Quote from PLAYLIFE :

I often run purposely wide in the frist tunr because I know there is a car coming from behind that thinks he can out brake 15 people into the corner.

Tried that but it didn't work... time and time again. I found out that actually holding the inside line and actually driving over the inside curb was my best bet for getting through safely on CD3 (UFR/XFR?) T1. If you are hit you might stay on track because you are bumped into another car and not straight onto the grass.

I like the UFR/XFR cars after spending most of my time lately on CTRA/STCC servers on the UF1 and didn't yet touch a RWD car in patch X

Ah well, it's sometimes frustrating also because you are actually raced and consequently usually being crashed by people ignoring the blue flag on that server. Usually happens when you are finally getting in the top ten and hope to be more crash free and the next race you are completely taken out by a backmarker and have to try and start from the last row again. Sometimes I just give up and that wasn't happening on the CTRA servers. It probably has to do with car control, that is just a little harder on the R class on that little track.

I do still enjoy it though :P

It certainly is very frustrating when you gently and progressively slow down for an anticipated T1 pile-up and despite trying to signal this to the drivers behind you, you still get taken out...

One aspect that doesn't help is the difficulty in adjudicating over who was at fault. Imagine if you were the world's best mod operating at a packed ConeDodgers 1 server - you have a full pack of GTRs and after a race restart it ends in the inevitable pile-up. Accusations and complaints fill the air - but how can you quickly and efficiently resolve who was at fault, and mete out appropriate punishment?

Perhaps a future iteration of the replay system might help where you had a pseudo-"TV umpire" style feature, where you could easily switch between drivers and 'jog' frame by frame forwards and backwards, watching just prior and just after a point of collision to work out who was racing fairly, who was being wildly over-optimistic, and who was simply unskilled. I imagine that right now the only option to have an evidence-based conclusion is for the mod to save the replay, then watch it either under a separate instance of LFS (nb not tried that, it might not work) or worse still, exit the server and watch the replay before rejoining. (I did this once with [CD] Birder, who it turns out was actually completely in the right, so I believe that a replay-based decision has a lot to be said for making fair decisions.)

But ultimately, having to weed out the wheat from the chaff on a populated server is always going to be a losing battle - I think the best bet is to somehow end up on a server populated with skilled drivers who enjoy the fierce thrill of the give, as well as the take, when truly racing a worthy adversary.

Rakhsh

Quote from AeoIus :

Tried that but it didn't work... time and time again. I found out that actually holding the inside line and actually driving over the inside curb was my best bet for getting through safely on CD3 (UFR/XFR?) T1. If you are hit you might stay on track because you are bumped into another car and not straight onto the grass.

Yeah, that's how I manage to get through cleanly most of the times...

The funny ting on that combo is that if you get a relatively clean race you can go from 30th position and all the way up to the lead in just seven laps. Because half the grid either pits or crashes.

I was at that server (CD) with Thill and I had the same problems. Trying going out the outside, sticking to the inside, slowing down to avoid crashed cars - everything ended in a collision sooner or later
Then, when somehow I managed to be in front, some self-proclaimed mod started spamming the screen with blue flag warnings for lapped players in front of me, which, instead of helping me, distracted me even more.
So then I went in search of a better server and ended up at Dead Men Racing with XRG+XFG and it was a lot of fun and close racing - a completely different world!

So my advice for you, Thill:
1. Join a league (i.e. PLLFS ) if you have time.
2. As people already stated - go for less populated public servers - you might have more close and fun racing than in a full field.
3. Try slower cars! Since the introduction of GTR's and single-seaters I have a lot more trouble finding good,close races and when I find them, very often they involve the slower, pre-S2 cars

The thing is i really like the sane people on CD and driving with them is great. I do like to drive slower cars of course but since ctra is taken down i kind of race the gtrs and wait for that serv to come back up again

I guess I'll try to find some other servers if the crashing wont stop on CD

About the league , hmm thats a good idea , problem is I wonder if I'll be able to join every race due to rl stuff :/ thjats why I have been putting the league stuff away all that time , but I guess its worth a try

Yesterday i drove on those 32 slots server.
I agree that on AS cadet its a bit messy.

But one of the biggest mistakes of most ppl is that they are ready to do anything to get one place.
Result....wrecking...
Sometimes i see guys trying to overtake me, and if i dont let them pass, its the accident.
I prefer to let them braking lately and thinking they have some "magic" brakes then they going in sand and i overtake just after.

When i drive on that kind of server, my main objective is to anticipate other mistakes, taking my time and sometimes waiting that other drivers finish to play bowling.

Yesterday it took me only 2 races to be in front from back grid...
So, be more patient and the result will be there.

Quote from Lotesdelere :

Not everyone wearing a [CD] tag has admin rights. In fact very few of the CD members have admin rights untill this will be implemented.

It seems like a simple InSim program could fix that right up.

Yeah. I've given up at this point. If I'm at the head of the pack I gun it and just try to get partway around the first turn as QUICKLY as possible, so that even if it's not teh cleanest, fastest line in the long run, at least I'm out of the trajectory of those idiots who just slide across the turn and take out everyone in front of them when they brake too late.

However, I've found that the easiest thing to do with 30 ppl is to hang back, and even let people pass you. Then when the giant pileup happens, you have plenty of time to avoid them. Then half of them crash at some point in the race and you're down to like 12th. Of course, you'll never win any race like that, and that's what sucks so much.

There should be some tiny tweaks that can be enabled in certain servers. Like if one person brakes later than everyone else in the first corner, and hits another car, their car should be colored bright red for the next race, and if they do it more than once, the admin gets a message saying so. Then they can decide what to do with him.

Quote from nathanm :

It seems like a simple InSim program could fix that right up.

The system we will be using has that feature, and it was almost ready for public testing - but Patch X and the improved InSim were announced which meant, like the CTRA system, our system had to be rewritten. We have a stop-gap solution on CD2 which has a driver white-list (thanks to the_angry_angel) which we hope will help. Drivers will have to prove themselves on CD1 first though, so it's obviously not a perfect solution.

Quote from robps :

The system we will be using has that feature, and it was almost ready for public testing - but Patch X and the improved InSim were announced which meant, like the CTRA system, our system had to be rewritten. We have a stop-gap solution on CD2 which has a driver white-list (thanks to the_angry_angel) which we hope will help. Drivers will have to prove themselves on CD1 first though, so it's obviously not a perfect solution.

Just a request. Can you do it so people can't join in mid race?

I know its just for people that have just joined the server, but annyway.

Quote from MyBoss :

Just a request. Can you do it so people can't join in mid race?

I know its just for people that have just joined the server, but annyway.

I think there is a server side option "no mid race join". However, ur not gonna fget much customers ehen there is a 10 lap race. Very few are gonna wait for it.

Oh my god, now I see what you mean. I just tried the Cone Dodgers server, never seen so many jerks in my life. Someone was clearly slower than me, and when I try to pass him he would steer towards me and block. Then someone was clearly faster than me and rammed me from behind on a straight!!! WTF?????

Well, I'd like to thank CD for their attempts at getting something to work at all. I had my race on their CD1 server earlier today (can't cope with more than one race a day at the moment ), and although the first two attempts were restarted after T1 mayhem, and the third attempt saw someone take me out before even reaching T1, I did have an enjoyable race, battling from dead last up to 3rd.

Thanks CD, please keep trying.

CD servers are bad, but with 32 racers on track you have to expect it.

Although I did get kicked by a very rude admin who guessed wrong that i wrecked him when I didnt. But thats a different story, if a CD admin would like to look into it, PM me as I havnt been on your server for this reason.

Just recently, I done 4 races on a FOX/AS Club server and I got taken out 4 times, 2 of them ended my race. Very annoying! Thats life though, I try not to take it personally.

Quote from The General Lee :

Just recently, I done 4 races on a FOX/AS Club server and I got taken out 4 times, 2 of them ended my race. Very annoying! Thats life though, I try not to take it personally.

Try not to take it personally... that is very hard for me. I get so pissed off. Even in real life when something happens I get road rage all the time. I have the scrape marks on my car to prove it

Quote from drinklime :

Try not to take it personally... that is very hard for me. I get so pissed off. Even in real life when something happens I get road rage all the time. I have the scrape marks on my car to prove it

That's actually a bit disturbing......

Quote from The General Lee :

...
Although I did get kicked by a very rude admin who guessed wrong that i wrecked him when I didnt. But thats a different story, if a CD admin would like to look into it, PM me as I havnt been on your server for this reason.
...

PM me with a replay and I'll look into it.

Quote from drinklime :

Oh my god, now I see what you mean. I just tried the Cone Dodgers server, never seen so many jerks in my life. Someone was clearly slower than me, and when I try to pass him he would steer towards me and block. Then someone was clearly faster than me and rammed me from behind on a straight!!! WTF?????

PM me with a replay and I'll look into this also. Just so we understand, and to make sure I'm not being a cynic, it almost sounds like both incidents above are the same except that in one case you are the car in front, and in the other, you are the car behind. Might just be the way you have worded it and me being a cynic



If you think we should ban someone from the CD servers, then do me a favor - save a replay, watch it back from both points of view and then if you still think the person deserves a ban then send the replay to me. (let me know which lap it happened on!)

To quote a CD admin "Replay, or it never happened".

Allot of people 'flame' at the Conedodgers server but for what reason? They provide 4, usually pretty full, servers with sometimes some good racing. It's not all about the 'newbs' that crash. Allot of fast drivers there i see pushing way to much wenn approaching another driver. They don't adjust there driving style to the person infront of them, they just try to overtake the first corner they approach. If you adjust YOUR driving style to the person infront of you and just wait for the oppurtunity to pass him allot less accidents would happen as well. Of course there are some things you can't avoid and yes it's still annoying if you behind a 3sec slower per lap guy and he aint letting you pass but try to be the bigger person and don't just put your car beside him. On Conedodgers 2 i usually race. I have good fights with people who are 2 second slower per lap, not because it's so intense but just trying to find the perfect place to overtake him and do it CLEAN is a fight on it's own sometimes. Some people might think, Battle you just wasted your time because we still think it's all the 'newbs' fault. It has been said before but it all starts with yourself.

PM sent Robps and thank you

Good post battle. I'm not an exeptionally fast lapper. I've had many races where I've backed out of a pass for various reasons. Whether it's an inexperienced driver in front of me who doesn't know I'm there from his inexperience and accidentally cut me off from it, or a more experienced racer who isn't letting me pass easily. If you are not going to complete the pass, it's better to back off and wait for a better opportunity rather than punt them off the track.

One thing you have to remember with large fields of racers, lag and framerates play a big part of T1 or pre-T1 crashes. With lag at the start, cars appear to be moving over off their line causing others to swerve unexpectedly where the driver behind may not see the reason for the swerve. If two cars contact and spin in the middle, I'm sure many other's framerates drop down near unplayable and uncontrollable levels. Not only does framerate affect what you see, but it also affects your controls. Control lags and others or you may be controlling outside of where you want to control.

Especially when giant wrecks happen at Conedodgers' AS National along the front stretch before T1, I do believe most of it is caused by net, framerate, and controller lag.

Quote from mrodgers :

Especially when giant wrecks happen at Conedodgers' AS National along the front stretch before T1, I do believe most of it is caused by net, framerate, and controller lag.

And a good amount of people who think they are Lewis Hamilton, and just because they got beat off the line that they have the right to cut across the track

Quote from srdsprinter :

And a good amount of people who think they are Lewis Hamilton, and just because they got beat off the line that they have the right to cut across the track

Exactly what I'm talking about. Someone's framerate drops into the 20's, their controller lags and LFS does not see their input at the slight bend in the front stretch, their car cuts across the track even though they were giving input to turn right. A driver sees that and swerves, but is lagging a bit. The next driver doesn't see the lag. Three cars involved in a wreck due to hardware, framerate, and lag issues. This causes issues for the next few behind who are sucked into it. Framerates drop even farther for the people in the back. Next thing you know, 20 cars are scattered around with 15 of them yelling "you noob" in the chat. Then there's me who spectated until the grid was set and starting last, short shifting through the front stretch at half throttle. The carnage happens half the straight ahead of me. I ease through at 20 mph. I come out of T1 running from 30th to 5th. I run 6 laps or so, 2 others who were ahead of me spin and give up shift-S'ing to the pits. I'm now in a podium spot. Through the pitstops I catch up to the two leaders. I battle it out with them and finally enjoy my race for the last lap out of 10 .

Quote from mrodgers :

The carnage happens half the straight ahead of me. I ease through at 20 mph. I come out of T1 running from 30th to 5th. I run 6 laps or so, 2 others who were ahead of me spin and give up shift-S'ing to the pits. I'm now in a podium spot. Through the pitstops I catch up to the two leaders. I battle it out with them and finally enjoy my race for the last lap out of 10 .

Way to deflate my last-to-3rd race success of yesterday!


(oh, and you need to update your sig from the STCC banner to the CTRA banner - replace [STCC] with [CTRA])

Quote from Christofire :

Way to deflate my last-to-3rd race success of yesterday!

Yeah. I would say that you can finish at the top10 easily on any public server everytime. Just use a bit of sense on T1 and drive to the end of the race.