Quote from yegadoyai :

Am I the only one to switch between sims to check how my performance improves? I tried GPL recenly and smashed my records for Spa and Watkins Glen, still not WR or anything but taking chunks out of my old times that were damn hard to repeat at the time.

I noticed the same thing. I started getting frustrated with LFS so I swtiched to GTR for a while. I didn't like the game play as much (to much practice and qualifying just to have everyone leave the race after the typical T1 pileup) so I eventually switched back to LFS. I was immediately faster in LFS than I was before my stint with GTR.

Intentionally wrecking somebody is uncool, regardless of the reason or the "justification". One of the problems is that people get knocked out of a race for a perceived slight. I had a ban vote initiated against me the other night because I closed the door another driver when he was trying to pass into a corner. He hit me from behind, crashed, and then voted to have me banned. It almost got be banned because of the lemmings that voted yes without knowing why the ban vote was initiated.

Another example was at SO Classic on the start. I went down the middle of the track through the sweeper under the bridge with a car on either side of me. The outraced the guy on the inside to the first 90 degree turn (T2?) who deliberately rammed me from behind because, according to him, I did not give him enough room.

Intentional wrecking...always a bad thing. Always.

Wow. Lots of respnses. Thanks, everyone, for the input. Let me see if I can answer all teh questions.

I'm using a WR set because when I asked for a good set, that's what was sent to me. It was chance rather than intentional. But, as it turns out, the WR set complimented my driving style and I am very happy with it. However, having said that, the WR set that I really like on the Aston track, though a bit faster on Blackwood than my Blackwood set, but not as comfortable to drive there. One thing about WR sets is that I know its not the setup that is causing problems, but driver skill (assuming I can drive the WR set).

I'll save a replay and post it the next time I race (probably Saturday or Sunday).

I do use a Logitech Momo wheel as the controller. There are some settings that I set to zero based upon recommendations in this forum (can't remember what they were right now).

I think one mistake I'm making is turning in too early. I'm often still slowing after the apex and am unable to get on the gas until late in teh turn. I didn't worry about it too much because many of the fast drivers I spectate were doing similar things.

Thanks for the Save proceedure, 96_GTS.

I usually use sets given to me because I suck at doing my own sets. However, I will tweak them a bit to better match my own driving style. I would like to get better at doing my own sets, but that's for another thread.

I do spectate and shadow faster drivers, and that usually does help.

Also, to Gimpster's point, I usually find that I can finish fairly close to the top just by keeping out of trouble. I'll often place higher than drivers that have fast laps that are 1-2 seconds faster than me. By racing clean and consistent, I do pretty well.

Thanks agains for the input. Good stuff. Plenty to think about. Now i just need to put it into practice.

Last edited by Spinjack, Thu 20 Jul 2006, 18:04.

Quote from Michael Denham :

Stick a couple of replays up and perhaps we could give some advice based on those. But XCNuse's advice of slow in fast out is definitely the key once you're finding the limit of grip in corners and still not getting much quicker. Try and get the best speed onto straights you can. What setups are you using by the way? Race_S is pretty quick right away I find.

I'm actually using the WR AC Long set, a good AC Club set, and a good Blackwood set for most every track. Mostly because I haven't built up my setup library yet. Last night I used the AC Long set on Blackwood and picked up 1 second, but the car was squirrelly and unforgiving.

I'm not familiar with the Race_S set. Is that one of Bob's generic setups?

I'm definitely at the grip limits through most corners. There are some combination corners on some tracks that I could probably take a bit faster given proper entry. The chicane on Blackwood being a good example. My fastest sector on Blackwood is the second sector.

I try slow in fast out but then get frustrated when my 'slow in' results easily getting passed without the subsequent 'fast out' tthat should make up time.

As for replay's, one thing I do is the Spectate the faster drivers to see what line they are taking and what speeds the are carrying through the corners. Again, at Blackwood last night I found that I was faster through the 90 degree turn at the end of the long straight but slower coming out of the subsequent left-right combo. ANd then I wasn't carrying as much speed though the left-right combo that leads onto the front straight. How do you record an entire race?


P.S. The reason I keep bringing up Blackwood is because that is what I drove last night.

Last edited by Spinjack, Thu 20 Jul 2006, 14:28.

Quote from XCNuse :

and be as smooth as possible, if you jerk the car around and try to fix every little mistake, then you will be slower

so, would it be faster then to let the car take the 'wrong line' if I've set up a turn improperly (assuming that line doesn't take me off track) then to try to correct and bring the car back to where I originally wanted it to be?

Quote from Dimitry Gerards :

And no offense, but some people just are 5 seconds off the pace. If everybody would be driving the same fast laptimes something is wrong... there's always more talented people out there. Unfortunately I'm not one of them myself, with a lot of hard work and hours of practise I should be able to get within and about 1 second of the fastest guys out there, but do not have the time for that... so I'm happy if I can be 2 or 3 seconds off-pace.

Agreed. But I'm only really satisfied if I get a little better each time out. I seemed to have plateaued. And like any other skill, there needs to be something that 'clicks' to move beyond the plateau.

So, when I'm racing, regardless of car or track, I always seem to be 5 seconds off the pace of the front runner (except for Aston Club, where I'm only about 2-3 seconds off the pace). Major plateau. Any hints as to a good way to shave a second or two. Braking, corner entry, whatever. What is something key to concentrate on while driving that seems to do the most good?

It was a suggestion for game side modification that had a business justification. It was NOT an idea for a change in the business model. If it doesn't fit the business model that the LFS guys have chosen, then they shouldn't do it. I believe I've said as much already.

I don't think we are in disagreement, other than I don't think the original idea nor anything I've posted in any way tries to tell the LFS guys how to run their business.

Peace out.

Quote from al heeley :

Well that's really up to them isn't it, not us.

Right. And?

Quote :

We all have lots of aspirations for them but we're not really at the sharp end, so I'm confident they can make their own decisions on this.

I believe the title of this forum is "Improvement Suggestions". Call me crazy, but maybe this is where people post "suggestions". The suggestion was dismissed because:

"All these complicated solutions for something which is not a problem..."what really is the point?""

My response was that the suggestion is valid, for the reasons I posted.

If the LFS guys wish to ignore the suggestion, so be it. Or maybe the entire Suggestions forum should be eliminated since it really isn't our call anyway.

Quote from al heeley :

I can't help thinking; "All these complicated solutions for something which is not a problem..."what really is the point?

Is LFS making the sales they need/want to grow the company they way they need/want? If yes, then you are right. If no, then there is additional work to be done. If the company principals are trying to run a lifestyle business, they what they are doing may be fine. But if they are wanting to grow into a major player...? Is anyone asking them if they will license out their physics engine?

Quote from BlakjeKaas :

As a demo racer
I actually think that's a bad idea...

Then S2 isn't exlcusive, and I think that if I had S2 and you see a demo guy, you think like: I **** paid for this game and then a
¡!demo!¡ guy shows up...

AND, then EVERY day you see a demoracer drop by... (maybe even iDi's...)

I wouldn't like it if I was S2
and as a Demo racer I wouldn't care if I could play it...

for the non-multiplayer: +1, but HOW would you ever unlock somebody's S2 for 1 day OFF-LINE!?

(I might get a S2 license in 3 months )

That's an easy one to solve. Just have a server setting that either admits day pass drivers or rejects day pass drivers. Then, if you don't want to be on an "open" server, you have that option.

Quote from P1lot :

Here's the keys and commands on 1 sheet

That's awesome. That's the first time I've seen something like that. Thanks for posting it.

Quote from Gabkicks :

omg i cant believe nobody thought of that untill now? can you think of anything else that the thousands of other lfs players havent already?

See above.

Quote from sgt.flippy :

Really don't wanna be mean... Did you figure that out all by yourself? Do you really think in all this time, nobody has ever suggested this? Read the sticky on top of improvement suggestions first!!

Thought of it. Noticed it wasn't in the game. Posted about it. Moved on.

Now you have 1,000,001 votes for rain.

you wouldn't happen to have an XRR pack of setups, would you?

Self explanatory.


Traction impact, hydroplanning, lower visibility, rooster tails, etc.

Finally got a good launch in the XRR. I had been only reving to 6-7000 rpm on pre-start. I found that I've got to over-rev the engine (9000+ rpm) to get a good launch. Which sucks because I probably had engine damage added by trying to do that.

Before realistic collision physics, realistic modifications to physics due to a crash would be better. Specifically, aero physics. Its amazing how I can have a completely destroyed front wing on the FOX with no negative handling impact (assuming the front wheels are still pointed straight). And the GT cars don't seem to lose any front downforce or having any engine cooling issues after coming up into somebody's rear end.

Modifications to a cars regular drving physics because of a crash would definitely at realism and maybe have the added effect of cleaner driving.

I've also seen drivers cut the corner at the S-curve after the long straight. Its annoying to race against people that do that, but gratifying when I'm still faster around the track.

Quote from duke_toaster :

I think that a 1 hour mini-endurance league (if that's what your thinking about) would be a great idea. With classes like this

GT1 : FZR
TC1 : XRR and FXR
TC2 : UFR and XFR

Mini endos with 2 drivers and unrealistically short races for the length would be good as it would be a training round for the stupidly long endos like MoE events.

GT1: FZR, XRR, FXR
TC1: UFR and XFR

Quote from rheiser :

You own the half of the track you're on. While you're side by side, no one owns the ideal line. The general tenor of conversations about racing incidents online (and this thread) seems to be about "assigning blame". Everyone knows the pithy quotes about the first secret to winning is surviving, but most people don't drive like that. I'm including myself here, when the red mist takes over. If you drive with the first intent being to survive the race, the skill to survive closer racing will come with experience. The biggest problem with the wide range of skills on a server at any given time is that there isn't enough "racing" going on to help people develop racing skills, especially with the 5-10 lap sprints that dominate. If you are the one doing the passing on the public servers, it might be in your best interest to also consider it your responsibility to help less experience drivers learn how to be better drivers.

Actually, that's how I typically drive and it works very well. I'll take is easy at the start, let the carnage take place, drive through the wreckage, and start working my way through the field. Which, suprisingly or not, is rather easy and requires very little overtaking. If I can avoid getting hammered during the start, I'll usually move from near the back of the pack to near the front simply by not crashing. Its funny to look at the fast lap times after a public race. I'll have one of the lower fast laps but somehow still manage a top 5 finish in a 12+ car race.

Biggest problems I have a the start is getting rear ended (hard) when I brake early into T1 to avoid the mayhem that is about to occur or getting sideswipped (hard) by some bonehead who isn't paying attention and tries to hit the apex of the turn coming from the outside while in a crowd.

Quote :

Wow, how did I get on this soapbox?

--
Rob

Quote from rheiser :

Back to overtaking in the world of sims, though...

The general rule has always been: "While there's overlap, hold your line". This is especially important in sims where most drivers have an impaired field of view, and skill levels vary from "first time in a multiplayer race" to "Greger Huttu".

--
Rob

Who holds what line? There are several ways to interpret that.

I'll hold to the racing line unless I can see the car next to me (I have side-look on my steering wheel buttons). Sometimes I'll give a hairsbreath of room if I'm unsure, more to give the other car room to back off than anything.

Quote from drinklime :

i havent seen the F-1 footage (just those pics) but i think F1 is a really bad comparison because those cars are optimized to the point that there is really only one clear line. if you go off that line you are toast. thats why no one passes, everyone is set at the limit by a computer. screw modern F1. We need to go back to cars like this:

edit: heres one with the audio
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-17994254184349724

imagine montoya, alonso, and schumacher duking it out in cars like those

Those cars have insane amounts on downforce from the underbody ground effects, so they don't rely on topside aero as much. F1 definitely needs to go back to that. Its much more exciting.

Best way to encourage clean racing; increase the damage and put money on the line.

This may have already been suggested, but it would be great to have the ability to track the placing of two different classes of cars at the same time during the same race, similar to Grand Am in the United States. For example, having GT cars (FXR, XRR, etc.) racing at the same time as Touring cars (XFR and UFR).

The race would have to be a timed race, since the two classes would cover a different number of laps.

In any case, is it possible to run simultaneous races and have LFS track each race individually.