RaceDepartment Formula Manager is a forum game in which you own a F1 team and manage it in seasons consisting of 10 races. In order to play the game, a daily 5-10 minutes is enough to commit. The game uses a complicated set of formulas made with MS Excel 2007.
GETTING STARTED
If you are a newcomer, you start with 2500 credits. Name your team, (Don't use engine names in your team name) pick two colors, sign an engine contract, a tyre contract, pick two types of sponsors, and hire at least 1 driver. (Careful that drivers are not free, check out marketplace) (You name your drivers unless you buy a specific driver from another manager. BUT you have to use realistic names, please dont make names like "speed devil" or "boogey man" etc...)
THEN HOW TO RACE?
When your team is ready, wait for the race start. Races start with qualifying. You have to adjust your drivers' tyre compounds and fuel levels before the qualifying. Between qualifying and race, there is no chance to change them. Parc Ferme lock is applied.
First update is the qualifying in which your drivers set a single lap time. Beware as your starting fuel levels and tyre compound will be the one which is used in the qualifying. Only if your driver crashes and suffers a terminal problem in their qualifying lap, you can start the race with the setup you want.
After qualifying ends, race starts and every update completes TWO laps in the race. Between the updates, you can change your paces and engine revs. Also you can order usage of ERS. And you can call your driver to pits (When you order a pitstop, you have to inform me about tyre change and how much liters you want to be filled. There is nothing mandatory in the races regarding tyre compounds and fuel usage).
While giving your orders, you have to give orders for next 2 laps. Clearly seperated and without conditional clauses. For example; you can't say "pit if my tyre hp drops below %x in the 2nd lap".
LIST OF PACES
(From Safe to Give all, the speed increases, wear increases, mistake chances increase.)
Give all
Push
Aggressive
Steady
Easy
Safe
Focus (Not available by default, the driver should have focus training, limited usage)
LIST OF REVS
High - Faster, but heats up the engine
Medium - Normal, heats up the engine, but not as much as high
Low - Cools down the engine, but slower compared to higher ones
LIST OF DRIVER ABILITIES (Driver abilities can be used only for 1 lap in each race. They can't be used in Qualifying laps.)
Play Safe - Driver drives more carefully in that lap
Pace Up - Driver gets faster in that lap
Hunt Them - Driver becomes better in overtaking/defending in that lap
Care Tyres - Driver wears their tyres less in that lap
Cool Down - Driver's engine is cooled a bit in that lap
Intimidate - Driver in front of the driver gets a bit nervous in that lap (You have to be at least 0.25 close to the car in front to be able to use it.)
HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR TEAM?
After a race ends, you will get prize money from your finishing position and sponsors. With this money, you can buy items from the marketplace and this way develop your team. Remember that you have to renew your tyre and engine contracts after the fifth races. Please check out the Marketplace list in the 2nd post of this thread. Items are explained in there.
PUBLIC RELATIONS POINT SYSTEM
PR points are awarded tothe podium finishers (no more PR points to podium finishers after 5th race) and retired teams after the race. Teams conducting tests for suppliers get PR points as well. They can be used for discounts in the next supplier contract negotiations. Teams conducting tests for a certain supplier gets 50 PR points with them, while the teams with no finishing cars also get 50 points. (For they spend time with media activities after they have no more cars on the track.)
ILLEGAL DRIVER AIDS
After the 5th race, you can PM me secretly and install illegal driver aids to your cars. If another manager spots the strange performance boost, they can file a complaint. If an illegal aids user is reported, their cars in the race with illegal aids are disqualified and they get a penalty of -1000 credits. If a manager wrongly accuses another team, they get a -500 credits penalty.
FAVORITE TRACK
Each team picks a favorite track from the calendar. Abu Dhabi can't be picked as it is the first race. The favorite track brings speed boost in the qualifying and race.
DETAILED EXPLANATION OF CAR UPGRADES, DRIVER TRAININGS and TESTINGS
Car Upgrades: You can get maximum 2 levels of upgrades per each marketplace period. It does not mean you can get +2 chassis, +2 Durability, +2 Qualifying at the same time. It is 2 all of them combined. Examples of correct purchases are: +2 Chassis, or +1 chassis +1 durability or +1 durabiliy +1 qualifying.
Driver Trainings are the same. You can either train 2 levels of same training, or 1 from one and 1 from another.
Testings: As it is stated in the Marketplace list, 2 of 4 choices can be picked. You can't do the same kind of training twice in a single marketplace period.
IMPORTANT RULES and INFORMATION (Updated with questions from the managers)
-Driver bidding: I pay 600 to keep PET. Someone else too bids for him. Bids are then increased by 100 until one gives up. If I as manager of his previous team win the costs will be halfed (e.g. 1200->600). Did I get that right?
Yes, normally all drivers cost 600 credits. And bidding works like that.
-Sister team, is it 2500 or 3500?
There is bit misleading wording there in the marketplace list. 2500 signifies the budget that the sister team starts with.
-Driver training limited to 2 per marketplace. Is it still maximum one of a category?
No, you can get two levels of speed for example.
-Can we change compounds during race?
New set of tyres have to be fitted either the same compound or a different compound of your choice.
-So if I develop my own engine and have a sister team using the same engine, Does my main team get 200cr per race from the sister team?
Yes, they pay 400 if they have two cars.
-About driver abilities: Can we use each ability once in the race, or we select one only?
You select only one. You can't use all of them.
-About drivers: You say they are not free, but I see no prices. Are we bidding for them?
Normally drivers cost 600 unless some other manager bids on them.
-Another question regarding driver abilities, do we have to decide for one per driver each season, or can we change the one we use from race to race?
You can choose any one of them each race. You don't have to decide which one you will use before the race.
-Question about supplying engines to other teams: In case of an upgrade to the engine, do I get to race it first for one race before supplying others or will each team get the upgrades at the same time?
They get the same upgrades
-If I have a test driver for 5 races, does that mean I can have 3 cars racing in the next races?
You can have maximum 2 racing drivers, you have to replace one of them to let him race. The replaced one becomes the test driver, and he/she gets a 5 race waiting after the swap.
-Can i sell my drivers?
You can't. If you want to get rid of a driver, you have to release him without any money gain. And they can't be hired by the other teams in the same season.
-If i win a driver bidding with less than 1200, and as the previous owner i got half-pay advantage, will i get the driver for less than 600 credits?
No, the minimum price for a driver is 600 regardless of the bidding result.
-PR expert only works if I have income? Not like increasing from 0 to 100cr when I fail to match the sponsors' objective?
Yes, you have to meet the sponsor objective to get the bonus 100 credits.
-What if i fail to give my orders for the qualifying or in the race?
Your drivers go on default levels. Default pace is steady, revs is low. The default tyre is hard compound. Car is %100 fuelled.
-Do i have to give orders each turn?
Your pace and rev choices are carried over from the turn before.
-Can i use ERS in qualifying?
ERS is not available in the qualifying and the first lap of the race.
-Can my drivers pit in the same lap without waiting each other?
Drivers can pit at the same lap without any waiting, the teams have 2 seperate pitcrews for their cars.
-Can we take fuel out of the car in pitstops. Let's say can we decrease a 30 lt fueled car to 10 with a pitstop?
Yes, the fuel hose technology is very advanced. They can suck the fuel out of the tank.
-Can i found more than one sister team?
Yes, you can found as much as you want.
-What if i go AWOL a bit?
In the course of a race, going awol has no penalties other than the fact that your cars will retire with either fuel or chassis problems. But the managers who fail to give me their qualifying strategies will not be allowed to participate in that race. They can only return in the next race's qualifying. Most of the time it is 3-4 days after the marketplace period until the start of the race. I believe that is an enough time to check out the game and give your strategies. If you are going to be away, inform me before-hand and you can be allowed to race.
END OF SEASON
At the end of the season, tyre upgrades will be reverted back. But tyre suppliers will have their stats changed randomly. Engine upgrades will remain. Chassis, qualifying, and durability upgrades will be reverted back too. That is to provide a more equal ground in the next seasons. Driver upgrades will remain. There will be prize credits given according to your finishing positions in constructors and drivers championships. All drivers will be free after the season.
Next Season Driver Marketplace will be a secret bidding war. Each manager will send me a list of five offers. Each offer to a certain driver along with a salary. Drivers will go to the highest bidder. If a driver raced for a team in the previous season, they will prioritize their former team. Only if another team offers more than 500 credits compared to the former team, they will go the other team.
*This page is subject to change with updates*
PRIZE ALLOCATION and SPONSORS
GETTING STARTED
If you are a newcomer, you start with 2500 credits. Name your team, (Don't use engine names in your team name) pick two colors, sign an engine contract, a tyre contract, pick two types of sponsors, and hire at least 1 driver. (Careful that drivers are not free, check out marketplace) (You name your drivers unless you buy a specific driver from another manager. BUT you have to use realistic names, please dont make names like "speed devil" or "boogey man" etc...)
THEN HOW TO RACE?
When your team is ready, wait for the race start. Races start with qualifying. You have to adjust your drivers' tyre compounds and fuel levels before the qualifying. Between qualifying and race, there is no chance to change them. Parc Ferme lock is applied.
First update is the qualifying in which your drivers set a single lap time. Beware as your starting fuel levels and tyre compound will be the one which is used in the qualifying. Only if your driver crashes and suffers a terminal problem in their qualifying lap, you can start the race with the setup you want.
After qualifying ends, race starts and every update completes TWO laps in the race. Between the updates, you can change your paces and engine revs. Also you can order usage of ERS. And you can call your driver to pits (When you order a pitstop, you have to inform me about tyre change and how much liters you want to be filled. There is nothing mandatory in the races regarding tyre compounds and fuel usage).
While giving your orders, you have to give orders for next 2 laps. Clearly seperated and without conditional clauses. For example; you can't say "pit if my tyre hp drops below %x in the 2nd lap".
LIST OF PACES
(From Safe to Give all, the speed increases, wear increases, mistake chances increase.)
Give all
Push
Aggressive
Steady
Easy
Safe
Focus (Not available by default, the driver should have focus training, limited usage)
LIST OF REVS
High - Faster, but heats up the engine
Medium - Normal, heats up the engine, but not as much as high
Low - Cools down the engine, but slower compared to higher ones
LIST OF DRIVER ABILITIES (Driver abilities can be used only for 1 lap in each race. They can't be used in Qualifying laps.)
Play Safe - Driver drives more carefully in that lap
Pace Up - Driver gets faster in that lap
Hunt Them - Driver becomes better in overtaking/defending in that lap
Care Tyres - Driver wears their tyres less in that lap
Cool Down - Driver's engine is cooled a bit in that lap
Intimidate - Driver in front of the driver gets a bit nervous in that lap (You have to be at least 0.25 close to the car in front to be able to use it.)
HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR TEAM?
After a race ends, you will get prize money from your finishing position and sponsors. With this money, you can buy items from the marketplace and this way develop your team. Remember that you have to renew your tyre and engine contracts after the fifth races. Please check out the Marketplace list in the 2nd post of this thread. Items are explained in there.
PUBLIC RELATIONS POINT SYSTEM
PR points are awarded to
ILLEGAL DRIVER AIDS
After the 5th race, you can PM me secretly and install illegal driver aids to your cars. If another manager spots the strange performance boost, they can file a complaint. If an illegal aids user is reported, their cars in the race with illegal aids are disqualified and they get a penalty of -1000 credits. If a manager wrongly accuses another team, they get a -500 credits penalty.
FAVORITE TRACK
Each team picks a favorite track from the calendar. Abu Dhabi can't be picked as it is the first race. The favorite track brings speed boost in the qualifying and race.
DETAILED EXPLANATION OF CAR UPGRADES, DRIVER TRAININGS and TESTINGS
Car Upgrades: You can get maximum 2 levels of upgrades per each marketplace period. It does not mean you can get +2 chassis, +2 Durability, +2 Qualifying at the same time. It is 2 all of them combined. Examples of correct purchases are: +2 Chassis, or +1 chassis +1 durability or +1 durabiliy +1 qualifying.
Driver Trainings are the same. You can either train 2 levels of same training, or 1 from one and 1 from another.
Testings: As it is stated in the Marketplace list, 2 of 4 choices can be picked. You can't do the same kind of training twice in a single marketplace period.
IMPORTANT RULES and INFORMATION (Updated with questions from the managers)
- Maximum Drivers you can have: 3 (3rd driver becomes the Test Driver. They can't race for 5 races after they are hired.)
- Weather forecast is not %100 reliable. Just like real-life.
- There is a luck factor, please don't flame me if you get unlucky at some occasions.
- Each pitstop repairs a certain amount of damage/wear. It is impossible to repair a very damaged car completely. You can't make a long pitstop for full repairs, but you can pit consecutively to repair serious damage.
- You have to give your orders directly in the thread. Only thing you can hide from your rivals is your starting pace, rev, KERS usage, fuel load, and tyre compound in the qualifying session (You hide it by PMing me directly)
- Updates will usually be around 21-22-23-24-01 hours in Turkish time (Which is GMT+3)
- New tyre and engine supplier brands might appear in the further seasons. Some new rules, regulations and tools might be introduced as well. In some season refuelling might get banned, or even new systems like DRS might be introduced etc.. The game is not in it's final form.
- Team orders are allowed. Go make your Barrichello cry.
- You can change sponsors between the races, but not in the process of a race.
- In case of an interest in hiring the same driver by multiple managers, a bidding battle takes place. Bidding can be increased only by 100 and it's multiples. Bid winner has to pay the price they bidded. Losers retain their money.
- More rules and information will be added with the questions of the managers...
- In qualifying, engine failure is disabled. But your drivers can make mistakes. Crashing is also not possible.
- Sponsorship prizes are calculated to each of your drivers seperately.
- You have to pay a driver his/her full price even if he/she was contracted to you in the previous season. Only if there is a bidding battle, you can get it for a half-price if the driver was yours in the previous season.
- At the end of the season, every 25 points of extra credits and PR points will be deducted in order to make things cleaner for all.
For example; If you have 1575, it will be 1550. 1025 will be 1000.
In PR: 25 points of relationships will be null. 75 will be 50, 125 will 100 etc etc... - Maximum grid size is 40 cars. If we get more than 40 drivers, there will be pre-qualifying sessions in which a single all-out lap (All soft tyres, 50 lt, give all-high, qualifying upgrade will not be effective) determines the fastest 40 drivers which will advance into the qualifying. DNQ drivers will get 100 credits for compensation.
-Driver bidding: I pay 600 to keep PET. Someone else too bids for him. Bids are then increased by 100 until one gives up. If I as manager of his previous team win the costs will be halfed (e.g. 1200->600). Did I get that right?
Yes, normally all drivers cost 600 credits. And bidding works like that.
-Sister team, is it 2500 or 3500?
There is bit misleading wording there in the marketplace list. 2500 signifies the budget that the sister team starts with.
-Driver training limited to 2 per marketplace. Is it still maximum one of a category?
No, you can get two levels of speed for example.
-Can we change compounds during race?
New set of tyres have to be fitted either the same compound or a different compound of your choice.
-So if I develop my own engine and have a sister team using the same engine, Does my main team get 200cr per race from the sister team?
Yes, they pay 400 if they have two cars.
-About driver abilities: Can we use each ability once in the race, or we select one only?
You select only one. You can't use all of them.
-About drivers: You say they are not free, but I see no prices. Are we bidding for them?
Normally drivers cost 600 unless some other manager bids on them.
-Another question regarding driver abilities, do we have to decide for one per driver each season, or can we change the one we use from race to race?
You can choose any one of them each race. You don't have to decide which one you will use before the race.
-Question about supplying engines to other teams: In case of an upgrade to the engine, do I get to race it first for one race before supplying others or will each team get the upgrades at the same time?
They get the same upgrades
-If I have a test driver for 5 races, does that mean I can have 3 cars racing in the next races?
You can have maximum 2 racing drivers, you have to replace one of them to let him race. The replaced one becomes the test driver, and he/she gets a 5 race waiting after the swap.
-Can i sell my drivers?
You can't. If you want to get rid of a driver, you have to release him without any money gain. And they can't be hired by the other teams in the same season.
-If i win a driver bidding with less than 1200, and as the previous owner i got half-pay advantage, will i get the driver for less than 600 credits?
No, the minimum price for a driver is 600 regardless of the bidding result.
-PR expert only works if I have income? Not like increasing from 0 to 100cr when I fail to match the sponsors' objective?
Yes, you have to meet the sponsor objective to get the bonus 100 credits.
-What if i fail to give my orders for the qualifying or in the race?
Your drivers go on default levels. Default pace is steady, revs is low. The default tyre is hard compound. Car is %100 fuelled.
-Do i have to give orders each turn?
Your pace and rev choices are carried over from the turn before.
-Can i use ERS in qualifying?
ERS is not available in the qualifying and the first lap of the race.
-Can my drivers pit in the same lap without waiting each other?
Drivers can pit at the same lap without any waiting, the teams have 2 seperate pitcrews for their cars.
-Can we take fuel out of the car in pitstops. Let's say can we decrease a 30 lt fueled car to 10 with a pitstop?
Yes, the fuel hose technology is very advanced. They can suck the fuel out of the tank.
-Can i found more than one sister team?
Yes, you can found as much as you want.
-What if i go AWOL a bit?
In the course of a race, going awol has no penalties other than the fact that your cars will retire with either fuel or chassis problems. But the managers who fail to give me their qualifying strategies will not be allowed to participate in that race. They can only return in the next race's qualifying. Most of the time it is 3-4 days after the marketplace period until the start of the race. I believe that is an enough time to check out the game and give your strategies. If you are going to be away, inform me before-hand and you can be allowed to race.
END OF SEASON
At the end of the season, tyre upgrades will be reverted back. But tyre suppliers will have their stats changed randomly. Engine upgrades will remain. Chassis, qualifying, and durability upgrades will be reverted back too. That is to provide a more equal ground in the next seasons. Driver upgrades will remain. There will be prize credits given according to your finishing positions in constructors and drivers championships. All drivers will be free after the season.
Next Season Driver Marketplace will be a secret bidding war. Each manager will send me a list of five offers. Each offer to a certain driver along with a salary. Drivers will go to the highest bidder. If a driver raced for a team in the previous season, they will prioritize their former team. Only if another team offers more than 500 credits compared to the former team, they will go the other team.
*This page is subject to change with updates*
PRIZE ALLOCATION and SPONSORS
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