There was a segment on 5th gear where there was a "champion" PS2 rally racer (don't remember which game) who was making the transition to real rally. He got some sponsers and actually bought one of Richard Burn's old Subies.
That's the most I've seen about video game racing on the show.

I'm cetain that one of the patches has temprarily broken LFS for someone. It is the nature of test patches. That isn't my main concern though.

Can you elaborate on "joining servers"? That is my main hang-up about running a test patch. I know that V servers no longer show up on my U version of LFS. Are all U1x servers and clients compatible no matter which test patch you are running?

I have never seen anyone in F1 make a defensive move while under the blue flag. I would be upset when someone attempt to do that if I was about to lap them.

Like someone else said, blue flag means you're being overtaken so drive predictable and make it easy for the person to pass. You can move off the line if the person is still coming up on you, but its often best to stay on your line and if possible lift off the gas (do NOT brake).

So what are the benefits to running a test patch other than to help the developers bug check it?

I take it you can race against people using U1 - U16+ even though there may be some differences between the games. Is that true?

Oops. I did a search, but for 'south city' not 'SO'

Quote from Phlos :

When I got a blue flag, I move out of racing line and brake, this sounds to me "common sense". I just can't understand backmarkers that don't move out of racing line or even better : fight with you illepall

That can cause accidents. Its much better to remain smooth, make gentle turns to get off the line and gentle changes in speed.

Wrecking someone is not ok, unless its to save yourself from a spin that they initiated by contacting you first.

That situation where you lose the leader while lapping a slower car is frustrating, but it happens in real racing too. Traffic is part of the race. Sure a smart considerate person will let cars pass at the ideal time keeping the race leaders close together, but sometimes they choose poorly. They're human and they can panic to get out of one cars way but mess up another. So don't be too harsh to judge.

There are plenty of jerks out there though! So they're not all innocent

Entering the pits if you touch the curb between the track and pit lane at all, you get launched into the air, even at slow speeds. Sorry no reply, but its pretty easy to replicate from my experience.

Quote from frokki :

That has happened several times; you are going to outbrake a slower car, he goes on brakes, then you go on brakes and just when you're about to get on his side, he changes the line and dives in front of you. The accident is unavoidable, because a) he is already going slower because he started braking earlier. b) your car doesn't slow down so fast because of the draft effect.

Now I agree, changing lines while braking is a bad thing. However, from your description, the accident could be the fault of the person braking late on the inside. IMO, if you're going to try to outbrake and take the inside line, you better be at least 50% along side the outside person as both of you come off your brakes and start to make your turns. Any further back and you didn't successfully out brake them and they are clear to clip the apex of the turn. If you hit their side because you couldn't stop in time, its your fault. At least this is what I see in F1 most the time. The person 50% behind usually yields.
Now this is being agressive. I usually err on the side of caution and try to leave some room on the inside if a car is anywhere along side me, but from what I've seen the pros do, they don't yeild unless the person is well along side them.

Sounds like good words to race by. I am usually very conservative and try to avoid contact even if the person is being overly agressive.

I will admit that I've purposely spun-out a swerver a couple times after they've rammed me while trying to block. I didn't feel bad, they were trying to push me off the road, so I had to defend myself! This was on the demo of course. S2 racers in general are more courteous.

AMD XP 3200+, 9800 Pro, 1280x960, No AA or AF
I'm getting 60-75 FPS

Just play with the AA and AF settings. If you're on a CRT turn them off and crank up the resolution. That looks better anyway.

So how would you define both "Blocking" and "defending your position"?

I wanted to get some experienced sim racer’s opinions on blocking.

It is my opinion that blocking is ok entering turns but that is about it. What I mean is its ok to defend the passing line (inside braking line and inside corner) when fighting for position with another racer.

What I don’t think is ok (and I’ve had people do) is trying to block on the straight. You’ve left the turn entering the straight faster than them and it is inevitable you’re going to pass them. As you get close they swerve and sometimes hit you. This is really a crasher IMO. If they miss you, then fine they’ve really scrubbed some speed and you get the easy pass. But it really is a cheap move.


But even though I despise that kind of blocking, I do think its ok to block as long as you are in front and you don’t slide into the other player (or cut in front and slam on the brakes). This type usually takes place in the turns.

What are your opinions on that? Is some blocking ok if done cleanly?