Documentation:

What do I need to know to play?

• There are several distinct phases of the game:
  1. Pre Race Activities - Test Sessions
     This is when teams will conduct R&D on their cars and run test sessions to see how competitive they are. You will need to a) build a car, b) hire a driver, and c) run a "Test Session".
     
     
  2. Qualifying
     The nightly maintenance program will conduct qualifying runs of each car. Those cars that meet the minimum speed requirements will be "qualified" to run the race. Those that do not qualify will not be entered into the race, and no points/money/results will be generated for these teams. There will be two qualifying sessions prior to the race in this version of the game.
     
     
  3. The Race
     The nightly maintenance program will run the race will all cars that qualified for the event. Official results will be recorded and points, stats and winnings will be calculated and a team status update will be written to the team log.
     
     
  Currently the game is set up to run one race every 7 days. This means that qualifying will begin on Thursday night, the race will be run on Saturday night and the next weeks activities will begin on Sunday morning. All sessions between the last race and the qualifying for the next race will be designated as test sessions.

Background

• Objective - The object of this game is to build a car, compete in events and finish as high in the standings as possible. To do this you will need a talented staff, lots of patience, and a little bit of luck (oh yeah, and a whole lot of money)
  
  
• Building a Car
  Two options will be available to you once you begin the game, but only one is recommended. You can either build your car from a set of pre-existing technologies or try to invent your own. The advantage of using existing technology is that you will gain a given performance level without sacrificing too much reliability. On the other hand, if you attempt to build your own everything and go the prototype route, you can possibly gain greater performance, but at the cost of less reliability. For a team starting out, it is recommended that you use the pre-existing solutions until your team is fiscally stable.
  
  
• Speed vs. Reliability
  In any type of racing, there is a given tradeoff of speed vs. reliability. In endurance, racing this relationship is critical. While it is important to run good lap times and not drop too far behind the leader, it is also important that your mechanical systems not give up on you. Several minor mechanical failures may decrease your car\'s competitiveness, while an all out critical failure will force your retirement from the race.
  
  
• The Technology Race
  As with any technical challenge, the breakthroughs of today are bound to be marginalized by the discoveries of tomorrow. The same can be said of auto racing technology. One team may find a technological advantage today, but as their competitors either catch on or match technologies, the advantage afforded begins to decline. In this game teams will notice that the technological advantage of their cars begins to decline as the car ages. What was cutting edge last season may only be a middle of the pack type car this season. Thus continual improvements must be made. However, at some point the effort spent upgrading a car would be better used if the team simply builds a new car from scratch.
  
  
  • Diminished Returns
    The law of diminished returns states that at some point the value of the input exceeds the value of the return. In practical terms this means that when your spending money on R&D, at first your investment will go further. But as you approach the technical maximum for performance, the amount of money you have to invest increases exponentially. In the racing world, this fact holds true, as well in the Ultimate Racing Game. You will find that this feature limits the performance gap between the "haves and the have nots".
    
    
  • Time Isn't On Your Side
    Time is also a valuable commodity when it comes to racing development. Given enough time and money, it's hard to say what isn't possible when it comes to developing a race car. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world, and teams are constantly under deadline pressure to make the next race. You team will be given a limited number of R&D points which allow you to make improvements to your car. Use them wisely.
    
    
• Failures
  "You can't let one bad moment spoil a bunch of good ones."- Dale Earnhardt
  
  • Critical
    Critical failures are ones that will force your car to retire from the race. These situations can include a engine expiring, a major chassis failure, complete loss of brakes, or a major transmission failure.
    
    
  • Non-Critical
    Non-Critical failures are minor problems with the car that may cause the car to fail to perform at an optimal level, or may be time consuming to fix. These problems can cause cars to run slower and lose laps. However, the car will continue to operate until either the end of the race or a critical-failure is encountered.
    
    
• Money
  By far one of the most critical areas of team management is financial. Without the proper budget, teams can not build and maintain cars, hire drivers and engineers, or even enter the events. Teams will primarily get their money from private contributors and sponsorship deals. Successful teams will also earn money from finishing well in races, but no team can rely on this to sole fund their operation.
  
  
  Obtaining good sponsorship is complex task, and relies upon luck, a good record and a little bit of salesmanship. Teams just starting out will find few sponsors, and even fewer dollars to support their team. Only by building a strong reputation as a winning (or well finishing) team will you ever be able to secure a contract with the largest sponsors. Teams have three sponsorship slots. At the lowest level, this means that your team can have three different sponsors. However, as the team grows you will find that larger, more heavily contributing sponsors will demand more "slots" on the car. Top level teams will likely only have one, very large sponsor who will demand total sponsorship for the vehicle.
  
  
• Drivers
  ..the last qualifying session.  I was already on pole, then by half a second and then one second and I just kept going.   Suddenly I was nearly two seconds faster than anybody else, including my team mate with the same car.  And suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously.  I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension.  It was like I was in a tunnel.  Not only the tunnel under the hotel but the whole circuit was a tunnel.  I was just going and going, more and more and more and more.  I was way over the limit but still able to find even more.
  
  Then suddenly something just kicked me.   I kind of woke up and realised that I was in a different atmosphere than you normally are.  My immediate reaction was to back off, slow down.  I drove slowly back to the pits and I didn't want to go out any more that day.  It frightened me because I was well beyond my conscious understanding.  It happens rarely but I keep these experiences very much alive inside me because it is something that is important for self-preservation." - Ayrton Senna
  
  Drivers are a peculiar breed. While some are born into this world as race car drivers, others are made through years of rigorous competition and experience. However, they all share the same drive, determination and will to win that helps them endure the long hours, extreme conditions and dangerous scenarios.
  
  For the purposes of endurance, racing your team will be limited to one driver per car. Since you only have one car, you can only hire one driver. This feature may be expanded in the future. What you will want to notice are the statistics of each driver. They will vary in skill, age, and salary requirements.
  
  You may also create your own driver. While they will start out with lower stats, they will accumulate experience as they race. This experience may be used to improve their overall skills.
  
  One drawback to these custom drivers is that like the cars, they will age and this will have an effect on their driving abilities. However, over the life of a given driver you will realize considerable savings by training your own driver.