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It's coming out tomorrow, anybody else getting it?

Watched a few videos on YT and it looks like an improved version of the Android/iOS game.
It's selling for $US26.99 on Steam right now at 10% off, Ordinary price is $US30.

Here's a link for one of the guys i follow on YT playing it, He never played the mobile version so he is a bit of a noob!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAlFo7Bc_SI

Me, although I thought the release date was actually the 10th.

I'm pretty hyped about it. I don't play mobile games (or have anything to do with mobile devices if I can help it) so I'll have to learn the rope, but I do hope to avoid any such obvious newbie mistakes as blowing all my money on a simulator right at the start!

I'm currently debating whether to pick this up when it is released (tomorrow, right?) or wait for the first inevitable discount. I owned the iOS version and really enjoyed playing it, but my biggest criticism of it was it didn't have the longevity I expect from a management game. Take Football Manager as a classic example: even once I've got a team to the top, every season still presents a challenge to maintain that position at the pinnacle. And there is always the option of going to a different team and starting all over. With Motorsport Manager on the iOS, once I got my team to the very top, I was basically unchallenged for the couple of seasons I continued playing it thereafter. It almost felt like I'd completed the game, when in my mind you should never be able to complete a sports management game.

I saw something in one of the videos they posted that this new version will be more dynamic, so I'm hoping that even once you become the best in the world, there will be changing regulations, teams matching/beating your performance, and the game will continue to be a challenge from there on out. The reviews all seem pretty positive, but then a lot of the ones I've read have been on motorsport sites so as much as I'd hope they would be looking for what I would be looking for, I'm also wary that they've probably had free copies of the game and perhaps a little coaxing to put out a positive review regardless of their experience...

I've met the guy who makes this down my local pub (We're both game developers in Guildford) and a few of my friends have helped make this. The questions i've asked have all had pretty decent answers, i think it is abstracted enough so that unlike some of the more techie previous games you don't have to set wing angles, but instead ask your team to work on improving downforce etc.

There is a lot about man management, research and tactics in race.

I've ordered it (It comes out on my birthday) so i'll post here once i've actually played it for a day or so.

I've been playing the game pretty obsessively for a few days, and I'm liking it a lot; I've in my second season now. One thing is really annoying me though, and has ever since I started playing: the way reliability is handled.

I get that reliability should be a mechanic in a motorsport game. That's totally realistic. But the conceit the game has that your parts are just going to degrade constantly during a race and you'll need to - and be able to - pit to slap some duct tape on your front wing (or your gearbox, bizarrely enough) is just annoying and jarring to me. I've just finished a race where my #2 car was running in 10th position a lap from the end, nursing a suspension problem; this would have been the first time she scored all year, and a hard fought result. Then suddenly the suspension starts belching black smoke for no reason, her pace slows to a crawl, and we have to pit (there's no ability to retire the car - you must pit and fix the issue, or continue at a snail's pace) with one lap to go, totally destroying the result. None of the AI ever have this happen that I can tell.

I think 1) all parts are too unreliable by default, but especially the structural components; a wing or suspension failure should be a once in a season event, not once every few races if you don't tinker with it, and 2) when a part fails, it should simply force you to DNF. It hurts my immersion to imagine that my engine blows up, but my driver crawls back to the pit and they somehow fix it. That doesn't happen, and since you've probably lost all your places anyway, it's just insulting to force you to rejoin the track. Particularly since your driver will then believe they had a bad race, instead of just getting unlucky with their stupid bubblegum car.

Okay, rant over!

I downloaded it and gave it a 45 minute, single race whirl. My takeaway from the experience was that I really need to replace my Mac as it simply cannot hack it with newer games. Had the settings on their lowest and even then it was a struggle!

Saying that, in those 45 minutes I can see exactly what you're talking about, Exediron. The fact that there was the option to patch up things like the suspension or the engine when pitting is absolutely ridiculous. If the engine lets go then that's it. You don't get to crawl round to the pits, spend 20 seconds fixing it and go back racing. I find it kind of absurd that someone has made a motorsport management game and decided to completely forgo common sense on this topic, and for what? An extra feature? A way to make the races a little more challenging? It's pretty disappointing. I'm actually hoping that by the time I sort a replacement for my Mac out (probably the other side of Christmas unless there's a good Black Friday deal) that they've had enough complaints/criticism about such a feature that they've either removed it completely or given us the opportunity to deactivate it.

I'm almost at the end of my 5th season now and having a blast with the game. It's really well thought out and feature-rich. Progression is done well, having to balance this year's development against investing in next year's car against long term HQ improvement. The politics voting is brilliant, with topics such as which parts teams are allowed to develop or have as spec parts, adding or scrapping races from the calendar, the points system and the spread of prize money.

About the reliability issue: I think they have done a good job implementing this without adding too much randomness to races that could become frustrating quickly. Reliability is only an real issue in the early part of the season (fairly realistic) and when fitting newly developed parts later on. After a couple of races into a season your parts should be reliable enough. And even with dodgy parts there are game mechanics that can counter these reliability issues: running lower engine modes or drivers having 'nursing knowledge' through their relationship with their race mechanic. Besides, the AI has reliability issues too. It's very entertaining to have that suspense at the end of the race to see if there a cars in front of my drivers whose cars fall apart or run out of full. Yes, the reliability system is a bit gamey, but much better than alternative mechanics I can think of from the top of my head.

I do agree that not being able to retire a car is weird. The AI can do this but we can't. It doesn't make much difference though in the greater scheme of the races.

There are some bugs, but nothing major. One or two patches should fix those. All in all, I'm pleasantly surprised. I'm hoping the game sells well enough for the developers to keep supporting the game and I wonder if they are planning to add content later on.

Okay, to keep myself from doing something physically violent to my keyboard, monitor, or other computer components after this past race, I'm going to vent about some more frustrations I have with the game:

1. Racecraft
This is probably my most major gripe in the game at present, since reliability has been patched to actually cause DNFs. The racecraft of your drivers is - and there's no way to sugar coat it - a total and complete joke. It's so bad I have to wonder if the creator of the game has actually ever raced, even at the karting level or in a non-arcade computer game. Here's why:

First, when attempting an overtake, your drivers have no regard for the position of any surrounding cars, and will happily lunge up the inside into a corner that is not a passing opportunity, then lose momentum (too much of it) and be forced to take the outside line around the following corner while the entire field passes them up the inside. The number of times my drivers have done this is well beyond counting, but suffice to say it's a lot.

Then there's the way that, unaccountably, after losing a place my drivers will drive like total and complete fairy cakes for the next few corners, taking the outside line, braking extremely early, and generally waving anyone who wants a look right by. They are also totally unable to anticipate the car in front, and will follow it in its slipstream right up to a corner, then stomp on the brakes - keeping behind the car, mind you - while any other cars nearby happily dive down the inside of both. At the start, if my drivers get a better start than the car in front, they'll just step on the brakes so they don't risk actually making an overtake.

They're wildly inconsistent, too. Not infrequently, one of my drivers will make a garbage start, let the first 5-8 cars by in as many corners or fewer, then suddenly start driving decently and actually braking somewhere near the corner. I understand that the developer didn't want the drivers to be too computer-like in their consistency, but things like braking points really don't change by 5 car lengths from one lap to the next. No driver at the level of motorsport the game is simulating would be that inconsistent in their braking.

2. Time loss in traffic
This one is related to the racecraft, but it's a bit separate. When passing traffic on a flying lap or just if there's a large enough speed differential, your drivers will always lose an enormous chunk of time if they have to pass a car. Even if it happens on a straight, or if they're able to take the racing line through a corner anyway - they will lose at least a second every time. This is part racecraft - they pass lapped traffic in pretty stupid ways sometimes - but they lose far more time than their actual on-screen actions would result in. In my own experience - mostly virtual - passing a yielding car on a straight costs virtually no time at all, and even passing through a corner won't result in the loss of multiple seconds. I have to assume the develop put this 'feature' in on purpose, and I can't imagine why. It makes finding space for your flying lap unnecessarily frustrating, since you know that encountering a car at any point on the track - even a straight - will destroy your lap utterly.

3. Blue flags! Honestly, it's ridiculous!
This could be argued as a difference between the fictional WMC and the real F1, but the blue flag conduct of lapped cars is incredibly frustrating. They will get out of your way if you encounter them on a straight, but otherwise they will actively fight you for position, including if you pass them on a straight and they decide they can outbrake you into the next corner. And since your own drivers have roughly the racecraft of first-time rental karters, they'll lose multiple seconds a lap fighting with the backmarkers. Seb has no idea how lucky he is.

4. Pit stops
The chance of an error in the pitstops is implausibly high. You can choose between a safe pitstop (often 0% chance of incident), a balanced stop (about 10%) or a fast stop (25%); each increment costs 2 seconds off the expected time of the pitstop. Although I will say my expected time is always optimistic; the projection of which cars you will be fighting at exit is nearly always wrong by at least a place or two.

Even accepting that pit crews in the WMC are much slower than those in F1, the idea that they have a 25% chance of stuffing up a simple wheel change when trying to do it quickly is ridiculous. Any crew that incompetent wouldn't last a year at the top level. And messing up in this case doesn't men just a second or two; no, if they make a mistake with a tyre it's usually 7-9 seconds worth of extra time. A mistake that major happens about once a season in F1, if that. To add insult to injury, when they screw up the stop your driver will come on the radio and say the idiot who made the mistake should be fired - but it never happens. Clearly, every available mechanic is equally incompetent.

---

Okay, that's all I wanted to unload right now. Despite the above I am still really enjoying the game most of the time - it's just that every time my drivers throw away a good result with mindnumbingly stupid driving, it makes me wonder why my ex-driver team boss doesn't fire them both and go drive the car herself. It's incredibly frustrating to see your car start well, hit the brakes instead of overtaking the driver in front, then proceed to get passed by the next dozen cars in line over the course of single painful lap in which they brake while still halfway down the straight, take the outside line for no reason, and then attempt an overoptimistic maneuver with absolutely no chance of success, losing even more positions in the process. It fosters a hatred for both of my drivers, who are supposedly two of the best in the championship, and in turn that's not good for my suspension of disbelief.

But then another race comes up where they actually drive decently, and I start enjoying my masochistic relationship with the game again...

There is a new patch out today, with a load of bug fixes, and a brand new 2d mode that should help people on lower spec. Not tried it yet though, so no idea how much an actual difference it makes.

Is it worth the 25 quid for something to do over Xmas?

Herb wrote:Is it worth the 25 quid for something to do over Xmas?

I'd say so, yes. It's been a very involving and addictive game for me - the frustrations I've complained about are only so frustrating because I enjoy the game so much otherwise.

Ok, I've done 15 or so seasons on this now, and I've learnt a few things about this game:

Firstly, don't be Predator Racing on your first go. They're at such a massive disadvantage that it'll be 5 or so seasons until you'll reach parity with the midfield factory wise.
Secondly, reliability is far more important than outright performance. A car that breaks down less will win you points over a fast fragile car.
Thirdly, the scouting centre is a godsend.

Just downloaded this yesterday. GOOD LORD WHAT HAVE I DONE?!

Update

It's the end of the year 2023 (my 8th full year) and I'm calling it on my first Motorsport Manager play-through. Having taken the plucky little Rezzato Corsa team to the top, we have now reached a point of domination where I don't feel there's any reasonable challenge remaining in the game. We've achieved the perfect season, and our lead driver has won a race by lapping every other driver - despite the fact that we've been running 'short' races (supposedly a 42-lap average) since 2019.

De Graaf laps the field in Singapore


Rezzato Corsa: 16 - 0 Everyone Else


I had a lot of fun along the way, and according to Steam I spent 160 hours over the course of my campaign. I had my fair share of quibbles with the game, some minor, some not - but overall, it was a very enjoyable experience. Some time this week I'll write up a much more detailed review of my experience, including where I feel the game needs improvement, advice for others (don't start at the top) and even the relatively small number of bugs that never got fixed.

Until then, I am curious: who else has reached what they feel to be the plateau of dominance in the game, and how many seasons did it take before you felt there was no remaining challenge? For me, the path went about like this:

2016: Decidedly midfield (5th). De Graaf took a pair of podiums and was usually in the points - his teammate scored no points at all.
2017: Still midfield (5th); De Graaf once again took a handful of podiums (3), and his teammate once again failed to score.
2018: Upper midfield (4th); hired a better driver as #2, and both drivers finished on the podium this year, scoring a total of 8 podiums. Still without a race win.
2019: Title-challenging (2nd); both drivers won races (6 total), but De Graaf's poor form due to joining the cult of Zodion saw him squander his first opportunity at a title. Probably should have won this year.
2020: World Champions; less wins than last year (5), but a much more consistent performance by De Graaf (and a poor late season by his main rival) saw him take his first WDC by 15 points.
2021: Title-challenging (2nd); De Graaf is world champion again, but his new teammate proves to be off the pace and fails to win a race while De Graaf wins 8. Beaten to the WCC by Kitano Sport, whose drivers both finished in the top 4 of the WDC.
2022: Dominant World Champions; De Graaf wins 10 races on his way to an easy 3rd title, scoring enough points on his own to win the WCC as well. His teammate chips in for about half his total. No real competition for either title.
2023: Dominant World Champions; De Graaf finishes 2nd in the first race (after starting 20th, with his teammate on pole) and then proceeds to win 15 in a row. No other team comes close to a victory, and it is quite clear that a Rezzato Corsa car will win the race no matter where they start. No competition for either title.

So I would say the game was challenging for the first 6 or so seasons, after which our advantage became great enough that there was no outside competition. Midfield to dominating in 6 seasons isn't unrealistic with proper financial backing (see Red Bull), but the issue is that in Motorsport Manager once you reach the top you stay there. There are no rule changes or other mechanics to reset your advantage - it just keeps growing as you win more and more races.

Great game! I find it really easy though. Won the championship with Team Dragon China and Rezzato Corsa. Rezzato is way too easy since they have a great factory. I can't wait until the workshop is released and we can start seeing some cool mods for the game.

I found the Predator challenge fairly interesting. Took me 4 seasons to win the European Title and one season to win the Asia Pacific - although I chose to stay in the Asia Pacific for an extra year to build my factory before jumping to WMC.

You can win the ERS and APC in 3 seasons total or less if you upgrade the scouting to level 2. A good driver in this series trumps anything you can do to the car. In WMC the car needs to be better but a great driver goes a long way.

Anyhow if anyone needs any tips, let me know!

Just a heads up - Motorsport Manager is half price on Steam right now!

Just curious if anyone knows: now that they've added driver weight in one of the patches, does it have an actual effect on your speed? Is a lighter driver at an advantage against a heavier driver? Or is it purely cosmetic?

Thanks to anyone that knows the answer!

Exediron wrote:Just curious if anyone knows: now that they've added driver weight in one of the patches, does it have an actual effect on your speed? Is a lighter driver at an advantage against a heavier driver? Or is it purely cosmetic?

Thanks to anyone that knows the answer!

I haven't noticed any effect on driver weight. Seems cosmetic for now. I have two drivers with a 13kg weight difference but no difference in performance.

If you are an Amazon Prime member (customer) then the game is £18.00!

I played the EA F1 management game a few years ago and found the more I invested on designers, engineers and mechanics the faster the results came! Oh with good drivers and a Mercedes even back then it was a good engine.


For those who have played this one, (I haven't) what is the key to success? I guess employing the right people, drivers and getting things done!

paulsf1fix wrote:If you are an Amazon Prime member (customer) then the game is £18.00!

I played the EA F1 management game a few years ago and found the more I invested on designers, engineers and mechanics the faster the results came! Oh with good drivers and a Mercedes even back then it was a good engine.


For those who have played this one, (I haven't) what is the key to success? I guess employing the right people, drivers and getting things done!

Amazing game!

Key to success is good drivers and good cars.. just like real formula 1

LOVE this game. I think since the last post in this topic the game has been updated and bug fixed much further so you now have the opportunity of WEC too! (tho i havent manged to try thàt yet, still seomewhat obsessed with my F1 team, lol).

Bentrovato wrote:

paulsf1fix wrote:If you are an Amazon Prime member (customer) then the game is £18.00!

I played the EA F1 management game a few years ago and found the more I invested on designers, engineers and mechanics the faster the results came! Oh with good drivers and a Mercedes even back then it was a good engine.


For those who have played this one, (I haven't) what is the key to success? I guess employing the right people, drivers and getting things done!

Amazing game!

Key to success is good drivers and good cars.. just like real formula 1

Hmmmm............ I always thought it was

https://kenhoma.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/image40.png

Looks interesting! I'll probably grab it if I find it on sale.

So cool to see other people still playing this game! The latest F1 update makes the game still a bit fun