worked on the carset. That isn't what this is about.

The simple truth is that DTM has never, and will never interest me. And neither will the carset. The thing is, it's trying to appeal to people who would otherwise tune in for Grand Prixs, and it tries to be 'F1 with tin tops'. And that, I assure you, is truely devastatingly bad.

They aren't tin tops, and they don't provide the racing that you should see with conventional touring cars or GT cars, cars that are actually built for the roads. (But what really annoys me here is where people from DTM say that this is a good thing, in what way exactly? Why do you think that a car where it's really difficult to pass for no reason is a good thing?) And they don't appeal to the part of me that actually likes open wheel racing either, simply, what's the point? If you ask me, DTM is just a mess.

And I just think that the carset will dissapoint. We often talk about fans' carsets and players' carsets. And this is a fans' carset, something people look foward to, something that brings in new players, but just doesn't cut the mustard, doesn't stay interesting, doesn't actually help the players much. Maybe it's better than some (actually, it's far better than a whole load of things that have also been suggested), but it is still a fans' carset.

But still, DTM as a carset is inevitable. It had to come at some point, and it's all very well that it's now. Doesn't really matter.

However, there is one thing that I really am looking foward to here - weight penalties. I spoke to Matt about all these, and he said something good, that these varied with each car and with each track, and the same for Super GT. Now that's just brilliant. It's been done properly, it's applicable for many more carsets, and it'll help things in future.

So, I have mixed feeling about the imminent carset. No doubt, people will play it, and will join the game thanks to it, but it doesn't interest me. And, after a short while, neither will it interest most players, sad to say, in my opinion. But still, it's good news, all carsets are.

Yowch

These last two days haven't been fun for anybody who is leader of a clan. Plenty to worry about.

The whole issue is that a couple of days ago, this guy hacked into Chris Homan's account. And you know how he got the password? He read it in clan chat. Yowch.

Now, you might just think that this is unlikely to happen to you, for you know everyone in your clan, and you can trust them, and so can everybody else. But, well, it only takes five seconds to read a clan chat message. So, this guy could come in with a clean record, read an acount sitting thread, and be done with it, he's in your account. And if you're in a clan like Rising Stars, or a low down clan hungary for members, he'll get in really very easily, through no fault of the leader.

The issue is that we can't just not let people in because they might want to hack into an account. Unless we set up our clan on the basis of invitation only, but that, for many, is not acceptable. That isn't the philosophy of some clans, that's not what we're about, not what we want to do. We want to be open to all.

Thankfully, the guy is now permabanned, and that's great, we can have some confidence. But still, watch out for these things, and be careful with your pass. Don't post it in clan chat, although you might think it to be limited to those few in the clan, anybody could join at any time.

Some people with their big mouths...

Well, so I think we know where you end up if you listen to the other people on the forum. So, Sharky makes a perfectly reasonable and valid suggestion one the forum, to make a generic version of IndyCar. We had originally considered this, such good an idea it is. It was always in the plan to have a generic version for private games at least, and as time goes on, to see how things work out, and maybe go foward with a sole public, generic version, with Long Beach certainly, and Toronto a possiblity, at the possible expense of Surfers and Nashville. You see, 2009 is less suited to historically accurate than 2008, no transition teams, and it won't be seen as such a historic season.

But anyhow, this was actually a very good suggestion. Indeed, I have since PMed Jules about it, and if he likes, then we're go. And, as I said, we will see how things go, and make our minds up as we go along, what is the right direction with such things as the multiple compound tyres and the transitional teams, will they still be obviously weeker on the ovals?

But still, there were still some people who just didn't read what was written, but still have the divine right to comment. Firstly, Shane Van Rooy came along and said no, then started a suggestion for CCWS 2007, a truly dreadful suggestion. All because he couldn't be bothered to read it. Jef had a similar response, said that he didn't bother reading it, and when I asked him how he could comment something that he knows nothing about, he just replied that he knew it all along, which really doesn't make any sense (I expect nothing better from Jef). James Donald, didn't read it, expressed an opinion which presumably relates to public games. So, that's three guys who think that they can comment on something they know nothing about. Who choose to ignore it. Great.

Fortuantly, the suggestion does have support, thanks to the people who really matter (subject to Jules being added to that) doing something about it. And I can't see CC 2007 coming, thank you very much.

But just remember, some people think more of themselves than they really should. And they're more than willing to share that with you. despite the fact that they cannot support their opions, or even show any signs of knowing a thing about what they're talking about. Oh Joy.

The whole queuing system

Where better to start than a topic which seems so relavant, and is attracting so much attention from people right now? Just so that you know where I stand with all this, and then you can think about it some more.

The current system works thus (I think):
For each carset that is in the queue, when you click on the E-mail me link, not only does that mean that you will get sent an email, but you also 'vote' for that carset to be the next one to come out after another is full. And simply, the carset that most exceeds the number of spaces in the carset (say, BTCC has 32 spaces, and it's how many more than 32 it has), is the carset that gets the go. Sounds great, and it does work well enough. However, the problem comes when people, say, vote for an F1 carset, so it comes up, and then don't join for whatever reason (usually because they cannot get the car that they want).
However, if I set myself on the list for, say, MR2s, there's a good chance that I'll actually join. Surely that should be taken account of in the queuing system?

So, the basic idea is to not base it off the number needed to fill up the carset, just plain off, but to base it off the 'real life' number that you will need. Say, F1, 22 spots. If you start it when there are 22 people on the email list, then only 40% will actually join. So, go for it when 55 people are on the list, fully knowing that 33 of them won't join the game, will be put off by the lower cars or something, and then it goes quickly. Apply the same rule for all carsets, off data we already could get (simply, the numbers on the list, and how many join), and it might work. But then and again, it might not.

The end result would be that the carsets still come out judged through popularity, but it's done fairly, so it would be harder to get a F1 set going, and less likely to whitewash the available sets with F1s.

So, lets get this show on the road

This is where I will post whenever I feel like it, about anything that's happening in BATracer. Really, anything. Or anything I know about, at least. So, you can safely expect:

-Things that I think need changing
-Me telling you to shut up
-A lot of things about carsets
-The RLB, how we really mucked up this time
-Comment on the news from the forum

All in all, enjoy. Or enjoy it as much as you can.