Proposed Qualifying system - need your comments

[Krayy]

Hi guys,

Steala and I are working on integrating Lapper with the web site and we had a discussion on Qualifying that I would like to get peoples opinion on...

During most quali sessions, we leave the pits en masse and getting a good hot lap in with a group of racers around you is a bit of a pain, so what we are proposing is that we devise a qualifying system that is Lapper controlled to combat this. Basically how the system would work is this:

1. Races will be advertised on the web site calendar and will specify the Practice/Qualify start times only. The rcae time will be dependant on the length of the Quali session.
2. Prior to the race night, everyone must register at the web site. This allows us to plan how long the Quali session would be and also allows us to allocate any handicaps that may apply to Quali/Race sessions. Race admins would be able to modify the list on the night to allow for late entries.
3. The automated calendar will change to the approraite track at the time specified for Free Practice, and thsi signifies the start of that race session
4. When the race session starts, any racers who have not pre-registered will be forced to spectate and await authorisation to participate by an admin. We might get Lapper to raise a text message every 5 mins asking them to go to the web site or to try and chat with an admin. This will stop any drop ins and allow us to run sessions without passwords
5. Near the end of free practice, each racer who is online will be given a random qualifying order. Late joiners will be added to the end of the list.
6. Actual qualifying will be done in order. The first qualifier will be given a text notice to leave pits and start their qualifying run. All others will be forced to spectate, but will be able to go to the garage, etc. The qualifier will do an out lap, then have 2 timed laps to get their best time. As soon as they pass the start/finish line at the end of their second flying lap, they will be spectated.
7. When a qualifier has completed their first flying lap, the next qualifier in the queue will be given permission to leave the pits for thier qualifying run. They should leave the pits at the earliest opportunity. We will most likely have a 1 minute timeout where they will get pushed to the end of the qualifying queue if they have not started their session.
8. This process will continue until all racers have completed their 2 lap run.

Caveats:
1. Resets will be allowed during qualifying, as will driving to the pits for repairs
2. Any return to the pits via Shift+P, Spectate via Shift+S or other means of leaving the track will result in no qualifying position unless an admin returns you to the queue
3. If a qualifier fails to take the track after being prompted to do so 2 times, they will start at the back of the grid.
4. Any racer can protest interference by another racer if their flying laps are interfered with by another racer. Admins discretion as to action.
5. The number of flying laps will be able to be adjusted for each track, but I would say a minimum of 2 is fair.

Any further ideas on how this system could be improved?

[thorns]

Like the idea, puts a bit more pressure on to nail a good lap.
Another suggestion along the lines could be that the top 'x amount' of drivers in the championship only get one flying lap to set a time, could lead to some more mixed up grids, one mistake and you will down the back.

[mik641]

I for one like the current qualifying session layout, but i am very open to change. To be honest i actually like qualifying with others because if they are near it gives me a goal to either catch up or try and get away.

How long would an expected qualifying session take? it may take longer than 20 mins to get everyone through.

If this was the case, we could change qualifying to another night ( could be wednesday for example).

Are you going to make the qualifying session start bang on 8pm, so that we dont have to wait for others...those who are there can qual, those arent are stuck at the back. It makes it much more fair.. and in a real race situation no one waits for the car and driver to change their panties in a top ten shoot out.. tough luck if you arent ready!

[Swivel]

If your racing on (Say Thursday night), then have it set for all day Qualifying. So you can pop on before the race time.

[Krayy]

If your racing on (Say Thursday night), then have it set for all day Qualifying. So you can pop on before the race time.

That sort of defeats the purpose of a qualifying session. What we could do is to use data from a free practice that starts a couple of hours prior to the race to seed the qualifying order.

Another suggestion along the lines could be that the top 'x amount' of drivers in the championship only get one flying lap to set a time, could lead to some more mixed up grids, one mistake and you will down the back.

Now this one I like...we could rank drivers based on race and qualifying performance into a similar grouping as the LFS training does with Good, Quick, Pro. That would give racers targets to set for themselves to get to a higher level.

How long would an expected qualifying session take? it may take longer than 20 mins to get everyone through.

We can make it configurable when to let the next car go, so either at the start/finish or any of the splits. That way if it's a long track and the splits are far enough apart, then we might have up to 3 or 4 racers on track at any one time. I wouldn't bank on us being able to make sure that you're in amongst others, as that will ruin their chance of a clean lap.

[4aged]

all good stuff here, i was planning on running this format for the F08 series (same format as A1GP qually - awsome to watch live), but with automated like how krayy said would be good as!, i like to 3-4 on a lap at the same time (depending on track length though)

but i do agree with mik as the current format does have its merits as well, getting a clean lap in with traffic is part of the skill & tactics of a qual session, maybe 20 min isnt enough at the longer tracks though.

exited about trying this in fo8 series though.

[Krayy]

Actually, you just remninded me of another mod I was going to do to add F1 like scorecards that appear on screen when spectating. Keep things a bit more lively when just watching.

[4aged]

oh yea that would be cool.

[mik641]

Actually, you just remninded me of another mod I was going to do to add F1 like scorecards that appear on screen when spectating. Keep things a bit more lively when just watching.

Not entirely related but you know how you had the split board on the middle left of the screen which required !pbclose to disable... i like how it was where when you go through the split the time comes up on the screen either green for faster or red for slower, because i never look at the pb board and if i see a green number then i am likely to try harder on that lap

[KR0NIK]

liken all the ideas that are flowing through here
qualing like that would be a drawn out affair
but i think in a few events it could add in a extra buzz to the event
fv8s would be a awesome event for this to be implemented into
it would happen/does happen in R/L so it would be wicked to implement it into our racing experence


would also be good in smaller tracks where getting a good lap without traffic would also be cool
but generall 9 outa 10 times i would say this way of qualling will only limit racing time and drag
the night on and result in slower qual times (and totaly tyre chewing setups)
20min change to 30 would easely allow more chance of traffic less qual and more track time

also IMO adding all this time and effort and ideas into qualifing
which at the end of the day once the green flag drops and all the lag and accendental take outs
come into play make the time and effort of qualing seem alittle pointless
maybe stepping up our race rulings with (dare i say it NO RESETS) and frendly protests
fake fines pointsdeductions blah blah

many times i have started i what i thought was the incorect positon...and never given it a second thought
many times i have qualed in traffic and have never looked upon it as being a negtive
many times i have qualed and have no one to blame bar myself

i could just be biased because spending even more time in mysim just aint gona happen
generall i only pulled it out on mondays and then 5pm on thursday where it generally gets thrashed by my mates
till 8pm and on mondays even after and hour or so praccky in a LX its enough of a workout
formula v8s would probally be a bit eaiser on the legs but not the arms lol
and that would be me dreaming as i still dont have any paddles
and i cant pull my left monitor towards me to mimic a cockpit so it looks a bit wack

so thumbs up for events that deserve this type of qual system
but thumbs up for a password also