Cat & Mouse Race League - Minimum Prep, Maximum Fun - Join in!

[watermelon punch]

Cat & Mouse Race League
Clean, Fair, Fun, Impromptu, Minimum Prep Racing

Format:

• Choice of 2 pre-decided & tested unmodified cars for 1-make races.
• 1 custom track to use as a starting base, that is suited to the cars, and shared on league account.
• After each 1-lap race, the custom track will be "regenerated", and a fresh track is used for the next race.
• It's a bit like shuffle racing, except shuffling the track instead of the cars - the results are uncanny & hilarious.
• The close racing & unusually leveled field make it a true cat & mouse race every time.

Fresh, Convenient, & Fun!

• Fun for 2 cars, or more!
• No need to pre-schedule anything, round someone up & start racing!
• Short 1-lap races means you can join in for one race, or many.
• You'll know what cars to bring, and there's no need to do much with them ahead of time!
• No need to learn or practice any tracks!
• Pre-determined cars & starting track environment will be changed at intervals.
• No hosts nor organizers needed, league lounge is used with pre-determined settings posted here.
• Members in various time zones means you can find someone to race when you're available.
• Private lounge racing means clean, fair racing. Griefers will not be tolerated.

Cars Currently on the Agenda

Toyota SPRINTER TRUENO GT-APEX '83 - (Comfort Soft Tires)
Toyota 86 GT '12 - (Sports Hard Tires)

86 GT is available in the new dealership
if you need the Sprinter Trueno, let us know, someone can likely send you one

Car Regulations:
Tuning: Prohibited
Allowed: Oil change, engine rebuild, chassis restoration, paint, wheels, wheel paint

Base Track: Eifel Togue Lindenmier
(shared as the league account shared course)

Lounge Settings

Course Settings:
Load custom course (saved from league shared course)
Time, Time Progression, Weather, Weather Changeability, Surface Water,
Number of Sections, & Section Complexity all left AS IS when league course loaded

Event Settings:
Game Mode: Normal Race
Laps: 1
Start Type: Grid Start
Grid Order: Reverse Grid Order
Boost: Off
Penalty: Off
Automatic Race Start Cycle: Off
Race Finish Delay: default
Visible Damage: ON
Mechanical Damage: OFF
Slipstream Strength: strong or weak
Tire Wear / Fuel Consumption: On
Grip Reduction: Real

Toyota SPRINTER TRUENO GT-APEX '83
Regulation Settings:
Car Restrictions: Unrestricted
Performance Points: Unrestricted
Power: Unrestricted
Weight: No Limit
Drivetrain Choice: all
Tire Restrictions: Comfort Soft
Vehicle Tuning: Prohibited
Skid Recovery Force: OFF
Active Steering: OFF
ASM: OFF
Driving Line: OFF
TCS (Traction Control): ALLOWED
ABS: ALLOWED

Toyota 86 GT '12
Regulation Settings:
Car Restrictions: Unrestricted
Performance Points: Unrestricted
Power: Unrestricted
Weight: No Limit
Drivetrain Choice: (all checked)
Tire Restrictions: Sports Hard
Vehicle Tuning: Prohibited
Skid Recovery Force: OFF
Active Steering: OFF
ASM: OFF
Driving Line: OFF
TCS (Traction Control): ALLOWED
ABS: ALLOWED

Racing Rules

• GTP OLR Rules should be the guide for track etiquette - ie: keep it clean!
• Decision of the car being used should be made by 1st person in the lounge, and changed by group concensus
• The initial track load should only be raced once, (if at all)
• The track should be regenerated after each race (unless it's so fun everyone wants to try it again)
• No Reconnaissance! ;o) All stay in pits & not hit drive before or during race countdown.

League Lounge Account:
PSN: CatvMouseRL
League Captain:
GTP: cc570 / PSN: cc570
League Stewards:
GTP: cc570 / PSN: cc570
GTP: watermelonpunch / PSN: wat3rm370n
(more TBA)

League Rules:

• Make sure to send a FR (Friend Request) to the League PSN Acct: CatvMouseRL, as well as posting to this thread
• You may post to this thread to sign-up, &/or announce when you'll be racing
• Please note time zones when referring to times
• You may post to this thread to ask questions, or for clarification, about the racing format
• You may post to this thread to discuss races
• Any complaints or bad driving reports should be made to the race stewards via Private Message only, and not posted to this thread
• Complaints about a trouble-maker, or dirty driving, will result in warnings, and/or expulsion from the league, depending on the confirmation, severity, and/or continuation of any problems.
• Any suggestions for future cars or tracks should be made to League Captain, cc570 via Private Message, and may be considered at League Captain's discretion

Cars Next Up on the Agenda
a head's up, so you can prepare

Roadsters @ (TBD) Eifel track
Tuning: Prohibited, Tires TBA
Included Models:
Toyota MR-S S Edition '99
Toyota MR-S V Edition (6MT) '02
Mazda MX-5 Miata 1800 RS (NB, J) '00
Mazda MX-5 Miata 1800 RS (NB, J) '04
Mazda Roadster 1800 RS (NB) '00
Mazda Roadster 1800 RS (NB) '04
Mazda MX-5 1800 RS (NB, J) '00
Mazda MX-5 1800 RS (NB, J) '04

405pp 4WD @ (TBD) Toscana tarmac & Liege Gravel
Tuning: Prohibited, Dirt Tires needed
Included Models:
Audi quattro '82
Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 '85
Volkswagen New Beetle RSi '00
Alfa Romeo Brera Sky Window 3.2 JTS Q4 '06 (*available in the NCD)

Dig out your cars, get them painted and polished. And, change the oil.

An engine rebuild, or some snazzy wheels... and ticking them onto your favourites, might also be 👍

League Membership Sign-Up:
(GTP Name / PSN Name / Car # / Time Zone / potentially available times)
(Car # applies for when we have cars/karts that can be numbered, reserve yours.)

1. cc570 / cc570 / #TBD / EST (EST afternoons GMT evenings)
2. watermelonpunch / wat3rm370n / #40 / EST (various & weekends)
3. bender2011 / miata_1 / #TBD / EST (EST evenings & nights)
4. RDAardvark / RDAardvark / #TBD / GMT (GMT evenings)
5. turbogeit / turbogeit / #TBD / CET (GMT weekday evenings)
6. maxximilllion / maxximilllion / #TBD / EST (EST evenings & weekends)
7. jackargent / jackargent / #TBD / GMT (GMT evenings)
8. IMZIZ / IMZIZ / #TBD / PST (PST evenings & 8-9pm GMT)
9. SUBARUftw / ken4block3 / #9 / EST
10. aceboy127 / aceboy127 / #27 / EST / (various times)

Who else wants in?

 

[watermelon punch]

Pre-scheduled Racing:

.............................................................................................

Previous Cars & Track Agendas...

• Honda S800 ‘66 on Toscana tarmac

 

[CodeRedR51]

I used to play cat and mouse all the time way back when PGR2 came out. Always a good time to be had.

 

[watermelon punch]

If you want in on this little cat & mouse game, let us know!

cc570 ran the format in the vintage lounge yesterday with a bunch of us on Toscana Tarmac with the Honda s800, and it was such a laugh, I said we should set this up!!!

 

[RDAardvark]

It certainly was great fun.

Sign me up please:
RDAardvark / RDAardvark / GMT

 

[watermelon punch]

Yes, I'm looking forward to more fun as soon as some of us can get together.

cc570 is VERY good at picking cars that go well with the custom track parameters. And there's definitely a method he's found for making this work well.
That's why when we switched to the Sports 800, it was NOT liking that track as much as the s800... cc570 picked the track specifically for the s800.
Though I will say that he had us in the Toyota Sports 800 one day on Eifel kart tracks, and that was hilarious fun! I was sliding sideways like I was in a high powered car. haha.

Anyway, I really like the SPRINTER TRUENO... (of course, it's vintage )
Looking forward to putting it on some Eifel mazes... I mean circuits.

 

[CC570]

GMT time this evening?

 

[watermelon punch]

That's a yes for me... I'm going to shoulder my way onto the ps3 around 2:30pm EST / 7:30pm GMT.

 

[OwensRacing]

Following: this could be fun filler for those times. LoL

 

[watermelon punch]

Following: this could be fun filler for those times. LoL

Filler... like the delightful sweet center of a confectionery dessert.

 

[watermelon punch]

Here's one of our race sessions in the Honda S800 ‘66 @ a randomly generated Toscana track...

Check out my very smart s800 painted in beautiful Galaxy White Pearl.
(Others were driving the cars in the standard colours... all quite nice, of course.)

This caught everyone a little by surprise. Made for much hilarity.

We liked that particular track so much, we did it again... at night.

I have to say, I'm now completely addicted to this Cat & Mouse racing. It's just so fun, funny, and a completely different kind of challenge than most of the racing I have found.

&

 

[maxximilllion]

Very interested, sounds like a blast

maxximilllion / maxximilllion / EST (evenings)(weekends)

 

[jackargent]

Right, I'm in.

Gmt

 

[CodeRedR51]

Maybe this isn't the "Cat & Mouse" I'm used to?

 

[CC570]

Maybe not, it is not strictly "Togue" racing but rather 1 lap races on twisty randomly generated tracks.

 

[IMZIZ]

I'd like to be a part of this as well. Expect me to send an FR sometime after the East Coast crowd falls asleep tonight.

I'm usually on from 3:00 to 4:00 PM Eastern (8:00PM to 9:00PM GMT), then again from Midnight to 3:00 AM Eastern (5:00 AM until 8:00 AM GMT).

 

[CodeRedR51]

Maybe not, it is not strictly "Togue" racing but rather 1 lap races on twisty randomly generated tracks.

Still not what I was thinking.

The Cat & Mouse I used to play would pair up 8 people being the Mouse (small, slow car) with 8 people being the Cat (big, fast car) on a track and the object of the game was for the fast cars to help their mouse get to the finish line first.

The cat's job was to push their mouse to make it go faster, and to crash the other mice so that they couldn't win.

 

[watermelon punch]

yikes! That version of a cat & mouse game sounds like quadrupled Tom & Jerry with cars.

I suppose this is a cat & mouse scenario in the broader sense of the "idiom"...
I found this description on wikipedia, which I think is a pretty comprehensive description of the term!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_and_mouse

Cat and mouse, often expressed as cat-and-mouse game, is an English-language idiom dating back to 1675 that means "a contrived action involving constant pursuit, near captures, and repeated escapes."[1] The "cat" is unable to secure a definitive victory over the "mouse", who despite not being able to defeat the cat, is able to avoid capture. In extreme cases, the idiom may imply that the contest is never-ending. The term is derived from the hunting behavior of domestic cats, which often appear to "play" with prey by releasing it after capture. This behavior is due to an instinctive imperative to ensure that the prey is weak enough to be killed without endangering the cat.[2]

In colloquial usage it has often been generalized (or corrupted) to mean simply that the advantage constantly shifts between the contestants, leading to an impasse or de facto stalemate.

I don't know how cc570 figured it out that this would work this way... but it is brilliant, because that's exactly how these races tend to be. And not through any deliberate handicaps or manipulation. It seems to be just a natural outcome of the format. (A little like shuffle racing, but even less contrived than that.)

I've been trying to figure out WHY it works like this... And my best theory at this point is that because we're using unmodified lower powered cars on unknown random custom tracks... Nobody can tune the car going in, and nobody knows the track going in... so it sort of makes it a very different task than a race with a car you can tune, or practice a particular track with the car... etc.

I'm sure someone can be particularly good with the type of track, or the particular car... and on average do better at times than others...
Which is probably why I won several of the cat & mouse format races in the Low HP League this week, with the Autozam on kart tracks...

I'm not the fastest driver around. And I don't often win races, to be honest. And my Autozam that I was using didn't even have the engine broken in yet. But I think I had a tiny bit of an edge on the others because I have spent a great deal of time driving the Autozam, as it's one of my favourite cars in the game. (I drove it lots in gt4 as well.)
So I really think that's about the only thing that can give you any kind of an edge, is being very familiar with the car chosen.

Somehow I don't think it's going to be too common in this league, because cc570, I can see, already has a very definite strategy for picking the cars!
They're not necessarily ones that many people are super familiar with, particularly unmodified. (Notice how he chose the new 2012 Toyota that nobody's had for very long, because it just came out! )
I'm going to bet that he likely won't often be choosing cars that he knows a lot of us have had tons of practice in.

 

[turbogeit]

I really like the format we did with the Trueno and the 86GT the other day.

Whether it should be called cat&mouse or not, does not matter, it is a great racing format.
By the way, when I first saw the announcement, I was not interested, because I understood it was something like R1600turbo explains.

What was remarkable Watermelon the other day, was watermelon's tactical way of driving the race: a slow start, but always incredibly fast in the last part of the lap.

 

[RDAardvark]

I dropped by on Wednesday, found I didn't have either of the two cars you were running but then found I simply couldn't get hold of them.

One of the cars was the Sprinter Trueno, but I cannot remember the other one. Could some kind soul help me out here? I'm willing to trade or I can duplicate it and send it straight back to you!

 

[turbogeit]

The other one is the premium Toyota GT 86 '12. But I'm wondering whether it is not a DLC-car.

 

[RDAardvark]

The other one is the premium Toyota GT 86 '12. But I'm wondering whether it is not a DLC-car.

I have the GT-86, which came with one of the GT5 updates. For the life of me I cannot remember the other car, save it was an historic Toyota. (shuffles off to google!) Someone was driving the Toyota COROLLA LEVIN GT-APEX (AE86) ’83. Not quite historic, but still 29 years old!

 

[CC570]

The other car was the Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT Apex '83. Which is essentially the same car as the Levin except maybe some slight gearing differences.

 

[watermelon punch]

Do I need to make the OP more clear?
Suggestions welcome!!

The Toyota 86 GT '12 ... I'm positive that's the car you got with the 2.02 update. So if you're racing online, you must have the car. Unless you made irreversible upgrades to it. But I think it was ALSO put into the NCD. I may be wrong, but I don't think you need any DLC to have this car available for purchase in your New Car Dealership.

I may have a spare Trueno somewhere. I'll check and let you know.
Where's jackargent? I'm betting he has multiples of the Trueno.

The Corolla Levin looks like the Trueno. Same year. The Corolla has just a couple less hp (& torque). So they're not identical, but probably not any more difference than needing an oil change on the Trueno.

 

[OwensRacing]

WP,

I have almost every car on the game. So if something is needed sent out to others. I'm more then willing to help out.

 

[watermelon punch]

Thanks OwensRacing!!

So are you in? time zone? FR?

I don't have nearly almost every car in the game (particularly low on race cars & such). However, I have almost every pre-1990 car, and often in duplicate.
Between the lot of us, we should be able to hook up a car with anyone who needs it, I think.

 

[turbogeit]

The Corolla Levin looks like the Trueno. Same year. The Corolla has just a couple less hp (& torque). So they're not identical, but probably not any more difference than needing an oil change on the Trueno.

That seems to fit with the feeling I had: I accelerated much faster with the Corolla, but on the straights (especially tophill, Watermelon and CC in their Truenos catched me back).

Meanwhile, I have seen that I have the Trueno on my "spare parts" account.

 

[watermelon punch]

Oh, I should probably comment on this...

What was remarkable Watermelon the other day, was watermelon's tactical way of driving the race: a slow start, but always incredibly fast in the last part of the lap.

I hadn't thought of it as tactical. But yes, my tactic in EVERY race is to stay on the track for as long as possible, and take the biggest risks toward the end of the race, as the results matter less & less...
(This is not something I have decided consciously. I think it's just my way. )
Seems my tact pays off in this format sometimes.
(Not so much in other races, as I'm generally beaten by those who take the biggest risks early in the race. In a longer race, this may be possible. But in a short 5 mile 1-lap race on an unknown track, that strategy of early risk-taking, can lead to mistakes that are difficult to overcome quickly enough.)

 

[CodeRedR51]

By the way, when I first saw the announcement, I was not interested, because I understood it was something like R1600turbo explains.

Yeah most people that play online racing games, especially those that have spent time with Project Gotham Racing on XBOX will think of Cat & Mouse the way I described it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_and_Mouse_(unofficial_PGR_game)

 

[watermelon punch]

Yeah most people that play online racing games, especially those that have spent time with Project Gotham Racing on XBOX will think of Cat & Mouse the way I described it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_and_Mouse_(unofficial_PGR_game)

Interesting!
Thanks for that link.
I didn't know anything about that.

Perhaps I'll find a way to incorporate this distinction into the OP, to alert xboxers to the difference.
Appreciate the heads up. 👍