Driver pitting with enough fuel left

My last two races got messed up because my drivers pitted a lap earlier than they should. They had still quite some fuel left but decided to pit anyway... (6/7L @ Spa for example)

Are there any changes made about this behaviour?

No recent changes, no.  I'll have a look into this.

At Spa, your drivers were factoring in a margin of error of just over 1L.  They are more careful with the fuel on longer circuits since the fuel usage can vary substantially more over the course of a long lap.

If I reduce this fuel buffer, it will increase the risk of cars running out of fuel, particularly if you switch to a high push level during your last lap of a stint.  But perhaps this would be less irritating/confusing than your drivers pitting needlessly early.

I'm interested to hear what people think about this.

Hi Andrew,

I would rather have my driver ran out of fuel in the last lap in live timing than see him pit a lap earlier.

If you are in 2nd and all the people in the points aren't lapped, then it is better to pit and finish about 7th than run out of fuel and finish outside the points.

If that's what you want Reidj, then put 1L of fuel into your car for Stint 1.

I'll say leave it as it is. I always compute on-the-fly the fuel usage, during various stages of push and observing previous laps. I have an instance of calculator open and keep doing computations as race unfolds. If the driver wants to pit (and he usually does) and I am confident with my calculations I can order him to stay out. It also works if I want him to pit earlier, due to various reasons.

Or, you can always add another liter and presto ! Problem solved.

Reidj:

This is rather cynical, don't you think ? An OOF is terminal, one lap down at least, will lose many positions, whilst a pit doesn't penalize you that severely.

Thanks for the feedback. I left this as it is as due to the previous discussion here. But there are still quite a few complaints so I'm going to reduce the general margin of error by a small amount.  I'll announce when it's done.

I just had this happen as well.

My driver pitted with 4.2Ls left on the 28th out of 29 laps and the race was only 3.7L per lap: [url]Result Link[/url]

My 2 Cents (since U asked)- I vote for changing it to follow our pre-selected pit strategy.
This scenario has happened to me as well and it is quite frustrating... I'd rather run out of fuel any day of the week by my own doing than have to stare intently for a lap hoping he doens't change to 'Pitting.' It takes away from overall game exp. where I would otherwise enjoy watching the race (my car, or others).

Going to have to agree.  If we chose the laps that they pitted, then we would have no one to blame but ourselves...

Well I've got two suggestions that might woork.

Would it be possible to add a box where we can select our lap to pit as well as fuel added?

Or could you link the fuel buffer to the strategy used. So for "be agressive and push hard" or "take big risks" you remove the fuel buffer or make it really small. The more conservative strategies can keep the fuel buffer. Even increase it for the "bring the car home" one.

I would far prefer to run out of fuel than have to pit for no reason. If guys run out of fuel then it just makes the races more interesting anyway AND it would be their own fault.

Either way great game Andrew.

The buffer sounds too big then. The difference between pushing and not is usually 0.2l per laps at most, so a "buffer" of 1l is huge. 

How about having a tick box (ticked by default) that factors in the buffer, then if you untick it, it is removed. This way those who can't attend a race will at least finish (with the risk of an unecessary pit stop), and those in attendance can let their own judgement dictate their fate.

The thing with a game like this is, is that it is all about calculation and risk. I don't work out my fuel strategy to finish with ~1l of fuel on board, knowing it is a risk, to have the computer over-ride me and pit for safety. It is my choice to not put a few more litres in (and for good reason; I'm trying to eke out as much performance as possible), so not finishing is the risk I run.

In effect someone who calculates their strategy to perfection (i.e. finishing with the least possible amount of fuel on board) is punished here by having pit stops thrust upon them. 

For all I know when this has happened to me, the pit light might have come on and I could have cancelled it, but I wasn't looking for it since I knew my driver was good to reach the end.

Regards,
Simon

http://igpmanager.com/play/?url=race-result/25567/5534

Got nailed again. I though the fuel buffer would be smaller since it was shorter laps. Fail. apparently 0.9L was still too little. Went from first to 3rd. And i was out having drinks with friends,  was really happy then not so happy.

Please please can we turn this off?

One of my drivers pitted today, so I guess this one got me played as well. But it's water under the bridge. I still believe it's our fault. Put one liter more and that's it. Can't run on fumes.

I got hit with this today, 3 times. Each lap I was using up 3.5-3.6l, and my driver decided to pit with 4l or more all 3 times. Would have had a second place finish today also.

Um, With fuel surge tanks in racing cars now days you can run almost down to the last drop. When you out of fuel you out of fuel, no surging or limping to pits on fumes.

I want to run out of fuel!

That can be done easily. :)

Maybe we should just remove the whole 'driver decision' then.
So if you run out of fuel then it is your own fault.
Actually i think that was how it was originally and it was changed to make the race a bit more 'intelligent'

This discussion has gone on for ever!

The margin of error is now a quarter its original value.  If there are no problems with this I may completely remove it in future.

Thank you! Tonights race should go a lot better.