For the first time in a very long time, we are hosting an official community competition, showcasing the expansive game world shared of both of our games - Automation and The Cyclist: Tactics!
With a game world shared between both titles, what better way to show it off than with a demanding cross-country racing challenge, with events taking place in both Automation and The Cyclist: Tactics, which has just undergone its largest update since release almost a year ago. Contestants will have to put their Automation skills to the test on the road courses and race tracks across the map, pushing their cars to the very limit of their capabilities. What’s more, contestants will get a chance to sample the fast-paced, strategic gameplay of The Cyclist: Tactics against the game world, each other…and against our very own @Killrob! Only the best all-round player will rise to the top, and claim some very special prizes!
This challenge is styled upon the “One Lap of America” or a “Top Gear Challenge” event, where cars participate in multidisciplinary events, and earn points toward an aggregated total. At the same time, six events will be taking place in The Cyclist: Tactics across the game world, which will also be scored. These events in both games will earn points toward an aggregated total - the player with the highest combined score of their Automation points and their TC:T points, will be the winner of this competition!
A special, event-specific demo of The Cyclist: Tactics will be created, with the events pre-loaded and ready for you to use, so there is no obligation to purchase a copy of TC:T to participate…though we hope you will enjoy it enough to buy a copy! In the meantime, I strongly encourage all participants to check out the Version 1.2 demo, now live on Steam, to get a handle on the mechanics of TC:T.
Automation
The Automation section of this challenge will have six racing events (one prologue, and five races) held in the CAMSO Game World, as well as two statistics-driven events and one community-driven event. The racing events are as follows:
Event Type: Single lap, standing start.
Scoring: 100 Rank Points, 50 Performance Points, 10% Performance Cutoff
Located in the highlands of Western Gasmea, just outside the town of Wairua, lies the Automation Test Track. The familiarity of the track and its surroundings makes this the perfect jumping-off point for the first events in both Automation and TC:T. Each participating car will do one lap of the track, with the best time winning the most Competition Points.
Event Type: Single lap, standing start.
Scoring: 100 Rank Points, 50 Performance Points, 10% Performance Cutoff
Located just west of the city of Ellisbury, the Tri-Oval is the beating heart of the Gasmean stock car circuit. Over a hundred thousand spectators pack the stands here, to watch the annual 1000-kilometre race that kicks off the stock car racing season in early February. A challenging infield road course is used for several prestigious sports car and endurance racing events, the longest of which being the marquee 24-hour race to begin the endurance racing season at the end of January.
Each participating car will do one lap of the track, with Competition Points awarded according to their position in the time ranking.
Event Type: Hill Climb, single run
Scoring: 100 Rank Points, 75 Performance Points, 20% Performance Cutoff
For the second round of this competition, the tour heads south to the mountains of Hetvesia, and to the infamous hill climb known as Der RĂĽcken. Set roughly equidistant between the picturesque cities of Ungenstadt and Reimsgau, Der RĂĽcken follows the road up to the historic Ost-Altgau Astronomical Observatory, a major centre for astronomical research for well over a century. Rising nearly 2200 metres over its 15.3-kilometre run, Der RĂĽcken begins very gently, rising at only a few percent in the first third of the hillclimb. As the road climbs out of the valley into the switchbacks, however, the steepness increases dramatically - approaching 30 percent in places - as the road makes its way up the mountain. This steep, winding course will challenge even the most powerful, agile cars.
Each participating car will do one run up the mountain, with Competition Points awarded according to their position in the time ranking.
Scoring: 0 Rank Points, 150 Performance Points, 50% Performance Cutoff
Hetvesia is known all over the world for having some of the most rigorous consumer product testing of any country; the Technische Zertifizierungsstelle - Technical Certification Authority or TZS for short - is notorious for their incredibly strict, rigorous testing protocols. All contestant cars will be evaluated for their comfort and reliability by a team of TZS inspectors, as well as an evaluation of the model’s safety score.
Entries will earn up to 150 bonus points for this round - 50 per category - based on the scoring rubric discussed in the “Scoring” section below.
Event Type: Tarmac rally, three stages
Scoring: 250 Rank Points, 100 Performance Points, 20% Performance Cutoff
Following a long journey east through the southern mountains of the continent, we arrive in picturesque Monte Vias, set high in the Verno river valley in the northern part of Fruinia. Every year, the top rally circuit gets its start at the Monte Vias rally, the cars winding their way through narrow roads clinging to the hills and ravines of the high-alpine valley. Snow and ice on the road often plays a significant role in the rally, but fortunately it will not be a factor during the Fruinian summer! These three rally stages were chosen for the event specifically to highlight the low and medium-speed handling of the contestant cars, and showcase the beautiful mountain terrain surrounding Monte Vias.
Each participant car will complete one run on all three stages, with the Finish times from each stage added up for an aggregate time, from which Competition Points will be awarded.
Event Type: Long, high-speed road race
Scoring: 250 Rank Points, 100 Performance Points, 20% Performance Cutoff
Set on the highways and side roads just south of the capital of Archana, Kronagrad, the so-called Maryaskaya Triangle tests the high-speed handling of the contestant cars - and the mettle of their drivers. Totalling nearly fifty kilometres in length, the Archanan government has shut down the two arterial highways leading south out of Kronagrad, as well as the historic Valley Road between the two, winding its way through the prehistoric river valley that once connected Lake Mara with the ocean to the east. Expansive natural grasslands are punctuated by heavily-irrigated farms in the valley, the rich soil providing bountiful harvests in the area.
Participating cars will be scored on the following times:
Maryaskaya Triangle 1: Finish time
Maryaskaya Triangle 2: Finish time minus Sector 1 time
Maryaskaya Triangle 3: Finish time minus Sector 1 time
These will be added together to give an aggregate time, with Competition Points being awarded accordingly.
Scoring: 0 Rank Points, 75 Performance Points, 80% Performance Cutoff
A long road trip means fuel economy is an important consideration. We will be measuring the average fuel economy of contestant cars, to give a bonus to those that have done the best overall!
Event Type: Land-speed record course run
Scoring: 100 Rank Points, 100 Performance Points, 20% Performance Cutoff
The final racing event takes place in the deep geographical depression that forms the heart of Dalluha. A massive desert area that is well below sea level, the cars will have their acceleration and absolute top speed tested on the salt pan where so many land speed records have been set over the years, and where brave contestants try every year to break these records.
Participating cars will be awarded event points for the following; Sector 1 time, measuring acceleration over a standing mile (1609 metres), and the difference between Finish Time and the Sector 2 time, giving the time to cover the final mile (1609 metres) of the course at speed. Event points will be added together and ranked, with Competition Points awarded from the best to worst aggregate total.
Scoring: 0 Rank Points, 200 Performance Points, 80% Performance Cutoff
The final stop on the Crossover Challenge is in the port city of Al-Rilma, for the city’s famous Hot Al-Rilma Nights car show. Entries will be judged by the community in a Google Forms poll on their styling and aesthetics from July 20th to August 2nd, with up to 200 bonus points being awarded according final voting scores applied to the scoring rubric discussed in the “Scoring” section.
The Cyclist: Tactics
Event Type (Length): Prologue (38), Team Time Trial (147)
Scoring: 50 Rank Points, 20 Performance Points, 10% Performance Cutoff
This prologue of the crossover challenge takes riders from Wairua to the top of the dam above the Automation Test Track in the opening stage. Day Two is a tricky Team Time Trial from Wairua, down the valley, and up to Oakridge. A challenging opener!
Participants will be scored on the total time of all four riders for this event.
Event Type (Length): Team Time Trial (120), Individual Time Trial (112)
Scoring: 50 Rank Points, 20 Performance Points, 10% Performance Cutoff
Staying in Gasmea, the teams visit the capital of the Great Plains, Ellisbury. The first stage leads from downtown Ellisbury out to the infamous Tri-Oval where the riders complete five laps of the track. Day Two is a brutal climb up the infamous Ike’s Peak Hill Climb.
Participants will be scored on the total time of their top three riders for this event.
Event Type (Length): Prologue (32), Individual Time Trial (86), Team Time Trial (220), Individual Time Trial (68)
Scoring: 100 Rank Points, 50 Performance Points, 10% Performance Cutoff
A large event with a prologue, two Individual Time Trials and a Team Time Trial. The teams race to the historic chapel in Ungenstadt, over and around the hills around Riemsgau, down the famous Vinberg Pass in a massive team time trial, and finish with a time trial in Zeilwies. Careful resource management is imperative to ensure your riders can finish on top!
Participants will be scored on the total time of all four riders in this event.
Event Type (Length): Team Time Trial (248)
Scoring: 50 Rank Points, 40 Performance Points, 10% Performance Cutoff
The Crossover Challenge teams pay a visit to the spiritual home of cycling, with a massive Team Time Trial stretching from Picossato to Doriana across very difficult terrain. A very tough race that will require smart pacing to end up on the podium.
Participants will be scored on the aggregate time of their top three riders in this event.
Event Type (Length): Team Time Trial (196), Team Time Trial (149), Team Time Trial (151), Individual Time Trial (110)
Scoring: 80 Rank Points, 70 Performance Points, 10% Performance Cutoff
The fourth event takes the teams to time trial crazy Archana with a lightning quick tour across the country. This four-stage event starts in the hills around Wazduk in a Team Time Trial, then visits the flat roads of Novobeskov for another Team Time Trial. Day three has the tour touching the Hinterlands north of Yanagrad in the third and final Team Time Trial, with the event culminating in an Individual Time Trial in the capital city of Kronagrad.
Participants will be scored on the aggregate time of all four riders in this event.
Event Type (Length): Team Time Trial (200), Individual Time Trial (100)
Scoring: 50 Rank Points, 20 Performance Points, 10% Performance Cutoff
The final event of the Crossover Challenge visits the small kingdom of Dalluha with a tremendous display of speed. Like the final automotive challenge, two extremely fast time trials across the desert flats mark the end of this world tour. Only the fastest rider wins here!
Participants will be scored based on the result of their fastest rider only in this event.
The Automation events will be taking place on eight tracks custom made for this event; the Ellisbury Tri-Oval track was created by @Der_Bayer, while the other seven were created by myself. You can find the track pack here:
https://www.camshaftsoftware.com/s/CCPC-Track-Pack.zip
To install these tracks, extract this .zip file to \AppData\Local\AutomationGame\Saved\UserData\Tracks.
You will need the demo version of The Cyclist: Tactics to compete in this event as well, which can be found on the Steam Store page:
For those who are new to The Cyclist: Tactics, the first week of the challenge will also serve as “Training Camp”, where we will be answering gameplay questions both in this thread, on The Cyclist: Tactics Discord server, as well as in the #the-cyclist-tactics channel on the Automation Discord server. Additionally, we will be hosting a staged event on the Automation Discord during the week for those looking for more gameplay tips and tricks; stay tuned for an announcement of the date and time!
For balancing purposes, maximum tire section widths have been mandated, as well as maximum downforce levels. Please refer to >>> CCPC Unified Rules and Calculator Sheet <<< for more information.
-----> All entries must be from the LCV4.2 Open Beta only! <-----
Engine Rules
- Engine Variant year: 2020
- No race parts in engine
- 98 RON/93 AKI fuel only
- Catalytic converter and at least one muffler required, maximum of 50 noise.
- Engineering Time of no more than 220
- Turbocharged engines must have an intercooler with the size set to a non-zero value.
Car Rules
- Mods are allowed
- Car Trim year: 2020
- $100,000 maximum budget
- Sedan, wagon and liftback body styles only
- Minimum 4 doors
- Minimum 4 full seats; no + seats allowed
- Wheelbase must be between 2.7 and 3.2 metres after rounding (anything between 2.65 and 3.24 metres is fine)
- No semi-slick tires, must be 0 quality
- No active aero, no race diffuser
- Total tire section and maximum downforce must comply with >>> CCPC Unified Rules and Calculator Sheet <<<
- Engineering Time of no more than 200
Cars that are found to be non-compliant with the rules will have one chance to re-submit only - those that fail a second time will be disqualified from this competition!
Collaborative entries are not allowed.
It is recommended that all players place at least a basic interior - seats, dash and steering wheel - as it strongly benefits the final aesthetic of the design.
There are a total of nine Automation events and six The Cyclist: Tactics events. There are two ways to gain points for the overall competition: via your ranking in the event and directly via the performance in the event - like your finish time, a certain stat, or a score.
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Rank Points are simple: the top 20 gets points in a linear fashion, in 5% increments. A contestant that managed to place within the top 20 will receive 100 x ( 21 - Rank ) / 20 points. For example if you finished in 4th rank, you would get 100 x ( 21 - 4 ) / 20 = 85 points.
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Performance Points are directly tied to the comparison of the raw results of the event. If the score or performance of a contestant is within a given percentage of the winning score, the contestant is linearly awarded performance points. If the cutoff is 20% and the contestant had a lap time of 105 seconds compared to the 100 seconds of the winner (5% worse), the contestant would get (20% - 5%) / 20% = 75% of the available performance points.
Thus, for each event three values are given: the available rank points, the performance points, and the performance threshold percentage. For example 100 / 50 / 10% would mean that the final rank gives up to 100 points, while the relative performance gives up to 50 points when within 10% of the winner’s performance.
Points from the different events spread across both games are directly added together. The total contestant score is what will determine the overall winner!
75% of the total score will come from the Automation events, and the remaining 25% come from the TC:T events.
There are a number of prizes for this challenge:
- First place - A large print of either the winning entry car, or the CAMSO game world, suitable for hanging on the wall, valued at approximately $250 USD!
- Second place - $50 USD Steam gift certificate, plus a t-shirt of your choice; Automation, The Cyclist: Tactics, or Camshaft Software
- Third place - $25 USD Steam gift certificate, plus a t-shirt of your choice; Automation, The Cyclist: Tactics or Camshaft Software.
- Fourth through tenth place - $25 USD Steam gift certificates.
The contestant with the best overall score from The Cyclist: Tactics will win a black The Cyclist: Tactics hoodie to commemorate their victory, plus a $25 USD Steam gift certificate.
After the completion of each TC:T event, a random draw will be held for everyone who completed the event for one $25 USD Steam gift certificate!
To enter the challenge, simply submit your .car file, along with a nicely-shot 3840x2160 (4K) screenshot of your entry that showcases it’s styling well to the Google Form, found here:
>>> Crossover Play Competition Submission Form <<<
The entry format for challenge cars is as follows:
Car Model: CCPC - (Your chosen nickname)
Car Variant: free
Engine Family: CCPC - (Your chosen nickname)
Car Variant: free
Your chosen nickname can be your forums username, Discord name, Reddit account or Steam account name, whatever you choose! Please also make sure that you have entered a valid e-mail address that you check, and is able to accept replies in the submission form, as this is how we will be contacting prize winners!
You have until 11:59 PM Pacific Time on Wednesday, July 20tth to get your Automation entries in!
The first event for The Cyclist: Tactics will go live on July 15th, and you will have until the 19th of July to complete your first event! Each event in TC:T will deploy every few days after that; check back to this thread frequently to make sure you don’t miss a deadline!
Note that each TC:T event has been designed to give a taste of the game mechanics, but not take too long - no more than 30 minutes per round will be needed to complete each event.
To opt into the Automation LCV4.2 open beta, go to your Steam Library and find Automation in the Library. Right click it and select “Properties…”, then select the “Betas” tab. From the drop down menu, select “LCV4.2 Opt-In Alpha” and let it download and update.
All of your cars and paints from 4.1 will be inaccessible in this version. They will NOT be deleted, you can either revert back to 4.1 when you are finished, or you can export your cars from 4.1 and re-import them into 4.2. They will not have any engines or engineering done on them, and any mods that have not been updated will not import.
To opt into the open beta of The Cyclist: Tactics Version 1.2, go to your Steam Library and find The Cyclist: Tactics in the Library. Right click it and select “Properties…”, then select the “Betas” tab. From the drop down menu, select “open_beta - Open Beta Build” and let it download and update.
Any careers in-progress in previous versions of The Cyclist: Tactics will not work in Version 1.2.
), but we are building a free demo version of The Cyclist specifically for this competition, and only for this competition, so there is no obligation to buy the game, even though we would appreciate it if you did! We will be making an announcement in this thread and elsewhere when the competition demo goes live, likely this time next week.
The Icaro is a rather balanced entry - it will probably not stand out anywhere*, but tries to consistently score a few points while remaining on the realistic side. I didn’t even test it properly on the tracks as this would have thrown me into the usual more-power-less-weight min-max BRC death spiral. We’ll see how it goes!