Building a Car Wars Arena

[owenmp]

ElLoboGordo,

The article you mentioned was in Pyramid.

Car-Nasaurs! A Dinosaur Bestiary for Car Wars
http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.cgi?921
Author: Stephen Dedman
Source: Pyramid 9
Date: September/October 1994

[link]

Originally Posted by 43Supporter

Here's one: "How does the arena management enforce rules during events?"

In events I run, tire shots are disallowed; invariably some wiseguy decides "I'm going to take a tire shot anyway -- how's the arena going to stop me?" (The answer involves a couple pounds of Plastique wired into the crew seats, replacing some of the padding so the weight stays the same; and a trigger using IR rather than radio or radar, just in case someone tries to slip a Bollix past Tech. >:) )

I am alway fond of turreted heavy lasers or flame throwers on the walls to deter rule breakers.

[ammulder]

Early in the game, extra victory points for killing the offender.

Late in the game, the reputation for cheating, or for only being able to win by breaking the rules. :)

[link]

Originally Posted by owenmp

ElLoboGordo,

The article you mentioned was in Pyramid.

Car-Nasaurs! A Dinosaur Bestiary for Car Wars
http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.cgi?921
Author: Stephen Dedman
Source: Pyramid 9
Date: September/October 1994

Nice! That makes sense since cloning is in CW.

[brionl]

Originally Posted by link

I am alway fond of turreted heavy lasers or flame throwers on the walls to deter rule breakers.

Or the way current racing series enforce their rules. Fines and/or bans. Which should work for a campaign, but not necessarily one-off games.

[swordtart]

Or do it the way Wrasslin' does it.

Make a big show of punishment, but recognise the fact that the crowd loves to see a baddie and ensure it is only after the fact. Natural self preservation should make the offender the number one target of every "good" driver in the arena anyway.

Simply disqualifying them after the fact is punishment enough, they still get their car all shot to hell, but now they loose all the prizes and salvage they might have got. In a team game an offender affects the whole team. The only reason for doing it then would be plain orneriness or a feud, but that is good for ratings.

Taking direct action is "the sort of nanny-state stuff that hastened the fall of the government in the first place". GMs "punishing" players never helps gaming group dynamics in the long run.

[owenmp]

Suggested penalties for rules lawyers from ADQ 7/1 could be applied to breaking rules in arenas. This question and answer was previously posted on the HTML ADQ Archive years ago.


ADQ 7/1
ADQ&A

Is it legal to disqualify duellists for being rules lawyer jerks (like the one who made all these questions necessary, for instance)?

Ben Pierce
Washingtonville, NY


Of course. In fact, I heartily recommend it. If you don't like being that grossly unfair, there are other ways to deal with the scum:

Every time he brings up an argument that really gets under the referee's skin, alter the victory conditions so that taking him out becomes more attractive; i.e., + 1 point for anything done to him, cash bonuses (I recommend starting with $500 and doubling it as needed) or even skill bonuses for the one who gets the kill.

Activate a hidden beacon in his vehicle. Preferably one that transmits his location and speed to everyone else's computers, giving them a + 1 to hit the offender. If he points out that the above rule doesn't apply to people without computers, slap a + 2 on him.

Continue with the duel and don't let him know that you hate him. Next time you play and he weasels his way into the game, collect up everybody's vehicles and pass them to everyone else, giving the weakest design to him, and his design to another player (if possible, the one who hates him the most).

Don't let him play until he wises up.

Charles A. Oines
ADQ Editor

[43Supporter]

Turreted weapons are nice, but they have to be able to hit (and cheaters invariably load up on the TH penalties).

Post-event actions, while realistic, still mean the cheater has ruined the promoter's show -- which means the crowds may not come back next week.

The _CW_ universe is one where "direct action" is a fact of life -- you're having a problem with someone, *you* deal with it, rather than letting someone else handle it; and the problem here isn't between the cheater and the other duellists, but between the cheater and the promoter whose events are being trashed by this idiot.

The pro-wrestling method is viable, but as noted, it still means the cheater is ruining the events until he gets disposed of (and the really effective cheaters are nearly impossible to get rid of).

Two pounds of Plastique in the seat back deals with the problem Immediately, and Permanently -- plus, to paraphrase a line from the film _The Infiltrator_: "There's fifty guys who think they can win by cheating. We can't get fifty guys; but if we get *one* guy, the other forty-nine don't sleep so well." >:)

[Toltrin]

I so wish there was a current car wars video game that is like an MMO and focuses on driving, dueling and character progression. I would play that game all day.

[woodchuck]

Originally Posted by 43Supporter

Here's one: "How does the arena management enforce rules during events?"

Fine print. Autoduellists would be required sign papers wherein they take full civil and criminal responsibility for violations of the events rules and AADA's Arena Safety Code for AADA events.. Arenas are free to use whatever means they deem necessary to enforce these rules as long as these means do not violate the AADA Arena Safety Code in AADA events.