Hi,
I prefer F3 racing in GPL for a number of reasons..
A few of the reason have been already mentioned in this thread, but another
reason why i prefer F3 is that latency does not effect F3 on-line racing as
much as it does F2 or F1.
In F3 racing, latencys of up to .750 are acceptable as long as quality is
good, try that in F1 or to a lesser degree in F2 and you will be warping
and flickering all over the place.
To me, the F3 class of racing is the ultimate on-line challenge, where i am
pitting other driver's skill levels and race craft against my own in a less
out-of-control enviroment than GPL F1 could ever hope to produce with the
current state of net technology..
IMO, with GPL F1, the main challenge is to yourself, taming the F1 cars is
a challenge and that is where the biggest challenge lies in F1, where as in
F3, the challenge is pitting your driving and race craft skills against
other human players in a better controlled racing enviroment.
I often read how drivers should start with the F3 cars, then advance to F2
then to F1, i started with F1, advanced to F2 and now race the ultimate,
the F3 class.
I am not joking there, as i feel that the F3 class requires just as much,
if not more skill to go fast and be competitive than the F1 cars do.
Sure, as everyone keeps saying, "anyone can drive a F3 car", well the
same applies to a F1 car, anyone can drive a F1 car too, but how many can
drive a F1 car fast and be competitive in a clean and sensible way ?
Answer: about the same ammount that are also fast and sensible in a F3 or
F2 car...
It is ridiculous to say that a GPL F1 car requires more skill and race
craft than a F3 car or a F2 car.
I am not talking about hot-lapping here, i am talking about racing on-line
and mimicking reality as close as it is possible for us to do so.
F3 racing to me is not about how fast i can turn a lap in, or trying to get
my name up in lights on some irrelevant hotlap board, or bragging in VROC
chat at how my times are so much quicker than Joe Citizen's etc, F3 racing
to me is the closest thing that the internet can provide me with at this
stage of net technology and sim technology to be able to get me as close to
the feeling of racing in reality as my computer can deliver, and in F3
racing the outcome relies more on skill and race craft than luck and
connection.....
I am not knocking F1, i am reasonably quick in F1, but for on-line racing
enjoyment and close competitive racing against sensible human opponents, i
find F3 is light years ahead of F1 and a fair few miles ahead of F2 as
well.
Regarding the comment from Speedy Fast's post:
"I've never played anything but F1. Why would I want to drive a GPL any
slower than what it was designed for?"
I agree there and if i was driving a F1 car in GPL i would want it to go as
fast as a F1 car in GPL was designed to go , BUT we as F3 enthusiasts are
not driving F1 cars, we are driving a F3 car and while the F3 cars in GPL
were not actually designed to mimic a true to life F3, they are the closest
thing to a F3 car that we have available in the sim world and the times
that the F3 cars in GPL turn at the different tracks is almost a mirror of
the times a real F3 car of the era was doing at these tracks.
We are all different and we all like different aspects of our class
choices in GPL, but to me the F3 cars are the pinnacle of on-line racing in
GPL, where as to others the F1 or the F2 cars give the same ***
immersion.
I like to race close, and i mean close, where inches seperate us for most
races, all race long and with the net problems and latency & connection
issues taken into account, not to mention the more predictable nature of a
F3 car when compared to a F1 car, the F3's are simply unbeatable in human
to human confrontation over the net with GPL with present technology
levels..
That is all IMO of course.
Cheers,
Ron Ayton
Australia
