By GetaFix2040
FormulaWan is a browser-based F1 racing simulation that at first impression seems very simple and uncomplicated. After registering, you are started out with a few thousand “bolts” (the currency unit of FormulaWan), and you are instructed to buy a car and hire a driver. Delving a bit further into the game, you find yourself signing up for a race only to find you do not actually do the driving. The driving action is controlled entirely by the server, which calculates your chances to win by comparing your statistics to all the other players who enter the race. Essentially, you have become the owner of a team that you can expand and direct at your own pace.
As the owner, you assume complete control over the team. You will be able to hire a complete staff to support your drivers and keep your cars in top shape and tune. You will erect new buildings to support expansion of the team, and improve existing structures to create room for new features and technologies. There are many directions you can take your team depending on your tastes.
Hiring staff members is a must for every player. Once you hire a staff member, they remain on the team until you fire them. Each staff member, drivers included, are allowed one daily action each. Thankfully, you do not have to pay your staff any wages, you only pay the initial hiring fee.
To start out, it is recommended to hire at least one mechanic for every driver you have on your team. Mechanics will repair damage to your car, and will install new parts that you can buy in the shops. If you do not repair your car, eventually your driver will have an accident and sustain injuries. The parts your Mechanic will install for you can either increase the potential performance of your car, increase your drivers performance with the car, or both depending on the bonuses included with the part. More on this later.
A highly recommended staff member is a Nurse. If your driver suffers an accident and is injured, you must hire a Nurse to treat his wounds. Additionally, a Nurse can massage your driver before a race, loosening him up and giving him a performance advantage on the track. The massage however, only lasts for one race, so Nurses are quite valuable.
Your car and driver have 4 main performance statistics; Speed, Braking, Cornering, and Acceleration.
These statistics can be increased on the car by installing performance parts you buy in the shops. Once you install a part, that parts statistics are added to your cars potential. Advanced parts are supplied with bonuses, which can further enhance your car and drivers performance with the car. These bonuses can affect the cars or drivers main statistics, or give you an overtaking or path-blocking advantage on the track. Some of the bonuses are triggered when a specific action is performed on the track. All in all, car tuning is one of the most fascinating aspects of FormulaWan.
Having a hot-rodded car is helpful, but until your driver is trained to use it, his/her performance with that car will be limited. If you want to increase your driver statistics quicker, you will need to hire Trainers. Training raises the drivers ability to use a car to its full tuning potential.
For example: Your cars tuning parts focus on Acceleration and Cornering. A driver trained in Acceleration and Cornering will be able to drive the car better than an untrained driver.
A driver is allowed to have 1 training session per league level. For example: A level 1 driver gets one training session, a level 4 driver will train 4 times a day. You will need a trainer for each session, so trainers tend to be the largest percentage of the staff in most teams. You get to choose which of your 4 statistic to train, or a combination of any depending on the amount of training sessions available to your driver.
Driver statistics increase once you have reached the target number of points in that statistic. Level 1 in speed for example, might be 14/100. This means you have 14 of the 100 points necessary to advance to level 2 in that statistic. When you reach level 2, your statistic may look like this: 21/200. This means you need to reach 200 points to advance to level 3 in that statistic.
A special structure, the “Olympic Track” is an optional addition. Building this track will increase your training result per session by 10 points. It is my opinion that this should be one of your first structures to build. Training for your driver absolutely essential to advance in the Leagues and to be dominant on the track.
To raise your level in the Leagues, you must win races. The structure of league racing is simple. Every driver starts out at league 1, and once you win your first race, you elevate to league 2. Once you are in league 2, you need to win 2 races to elevate to league 3 and so on. Currently as this is written, the top-tier racers are in League 11. To reach league 11, you would need to win a minimum of 66 races. Sounds easy, however there are thousands of racers gunning for the win. Winning also comes with a nice bonus; you will be able to give your driver an additional 100 points in any of your 4 statistics.
Remember the parts you can install on your cars that I mentioned earlier? You have seven categories of parts to buy and install on your cars, each with a base statistic from 1 to 5 (the higher the better) and up to five bonuses, also with statistics from 1 to 5. The higher the level of parts and bonuses, the higher the price of the part. The list of bonuses are well-described in the Game Guide, which can be found in-game while directing your team. Bonuses, depending on their design, will increase either the cars performance, the drivers statistics, or will “trigger” enhancements when certain variables are met on the track.
The basic rundown of parts is as follows:
Gearbox increases acceleration of your car.
Brakes increase braking power.
Motor increases Speed.
Wheel increases Cornering.
Chassis increases strength of your vehicle.
Tyres increase roadholding, which basically means traction.
Others has no base statistic. Its value is denoted by the large variety of bonuses explained in the Game Guide.
Why do I mention this now? The uninitiated player can make their most frustrating mistakes when buying parts, so it is not something you should rush into. Take your time and think before you buy, it will pay off in the long run. High level parts are best utilized by well trained drivers, so it is wise to study each and every bonus before you buy.
Up to now, I have covered the basic knowledge needed to enjoy FormulaWan. All staff members that have been mentioned are necessary, in my opinion, to play FormulaWan. Now I will talk a bit about the optional staff members you can hire, as well as some of the more advanced structures.
Sometimes your driver has a bad race, and your finish is less than spectacular. Managers can sign up your driver for a race without using your driver’s daily action, so a manager allows a driver to race more than once per day. Managers’ actions come in handy if you have lost a race, and want another chance for a win.
Most of the tuning parts are bought in the shops. But for those owners who want parts that are custom designed, they can build a Research and Development Center, then hire Researchers and Engineers.
Researchers, over time, can design the ability to create almost any combination of parts and bonuses – with a caveat. In order to build the parts you researched, you must hire an Engineer. Your Engineer can try to build parts based on the technologies created by your Researchers. Parts bought in your Research and Development center, however, will cost you full price. In order to save money on part costs in the main shops, you need to hire a Commercial Assistant.
The Commercial Assistant can be used to negotiate in parts shops for better prices for your team. I have personally saved up to 15% on part costs when negotiating prices. As alluded to before however, you cannot negotiate prices with your own Research and Development Center.
Another job the Commercial Assistant has is searching for Sponsors for your driver. Every driver starts with a basic sponsor, and your Commercial Assistant can go out and look for better Sponsors. Better Sponsors for your driver pay you more bolts when you finish a race.
By now you are probably asking yourself, how do I get bolts to finance my team? The main way is to win races. The above-mentioned Sponsors pay your driver for racing, and the higher you place in the race, the more you can win. Many teams have supplied their drivers with parts and training solely on their winnings.
One structure you can build, Organization Managing Champion Contributions and Payments (O.M.C.C.P.), will pay you 20 bolts per day per level of your best driver. Every level your reach earns you another 20 bolts a day. Currently my level 11 driver causes the OMCCP to pay me 220 bolts per day. This building at first glance seems expensive, but in the long-run it more than pays for itself.
If you are impatient, there is another way to get bolts.
In FormulaWan, you have the option to buy bolts for cash. I am one of the many team owners who have bought bolts, and it is a secure and problem-free process if you choose to buy. For the record, I am only a Team owner, and I am not employed by CarpeLudem or Motion Twin. I am mentioning this for information purposes only.
Buying bolts is NOT a requirement to play FormulaWan, rather it is an option that many players have utilized to make it easier to advance your team. Many shoestring teams (teams that earn their way by winning) exist, and many of them have kept up with the pay-your-way players.
There is absolutely NO OBLIGATION to buy bolts to continue playing FormulaWan. It is an entirely free game if you choose to play that way. The more drivers you have, and the better sponsors you find, the more you will earn each day. The choice is yours and yours alone.
Now you know what FormulaWan is all about, so let me tell you what I think about it.
Since I started playing in May of 2009, I have slowly grown ADDICTED to this fascinating game. At first glance, it appears to be nothing more than a lunch-break game you can make a few clicks of the mouse and forget about it. If you choose, FormulaWan can be played that way.
For the rest of us, and there are THOUSANDS of team owners, FormulaWan has become an obsession. The larger your team grows, more actions will be required by you the owner. Over time, you start to learn what makes your racer win, or lose, and you start to delve in. COUNTLESS hours have been spent watching race replays, tuning the cars and testing the results. Slowly my fascination with the tuning grew, at first in wonder, then in detail as I started to uncover the secrets. Many times I have struggled with the myriad of options available to me, and sometimes made the wrong decision. Such is life as an Owner of a team. I have enjoyed immensely learning how the parts and bonuses work, however I spent a lot of bolts in my trials before I studied the game guide. Now I would like to think I am as well versed as any when it comes to car tuning. Some may not agree, LOL but I say, “Just wait and see”. 
The many facets of the game, from league racing , championship racing, or creating the largest and well equipped team, all take time. You can aim to be the Champion of a league, Championship king, or Overall Team Champion. Its all up to you, you choose the path you want to take.
Personally, I have chosen a mixture path. I like to be able to finish 1st with the very best drivers, so my first driver CondorDog is now in the 11th League. I have taken great satisfaction in occasionally beating the best there is. Nothing beats winning in the upper level.
I recently have started racing Championships with a new driver. Red Dogs only goal is to get pole position, and win the race. A perfect championship will gain your team more reputation points. While reputation is not my primary goal, winning championships is may first place performances in a row, and THAT is satisfying.
You don’t have to go it all alone either. You can access a forum for the game members and discuss (sometimes heatedly) all aspects of FormulaWan. I find it enjoyable to watch posted replays, give opinion, answer questions (we all have them) and generally feel welcome in the community known as FormulaWan. Players who do not use the Forum to enhance their game are truly missing out on a wonderful opportunity.
I believe the Forum is a great place to learn about the game. Condordogs philosophy is to teach, not give, so occasionally you will not get a direct answer from my team.
I find FormulaWan a superb way to spend my spare, and some not-so spare, time. There is a longevity in this game that is absent from many others. I am not alone in saying, “I have spent more time on FormulaWan than on boxed retail games over the years.”
Job well-done CarpeLudem.
Team CondorDogs invites you to join us in the mayhem known as FormulaWan. Come aboard and have some fun.
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