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 GM2 Schedule 
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Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:47 am
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Post GM2 Schedule
Well, having spent another couple of hours on it today, I think it's about as good as it's going to get! The problem is, when you start tweaking things, it's difficult to stop, as there's always something that you think could be better.

I plan to e-mail the schedule to Mark tomorrow so that he can release it as a patch, but if anyone wants to try it out this evening and make any suggestions to change things or add races that I've not included, let me have your e-mail address and I'll send you the files. I have the details for many other races that aren't included in the schedule, so if there are any that you feel should definitely be included, please let me know and I'll add them before e-mailing the final version to Mark.

PLEASE READ THE NOTES BELOW BEFORE TRYING THE SCHEDULE

As it stands, there are just over 50 feature events included. I played around with including many more, but after testing this it just didn't work, so I decided it was better just to include the more important races.

Races Included:

I've basically included any race that has been worth £5,000 or more in either of the last two years AND that has at least three rounds. For the sprint and marathon distances I've lowered this amount. Also, I've included a couple of events which only have two rounds, and have added the trial races for those events effectively as a first round. The only races that fit into the above categories but which have been omitted are the two Produce Stakes races (2yo-only races aren't possible in the game, and these races create too much conflict in the schedule when added as puppy races) and the new 3 Steps race at Sheffield (this didn't work as well as I'd hoped and creates a bit of schedule congestion).

I had originally included some one-off events and events with just two rounds, but they really don't work very well in the game, so I haven't included any in the final version (this means that some of the sprint and marathon events that I mentioned in the other thread have not been included). This means there are fewer sprint and marathon races than I'd originally planned to include, but I actually find that the number of races included is about the right amount for the number of dogs in the game that specialise in those distances.

Dates:

The dates that I've used are a mixture of dates from the 2009 and 2010 real-life schedules. I've played around with this to try to get the best spread of races at different times of the season. Heats and semi-finals are at 6- or 7-day gaps for all races. All dates used for finals are real dates from either the 2009 or 2010 seasons (apart from a couple of occasions where I've had to move a race back or forward a day or two).

Prize Money:

To ensure that there is plenty of prize money to play for, for each race included I have used the highest amount of prize money that it has been worth in the last two years. So, for some races this is the 2009 prize money and for some it is the 2010 prize money. All the prize money available for heats and semi-finals is correct in this way too.

Tracks:

I've included the 25 tracks that are currently in use in the UK, as well as two Irish tracks (see below). This leaves one extra space, so for the time being I have left Walthamstow in there, however there are no feature events at this track.

Irish Races:

I have included Shelbourne Park and Harold's Cross in the schedule. As this is mainly a UK schedule though, I have only included the Irish Derby as a feature race at this stage. This is mainly because including more Irish races created too much conflict in the schedule and I'd rather stick with UK races where possible.


Sun Nov 07, 2010 6:59 pm
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Handicapper

Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 4:42 pm
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Thanks for all your efforts and time you have put into this, I'm sure like me everybody appreciates this.

Can I ask how many sprint and marathon competitions we have in the new schedule? Would be good to have at least 4 sprint competitions and marathons to go for with exceptional dogs.

One last suggestion, can we have a complete open race card on finals nights, rather than the final and 6/7 graded races?

My email is lee.calcutt@hotmail.co.uk

Kind regards,

Lee


Sun Nov 07, 2010 7:08 pm
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lcalcutt wrote:
Can I ask how many sprint and marathon competitions we have in the new schedule? Would be good to have at least 4 sprint competitions and marathons to go for with exceptional dogs.


At present, the following feature events are included for sprint and marathon distances:

275m - Scurry Cup (Belle Vue), Sprint Trophy (Peterborough), National Sprint (Nottingham)
375m - Golden Sprint (Romford), Rose Bowl (Crayford), Puppy Cup (Romford)
750m - Golden Jacket (Crayford), Kent St Leger (Crayford)
875m - TV Trophy (Kinsley), Strategic Designs Cup (made up hurdle race at Wimbledon, so that we still have a maximum-distance hurdle in there - can easily be removed for those that don't want it there, but I quite like it)

I might add the Ebor at Sheffield to give an extra 750m race.

lcalcutt wrote:
One last suggestion, can we have a complete open race card on finals nights, rather than the final and 6/7 graded races?


It's not possible to do this, unless you make all the other events on finals nights one-off feature events (and even then, the maximum would be 6 per night), which I wouldn't be keen on doing.


Sun Nov 07, 2010 7:16 pm
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Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 4:06 pm
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hello mr panther..i must echo icalcutts thought regarding the time and effort you put into this schedule..thankyou very much..i would be intrested in trying it out tonight if you would be so kind to email me the files at patrickandkatie@sky.com that would be greatly appreciated


Sun Nov 07, 2010 8:01 pm
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hotdogpat wrote:
hello mr panther..i must echo icalcutts thought regarding the time and effort you put into this schedule..thankyou very much..i would be intrested in trying it out tonight if you would be so kind to email me the files at patrickandkatie@sky.com that would be greatly appreciated


Sent!


Sun Nov 07, 2010 8:06 pm
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Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 4:42 pm
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Hello, thanks for the files. Could you add the Ebor to give extra 750m race?

Could we also make the Dorando a competition to give an extra marathon competition, 875m?

You may guess I like marathon race :-)

Kind regards,

Lee


Sun Nov 07, 2010 8:12 pm
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lcalcutt wrote:
Hello, thanks for the files. Could you add the Ebor to give extra 750m race?

Could we also make the Dorando a competition to give an extra marathon competition, 875m?


Yeah, I will add the Ebor in the version that I send to Mark. It only has two round in real life, but there is also trials for it, so I will add those as heats.

As for the Dorando, one-off races don't work very well in the game - they often just throw up a couple of grade one dogs along with others of lower grades. That's why I didn't include any. I suppose I could include it as a grade one race?


Sun Nov 07, 2010 8:18 pm
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I think that would work fine as top grade race.


Sun Nov 07, 2010 8:29 pm
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Handicapper

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Sorry, last question, I find that not all tracks have open races over all distances. Is it possible this can be edited as there are blank track records for some tracks at present?

Regards,

Lee


Sun Nov 07, 2010 8:42 pm
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lcalcutt wrote:
Sorry, last question, I find that not all tracks have open races over all distances. Is it possible this can be edited as there are blank track records for some tracks at present?


I don't think this can be edited. You'll probably find that after lots of seasons there will be track records for all distances at each track, as the non-feature races are randomised.


Sun Nov 07, 2010 8:45 pm
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panther do u know if a real updated trainer data mod will come with the patch as i have 1 that wardie kindly sent me a few weeks back but it dosent seem to be compatable with the new schedule/track files?for some reason it wont let me use it all together


Sun Nov 07, 2010 9:27 pm
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Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:47 am
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Location: London
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hotdogpat wrote:
panther do u know if a real updated trainer data mod will come with the patch as i have 1 that wardie kindly sent me a few weeks back but it dosent seem to be compatable with the new schedule/track files?for some reason it wont let me use it all together


I'm not sure why that would be the case, to be honest, as I thought it was just a case of changing the names in the trainers file. To be honest, I haven't even looked at the trainers file, so my files were created while the default trainers file was still in place. Mark might need to shed some light on this, as I'm not sure why there would be compatibility issues.


Sun Nov 07, 2010 9:34 pm
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maybe im doing something wrong..im not great at the tecnical side of things.never mind


Sun Nov 07, 2010 9:36 pm
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Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 4:06 pm
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sorted it ! its all fine..false alarm ...thanks once again


Sun Nov 07, 2010 9:46 pm
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Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2009 3:00 am
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can you send me a copy please. As already been voiced a great effort and much appreciated cant wait to get it and try it out :D

Mikey-1892@hotmail.co.uk


Sun Nov 07, 2010 10:31 pm
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