Really tired of rearending a sleeper... Couldn't there be like a confirmation button you can push (can be just turning the wheel or pushing gas) on the grid to confirm that you are actually on the grid ?
Simple etiquette is just enough, as some people still don't care enough to click spectate when going away...
The confirmation idea is great, can't stand the arrogance of some people that do that come back and just drive as if nothing happened. Is it possible to set a time that the server will just automatically restart the race? Say like 30seconds after the last racer has finished the race automatically restarts?
why longer time? when the lights go green everybody, except the sleepers manage to get off the line. The confrmation time would be when the lights go red until they go green. Plenty of time to tab the gas pedal... If you can't tab the gas then, then ur gonna probably miss the start anyway... So I think no time loss due confirmation requirement...
LFS Lapper can be of some use. It checks wether a car is idle and the resets the car to spectate when it's idle longer then say one minute. It doesn't get all of them but it does help.
One other thing I'd like to see is an option to start from last row. When ever I am driving a new combo for the first times I want to start from the back so I won't kill anyone in T1. Maybe a simple system, like when a new race has been decided to start, everyone would need to "press any key" to join the next start. And maybe an option to press some "other key" to start from last row.
I think the best method to save having emtpy grid slots is have the confirmation before the race restart, might also minimize the people who like to fly into my car while I sit stationery off the track waiting for the restart. Just like a little pop up saying: Click okay to confirm slot in next race. Who ever doesn't press okay before the restart counter is finished or gets to 1 is put to spectate.
In real life cars that don't move usually have an inital launch and when they don't things can go terribily wrong like they did for Kimi one year. Rear ended a car which didn't get off the line. We have to deal with a bit of lag in LFS. real life there is no lag just your reaction times.
One suggestion I made long ago but I think has been lost in the depths of forum-time was for new racers to have a setting on their options screen, something along the lines of "rookie plate [yes/no]". By default it would be on, and by default it would put drivers to the back of the grid.
Not everyone agrees the safest place for a newbie is at the back, I think it is, because there's more than one kind of accident and negligence isnt the same as newbie information overload.
Such a system could also be used as you suggest.
Sort of, you cannot detect the "end" of the race as easily as the start, you can detect when the winner crosses the line, but of the cars behind ... there's no telling if they will finish, or if somebody is just out of the pits and "warming up" rather than racing. A 1-4 minute race reset time depending on track would be appropriate if based on the leader crossing the line, else 30 seconds would be fine.
If the throttle aint down at 'some point' during the red lights being on then the car should be spectated. If nothing else it will improve atmosphere with some pre-race revving .
The view of all this that I have is that this is ment to be a sim right? Well in Real Life you are ment to be prepaired for a car that is stopped on the grid and take avoiding action rather then plow into the back of it then go and say that you want some arcade feature to aid you because you are not skilled enough to take the nessasery action for a stopped car.
I for one would rather sit on the grid without touching the throttle so I can concentrate on what could happen, ie:
If the car in front does not move, where is the best place to go to avoid him/her. Or, where do I want the car to be at T1.
Like the saying goes, Fail to Prepair, Prepair to Fail.
Bug lag ensures that the car infront does not move until you have already covered over half the distance and are committed to your path before the car infront moves for the first time, then everything is ok after that.
Until the first data packet with mommentum arrives from the other player though, which can be up to 0.3s or so after the start, in a fast car you just cannot take avoiding action in time.
Annoying as hell waiting around after a race trying to get everyone to shift-r at the same time. Although I'd be content with my shift-r vote not expiring.
As for sleepers, I say leave them. As some posts say, it could happen IRL. Another 'Oh shit!' moment to deal with.
how many times have you walked away from LFS for half a minute to do something only to find out that everyone had restarted the race and left you there on the grid... that would be why
it should be a window pop up, not a .. "press the gas to play" thing, people wouldn't know what to do probably and get booted off the grid and then it would be screwed up
plus, the way you say it, that just leaves an open spot in hte grid, if that were to happen then all cars would shift forward however many spots so there aren't empty spots like so
But the rookie plate wouldn't really work, at least for me. I usually want to start the few first races from the behind until I know the lines through the track. Currently the only method is to go to spectate and join when the others are in the grid waiting for the lights. And if someone joins/leaves, I can't join (can't join, player X is joining...). So I have to start from the pits Or in worst case I lose my slot, because the server is full...
Also another thing I hate is that some people leave their cars on track when they leave their computer for a while illepall
Never. I always go to spectate when I leave from my comp or something else needs my attention. I'm "pure" :littleang
I think it is different when in real life a car stalls on the grid, and when in LFS a driver does not give a rats ass, if everybody's start is ruined because he had to go to the kitchen or whatever. Furthermore, please leave your snipe arguments and insults to yourself, thank you.
Start at the back button has been asked for before, i still say it would help some drivers, and if it was a button you have a choice of not pressing it
time to Wait on the grid for the green light should depend on how many racers/laps. 1 MInute is definetly too long, but maybe 20 seconds. If no input in this period -> spectate.
Allthough it was imrpved by the last big patch: At a full grid time to green light is now up to 10 seconds. too less imho.
I never really got how changing the race start delay changed anything. It's not as if we have to put the car in gear or the start needs any driver input or anything.
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Or in worst case I lose my slot, because the server is full...
illepall