rec.autos.simulators

</HissyFit>

Ed

| Hey all, I've just spent what should have been some quality simracing
time,
| instead searching the web looking for tracks for rFactor.....I have less
| time these days to simrace, but do still enjoy it a lot, when I can get it
| to happen. I've been playing rFactor since the demo, and think it's very
| well done, until it comes to one aspect. I can rarely hop online and join
an
| open race! I was just looking at the racelist, and found 28 races with at
| least one player present.....subtract the 15 passworded races, and I have
a
| choice of 13 open races......until you subtract the tracks I don't have,
| which cuts it about in half ( I have about 20 tracks installed).....then
| there are the tracks I do have installed, say, Watkins Glen, which has 3
| layouts included, but when I tried to join a WG race this evening I was
| booted for a mismatch, I prolly don't have the correct version of the
track.
| Then subtract the races for series that I don't have installed, ( I have 9

| I enjoyed the hell out of the rFactor demo, because it worked, you could
| choose from a variety of servers, get in a race, and race closely in
fairly
| large fields, guaranteed, anytime you felt like firing it up.These days,
rF
| is so fragmented that I can hardly find a race that I can join, much less
a
| race that I WANT to join. I realize that leagues are an option, but I
can't
| commit to that, especially in the summer months.
| Is anyone enjoying the kind of open racing that N2003 used to provide?
Yes,
| some of it was horrible, but at least it was there.
|
| </HissyFit>
|
| Ed
|
|

Finding races using rFactor is certainly a problem.  Part of the problem is
there is no uniformity in version number, which is ISI's problem.  Some
servers run 1.087 and some run 1.070.  The other reason, as you said, are
the mismatches.  As soon as a track is released, five more updates appear,
almost within a week.  That's a huge problem.

I know I run a server (USA Northeast) and have switched to version 1.070,
which is by far the most commonly used version.  I also allow mismatches,
meaning that if there is a mismatch, the server will ignore it.  It is
mostly when I run the default tracks that I get the most traffic-- like
Toban or Mills.  A few of the most recently released mods are very popular.

But all in all it is the nature of the beast that can limit how many servers
and good racing you can find.  With LFS, things are quite different.  You
can jump on any server and race, but generally there are more people racing
rFactor than LFS.

I'm hoping that at some point Kunos gets NetKar Pro squared away and we'll
start to see more people there online.  Right now, it's a ghost-town.

Alanb

Which is probably just as well. I was never really good enough. :-)

Andrew McP

Why keep up?  Find the corner of the rfactor world that works for you
and ignore the rest.

Typically if I want to do some lapping I just look for servers that are
running tracks I happen to have, (usually the basics like Essington,
toban etc.. but sometimes an add on track appeals to me), and I join
regardless of whether the server is empty or not (an empty server is no
different then offline practice).    Invariably somebody sees activity
on the server and joins then it snowballs..  30 minutes later there
might be 5-20 drivers on the starting grid.

Now I'll admit the racecast list is usually full of the
flavour-of-the-week mod, but I just ignore those, if they don't have
the staying power to last a month or more I don't even visit their
sites let alone download it.

Instead of complaining about empty servers: JOIN ONE! ;)

Better yet, join a league
http://users.hfx.eastlink.ca/~mackaypenny/gplreg.html

Now if you wanted to rant about finding things in rsc, I'm right with
you ;)

That's why I still run NR2003.  It's stable, it's fun, and there are lots of
races.

-Larry

-Larry

\
\

I found I like rF3/EuroF3 so that's what I race, I haven't bothered
downloading Mclaren, GT Legends, Miata etc. etc..

I've got the classic tracks like LRP, the glen, Mido, brands etc..
There's always servers running one of those with combinations

Find the mod that appeals to you and ignore the rest, assuming it's
well developed others will find the same one.

Now I'll admit it was easier when the only place to look for sim
updates was Eagle Woman's site... ;)

I'm bewildered by this line of thinking that having more choice is a bad
thing.

Run what you like. Simple as that. No one is forcing anyone to try
everything. I only download the highest quality tracks, and mods I think I
will enjoy. Here is a great sight with all the trakcs and mods rated by
users. http://www.rfactorcentral.com/index.cfm

RACER http://www.raceralex.com./  is a great place to keep up with what's
going on with rFactor, and there are servers available 24/7, weekly races,
and monthly event races with some of the best drivers in sim racing. It's
easy to find a league that runs any of the major mods.

Weren't there a shit load of tracks for a number of other sims?
F1C/GPL/N2003 all had a huge amount of tracks created for them. Arcade
racers like MTM2 and 4x4 Evo had a few thousand. Why is there suddenly a
problem with this when it's rFactor?

I think a sim which only has one type of car which I dislike is a far
greater problem than a sim which enables me to run virtually anything I
want. I've had zero difficulty keeping track of mods and tracks with
rFactor.......maybe because I don't have ADHD.  :-)

--
David G Fisher

--
David G Fisher

You definitely have a valid point, it is a double edged sword.  I love
rFactor, and I love all the content created for it.  However, I don't
even try to keep up with "all" the material for it.  Especially right
now, during the summer, where I might go weeks without driving a single
lap.  If I have time, I do check the rFactor sites and download via the
torrent tracker site just to keep the mods I do race updated to the
latest version.  I check RSC to see what happening when I can but that
is about it.

I'f I were you, I'd pick a few mods in the types of cars you like and
just try and keep up with those.  The tracks are an issue, but isn't as
much if you are in a league - which of course you stated you aren't and
I understand because I'm in the exact same situation.  Currently I'm
just mostly hotlapping (If I'm running at all) but that will probably
change come fall/winter again.

If you haven't, check out the prototype mod... I've really enjoyed that
a great deal.  The McClaren is good, as is the Porsche Challenge and
Aussie V8s IMHO.

Now if someone would just make a Vintage Can-Am mod... I'd be the
happiest sim racer on this side of the pond.  ;)

Scott

--
Scott B. Husted?
http://www.Husted.cc
ICQ# - 4395450 | AIM - Hylander12871 | Yahoo - sbhusted

The problem is one of fractionalization if you want to race against a
field of people of similar skill.   20 timezones, 8 sim titles, 14
mods, 30 tracks  = zero drivers ;)

The ranter is right that there are too many mediocer mods/tracks out
there, but I figure the chaff will fall to the bottom on its own
without me having to worry about installing it.

Scott, and all,

off is because I DO like rFactor a lot, and when I am denied my simrace fix,
I get a little cranky.....offline racing can be fun, but after you've
experienced racing against you knuckleheads, err, my fellow simracer human
types online, the offline races just wind up lacking a certain something.
With 9 mods and 20 tracks installed you'd think I could at least find one or
two races to join, even if they weren't "first-choice" races, but last night
that didn't happen, and it's happened often enough to cause me to post.
Anyway, hope to see y'all in an online race sooner, rather than later.

Ed

Better not download it though or you'll just get confused and disoriented.

--
David G Fisher