rec.autos.simulators

Despite all my whining I've driven about five races on my night off. The
first three were the usual mixed bag of distinctly average experiences...
a few moments of tension at the start, then a steady trail of hotlaps
with the occasional spinner or lapper to liven things up a little. The
Skippy keeps you involved enough in your lapping not to make it too
boring though, which is probably why it's easy to get sucked into 'just
one more race' when the next one comes around.

It beats doing the ironing anyway.

The fourth race was a farce. My video locked up twice in warmup for a few
seconds, resulting in a crash. I quit and came back, but it happened
again in the race despite ripping the side off my case and aiming a fan
inside. I don't think that video freeze hurt anyone but myself, but it
hurt my SR nastily. I quit & rebooted, then remembered I could rejoin.
Tried again and this time, 3 laps down, I was able to finish without
further problems.

I think, in retrospect, this video freeze might have been caused by
Intel's CPU temp monitoring utility which I'd had loaded to keep a record
of temps during racing. It was the only unusual thing running on my PC at
the time.

Anyway, that was a fairly low point in the day. But another hour passed
and another race lures me in. Somehow the fact that there's only one
every two hours can make it harder to resist than if you had VROC-style
choice of quitting one and joining another straight away. You have a
cooling-off period after a race, and just enough time before the next to
have a drink and forget the bad bits.

Ok, so 26 drivers register and iRacing splits us nicely into two races of
13 drivers (maximum is 14).

Things got off to a bad start. An Aussie (that time of day is littered
with the whingeing, gold-phobic barstewards! ;-) leaves the pits just
behind me, and is obviously faster... or at least less fearless than me.
I pull over politely to let him past after a few turns. He follows me and
I collect a x4 penalty for my manners.

Fortunately warmup SR penalties don't count too heavily, and he did at
least apologise. I'll live, but it already feels like another of 'those'
iRaces.

On the grid there's only one driver behind me, just the way I like it.
The air is full of G'days & G'lucks & polite European silence. Then we're
off, and the guy from behind me is having none of this, "you can't win a
race at the first bend" stuff. He's 3-wide and weaving all the way down
to T1. And yet everyone survives, thanks mainly to the average driver
being a lot more cautious.

Before long though there's an incident. I pass a car pointing the wrong
way, another going sideways, another pulled to one side behaving -- it
seems to me anyway -- a bit sheepishly. I pass them all cleanly,
following fairly closely behind another driver.

For once I'm*** onto the guy in front, and forget about the racers
I've passed. But within a lap or two my mirror is suddenly full of cars.
They're closing fast, but not so fast I need to pull over yet... after
all, we're just entering the twisty bit of the track where passing would
be suicidal unless I make an obvious mistake.

Wrong! I'm lined up nicely for the turn and before I can react, one
driver's gone round the outside of me, out-braking me by about a
light-year. I slow to prevent an incident, and another driver passes me
on the inside, showing total fearlessness. I somehow hold it together,
and try to relax again as my heart pounds.

But the third driver from the group I'd passed is now in my mirror. Sod
this, I pull well over and let him squirrel off after his mates.

Well, that was certainly exciting, but it was the wrong kind of
e***ment. I'm used to a calmer, more conservative type of racing back
among those who're less certain of their talent. I suppose it's a
compliment of sorts though that they thought I could be taken so
predictably.

On with the race. Plenty of time to calm down and get into my slow,
steady little groove of 1:26es. But now I'm slowly getting closer to the
guy in front. We'll call him Alain because, well, because that was his
name. Not an Aussie name, and certainly not an Aussie driver. Slower,
steady, and lapping about 1s a lap slower than myself.

Looks like I've finally -- after gawd knows how many races! -- got a
fairly evenly matched opponent. And I was right.

For seven *glorious* laps I followed him around Summit Point. There were
sections of the track where I could get very close, but they weren't
sections where passing was safe for both of us, and I'd get no
satisfaction whatsoever from pushing hard and causing someone to have an
off. There's no money, trophies or scantily clad women riding on this,
just a few lousy iRating points. So I back off where I'm not sure about
his braking, and I lean hard where he shows confidence. It is both
exciting and rewarding, even though he's slowing me down by about 2s a
lap now.

But what does that matter? Nearly everyone else is way off in the
distance. So coming into the final bend of our seventh lap together I
think I've finally got the measure of my opponent. I back off just enough
to give him space, yet come out of the turn just behind him. That'll give
me the whole straight to slipstream him and out-brake him -- as I know I
can -- into T1.

But what's this? Nooooooo! You can't over-cook it... please don't lose
it... not now!

Sadly Alain had pushed a little too hard. Maybe he could smell my
anglo-saxon gameplan from across le Channel? Maybe his cat jumped on his
monitor? Or maybe he just lost it the way we all do... by simply being
human.

I contemplate slowing to let him catch up, but that can seem a little
insulting, and besides, there's someone else coming up fast now, and
we'll be racing for position. I may not be the most competeitive person
on the track, but I try not to be too much of an easy target.

The rest of the race was fairly uneventful, but I was basking in the warm
glow of the best seven laps of racing I've had... well, since about 1999
when I nearly had a heart attack from some very exciting and very close
racing in GPL at Monza... I had to quit that race because my hands were
shaking from the adrenalin rush. :-)

The best part was finding out afterwards that Alain had also enjoyed our
encounter, describing me as a 'very fair' racer.

Now to some that's probably a huge insult. Who wants to be fair, this is
racing, not knitting! But to me it was a huge compliment, and I came -->
.<-- this close to renewing my subscription straight away after that
race.

If I do so in the next week it won't be because I love iRacing and its
many, many flaws. It'll be because despite those flaws, iRacing has
reminded me why I still have a wheel attached to the *** end of my
desk, even though it's years since I've used it regularly.

Maybe, just maybe, that is enough to justify the ongoing cost and the
many frustrations iRacing in its current form has to offer.

Andrew McP... boring rec.autos.simulators for well over a decade!

I have a little utility that will do the temp monitoring for you without any
installation to your system to possibly***it up.  PM me in iRacing and
I'll get you a link to it.  I'm not at my racing machine right now...

-Larry

I love Iracing, I signed up for a year, I was on the bunch of 1st
invitees...  Ok, I loved it, (*LOVED*) past tense well sorta, I still like
it.  Right now it is like that last soon to "ex" relations hip kind of
feeling, or Love and hate relationship.  But so much like you I feel more
that I have good races and more bad.  BUT I'm finding certain nights, the
races go with several racers seem to have the mindset, lets race, hard but
clean and understand the CONCEPTS of RACING which in real life means without
being killed, hopefully.  That part is hard to impart into a sim...

But some nights there are those Terrorists I call them, the ones just fast
enough <for a lap or 2> to cause a crap load of angst when you race them,
bullying into turn one then off the track mid corner....  But right now my
2nd biggest thing is the people that must be shutting off mirrors, and not
glancing at the F3 Screen, not even once in a while, and shut off the voice
communications.  I'm talking about Oval racing, were I'm am not usually the
lapper, but I see this as well in roads...  Being a pay to race service, I
find it hard to not get pretty opinionated about the following:

lappers that wont make an effort to hold a line, and to let themselves be
lapped.

You mention the "pull over" mentality, and I applaud it, but it does bring
to My mind how I think that guy felt, that followed you when you "pulled
over" to stop/slow out of the way, and "plowed into you"...    Here's how I
have seen or done it.  I'm following you or say someone like you, lets say,
since I am sure I haven't actually raced you yet...  I'm coming up on you
and decide I can move over, and pass you soon, if I do this and this...  So,
I think about it, then just as I set off to do it, you pull over and
stop/slow down.  Whoa!  To me, just keep yer line, and pace, and we can get
along fine.  I suspect others think so as well.

Now that was just my thoughts, hoping that it might enlighten you on the
"overtaking car's" thoughts in that situation, sometimes.

Well if I haven't made you mad...   here is what has me so mad some nights
that I wish I could get my money back (lol)..  PS: and yeah in real life
when dipwads do this type of crap, unless they are independently wealthy or
drive for like some nascar team, they get time to reflect on their actions
while spending the rest of the night rebuilding the car, if not the next
week, or heaven forbid after they exit the hospital.

 This week, one night,  I had 3 races that I ran ahead of 2nd place by over
2 seconds, in legends (both advanced and rookie versions) and in each, I got
wrecked by some azzclown that was given 3 laps (since I had time between 2nd
I tried to wait...) 2 times I get wiped out people who cant just do 2
things....

1 slow up so they can control his/her own destiny, and stay in the lane they
are in. Be predictable, that is being courteous.  trust me losing 1 to .5
seconds for one lap is less miserable (on 15-17 second lap sized tracks
even) than being wrecked.

2, when the clown spins, they seem to think EVERYONE else needs to stop,
while that car gets to violently turn itself around, ACROSS all 3 lanes of
traffic plus the aprons, in front of the lead pack or even just fellow
competitors

2A, OR THE WORST OFFENDERS, they spin but refuse to HOLD the brakes tight,
giving them that spin plus moving target (like a misdirection play). No, we
get the spinout that you have to dodge, PLUS they back the car across all
lanes of traffic.  HEY NOW, It isn't that they got knocked out by the
impact, nor has the game simulated brake failure, !!!!nope it is BLATANT
DipSh*tty-ness!!!!

I can usually handle dodging a single car spin, at least not be "pissed as
all get out" at that person, if I don't manage to miss them and get taken
out of a race, even while leading,  that IS, when the car that spun does the
right thing!  they SIT FR#KING STILL as possible.

IMHO I'm one of those people that hate "restrictions" on things but Gawd
Darn it.  there are night that im seriously considering evangelizing that
there needs to be a day of training or something for too many, followed by
some test, oral or written....  before they are allowed to race...

Ah, nice to vent a little....

Plowboy

read more »

For me Road America was the worst for this.

1.  Passing slower cars.  I don't hold up fast drivers.  I let them by.  I
hold my line on the left (for right-handers) so they can move inside and
pass, just like it should be.  But there are some fast drivers that don't
know how to pass at all.  They should expect the slower driver to stay left
(in this example), because it's the proper thing to do, and they should move
to the right lane and do the pass.  What I'm seeing is some of the fast guys
driving deep into the same line as the slower driver, braking way later
(part of the skill thing), and ramming the slower driver in the rear.  It
just doesn't make sense.  To me this is bullying and it really pisses me
off.  You don't have to bully me to pass me.  If you are faster, I AM going
to let you by.  If it's the last 1/2 lap and it's for position, I may make
you work a bit harder.  If I'm a lap down to the car behind, it doesn't
matter so I still let them by easily.  I make myself an easy pass, you don't
need to force the issue :)

2.  The track re-entry thing.  It is the still-on-track drivers
responsibility to be alert and deal with this as best possible.  It is the
off-track drivers responsiblity to re-enter the track without placing the
on-track cars in harms way.  No more to be said here.

I got a healthy dose of both, (two of each) in my RA race and I was not
amused.  Luckily I have only seen this happen once (this badly) so far.  I
think I ended up in a server full of aliens and I was way out of my league
on this one.  That does not change the basic facts about courteous
passing/re-entry.

-Larry

read more »

When I first started I had a few incidents where I slowed and changed line
and got hit from behind. Nowadays I just hold my line unless I have enough
time to move over before the fast driver is anywhere near me.

My current problem is bends, especially after a straight. Say its a right
hander, I normally move over to the right of the track and slow down with
plenty of time before the incoming drivers get near me. Unfortunately it is
sometimes too much time and I get to the bend before they do, but on the
inside.

They normally hair in at light speed, dab their brakes then turn in, only to
find me there. The resultant maneuvering normally causes them to spin off or
go off the track. - At least this is what I think is happening.

I not entirely sure whether its all my fault as most of the time the lead
two cars get by me with no problem. It's normally the third that gets into
problems.

Obviously, it is not my intention to do this and if there is a safer way of
letting the faster drivers by in this situation, I'd like to know it.

I guess there is a reason why my car sports a big red stripe on the back :)

RobP

You had to write a novel just to tell us that you kinda like iRacing?

I can only apologise when I get a 'little' carried away. It's easy enough
to ignore my posts though. :-)

Andrew McP

I shouldn't be glancing at the second screen anyway. It's not a good
habit. :-)

Andrew McP

Perhaps I should re-think my strategy though.

iRacing is the Jekyll & Hyde of sim racing. An angel one minute, a
monster the next. ;-)

Andrew McP

Me laughing!  :)

0-0-0-0-0-0

I don't "rent" iRacing, but some of these posts have made me curious. Is
the view in iRacing restrictive enough that you can't see far enough ahead
to avoid slower moving cars? I know than in NR2003 I use hood view, for this
very reason, even though it's not realistic. Only a few of use have the money
or the space for a tripple wides screen setup for a proper in car view with
adequate peripheral vision to see far enough ahead in a corner.

I drive a motorcycle in real life, and one of the issues was getting used to
looking a 1/4 turn ahead when on circular freeway on or off ramps (for
safety reasons to scan for potential problems ahead), while maintaining an
proper distance from the curbs, since lane position on a motorcycle is an
indirect combination of lean angle and distance traveled, and by looking
ahead, your using peripheral vision to see your lean angle.

I leave the sides off on my computer (it's a mid-sized tower). It turns out to
be quieter because the fans run at slower speed. Also, I'm using an Intel
Core 2 X6800 (not overclocked), and the specs state that the in case temperature
needs to be below 40C, which is a temperature that the room the computer is in
never exceeds.

The view backwards in the Skippy's excellent too. A combination of the
'artificial' mirror at the top of the screen (optional), wing mirrors,
and the F3 list of real-time relative driver positions give you pretty
good spacial awareness.

While I'm here I'm going to repeat what I've said before... despite its
annoying limitations and the purgatory that is the Solstice, I think
every road racer (I can't really talk about ovals) should invest a month
and the $50 it'll cost (altogether) to get into a Skippy.

This morning I've reinstalled N2003 and have been very impressed by it
running with everything maxxed out. If I dump iRacing for a while,
that'll scratch the oval itch very nicely. But I've just been quickly
through GTL, rFactor, GTR2, and LFS(z), then back to a test in the Skippy,
and *nothing* gives me the same sense of car control as I get in the
Skippy... Apart from the neutered first gear (no wheel spin possible) it
really does seem to be the son-of-GPL.

Of course this might be the best reason for *not* trying iRacing. :-) I
did also try GPL again after sorting out some sound problems I had which
stopped me trying it. But the 36fps now seems too flickery for comfort.

How easily spoiled we become in our old age! :-)

Andrew McP

PS I don't think I've mentioned before, but I *hate* the 'iRacing' name...
it's far too Apple wannabee. I also hate calling the Skip Barber 2000 the
'Skippy'. It's a bad habit and I've adopted this shorthand like just
about everyone else on iRacing. I will try to use SB2K instead from now
on. That way I can stop humming Skippy, Skippy, Skippy the bush kangaroo
every time I type it.

Although a 2 box solution can be a pain at times, having this quiet PC
for main use suits me very well.

Andrew McP

Two issues for me. I stopped being into realism once I realized that no
PC based simulator is going to truly capture that final 5% or so of how a
real car will respond when at or past the limits, which varies in the real
world depending on the car and tires involved.  There are just too many
very complicated dnamic factors involved to be able to calculate them all
even with the huge amount of cpu power in todays' PC's, and for me, these
games will just end up "getting close but not quite there".

The other main issue is that I like to keep my all my games and replays,
occasionally going back and replaying them (I recenlty redid NFS Undergrond
2's career mode, and ran a few laps with GPL at Kyalami with the Lotus),
which is something I could never do with a rental game.

Someday I might try iRacing, but in it's current state, flaws like the
Mazda getting normal downforce while sliding sideways tells me that there's
a lot more than just tweaking of parameters required to "fix" issues like this.

I bought an LFS S1 license when it came out, because I owned a Caterham
SV at the time and was expecting the LX6 in LFS to have the same cool
go kart like feel, but the LFS S1 version didn't come close and the car
was very unforgiving, and in general significantly different in how
it handled than the real thing (there is a large parking lot nearby
formerly used for Pro Solo Autocrossing and I could get in a lot of
laps or better still time on the small and large figure 8 tracks used
to teach driving at the limits). I was very dissappointed, and the major
physics issues weren't fixed until about a year ago with version "V" of S2,
and it still doesn't come close to the real thing.