Championship Structure

Not sure whether this belongs here, please move if it's in the wrong place.

I need:

1. To add points for 'makes' not just drivers. Yes I recognise that this would require a query on the hdc files in the database and is probably a stretch
2. To customise the field for different rounds; for example, Porsche had different cars (908/3) for the Targa Florio and Nurburgring in 70/71
3. To change the number of laps for different rounds. In the CupStages.gbd one sets a race distance but I want to set different distances for each round because the tracks are very different lengths. Perhaps in the 'Scene Order' section? I'm going to experiment anyway but would be nice to have the syntax
4. To make races time-defined not lap-defined. I have seen criteria that have been excluded - "RaceTimeScaled = 30" preceded by // but when I remove the // it doesn't change anything, even if I exclude the race laps and give it nothing, the system seems to find one from nowhere?
5. I notice that in the original cars, there are .svm files for car setups for specific tracks, which makes sense to me, especially after having to change the 'Mirage' ratios to make it perform accurately at LM. But there is a setting I don't understand: "FinalDriveSetting=1" - what does the number mean and where is the protocol established by which this variable is applied? It seems to range from 0 to 3, but how does the game interpret this and apply it to existing ratios, most of which only have two final drive options? It's not enough just to change final drive ratios; one might want 1-4 close together and 5 longer because, like at Le Mans, you only use it for a long straight section (Mulsanne); the rest of the time, you need acceleration, so closer ratios in part of the box are required.

Hi, maybe I can help you a bit.
I don't think there is anything you can do about the 1 and 2 question. A Championship for Makes is just not implemented in the game, so I don't think it's possible to be done. The same way you can't specify witch car to race on witch track, or drivers changing their cars. If you have two cars with the same driver name in the championship, the game will randomly choose only one of the cars and the other will not apear in the race.
3. You can change the number of laps for different rounds, but you must do that prior to every race in the championship .gdb file and restart the game to take efect. For example: open Cup_60GTS.gdb and change RaceLaps= the number of laps you want, then restart the game. When you do the race you can change it again for the next race.
4. To make a race time-definet you must open the track .gdb file and set
RaceTime= number of minutes you want. The race will end when the time is up and the leader cross the finish line, or when the laps are over, so the RaceLaps should be more than RaceTime. You may not get points if you don't make 50% of the laps, but I'm not shure.
5. For the final drive ratio first the .svm file should match the SettingsAI = in the track .gdb file. Like Monza.svm and SettingsAI = Monza.svm
Different cars have different number of final drive ratios, from 2 to 6 and more in some addon cars. Most cars have only fixed gear ratios so you can change only the final drive. For the Porsches and some addons you can change every gear:
FinalDriveSetting=0
ReverseSetting=0
Gear1Setting=0
Gear2Setting=7
Gear3Setting=15
Gear4Setting=21
Gear5Setting=27
Put something like that in the .svm file and the AI will use that settings, but the car must have the ratios in the garbox file to work. Again 0 is the shortest ratio and I've seen gear files with something like 80 diferent ratios.

Hope that will help a bit.

hanks velkowp, that is a real help, thanks for investing the time!

1 & 2 I pretty much knew was wishful thinking
3. Yes I sort of figured that out, was hoping setting the race laps in the 'scene order' section of the cup.gbd in the subsection for each race, but I had my doubts.
4. In the track.gbd?? That is inconvenient, because I have many championships using the same tracks, so I'd rather have it defined in the series than in the track. Pity. I actually saw the setting for the first time in a cup.gbd file so I wondered whether it would work. I might still try it as an experiment.
5. "For the final drive ratio first the .svm file should match the SettingsAI = in the track .gdb file." Understood and that makes sense. And all the more reason to have an .svm for every track for all cars participating in a race, especially when the tracks and cars are add-ons, so quite a lot of preparation work there.

Much appreciated!