To install, unzip the file and place the XML in your NRatings/MyFormulas folder. When you go to apply ratings in NRatings, select "ai_line_mod" as the formula.
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Dissatisfied with the preexisting season ratings that ship with NRatings, I built my own from the ground up. These ratings went through several iterations and much testing (many dozens of seasons simulated) before coming to their current form. They were designed to do the following:
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Dissatisfied with the preexisting season ratings that ship with NRatings, I built my own from the ground up. These ratings went through several iterations and much testing (many dozens of seasons simulated) before coming to their current form. They were designed to do the following:
- Provide *Accurate* results over the course of a season. NOT single race accuracy. This means not just placement in standings but also wins, top5, top10, average finish, lead lap finishes, and so on.
- Allow for *Variability* in results. In other words, not try to get final season results to match actual season results exactly, but rather all drivers finish roughly where they should over the course of the season. More than not the person who won the cup that year will win it with these ratings, especially if they won by quite a bit, but not every time.
- Work for all three major NASCAR tiers: cup, bgn, and cts. Being season ratings, they will not accurately reflect the artificiality introduced by the playoffs in 2004 onward, but WILL accurately simulate performance of a driver overall.
- Partial season starters are rated based on the proportion of races they started. Don't expect Buschwhackers to breakthrough and win the races they start (of course unless they started the entire season as was often the case in the mid 2000s onward), but expect them to be a midfield driver, if that's where they finished in points for that year (remember, these are FULL season ratings).
- Allow for both accuracy but variability in and among races themselves. Sometimes some good drivers will have a bad race, and vice versa. Furthermore, sometimes some less good drivers start toward the front of the pack, but watch them slowly fade over the course of the race (or not!) Watch different segments of the race be led by different drivers.
- More technically, the ratings try to:
- not allow races to devolve into wreck fests (MasGrafx sometimes falls prey to this)
- not keep the field too bunched or not keep the pitting mechanical (Ethones sometimes falls prey to these)
- not create the obvious "pack" delineations created the game choosing the front, middle, and back runners
- allow for occasional clear front runners and backmarkers (though if you're like me and include only drivers who started ~20-25% of season races in your roster backmarkers are less common, and can be a threat to delicate racing balance that is NR2003!)