We've had the development concept system for a bit now, and I was wondering how you guys are looking towards it. Do you feel it has improved the game in a positive way? Or the opposite?
But also (because we're not going back to the old one), what would you like to see improved/changed?
I'll start if I may I think it has improved the game as there are more strategic options available in the development part of the game. I really like it that different teams have chosen different paths, but also to see that some teams have switched (such as mine).
What I personally find lacking is the chance to improve the development phase. This is a super critical phase at the moment. If you're unlucky (like I was yesterday with my chassis) then you can be set back by a lot (my chassis was -4, never had that before, and in the end only +1 with risk).
I also think that the development part needs to become clearer, because some people are overdeveloping way too much, which has a negative effect on the outcome of the part.
Also the characteristics are still too dependent on the chassis, so that still needs to be fixed so that your car can't have an amazing chassis and be garbage all the rest.
Hey Frank, first off, overall I think the system is a great improvement
You feel like you have more agency over the improvement over just letting it run
The system still feels a bit bugged (improvements on weight of chassis don't seem to matter; and the floor, steering system and electrical system stats look like they're always at 0%)
The discovery of concepts, while a nice concept feels a bit too black-box for my taste
I like the sinking points and you discover it, but I hate that you just sink point after point and you have no clue if you're any closer (for example I've sunk over 4k points in airbox and I still feel at square 1)
While in the topic of concepts, you spend a lot of points discovering a concept and then a bunch more unlocking it and I feel this might be an area of improvement but I have no ideas how
Don't get my wrong though, I like that different concepts have different maximum values and I think that's an upgrade over the old system, just the discovery of new concepts is a bit too difficult at the moment
I liked the spending mechanic points when setting up car/parts but the costs at the start of the season are astronomical... It wouldn't be as much of an issue if we could set next season's car in the current season
What I dislike most about the update is the setbacks. It makes sense some might happen if you were playing it fast and loose but if risk is non-existent and I'm not agressive I don't think I should be seeing that many setbacks
Thanks for the feedback. On the research, I also mentioned it in the chat that some changes are coming there. I will do my best to change it so that you always get a return on your investment. The prime return is the discovery, but if that doesn't happen then at least some information on concepts should become available. That's definitely something on my list as well.
First off, I found it very complex to get my head around at first and I think I'm still learning it really. I think more help is needed for new players not to be put off by it.
I think it has good potential; I'm concerned that maybe there is potential for bigger gaps between teams? An option to play around with spec parts (like electronics) for everyone could be a useful mechanism to close up the field if that happens. This could also be done in lower divisions to lessen the number of parts that need developing and help new players to improve more quickly; when they get promoted they get given a part at the lower range of the existing teams from which they can develop. A spec fuel tank (and capacity) could be an interesting strategic twist; how economical ones engine and fuel are could determine how hard an engine is run or how many stops are made in a race.
My dislike is not so much the setbacks, but the lack of ability to take a step back to develop and build parts. For example, if you're developing from gen 4 to gen 5 and you get no improvement (or negative development) the option should be there to build parts of a previous generation and try developing again starting from gen 4. It's not realistic that engineers forget or throw away the previous generation design of a part.
The threshold on researching a concept having discovered it seems odd to me - I can't relate it to the real world that a design team discovers a concept but then find they aren't good enough to develop it. Their ability should be reflected in the number of points needed for the research phase; the higher the design team rating relates to less points being needed to research.
Maybe there should be differentiation between looking for concepts that are already existing amongst other teams or looking for currently undiscovered concepts. An very occasional random element to it would be good - that a design team almost accidentally finds a concept without any points investment, maybe related to their concept insight stat. Very occasional though.
Concepts that already exist on other teams for visible external parts should take less points to identify but more points to research and adapt to ones own car. So when a team runs a new front wing (for example) we should get a message in the news feed from the head designer saying they have seen "team x" running a new concept of front wing. Maybe, depending on the skill of the head designer, they should offer an opinion as to whether they think it's worth researching. Initially the points needed to discover it should still be high, but decrease with each race that goes by and the number of teams that run it, until it becomes so commonplace it essentially becomes the new generic. The points needed to research and adapt it to your own car should stay pretty constant. The zero-pod solution is a good example - everyone can see the concept but the work comes to see how it can be adapted for a different car and what the gains are - F1 teams are no doubt doing this with the zero-pods and if they benefit enough then every team will most likely have them next season.
Finally it might be good to more balance visible aero parts and mechanical parts slightly. Currently there are seven and a half (suspension is both aero and mechanical) aero parts compared to four internal, mechanical parts (not counting fuel tank). Maybe "airbox" could become "cooling system"?
hi Frank 1 thing i would like you to look at is
i am working on a development but it has gone negative so i have not finished the development yet. but in the mean time the part on my car has broke, so i want to make another part that has broke but i cant due to the next part still in development
we should be able to still make parts the we have made before
thanks
Hi Frank,
new player here, I found it challenging to find where it makes sense to invest the points. I've reviewed the wiki, and still not clear to me under what circumstances makes sense to go with a risky vs a conservative approach. Also, not clear the overall impact of certain components on car performance, if they are additive or multiplicative (and by which coefficient). So impossible to make informed decisions on where to take a risk or allocate more resources into. Probably will be my lack of experience within the game, but also the in-game doesn't provide any hints towards what I should focus on. So to me, it feels more or less like a chance game: bet some points into a certain part and hope for having a positive return.
Is there any chance to have more transparency into how the in-game formulas work? I understand it's a sensitive topic to disclose, so maybe providing a range (tight enough to gauge accurately potential impact, but wide enough to account for mismatch between the wind tunnel simulator / CFD and the real world) for the coefficients on the formula/game engine.
Also, I find it odd that you have to unlock new developments through mileage; I was assuming by the naming that I unlock an upgrade (or improvement) instead of the ability to continue improving that part, which to me should always be available.
The points requirement for researching just a new part concept is simply way too high.
I have spent thus far the equivalent of 7200 points / 25 days almost a third of the season just looking for an exhaust concept that is one up from generic. Its just too much.
You still need points to then start the new concept if its found, let alone test it which if it falls at the wrong time can turn a week into two before it hits the track. Then another to consider an iteration.
This is just one part. One part has taken a third of my season and the end isn't in sight.
Your season can be utterly ruined early on. It would be nice to have the ability to turn things around more if you are slow.
I love the new system for its extra features but it has made the game infuriatingly time consuming and sluggish.
It now feels like you have to invest far too much energy into playing and the rewards are stretched out into smaller pieces because results take weeks to find out or see.
I absolutely hate the fact you lose old parts with a new iteration. It's silly and really makes the whole development thing a single tunnel process or a points race.
It would be better if we could only move forward by working on the worse part as is now, but the ability to still build fresh 'old designs' should exist.
7 or 8 iterations of electrics and it still shows 0-1% rating. There's definitely some bugs that are making things more confusing than they need to be.
I feel that you shouldn't be able to discover concepts above your development team rating unless there is special provision that since you discovered it you can build gen 1 but cannot upgrade the part until you reach the required design team rating.
I also think that it takes too long to increase your design team rating. I started with a bad designer 1 season before the changes were made and then hired 2 decent designers but barely seem to be progressing. It shouldn't take a full season or more to reach the potential of newly hired designers and vice versa and impacts new teams especially. I think it would also be beneficial if you could start to mount parts on next season's car from maybe week 10 or 11 so you aren't negative for so many weeks at the start of the season. Obvious exceptions would be any supplier parts. Love the way the development is heading though.
hi Frank 1 other thing i have is , i have made my chassis for next season all ready but i want to upgrade my electrical system for this season , but it only lets me pick my next seasons chassis to design for, we should be able to chose to design for this season chassis still as electrical systems dont take so long to unlock .
the default chassis should be for the last chassis designed but the drop down box should give you a choice
I think it has improved the game as there are more strategic options available in the development part of the game. I really like it that different teams have chosen different paths, but also to see that some teams have switched (such as mine).
