Plugin API, Server Logging, and Server Event Feature

I'll start with the server logging, because those should hopefully be relatively simple.

The first suggestion is for the JSON files. Basically, the suggestion is to include a flag in the Lap object indicating whether the driver has finished, or alternatively put the number of race laps in the Result object. Previously this wasn't an issue because control would be taken away from the driver when they finished the race. However, with 1.12 came the option of doing an in-lap, which also gets logged in the JSON, muddying the log somewhat. The server does have this information, because it's sent to the plugin API, and is also logged in the server log.

Which brings us to the second suggestion: Would it be possible for the server to log when a driver has been disqualified due to not making the mandatory pit stop?

Now on to the more complicated stuff: Plugin API! Would it be possible to add a command to invalidate a driver's lap? I'm thinking something along the lines of this:

• ACSP_INVALIDATE_LAP
• Unsigned Byte: Car ID
• Signed Int16(?): Lap ID. -1 indicates the current lap, positive is a previous lap ID.

This, of course, assumes that the server has control of this, and maintains a list of a driver's laps.

My final suggestion has to do with race sessions. This would, I imagine, be a fairly significant change, so I'm not hopeful. Currently the server only has one race session definition, and if you have the REVERSED_GRID_RACE_POSITIONS set to a positive non-zero number, it just duplicates the definition. The issue is this doesn't work if you want races of different lengths.

My suggestion is to move the REVERSED_GRID_RACE_POSITIONS and RACE_PIT_WINDOW options into the race session definition, and allow multiple definitions.

So you may have something that looks like this:

[RACE]
NAME=Primary Race
LAPS=0
TIME=20
WAIT_TIME=300
IS_OPEN=1
REVERSED_GRID_RACE_POSITIONS=0
RACE_PIT_WINDOW_START=0
RACE_PIT_WINDOW_END=0

[RACE]
NAME=Secondary Race
LAPS=0
TIME=40
WAIT_TIME=300
IS_OPEN=1
REVERSED_GRID_RACE_POSITIONS=10
RACE_PIT_WINDOW_START=0
RACE_PIT_WINDOW_END=0

In this configuration, the REVERSED_GRID_RACE_POSITIONS option would not duplicate the session for obvious reasons.

 

For league admins being able invalidate laps would be a fantastic feature.

Also as an expansion to the above; is it possible (as I'm not sure the server knows this) to log any penalty issued to drivers. I guess all this may happen client side. Furthermore logging of back to pits, pit entry and exit would also be really useful for leagues. This can be done in python, but that requires an admin to be present in every server.

With these features and more detailed logging it would be possible for leagues to customise penalties.

If all the above is done for example it would be possible to have a server plugin to invalidate out and in laps in qualifying.