Hello Folks,
I am a novice SIM racer. I have enjoyed Grand Prix Legends (GPL) and GP4 in the past. LFS is a great SIM but I find the offline play is a little cold and the online play frustrating. I, like many others have a family, and spending many hours practicing lap after lap to reduce my lap times just can't be achieved quickly. I am capable of getting into a SIM car and driving a line quickly and efficiently, perhaps not "on the edge" on each lap. When I log on to race I find there are lots of people who know how to whizz around the the track at the optimum speed but end up smashing into the back of people and spinning off.
Is there a mod that can be downloaded at server to make miserable slow old gits like me faster, or more sensibly give damage penalties to inconsiderate drivers. In GP if you shunted a driver in the rear as they were cornering I expect you would lose the front end of your car......
Perhaps a little more consideration is required from the superb hot-lap drivers, who should try overtaking sensibly. I may not be taking the ultimate "on the edge" tail out line, but I will get onto a straight where I can be overtaken.
Just a thought...
Cheerio

Unfortuneately there are impaitient drivers out there who go round corners at full speed wether there is a clear track or not!

They also tend to blame the slower driver for not getting out the way when it's usually their fault!

Join a league, seriously. OWRL for instance only races every 2 weeks, and whilst there are jedi knights who can do 50 odd consecutive hotlaps there are also jedi padawanes who can only do 45 hotlaps and 5 crashes in the same race, then there's the rest of us .

Because of the longer races, it basically means that somebody who can only race at our speed is perfectly capable of getting a very strong final finishing position .

Well, a blue flag is a blue flag..

But seriously. I'm not the slowest driver, and in a practise or so I take it much easier with the slower driver. Exept in qualification, when they just come out of the pits, you see it happening on the map. Some people get out of the way when they get the change, but unfortionately most don't.

In race I take it a bit easier, but its still happends too much that someone in front doesn't get out of the way. And it's not that difficult is it? I don't get it. Even when I show a "Blue flag, please let pass" message, 2 corners before I actually reach them, they're still not 1cm out of the way... Is it so hard to get off the line for 2 secs to let someone pass, and then get back on the line?

Quote from Darkone55 :

Well, a blue flag is a blue flag..

But it's not always lapping, first corner for instance!

Some people do not wait for a realistic overtaking place, they simply try to drive through you....

Quote from Thorvertonian :

But it's not always lapping, first corner for instance!

Some people do not wait for a realistic overtaking place, they simply try to drive through you....

Hmm, well, if slower people are on the same lap you can't expect them to get out of the way indeed, as a faster driver.

Quote from Darkone55 :

Well, a blue flag is a blue flag..
In race I take it a bit easier, but its still happends too much that someone in front doesn't get out of the way. And it's not that difficult is it? I don't get it. Even when I show a "Blue flag, please let pass" message, 2 corners before I actually reach them, they're still not 1cm out of the way... Is it so hard to get off the line for 2 secs to let someone pass, and then get back on the line?

Oh no, not the Blue Flag issue again... illepall
Can you show me one documented example where the driver being passed is expected to leave his line?
How is it that after 5 or 10 laps you've finally reached a point to pass back markers, yet you expect to pass them in a matter of seconds instead of a lap or two?
IMHO, if you can't leave the line to pass, you are driving beyond your abilities.

"I am a novice SIM racer" - welcome to LFS
"LFS is a great SIM" - your darn right it is
"offline play is a little cold....." - on line is the only way to go and it's what LFS is all about
"have a family, ...." - we all had till we discovered LFS suggest you keepa picture of them beside the screen - "what's that dear?"
"When I log on ...but end up smashing into the back of people and spinning off. - you do get that on soem servers but NOT all
"Is there a mod.... - no this is a REAL sims with NO arcade stuff at all
"slow old gits like" - here's your twin and I'm at it a long time
"inconsiderate drivers" - like I say there are a few

Anyway enought of that ENJOY the racin

In racing, it is not up to the slower car to move off line. In fact, it's generally recomended that they do not. It's up to the faster car to pass safely, not the slower car. This is coming from someone that is a flagger in real life. The blue flag is displayed simply as a warning that you are about to be overtaken and to be aware.

Quote from MARSH2a :

Oh no, not the Blue Flag issue again... illepall
Can you show me one documented example where the driver being passed is expected to leave his line?
How is it that after 5 or 10 laps you've finally reached a point to pass back markers, yet you expect to pass them in a matter of seconds instead of a lap or two?
IMHO, if you can't leave the line to pass, you are driving beyond your abilities.

Wiki;

Quote :

The blue flag

A light blue flag, sometimes with a diagonal orange or yellow stripe, informs a driver that he is about to be lapped and should move aside to allow one or more faster cars to pass. In most series, the blue flag is not mandatory; that is, drivers obey it only as a courtesy to their fellow racers. However, in Champ Car, this can be upgraded. A pair of waving blue flags displayed from the starter's stand, known as the Chief Steward's blue flag, order a driver to give way to faster traffic or be black-flagged.

But I didn't say the slower (or being lapped) driver needs to get out of the way the very second he gets a blue flag. I expect them to get out of the way within a couple of corners. But it mostly aren't the cars you lap (finally ) after 5-10 laps, but the cars who come out of the pits (mostly they just come in) and they keep in front, even if they hard even drive lines. And it gets very anoying when you're in a good fight. That really happened to me way too much.

Especially after the patch I had 20 very nice fights, from the beginning of the race till the end. And 15 of them were screwed by slower drivers..

Quote from oompaloompafive7 :

In racing, it is not up to the slower car to move off line. In fact, it's generally recomended that they do not. It's up to the faster car to pass safely, not the slower car. This is coming from someone that is a flagger in real life. The blue flag is displayed simply as a warning that you are about to be overtaken and to be aware.

If someone (in F1) is given a blue flag twice, but they still don't let the faster driver pass, they get a drive-through, or even a stop-and-go..

Quote :

Champ Car drivers recommend that blue flags be displayed with a degree of urgency. The following are accepted standards for communicating these degrees:
> Stationary or (rocked) Blue Flag: You will soon be overtaken by faster traffic - prepare to give consideration.
>Waved Blue Flag You are being overtaken - give consideration as soon as possible.

Taken straight from the 2006 CART F&C rules. You see nothing about getting out of the way. To drive off-line to get out of the way is simply un-safe. You can get mixed up in the marbles. Also if you move off line you could potentially move right in front of someone trying to pass. The blue flag is an advisory flag.

Quote :

Blue:
Stationary: Check mirrors. A faster car that is or soon may be attempting to pass is approaching you.
Rocked or Waved: Approaching car is much faster (leader lapping slower cars). Advisory flag, driver is not required to move over for following car. However, intentional blocking of a faster car will result in penalties and should be reported.

Taken right off the Texas Region SCCA F&C manual. Even your own quote states that it is not mandatory; only that it is a curtousy a driver may extend.
I'm a corner worker. I have rarely ever seen a car move off line when I have given them a blue flag. They normally follow their normal, predictable line and allow the faster car to make their pass. The blue flag is mainly to let a driver know not to do anything dumb or make any drastic or unpredictable movements in front of the coming car.

When I'm admining, I enforce a courtesy blue flag, and basically bollock "***BLUE FLAG - LET ME PASS" spammers. Spamming during a race is disruptive anyway, and I don't tolerate much of it at all.

My courtesy blue flag ruling essentially boils down to the passee being allowed to continue to drive hard on the racing line, but not to block an attempt by the passer if/when they make their move. I haven't done much admining on BF1 servers yet, because our BF1 server hasn't really taken off (BF1 on KY GP Long), but I may enforce a more strict, pro-passer rule if it does.

Interpretation is subjective, so I'd suggest that if you're not sure what the enforcement is on a particular server, get in the know by asking the admin. Pretty soon I'm sure they'll get sick of being asked the same ole, and create a macro that they throw periodically. Least then you'll know what the marshalls are expecting from you.

Wow, nice responses guys, I was waiting for a lot of:" F off you old git" stuff! It really goes to show I am in the right place for a racing SIM experience. I do enjoy tooling around on the small city track but I've begun practicing aroung the KY standard course.
Where is the better racing? i.e. which track car balance to practice to become competitive. I am a fan of SS (if you hadn't guessed). I wonder if GP races are a bit loooooong.
I like the advice about a league, thankyou. Is there a Male pattern baldness league?
As for the mod issue I play a game called "Call of duty 2" online. This has several packets that download and give options such as "rifles only" the map of your enemy positions does not show and so on. For LFS I was thinking of a mod that would rip off parts of your nose if you pranged. If you crash off into the sand you get lifted out of the game and so on...

Cheers guys, see you out there...
P.S. Darkone you recently gave me your set for KY and it's superb. Anyone race GPL style with no downforce?

Quote from Darkone55 :

If someone (in F1) is given a blue flag twice, but they still don't let the faster driver pass, they get a drive-through, or even a stop-and-go..

Three times.

When I get blue flagged, I will go off the racing line and let them through. Blue flags MUST be taken seriously.

Quote :

Some people do not wait for a realistic overtaking place, they simply try to drive through you....

True. Most people will get alongside the first chance they get. It's poor race craft and frequently I exploit it to keep people behind me, or to retake a position from a faster driver I would otherwise loose by letting them through at the right moment to slingshot back at them.

Then again i've a lot of real racing experience, I will happily back a faster driver back so he has to deal with the next guy and give my tyres a break, i've never yet brake tested anyone though (that is a bit too dirty for me), there's all sorts of tricks most LFS'rs just dont realise are being used on them .

I just need to be able to do their lap times and then i'd win.