The International Manufacturers Championship '67

[IMC '67]

Here are WIP update shots of the other three Elans in the game:

 

[IMC '67]

Brandström/Trapp • Lotus Elan 26R • ADAC 1000-km-Rennen Nürburgring

 

[IMC '67]

And speaking of breakdowns, I'm currently working on improving how the AI handles reliability which will be another "game changer" for anyone who cares about realism. Although it takes time testing the various values with various cars, it's something that anyone can do for their own games if they have got tired of that most AI retirements occur during a pitstop and are then listed as a DNF. With the values I'm using, a vast majority of the mechanical AI retirements now occur on track and are then listed accordingly as Engine, Suspension, Gearbox, and Brakes in the Timing screen. There will still be a few listed as DNFs but that is realistic as not all causes were known during or just after a race. A cool thing with those listed DNFs is that if you start the Accelerated Time function after the race, the DNFs will turn into specified causes after a while like if the causes were discovered and communicated a couple of hours later!

View attachment 774499
Ferrari mechanics (and Pedro himself) working on the Rodriguez/Guichet 412P out on the track during the 1967 Daytona 24 hours race

So, here are some good starting values to try in the .eng files:

Low reliability:

LifetimeAvg=10000 // average lifetime in seconds
LifetimeVar=10000 // lifetime random variance

Medium reliability:

LifetimeAvg=15000 // average lifetime in seconds
LifetimeVar=15000 // lifetime random variance

High reliability:

LifetimeAvg=20000 // average lifetime in seconds
LifetimeVar=20000 // lifetime random variance

The values are supposed to be in seconds but I don't know about that since then no one would see the checkered flag in a 24 hours race. I have between 1/3 and 2/3 of the cars finishing a race in my game, just like the real 1967 season. I believe the variance value means +/- so if the average lifetime value is 20000, then the variance in lifetime is between 0 and 40000. If you test to set both values to 1, the car will break down within seconds after the start.

View attachment 774500
The Rodriguez/Guichet Ferrari 412P would eventually be fixed and go on and take 3rd place in the race. And dig the Volvo Amazon passing by in two of the pics!

View attachment 774501

I've tweaked the base reliability parameters further so that now only the LifetimeVar value is different between the car models. Works great and it's now much easier to set up the spread of reliability issues. The LifetimeAvg value is now set to 15000 for all car models while the LifetimeVar value goes from 1000 (high reliability) to 15000 (low reliability) and are based on the historical race results. I have between 1/3 and 2/3 of the cars finishing a race in my game, just like the real 1967 season.

I've also worked on the engine reliability for the player which opens up a whole new dimension of the game. I used to push more or less for an entire race but if doing that now, I would most likely blow my engine, especially in the longer races.

Below are WIP example values from the .eng file of the Chaparral 2F which had very poor reliability:

LifetimeAvg=15000
LifetimeVar=15000

RevLimitRange=(7000, 0.0, 0)

I always set the first value of the RevLimitRange parameter to 1000 rpm ABOVE the rpm figure where the car reached its max engine power, in order to actually being able to over-rev the engine.

LifetimeEngineRPM=(5000, 185.0)

Likewise, I always set the LifetimeEngineRPM parameter to 1000 rpm BELOW the car's maximum horsepower rpm as this value defines at which rpm the engine starts to developing wear. So in the case of the Chap which achieved max engine power at 6000 rpm, the RevLimitRange first value is set to 7000 and the LifetimeEngineRPM first value is set to 5000.

The second value of the LifetimeEngineRPM parameter defines the degree of wear when exceeding the rpm of the first value. Lower values give a higher degree of wear and vice versa. I'm currently using values between 175 and 200.

The LifetimeEngineRPM parameter doesn't affect the AI.

So all this means that I nowadays only push a car's engine when necessary and I also try to not exceed the safe rpm limit (max hp rpm - 1000 rpm) as much as possible, especially in the longer races except for very short intervals in the lower gears. And as stated above, this opens up a whole new dimension of the game when it comes to race strategies, race tactics, and the actual driving experience.

Yes, reliability issues were a big part of 1960's endurance racing.

 

[IMC '67]

The Green Hell track update WIP shots.

 

[IMC '67]

Using the LifetimeEngineRPM parameter in the way I do will also make wonders with the gameplay regarding the issue that the AI aren't as good as the player at lapping slower cars. Now that the player can't just push the engine constantly for a whole race, the AI will not loose ground to the player in the same way as they used to do.

 

[IMC '67]

An important gameplay enhancement regarding driver swaps in game is that the F.I.A. regulations at the time stated that a driver can drive for a maximum of 3 hours and then is required to have at least one hour rest before driving again. This means that the player basically can drive no more than two race stints in a row and then is required to hand over the car to the co-driver. If I'm driving for a top team with a fast co-driver, I usually take equal turns with him for the stints. But if I'm like in the Monza pics above is driving for a private team (here Scuderia Filipinetti, Ford GT40 Mk I) with a really slow co-driver, I'm always doing double stints. My co-driver above, Claude Ballot-Léna, was 16 (!) seconds slower than the best placed Ford GT40 Mk I (Schlesser/Ligier, Ford France, who in turn were 15 seconds slower than the pole sitting Chaparral!) in the real 1967 Monza qualy. Although Claude only drove one stint in the game race, we ended up 4 laps down on the race winner but only a lap behind the Ford France GT40. I drove the first two stints as well as the fourth and matched the lap times of Schlesser/Ligier throughout the 50% race (50 laps).

Another really important endurance racing gameplay aspect of driver swaps is to also have in mind that the GTR2 AI doesn't generate dynamic engine and brake wear. So even if your AI co-driver is slower than you, it can still be a really good idea to let him drive as much or even more than you if you have concerns that the car might not make it to the finish otherwise.

The GTR2 AI also can't pick up suspension damage but I'm currently working on a new and great gameplay feature that will even this out between the player and the AI so that the AI now might have to do unscheduled pitstops as well. More on that later.

 

[Racer_Eevee]

Another really important endurance racing gameplay aspect of driver swaps is to also have in mind that the GTR2 AI doesn't generate dynamic engine and brake wear. So even if your AI co-driver is slower than you, it can still be a really good idea to let him drive as much or even more than you if you have concerns that the car might not make it to the finish otherwise.

The GTR2 AI also can't pick up suspension damage but I'm currently working on a new and great gameplay feature that will even this out between the player and the AI so that the AI now might have to do unscheduled pitstops as well. More on that later.

is there a release date for this mod

 

[IMC '67]

It's not a mod. It's a new game. And no, there isn't any release date.

"The game might never see a release due to me not ever getting to finish it enough or not getting the necessary permissions. Either way, hopefully people will nevertheless enjoy following my work on the game. A big reason for me to post about what I'm doing is to try and bring back interest for a more complete historical realism in future games and mods."

 

[IMC '67]

The N.A.R.T. entered Alpine M64 passing by the Cibié facilities on the Mulsanne straight during the 1967 Le Mans 24 hours

 

[RaceLM24]

"…A big reason for me to post about what I'm doing is to try and bring back interest for a more complete historical realism in future games and mods."

It would be nice to have more Mods with so much attention to make everything more immersive and engaging.


Off-Topic: one of the complete and very beautiful Mods was F1 1990 for rFactor.