I've had similar experiences (not with driving backwards accidentally
on-line, but with generally embarrassing myself on a track that I'm only
vaguely familiar with). It would be interesting if GPL would somehow track
the number of laps you've completed on each track, then use this number to
determine what tracks you're eligible to race at on-line, and at what
difficulty level. I know there are four or five tracks in GPL that I'm very
comfortable with, but beyond that, there may be a few more that I've had
*some* experience with, but by and large, I probably don't know the rest of
the tracks well enough to try competing at them on-line.
I often find myself "learning" a track (or trying to re-memorize where the
corners are) during the practice period, which really puts me at a
disadvantage -- and it also makes me a potential hazard to the drivers who
know the track and are there to race.
So what's the answer? I know we should all be honest with ourselves and
simply avoid the tracks we don't know, but I'd rather practice on-line with
others if possible, just to get used to the on-line experience. There is an
answer, I think:
What I usually do is stay in during the practice period, and if I'm too far
off the pace, or too uncomfortable with my recall of the track, turn-in
points, braking points, etc., then I simply exit before the actual race
starts. That way I get some experience on-line with other racers, I get to
become more familiar with new tracks, and I don't get in anybody else's way
in competition.
I'm fairly new to the on-line racing experience, but I have to say that
everybody was right -- GPL's on-line *** IS the wave of the future. VROC
is the icing on the cake, though -- sims that provide on-line racing via the
Internet MUST have a site like VROC to serve as a central rallying point.
Without something like VROC, it's just too hard to find people to race with.
-- JB
Just had an amusing incident at the ring in an offline race. I was
pootling along waaay behind the pack (I hardly ever race there - it's
just too hard - I've never lapped there without going off and I've never
got under 10 mins).... Anyway, I had one of my all too frequent
"moments" which ended with the car going head over heels but landing all
four wheels on the road. I seemed to be going more or less OK so I
carried on - sort of testing the suspension and driving slowly. I was a
bit surprised to find that the flag guys were all frantically waving
yellows at me. So I was extra cautious thinking there was an incident
up ahead.... but after about five nothing was going on so I put my foot
down..... and inevitably spun wrecking the car.
Shift R and I see the flag guy turn his flag to green... Fair enough
and off I go. Another minute or so of struggling round and I had a
third "big off" - at exactly the same place as my first. Somehow I'd
got turned around in the first crash and managed to drive backwards for
a few miles completely oblivious. No wonder those marshalls had their
yellow flags out :-)
Guess I really need to learn this track better.
--
Richard G. Clegg Only the mind is waving
Dept. of Mathematics (Network Control group) Uni. of York.
www: http://www.racesimcentral.net/
