A nasty lesson in drafting...

3 drivers left in a long online race....I'm the 3rd...I've dinged my fender and I'm begining to lose touch. I pit for repairs and on the next lap the 2nd place car pits, finally the leader pits. back up to speed, the leader types something and scrapes the wall. After only a few laps, I can see he's now slower than me...but 3/4ths of a lap ahead....I type to the 2nd place car, the only UNdamaged driver, to lift and wait and we can draft together to run down the leader...however, about this time #2 see's he is catching the leader without my help. so he doesn't slow down. This left me with a nasty choice, I, the 3rd place car decided who won...because the only chance I had to catch 2nd was to slow down and let the crippled leader catch me...then together we could try and get back to the 2nd place car with drafting... By the time the leader tucked up in my draft the 2nd place car was only 4 seconds behind and closing fast...the two of us took off and started pulling away at about 1.2 seconds a lap. From 45 seconds behind 2nd, to 12 seconds near the end and still closing...but the leader's front tire went bad and he couldn't keep pushing me...and that was that....#2 didn't catch #1 but he would of if he had waited for me... He also would have caught #1 and also lapped me if I had stayed on my pace...I still came in 3rd, but it was a challenging third :) not a fading effort.... oh well...... dave henrie

"Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:n7ij8.21162$702.12926@sccrnsc02... > 3 drivers left in a long online race....I'm the 3rd...I've dinged my > fender and I'm begining to lose touch. I pit for repairs and on the next > lap the 2nd place car pits, finally the leader pits. back up to speed,the > leader types something and scrapes the wall. After only a few laps, I can > see he's now slower than me...but 3/4ths of a lap ahead....I type to the2nd

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> place car, the only UNdamaged driver, to lift and wait and we can draft > together to run down the leader...however, about this time #2 see's he is > catching the leader without my help. so he doesn't slow down. > This left me with a nasty choice, I, the 3rd place car decided who > won...because the only chance I had to catch 2nd was to slow down and let > the crippled leader catch me...then together we could try and get back to > the 2nd place car with drafting... > By the time the leader tucked up in my draft the 2nd place car was only

4 > seconds behind and closing fast...the two of us took off and startedpulling > away at about 1.2 seconds a lap. From 45 seconds behind 2nd, to 12seconds > near the end and still closing...but the leader's front tire went bad andhe > couldn't keep pushing me...and that was that....#2 didn't catch #1 but he > would of if he had waited for me... He also would have caught #1 and also > lapped me if I had stayed on my pace...I still came in 3rd, but it was a > challenging third :) not a fading effort.... oh well...... > dave henrie Awesome write-up Big D. We need to hear more stories like this 'round here ;-) !!! -Brian Mc

Dave Henrie wrote... > 3 drivers left in a long online race....I'm the 3rd > <snip> Took me 4 reads to make sense if it. You allowed yourself to be nearly lapped in order to try and gain 2nd place, but it didn't work... right. Nice story. Jan. =---

When I come out of the pits I will often slow down to let someone catch me so we can draft, especially if the leader is on his own. You slow 4 or 5 secs but you will get that back within 5 laps -- Steve Levett "Jan Verschueren" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:xklj8.250194$[email hidden]... > Dave Henrie wrote... > > 3 drivers left in a long online race....I'm the 3rd > > <snip> > > Took me 4 reads to make sense if it. You allowed yourself to be nearly > lapped in order to try and gain 2nd place, but it didn't work... right. > > Nice story. > > Jan. > =--- > >

"Jan Verschueren" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:xklj8.250194$[email hidden]...

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> Dave Henrie wrote... > > 3 drivers left in a long online race....I'm the 3rd > > <snip> > > Took me 4 reads to make sense if it. You allowed yourself to be nearly > lapped in order to try and gain 2nd place, but it didn't work... right. > > Nice story. > > Jan. > =---

Yup, we were all three spaced apart so no draft help for anyone. I couldn't catch the 2nd place car alone and he wasn't slowingup to help. ( he had the fastest car after all) So I gave up any chance of winning to 'try' and catch 2nd.(unless a nasty wreck would happen 2 laps from the end) ;) dave henrie

Dave Really cool story, your story is why I love this racing thing we do. Hot lapping is fine but racing and making tough decision on the fly just to gain a position is what racing is all about.. Keep up the good work, Clark "Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:fVnj8.26135$af7.22409@rwcrnsc53...

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> > "Jan Verschueren" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:xklj8.250194$[email hidden]... > > Dave Henrie wrote... > > > 3 drivers left in a long online race....I'm the 3rd > > > <snip> > > > > Took me 4 reads to make sense if it. You allowed yourself to be nearly > > lapped in order to try and gain 2nd place, but it didn't work... right. > > > > Nice story. > > > > Jan. > > =--- > Yup, we were all three spaced apart so no draft help for anyone. I > couldn't catch the 2nd place car alone and he wasn't slowingup to help. ( > he had the fastest car after all) So I gave up any chance of winning to > 'try' and catch 2nd.(unless a nasty wreck would happen 2 laps from the

end) > ;) > dave henrie > >

Brian McLernon <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:SSij8.26291$q2.2916@sccrnsc01... > > "Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:n7ij8.21162$702.12926@sccrnsc02... > > 3 drivers left in a long online race....I'm the 3rd...I've dinged my > > fender and I'm begining to lose touch. I pit for repairs and on thenext > > lap the 2nd place car pits, finally the leader pits. back up to speed, > the > > leader types something and scrapes the wall. After only a few laps, Ican > > see he's now slower than me...but 3/4ths of a lap ahead....I type to the > 2nd > > place car, the only UNdamaged driver, to lift and wait and we can draft > > together to run down the leader...however, about this time #2 see's heis > > catching the leader without my help. so he doesn't slow down. > > This left me with a nasty choice, I, the 3rd place car decided who > > won...because the only chance I had to catch 2nd was to slow down andlet > > the crippled leader catch me...then together we could try and get backto > > the 2nd place car with drafting... > > By the time the leader tucked up in my draft the 2nd place car wasonly > 4 > > seconds behind and closing fast...the two of us took off and started > pulling > > away at about 1.2 seconds a lap. From 45 seconds behind 2nd, to 12 > seconds > > near the end and still closing...but the leader's front tire went badand > he > > couldn't keep pushing me...and that was that....#2 didn't catch #1 buthe > > would of if he had waited for me... He also would have caught #1 andalso > > lapped me if I had stayed on my pace...I still came in 3rd, but it was a > > challenging third :) not a fading effort.... oh well...... > > dave henrie > > > Awesome write-up Big D. We need to hear more stories like this 'roundhere > ;-) !!! > > -Brian Mc > > And I thought this oval racing was supposed to be really boring stuff ;p lol

>Took me 4 reads to make sense if it. You allowed yourself to be nearly >lapped in order to try and gain 2nd place, but it didn't work... right. Same here, I think "Singing Darrell's" job as a commentator on FOX is safe for awhile. :-) Dave didn't say which "strictor" track he was on, but that's the nature of the beast with "strictor" racing. He's lucky the leader was nice enough to not lap him, I guess he was in a league race. I've only had one instance (N3 & N4) of the leader giving me a lap back at the finish after helping him hold off a closing 2nd & 3rd place car. Those are the races that you remember. :-) -- 1907 - Daytona Beach Florida Glenn H. Curtiss rode a V8 powered motorcycle to a 136.30 mph record in the measured mile. The Chicago Daily News headline reads: "Fastest Mile On Earth, Bullets Are The Only Rivals Of Glenn Curtiss"

On Tue, 12 Mar 2002 15:41:16 GMT, "clarkb" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>Dave >Really cool story, your story is why I love this racing thing we do. Hot >lapping is fine but racing and making tough decision on the fly just to gain >a position is what racing is all about.. > >Keep up the good work, >Clark

My story is not so cool.. Yesterday I had an 50% race at Vegas against 43 AI. After a 70 laps I was leading with a 2-second lead, but my tires were allmost gone. Suddenly there was a yellow flag situation, perfect timing :) I entered the pits, with all the AI cars following me into the pits. I started driving on the left lane where my pitcrew was waiting for me. Just before I arrived at my pitcrew, out of the blue an AI car appears right in front of me. I crashed into him, damaging my hood and worse, damaging my engine. What happened? It was the car that caused the yellow flag. I watched the car in the replay, it became totally wrecked in the crash, then all of a sudden it disappeared from the track and reappeared in the pits. Right in front of me. Fixing the damage costed me 20 spots, but even worse, I noticed during the rest of the race that I became a little slower because of the damage, and ended the race in 35th place. It was a championship race, man I was pissed :) Andre

Just like human players, the AI get towed if they are heavily damaged. When you tow you warp to your pit stall, but are held there as the towing timer counts down. The same happens to the AI. So you always take a big risk driving thru pit stalls instead of on the normal pit road. Jay Taylor "Andre Warringa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > On Tue, 12 Mar 2002 15:41:16 GMT, "clarkb" <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >Dave > >Really cool story, your story is why I love this racing thing we do. Hot > >lapping is fine but racing and making tough decision on the fly just togain

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> >a position is what racing is all about.. > > > >Keep up the good work, > >Clark > > My story is not so cool.. > Yesterday I had an 50% race at Vegas against 43 AI. After a 70 laps I > was leading with a 2-second lead, but my tires were allmost gone. > Suddenly there was a yellow flag situation, perfect timing :) > > I entered the pits, with all the AI cars following me into the pits. > I started driving on the left lane where my pitcrew was waiting for > me. > > Just before I arrived at my pitcrew, out of the blue an AI car appears > right in front of me. I crashed into him, damaging my hood and worse, > damaging my engine. > > What happened? It was the car that caused the yellow flag. I watched > the car in the replay, it became totally wrecked in the crash, then > all of a sudden it disappeared from the track and reappeared in the > pits. Right in front of me. > > Fixing the damage costed me 20 spots, but even worse, I noticed during > the rest of the race that I became a little slower because of the > damage, and ended the race in 35th place. > It was a championship race, man I was pissed :) > > Andre >

On Wed, 13 Mar 2002 07:51:54 -0600, "Jay Taylor" <[email hidden]> wrote: >Just like human players, the AI get towed if they are heavily damaged. When >you tow you warp to your pit stall, but are held there as the towing timer >counts down. The same happens to the AI. So you always take a big risk >driving thru pit stalls instead of on the normal pit road. > >Jay Taylor Yup, I learned that the hard way yesterday :-/ I practice a lot, but every race something else goes wrong.. In former races I have made every type of pit strategy error you can imagine, and yesterday while leading I thought nothing could go wrong now.. And then a silly thing like this happens :-/ I'm at place 34 now in the overall statistics of my championship (95% level) after 4 races. I really have to start winning some bloody races now.. Andre

Hey you are just like Jeff Gordon now. Really for Nascar Newbies...there are two lanes in most pits. Use the one the furthest from the inside pit wall until the very last moment. (in most cases, this would be the right hand lane.) Good luck dave henrie "Andre Warringa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > On Wed, 13 Mar 2002 07:51:54 -0600, "Jay Taylor" <[email hidden]> > wrote: > > >Just like human players, the AI get towed if they are heavily damaged.When > >you tow you warp to your pit stall, but are held there as the towingtimer

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> >counts down. The same happens to the AI. So you always take a big risk > >driving thru pit stalls instead of on the normal pit road. > > > >Jay Taylor > > Yup, I learned that the hard way yesterday :-/ > I practice a lot, but every race something else goes wrong.. In former > races I have made every type of pit strategy error you can imagine, > and yesterday while leading I thought nothing could go wrong now.. > And then a silly thing like this happens :-/ > > I'm at place 34 now in the overall statistics of my championship (95% > level) after 4 races. I really have to start winning some bloody races > now.. > > Andre

On Wed, 13 Mar 2002 14:12:32 GMT, "Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> wrote: > Hey you are just like Jeff Gordon now. Really for Nascar Newbies...there >are two lanes in most pits. Use the one the furthest from the inside pit >wall until the very last moment. (in most cases, this would be the right >hand lane.) Good luck >dave henrie Ok, and what is the use of the middle lane? Andre

Andre Warringa wrote:

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> On Wed, 13 Mar 2002 14:12:32 GMT, "Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> > wrote: > > >> Hey you are just like Jeff Gordon now. Really for Nascar Newbies...there >>are two lanes in most pits. Use the one the furthest from the inside pit >>wall until the very last moment. (in most cases, this would be the right >>hand lane.) Good luck >>dave henrie > > > Ok, and what is the use of the middle lane? > > Andre

Exiting. -- Fester "Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar." -- Julius Caesar

Great story Dave... just goes to show that to get one step ahead you often have to take one step back.... This is what I really enjoy about the SS... you have to think :-) Especially in long races... I've "lost" 10-15 seconds in one lap at times... only to gain a bunch of posistions withing a "few" laps :) One thing to remember.... "never say die" :) -- ed_

[email hidden] (Andre Warringa) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>... > What happened? It was the car that caused the yellow flag. I watched > the car in the replay, it became totally wrecked in the crash, then > all of a sudden it disappeared from the track and reappeared in the > pits. Right in front of me. Was he in his pitstall? That's what happens when you get towed, something the AI does as well. This is why you don't drive through other people's pit stalls. =) Jason

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Andre Warringa) writes: >I'm at place 34 now in the overall statistics of my championship (95% >level) after 4 races. I really have to start winning some bloody races >now.. 34th place at 95%? Actually, I'm impressed. Based on what I've seen, I'd be in LAST place with that AI strength. Eldred -- Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank - under construction... Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

"Ed Solheim" > One thing to remember.... "never say die" :) it's Capt Kirk's fault...always look for another way....:) dh > -- > ed_ >

"Ed Solheim" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>... > This is what I really enjoy about the SS... you have to think :-) You do? Strategy for SS races: As soon as you can, go low. If the cars ahead are double-file, go with the low car. In the turns, hug the apron. If you're single file, stay in the draft to build a run into the turns and then go low. If you take the lead, stay low all the way around. If for some reason you find yourself being passed on the low side (which won't happen if you stay low!!) nudge the brake without lifting and fall back into the low line. Did I say, go low? Not reflective of real life, but it works fine in N2002. I've been passed high on occasion by a wily AI car who was taking advantage of some side by side racing and forced a 3-wide situation. As far as humans go, I've rarely seen a high pass for position work, since it takes the entire backstretch to get around someone, and by that point you're in turn 3 and the low car pulls away per the norm (somehow, in a turn, a solo car in the low groove can go faster than 2-4 cars drafting in the high groove). If you watch the AI race by themselves at the plate tracks, you'll also notice that no matter how strong or weak a car is, if it's low it will advance and if it's high it will fall back. The AI can pull off the odd 3-wide through-the-middle here and there, but try that with humans and chances are someone will wreck, if only due to the natural jitter of online play. Jason

[email hidden] (EldredP) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

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> In article <[email hidden]>, > [email hidden] (Andre Warringa) writes: > > >I'm at place 34 now in the overall statistics of my championship (95% > >level) after 4 races. I really have to start winning some bloody races > >now.. > > 34th place at 95%? Actually, I'm impressed. Based on what I've seen, I'd be > in LAST place with that AI strength.

Just as a general frame of reference, I've raced a bunch of tracks using the fast-fixed setups and the AI at 100% is pretty right on with what I'd expect from real people, even on the Papy loops. Jason

On 14 Mar 2002 02:14:55 GMT, [email hidden] (EldredP) wrote: >34th place at 95%? Actually, I'm impressed. Based on what I've seen, I'd be >in LAST place with that AI strength. > >Eldred That's imho a major problem of racing the AI in N2002, it's strength. At Daytona I qualify around 25th place with the default fast setup, no matter how smooth I drive. During the race I can draft them quite easily though, usually I'm at the front after a lap or 20. At Vegas however, on my FIRST EVER laps there, I immediately qualified in the first position. The race started and I was gaining tenths of seconds every lap. The race was actually very boring without any competition from the AI. Should have won that bloody race easily untill that AI car was beamed up right in front of me :-/ So it seems like the 95% AI strength differs heavily from track to track. It would have been much better to set the AI strength from track to track in a championship! And also the qualifying times from the AI does not represent the times they will drive during the race very well. Andre

"jason moyer" said: > > This is what I really enjoy about the SS... you have to think :-) > > You do? > > Strategy for SS races: > As soon as you can, go low. Aaahh... I see how our tactics differ.... You see, I will only go low (or like I personally call it; "Block" ) on the very last laps - and then only if that's "required". The so-called lowline is slower that then the real raceline and I will try and get myself in a pack that runs it asap. If that means I'll have to get passed this "blocker" and then try and get him/they to understand that the speed is "up high" - I'll do so too... I even got a autochat message setup for this purpose. Secondly, if possible - I prefer *not* to lead..... come one-two laps from the end I'd rather be 2nd or even 3rd.. I also prefer to lift the throttle rather than using the brakes. As for passing on the outside - that is fully possible.. I've done so several times myself. Inmfact I even thing I've got a nice [N4] replay here of a race I won by "selling the leader a dummy" and passing him on the outside thru turn 3 and 4.... Perhaps you want to see? Like I said in my initial post... If you want to win - you have to think. The longer the race is the more important a strategy becomes... aswell as patience ofcourse. You never win a SS race on the first lap - you win it on the last. -- ed_

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> So it seems like the 95% AI strength differs heavily from track to > track. It would have been much better to set the AI strength from > track to track in a championship! > And also the qualifying times from the AI does not represent the times > they will drive during the race very well. > > Andre

There was a program for N3 that would edit a season file's values after it was started. That way you could change it for each track. I think it could be done by editing the track.ini files as well. MadDAWG

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (jason moyer) writes:

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>> 34th place at 95%? Actually, I'm impressed. Based on what I've seen, I'd >be >> in LAST place with that AI strength. > >Just as a general frame of reference, I've raced a bunch of tracks >using the fast-fixed setups and the AI at 100% is pretty right on with >what I'd expect from real people, even on the Papy loops.

Uh oh... I'm not even CLOSE to being competitive, then. Maybe I'll have to skip the race Sunday... Eldred -- Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank - under construction... Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

EldredP wrote:

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> In article <[email hidden]>, >>[email hidden] (jason moyer) writes: >> >>Just as a general frame of reference, I've raced a bunch of tracks >>using the fast-fixed setups and the AI at 100% is pretty right on with >>what I'd expect from real people, even on the Papy loops. > > > Uh oh... I'm not even CLOSE to being competitive, then. > Maybe I'll have to skip the race Sunday...

I don't think so. I'll need company at the back of the pack. -- Fester "Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar." -- Julius Caesar

This is correct Andre; an X strength value will produce different results at each track. Been that way since N1. -John "Andre Warringa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > On 14 Mar 2002 02:14:55 GMT, [email hidden] (EldredP) wrote: > > >34th place at 95%? Actually, I'm impressed. Based on what I've seen,I'd be

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> >in LAST place with that AI strength. > > > >Eldred > > That's imho a major problem of racing the AI in N2002, it's strength. > At Daytona I qualify around 25th place with the default fast setup, no > matter how smooth I drive. During the race I can draft them quite > easily though, usually I'm at the front after a lap or 20. > > At Vegas however, on my FIRST EVER laps there, I immediately qualified > in the first position. The race started and I was gaining tenths of > seconds every lap. The race was actually very boring without any > competition from the AI. Should have won that bloody race easily > untill that AI car was beamed up right in front of me :-/ > > So it seems like the 95% AI strength differs heavily from track to > track. It would have been much better to set the AI strength from > track to track in a championship! > And also the qualifying times from the AI does not represent the times > they will drive during the race very well. > > Andre >

Nah Eldred, it's about having fun more than anything IMO.............besides, you won't get better by skipping out :) -John "EldredP" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > In article <[email hidden]>, > [email hidden] (jason moyer) writes: > > >> 34th place at 95%? Actually, I'm impressed. Based on what I've seen,I'd

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> >be > >> in LAST place with that AI strength. > > > >Just as a general frame of reference, I've raced a bunch of tracks > >using the fast-fixed setups and the AI at 100% is pretty right on with > >what I'd expect from real people, even on the Papy loops. > > Uh oh... I'm not even CLOSE to being competitive, then. > Maybe I'll have to skip the race Sunday... > > Eldred > -- > Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 > Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett > GPLRank - under construction... > > Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats

you > with experience... > Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

On Thu, 14 Mar 2002 07:58:51 -0700, "John Pancoast" <[email hidden]> wrote: > This is correct Andre; an X strength value will produce different results >at each track. Been that way since N1. > >-John Since N1?? Doesn't seem that much work to me to bring more balance to the AI or to give the AI different difficulty settings at each track.. Andre

That's true, but AI has never been one of Papy's strong points :) Not sure, but part of the differences probably reflect the differences in tire wear at each track, track configuration itself, etc. Ditch that offline Andre; online baby! :) -John "Andre Warringa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > On Thu, 14 Mar 2002 07:58:51 -0700, "John Pancoast" > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > > This is correct Andre; an X strength value will produce differentresults

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> >at each track. Been that way since N1. > > > >-John > > Since N1?? Doesn't seem that much work to me to bring more balance to > the AI or to give the AI different difficulty settings at each track.. > > Andre

On Thu, 14 Mar 2002 08:24:57 -0700, "John Pancoast" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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> That's true, but AI has never been one of Papy's strong points :) Not >sure, but part of the differences probably reflect the differences in tire >wear at each track, track configuration itself, etc. > > Ditch that offline Andre; online baby! :) > >-John

Just one more day before my official copy arrives John, and seriously, I CAN'T WAIT :)) Andre

> Ditch that offline Andre; online baby! :) > Amen brother John - AMEN!! -- ed_

Both on and offline have their strong and weak points. Online is great because you are racing against real humans that run in canned cycles. The drawbacks for myself in online racing is for the most part online is not the type of racing I want. I want real racing side by side close competition for longer races that involve a pit stops and yellow flags. My typical experience with online racing is that I'm usually in the middle "class" of the field. If I make it through the start of the race online its usually just a few laps before I'm doing nothing more than driving in circles. I get ahead of the slow guys, but I'm not fast enough to keep up with the leaders. I have gotten more of my god finishes online from pit strategy more than anything else. I by these games for fun and to me the racing is what's fun so with the AI I can tweak them to my skill level and have a blast racing. There was a race awhile ago that was 99 laps at the Rock. The winner won by 5 laps and 2nd was a couple ahead of 3rd so how much racing went on there? Sure its nice to say you won by 5 laps, but I'd race hard for a spot and win the spot by 0.001 than win by 5 laps even if its not for first. To me that's more like real racing (F1 excluded). I personly like offline championships more than online test drives. Now I have hit on that race that is a close dog fight the whole way and that is the best of both, but for me those are few and far between. MadDAWG

> Nah Eldred, it's about having fun more than anything >IMO.............besides, you won't get better by skipping out :) > Oh HUSH!<g> I'm worried about taking someone else out. I don't have enough practice laps to be smooth yet. What time is this thing supposed to start again...? Eldred -- Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank - under construction... Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

"EldredP" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > > Nah Eldred, it's about having fun more than anything > >IMO.............besides, you won't get better by skipping out :) > > > > Oh HUSH!<g> > I'm worried about taking someone else out. I don't have enough practicelaps > to be smooth yet. > What time is this thing supposed to start again...? Your in charge of the race now so you get to pick the time. :-) I wouldn't worry too much about how you'll do. I'm not exactly Mr.NASCAR, and I'm going to race. :-) Just wondering, what is your linear setting? For me and my Ferrari FF wheel, full linear makes the car much easier to control than a non-linear setting. David G Fisher

[email hidden] (Andre Warringa) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>... > That's imho a major problem of racing the AI in N2002, it's strength. Set it to 100% and allow yourself to be humbled until you get better. =) Jason

On 15 Mar 2002 00:24:06 -0800, [email hidden] (jason moyer) wrote:

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>[email hidden] (Andre Warringa) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>... > >> That's imho a major problem of racing the AI in N2002, it's strength. > >Set it to 100% and allow yourself to be humbled until you get better. =) > >Jason

First I want to finish my 95% championship.. Yesterday the race was at Atlanta (great track!). After 20 laps I was leading with 8 seconds.. again, at Daytona I can hardly keep up with them at 95%, at Atlanta they are wussies at 95%. Halfway the race my tires were gone so I had to pit under green. Made a good pitstop, went back on the track, suddenly I was in the middle of the pack and I touched an AI car. My car was wrecked, had to pit again, and all the AI cars could pit under yellow. After that I was suddenly one lap down.. Man, with a bit of bad luck you can lose positions easily in Nascar :-/ Ended the race in 35th place. The Championship isn't going so well :-/ Andre

Andre Warringa wrote:

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> On 14 Mar 2002 02:14:55 GMT, [email hidden] (EldredP) wrote: > > >34th place at 95%? Actually, I'm impressed. Based on what I've seen, I'd be > >in LAST place with that AI strength. > > > >Eldred > > That's imho a major problem of racing the AI in N2002, it's strength. > At Daytona I qualify around 25th place with the default fast setup, no > matter how smooth I drive. During the race I can draft them quite > easily though, usually I'm at the front after a lap or 20. > > At Vegas however, on my FIRST EVER laps there, I immediately qualified > in the first position. The race started and I was gaining tenths of > seconds every lap. The race was actually very boring without any > competition from the AI. Should have won that bloody race easily > untill that AI car was beamed up right in front of me :-/ > > So it seems like the 95% AI strength differs heavily from track to > track. It would have been much better to set the AI strength from > track to track in a championship! > And also the qualifying times from the AI does not represent the times > they will drive during the race very well. > > Andre

That is because the "qualifying strength" parameter in the track.ini is arbitrarily assigned (what criteria Papyrus used to decide on them is unknown-Magic Eight Ball perhaps?). At one track you end up at the back of the field no matter how good you do in qualifying, and at others is it a piece of cake to get the pole. I'm not afraid to fiddle with the file, and I typically set it for being in the top ten if I drive a more or less perfect lap... John DiFool -- ======================================================== Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him....what? A super callused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis. ========================================================

On Fri, 15 Mar 2002 16:00:02 GMT, John DiFool <[email hidden]> wrote:

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> That is because the "qualifying strength" parameter in the track.ini >is arbitrarily assigned (what criteria Papyrus used to decide on them >is unknown-Magic Eight Ball perhaps?). At one track you end up at >the back of the field no matter how good you do in qualifying, and at >others is it a piece of cake to get the pole. I'm not afraid to fiddle with >the file, and I typically set it for being in the top ten if I drive a more or >less perfect lap... > > John DiFool

Cool.. could you mail me your track.ini files? Saves me a lot of hassling :) Andre

John DiFool <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>... > That is because the "qualifying strength" parameter in the track.ini > is arbitrarily assigned (what criteria Papyrus used to decide on them > is unknown-Magic Eight Ball perhaps?). I'm guessing they based it on seeing how humans qualified in testing. It's been my experience that with the exceptions of Daytona and Talledega, the AI qualifying falls right in line with the fastest humans in fixed-fast races. I think that in N2002 the AI at 100% are really close to being perfect for racing with the default setups, moreso than in previous papy nascar games. Jason