PIF Design Challenge [Yellow Group Thread]

[size=120]Pay It Forward Design Challenge - Yellow Group[/size]

Good morning! You all were randomly selected for the “Yellow Group”. I have randomized the play order. The last person on the list will issue the first challenge, to the first person on the list. When you post and issue the challenge, please also PM the person you are issuing the challenge to, letting them know it’s ready. The person being challenged has 3 days to complete it. All are welcome to play all challenges, but if you are not being challenged, please do not post results or LUAs until after the player receiving he challenge either completes, gives up, or times out.

Make the challenges interesting, possibly something that might trip up your “victim”, but also possible to do. Remember: if the group as a whole feels your challenge is impossible, you WILL be required to post a LUA proving it IS possible.

Good luck and have fun!

[size=120]Round 1 Play Order[/size]
Packbat (Completed)
VicVictory (Failed)
chipskate (Completed)
Urbanliner (Failed)
EnryGT5 (Completed)
strop

Right, I’ve been assigned the making of the first challenge. We’ll start proceedings with a bang! However, I do need to reinstall my build, it’s getting progressively more broken and I’m not sure any of the values are matching up :stuck_out_tongue:

Expect something in about 24 hours.

Not a problem - let me know if I need to reinstall any mods.

(…I wonder what will be a good challenge to issue to VicVictory…)

No mods are required for this challenge! The custom track, Green Hell, however, is essential.

[size=200]Getting the jump on the eagle…[/size]

The seasons come and go, and so do the waves of sporting nostalgia. American muscle cars may have had their heyday way back 4 or more decades ago, but as of late a strong resurgence in the retro flavoured sports cars of excess has seen many classics reborn. With the coming of the new age comes the setting of new benchmarks, new standards, and more competition!

Chrysler, Chevrolet, Ford etc. etc. have been trading hearty blows, throwing their 500bhp+ cars around Nordschleife, more recently culminating in Dodge sending their ACR around the track in a touch over 7:12. 7:12! “But they cheated!”, detractors cry, “For they used slicks and a non-road legal trim!” Well, if that’s how they’re going to play the game, you might as well give them a taste of their own medicine.

[size=150]The Challenge:[/size]

As a new contender in the American Pony Car (and sports car) market, you’re here to unseat the pretenders to the Throne, and claim the balance of power. Doing so would require no less than to beat that American manufacturer record, particularly because the Dodge ACR is due to be put into production this year. What better time to do to them what Seat did to Honda (though Honda had the last laugh), than right now? That being said, you’re not sure you want your car to cost as much as the ACR… so if you could sell it for cheaper, you’d be gobbling up the market share from right under their noses!

[size=150]The Rules:[/size]

[ul]]The body must be front engined/:m]
]The car must be rear wheel drive/:m]
]You may use up to RON95/:m]
]Loudness must be <65/:m]
]Engine reliability must be >50/:m]
]Comfort must be >30/:m]
]Safety must be >60/:m]
]Economy must be <20L/100km/:m]
]Total cost must be no more than 25000.00/:m][/ul]
Everything else, materials, quality, trim, setup etc. is completely up to you. Take this car, and hurtle it around Nordschleife! Given that you are going from a standing start, and using the full track, your target time is 7:20.13!

Now go forth and destroy the competition!

…the safety penalty for using an old body shell isn’t that large - I bet I can do this in a properly muscle-y muscle car, too. I’ll see what I can do!

Edit @T+3 hours: Aargh - the safety penalty might not be large, but the aero penalty definitely is. I’m pretty sure I can’t find another 30 seconds around the Green Hell while sticking with this body. Good practice for my second attempt, though!

I personally feel that the aero penalty is WAY too much in this version, compared with previous versions, but it’s not yet been investigated. It seems that you’re encountering the same issues that I had too. This being said, yes, I expected you would have to use a more modern body to truly conquer the scenario. It’s pretty tight!

p.s. forgot to mention, I assumed that it was understood that the tech and body year had to be 2015, but hey, if you’re going to make it earlier, be my guest (it’s only more difficult!)

Fair enough, strop!

Actually, at this point, I feel like I probably need some help to get this done - I’ve made a car that activates my muscle-car recognition circuits and meets the challenge rules:


…but I’m still just under 20 seconds off the target speed, and I don’t have enough experience to know where I should be looking to find that much time. If it is as simple as, “You need to choose a 21st-century hull”, then that’s fine, but I’d appreciate any tips y’all can give.
Pay It Forward 2015-04 Third Strike.zip (20.5 KB)

You need really wide rear tyres. And probably front tyres too. What kind of wheels are the modern super muscle cars using? If I recall correctly the Camaro ZR-1 had 335 rears and 305 fronts and that isn’t even nearly as fast around the track…

And yes, as a result, you are likely to struggle if you don’t use a modern body.

Interesting! I thought 275s were pretty big, but I guess not - thanks for the tip!

Switched to the new 2-door model. Something like 385s in the back with multi-link suspension setup. Running in the seven-fifties, about 1.4 g cornering force and sub-200mph top speed with 550 hp.

I’m feeling incredibly frustrated right now. I can try putting a bigger engine in there for more power - I have more room in the engine bay, and enough grilles and vents to cool it - but I don’t feel like I know what I’m doing.

Damn sorry, I thought this would be a little easier.

You’re using the body I did. Power is good when you have the traction for it so don’t be afraid to trump the current outputs. You don’t need a 200mph top speed but it’ll be close to it, most likely.

After that it’s finding an appropriate body and engine materials, then using as much money as you can spare (after safety and comfort) to go faaaast (aero, gearing and suspension will give you up to 15s). I know there’s some wiggle room, because I used superfluous sports seats and cat converter when I forgot to specify an emissions limit :stuck_out_tongue:

I’ll see what I can do. I did notice that quality on aero was pretty cheap - I already have that at +15.

Huh? Oh. I didn’t really bother with that lol. Put more money into the tyres!

Already have +5 - it starts getting expensive very fast after that.

Actually, I think I’ve found the main problem: the Aero page has a slider that says “Downforce” that can be set higher than 0. Between that and quality slider weight reductions and camber, I’m down to 7:20.38 - pretty sure I can find another quarter-second somewhere.

(By the way, will we ever have a skip-ahead-in-the-lap option? Waiting six minutes to see what speed I hit at the end of the straight is getting old.)

Okay, I think I cracked it. I only think I cracked it, though, because when I reloaded the game to take this screenshot:


…all the car’s stats changed - mostly because it forgot that I had an active wing and cooling flaps. But at this point I’m out of patience.

I don’t know when I’ll have a challenge for the next player - probably Monday.
Pay It Forward 2015-04 Success.zip (21 KB)

I will let strop have his say on that before you move on to create the next challenge.

That’s reasonable.

There seem to be some finicky saving issues around the active aero etc.

Fortunately the changes were preserved in the .lua files that you’ve sent me, and you’ve managed to pass the scenario! Well done, that was actually an honestly difficult challenge I set you with relatively little tolerance! Funny thing is, your setup has a fair chunk more power than mine does, and gets to 62mph a fraction of a second faster as a result. But I do find the ultra low profile tyre choice somewhat interesting.

At any rate, congratulations, you have succeeded and I assume it is now up to you to set the next challenge.

Honestly, I blindly assumed that low profile = better. Another case of “it’s not what you don’t know that hurts you”, I suppose.

Would you be willing to PM me your files? (I can install the community mod pack, if you used parts from it.) I’d like to learn from the differences in our approaches for my future competition builds.

(I have ideas for challenges, but my computer doesn’t have enough RAM to run Automation and Firefox simultaneously.)

I shall do that in the near future, when I get home from work!