In that short time you send your drivers out to turn laps and receive feedback from each one on the car's balance, speed, gearing etc. There is a short practice session, as short as 12 minutes depending on league rules (more on the rules and politics in a moment). Once done you jet your team off to the track. But you want to choose one you can reasonably expect to hit. Finish 10th or better and collect some extra cash.
Cha-ching!Īfter four more seasons I am now dominating the second division, and unless my cars are stolen, am going to earn promotion to F1 at season's end.Īnd here's how a typical race weekend unfolds.īefore heading off to Dubai or Singapore, you'll be asked to pick your drivers (you also have a reserve driver in case of injury or poor form), and to invite one of your sponsors, who have varying levels of expectation. After season 5 I was promoted to the second division. But as my HQ improved, and I could afford to hire better staff, my rise began in earnest. The second year I again finished 6th, but felt like I regressed. My first season I finished 6th out of ten teams. Your first podium will elicit a smile, guaranteed. There is more money finishing last in tier 2 than wining tier 3.Īll of this adds up to make a challenging game with a nice sense of reward. Actually the top team gets to choose if they want to be promoted, but it's almost always worth it. The lowest team at the end of the season drops a division, and the top one is promoted. Promotion - The game features pro-rel, just like English football. Of course the goal is to find a driver who is great at both, but then again he wouldn't want to sign for Archer BMR in the third division! Sooo. Money is very important in this game of course, though I chose to prioritize driver ability over sponsor appeal. That is partly a function of your driver's personalities, and your team's performance. Sponsorship - The level of sponsorship is determined by how marketable your team is.
Fail that, and you will be docked points and lose the part! You can even bend the rules, producing parts that give you increased performance, but with the chance of failing post-race scrutineering. Build a test track to improve engines, or a wind tunnel for wings.
You can hire new staff and upgrade your HQ. The time it takes, and the quality of the part are determined by your staff and infrastructure. The player chooses parts (wings, engine, brakes, suspension, gearbox) to upgrade. Progression is measured in a several ways.Ĭar tech - Each team has a designer and HQ. But we did have the best factory in the division, a decent set of drivers and plenty of determination and ambition. We had one of the worst cars, the lowest budget and terrible sponsorship. So I chose a team in the 'European Racing Series', which is essentially GP3, called Archer BMR, which just has a cool ring to it. When I play games like this, I like to take one of the bottom-feeders and try to reach the pinnacle, like taking Port Vale to the Premier League and Champion's League glory. If you don't care for the fictional stuff, all the real teams, drivers, sponsors and tracks can be found on the Workshop. That will put off some players, all names are fictional, but you know who Ferrari are (called Scuderia Rossini in the game), or which track is Silverstone (Guildford).
It features several classes of car, from open wheel, to endurance, to GT, and is supported on the Steam Workshop, so lots more available there.Īt the start of the game you will choose a series and a team. It's more simple than FM, but just as addicting. You take control of a team, and guide it through the seasons. The game is essentially Football Manager for racing. But is it any good?Īfter a few weeks of taking my poor, lowest-tier team up through the divisions, I can say yes, yes it is. So when I saw Motorsport Manager on Steam for $8 I thought now there's an appealing combination of some of my favorite things. I also have an affinity for strategy games of all types, from Europa Universalis to Football Manager. We also raced Papy's NASCAR, GTR2, and others. Many seasons of racing GPL online with the Crash Test Dummies, and later I ran a league at Frugalsworld.