Starting in the ERS - What to focus on

[davy_depuydt]

I've started in the ERS with Octane racing (with the TheFlamingRed mod, I know it might be a bit more difficult to start as a 'beginner' with this mod since I've understand it increased the difficulty - But it adds alot of other things that I do want :) )

What are the main things to focus on during the first year and next years.

- Should I first focus on upgrading the HQ?
- If I should focus on upgrading HQ, In what order should I upgrade them
- Should I built new parts?
- Should I built new parts all season long, or should I just built a few?
- Should I only built risky parts and not use them to focus on next year, or should I try and built parts to be competitive in the first year?
- Should I invest in different staff early on?
- Can you go "below zero" in your finances, and should I do this?

I also see that in the first season in the finance overview it says: "medium investment in next years car" Can you change this somewhere? or is this the default for all teams in the first season?

It would be great if someone could point me in a good direction, thanks :)

[luZk]

No not first season

You can't afford new parts if you're on first season unless you get a good start and then only brakes or suspension.

Focus on upgrading your stock partsreliability the first 2-3 races then go all in on the performance.

Invest in 1 good(better) driver to get in the top 9-10ish for sponsor bonuses.
I would'nt change mechanics just yet, but you could get a better designer with better stats depending on your RNG luck.

Every game i've played it's a struggle to stay in the green even with a first/second double victory.You'll be hunting those sponsor bonuses midfield just to get kinda in the even numbers.

The RNG can be very harsh and you'll get very different starts. Ill link some examples below.

You can sometimes start with 2-3½ stars mechanics and designers. Or sometimes the RNG hits you and you start with this.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=898840339

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=898840322

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=898840301

So it's really hard giving you advice when your start can be 1 or over 9000 in stats.

[Ohayoghurt]

Originally posted by _____:

You can't afford new parts if you're on first season unless you get a good start and then only brakes or suspension.

The problem is that, if you don't build a bunch of new parts in your first season, you're going to be even further behind the development curve by the time you do start building new parts. So unless you're willing to tread water in the ERS until the GMA resets the regulations to put the field on level pegging again, you have to pump this money in. Make up the deficit by spending less on your drivers, staff, and chassis for the following year.

[luZk]

It's really hard giving any advice at all. i've had mechanic bills pr. race in the range of a team with 3k euros (yes the whole mechanics inc desginer 1k each) to around 250k euros pr race for the whole mechanics team. The RNG is strong with this game.

[davy_depuydt]

Not to start another thread, I had one other questions. When you are building new parts, you get by default 3 options per grade (average, good, ...) (or a 4th one if your designer has a known component)

Are those 3 options always the same? or will they be different every time, or are they connected to the quality of the lead designer?

[brawnybalboa]

I have racked up about 25 seasons on MM so far, and have built the wrong way (I got stuck in the midfield of the Asian Cup losing money left right and centre) and the right way (completed the predator challenge and dominate the World Championship 4 seasons in a row). I will try and answer your questions:



- Should I first focus on upgrading the HQ?

Establishing your infrastructure is the most important aspect of the game, unfortunately this does take a lot of money and patience, but it ultimately worth it. Invest in your HQ early and often as it will pay off in the future.

- If I should focus on upgrading HQ, In what order should I upgrade them?

Firstly I would reccommend improving your factory and design centre to level 2 to facilitate the construction of a helipad (and I believe also the visitor centre). The improved factory and design centre will speed up the improvement in reliability and performance of your existing parts. Construction of the helipad will permit 5 star sponsors (IMPORTANT) to visit your team. The visitor centre brings in $80k per race. Not a big sum, but nice to have go in regularly.

Invest in your scouting early on. This will allow you to find good free agent drivers, but also ones with high marketability. If you find a driver at a similar level to yours with 85% + marketability, sign them straight away.

I solely focused on building to factory level 4 & design centre level 4 so that I could build a factory and theme park (which both brings in a lot of money). It took me just over 5 seasons to save up the money. However now as you can access them earlier, could probably be achieved before the end of season 4 as you only require level 3 for the factory and design cente buildings.

- Should I built new parts?

Not in the first season or so, you will only achieve marginal gains as your designer will be poor. Save that money and spend it on improving your facilities. I personally didn't do anything until season 6 (as by that point I had the theme park and car factory so had money to burn). However for a new player, I would say if you can, do not build new parts in the first 2 seasons.

- Should I built new parts all season long, or should I just built a few?

Once your get a good amount of money coming in, build parts all the time. However I would recommend building to your limit on one part before moving on as the benfeits are substantially better going from great to epic than good to great.

- Should I only built risky parts and not use them to focus on next year, or should I try and built parts to be competitive in the first year?

Risky parts are not always significantly better than regular parts. I tend to just build safe parts so I get the benefit now and in the future.

- Should I invest in different staff early on?

No, wait until your infrastructure is up and running. Once you have plenty of money coming in (early on will be purely sponsorship, later will be from your HQ) invest in the best race engineers you can, and most importantly the best designer you can. I would recommend looking for a designer with a high engine and gearbox skill initially. You can see significant improvement quickly when you improve the engine, more so than with the brakes or wings

- Can you go "below zero" in your finances, and should I do this?

You can, but I would avoid doing so. It can ruin your relationship with the owner in addition to ruining the team.



General advice I would also give:

Additionally abtain on all votes in the GMC unless you have the following opportunity:
- Add a track (extra race = extra payment)
- Equal payments for all teams (equal payment = better money if you have a bad team)
- Add spec part (level the playing field by bringing in a spec engine etc)

Accept the lowest payment from your chairman, you are less likely to be fired

Do not be afraid to spend an extra year in a formula to work on your facilities

Be patient, with my first game I wanted to win everything straight away and it took 5 seasons to gain promotion to the Asian Cup from the ERS. I overextended the team in the first season in the Asian Cup and the position is untenable. With my second game I scimpt and saved for the first few seasons to build up the cash flow. After tolerating a few seasons of mediocrity I managed to go from the bottom of the ERS to winning the world championship in 7 seasons (that was with staying in the ERS an extra year to improve my HQ).

[davy_depuydt]

Thank you brawnybalboa for answering all my questions :)