Principals

Hey race fans!

As a follow up to our blog last update focusing on Motorsport Tuning and Drivers, we have updated the document to now include Principals, as well as other minor changes to these features.

Following feedback from our players, we are introducing this new, authentic system for Motorsports cars. Tuning, Drivers and Principals better represent how a motorsports team works together to optimize their car and take the checkered flag. Plus, you can now race as your favorite motorsports teams through multiple Special Events!

Choosing Drivers allows players to select a team, a driver, and “level them up” by competing in events and earning experience points (XP). This gives a deeper integration and freedom for players to experience the game, keep their favorite drivers, choose how and when to level them up, and still earn cars for their in-game collection.

• Drivers level up by driving.
• Drivers within the same group (i.e. Formula E) have the same number of levels.​
• Drivers level up individually, not per team.​
• More experienced drivers give more boosts to all stats.

The Principals permanently adds power to their team's car. Principals earn XP and gain levels by Tuning. As they level up, car performance is improved. At each level up, the player chooses which stat to improve. At max level, the Principal adds power evenly across all stats.

Earning XP for Principals

• Principals earn XP from Tuning during a Special Event.
• The XP is awarded when the Tuning step is completed.
• Players will see information about the Principal earning XP on the Tuning confirmation popup.

Levelling the Principal

• When Principals earn enough XP to level up, they can research an improvement to their team's car.
• Players select a car stat for the principal to research.
• The chosen stat is boosted.
• Principals can research each stat 3 times max.

Tuning, Principals and Drivers replaces Upgrades in Special Events such as Race Days. Similar to the way you are used to playing, players will need a set amount of car power (or PR) in order to complete the event. This includes your Tuning, Principal and Driver stats. Levelling up your Driver will reduce the amount of Tuning needed for events.

Earn a Motorsports car in a Special Event, then race it again in future events. Tune your car for each Special Event you enter and improve your car’s in-race performance. Note that the performance increase from Tuning is specific to each Special Event. 

Tuning will consist of 4 stats: Top Speed, Breaks, Acceleration and Grip.

• Players can tune up to 8 times per stat.
• PR gates will be somewhere between 5-7 Tunes per stat, depending on the event.
• Players can choose to over or under tune specific stats, in combination with Driver and Principal level ups, to get to the required PR.
• All Tuning costs will be in M$ and will include wait timers. Wait timers will scale depending on the cost of the tune.

Based on the results from our recent survey, we will be continuing to improve the Tuning, Drivers and Principals features in coming updates, so stay tuned for more information!

Team Select

Cars using Tuning can be used in multiple Special Events. For example, players can choose the same Formula E car they used in the 8.5 Berlin e-Prix in the 8.6 Formula E event.

• Players choose their favorite team or car.
• Each team has a single car associated with it.
• In the Team Select screen, Owned and VIP cars will appear as such.

Driver Select

Players choose a driver once they have selected a car.

• If the player has not used the car in a previous event, no driver will be selected.
• If the player has used the car in a previous event, the driver with the highest XP will be pre-selected.

Tuning Screen

There are 4 tuning categories:

• Gearbox Mapping for Top Speed.
• Power Unit Optimization for Acceleration.
• Brakes Calibration for Breaks.
• Suspension Adjustments for Grip.

Each category corresponds to a Car Stat

• Adding a Tuning step increases the corresponding car stat.
• Tuning can be purchased for the currently selected category with the Tune button.
• Buying Tuning starts a timer, visible on the Tuning screen.
• Tuning steps are added once the timer is complete or skipped.
• When the timer completes, if the player is not on the Tuning screen, a popup will appear alerting the player that it is complete.
• Tuning is specific to each Special Event and does not carry over to the next event, regardless of how much Tuning was added in a previous event.
  • This means tuning resets with each new Special Event you play
• The car can be VIP'd
  • This removes Tuning and Servicing wait times for the car, including in subsequent Special Events you may use the same car in.

Graph

When you tune your car, you will see a graph. The graph represents the current state of the player's tuning and some other information. 

The lines show:

1. White: Current and historical Tuning for the currently selected stat
2. Dotted: Current and historical Tuning for the other 3 stats
3. Green: The Average of your current and historical Tuning for all 4 stats
4. There is also a "recommended" marker representing the suggested Tuning to complete the current stage.
   • This is recommended because, depending on how levelled up your driver is, you may not actually need to tune to that point in order to meet the PR gates set for the Special Event.

All four Power Tunes contribute to the average. If a player were to tune each stat in a stepwise fashion, one at a time, you would get a balanced tune. However, players need not tune in this way. Instead, players can change the balance of car performance for each Special Event.

For example, for Le Mans, tuning the Gearbox over the other features increases the car’s Top Speed to take advantage of the straights. As always though, overall performance is a balance of all factors. This choice overweights top speed, but braking is underweighted, so the overall balance and average might end up lower.

Stat Bar

• When you tune your car, the stats and PR values turn blue.
• The value shown is the current stat value, including power added by Tuning.
• The small number next to the stat shows the amount of power added by Tuning.
• The blue section of the stat bar shows the amount of power that is contributed by Tuning.
• PR works in the same way.

Choose a driver and get behind the wheel of a Motorsports car, then improve their abilities as you drive - a new way to permanently boost your car’s performance.

As with existing Drivers, Drivers replaces Customisations:

• Each driver is associated with a specific livery.
• Your driver earns XP by driving
• Levelling up drivers will give a small boost to all 4 stats: Top Speed, Breaks, Acceleration and Grip
• Driver XP will remain on the car throughout all events and content.

Driver Select

When entering a Special Event that uses the new car power system, players choose a driver for the car they select

• Teams can have 1 or more drivers
  • For 8.5, Formula E cars will have 2x drivers per car and Le Mans cars will have 2-3x fictional drivers per car, each with their own unique livery
• If this is the first time the car has been chosen in an event, no driver should be pre-selected
• If any of the car's drivers has XP, the driver with the most XP will be pre-selected

Drivers and Car Stats

• Drivers add power to all 4 car stats and consequently increase PR
• Power added by Drivers is available whenever the car is used
• Increasing the Driver's level increases the amount they improve all 4 car stats

Earning Driver XP

Drivers earn XP by driving

• XP per km driven is set per motorsport.
• XP is given to the driver post-race.
• More XP is earned for a better race result.

Levelling up the Driver

Once the driver has enough XP to reach the level threshold, the driver can be Levelled Up

• Levelling Up is accessible from the Driver screen
• When the driver can level up, the "Level Up" button becomes available
• Tapping the button will open the Level Up popup showing the cost and PR gain for Levelling Up
  • Levelling Up is instant
  • The driver moves to the next level
  • Their contribution to all 4 car stats is increased
• If the driver has enough XP to take them past several level thresholds, "Level Up" will be available again for the next level following a Level Up action

Keep an eye out here for more info and insights and keep racing!

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