The online racing simulator
I've been having great fun on the Bump n' Jump layouts, especially Champagne, however I'm getting really low fps at the Bunnyhop layout (under 5 on the first lap), could some of the objects, namely all the blue tires on the insides of the corners that everybody drives through be removed to increase fps? I know my computer is rather state of the ark but even I can get above 25 fps most of the time at the other layouts
Quote from Becky Rose :I'm not going to do a single thing, unless there's a report about it. I cant do miracles and omnipotence is well and truly not my specialty.

There is a new tool on the server for blue flag situations though, one that I hope will clear up the CTRA regulations on blue flags. There's a whole page detailing what to do about blue flags in all situations...

Just type $blue, or look it up from the $help menu.

If you've been spamming blue flag hotkeys, for example, then they are absolutely entitled to block you. If it's them in the wrong, you could start by directing them there or raising a report if they wont respond to reason.

I've reported some drivers but then I felt guilty and removed the reports, I thought that maybe they would get a severe punishment and I didn't want that, but as thisnameistaken said the reports he sent ended in warnings so I'll start using that feature more often, regarding about spamming blue flag messages I would never do such a thing, I just drive carefully till the driver in front of me let me pass and thanks for the $blue function I'll look what it does and use it if needed.
Quote from RiGun :I've reported some drivers but then I felt guilty and removed the reports, I thought that maybe they would get a severe punishment and I didn't want that, but as thisnameistaken said the reports he sent ended in warnings so I'll start using that feature more often, regarding about spamming blue flag messages I would never do such a thing, I just drive carefully till the driver in front of me let me pass and thanks for the $blue function I'll look what it does and use it if needed.

Afraid it does not do much. Its just CTRA standpoint on blue flags, a set of rules.
Quote from SpikeyMarcoD :Afraid it does not do much. Its just CTRA standpoint on blue flags, a set of rules.

LOL yes, i realized that when got into the game and typed $blue, i thought it was some kind of report system for blue flag problems
Watching a replay before reporting is really a great idea.
I reported a poor dude who I thought wrecked me out of the race by smashing me twice in T1 then T2, ending my race. After I reported him, I watched the mpr and realized 2 things.
First, I reported the wrong bloody guy!
Second, the guy that did "wreck" me actually only touched me ever so slightly. LFS coalision and lag did the rest.
In hindsight, I really regret reporting him. Thankfully, CTRA dismissed the report so all is good.
In other words, do watch the replay before reporting as when you really see what happened, you might change your mind.

Great system though and great tracks. Some of the combos I haven't raced in a long time as no servers run it.
And since the tracks change quite often (18 races?) nobody gets the super godly lap times using the perfect set so everyone has a chance.

Thanks once again X team. You've brought back life into LFS for me.
Don't be afraid of reporting people. It doesn't matter if you sometimes make a false report, that's why there are trained professionals watching the reports so they can make decisions based on them. Besides I haven't seen them complaining about excess amount of reports yet.
Quote from geeman1 :Don't be afraid of reporting people. It doesn't matter if you sometimes make a false report, that's why there are trained professionals watching the reports so they can make decisions based on them. Besides I haven't seen them complaining about excess amount of reports yet.

Just curious, are all the admins, the one that judges the reports having background in real life racing?
One is an ex-karter, one is a marshall at the Isle Of Man TT, another is a keen drag racer iirc
Ok, sorry for going off topic, but I just needed to know.
Then I at least know that there are people who know what they doing that judge the replays, and not these power-freaks of admins
Quote from The Very End :Ok, sorry for going off topic, but I just needed to know.
Then I at least know that there are people who know what they doing that judge the replays, and not these power-freaks of admins

On this info you cant conclude that. You can have expertise and powertrippin though i am sure its not the case here.
I don't think there have been that many reports when I made my report a couple of days ago it was number 146 IIRC. I think the reporting system is a good idea because even if you watch the replay you'll still be biased TBH though I think reports should be reserved for more serious things than just the odd bump that may or may not be a racing incident (eg. repeat mid-race joiner problems, Phlos style weaving, seemingly deliberate wrecking and those baboons who just manage to piss everybody off with their repeated crashing/general noobiness).
Quote from ajp71 :I don't think there have been that many reports when I made my report a couple of days ago it was number 146 IIRC. I think the reporting system is a good idea because even if you watch the replay you'll still be biased TBH though I think reports should be reserved for more serious things than just the odd bump that may or may not be a racing incident (eg. repeat mid-race joiner problems, Phlos style weaving, seemingly deliberate wrecking and those baboons who just manage to piss everybody off with their repeated crashing/general noobiness).

Lets not give Phlos any credit in naming some activity after him, shall we. Not after the texts i read of him last week. It's too much credit.
Yea you saying something there, tho it`s not a problem at all I think often people have problem to see the different between a racing accident and a accident that was on purpose.

But I talk from experience, it WORKS!!
Quote from The Very End :Just curious, are all the admins, the one that judges the reports having background in real life racing?

We've got a mix of experienced sim racers and experienced MSA marshalls and clerks, most with some background of competing in real racing too.
Quote from Becky Rose :We've got a mix of experienced sim racers and experienced MSA marshalls and clerks, most with some background of competing in real racing too.

Thanks. It`s good to know that if I get a ban (I did but I agree it was wrong), then I know that people have watched it and by experiences and trained eye gives penalties that justify what the person did.

All my respect goes to this server, tho I got this ban this day Ì`m a very happy racer on these servers, and that damned silver licence isn`t that far away anymore.
Thanks for making such a good server that I have been playin on for like 12 hours the 3 latest days


You have competed in: 104 races and driven 666 laps on the CTRA system.

Proof that CTRA is evil.

Yeah i know, im a bloody noob.
Single Seater is a bit frustrating because even though I finish in 3rd place it won't get me any damn point
Yeah, that's what happens when the lap record has been set by an alien.

I agree that it's frustrating, but thankfully it doesn't seem to be the case on each track. But if you think about it, it has to be that way, otherwise any noob could get up the rank simply by racing when everybody else is sleeping.
I worked in quality control for 7 years, and now in the Engineering department (not as an engineer, I don't get paid enough if I was) and never do you base something on maximum. Statistically, you base it on averages. Basing the points system on any of the servers on the best time is just wrong. It needs to be based on the average of that particular tier of drivers.

If your world class F1 drivers would drive in the lesser classes of racing, would you expect everyone in that lesser class of racing to now compare to the F1 racers? Statistically, you throw the higher numbers away as they are based on random error, and you use the rest. If you want to pit copper/bronze racers against copper/bronze racers, then you need to base them racing against copper/bronze times, not against the best in LFS. It's not fair to beginner racers that they have to be near record times to get anywhere on a beginner's server.

The gaining of points is what progresses the racers not only in points toward their next license, but toward a better skill level as well. It shouldn't be that you need to have the skills of Silver to progress and gain points on Bronze. You need to have the skills of Silver to race on Silver. Low skills on bronze will have low points on record. As their skill increases, the points they gain and the points on record increase until they have reached the level of the next license. As it is now, you have to have an extremely high skill level, before you are ever able to progress towards the next level. If you already have that skill level to progress as it is now, what's the point in it all?

When I was very small, I learned to crawl, then walk, then run. I did not need to be able to move at a running pace before I was able to learn how to crawl.

The average of 1st tier racers need to be calculated disregarding the higher license racer's times logged on the server, then the time requirement based on a percentage of that average. It doesn't have to be the average time, I could be that you need a time of 90% of the average or something. For 2nd tier server, calculate the average time of silver licensed racers at the track (they could be either server, just a track record, not track in Silver server record if need be). Make the requirement a % over that average to progress in the 2nd tier license. Same with all the other licenses, I don't know how many there are.

I state Bronze, Silver, etc, only because I race the tin tops and am using those names in general for all the types of systems, tin tops, SS, and GTRS.
I love the CTRA servers. I've done 3 races on the race server, in an XRG, and each one was fun, tight, and clean. I also love bump and jump. The autocross layouts are all really well designed. Great work, guys. It's awesome to finally find some servers with cars besides GTRs or open wheels.
Quote from mrodgers :I worked in quality control for 7 years, and now in the Engineering department (not as an engineer, I don't get paid enough if I was) and never do you base something on maximum. Statistically, you base it on averages. Basing the points system on any of the servers on the best time is just wrong. It needs to be based on the average of that particular tier of drivers.

If your world class F1 drivers would drive in the lesser classes of racing, would you expect everyone in that lesser class of racing to now compare to the F1 racers? Statistically, you throw the higher numbers away as they are based on random error, and you use the rest. If you want to pit copper/bronze racers against copper/bronze racers, then you need to base them racing against copper/bronze times, not against the best in LFS. It's not fair to beginner racers that they have to be near record times to get anywhere on a beginner's server.

The gaining of points is what progresses the racers not only in points toward their next license, but toward a better skill level as well. It shouldn't be that you need to have the skills of Silver to progress and gain points on Bronze. You need to have the skills of Silver to race on Silver. Low skills on bronze will have low points on record. As their skill increases, the points they gain and the points on record increase until they have reached the level of the next license. As it is now, you have to have an extremely high skill level, before you are ever able to progress towards the next level. If you already have that skill level to progress as it is now, what's the point in it all?

When I was very small, I learned to crawl, then walk, then run. I did not need to be able to move at a running pace before I was able to learn how to crawl.

The average of 1st tier racers need to be calculated disregarding the higher license racer's times logged on the server, then the time requirement based on a percentage of that average. It doesn't have to be the average time, I could be that you need a time of 90% of the average or something. For 2nd tier server, calculate the average time of silver licensed racers at the track (they could be either server, just a track record, not track in Silver server record if need be). Make the requirement a % over that average to progress in the 2nd tier license. Same with all the other licenses, I don't know how many there are.

I state Bronze, Silver, etc, only because I race the tin tops and am using those names in general for all the types of systems, tin tops, SS, and GTRS.

I agree with you 100%. Initially I though CTRA used a RL club system of points as in a league but was quickly disapointed for receiving 0 pts on a packed server coming in 2nd. Winner got 3 measly points.
Things like this shouldn't happen. I understand that people are worried about someone coming on when no one is there and racking up points, but Im pretty sure it'd be easy to code the system so it doesnt give out points unless there are at least, lets say, 5 racers. Voila, problem solved.
Another issue is packed servers. It's extremly hard driving consistant fast laps during rush hour due to the massive amoung of players all over the track. Expecting someone to hit the fast persons benchmark to receive points is absurd. It's much easier to get a hotlap with 10ish people on then to be in top 3 on a packed server.
Quote from DeKo :

You have competed in: 104 races and driven 666 laps on the CTRA system.

Proof that CTRA is evil.

Yeah i know, im a bloody noob.

Is that your stat, or my stats?
Hehe, how I get those info up?
There are stats on your MyCTRA page and also if you type $stats in game.

As for points, I keep hearing two arguments:

Those from drivers scoring points saying it is right.
Those from drivers not ready for the higher tier saying they want points anyway.

As i've said previously I fully intend to cater to the latter group with a secondary system, not by messing up the licence system so that they get access to tiers they're not ready for.

I'm going to introduce one aspect of phase 2 earlier than planned to shut the moaning up.

And, may I just point out, that you are wrong despite your years in quality control. Giving silver points to a bronze driver would break the silver tier.

/end 1st post of the day. *grumble*
One of the autocross layouts (on BL carpark, don't know what it was called) was incredibly confusing. At EVERY corner there were 2-4 possible routes to take, and NO indication of where to go. By lap 2, half the pack had taken the wrong route and was going the wrong way. We quickly ended the race because the layout was so ridiculous.
I personaly would like to see another level of server put in a biginners server which only allows unlicensed and bronzed lic racers to enter and a bronze lic server which requires a minimum bronze lic to enter both running xfg/xrg. I would also prefer to see no mid race join enabled on the entry level servers, maybe only allow mid race join on servers from silver up and encourage newbies to spectate rather than kick them. Have the kick if not participating on higher level servers.

In addition I'd like to see on the bronze server slightly longer races on average with pit stops and forced pit windows (to prevent people pitting on first lap) this would encourage and reward drivers that can drive consistently quick and conserve their cars

Thats what I'd like to see, but I'm quite abnormal so it probably wouldn't apeal to most

It would lessen the problem mrodgers is dicribing though That in conjunction to linking your pb's on the CTRA system with x% from WR for each Lic level to achieve next lic level would just about do it I think i.e. to get bronze you must have pb's on all rotation tracks within 5% of WR, for silver within 3% on all track rotated on silver server and gold 2% etc etc

Having a list of tracks for each server so people can get serrious and train for races would also encourage professionalism I feel.

PS I certainly don't think it should be easier to progress to silver or higher, possibly it should be harder My mussings is just in making the journey more pleasent for newbies. (i.e. give them smaller more achievable goals) The CTRA system already caters well for the higher lic levels from what I can tell...

FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG