Am I the only one who follows blue flag procedure properly?

Every time I get a blue flag, I stick to my line, and that's it. No blocking, no break checking, I drive defensively and conservatively, till the other person passes me.

But every time I do this, somebody will slam into the back of my car, and start yelling at me "SINKOMAN, BLUE FLAG!". They all yell at me, "blue flag means pull over and get out of the way you tard!!!".

WTF, and it's not just a few idiots, it's EVERY SERVER I GO TO. DAMNT.

So lately i've been trying to do precisely what i'm told, and slam on my breaks and move over. Usually they either slam into my rear end, or T bone me, and scream at me "WHY DID YOU BREAK AND MOVE?"

Holy shit, am I doing something wrong here? I thought that you weren't supposed to actually change your line when given a blue flag.

I told off N I K I the other day for spamming blue flags whilst we were driving BF1s on the Stress Test servers. He though people had to get out the way, until I pointed out to him that it was OUR responsibility to get passed them, and that they have the rights to the driving lines until you make the pass. Blue flag simply means be aware someone is behind you.

Only in F1 does it mean 'let them pass'.

Anyone (and I mean anyone) who uses a blue flag message in game is a bad driver, and does not deserve to be racing.

Quote from sinkoman :

Am I the only one who follows blue flag procedure properly?

Every time I get a blue flag, I stick to my line, and that's it. No blocking, no break checking, I drive defensively and conservatively, till the other person passes me.

But every time I do this, somebody will slam into the back of my car, and start yelling at me "SINKOMAN, BLUE FLAG!". They all yell at me, "blue flag means pull over and get out of the way you tard!!!".

WTF, and it's not just a few idiots, it's EVERY SERVER I GO TO. DAMNT.

So lately i've been trying to do precisely what i'm told, and slam on my breaks and move over. Usually they either slam into my rear end, or T bone me, and scream at me "WHY DID YOU BREAK AND MOVE?"

Holy shit, am I doing something wrong here? I thought that you weren't supposed to actually change your line when given a blue flag.

The GFC is the competition for you mate. We have dual classes so blue flag rules a slightly different and it is really the driver behind's responsibility to lap the driver cleanly.

Have a look at http://www.gentlefoot.com/LFS/GFC.html and read lots more in the forum. Times are suited to your zone too.

The GentlefootFormulaRacing public server is always open too and I don't stand for "blue flag spamming".

You are supposed to watch your mirrors, and let the faster driver pass you safely, most likely in a corner, by leaving the race line noticeably for the passing driver to understand your intentions and pass you smoothly. Whatever you do, don't slam your brakes on a straight and leave the line, because there is always a 50/50 chance that the passer thinks that you're going to steer to the right and you're actually steering to the left.

The best thing to do in my opinion is stay on the racing line,people can't prodict your next move,or if theres plenty of room leave space for a car down your inside

I think it vary's from situation to situation. Sometimes stay on line - i.e. going onto s straight, sometime move of it - mid corner you might skirt round the outside to give them the line.

This is racecraft at the end of the day and you learn it with experience. Drivers begin to understand one another too after racing in a series together.

Quote from sinkoman :

Every time I get a blue flag, I stick to my line, and that's it. No blocking, no break checking, I drive defensively and conservatively, till the other person passes me.

While I agree with pretty much everyone here, that it is the lappers responsibility to get past you, I don't agree with this.
It might just have been that you chose the wrong words for this, but driving defensively, when you get a blue flag is wrong. No, you're not supposed to just move over and let the car pass you, because it's not always that easy for the lapper to figure out what your next move is.
But you are definitely not supposed to defend your position either. You're not supposed to make it a challenge to get past you and you're not supposed to fight the lapping car either.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Anyone (and I mean anyone) who uses a blue flag message in game is a bad driver, and does not deserve to be racing.

Amen to that brother.

Usually replying that blue flag spammers are wussies will shut em up.

I've been blue-flagged an awful lot, and tried driving defensively. Which usually results in somebody slamming into me and a hail of abuse. I tried sticking to my line and got 'You f***ing n00b, MOVE OVER! IT'S A F****G BLUE FLAG!'

DK

Quote from DieKolkrabe :

I've been blue-flagged an awful lot, and tried driving defensively. Which usually results in somebody slamming into me and a hail of abuse. I tried sticking to my line and got 'You f***ing n00b, MOVE OVER! IT'S A F****G BLUE FLAG!'

DK

You've wandered into the wrong servers by the sound of it.

Yeah. They were some of the most frequently discussed servers on those boards too.

DK

I think the whole blue flag thing is meant to be cooperation between the lapper and backmarker. Personally, whenever I'm blue flagged, I don't slam on the brakes but I wait until the driver behind is around 0.5 behind me, then I lift off the throttle and go off the racing line. IMO, thats the best way to do it. Whenever you get the blue flag message, I think people should be a bit patient and use their mirrors to see how far behind the driver behind is and then when they're close enough and maybe they're close enough to use your slipstream or like I said before, just lift off the throttle and go off the racing line. Blue flags aren't complicated lads, they're simple.

I think that the backmarker should never, and I mean NEVER, drive defensively when a leader is coming through. First of all, for the leader, he's /she's getting held up while the driver behind the leader is quickly closing and then as for the backmarker, he/she too is losing time from trying to be defensive which will stretch the gap to him/her to the driver in front of them.

Its very simple, just a bit of work from both sides and everything would be dandy .

Also, I suggest many people have a good read of this, these are the racing rules which are used in most if not all motorsport: CleanRacersClub Rules

Hmm can we give a definition to defensively? Because I think it isn't used properly here...

When I have to lap someone, with 5 cars following closely to get my 1st position, and I have to pass a lapper, who is 2-3 secs slower than me, then yes, I expect him to slow down his pace, not stop, but noticeably slow down, or take the outside line in a turn, to give me the signal I have the ok to pass.

Now there are people that are very often BLOCKING me when they get a blue flag. This is stupid, and if by defensive driving you mean blocking, then I strongly advise you to reconsider. You're not going to make many friends, although you're going to get many kicks.

There is nothing more annoying then a relative newbie that you are lapping races you for position, rams you in the braking zone, and then justs says sorry. And I've had that happen many times. For him no biggie, for me race is ruined.

Quote :

The blue flag
A light blue flag, sometimes with a diagonal orange or yellow stripe, informs a driver that a faster car is approaching and that the driver should move aside to allow one or more faster cars to pass. If the flag is waved, it indicates to the driver that the fast car is on its tail. In most series, the blue flag is not mandatory; that is, drivers obey it only as a courtesy to their fellow racers. In Formula One (in which the blue is lighter and does not have a stripe), if the driver about to be lapped ignores three waved blue flags in a row, he is required to make a drive-through penalty.

We have enough problems with blue flags as it is, let's not give more people the wrong impression, and have them think they are right too...

edit: As for those that have joined mid-race, I expect them to not obstruct you in ANY way during the race. They are just there to get warmed up, and not to race.

I thing I really hate about backmarkers that are about to get lapped is that they sometimes go very slowly in a corner (slower than they usualy drive) meaning you are very likely to catch them mid-corner. What makes it worse is that it there is usually only one fast line through the corner and they're on it.

If you are about to get lapped but haven't been passed before you enter the corner, try and get through the corner as fast as you can when driving safely. If you cannot do this (ie cannot keep your normal speed through a corner with a faster car behind) - be nice, let the car behind pass before the corner.

When ever i get a blue flag and they become visable in my mirror,
If im on a streight i pull out of racing line and let off a bit to let them past,
If im on a corner i pull out of the racing line and go wide to let them through,

But if im laps behind and not a challenge but just testing a setup or somthing, or joined a race late i just pull right over and go alot slower to let the battling leaders past

But its kind of anoying when your in a verry good race and some one doesnt move and say your battling with some one then you have to go ether side of the person who isnt obeying blue flag, and then allsorts can happen like they finaly notice it then swerve right even tho your there etc..

I think personally there should be a blue flag waving onscreen instead of just text

We seem to see a thread like this every couple of months. I don't really think there's that big of a problem, and I don't even see many people spam "Blue Flag let me past you noobaloo!" any more (probably because we see threads like this every couple of months.)

99% of racers know what they're doing, what the blue flag basically means, and they try to get out of the way. Accidents happen- gaps, closing speed can be misjudged, a touch of panic creeps in, it's no big deal, and you can't ask for more than that. Only rarely do you see someone who thinks they're meant to race with anybody behind them on the track, or that maybe wants to try and prove him/herself or something

The only annoyance I have is that racers who joined mid-race get the same blue flags as people who started the race but are genuinely a lap down. The two are not the same, and they do not both have the same right to be on the track (imho). Mid-race joiners should just get the heck out of everybody's way, and not even be so much as a distraction, full stop.

There was this one time I was just about to overtake somebody (This was on the demo by the way, so it's more understandable) and just as I was going around him (it was on a straight and where he swerved was totally out of the line he was in) and just as I was passing him, he barged me off the road, making me spin out of control and crash and he carried on.

I would've accepted an apology but what he did was obviously on purpose.

Suggestion/idea.

The blue flag message doesn't show up when you have shift+F disabled, does it?

Well, I suggest either

A light in the cockpit

OR

A waving flag

Discuss

DK

Quote :

You've wandered into the wrong servers by the sound of it.

Server has nothing to do with it. I for one dont stick to a given server. If there's a problem then it's with the community, and as i've seen leaders screaming mis-quotes of the rule book about blue flags on just about every server, I dont think blaming it on the server is either productive, fair on the server, or in any way correct - the problem exists in the community of which we are both a part.

There is a long standing fable in the LFS community that the lead car has the right of way ... and it's because blue flags are something of a contraversial subject in real racing too. I've followed many racing drivers on real tracks who in 15 laps never once looked behind them, and where surprised when I finally managed to stick one up the inside of them. I've raced drivers who failed to acknowledge what the blue flag was, who asked what it was after the race, who asked the marshalls to blue flag me when I was half a straight in front, i've been blue flagged by marshalls after i've just unlapped myself, and i've received blue flags when fighting for position (I nearly killed that marshall) ...

The truth is everything i've seen in LFS, i've seen on the real track too. There is no universal single rule for the blue flag.

In the league I run we have a blue flag rule that favours the leader - there is a reason for it I wont go into - on the public servers i'm involved in we have a different rule.

Personally, my take was originally MSA standard, and got perverted by LFS' online abuse training system into just giving way. Now i'm starting to fight back and drive properly again: I carry on, if the driver makes a pass I dont resist and i'll happily go wide on a corner entry to let them dive under me.

That's the most I do now, if anyone has a problem with that, screw 'em and their blue flag hotkey bind. They can scream all they like, but i'm a racing driver and i'm here to race.

I agree with Leprekaun, when I'm being lapped I usually know before the blue flag appears, and what I usually do is get off the best racing line (If I'm not battling for a position) and wait till the lapper gets close to me and then lift of a bit the throttle, then I usually stick to the back of the lapper so I don't loose a lot of time. Doing that I've never had an incident being lapped, so I'll stick to it

Quote from tristancliffe :

Blue flag simply means be aware someone is behind you.

Only in F1 does it mean 'let them pass'.

Exactly. I mentioned this once a couple of years ago and nobody believed me.

Quote from Paranoid Android :

As for those that have joined mid-race, I expect them to not obstruct you in ANY way during the race. They are just there to get warmed up, and not to race.

This happened to me on CTRA new & bronze server. I was leading and two other were behind me in a 2-3 seconds distance, so the race was tight. The three of us were driving the XF GTI and one racer, who joined midrace, passed us on a 4th last corner on the last lap. He was driving the XR GT. With his action I had to take gently last corners, 'cause I didn't now what he was about to do or how skillfull he might be Well the situation went ok, I won and all but I made my opinion clear about his passing a group of competitors by sounding my horn alot.

It bugged me that someone would come and race us, even when he was laps behind us! So I left after the race shortly afterwards...

Well, I saved the replay and watched it and the situation wasn't that bad but it made mine brane overload with information and made my heart rate go way up

If I see a blue flag, I take a mental note of the situation ready for the bug report... no way I'd be getting lapped

Seriously though hot heads who believe that back markers should just disappear by magic as they approach are just half of the problem.

Another big part of the problem is that in LFS (and any other racing sim) being aware of whats happening behind and to each side of the car is difficult - that makes being passed difficult.. add to that the fact that most often the driver getting the blue flag is inexperienced and so not comfortable with look buttons, and its obvious that there will be incidents

Often the inexperienced drivers don't even know that the look buttons exist, and those that do don't realise that you can switch from the totally impractical and disorientating 'smooth' look to the very useful and easy to get the hang of (IMO) 'instant' version. (in my dim memory smooth was the default - maybe not now, or it never was... I dunno).. anyhow, when your sitting stationary, it seems that smooth would be much easier, but in practice at race pace the opposite is true... A racer should be able to look around, left and right while racing in traffic mid-corner without 'losing it'

Maybe one of the lessons (maybe its there I've not checked them for years) should involve using the look buttons and answering some kind of question about what you saw as you passed something mid turn... you would have to be going at race pace through a tricky 'S' section to 'pass' and also be able to answer a multiple choice about some randomly variable graphic on a board at the apex... maybe 4 boards 2 left, 2 right all angled away, so you can only see them using 'look', one has a star marked on it, you have to say which one... and what colour the star was...

Thats a pretty good idea about the look buttons being incorperated to training.

I always take the blue flag very seriously. I follow Becky and Leprekaun in my philosophy for the most part. It's a fluid situation. You have to take each one as it comes. Being unpredictable is not helpful. Fighting for a position that isn't really a position is maddening. Some places on the track are easier than others. Sometimes the car behind is slower, but ahead. Etc...

But! In LFS we have another situation. Mid race join. Being able to warp to the pits and/or join at any point during a race means that sometimes we will find ourselves in a place we really don't belong. People are racing out there. They've worked hard to fight their way up to a good starting postion, alligned themselves to race their chosen opponent on a given server, and then the crowd comes along floods the track.

If I am a drop in the flood I do whatever it takes to stay out of the way. The worst social foul, in my head, would be to mess up a race I am not rightfully involved in.