Quote from Hyperactive :

And yes to mid race join. I don't want to end up spectating a race because I entered the server 5 seconds too late

... and I don't want to wind up spectating because some inconsiderate fool came blasting out of the pits on the last lap. I think it's a small price to pay

Quote from Goop :

... and I don't want to wind up spectating because some inconsiderate fool came blasting out of the pits on the last lap. I think it's a small price to pay

The price is too high

It will only mean that less people will finish. And watching people race isn't what I want to do when I double click that cunningly named LFS.exe

The server won't be a problem. There are many many empty servers. Just make a post here about the combo we are going to use and let people then find it

Quote from Hyperactive :

Just make a post here about the combo we are going to use and let people then find it

That's precisely NOT how I see this whole idea. What I'd like is to have a OCC Server. With time a group of people would recognize it as a great place to have some good races, on the less popular combos. This way we would have something like the good ol' Netikka server from the demo times.

If we did it like you suggest, people would get spread all over the place again - having 1, 2 people on a server.


I really think the best option would be if for example a team volunteered a serv. Call it "Odd Combo Club hosted by TeamX", so people RECOGNIZE it. (Both the OCC thing, and the team would get some credit as well).

Key word here: recognition: I'm looking for a original combo, I know I can head to the OCC serv, not just join an empty one and count endlessly on someone joining.

1. mid-race join: YES, if you ask me. we could (could we?) find a server that's part of the "wrecker's barricade" - problem solved. i like to practice even if i crash out, so that im better prepared for the next race.

2. finding a server with a combo that we voted for? all the time i thought we'd find someone willing to host an "OCC official server", that would cycle through the combos we voted for ..?

edit: sz beat me to it

Any car on any track for me. Might be a walk over or a challenger, which is what i like

Quote from Hyperactive :

The price is too high

It will only mean that less people will finish.

How do you figure? I would think that with more weight placed upon one's actions when racing, the more we would find individuals acting responsibly and endeavouring to finish. I think that most folk, and in particular, the people participating in this topic, would go easy into T1 if they knew they couldn't warp back to pits or vote for a restart.

This is all providing it's a reasonable race distance

Quote :

And watching people race isn't what I want to do when I double click that cunningly named LFS.exe

I think, unless the server is advertised as a 'long-distance' server, a race period of no more than 10-15 minutes is acceptable on a 'no-midrace join' server. If all you want is instant action-and-gratification (and don't we all sometimes), may I suggest you join the SO1 server running FOXes Otherwise, I don't think it's such a big deal waiting briefly for a small 'purist' racing sanctuary.

There's my thoughts, anyhow.

Best people to ask are probably the ccuk team, they've got the capacity, most of which remains unused. Only their beginner's server allows users to change the combo, just ask them to set up another that does.

Plus they also came up with the wrecker barricade and have some pretty serious anti-idiot tools, so you can be sure they take clean racing seriously.

As for mid disabling mid race join, well I've seen it working on T7R|Lippy World, when the server was running AS Club\Fox\10laps. I have to say I didn't see anyone connect and then disconnect cos they had to wait to drive. Then again I also have to say I very rarely get taken out by somebody coming in late. In short I don't really have an opinion about it.

The only combo on which I might want to see mid join disabled would be the short SO tracks when the server's full

Quote from szyszek :

That's precisely NOT how I see this whole idea. What I'd like is to have a OCC Server. With time a group of people would recognize it as a great place to have some good races, on the less popular combos. This way we would have something like the good ol' Netikka server from the demo times.

If we did it like you suggest, people would get spread all over the place again - having 1, 2 people on a server.


I really think the best option would be if for example a team volunteered a serv. Call it "Odd Combo Club hosted by TeamX", so people RECOGNIZE it. (Both the OCC thing, and the team would get some credit as well).

Key word here: recognition: I'm looking for a original combo, I know I can head to the OCC serv, not just join an empty one and count endlessly on someone joining.

I see your point. But by using my method we could start this in 5 secs. And I suggested it only because it is a very easy way out. A server would be a good thing to have but getting the racers is the tough job. I hope it goes well

Ok
My system can run a server and still let me do my Web Design work, if I can keep it happening 24/7 we become accessible from all the world not just Australia.

I have a T1 connection here and generally don't upload huge amounts at one time, keeping the uploads small and well spaced should prevent lag etc

Can 5 or 6 ppl interested, PM me and discuss further and I'll set up a server later in the week and run a few days to test etc, get feedback on peformance bandwidth etc ? About time I did some more for LFS and the community, been a long time since the S1 manual

Cheers ShannonN

Ok anyone want to try to connect to this server please S2 (patch U)

Monsoft Racing

I need to see if it's accessible
Cheers ShannonN

I received a PM earlier from maczo asking if ukct.net would be willing to create an OCC combo. [url="lfs://|UCKT+Odd+Combo+Club|0|S2|/"]UKCTOdd Combo Club[/url] is up and running. If it proves to be a popular spot, I'm happy to keep it going ad-infinitum

It's hosted in a docklands datacentre in the UK so it might have heavy pings for Aus but it should be good for UK, Europe and North America and it's there for you to use. All cars and tracks are selectable.

Sam

Quote from ShannonN :

Ok anyone want to try to connect to this server please S2 (patch U)

Monsoft Racing

I need to see if it's accessible
Cheers ShannonN

Couldn't see your server in LFS's server list. Seems like SamH got the server for OCC. Cheers for both of you.

Quote from SamH :

If it proves to be a popular spot, I'm happy to keep it going ad-infinitum

Keeping server busy seems to be problem at least at SCCC server. When i left yesterday from there, server was pretty much occupied. Over the night it has become empty and I've looking for it from time to time and haven't seen anyone there. Was same thing with XRG+SO sprint2 server earlier.
Come on gentlemen! Server is empty as long as no-one joins it

Quote from Mauni :

Couldn't see your server in LFS's server list.

Yep, same here. I tried to find it and couldn't. I'm sure it's a minor config issue. I wouldn't have created the ukct.net one if I'd realised ShannonN was trying the same.. don't want to step on toes. I was already connected to the ukct.net server when I got the PM from maczo, and so I just went ahead while I was there and created it.

Quote from Mauni :

Keeping server busy seems to be problem at least at SCCC server. When i left yesterday from there, server was pretty much occupied. Over the night it has become empty and I've looking for it from time to time and haven't seen anyone there. Was same thing with XRG+SO sprint2 server earlier.
Come on gentlemen! Server is empty as long as no-one joins it

Yep, I'm not in a hurry to pull it down, don't worry there. It's not a burden to us in any way.

I created a UFR/XFR server some time ago, following a lot of public support on the forums. I saw it in use maybe 3x in 3 months. Our South City server sometimes fills up in the morning and never seems to drop below 11 racers all day til 3am.. then it empties and stays empty for days on end. That works for me, because it's there when people feel like using it.

There are, really, too many empty servers online. 400+ servers is a lot for the number of racers online at any given moment. It does seem to dilute the racing that does go on. We're guilty at ukct.net of having empty servers, but we recently killed about 15 redundant servers and the 8 LFS servers we did keep mostly STILL remain empty. I keep them up because I need a good excuse to have our share of a 1Gbit connection. LFS helps there

I've spent some time on the server, and I have to say that the "All cars enabled" option doesn't do any good for it sadly Some racing with LX4, some with F08 and a few BF1s to kill it off

Yeah 'All Cars Allowed' is a recipe for disaster and defeats the purpose of getting people into cars seldom used.

As for some combos that I've tried in the past, here's some that I found exciting. They may not be all that odd, but they're much less used than the dare-I-say-it lemming combos.

- LX6/RAC/FZ5 at BL1
- TBO+LX4 at FE Club/Gold/Green
- MRT at AS Cadet
- BF1 at AS North (first 3 turns can be a bit of a bitch but exciting track otherwise)

We just had some fun races in the LFR class at So1R.

Was fun, but some people were coming and selecting cars like FXR or FOX. Most of them changed after we asked them to, so that's cool

I can't give admin rights at the moment because I need to maintain the integrity of the ban list that the server uses, but I will create a web interface to set car classes for that server. The track you can set if you vote to end the race, or are the first to join, in the usual fashion.

Once the web interface is up and running it's up to you guys as the "founders" of OCC to protect access to the page by sharing the web page password only with the people you know and trust.

Wow. Sounds really great. Huge thanks in advance

Yes. Sounds really really Great. Thanks
Can't wait to race the TBO's on WE Rev.

Cool...

Thanks for helping out this way Sam, I've just spent the best part of 3 hours on that server and it's been good racing all the way.

Quote from deggis :

Instead of adding new configs in the latest patch, devs should have deleted all the crappy configs.

Excuse me?

Quick update.. I have a web-based interface ready to go. It's mostly tested and it's functioning fine. With the form you can select the cars you want to be available on the server. You can also select all BUT those selected. The changes you make are instantly reflected in the car picking screen.

You can view the page at www.ukct.net/occ/

The last problem is.. who do I give the password to? There's a minor ground-rule and that is that is that you set the cars based on majority agreement rather than patriarchal dictation. I'm sure that doesn't actually need saying, but rather get it said now than have it come and bite me in the butt later.

I'll begin by PMing some of the folks who've posted positively in this thread.

Great work for the community Sam, again. Thank you.
I'd suggest to not give password for too many. Couple of active person should be enough. If password is given to too many, there is always a chance it start's spreading from friend to friend and after a while everyone would knew it. Maybe for szyszek, because this thread was created by him and someone else.

Great work SamH...yeah I was also on the server earliar and it was awesome racing around in the LRF class on So1R

Wow, am I ever glad I started this thread!

Once again thanks to all for speaking out, supporting (and coming up with)this idea

Thanks to Sam for helping

We'll see how this goes, let's hope it does get even a bit popular!
Cheers