PLATFORM(S) PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U

PIT STOP DESIGN DOCUMENT v1.0 th 26 JULY 2012

Pit Stops Overview ............................................................................................................................ 2 Pit Stop Types .................................................................................................................................... 3 Pit Crew............................................................................................................................................. 5 Pit Stop Sequence.............................................................................................................................. 6 Refuelling ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Tire Changes .................................................................................................................................. 7 Driver Changes .............................................................................................................................. 7 Repairs .......................................................................................................................................... 8 Deliberate Errors ........................................................................................................................... 8 Pit2Car Radio..................................................................................................................................... 9 Pit Strategy ...................................................................................................................................... 10

PIT STOPS OVERVIEW

The aim with Pit Stops in Project CARS is to satisfy the following three goals... 1. Benefit gameplay Pit stops are intrinsically linked to other systems. Whats the point in having changing weather if you cant switch to wet tires? Whats the point in having a working dial on the dashboard if you cant come in to the pits to refuel? Pit stops therefore have to benefit and compliment these other systems and provide an additional contributing factor to why the player won an event 2. Be authentic Ie.. regardless of the discipline, pit stops should be representative of how they work and flow in that particular motorsport 3. Be exciting Pit stops in real life are urgent and frantic yet also balletic and synchronized yet frequently in games they are treated in a rather dull, lifeless way that doesnt capture the dynamic sensation of seeing one up close in action. Project CARS aims to change this so that players finally get to experience this exciting aspect of motorsports.

PIT STOP TYPES

During any Session type, the player can enter the pit lane to perform either a pit stop. There are four types of pit stops defined in Project CARS: Player- A requested pit stop is one where the player has notified their team that they requested would like to come in. There may be a number of reasons for this (mechanical failure, damage, stop/go penalty etc..) In order to request a Pit Stop, the player chooses Request Pit from either the keyboard, controller/wheel d-pad, or Wii U touchscreen The Team Engineer will then acknowledge the request via Pit2Car radio/HUD notification and the pit crew will move into position immediately Unscheduled An unscheduled pit stop is one where they player simply drives into the pit lane without notifying their team beforehand In such a case there is a delay of X seconds once the player arrives in the Pit Box before the pit sequence begins Scheduled 1. For a scheduled pit stop, the Team Engineer will first inform the player via Pit2Car radio/HUD notification that they should return to the pits and the reason should be given 2. Near the end of the players current lap, they will then be reminded again that they should pit at the end of their current lap. The pit crew will move into position at this time 3. If the player does not pit in at the scheduled time, the pit crew will return back to the garage again and the flow begins back at #1 again Penalties For more information on penalties, please see the separate Project CARS Penalties Design documentation

The Pit Lane1 is defined as the area between the the Pit Entry Line and the Pit Exit Line. The Pit Box the stopping point within the players Pit Area2 where the vehicle must stop and the pit crew are present.. TRACK PIT ENTRY PIT LANE PIT BOX 1 PIT BOX 2 PIT AREA PLAYER PIT BOX PIT BOX 4 PIT EXIT

The player can set in the Gameplay Options whether they want the Autopilot to take over whilst in the Pit Lane (ie.. automatic speed limiting whilst driving to/from the Pit Box, and automatic pulling into/out of the Pit Box) but otherwise the player must control this manually... 1. As soon as the player has passed the Pit Entry line, the Pit Speed Limiter will automatically reduce the vehicle to the authorized speed 3 and the view will be changed to Cockpit View 2. The Pit Strategy menu will also appear at this time which allows the player to cycle between pre-defined pit strategies created from the Session Overview screen and edit them 3. The player must then proceed to their designated Pit Area (indicated by the Team Engineer in the Pit Area). Once they reach this, steering of the vehicle will be automated as the car turns in to arrive at the Pit Box. The player must then ease off the throttle and come to a dead stop within the Pit Box. Only once this is done is the car determined to be in the correct position. If the player overshoots the Pit Box, the car will automatically be backed up 4. The player must then confirm the Pit Strategy from the onscreen menu (if they havent done already) before the Pit Sequence can start 5. Once complete, the Team Engineer signals that the player can go and the player can press the throttle to exit the Pit Box. Steering is still controlled by the Autopilot at this point so the car will automatically rejoin the Pit Lane 6. Once the player has passed Pit Exit Line, the Pit Speed Limited is disengaged (if it was enabled) and steering is returned to the player

The pit crew positioning and animation paths must be reverse-able so as to accommodate pit lanes on opposite sides of the tracks, as well as pit lane entry from different directions.
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All Pit Boxes are of uniform size

This can be turned off from the Gameplay Options menu. If so though, the player must adhere to the designated speed otherwise the player will receive a Stop/Go Penalty once they have passed the Pit Exit Line for speeding in the pits. For more info on penalties, please read the dedicated Penalties Design Document

PIT CREW
The players pit crew is comprised of the following personnel... Team Engineer Directs the driver where to stop the car Co-ordinates the pit crew Communicates with the driver Signals the driver when to exit the Pit Box Fuel Technician Refuels the car (see Refuelling) Left Wheel Technician Changes the front wheel, then the back wheel Right Wheel Technician Changes the front wheel, then the back wheel When not performing a pit stop, the pit crew will be hidden from view in the back of the garage. The players pit crew will set up for a pit stop while the player is on their IN lap, and clean up again while the player is on his OUT lap. The player may witness other teams pit crew setting up for a pit stop or cleaning up after a stop while they are driving down the pit lane.

PIT STOP SEQUENCE

The Pit Stop sequence is initiated from the moment the player is stopped within the Pit Box and has confirmed their Pit Strategy, and ends when the player presses the throttle once again to move out of the Pit Box. The sequence below covers an example of a complete pit stop scenario (except for damage repair) within the GT discipline4 and should take no longer than 60 seconds from start to end... 1. The player stops within the Pit Box 2. Team Engineer moves from the Pit Area to the Pit Box to supervise the pit stop 3. Refuelling crew moves into position and starts refuelling the car 4. Once refuelling is complete, the refuelling crew then steps away from the car 5. The car is raised on the air jacks 6. The wheel mechanics start the tire(s) change, front wheels first

7. Wheel mechanics indicate that they are done by raising one arm in the air 8. When both wheel mechanics are done the car drops to the ground 9. The Team Engineer steps out of the way, allowing the player to pull out of the Pit Box Items #3 and #4 are ignored if the player chose not to refuel from their pre-defined Pit Strategy or the decision they made whilst driving up the Pit Lane. Items #5-#8 are ignored if the player chose not to change tires from their pre-defined Pit Strategy or the decision they made whilst driving up the Pit Lane.

Other disciplines (eg.. Formula 1, NASCAR) will have variations of this

REFUELLING
The vehicles in the title use two types of fuel filler openings: Single and Dual. Single filler cars, such as the Dodge Viper, require two fuel technicians, one on each side of the car. One operates the fill hose, while the second operates the vent hose. The fuel technicians insert both hoses at the same time, and start refuelling the car. When this done, the vent hose is first pulled out, followed by the fill hose. Dual filler cars require only one fuel technician.

The duration of the refuelling sequence depends on how much fuel must be put into the car. On average, the fuel rig flow rate is 2.9 litres/sec. So the time it takes to put 95 litres of fuel in the tank is around 32.7 seconds. The fuel technicians should keep their hose to the filler opening for the full duration of the refuelling time.

TIRE CHANGES
There are two wheel technicians, one positioned on either side of the car. The typical order being front wheels first, then rear. The standard sequence for each wheel is as follows, starting with the front wheel: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Remove wheel nut and drop wheel gun on ground Pull the wheel off and put/throw it on the ground Mechanic picks up new wheel and puts it on the car Replace wheel nut by hand, turns it approx. two full turns Pick up the wheel gun and fastens the wheel nut

The wheel technician now moves to the rear of the car and repeats the procedure. When the rear wheel change is complete, the mechanic puts one hand in the air to signal the Team Engineer that he is finished.

DRIVER CHANGES
If playing in a Co-Op event, drivers will also change at the designated time when coming into the pits. This is visually represented by control being taken away from the previous driver and them transitioning to the Session Overview screen whilst simultaneously the next driver is transitioned from the Session Overview screen to the car. Players will be notified via an onscreen HUD/UI countdown 1 lap in advance of this happening so they can prepare themselves.

REPAIRS
Any needed repairs will start as soon as the car is stationary. There are no engineers visibly working on these aspects. Instead, the players focus is maintained on the other aspects of the pit stop, same as for a pit stop with no repairs. Should the repairs take longer than the duration of the standard pit stop tasks, then the following will take place: 1. View switches to inside cockpit, looking at the Team Engineer 2. The Team Engineer notifies the player via radio that repairs are still underway (Repairs are underway, hold for GO signal) 3. In the background, the Team Engineer is seen signalling to the technicians, with the player hearing over his radio the Team Engineer instructing the technicians (Hurry along there, were losing positions! etc). 4. When the repairs are complete, the Team Engineer notifies the player via radio (OK, repairs complete. Start engine and exit pits) 5. Team Engineer steps out of the way, player starts the engine, and exits the pits

DELIBERATE ERRORS
In real life, inevitably some things go wrong occasionally during pit stops. The title replicates these instances in the following ways... Wheel Here is where things typically go wrong. When the car gets hot the rims and Change suspension components expand, and sometimes the wheels get stuck. The mechanics sometimes lose the wheel nut and although they normally carry a spare one, it costs time. A stuck wheel will be simulated via a delay in the remove the wheel part of the animation. A lost wheel nut will be simulated by a delay in the replace wheel nut part of the animation. Mechanical Sometimes the engine fails to start at the end of the pit stop. This can be caused by Failures issues such as: battery failure, alternators, or electrical failures. Other issues such as gearbox or clutch failures can also occur. These failures will be simulated in the same way as the Repairs section above, with the Team Engineer informing the player via Pit2Car radio that there is a mechanical failure.

PIT2CAR RADIO
When considering dynamic tire wear, weather changes, car diagnostics, and pit stops your Team Engineer and pit crew play an integral role in your success in each race. As such, the implementation of Pit2Car radio therefore goes above and beyond that of any other title and during events, your Team Engineer will provide commentary in the following ways... Inform the player of changes in positions of your opponents Joe Smith has moved up into 7th place now Comment on changes in your position Nice one youre up to 3rd place and on the podium. Push for higher if you can. Inform the player on changes in the position of your teammate Joe Smith is in 2nd we should get some good championship points from this Inform the player of split time progression Youre closing on the guy in front Inform the player on the status of the leader Joe Smith has extended their lead to 3 seconds now. Keep pushing. Inform the player on hazards ahead Looks like theres some sand thats been dragged onto the track up ahead. Watch out. Inform the player of tricky corners coming up and how to tackle them Youre heading up to Maggots/Becketts. Youll need to get a good line here to hit a good speed on Hangar Straight after. Inform the player on potential weather changes The radar is showing a heavy shower coming by. It's due to last just 5 minutes though so maybe you can cope with the slicks for a couple of wet laps still. Inform the player on damage sustained to their car Looks like that last shunt has broken your suspension. Youll need to come in if you still can. Inform the player on tire wear and damage Looks like your tires are running a bit thin after going off on that last corner. Best you come in to replace them before you spin off. Inform the player that they need to pit Youve got a scheduled pit stop coming up, pit in on the next lap. Inform the player of progress during the pit stop Weve got a mechanical failure, sit tight!

PIT STRATEGY
TEAM LOGO & NAME DRIVER NAME/SURNAME & REPUTATION LEVEL Name of Current Strategy Fuel Refill Individual Tire Compounds Tire Pressures Aero Damage Suspension Damage

Available Strategies Create New Strategy 1 Strategy 2 Strategy 3 Etc..

[A] SELECT [Y] RENAME News Ticker

[X] DELETE

[RIGHT STICK] MOVE UP/DOWN

[B] BACK

The Pit Strategy screen allows the player to pre-define tasks that the Pit Crew will carry out that may cover various scenarios that may be encountered. These can then be easily selected or overridden when entering the pits mid-race. Options available here include... Fuel Refill Allows the player to set how much fuel is put into the car (displays litres/lap estimate) Individual Tires Allows the player to set whether specific tires remain unchanged, or are swapped for a different compound (Slicks, Wets, Hard, Soft) Front/Rear Tire Allows the player to change the tire pressure at the front or rear Pressure Front/Rear Aero Allows the player to fix/replace damaged areas of the vehicle that have a Damage performance impact Suspension Damage Allows the player to fix any suspension-related areas that may have an impact on performance Active/Disabled Allows the player to set whether the current Pit Strategy can be chosen midrace or not The player can then label the Pit Strategy with a specific name and description, or delete it.

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