Track Maps

When I started running speed circuit races for larger groups and at WBC I started out taking Avalon Hill's extensive library of tracks and simply blowing them up for match-box scale cars. You can find those tracks here. I also played around with modeling a vintage grand prix track I've attended in Pittsburgh. However, the sport of F1 and the tracks they use now are very different then when Avalon Hill last published a track. So in 2008 I started building my own tracks.

These new tracks are based on raw data and observations. I start with corner speeds and straight speeds from the F1 Web site. Recently I've also found that the brake manufacturer publishes speed data for corners from the testing days leading up to a race. I then look at simulation videos of the track (usually on Speed TV's Web site) and decriptions of how the track runs from numerous driver comments and written reporting. By this time I have a sense of which real-life corners should probably be corners in the game and what general speeds those corners should be. End-of-straight speeds and the maps themselves give me a feel for how long the straights should be. Finally, I watch the races on TV. From this and comments leading up to the race, I try to get a feel for the track. Where does passing occur easily? How do various corner combinations play-out. Is that right-left combo one or two corners in the game? Etc. I try to fit this all into a set of basic paramaters I like for tracks in the game -- track length generally between 60 and 80 spaces and typically 7 or 8 corners.

Then I play test tracks by running 10 cars on them by myself. This usually leads to tweaks both for greater simulation value and for better game play. I typically put the track through 4 in-silica test races. Then I lock down the track and put it here. I haven't had to go back and change anything after real racing yet, so far so good.

Note that I've been playing with visuals on some of the tracks this year. This is all cosmetic. I'm trying to make it easier to quickly see where corners begin and end (corner spaces marked with a yellow background). I'm also trying to make it easier to see where racing lines begin and end without having to pick up cars that might be covering that space (green circles mark the space the line starts on and red circles mark the ends) -- same with corner speeds (speeds marked at the beginning of corners).

Changing Radius Corners. I quickly decided that I wanted to add some realism to the track designs with some more complicated corners than the standard Avalon Hill corners. The most common thing I've included is the idea of the changing radius corner. These are very common on actual F1 tracks where a corner starts out tight and then gradually straightens -- or sometimes, the opposite. In order to properly model, I've starting changing speed limits in the middle of corners. This has proven a sometimes trickey concept to explain. The jist is that when you enter a corner and pay wear to exceed a speed limit you effectively buy "20mph over" or "40 mph over" or "60 mph over." So if you enter a corner that has a speed limit of 100 at 140 and pay your 2 wear, you have paid for "40 over" not 140. The trick here is that if you end your move part way through a corner and the space in front of you is a higher speed limit, then you can accelerate next turn such that you are still "40 over." Note that this is very much my own interpretation and specifically violates one of the Avalon Hill rules that you can not accelerate once you enter a corner.