NationStates GT Class Racing Idea Board

[Sword Island]

NOTE: This is not a signup thread. If this generates enough interest I'll make a signup thread


So I've noticed there is a big gap in the motorsports lineup of NS Sports. We have stock car racing and Formula racing but other forms of auto racing like rally and endurance racing are missing. So I decided to try to fill that void with the help of the NS Sports community. Now I will acknowledge I do not have much experience, or any at all hosting events here so I am soliciting help. This thread's purpose is to bounce around ideas like the scorinator used for such a competition, RP rules, and a whole host of stuff that I couldn't think of on my own. Feel free to put anything you think I would need for this to work.

[Lisander]

Every category that currently exists on these boards emulates a RLStates category.

WGPC is like F1 (and by extension, WGP2 is like F2). I say "emulate" and "like" because it doesn't follow the RL F1 that closely. People are free to have a car however they like, as long as its appearance is somewhat related to the contemporary concept of "open-wheel car".

NSSCRA is like NASCAR, with its primary and secondary categories. Again, there is not a lot of regulations on what a NSSCRA car is, but thanks to the works of VilTur and Saint Kanye in providing templates, every car looks like the RL NASCAR cars of the last decade.

Different of those closed circles with "somewhat-spec" cars, GT Class is something bigger. There are different categories of GT Cars. Japan itself has its own system, only with local manufacturers. I will focus in the common "european" GT categories, like GTE (Endurance), GT3 and GT4.

While the cars are somewhat diverse in design, since they are all based on production cars, there are differences between categories. Under the hood, they're quite different, even if they look similar outside and even are based on the same production model. Think about the three variations of Aston Martin AMR Vantage. They look different, they sound different, and if you're looking to the numbers, they have different horsepower values.

What do I mean, you might be asking? I believe you need to deliver more, define more exactly what you're trying to do. If you want to start a competition like that you must define what is the standard. Will it be a GT3 competition, where manufacturers are encouraged and some prime aerodynamics can be used? Maybe is it a GTE competition, with 4/6/8/12/24 hours racing? Or will it be a low-cost GT4 competition, where a rich girl can buy four or five sports cars, make a team and drive around the world?

I suggest you start with a Domestic or Invitational event, instead of something open to everyone. It could help you with getting the details of the scorinator.

[Ethane]

I have to say, I'm genuinely interested in something like rally or endurance racing. If an event in either of these categories were to come up, I'd definitely consider signing up. I'd recommend perhaps speaking to a few people in the NSS motorsports community to see if they have any ideas, plus look into scoring your own (as Lisander mentioned).

But, like, I am 100% interested in something like this in a different racing format, probably as a one-off event or every so often.

[Saint Kanye]

Hodor does a rally racing thing but it's domestic.

[Hodori Motorsports]

Hodor does a rally racing thing but it's domestic.

It's Hodori. As in the Seoul 1988 mascot, not the throne-games character.

I also do domestic GT (structured similarly to the RL Japanese Super GT) and open-wheel championships.

[Saint Kanye]

Oh damn, I'm so sorry. (Thought "Hodori" with the "i" is the demonym. too)

Back on topic, yeah, the thing about domestic series is that you can do any form of racing you want (as long as you can scorinate), and if people see it interesting, they may push for it to go international.

[The Sherpa Empire]

I think an endurance series has potential. You want something that's going to play differently from NSSCRA or WGPC.

I haven't made any decisions about whether I'd enter or not.

[A m e n r i a]

If this gets on, I am so in. If the OP gets creative with the races, all the better.

[Valentine Z]

Given my relatively free status as of now (still job hunting), I definitely can and will join another race event because Valentians love a good race.

[Vangaziland]

I would participate. It sounds like at least some interest is here. I would say don’t worry about starting a domestic event by yourself. If you do make a signup thread, be sure to add a detailed bid. Talk to people in the WGPC about scorinators. Try to emulate that format down to the detailed table and map for each track. You might even want to post an example race result in your hosting bid. Worst case scenario is that you can make a 3 race event to start. The league can even be a mix of small events and doesn’t have to jump into a six month event like other leagues. People will join if it looks like what they’ve seen in other top leagues.

But I’d say work up a format, check with other tournaments planners to nail down details and don’t hesitate to try. Best of luck! See you on the track.

[Emessia]

Why not take cues from the video game by the same name, and go with production car racing?

[Cassadaigua]

I'm not particularly interested in this form of racing, but would support the series with a driver to get it off the ground. Scorination is the big key, though.

[Aboveland]

I echo the sentiment that the GT racing series should play out differently enough from WGPC to be attractive; it's a similar reason to why eGP never took off, because OOCly the RPing bit was largely the same. If the GT racing class was more endurance oriented, that would surely bring something different to the table. Either way, I'd most likely participate at least once.

[Vangaziland]

The RP should be different, sure. That’s really up to the writers. There will have to be rules like driver switches. The endurance theme is great for sure. More importantly for the series designer and host is that the Race Result scorecard has to be up to the quality of the WGPC or NSSCRA. If the table looks super generic or barebones closer to a regular sports RP, it won’t have the proper flair. There need to be constructor tables, drivers listed alongside color codes, detailed maps and other graphics. It’ll need a well made logo and an established identity.

People will need to feel as if they are establishing a team amongst a fleshed out IC universe.

If not, the series will be forgotten. For example, does anybody remember the one off rally tournament? I enjoyed it because it started off my most well known driver and NS character. RP was unique and fun. But the results were pretty bare bones. I think it still had some maps. But there just wasn’t a buzz. Most people stopped writing. So differentiate RP and race style. But be sure you can make it look as good as NSSCRA and the WGPC series.. Even the Hodori set.

Check out Hodori’s series to see one way to differentiate the gameplay itself. It has rules on who can move into what kind of car in addition to car and driver spec rules like those also seen in the WGPC. Again, thinking of Hodori’s series.. I would again caution against making it a domestic series. People won’t want to join if you forcefeed your national companies’ cars, engines or tires down the throat of the multiverse. Give everybody a chance to shine, don’t just make it a focus on your own cars. Also, just hearing the words “domestic series” will make people automatically associate that with not RPing. Not good. Hodori does have a great series that deserves more international participation though. It’s worth a look for all. I’d also say that I think that nation has the Japanese GT style pretty well done, so picking the IMSA style GT set to be unique might be better.

I think focusing on a series of GT classes will differentiate the RP plenty from the WGPC. Have people submit in at least two or even three classes, like GT2 and prototype or GT3 and GT1. Whichever classes you choose. That might be tricky to scorinate, but could be done. Multiple scorinations? Some with slower car stats? I think that type of thing will provide the differential those are looking for. It might be able to be done with one Scorinator. Check with NSSCRA on how. Maybe just lesser car stats for classes?