Shitbox Rally 2024
Journey to Holsia
Driving clapped-out clunkers anywhere is a bit of a challenge. Doing it in another world takes things up to the next level. Especially when your gracious hosts have decided to return things to their 2022 roots and have decided, we’re all camping again.
Gather your “finest” bucket of rust with a worn out everything and show up for another turn at the only Intergalactic Driving Trip this side of the Milky Way!
Important Notice:
This is a long-running challenge in the real world. We found out last time that if we pre-write enough stuff, we can run a stage per week, but we’re still looking at roughly 16 weeks to completion.
“So, what the heck is this!?”
Shitbox Rally 2024 is a cross between a car cruise and a stage rally, so we’ll be making camp between runs. This is to encourage collaboration between teams, allow in-story repairs to take place, and allow for natural story events to take place. After all, it’s not fun if everyone is spread out across several thousand miles and no one can hear you trash-talking on the radio.
Role-playing is highly encouraged, but not required. Just want to watch the story unfold? That’s okay. Want to be part of the story? Just jump right in. Missed a stage or 12 but still want to participate? Go ahead!
(Note: If you’re uncertain about whether something could be done, exists in the world, or you’ve got a plot idea in your head, please, contact me or Elizipeazie and bring it up. Seriously, the previous Shitbox Rallies were epic only because people were putting ideas into the world.)
We’re going through another nation in Aetherii, and this time, it’s Holsia.
“Aetherii? Holsia?”
Aetherii is the earth-like planet we will be traveling to, and it has a non-standard system of time… While an Aetheriian second and an Earth second are both equal, an Aetheriian minute is 80 seconds. An Aetheriian hour is 80 minutes. An Aetheriian day/night cycle is 20 hours, split between 10 hours of day and 10 hours of night. This is known locally as Sun and Moon time (Five-Sun being Noon, and Five-Moon being Midnight, by our terms). This means that an Aetheriian day is 35.56 Earth Hours long, or 1.48 Earth Days. Expect to feel jet lagged early on.
Holsia is another major power on the planet of Aetherii next to the already-known Crugandr and Nehmenweld as well as Valraad. However, it is a mountainous Island nation largely isolated from the others.
We shall be doing what more or less counts as “a lap” around the island, sticking vaguely to the coast for the majority of the event while taking a shortcut across the central mountains about halfway through.
Those coasts are a lively mix of cities varying in size, farmland, villages and forests. Further inland, you generally trade farmland for forestry as terrain progressively is more extreme. With few exceptions, the average size of a given settlement also decreases.
Temperatures are generally temperate, with the western half being marginally colder and substantially wetter than the east. Truly cold weather is not really expected, barring the trip across the mountains, which do carry snow year-round. The expected range of temperatures varies from “around freezing” to “comfortable summer”, though we all know how accurate forecasts can be with 1930s equivalent technology…
Wildlife is eerily similar to what returning participants might have seen from Nehmenweld.
Wildlife there is similar to that on Earth, just on average 10 to 20% larger than our similar creatures. So, large wolves do exist, but they are not the Dyre we met before. Likewise, large cougars, bears, and jaguars exist in their respective areas.
Also, watch out for snakes in the jungle.No, Holsia does not have a jungle, but some (generally harmless) snakes do exist.
Holsia primarily is inhabited by humans, which make up the VAST majority of the population. Human-adjacent humanoids like (half-)elves, dwarves and similar species exist, though at best one in about 50 Holsians are of this variety. Even rarer are non-humans of any kind, including shapeshifters.
Magic is pretty much unheard of to the Holsian commoner, courtesy of it being an island nation far away from the nations where magic is common. It’s usage is not inherently regulated, but expect a lot of attention from the locals if you do apply major use of magic.
The lack of magic is intended to be made up through technology, though Holsia is not any more advanced than Nehmenweld or Crugandr.
Holsia generally is European-in-spirit if we look at general development of it’s areas as well as city planning. Roads are narrow and twisty, but of remarkably good quality, to the point of you having won the lottery if you find an unpaved road that is not a driveway to some farmstead.
City roads are ironically a bit worse for quality, with various grades of cobblestone being the norm. On top of that, they are “Italian village” levels of tight if you are not on the major through-roads and avenues.
Car ownership is relatively low and limited to the really wealthy, with the “commoner’s vehicle” being a motorcycle, possibly with a sidecar. Less fortunate ones on intercity trips poodle around on a motorized bicycle.
What little cargo haulage that is not done via rail usually runs on roads with rigid trucks, possibly with a trailer on the flatter coastal regions.
A similar case can be seen for rail infrastructure, with a railway going to pretty much every corner of the country, rilvalling roads regarding coverage. Their rolling stock is entirely steam powered if we exclude the 16 battery-electric shunting locomotives near major switchyards.
City traffic is an oddity, since trams are a rare sight, instead being supplemented by trolleybus services on the lower end and “full-scale” trains for high-demand routes, forming a proto-S-Bahn network in cities large enough to justify it.
“Da Rulez"
Disclaimer
The hosts of this challenge (@Madrias and @Elizipeazie) reserve the right to deny entry based on the spirit of the challenge or for any other reason, even if it is “by the book” legal. If such a denial happens, we shall try our best to provide a reason as to why.
Vehicle rules will be left rather vague, but we are somewhat banking on you (the entrant) staying somewhat reasonable with vehicle choice.
You are running the event with 2000USD cars (or local currency equivalent), and while we do have provisions to calculate semi trucks, you will have to provide rather sound reasoning as to how you got a hold of it while vaguely in budget.
We have a hidden reliability cap in place to hopefully keep things interesting. It should be high enough to not hinder most reasonably-built cars, but we’re hoping this keeps the reliability min-maxing to a minimum. Yes, it’s reasonable that a 1998 Toyota Corolla’nt would be reliable - but a dirt-cheap one might not be.
Team
- Your team shall have a name of some variety.
- Your team shall consist of at least one humanoid crew member.
- What constitutes as “humanoid” lies within host discretion. In general, humans, elves and similar human-adjacent races are fine, as are “furries”. Humanoid robots might require upfront deliberation based on their level of sentience and general appearance.
- Non-humanoid crew members must be cleared with both of us.
- Each crew member must be named.
- Shorthands/ Nicknames are valid.
- Characters younger than 18 years (earth-equivalent) require specific approval.
Vehicle engineering
- tech-pool is to be left at default (+5 on every category)
- if your car is mid-engined, below restrictions also apply
- engine cannot have more than 6 cylinders
- engine cannot displace more than 3000cc
- if turbocharged, the displacement shall not exceed 2000cc
- cannot be AWD
- if your vehicle falls outside of the main scope of Automation, please try and emulate it’s expected performance to the best of your ability
- this applies to anything larger than a delivery van, tracked vehicles, overly heavy vehicles, those with more/ fewer than 4 wheels or tracked vehicles.
- Fuel is to be Super Leaded
- No adjustments to Ignition Timing.
- Super Unleaded may be used, but be aware that any emissions equipment will lose functionality in RP.
- Lower grades of fuels (both leaded and unleaded) may be used if desired for story purposes.
Vehicle visuals
- at least one pair of headlights
- Motorcycles only need one headlight.
- at least one pair of taillights
- Motorcycles only need one taillight.
- indicators must be visible from all angles of the vehicle except from above.
- how you accomplish that is up to you (wrap around, side markers, pillar mounted indicators, trafficators for the really old folks, etc.)
- Front Indicators must be amber in color
- Rear Indicators must be amber or red in color
- Side Indicators must be amber in color
- Side indicators in other colors will be assumed to be misc. reflectors or lights.
- how you accomplish that is up to you (wrap around, side markers, pillar mounted indicators, trafficators for the really old folks, etc.)
- at least one (singular) reverse light
- Motorcycles do not need a reverse light.
- any light as detailed above may also be declared “broken” by using an empty housing instead
- in such a case, it’s function must still be obvious to determine legality of it’s original, non-broken state
- at least one headlight and one taillight have to remain functional
- a rear license place of any variety
- installation of a front license plate is allowed
- at least one (singular) exterior mirror on the driver’s side
- at least one (singular) windshield wiper
- Motorcycles do not need a windshield wiper.
- (Optional) at least one (singular) large antenna as part of the CB radio equipment
- This will not count against your vehicle’s dimensions.
Vehicle size
Unlike last year, the size of your vehicle will affect the time taken to travel from one campsite to the next.
Below, you can find a list of the size classifications as well as a .car file to verify which class your vehicle falls into.
For reference, we will align both the vehicle and the box to face the same direction, centering the vehicle within the box across it’s width.
The vehicle will then be moved fore and aft to figure out the smallest box that fully encompasses the vehicle, including mirrors and any attachments.
Being larger than the largest possible box disqualifies the vehicle.
The list:
| Class | Length | Width | Height | Default Tank Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 3.0m | 1.3m | 1.5m | 15 Liters |
| B | 6.0m | 2.3m | 2.0m | 50 Liters |
| C1 | 9.0m | 2.55m | 2.5m | 50 Liters |
| C | 12.0m | 2.8m | 3.2m | 200 Liters |
| CE | 18.0m | 3.0m | 4.0m | 200 Liters |
SR23_Size_Guide_-_Complete_Set.car (19.7 KB)
*Requires “Md’s New 4.27 Rim Pack” for the glass material to work.
Ignore it saying SR2023. It’s valid for SR2024. I’m We’re just too lazy to fix naming.
Regarding the size of your fuel tank: If you say nothing, we’ll use the default tank size for your vehicle’s class. If you want a specific tank size, give us a reasonable value in either Gallons or Liters - All will be converted to Liters.
Reliability
Like the previous couple of years, shitboxes will occasionally break down and cost you time. This year, we’ve limited the breakdown maximum time, but there’s a catch. This year, each breakdown will cost a bit of reliability. As your car falls further and further into disrepair, and the reliability falls lower and lower, there is a chance for a critical breakdown. At that point, your car will be stuck on the roadside, and you will DNF that stage.
You have the choice of either accepting that DNF as the end of your car and taking the train (see below), or accepting that DNF for the stage, knowing that you’ll have to fix the car on the side of the road somehow, and then cannonball to the next stage’s camp.
However, a DNF is not the end of the story for you.
Elizipeazie’s team has graciously provided the use of a train, both for a mobile kitchen, and to ferry teams from camp to camp after a breakdown. You can still help other teams fix cars in camp, party with the others, socialize, and participate in the chaos, even if your ride has changed from the rolling scrapheap you showed up in, to a carriage pulled by a steam locomotive.
Aggression
Aggression makes a return this year in a whole new way.
Last year, it was a bit of a mess, and really only affected time gained versus time lost.
This year, it (like so many things of this challenge) has been revamped.
We’re still running under the assumption that all drivers are at least making a vague attempt to follow the rules of the road here.
You’ll need to pick a whole number between 1 and 4, which will affect your speed, your fuel consumption, and your reliability.
Drive slower, you’ll save fuel and not wreck the car as much.
Drive faster, you’ll burn more fuel and risk damaging the car more.
Risk versus reward - Go faster, be first place… Or the first to the mechanic. Go slower, get last place… Or be the last in the race.
This can only be set before the race starts, and will not be changed.
Please Read This!
Roleplay, Consent, and You - written by AMuteCrypt for SR 2023. Still Useful here!
How do I join?
Create a legal car and a team, submit the details (Team Name, Character Names, Chosen aggression) and .car file to Elizipeazie and Madrias in the same message. Put a team post up in the thread.
Car Submission Format:
Car Name: SR 2024 - (Username)
Trim Name: As you please.
Engine Name: SR 2024 - (Username)
Variant Name: As you please.
Entries will close on: They’re already closed.
First Stage should release on: April 4, 2024
Changelog
Edit 1:
- Added submission format. Oops.
Edit 2:
- Breakdown DNFs are now semi-optional. Breaking down still means you didn’t make camp, but you can continue the trip. The option remains to end your trip early.
- Improved the changelog format.
Edit 3:
- Mentioned the hidden reliability cap.
Edit 4:
- Fuel Octane requirements Added.
Edit 5:
- Mentioned that motorcycles do not have to have windshield wipers or reverse lights.
Edit 6:
- Added Indicator color rules.
Edit 7:
- Added motorcycle headlight and taillight exemptions.
Edit 8:
- Removed emissions requirements. Kaboom! You may now de-cat your cars, or engine swap a 1940’s truck engine into a hatchback without needing to make it comply.
Edit 9:
- Refreshed the SR Discord link.
Edit 10:
- Whoops, forgot to put in the Aggression section.
- Added more information to the details that should be sent in team submissions.
Edit 11:
- Added fuel tank sizes and a note about how to get “lore accurate” tank sizes.
Edit 12:
- Altered the minimum team size rule - One person teams are open now if you really want to do so.
- Opened the Challenge. Rules are now final.
Lucky Edit 13:
- Made antennas optional following a discussion in the Discord. They no longer count against vehicle dimensions, either.
Edit 14:
- Closed the challenge entries, removed the Discord join link.
Edit 15:
- Changelog go crunch! into this nice dropdown box.
