New GT5 A-spec Matchmaker Spreadsheet

[calan_svc]

I've created a matchmaking program (Excel spreadsheet) for all A-spec events. In a nut shell, it looks at your car database and determines which cars would be the best match for any event, with just one or two mouse clicks. So far, it's worked beautifully; I've had some of the best races ever in a GT game.

GT5 Matchmaker Version 1.6

It allows you to set a difficulty level, and you can also narrow or widen the search "window", as well as use all sorts of other searching and sorting information.

I've made it as simple to use as possible. To get started, just click the "?" in the upper left; this will display several help comments about what each thing does. Then, just update the database by telling it which cars you own and changing the HP and weight values where appropriate. After that it's just a matter of selecting an event and clicking "Get Matches!".

BTW - I'm still missing data for some of the cars; I'll be adding it when possible. Please feel free to contribute any confirmed "stock" HP and weight numbers that you have.

I'd like to thank the people who started the GT5 car database work in the last few weeks (sorry, I don't have the names). Some of the data came from various online lists, and a lot of it was gathered during several hours in front of the game.

Please post your comments and suggestions in this thread, and I'll update it as time permits.


*******************


Version 1.6 changes:

1. Added the ability to hide and show columns with a single button. The columns you want to see can be selected on the "Misc" sheet.

2. Added a new field called "ABH Rating". This is a rating based on acceleration, braking, and handling, and provides a way to compare cars of similar P/W ratios. It's created by running consistent laps on the Autumn Ring Mini track, and normalizing the times against all other cars. A value of 10 is best, 1 is the worst. I'll be updating these ratings as time permits.

3. Added the ability to change the color and font of owned and favorite cars. You can set these properties on the "Misc" sheet.

4. Added the tracks and number of laps for each event. More track data will be added in future versions.

5. Added more sorting options to the car list.

6. Added a column for 1/4 times. I've tested a few cars using a make-shift track that I measured out on the TGTT; if a true 1/4 track ever gets added to the game, I'll use this and update these numbers as time permits.

7. Updated HP and weight numbers for all cars. I believe these should all be accurate now for every stock car.


Version 1.5 changes:

1. Added the tire type to the events list. When selecting a car, equip it with the correct tire for the best match-ups.

2. Added an option to only search cars that are favorites. There is a new field on the car page for marking which cars are favorites.

3. Added two User fields to the car list, to do with as you see fit.

4. Added blank rows to the car list, to be used for your own custom car creations. The empty rows are marked with "Z" as the Make, and appear at the bottom of the list. Just copy an existing car and modify it as appropriate, or start fron scratch. (Note that I name my cars with an underscore at the beginning, which keeps them at the top when the list is sorted by Make).

5. Fixed a few HP/weight numbers in the car list.

Version 1.4 changes:

1. Removed protection from sheets.

2. Enabled the display of sheet tabs.


Version 1.3 changes:

1. The help (comments) now shows the version number in the upper left of the Events page.

2. The target P/W for the selected event is now shown on the car list page.

3. When matches are displayed, the car list is now automatically sorted by P/W, with the highest at the top. The most evenly matched car(s) will be in the middle, and the cars that are easiest to win with will be at the top and the hardest at the bottom.

4. Fixed some issues with the Super GT cars not displaying properly.


*******************

To easily update the sheet and not have to re-enter which cars you own and the HP/weight info:

1. Rename your existing sheet

2. Open both sheets and switch to the car list page. Make sure that all cars are shown and both car lists are sorted by make/model.

3. Copy the data from your existing sheet (HP, Weight, Own, and Modded columns) and paste it into the new worksheet. (You may want to copy individual cells rather than entire columns, to prevent the column order from being accidently messed up.)

Note that this only works if you haven't added any more cars. If any are added to the sheet when I update it, I'll make sure to mention it at that time.


- craig

 

[Jump_Ace]

Sounds interesting! Thanks. Okay this is Epic. Some of the best work I've seen in Excel in a long time 👍 I'm curious, would you be able to 'export' that to a .html or .asp, or even know how to write that in javascript? Check out my GT5 Car Database and Random Race Generator (in my signature) for a couple examples of GT5 programming myself and a friend have been working on. Would love to have something like this on my site as well. If you aren't interested, no worries and thanks again for this.

Jerome

 

[HBR-Roadhog]

I have thought it would be a great feature if in game when you go to select a car for a given race it had a little difficulty rating for using that car in the given race.

Something like say it you were entering the Tuner Car Championship and go to your garage.

The FGT would be a 1
The 49 Beetle would be a 10
The Opera 350Z may be a 6
The Amuse GT1 may be a 4

and the XI would just have a LOL next to it.

BTW that spreadsheet looks very interesting .

Thanks

 

[TimberW]

Wow, amazing work! 👍

I love tight races!

 

[kekke2000]

I have thought it would be a great feature if in game when you go to select a car for a given race it had a little difficulty rating for using that car in the given race.

Something like say it you were entering the Tuner Car Championship and go to your garage.

The FGT would be a 1
The 49 Beetle would be a 10
The Opera 350Z may be a 6
The Amuse GT1 may be a 4

and the XI would just have a LOL next to it.

BTW that spreadsheet looks very interesting .

Thanks

To prevent too much work with that you could use hp/kg. Most regular cars has about 0.1 (120hp/1200kg for example). So you could go into Gran Turismo and check the "typical opponents" and just use the car on top of that list as a benchmark. I almost want to do something similar as that myself and maybe build it into my randomizer.

 

[calan_svc]

Thanks guys.

BTW - If some of the HP and weight numbers are off, it's because those were cars I owned and have tweaked. I removed the owned flag on them for some reason without realizing what that does to the data.

I just uploaded the original that still has the flags for the cars I own. It should make more sense.

@Jerome

I do know how to write in asp and javascript, but to be honest it would be a lot of work to duplicate the spreadsheet functionality. I barely have time to mess with the Excel sheet and get a few laps in, much less dusting off my web chops and tackling that project.

Thanks for the compliments.

 

[danjama]

How can i get this to work with open office calculator? Can't seem to get it functional.

 

[calan_svc]

It's an Excel 2000 spreadsheet. I know nothing about what is and isn't compatible with Open Office, but I'm guessing that OP doesn't like the VBA code in the Excel sheet.

 

[calan_svc]

...So you could go into Gran Turismo and check the "typical opponents" and just use the car on top of that list as a benchmark.

That is what I was doing originally, but it doesn't always work like you'd think. I think what I'm doing now is a better approach, and it usually puts me in a car that finishes 3-6 with "normal" driving, and I can win with no mistakes and good lines. An adjustment to the difficulty slider makes it easy to compensate for different driving styles, etc.

FWIW, I use tires that would normally be found on the car. For street legal machines, I run medium sports and on race cars I run medium race. If a car is just really out in left field, I may switch to softs...but this is rare. I also use some ABS (and on rare occasions a touch of TCS), but only on cars where it would normally be equipped and used. As an example, my nice big-block Chevelle has no TCS or ABS and handles like absolute crap...as it should.

****

Let me know specifically how the Dream Car Championship races work out. There is a Jaguar race car in the field that really skews the AI P/W calculations I think. I may have to tweak the P/W for that race without the Jag in it.

 

[Jump_Ace]

No problem. Also, the country for the X1 Prototype is Japan. I just used it in the Japan Championships in B-Spec mode (I know, I know.....but hey I just want to get through the B-Spec part ASAP).

Jerome

 

[jeffgoddin]

I've created a matchmaking program (Excel spreadsheet)

For what it's worth, I've been playing around with competitiveness and have struck upon a formula which helps to compare cars of different weights. You may have noticed that a straight weight to power ratio strongly favors heavier cars. Not sure if you can work something like this into your tool, but as a fellow Excel user I appreciate what you're doing and thought I'd share.

Basically, set an anchor weight and weight to power ratio, say 2800lb and 10 to 1. To determine what hp to tune to for a car of a different weight in order to get a pretty competitive race, the rule I use is that for every 90lb more or less than the anchor weight the second car is, adjust the ratio up or down by 1%. So a 3250lb car going against this 2800 lb (and 280hp by the ratio) car is 5 times 90lbs more in weight, so the ratio to tune to should be 5% higher, or 10.5 lbs per hp. Divide 3250 by 10.5 and you get 309 or 310, instead of the 325hp the 10 to 1 ratio would indicate. I've tested this and statistically analyzed the results and although not perfect (maybe it should be 1% per 85 or 95 pounds, I'm not sure) it's pretty close, with no significant correlation between performance and weight as you always see using the simple weight to power ratio rule.

 

[calan_svc]

Where are you getting the 10 to 1 ratio, and what is it? Also, where did the 10.5 value come from?

Not sure I'm following you here.

 

[Squasher]

wow this is amazing. Going to go back through many events using cars for close races

 

[jeffgoddin]

Ah, sorry if I wasn't clear. I was just picking the 10 to 1 number out of the air. For your matchmaker, you probably have a weight to power ratio in mind for an event, like 10 to 1 or 5.2 to 1 or whatever. When a use of your tool indicates final hp and weight after modifications, this ratio is what you use to find a match for an event, right?

Well, haven't you ever noticed that if you find an event where it seems like a particular ratio is good enough to win (once you've got comparable suspension and tires) when you take a lot of different cars to the event, the higher weight cars seem to do better than the lighter cars? If an event is competitive at close to a 10 to 1 ratio for example, taking a 165hp 1650lb lotus to the event is very different than taking a 325hp 3250lb GTO to the event. While the lotus may handle better in the tight spots, the GTO will have much better acceleration in all sections of the track where you're running at 100mph+, and the end result will be much better lap times for the GTO on average in almost every case.

This is why I started looking at finding a formula for determining competitive tuning states which was different from the standard weight to power ratio.

If you have a course where 10 to 1 is usually good enough to win, ask yourself, yes, but at what weight is it closest? When do heavier cars seem to have a clear advantage and lighter cars a disadvantage? That's basically your anchor weight for that ratio in that event. Or if you're using a test car to determine appropriate weight to power ratios for a close race in an event, the weight of your test car can be the anchor weight.

What I'm saying is, if you want to run a car with a different weight in that event, in order to maintain about the same degree of competitiveness, you need to adjust the weight to power ratio you tune to depending on the weight of the car you want to race there.

In the example I used above, I assumed that a race was closely competitive with a 2800lb car tuned to a weight to power ratio of 10 to 1, or 2800lb/10 = 280 hp. Now if I want to answer the question of whether or not another car may be closely competitive at the same event, but the second car weighs a lot less or more than 2800 lbs, I will probably be mistaken if I just look at the weight to power ratio and see if it's close to 10 to 1. In order to better judge a close fit for an event, I have found that you can adjust the ideal weight to power ratio according to the weight of the car you want to race there, given the weight and weight to power ratio of another car which was also a close fit at that event.

Using 2800 lbs and 10 to 1 as the standard for an event, then if I want to know how many hp to tune a 3250lb car to, my formula states that for every 90 lbs over or under the anchor weight, you need to adjust the weight to power ratio by 1%. So 3250-2800=450 which is 5x90, so I need to increase the weight to power ratio by 5%. 10 to 1 plus 5% is 10x1.05=10.5 to 1. So I need to tune a 3250lb car to a weight to power ratio of 10.5 to 1 in order for it to be just as competitive in an event as a 2800lb car tuned to a 10 to 1 ratio. 3250/10.5= 309 or 310hp, while 3250/10=325, so you've whacked 15hp off of the car compared to how you might have tuned it if you were just going by the 10 to 1 weight to power ratio.

Let me know if this clears things up. and try it with lap times. I think you'll find it works very well.

 

[calan_svc]

That's an interesting approach to it.

I'm not looking at the track type (yet) to pick a car; this app is picking cars based on restrictions and pure power-to-weight ratios for each event in GT5; not for each track.

While weight is definitely a factor depending on the type of track, the power-to-weight ratio is a very good straight up comparison tool, all else being equal. The approach I took is to present cars within a particular P/W range that should be competitive, and then let the user decide which one to use based on the types of tracks they will be running on.

Interestingly enough, I just ran Nurburgring GP/F on the Beginner - World Compact race with two different cars; a Cappucino RM, and the SLK 230 Kompressor. The Cappucino weighs less than half of the Kompressor and has half the HP, but they are within .002 on P/W. I won the race with both cars, with almost identical margins over second place (within 5 seconds or so). So on this track for me at least, the car's weight makes very little difference; P/W ratio rules. (I ran several other races on this track at a higher level/more powerful cars and got the same results).

I'm currently working on some algorithms to automate at least part of the weight-to-handling idea, but it's much more complicated due to the way GT5's events are set up. My plan so far is to assign a value to each track (or event) that represents aspects such as top speed, acceleration, or cornering importance... and then factor this into the car selection. I still have a lot of thinking to do about how to implement it properly though.

Thanks for the ideas and feedback...

 

[jeffgoddin]

Yes, it sounds like we share something in how we approach GT, though some may call it nitpicky or nerdy, I just love how susceptible the game is to analysis. I've definitely looked at past GT's events in terms of cornering speed vs top speed on straights to get an idea of how different tracks may favor different kinds of cars.

 

[calan_svc]

Yes, it sounds like we share something in how we approach GT, though some may call it nitpicky or nerdy

My real-life hot rod/race car is up on jackstands for the winter, waiting on a turbo rebuild and a couple other odds and ends. If I don't get my nerdy racing fix from somewhere I start getting cranky.

I'm anxious for people to post up some results and see how it's working and where we can improve it. I've found a couple of events that are somewhat inconsistent, but nothing major. And that is usually due to GT5 throwing in a car that's completely out in left field compared to the other cars in the race.

 

[klondike]

This seems to be and awesome sheet. but i cant get it to work as I think its supposed too.

When I select and event, and then find matches it seem it never find any matches no matter wich events or filters i use.

Is there something I have missed or is there somekind of error with the sheet you linked ?

 

[calan_svc]

This seems to be and awesome sheet. but i cant get it to work as I think its supposed too.

When I select and event, and then find matches it seem it never find any matches no matter wich events or filters i use.

Is there something I have missed or is there somekind of error with the sheet you linked ?

You may have the search window too narrow. Try widening it (move the slider to the right) and see what happens.

Also, make sure the boxes for premium and owned cars are unchecked and give it a go.

 

[syagre]

Great work, calan_svc 👍
I've just been browsing your excel sheet for only 5 mins or so, and it does look very good.
I really look forward to using this as a guide for re-recing the A-spec events. As I believe I'll be facing the "grinding wall" in 6 levels or so, I guess playing those events over and over using these guidelines will make it all the more exciting.
Thanks!

 

[r_master78]

Very impressive work This is an awesome spreadsheet. I usually like to race the AI with similar P/W ratio as you do to make things more exciting and fun (frustrating at times, but when you cross that finish line in first place, it feels "two arm up in the air" and "pumping fist" good )

Here are some feedback/comments to improve the program. I really want to see this program grow.

Few cars did not show up even when I was playing around with difficulty and window setting, but the car does exist in your database.

a) For clubman cup, I used Civic Type R (EK) ‘97 stock, but it won't show up no matter how I setup the difficulty and windows
b) For NR-A Roadster CUP, I used Eunos Roadster J-Limited (NA) ‘91 stock, but won't show up
c) For supercar nostalgia cup, I used Ferrari 512BB stock, but won't show up
​

Maybe this is because these races are at the lower level and I might have trouble with Professional, expert, or supreme series because AI driver gets better on each series but maybe you can open up the filter criteria even more at lower levels and narrow it down even more as the series gets more difficult?

Also, under all car's spreadsheet, "Stock" field can't be edited

I think you can use this for B-spec as well?

Overall, very impressive Excel work. Appreciate it! 👍

 

[Osr20_L]

Nice Work !!!

 

[calan_svc]

Thanks for the compliments.

@r_master78

I can see the Civic no problem, so not sure what's going on there. What HP and weight do you have entered for it? Mine has 171hp and weighs 1050kg (.163 p/w), and pops up for the amateur Clubman Cup with Difficulty = 110%, Window = 10%. The roadster shows up at about 115% difficulty for the Miata race.

If cars aren't showing up, it's because their power-to-weight ratio falls outside the window for what you are searching for. For the roadster for example, the event is searching for cars with a P/W of .148. The roadster you mentioned has a P/W of only .124, so it would only show up if you were searching for cars that are more difficult to win with. (or possibly if you expand the window to be wider). The Ferrari 512 shows up at difficulty = 75%...so in other words it should be pretty easy to win that race with.

On the not being able to change data, I did that more as a safeguard than anything. When you click the "Find Matches" button, it unlocks everything and then re-locks certain fields so they can't accidently be over-written. If you want to change something (or modify the filters after clicking "Find Matches"), just unlock the sheet using Tools > Protection > Unprotect Sheet... then you can change anything you want.

You may have to click on a cell out in the table somewhere to get the menu items to be available.

I think you can use this for B-spec as well?

If the AI selection is the same, it's possible I guess. But Bob drives so much differently than any person would that it isn't really practical. I guess if you set the difficulty to something like 51%, it may find some cars he could win with.

 

[seals1]

Forgive me for my inexperience with excel, but everytime that i click on the question mark it doesn't do anything. What do i do?

 

[orCa]

Tommy Kaira ZZII ‘00 Japan 2000 S MR 192 690 1521 0,278

actually its 500 hp@ 1000 kg instead of 192 hp @ 690 kg and its 4WD too O_o

 

[calan_svc]

Forgive me for my inexperience with excel, but everytime that i click on the question mark it doesn't do anything. What do i do?

All that button does is toggle comments on and off, so I'm not sure why it won't work. Can you turn on comments under the view menu?

 

[r_master78]

Thanks for the compliments.

@r_master78

I can see the Civic no problem, so not sure what's going on there. What HP and weight do you have entered for it? Mine has 171hp and weighs 1050kg (.163 p/w), and pops up for the amateur Clubman Cup with Difficulty = 110%, Window = 10%.

On the not being able to change data, I did that more as a safeguard than anything. When you click the "Find Matches" button, it unlocks everything and then re-locks certain fields so they can't accidently be over-written. If you want to change something (or modify the filters after clicking "Find Matches"), just unlock the sheet using Tools > Protection > Unprotect Sheet... then you can change anything you want.

You may have to click on a cell out in the table somewhere to get the menu items to be available.



If the AI selection is the same, it's possible I guess. But Bob drives so much differently than any person would that it isn't really practical. I guess if you set the difficulty to something like 51%, it may find some cars he could win with.

Interesting... maybe I am not understanding your filter correctly... You mention in your "?" guide that if I take the difficult all the way to the left (50%), all cars that should be able to win the race will be shown regardless of P/W ratio, but when I selected the difficult to min (50%) and widen the window to max (50%) a lot of cars that can win disappears such as the civic and other cars that I was mentioning for each race

 

[seals1]

All that button does is toggle comments on and off, so I'm not sure why it won't work. Can you turn on comments under the view menu?

Well wait up how do you put in your car details and the like?

 

[calan_svc]

...but when I selected the difficult to min (50%) and widen the window to max (50%) a lot of cars that can win disappears such as the civic and other cars that I was mentioning for each race

@r_master78

You are correct. What's happening is that when you set the slider to 50%, the upper end of the search window changes to a P/W of 3.0, but the lower end of the range was still based on the window calculation, so there could be some cars in between the target P/W and the corrected lower P/W that get left out....which is a bit confusing now that I think about it.

I've uploaded a new version with a few updates. Now when you set the difficulty to 50%, you'll see all cars from the target P/W up to 3.0...in other words, every car with a P/W greater than or equal to what you are searching for. (thanks for the suggestion!)

@orCa

I made the changes you mentioned, but highlighted them until I can verify it.

@seals

Unlock the sheet and you can change anything you want. For the HP, Weight, and Owned fields, you should be able to just change it without worrying about unlocking anything.

 

[orCa]

how come it never shows ANY matches for me when I try to find matches? No matter how many cars I own or what event I choose ..