Fleet Challenge 1: Mafia, Archana 1990 [SUBMISSIONS CLOSED; JUDGING IN PROGRESS]

Inspired by the Cop Show Car Supply challenge, here’s a similar premise, except we’re supplying the wise guys, not the good guys.

This is a new (AFAIK) format for challenges, a more realistic sales model. Entrants submit one or more cars under one or two brands, and all entries go into one common pool. The buyer(s) will, in character, visit all entrants’ dealerships and buy whatever they want, whether it was intended for the buyer and their purpose or not. There will be class winners and an overall winner, the latter determined out-of-character by the margins of the class wins.

The reviews are likely to be along the lines of JOC3C.

The Setting


Background

The end of the Cold War brought down the Iron Curtain, opening up the border between the eastern and western worlds. Archana’s brutally authoritarian Chugunin regime was not known for its kindness or general sense of decency, but the same heavy-handed strictness that oppressed the population also kept tight reins on the criminal underworld - a centuries-old fixture in Archanan history - and while organized crime existed, for its own survival it had to be secretive and underground for decades.

Not anymore. With the collapse of the regime and resulting economic, political, and general chaos and dysfunction in Archanan society, organized crime not only flourished, but became visible, socially prominent, even daresay fashionable. Where previously a crime boss might be chauffeured in the back of a garbage truck - not because they couldn’t afford better, but to not draw attention to themselves - the rapidly swelling ranks of various gangs now found themselves with more income opportunities than they knew what to do with, little incentive to remain invisible, and much desire to make a statement with their cars. No more garbage trucks.

Three main factions are active:

  • The Archanan Old Guard are the descendants of pre-revolution crime families in Archana. Conservative, old-fashioned, and generally wary of change and novelty, though of course they welcome the new circumstances that allow them to finally restore the high-status social image they enjoyed in centuries past. They prefer elegant classical styling, even retro/anachronistic, with medium bling and subdued, mostly greyscale colors.

  • The Dalluhan Mafia are mostly disgruntled spoiled rich kids who didn’t inherit the family oil refinery, and thus miss out on the vast above-ground wealth pouring into the country. Dalluha continued to have a strong central government that keeps tabs on prominent citizens and ex-citizens, so the Mafia tries to keep a low profile, an effort that’s in constant tension with the Dalluhan fondness for bling and lots of it. Also a result of being Dalluhan, they are used to and can handle higher performance and lower drivability than most, and are the least frugal of the three. They have the highest standards for quality, and prefer bold colors, most of all Dalluha- and mafia-appropriate black.

  • The Youngbloods are also disgruntled youth, but mostly poor Archanans with no other prospects to make a living. They have very little national and historical consciousness, and are the most openminded and change-flexible of the groups. They prefer loud modern styling, even futuristic/avantgarde, and are the most frugal, with the lowest standards.

The Cars


“Go per Fix” = service costs relative to performance
“Go per Drink” = fuel economy relative to performance

All three gangs need the following two types of cars, plus a third unique to each one.

1. General Personnel Transport.
  • Four full seats (more is better).
  • At least two but preferably four doors.
  • Sportiness to Comfort ratio 2:3
  • Budget $30k soft limit, $40k hard.

High priorities:

  • looks (“here comes money” and “here comes trouble”)
  • reliability
  • weighted sum of Sportiness and Comfort
  • Drivability

Medium priorities:

  • upfront cost
  • Go per Fix
  • Go per Drink
  • passenger room
  • Prestige

Low priorities:

  • cargo room
  • off-road
  • safety

Example: Mercedes 400E
image


2. Big Cheese VIP Transport.
  • Four full seats (more is not better)
  • Four doors.
  • Sportiness to Comfort ratio 1:5
  • Budget $80k soft, $100k hard.

High priorities:

  • looks (“here comes big money” and “here comes big trouble”)
  • straight-line performance
  • prestige
  • passenger room
  • weighted sum of Sportiness and Comfort

Medium priorities:

  • drivability
  • safety
  • handling performance

Low priorities:

  • reliability
  • off-road

Example: BMW 750iL Highline
00m0m_b6DfMAeZNG8_600x450


3a. The Old Guard like to have all their vehicles stylish, including the utilitarian ones, so they need a…

Cargo Schlepper.
  • Two seats (more is slightly better)
  • Enclosed body. Modified trucks ok.
  • Budget $15k soft, $20k hard.

High priorities:

  • reliability
  • cargo volume
  • load capacity

Medium priorities:

  • looks (“here comes trouble”)
  • off-road
  • drivability
  • upfront cost
  • Go per Fix
  • Prestige

Low priorities:

  • Go per Drink
  • Comfort

Example: Toon Patrol panel van from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?


3b. The Dalluhans keep a relatively low profile, so rather than appearing in force everywhere, they’ve a need for a small, zippy…

Scout/Courier.
  • Two seats (more is slightly better).
  • Sportiness to Comfort ratio 3:1
  • Budget $15k soft, $25k hard.

High priorities:

  • overall performance
  • drivability

Medium priorities:

  • looks (“nothing to see here, officer… unless you look closely enough”)
  • weighted sum of Sportiness and Comfort
  • upfront cost
  • Go per Drink
  • Go per Fix
  • reliability

Low priorities:

  • safety
  • off-road
  • prestige

Example: Mazda Miata


3c. The Youngbloods’ main business is special product transportation, so they need a…

Wares Runner.
  • Two seats (more is not better).
  • Unlike the Old Guard’s cargo schlepper, this one needs to haul ass as well as its (much smaller and lighter) cargo, and be suited for long trips.
  • Sportiness to Comfort ratio 1:1
  • Budget $40k soft, $60k hard.

High priorities:

  • reliability
  • top speed
  • weighted sum of Sportiness and Comfort

Medium priorities:

  • prestige
  • overall performance
  • looks (they’re ambivalent; either “nothing to see here, officer” or “here comes money, fast”)
  • Go per Drink
  • drivability

Low priorities:

  • Go per Fix
  • upfront cost
  • safety

Bonus: a 1.75m person being able to reasonably sleep in it. Some of those deliveries take days through desolate Archanan rural highways.

Example: Aston Martin V8 Vantage
image

Note that something which isn’t listed as a priority isn’t absolutely disregarded. For example, the VIP limo doesn’t list load capacity or cargo room, but if it bottoms out with a 50kg load, that’s not going to work. The cargo schlepper doesn’t list top speed, but if you submit a mining truck that’s geared-out at 50kph, that won’t do, either.

Summary of Priorities:


The Rules


General: you may submit any number of .cars by DM. Post an advert. Ads with extra effort, creativity, lore and/or roleplay get extra credit. Resubmissions are allowed on a case-by-case basis. I’m generally lenient about those, and may also give revision suggestions to make for more competitive entries.

Stylistic realism expectations: 4/5, high but not absolute, plus a special allowance for futuristic/avantgarde for the Youngbloods, and retro/anachronistic for the Old Guard.

Mechanical realism expectations (aka the Cheese Limit): * 2/5, fairly relaxed, but the tolerances for minmaxing and cheesing are not unlimited. Carbon brakes at -10 quality? Magnesium-block V16 quad-turbo AWD 6-speed manual for the VIP limo? No problem. Fiberglass and a manual rack on the limo? 1940s safety? Will be sent back for a resub (first and probably second offense) or binned (third or especially flagrant first or second). Feel free to ask anything.

Naming: FC1 - your username [anything else you like] for Model and Family. Trim and Variant unregulated.

Year: 1990 or 1991 expected. Slightly older cars are allowed in order to accommodate entrants who have, say, a 1988 car and don’t want to revise their lore.

Techpool: default +5 everywhere.

Calculator overrides:

  • Comfort will be recalculated with Torque, Gearbox, and Interior Volume penalties removed.
  • Interior and cargo room will be measured with fixtures and evaluated subjectively for convenience of shape/layout. Passenger and cargo volume stats will be totally ignored, as they are quite inaccurate in the game, at least its current version.
  • Off-Road stat will be ignored. Off-road ability will instead be evaluated subjectively altogether.

Engine:

  • 91 RON unleaded
  • 3-way cats
  • No race intake, but race headers ok.
  • Maximum loudness 45 for cars #1 and #2, 55 for #3.
  • Maximum idle speed 1000rpm.

Advanced Trim Settings: unrestricted.

Other:

  • No semi-slicks.
  • Tires may end in 0 (will be interpreted as ending in 5, plus pressure, toe, caster, or other tweaks that aren’t in the game).
  • No Race Diffuser.
  • No SatNav (too much of a security liability).

Interiors: seats are required and will factor in to interior comfort and ergonomics judging, everything else encouraged. I would prefer entries to have more complete interiors, especially the VIP limo.

Deadlines: Submissions close 10/30/23.

Storyline: Archana in 1990 is a harsh environment, to a degree that few who grew up in the First World have seen, and we’re dealing directly with armed criminals. Participation is at your own risk of being offended by death, destruction, and various depravity.

Scrutineering: Similarly harsh will be the scrutineering, where very little will be binned but instead made to suffer the consequences of engineering and design choices, with the sole exception of the details of any forced induction setups. No rear window triangle? Windows can’t roll down. Zero cooling airflow? It’s going to overheat. Atrocious brake fade? Brakes overheat and catch the driver off-guard in one hard stop, resulting in more death, destruction, and so on.

6 Likes

Sounds interesting. The first thing I question is the vanilla seat requirement though. Most good interior fixtures are mods TBH… I fail to see the point there.

Good catch. I meant to exclude unrealistically small seats but forgot to add that qualifier.

Yes, I understand now, I think that I know which mod you mean. However, if they are resized to be about the size of an 1:1 vanilla seat, I guess they are still OK to use?

Yes. I’ll be evaluating interior room and ergonomics (crudely) based on how the seats are configured, so they should all be comparably sized.

On the other hand, if I allow any seats and get dollhouse stools, I could just judge that as presented: “a touch more interior room, garbage comfort/ergonomics.”

2 Likes

Why would you allow all that (in 1990 i might add), and then an actually pretty reasonable setup for lightweight cars gets binned.

I support the idea of default techpool, I see no reason to complicate things further.

I presume you need some kind of way to tell what cars are for what, are the numbers for the sections going in the submission name somewhere?

I second this. The seats and bodies don´t really work well together in defaut scale.

Fiberglass on a heavy luxury car is too much a stretch IMO. On the Scout/Courier it’d be fine.

Cars don’t need to be designated. In character, each of the gangs will visit the various dealerships that are open, take note of what they have on offer, and pick and choose whatever they feel is appropriate for their purpose.

Scoring and winning: cars will be selected a la carte. For example, the Dalluhans might choose their #1 from Company A, #2 and 3 from Company B. Meanwhile the Old Guard might like Company A’s #1 just as much, and would too select it. And then there’d be nothing stopping the Youngbloods from going, “Company B’s #1 actually makes for an alright #2 for us; we’ll take it and save a bunch of money.” I may also allow more than one car to be chosen for each slot if it’s too close to call, or if this fleet diversity makes for a good story somehow. Proposal: The overall winner is the entrant at whose dealerships the three gangs spend the most money. To this end, I’m thinking about allowing prices to be set manually, though no lower than the Detailed Stats one. Thoughts?

It would be nice if it was in bullet points instead of this block of text, much easier to see what is what and what priority and stuff

1 Like

I added a chart. Will work on formatting tomorrow. I’ll be busy the next several days.

1 Like

Can the same user submit vehicles for multiple factions, instead of just one?

Submit any number of cars, that is all. You can suggest that they be for someone or something, but it makes no difference; if it fits someone else or some other purpose, it’ll be bought for that instead. Just like IRL.

Default techpool it is.

Minor nitpick: If this takes place in Archana 1991, shouldn’t the fuel choice conform to what’s available at that time?

Also: can you be clearer on valid model / family and trim / variant year settings?

I think there were several types of fuel available, but for simplicity in something relatively unimportant, I changed it so 91 RON is the fuel for everyone.

1991 or older for everything. This takes place in mid-late 1990, so model year 1991 are becoming available

interested in this, might whip something up

Revised scoring, dropped the pricing mechanics for simplicity’s sake. Pending further comments, I aim to open submissions tomorrow, 9/9/23.

A clarification: interior room will be measured with fixtures and evaluated subjectively for convenience of shape/layout. Passenger and cargo volume stats will be totally ignored, as they are quite inaccurate in the game, at least its current version.

Accordingly, the Comfort stat will be recalculated with any interior volume bonus or penalty removed.

3 Likes
fuck it, we ball
Saberin Motori
EXS-3 Atarin S
Good things stay good. Same goes for our Atarin and Atarin S. Since 1979, we have produced this generation of the premier saloon for all those who want to stand out with styling which refuses to let brash, modern clues seep in to it. A shape which is as beautiful as it is functional; aerodynamic, sleek and prestigious.

But why stop there? The lack of a grille is not because we cheapened out on assembly - quite the opposite in fact - but it is to improve aerodynamics, and announce that the stable with all the 330 stallions is situated behind you. 4.5 litres sing to you when your journey takes you on the highway, but when the time comes when you need all the power that the vehicle can muster, the engine holds an orchestra - a comfortable distance away, mind you - and will deliver on the 330 horsepower promise.


Inside, you find four bucket seats keeping you in upmost comfort, with heating, cooling, ventilation and massaging for your position in the rear. In the centre console you find a state-of-the-art picture tube television, with a compact disc player in the front and rear, along with additional provisions for the playing of cassettes. Automatic air conditioning and a fridge-freezer combination provide the cool on hot days. And the money and status you bring with this thing brings the hot ladies for cool days.


Adding to that, self-levelling hydro-pneumatic suspension cushions you more than the seats themselves, and keeps the vehicle drivable even in the most demanding of situations, from putting the hammer down at 309km/h to gliding through corners with 0.97g of sideways force - something some sports cars will even struggle with.


So, hearing this, what do you think? Of course, at your request, we will gladly demonstrate the vehicle’s capabilities to you, if my talking has not sufficed. The drinks are on the house.


Lushious, additional photographs


8 Likes

I dont want to be hunted by that. I am currently in Sicily and had a bar fight with a mafioso, thank god he only drove an early 70s muscle car and not this one that looks like nobody less than the godfather himself is in it…

3 Likes