Lotus Drivers in GPL

Is it just me or are Lotus drivers (as a group) overly aggressive during online races? I hosted a Monza race last night where of the 11 cars, 8 were Lotii. Before the first lap was over, most of the Lotii had wrecked/spun at least once. During the remainder of the race, various Lotii passed me and eventually spun out again because they passed me by trying to outbrake into a turn or other such nonsense. I'm not trying critisize or berate Lotii drivers, but if you guys would calm down a little and make smarter moves, the car will do the majority of the work for you and you'll end up on the podium most of the time. As it was, I finished the race in 2nd, even being a tad slower than the majority of the Lotii. The winner was driving a Lotus - again. -- ========================================================= John Simmons - Redneck Techno-Biker (Zerex12) http://www.members.home.net/jms1/index.html John Simmons - Barbarian Diecast Collector http://members.home.net/jsimm/diecast_index.html If you want to send me email, go to either of the URL's shown above & click "Send Me Mail" in the contents frame. =========================================================

It's not just you, but it's not Lotus drivers specifically either. It's a certain group of drivers, a certain mindset you might say... the type of player who just wants to jump on in and drive the fastest car available. Thanks to its reputation, they pick the Lotus. If the Ferrari or the Honda for that matter had the reputation of the fastest ride, these folks would be in those cars instead, still making the same mistakes they do. Trips

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> Is it just me or are Lotus drivers (as a group) overly aggressive during > online races? > I hosted a Monza race last night where of the 11 cars, 8 were Lotii. > Before the first lap was over, most of the Lotii had wrecked/spun at > least once. During the remainder of the race, various Lotii passed me > and eventually spun out again because they passed me by trying to > outbrake into a turn or other such nonsense. > I'm not trying critisize or berate Lotii drivers, but if you guys would > calm down a little and make smarter moves, the car will do the majority > of the work for you and you'll end up on the podium most of the time. > As it was, I finished the race in 2nd, even being a tad slower than the > majority of the Lotii. The winner was driving a Lotus - again. > -- > ========================================================= > John Simmons - Redneck Techno-Biker (Zerex12) > http://www.members.home.net/jms1/index.html > John Simmons - Barbarian Diecast Collector > http://members.home.net/jsimm/diecast_index.html > If you want to send me email, go to either of the URL's > shown above & click "Send Me Mail" in the contents frame. > =========================================================

Kids shouldn't drive a grown man's car. John Simmons schrieb in Nachricht ...

At 17, technically I'm still a kid! But I love my Lotus..... Can't I drive it, please? Go on! Cheers! :-) -- Graeme Nash You know what to do with "don't_spam_me"... http://www.karisma1.demon.co.uk/ ICQ# 11257824 "Don't quote me on that" - Doh!

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>Is it just me or are Lotus drivers (as a group) overly aggressive during >online races? >I hosted a Monza race last night where of the 11 cars, 8 were Lotii. >Before the first lap was over, most of the Lotii had wrecked/spun at >least once. During the remainder of the race, various Lotii passed me >and eventually spun out again because they passed me by trying to >outbrake into a turn or other such nonsense.

Hmmm...maybe this was the same group who came over to my Monza races later on. :) In a field of 17 cars taking the start, we had 13 Lotii, 2 Eagles a Coventry and a Ferrari. Actually had a clean start, but the inevitable happened... By Curva Grande, it was down to 9 Lotii, 2 Eagles and a Ferrari. By Lesmos 1, it was down to 6 Lotii, no Eagles (taken out by flying Lotii), and a Ferrari. By lap 11, it was one Lotus and 1 Ferrari, the rest having committed "armco-kiri" by impaling themselves on those metal strips. :) No kidding. I was running in 2nd (in an Eagle) when I got hit in the rear by a Lotus who seemed to need to lead the race now. By contrast, I hosted a race at Kyalami Sunday, and forgot that I had no car setup for the Eagle there (having recently changed my colors from green to blue), and didn't get a decent one by practice end. Started in 7th place (of 8 cars), and by lap 3, I was in 4th place, the other 4 having taken themselves out. Cruised home to a 4th from there with no pressure at all. :) Yep, but some of those "also ran" cars people are now finding the setups for...the Lotus *** is getting smaller in a lot of races. Used to be you couldn't find a driver to get anything other than a Lotus under 1:30 at Monza. It's a very good driver who can run 11 lap races at sub - 1:30 times, and I've now seen Ferraris in the 1:29's for laps on end. Hell, I'm even seeing Repcos lapping consistent 1:30's, and Coventries in the 1:31's now. I did a "spec." race (everyone in the same car, with default setup) in a Murasama at Monza, and could only qualify with a 1:34.xx, but by race end, having adapted to the different feel of the car, I was lapping at a low 1:32 clip, and there was a lot more to be found in that car with some serious setup tweaking...the default gearing is horrible for the Mura's narrow powerband. I think we're soon going to see the day when the whole field isn't in green cars. :) Regards, Doc phRed '95 - CSP #25 Team Monster Miata Stereo -- Never a late apex, never a dull moment.

I was in that race (Ferrari), but I quit after 3 or so laps. Umm. I was showing my brother how cool GPL was and thought -- hey a 17 car PRO race at Monza -- should be great to show off GPL! Fortunately, I didn't have time to get a qualifying lap in :) Most of the cars were gone on the first turn/lap. Since I was up to 4th after the first lap, I retired -- no way to show cool traffic action when everyone died on the first lap :(

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> Hmmm...maybe this was the same group who came over to my Monza > races later on. :) > In a field of 17 cars taking the start, we had 13 Lotii, 2 Eagles > a Coventry and a Ferrari. > Actually had a clean start, but the inevitable happened... > By Curva Grande, it was down to 9 Lotii, 2 Eagles and a Ferrari. > By Lesmos 1, it was down to 6 Lotii, no Eagles (taken out by > flying Lotii), and a Ferrari. > By lap 11, it was one Lotus and 1 Ferrari, the rest having > committed "armco-kiri" by impaling themselves on those metal > strips. :) > I think we're soon going to see the day when the whole field > isn't in green cars. :)

It does not make an interesting race when everyone chooses Lotus. -- -------- Jason Monds (Please remove 'no extra spork' when replying)

> Is it just me or are Lotus drivers (as a group) overly aggressive during > online races? I wouldn't call myself overly aggressive. Just tenatious. There is a limit to a person's ability; most of the time it's below the cars limit. I drive my limit, and finish in the top three when it counts. The trick is driving within your limits and not getting a wild hare up your ass and exceeding them. ;-) Something the younger drivers don't understand... There is a way to discourage this type of driving style...run Pro races. If you mess up and trash the car you're out...no shift-r to save you.That, or find a group like yourself that is more interested in racing, not just driving fast. ;-) Brent Martin GMSS Lotus/Grey

There was a race he other night with an all Lotii field and all of the drivers were within 2 sec. of each other in qualifying. It was beautifully. Isn't that what racing is all about? I've been taken out in races by all of the different types of cars at one time or another and I've crashed all of them myself (probably in to some of you :). I don't think the type of car has anything to do with aggressiveness. A good driver is naturally going to choose the Lotus or the Eagle if he/she wants to win against other good drivers .What I see ,more often than not, is drivers trying to overtake too soon. So attn. host- Pro damage races are OK with Daisy. I'll see you in the bushes :-)

Most of the lap 1 wrecks I see involve Lotii. Probably because it's even harder to handle than usual on cold tires. Pro races are fine, except that with the networking code in the state it's in, your race can be ruined by warps or clock smashes. Without the shift-R, you're really vulnerable to the quality of the connection. Because of this, when I do try a Pro race, I run only a warm-up qual lap. That way I'm in the back of the pack - away from the spinning Lotii - and I haven't wasted a lot of effort getting a good time in case the connection turns to crud. Kind of a pessimistic view of things, I know, but what can you do? I'm pretty dissapointed that they made the Lotus be the only viable choice in the game. The Eagle is faster on the straight, but the Lotus is just impossible to beat. While historically accurate (the Lotus 49 qualified very high in all races in '67) this sucks for two reasons. First, it reduces the game almost to "Lotus Legends." It reminds me of the old days of Air Warrior when the only plane people chose was the Spitfire. The other problem is that the only really competetive car is out of reach for a lot of players. One thing that could help reduce the Lotus *** is if it were possible to control the damage/shift-R capabilities of online races indepedently. The Lotus (and Eagle) are more prone to engine failure which gets mitigated in the reduced damage models. I'd like to be able to have a race with Pro damage on, but with shift-R also available (because of the network weirdness). I'd also like to see a minimum 5 second penalty for shift-R'ing in an online race (i.e. the "track isn't clear" for 5 seconds). This will also cut down on a few of the interesting tactics that go on. In this kind of arrangement, Ferraris and Coopers and Brabhams stand more of a chance because they're more reliable and driveable. As far as people trying to overtake in bad places .... ohhh yeah. Steve Smith may want to write a advanced racing manual for GPL. And, while I'm on a minor rant, it's also sad to see the players who have brought their NASCAR tactics with them to GPL. I'm talking about deliberate take-out moves. I've seen a few people who even do this during practice to the driver who's close in qualifying time (i.e. trying to make sure the driver can't get a faster lap). -"Jethro Bodine"

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> There was a race he other night with an all Lotii field and all of >the drivers were within 2 sec. of each other in qualifying. It was >beautifully. Isn't that what racing is all about? > I've been taken out in races by all of the different types of cars >at one time or another and I've crashed all of them myself (probably >in to some of you :). I don't think the type of car has anything to do >with aggressiveness. A good driver is naturally going to choose the >Lotus or the Eagle if he/she wants to win against other good drivers >.What I see ,more often than not, is drivers trying to overtake too >soon. > So attn. host- > Pro damage races are OK with Daisy. I'll see you in the bushes :-)

On 04 Dec 1998 15:37:47 PST, "Mark S. Miller" >One thing that could help reduce the Lotus *** is if it were possible >to control the damage/shift-R capabilities of online races indepedently. The >Lotus (and Eagle) are more prone to engine failure which gets mitigated in >the reduced damage models. I'd like to be able to have a race with Pro >damage on, Yes, that is better. Hotlapping in races sucks. I would even like different penalities for spinning out on your own (end of race, limping back to pits to repair, or Shift-R puts you back to the pits, losing a half lap) and crashing with somebody (standard Shift-R, or from pits) , which might be caused by the other driver or warping. The problem is that drivers who damaged thier car on their own might try to force a collision to get the benefit of a quick repair, though. Certainly, drivers should be much more careful, as it is a simulation of a real race, not "mortal combat".Hard penalties for crashing, especially those football-like tackles, colud help there. Right. I 2nd that. -- _____ /_______\ .\\ a t t h e a d I XT /~~~~ I 500\_____ 1977' Yamaha XT.Rex 500 Enduro \____/\__I_I http://matthead.home.pages.de/