To be honest, I quite like the racing on the South City Sprint courses. It can get mildly annoying not to have pits, but hey, that's the price you pay for making a mistake. After the first five laps or so, anyone who can't cope will have destroyed both of their cars, and so without pits, they're out of your way.

As for the yellow flag ratio, I find these tracks help quite a bit - particularly Sprint 2. Doing a lap in less than forty seconds makes it far, far easier to rack up a high number of laps for each yellow flag caused, and the yellow flags are only thrown if you get to a really low speed too. If you have two crashes in a ten-minute, 17-lap race on Sprint 2, which sounds reasonable if you're with sensible enough people and not going mental, that's a yellow flag ratio of just under 12%. Well, that's an improvement for me

This is probably something I shouldn't quote anyone on, but if a second SS1 server - National B and above using FBMs - ever comes into play, then I do think SO Sprints should be taken out of the entry server, but for now SS1 is the only playing field we have with only small, nimble single-seaters to enjoy these tracks.

Sam

Just as an aside, I believe that when multiple reports result in a lifetime ban, those following the first don't get dismissed; but as the ban is permanent, it can be applied from all reports. Examples are report numbers 275, 276, 277 and 280, all of which were the same person, all of which have been labelled 'BANNED'.

Sam

This member joined the forums on my birthday...

Thanks to whoever bought me some light entertainment as a present :munching_

Sam

Quote from duke_toaster :

But that's because km/h rather than m/s is used for speed limits.

Er... What? I didn't say anything about how mainland Europeans understood metres per second, just that most British people didn't, because of the predominant use of miles per hour here.

It's occured to me that to convert from metres per second to kilometres per hour is a factor of 3.6, whereas metres per second to miles per hour is ~2.25, meaning the conversion to understand metres per second accurately is a bit more difficult for someone used to miles.

The first lesson you should ever learn when driving anywhere is that you need to treat everyone on the road like a complete idiot, so that when it turns out they are, you were expecting it and won't be taken by surprise.

Quote from spanks :

And yes, you do have to learn how to operate a car...every single feature, either through someone telling you...or just watching someone else do it, or experimentation.

But is it not bloody obvious that if the gearstick has a gear selected, and the clutch pedal is not depressed, there is nothing to stop the engine being under full load when you try to start it? If you hold a driving licence, you need to have an understanding of how a car works, and so if you can't figure out why your car moves when you start it in gear, your licence should therefore be taken away.

Sam

Where would we be without Tristan?

Voila, the solution to danger on the roads of today - a basic intelligence test as part of the driving examinations.
Should be part of S2 licencing conditions, actually. :rolleyes:

Sam

This is rapidly confirming my belief that those who use automatic gearboxes are not drivers, merely motorists.

Having messed around in LFS a bit, I can now say that the FO8 can be made to move on the starter motor, but only with full throttle. I suppose battery wear simulation is another thing to go on the Big List of Stuff To Add, then...

Sam

I had, of course, forgotten that we were talking about massive, torquey V8s with batteries bigger than a UPS. Maybe it serves some purpose, then.

I said it could be done, theoretically, not that it was advisable or practical

I do recall a Panoz being laboured back to the pits on the starter motor during the 24 Heures du Mans, though, so it's not entirely unheard of. How the car actually coped with that, I've no idea, nor do I know how close it was to the pits when the driver resorted to the starter-motor, but since we have no battery simulation in LFS, I guess it's good that the stalling physics seem to disallow this technique now anyway.

Actually, I haven't really tested it at length, but it's certainly a hell of a lot harder to do than it used to be

Quote :

This would keep you from pushing your car to the pits with the starter motor, so +1

This can be done in almost all real-life race cars, so why should it be disallowed in LFS?

For the record, I've never even heard of this feature, and, as has already been said, it looks to be nothing more than manufacturer arse-covering against lawsuits from the United States only - as no other country has such an obsession with making money out of their own mistakes.

Even then, though, I must admit I can't see the point of this system at all. If you turn over the starter motor without the clutch in, the engine is almost guaranteed to stall - if it starts at all - whatever road car you're in. Especially if the throttle pedal's been left alone. I can't think of a single car that could cope with such an action. If you were on a steep downhill incline, then it's possible that the engine could fire properly, but you'd already be rolling since you had the clutch pedal in... And if you'd put the brakes on, you wouldn't have needed the system to stop yourself moving.

Can anyone shed any light on this at all? :rolleyes:

Sam

Too right.

Sam

Hahaha, well, that's what you get for playing with the female model

I saw that was what it worked off, and the really funny thing is that a day before it turned up, I looked at the frontpage and noticed the use of 'he' (I'm not really a big he/she make-no-assumptions person, but Becky made me think of the female CTRA population!) and it occured to me that the system had no way of distinguishing male and female racers... And voila! Telepathy in admins is always good, it saves me posting things

EDIT - I now live in permanent fear that somebody will quote me on "I'm not really a big he/she"

Sam

Last edited by Dark Elite, Fri 18 Jan 2008, 11:06.

Congratulations to the whole UKCT team!

Here's to the next 20,000... And the next, and the next, because they're gonna keep on coming

Sam

I do love the feedback Sam so happily gives us on improvement suggestions to RA

Actually, I've made that mistake once myself... once.
It does look something like an overall ranking, then a ranking for SS and BnJ, but I suppose, seeing as the tin-tops were the original CTRA cars, you don't want to rename that section. Fair play, people will work it out

Sam

Quote from dawesdust :

As long as you don't interfere with their race at all, then you may do so, but as soon as you interfere with their race, you're in the wrong.

That was my thoughts too, but the rules made it seem like no matter how slowly a driver was going, or how safely I could pass him, I must never do so unless he's actually retiring from the race.

Thanks for clearing that up, it is actually how I thought it was, but it's worth checking anyway

Oh, by the way, the gender symbol on our MyCTRA page is pretty cool
Looks pretty tricky to implement as well, actually

Sam

Basically, most Europeans (by which I mean those living on the metric European mainland) do not have a good impression of miles per hour, and most British people do not have a good feel for metres per second...

In conclusion, the unit should probably be an option. Perhaps, for online use, a server-side setting so that it's the same for everyone racing?

This is still off the original topic, but that one seems to have been done over anyway :rolleyes:

Sam

Quote from SamH :

It sounds like you're describing a scenario where the slower driver is effectively retiring anyway, so there shouldn't be an issue. A driver whose car is damaged to the point where he's a danger or an obstruction on the track is expected to make his way to the pits anyway. I don't think there are many instances where the situation you're describing would arise, otherwise, so I would say that you should err on the side of caution and not overtake.

No, no, more like someone who has exited a corner particularly badly, or has a too-high-downforce setup or whatever, and so is slower than you on a straight - so it'd be perfectly safe to pass. They're still racing, but just at a considerably lower pace than you're driving at. What's the line on that?

Sam

Perhaps it should be stressed that it is an opportunity for concurrent qualifying, not a right to set a fast lap when you join after the race has started.

Is it completely forbidden, then, even to pass a considerably slower driver - carefully and safely - on a straight if you've joined late? The way the rules read, it is, but I just thought I'd check this, because deliberately running slowly to stay behind could be more dangerous sometimes.

Sam

Ahh, good point, Lordy, I'd forgotten the patch would make it useless. Well, I still have an X10 folder, so I can still enjoy it
I'll leave it there anyway.

It was at Blackwood, in the GT2 cars on CTRA. Brilliant race, it was, we'll have to do it again sometime when I get a higher single-seater licence

Sam

Quote from SamH :

If the person who is a lap ahead starts spamming with "BLUE FLAG GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!" at all, in doing so he relinquishes his right to be allowed through. You may continue to race such a driver through each segment while he's spamming. If he reports you to the CTRA for failing to allow him through, the report will be dismissed.

And with that, we have highest-authority-granted immunity from inconsiderate hotlappers

Cheers for that, Sam, and the rest of the detail too

Sam

Ah hah!

All the secrets are spilling out now, eh! So that's why you wanted the helmet to have holes for the antlers, rather than cut them off!



Sam

It'd be nice if people read threads they were posting in from time to time.

Unfortunate as it is, I have to back up col's point: LFS absolutely cannot know where your eyes are focusing, nor (currently) can it simulate having two eyes looking from different perspectives. This means that having, say, a crack in your windscreen would cause a line down the 'screen that you could never, ever avoid - whereas in real life, whichever eye's view was less impeded by that crack would automatically take dominance over the other eye, which could not see a given object so easily. LFS cannot simulate this, so this aspect of the simulation would always be unrealistic - and that's a compromise I doubt ScaViEr is willing to make.

Oh, I meant that having to back up that particular point was unfortunate, not generally having to back up col

Sam

Quote from GobLox :

There's a reason Knots are used in any situation where wind is of consequence in navigation: 1 Knot = 1 Minute of Longitude/Latitude. It's not obsolete =)

I knew there was some reason for it, I just failed to remember at the time.

Quote from XCNuse :

The only place I've seen the wind measured in knots is when I'm at an airport.

Heck, even weather.com uses mph, and so do every weather channel or news or whatever, they always use mph.

Living in a predominantly imperial-unit country, like me, that will be the case. But looking at the LFSW racer/country distribution chart, we are greatly outnumbered by more metric racers, so I suppose that's why ScaViEr decided on kilometres per hour instead:


Oh, and...

Quote from TFSnameless :

Why not just make it so that the server admin can set the wind speed range ie "Wind_Speed_Min = 5" "Wind_Speed_Max = 15"

Quote from Dark Elite :

I reckon the reason ScaViEr has given us very inspecific wind settings is that it's a bloody inspecific thing in the real world, and that's at the best of times. At least our wind doesn't change every five minutes. But more than that, if we had easy-to-tweak wind levels, rigging up a high wind ideal for fast laps would be a bit too simple.

Sam

Quote from The Moose :

@Dark Elite....Thanks, but i consider Teaz-R and Sparky Dave to be the best racers out there. Teaz-R's stats are phenomenal

*insert awed expletive here*

Hmm, now I feel dirty and slow.

But at least I have more BnJ points than the top three! I shall hold onto that as my little scrap of pride, against my appalling 29% yellow flag ratio

To be honest, I'll never get near the sort of standard you guys achieve, but it's fun to be alongside you

Sam

Last edited by Dark Elite, Sat 12 Jan 2008, 17:14.

Congratulations!

Not that I'm at all patriotic, but it's good to see a Brit up there

What really amazes me about your stats is that - not to ram sunshine up your arse too much, but this is your time to be a bit proud anyway - is that you've managed to be on the podium in two-thirds of your races, and only pull one yellow flag for every ten laps... And be the quickest guy around the track over a third of the time.. Actually, I could go on, it's a damn good set of stats

That said, I still have over ten times your BnJ points

Sam

Well, I'm a perfectionist at the best of times, and if someone makes a few bad, unconsidered moves in a single-seater I'm liable to reach for the report button... The heavier consequences of buggering around in a single-seater should, in my opinion, lead to higher standards, but apparently not everyone shares this view :rolleyes:

But I do always try to give as much detail as I can, so I'm glad to hear such things are appreciated and do make a difference to your workload

Sam