Spark Racing League

SRL Is Finally Kicking Off

posted by Gold on 14 July 2010

Considering ReaperCharlie is almost done with the site, the SRL will finally be able to submit races and get the league running again.

–Gold

SRL Back-End Coming Up!

posted by ReaperCharlie on 12 July 2010

So, I've been spending the last 4 or 5 days chugging along, programming in the spare hours I have, and the back-end is really coming together! I'm excited with the amount of things that I'm learning as I go through this process, and I hope to be able to finish everything off in a week or two (I am as surprised as anyone else that my original estimate of 'a few weeks' seems to still be accurate at this point).

I'd also like to give a huge shout out to Theo for helping me so much. He's been very patient with me while I've asked him all sorts of questions, and has basically been my own personal fountain of programming knowledge. Thanks also to Patabugen, Phusi0n, Halow, Greysoul, and whoever else has helped me as well so far along the way, I couldn't have done it without you guys!

–ReaperCharlie

SRL Website Undergoing Automation

posted by ReaperCharlie on 5 July 2010

Well it's been quite a while since I have updated the site, and I have been really busy with other areas of life, but yes, the rumors are finally true this time:

After quite a long hiatus from coding, I've finally been able to begin automating the website's statistics-tracking areas and referee game-reporting processes. Given a few weeks work, most of the site's back-end should be up and running without any more hitches. This will make it a lot easier to report races, update the homepage with news posts, track new statistics, and a lot more cool stuff too.

Thanks to all of those on the staff who waited so long for this kind of updating to take place. It is to you that I dedicate all of this new stuff! :)

–ReaperCharlie

SRL Website Arrives

posted by ReaperCharlie on 30 December 2009

Without further ado, I give you the new Spark Racing League website! It's not quite finished yet, but we'll be working on tweaking everything and making sure everything gets finished up soon! Please excuse the mess while we tidy up a bit! =]

I'd like to extend my personal thanks to Night for elucidating some areas of PHP so that I could make the score calculation script a reality, and also to Godzilla, Basehead, and PitchblackItai for recording some of the videos I will be using in the header section (which is currently defunct but which will kick serious @#$ when it's done)! All of these guys have been a help in making this website.

But most of all, I'd like to thank Gold for helping out creating maps, running races, and in general being the best Vice President I could have wished for. Hats off to you, Gold! <3

–ReaperCharlie

Spark Racing League: Tourney Style

posted by ReaperCharlie on 4 December 2009

I present you with a good spot of news! After trying valiantly to run Spark Racing League like a normal 401.9 league, in which there are pre-scheduled times, make-up penalties, and with registrants being required to show up for every race, we've noticed that (for many reasons) a racing league just won't work out that way, with the state that Spark and its players are currently in.

So, we've decided on a better way to run things: We will be running SRL in tournament-style fashion, in the same way that the Certified Tournament Administration is being run. We hope that this new development will open the circuit to more racers, increase the level of competition, lessen the overall commitment required from all racers, and make the administration a lot easier on the part of the Spark Racing League staff! This will require a bit of rearrangement of the website, and we'll be working harder than ever to bring you updates in a timely fashion, so that we can all focus on racing!

At the heart of SRL is the desire to kindle the competitive spirit in Sparkers to be the fastest, and to provide an atmosphere in which all involved can have the most fun possible, and we hope this decision will bump up the fun level another notch for everyone! Cheers!

–ReaperCharlie

SRL Staff Announced

posted by ReaperCharlie on 31 October 2009

Well, race day is here, and it's time to introduce you to the gentlemen who will be working together to bring you Spark Racing League! These guys are all hard-working and have been a pleasure to set up the league with! The list is also available on the Staff page. If you see them in the lobby or in-game, make sure to thank them for their contributions to Spark!

–ReaperCharlie

Welcome to Spark Racing League

posted by ReaperCharlie on 16 October 2009

Spark Racing League is an every-man-for-himself league in which players do their utmost to get their ship from the starting spawns to the finish lines in the shortest amount of time possible! The races take place on specially-crafted raceways, designed from the ground up into Spark maps by the SRL Staff. The 'skill' factor that accompanies most leagues will not be a requirement for Spark Racing League, players of all skill levels can play and be competitive in a race league. True Victory against your competitors depends only on the dexterity of your fingers, the speed of your mind, how quick you are able to take the curves, and whether or not you can avoid the deadly traps throughout the raceways!

Spark Racing League began time-trial qualifications on October 31, 2009 and will conclude with a final race on December 12, 2009. A more comprehensive schedule of times and dates is available on the Schedule page. The races will be held on Saturdays and Sundays exclusively, with a few holidays from play thrown in. We are trying hard to be able to make that release date, pending some minor issues we are currently facing. We know that in Spark's history that players have seen their fair share of empty promises when it comes to 'releasing on time,' and we are trying our best not to follow that trend.

Anyone can join! This league is all about getting players to experience the fun that can be had in Spark! You can even use your smurf name if you want (we think it's fair to assume that it's pretty impossible to simultaneously race two tanks effectively, so we've decided to allow smurfs). It doesn't matter what skill level you are at in terms of normal league or pub play, because there will be no flag-capturing, switch-flipping, assassinating, or any conventional objectives involved! Just you, your opponents, speed, curves, traps, and the battle to achieve victory instead of defeat!

SRL will be played in a variety of maps, some that were created specifically for SRL (CrazyMaze, Destiny, GoldRush, GrassLands, PrisonBreak, etc.), and some that were chosen from Weebo's ARL (Swift) for their popularity and longevity. The maps we have created have been overseen during development to ensure that they're of the highest quality, and have been tested endlessly for usability purposes, and have been guaranteed 100.1% awesome by the SRL Staff! If you'd like to create a map for SRL, or suggest a map to use, give us a shout out on the SRL forums!

For any other information, contact us on the SRL forums, or talk to any of the SRL Staff in the lobby or in-game. For referees, we are looking for players with prior experience racing in or refereeing race leagues in ARC/Spark, but if you haven't done that before, feel free to apply anyway!

See you on the raceways!

–ReaperCharlie