Buggy Specifications & Race Rules

These are the buggy specifications. Any you don't provide will use the default setting.
The underlying data is also available in tabulated form.

Rules

If there are rule violations in your buggy's specification, it will be excluded from the race.
(Hint: fix that in your buggy editor)

Cost

If the total cost of your buggy is greater that the race limit, it will be excluded from that race (race limits may vary from race to race). The total cost is calculated by combining the costs of the components your buggy has.

JSON name

The JSON name is the name you must use for this item when you upload your buggy's data.

Default value

The Default value is what the buggy gets for this item if you don't provide a valid value when you upload your JSON.

Values

Value indicates what values are valid and acceptable.

Item Description/rules Cost JSON name Default value Value
Number of wheels The more wheels, the more traction. But more importantly, quantity of wheels is also a measure of the buggy's size, so an indicator of strength. The chassis of a heavy buggy with too few wheels might break.
To put it another way, if you add a lot of mass to your buggy, you'll need to add extra pairs of wheels.
Wheels are free: you pay for the tyres.
Must be even. 		— qty_wheels 4 integer
>= 4
Primary motive power The main source of motive power that moves your buggy forward.
See power table for details.
Must not be none. 		varies, per unit power_type petrol bio, electric, fusion, hamster, none, petrol, rocket, solar, steam, thermo, wind
Primary motive power units The quantity of primary motive power units. For consumable fuel types this could be quite high; for large expensive types (e.g., nuclear reactors) it may be singular.
Consumable power units are depleted during the race: your buggy gets lighter but you risk running out of fuel.
1 unit of petrol might not get you very far. 		— power_units 1 integer
>= 1
Auxiliary motive power The backup plan for motive power for your buggy. You'll only need this if your primary motive power fails catastrophically, or it runs out of fuel.
You don't need a backup. Nobody needs a backup. Until they do.
See power table for details. 		varies, per unit aux_power_type none bio, electric, fusion, hamster, none, petrol, rocket, solar, steam, thermo, wind
Auxiliary motive power units The quantity of auxiliary motive power units.
Consumable power units are depleted during the race. 		— aux_power_units 0 integer
>= 0
Hamster booster Steroids for hamsters.
Only effective if you have hamster motive power.
Cost is per booster.
Hamsters can multiboost. 		5 hamster_booster 0 integer
Flag's colour Racing buggies must fly a pennant so they can be recognised by the spectators and the race commentators. This is the primary colour of the buggy's pennant.
Note: American spelling of color! 		— flag_color white CSS-colour:
example: #ff0000 or red
Flag's pattern The pattern on the buggy's pennant. Every pattern except plain needs two colours (a primary colour, and a secondary). Stripes may be vertical, horizontal, or diagonal. — flag_pattern plain check, dstripe, hstripe, plain, spot, vstripe
Flag's other colour The other colour of the buggy's pennant, if its pattern has two.
Must be different from flag_color (unless pattern is plain).
Note: American spelling of color! 		— flag_color_secondary black CSS-colour:
example: #ff0000 or red
Type of tyres The type of tyres. Appropriate for different conditions and budgets.
You can only carry one type of tyre (that is, for all your tyres) in any race.
See tyre table for details. 		varies, per unit tyres knobbly knobbly, maglev, reactive, slick, steelband
Number of tyres The number of tyres (includes spares).

Must be equal to or greater than the number of wheels

 — qty_tyres 4 integer >= qty_wheels
Armour The predominant protection carried by the buggy. A triple-trade-off between safety, encumbrance, and cost.
Only needed if other buggies come equipped for hostilities. Surely nobody brings weapons to a race, right?
See armour table for details. 		varies armour none aluminium, none, thicksteel, thinsteel, titanium, wood
Offensive capability Just in case you think you'll win better if you can also spoil other buggies' days, some weapons are available. All can cause operational damage or punctures.
Options are classic spikes, flame throwers, electric lances, or infectious spores.
All except spikes carry a risk of karmic self-injury.
See attack table for details. 		varies, per unit attack none biohazard, charge, flame, none, spike
Number of attacks Every attack is an opportunity to be kind, wasted.
This is the maximum number of attacks that will be attempted during the race. 		— qty_attacks 0 integer
>= 0
Fireproof? Is the buggy coated with fire-retardant paint? 70 fireproof false Boolean
Insulated? Is the buggy protected with a rubber mesh protecting itself from electric lance attacks? 100 insulated false Boolean
Antibiotic? Is the buggy equipped with with the latest defences against virulent biohazards and nasty scratches? 90 antibiotic false Boolean
Banging sound system? Is the buggy wired up with some decent lungs for blasting motivational rock during the more demanding sections of the race? 42 banging false Boolean
Race computer algorithm Yes, your buggy has a race computer. The primary behavioural characteristic of the program that is loaded affects how it interacts with the other vehicles around it.
Don't start with "buggy". Buggy is what happens when your race computer goes wrong: it's not a state you choose.
Must not be buggy.
See algorithm table for details. 		— algo steady buggy, defensive, offensive, random, steady, titfortat

Types of motive power

These are the different fuel types you can use in each of your engines (power_type and (optionally) aux_power_type).

Consumable fuel is depleted while the race progresses, until it's gone (but, with the exception of electric, your buggy gets lighter).

* You can only have one unit of non-consumable power (e.g., a single reactor) per motive force.

Power source Description/rules JSON value cost/unit Kg/unit Consumable?
Petroleum-fuelled internal combustion engine Explosive petrochemical fuel extracted from beneath the planet's surface. The classic. Favoured by petrolheads. petrol 4 2 yes
Fusion reactor State-of-the-art nuclear technology. Powerful. Safe. Expensive. fusion 400* 100 no
Steam engine Water heated by burning coal and/or logs from sustainably sourced forests (unit represents fuel and water combined). steam 3 4 yes
Bio-fuelled internal combustion engine Clean fuel, moderately powerful, safe. Smells like chips. bio 5 2 yes
Lithium-ion battery Fast acceleration. High torque, safe, but heavy. electric 20 20 yes
Rocket fuel Very powerful acceleration but limited duration. rocket 16 2 yes
Hamster A race-fit hamster that has been trained to run around inside the motive wheel. Slow to accelerate, limited top power, but cheaper and cuter than most alternatives.
buggy-racing hamster
Note: Expired hamsters do not die; they jump off (safely). 		hamster 3 1 yes
Thermonuclear reactor Powerful but prone to catastrophic failure. thermo 300* 100 no
Bank of solar panels Low cost, zero to low power. But good for endurance except on cloudy or night-races. solar 40* 30 no
Sailing rig Low cost, zero moderate power. Risky: depends on prevailing winds being kind. wind 20* 30 no

Types of tyre

You must have at least as many tyres as you have wheels. Any surplus are spare tyres, and those are deployed immediately to replace punctured tyres. Your buggy's speed is multiplied by the percentage of non-punctured tyres you currently have on your wheels: so if half your wheels are punctured, you'll be going at 50%. If all your wheels are punctured, that's 0% and you are no longer racing, you're parking.

Tyre type Description/rules cost/unit Kg/unit
knobbly Great for off-roading 15 20
slick Fast choice for roads and rain 10 14
steelband Slower but almost impossible to puncture 20 28
reactive Intelligent nanotech swarm rubber restructures itself depending on the conditions 40 20
maglev You can't get punctures if you don't touch the ground. Frictionless. 50 30

Types of armour

The armour cladding on your buggy is taken into consideration when you suffer an attack from another buggy, or perhaps if there is an environmental incident on the track (feral hamsters, often with justifiable grievances arising from their treatment whilst part of the racing community, have been known to lob rocks at passing buggies). Armour adds significantly to the mass of the vehicle. Armour is not a requirement for entry in any race.

Specifically, the number of wheels is used as an indication of the size of your buggy, so the cost and mass of whichever armour you choose is increased by this percentage: +10% for every wheel your buggy has over four.

So, for a four-wheeled buggy, use the figures shown in the table. For a six-wheeled buggy (that's 2 wheels more than four, so +2×10%=+20%), use these figures multiplied by 120%. For a ten-wheeled juggernaught, multiply these figures by (+6×10%=+60%) 160%.

Armour type Description/rules cost/unit
 Kg/unit
(increased by +10% per wheel > 4)
none Unburdened and unprotected. Ideal for trips to the shops 0 0
wood Cheap but pragmatic (sustainable forests are used where possible) 40 100
aluminium Fairly strong but light 200 50
thinsteel Strong but heavy 100 200
thicksteel Very strong but very heavy 200 400
titanium The ultimate in plate protection, but pricey 290 300

Types of offensive capability

Each attack can be deployed once and only once. (Yes even spikes). Those attacks happen when there is another buggy in proximity, so it's possible that if the race is spread out you won't get to deploy all your attacks (but then... it's a race not a fight anyway). It's also why attacks are probably more likely to occur near the start of the race. When an opportunity to attack presents itself, the likelihood of being able to execute the attack is influenced by your buggy's race computer algorithm.

Every form of attack except spikes carries a karmic risk of going wrong and applying to your own buggy instead of your intended target.

Attack type Description/rules cost/unit Kg/unit
none Mostly harmless 0 0
spike A metal prong welded onto the superstructure 5 10
flame A flamethrower that puffs out a ball of fire 20 12
charge An electric lance like a cattleprod made of lightning 28 25
biohazard A cloud of infectious spores that target homonids and rodents 30 10

Types of race computer algorithm

Your race computer primarily affects how your manage your offensive capabilities and your reaction to others who attack you.

If you have equipped your buggy with no offensive capabilities, choose either defensive or steady. The former actively seeks to avoid proximity with potentially offensive buggies, so you're less likely to be attacked but perhaps your race line is compromised.

Algo type Description/rules
defensive Always avoids conflict: will attack but only reluctantly
steady The middle way: doesn't seek out attacks but makes them if opportunities present themselves
offensive Always seeks to attack (while attacks are available)
titfortat Starts steady, but petulantly switches to offence if attacked
random Capriciously defensive, steady, or offensive at different times during the race, based on mood
buggy A bad state that occurs when damaged
buggy-racing hamster