Really great stuff this ctra-thing!

Imho there is only one piece of information missing in the "$help menu". I would like to be able to see what track will be served next.

This way people would be able to have some (offline) practice before entering it online.

Having the following tracks shown on the race authority site would work also.

Keep up the great work!

I say keep it hidden because it keeps the field on its toes and stops people appearing who have been practising the combo and meaning that to gain points quickly everyone ends up doing this.

Along the same lines I suppose...would it be possible to have time/no. races until next track change on the Servers page of the CTRA site ?

Good point ajp.

Another factor I would like to take into account that there is no chance for setup/fuel change for the first race on a new track.

But that could make racing even more interesting.

To show the next track isn't possible - it's chosen at random (or thereabouts, I think there's a "not current track" proviso in there).

As for showing the "time to next combo" on the website, that'll be down to Sam.

Quote from Joris :

Good point ajp.

Another factor I would like to take into account that there is no chance for setup/fuel change for the first race on a new track.

But that could make racing even more interesting.

Well you can change your set and fuel load by going to the garage, which when there's a car change you have to do anyway.

What about making the information known when the last race on the current circuit finishes? That way you prevent the thing ajp71 is talking about, and still allow people to share setups for the next track.

I reckon that you mean track change. Is there enough time to change setup during the track change?

Quote from Joris :

I reckon that you mean track change. Is there enough time to change setup during the track change?

Yep.

I normally have time to join the grid, then see how many laps it is and which track obviously, then head into the pit screen to sort setup and fuel.

Quote from Joris :

I reckon that you mean track change. Is there enough time to change setup during the track change?

Usually enough time if you know which setup and how much fuel you want.

I find on track change theres sometimes a situation where 1 person will join and click ready before anyone else can join this causes the race to start and everybody else cannot join in the 1st laps or so.

a potential problem, Ive only seen it happen a few times tbh.

even if its random, could it be coded to choose randomly the next track also and display this somewhere?

I have really missed the TBOs since the almagamation of 2 and 3 Ive not managed to find a time when there running better luck soon maybe

SD.

Quote from SparkyDave :

I find on track change theres sometimes a situation where 1 person will join and click ready before anyone else can join this causes the race to start and everybody else cannot join in the 1st laps or so.

a potential problem, Ive only seen it happen a few times tbh.

+1

i´ve seen this too a few times and it really sucks...

a workaround i figured out is: join the race 1st and then go to
the pits (means you have to wait till you can join the race).

the more people have joined the race, the more are needed to
start it.

e.g. one "fast joiner" isn´t enough. when at least 2 or 3 people
have joined the race and do not press OK, the race won´t start.

Quote from SparkyDave :

I find on track change theres sometimes a situation where 1 person will join and click ready before anyone else can join this causes the race to start and everybody else cannot join in the 1st laps or so.

Yes I know it's really selfish when people do this, one solution may be to automatically spectate them if there are only one or two cars in the race on a server with significantly more people connected.

We've talked long and hard over this internally and we want to change the process for phase 2. Probably with a short practice session (5 minutes or so). We're undecided yet whether we'll use it for qualifying purposes.

sounds great becky

Quote from Becky Rose :

We've talked long and hard over this internally and we want to change the process for phase 2. Probably with a short practice session (5 minutes or so). We're undecided yet whether we'll use it for qualifying purposes.

Sounds good, I have had the problem of missing a start because I was getting a set and fuel adjusted. 5 minutes should be plenty if it's started right away.

Quote from Viper93 :

Sounds good, I have had the problem of missing a start because I was getting a set and fuel adjusted. 5 minutes should be plenty if it's started right away.

Join, then go pits to sort out set and fuel, then hit ready, they can not start without you

Quote from Dru :

Join, then go pits to sort out set and fuel, then hit ready, they can not start without you

Indeed, there's plenty of time.

Please don't bring in a period of practice/qually between races. These non-racing sessions are the single most annoying thing found in other sims.

Quote from Bean0 :

Indeed, there's plenty of time.

Please don't bring in a period of practice/qually between races. These non-racing sessions are the single most annoying thing found in other sims.

i agree back, no need for practice at all in my opinion... all you will find is that if you have a qualy then people will have lots of crashes and close calls trying to do banzai on cold tyres or claiming that people are blocking or not respecting the blue flag that gets shown in qualy..

imo, if you do this practice/qualiy you are opening a whole csan of worms which are best left shut.

Regards,

Dru.

Quote from Bean0 :

Please don't bring in a period of practice/qually between races. These non-racing sessions are the single most annoying thing found in other sims.

Just to be clear, this would simply introduce the gap that already exists between two races, as the prelude to the first race after a change of track. That's the only time we're talking about introducing this practice session.

The net result would be a grid of people who are READY for the first race, and would surely be better than the small field of erratic drivers on completely the wrong setups that we get at the moment. As things stand right now, you may as well completely discard the first race after a track change. I'd rather have it where the first 9 laps counted for everyone.

Quote from Dru :

Join, then go pits to sort out set and fuel, then hit ready, they can not start without you

This is not true. There has been plenty of times I've joined and gone to the garage to find the race started and I get kicked to spectate when leaving the garage until the 2nd lap.

The biggest factor I think is the lag during the track setup. There are times where I click to go to the garage to change car/setup and it sits on the track screen changine the laps, weather, etc lagging before I get to the garage. Then the time is gone, the race starts, and I'm still in the garage to be spectated upon leaving the garage.

It is good that phase 2 will include some type of qualy/practice before the first race of a track change.

I am all for the small qualifying or practice session after track change. Sounds like a good solution

I'm all for a 5 min qual session on track rotation change. It gives just enough time to exchange setups and get a couple of warmup laps in.
It's got to be better than half the field missing the start and having to wait 10-15 mins for the next race.

Quote from mrodgers :

This is not true. There has been plenty of times I've joined and gone to the garage to find the race started and I get kicked to spectate when leaving the garage until the 2nd lap.

it is true. the more people join the race, the more are needed to
start it.

i think, but not know, there are at least 66% or even 75% of
the drivers needed.

if you join the race with lets say 3 people and you go to the pits,
while the other 2 just press OK, well ... the race starts.

At the race end screen, if you're quick, you can join the race and click ready before anyone else, and the race will start. A few people may get there in time to tag on the back, but they won't be race-prepped and they probably won't be fit to race. It's just a dash to the grid, in whatever you've got.

If you're on the grid on the race end screen, the screen will wait until you've clicked ready. However, I've seen a few times that someone has joined the grid, and then removed a bunch of other drivers just to force the race to start. If I catch a person responsible for doing this through the LFS dedicated server's logging system, they may as well know right now that they're buying themselves a permanent ban from the CTRA. I don't care who it is, I'm treating it as race wrecking.