Board Thread:Game Discussion/@comment-27170954-20200130221933/@comment-27170954-20200208173153

I don’t think there is any dispute that the fastest way to earn M$180K is 2x9-lap Monza. Takes me a bit less than 22 minutes to do that. Allowing for a little rounding – that’s 8,300 M$/min and 1,500 fame/minute.

I like racing and I do a fair amount of that. I also favor the longer races – even if time doesn’t always permit. I don’t like farming – the monotony of 10-lap LeMans got old a very long time ago. FM did the players a very nice favor with these invitationals – improved (though still not great) variety and fantastic race rewards.

In the grand context of the game, 1,500 fame per minute is excellent. It is among the best the game has to offer. Yes, the long LeMans races in the F40/F50, P1 GTR, and the ‘14/’15 LMPs pay a little more per minute (after subtracting the cost of the agent), but there is precious little on any other track that approaches this. And while there is still no substitute for 10-lap LeMans on the Fame and R$ bonus days, the M$ and Fame rewards in these invitationals make them a great playground.

As I’ve said in the OP, I like a little more variety. To that end, I’ve been testing different combinations (in Excel) of races in the Invitational that yield at least M$180,000. I am not overly concerned with exceeding M$180,000 – I’m OK with a few extra laps or a few extra minutes. At the same time, I’m not going to sit there for hours. But mapping out different strategies to reach that target with minimal effort is an interesting challenge and others might find it useful.

The constraints I’ve imposed here along with a brief summary of results are as follows:

·       Minimum number of CUP races to meet or exceed M$180,000

·       Only Invitational races so fame is earned simultaneously.

·       Minimize repetition – try not to run the same track twice, but don’t necessarily exclude that option

·       Minimize the use of 3-lap cups

·       Earn the required M$180,000 before service is required. I can usually run 12 laps and still have a little green left for the last race.

All calculations ignore menu time. Too much uncertainty there – and I use these as breaks – so easier to ignore. The calculations should be easy enough to adjust if you are so inclined.

There are 33 options using only CUP that meet the above constraints without employing any of the short 3-lap races.

·       3 options: 6-laps Monza + 6-laps Suzuka + any one of the 5-lap races add up to M$181,200-182,000 and 32,800-32,900 fame. These all run 22:30-23:00, approximately 8,000 M$/min and 1,450 Fame/min based on my drive times. The alert will notice this option is only 17 laps.

·       30 options: Any combination of two mid-length (5 or 6 laps) races followed by one of the long (8-9 laps). M$ here runs between 195,00 and 214,850. So, a bit more than needed. But you also collect more fame – 35,300-38,800. These are all still about 1,450 Fame/min. Unadjusted M$/min is approximately 7,900-8,200. But once you consider the limiting effect of the daily cap, it’s more like 6,800-7,400 M$/min.

o   This has become my favorite way to play. A whole month of options without ever repeating the same set of three tracks. That’s good variety in my book!

Allowing brining the 3-lap races into the mix opens a large number of options. I’ve identified 96 options (in addition to the 33 above) where one can earn the daily M$180,000 before servicing and without ever using the same track more than once. That’s too many to detail out – I sure you’re already bored – but here are some of the more intriguing and flexible options:

·       The Long-Short-Long options is nice. Any combination of two long races with a short race in the middle meets the requirements. Based on comments in this and other threads, this is a favorite way to earn your keep. The short race doesn’t even need to be a cup. The lowest paying non-repetitive combination of two long races pays M$173,300 – the other M$6,700 should be easy to come by.

·       Short-Medium-Long options: about 2/3 of the possible options here don’t add up to M$180k. But the worst-case is short by less than M$10k. Easy to make up.

·       Three shorts and a long: All 20 non-repetitive possibilities meet the M$180K requirement. This is a nice option if (like me) you find it necessary to break your race day into smaller pieces. Though the 3-lap races are more difficult.

·       Two shorts, two mediums: most (19 of 30) combinations will work. The ones that don’t are short no more than M$8,600.

·       The last option uses all 5 tracks. Four 3-lap races followed by one mid-length race. All possible combinations pay enough.

Thanks for reading. The Medium-Medium-Long configurations are already my favorite, so I don’t expect I’ll think much more about the others – but I enjoyed (over) analyzing these options any decided to share this with the community so other players might find similar enjoyment in their playing/farming time.