SCGT - bug or deliberate?

Just raced at Desert Speedway (Is that the -actual- layout of the LVMS infield?). Understeered into a wall early on - made a pitstop for repairs and fuel. Got the low fuel message with about 1m40s left to run having fought back up to third. On the final lap (counter had gone down to 00:00 remaining), I was just about to cross the S/F line and ran out of fuel. Must have only been about 10 yards away, so coasted across it without losing a spot and breathed a big sight of relief. Then I got a big DNF! I crossed the line under my own momentum, I (obviously) never got a push. You -need- to have fuel in the tanks for a finish to count. It's the wierdest ruling I've come across. Gutted, I was. Anyone got any clues as to whether there are going to be any follow up patches to a: sort this freakish rule out and b: solve properly the qualifying framerate issues. I'm still playing on my P200 (the PIII450 that was supposed to arrive yesterday -still- hasn't turned up - grrr) and it's pretty hard work qualifying at about 3fps... Mark Reading UK Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

Tried to race the Northpoint track without pitting and as far as I remember, one time I ran out of fuel far before the S/F line, loosing more and more speed and my quite good place, but I didn't get a DNF! Maybe I'm wrong, though, so it would be very interesting to get more information on that issue by other drivers. Who of the visitors of this site would not wait impatiently for the patch to "b"? As for you: The best patch will be the PIII450 and it will arrive much sooner... CU Zolli

I don't know if it's a bug or if it's deliberate but previous race series have had this "freakish rule" in their regulations. When I went to Donnington Park to watch the German DTM touring cars (1994?) this happened to the winning car. The Mercedes driver was disqualified because the car didn't have sufficient fuel left in the tanks for post race chemical analysis. Maybe they got it right ? Andy.

As far as I know, this is incorrect. Perhaps you had just gotten the white flag as you crossed the line? I know at Laguna Seca, this happened to me. I coasted across the line and won the race (just barely, man, that hill gave me a scare). So seeing how I won that race by coasting across the line, my guess is you just started on your last lap when you coasted across the start/finish line. Racer X Veteran Sim Racer Victory Lane- http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1423/

I was pretty sure the counter was down to zero - you don't need to do one more lap from that point on do you? Maybe I was mistaken. Don't think I'll be such a fuel gambler in future, though... Mark Reading, UK Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

Yes you do. Depending on where the clock was at on the previous lap. I usually do laps of 35-37 at Lime Rock. Say I cross the line with 40 seconds left. The game thinks I can still go 2 laps, because if it would give me the white flag, I'd finish ahead of the set time. Then say I spin out on that lap. So when I cross the S/F line on this lap, even though the timer will say 0:00.00, it will still be the beginning of the final lap. I hope you got that, it may seem a bit confusing. Racer X Veteran Sim Racer Victory Lane- http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1423/

Not at all. Thanks very much for clearing it up. Mark Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

I have had the same problem. Really annoying in the 20 Minute races where you can just make it on one stop on some circuits. Makes you wonder what kind of BETA testing was undertaken?

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> Just raced at Desert Speedway (Is that the -actual- layout of the LVMS > infield?). Understeered into a wall early on - made a pitstop for repairs and > fuel. > Got the low fuel message with about 1m40s left to run having fought back up > to third. On the final lap (counter had gone down to 00:00 remaining), I was > just about to cross the S/F line and ran out of fuel. Must have only been > about 10 yards away, so coasted across it without losing a spot and breathed > a big sight of relief. Then I got a big DNF! > I crossed the line under my own momentum, I (obviously) never got a push. > You -need- to have fuel in the tanks for a finish to count. It's the > wierdest ruling I've come across. > Gutted, I was. > Anyone got any clues as to whether there are going to be any follow up > patches to a: sort this freakish rule out and b: solve properly the > qualifying framerate issues. I'm still playing on my P200 (the PIII450 that > was supposed to arrive yesterday -still- hasn't turned up - grrr) and it's > pretty hard work qualifying at about 3fps... > Mark > Reading UK > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ > Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

It does happen occasionally. I think if you stop just over the line this occurs becuase it has definately happened to me.

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> > As far as I know, this is incorrect. Perhaps you had just gotten the white > > flag as you crossed the line? I know at Laguna Seca, this happened to me. I > > coasted across the line and won the race (just barely, man, that hill gave me a > > scare). So seeing how I won that race by coasting across the line, my guess is > > you just started on your last lap when you coasted across the start/finish > > line. > I was pretty sure the counter was down to zero - you don't need to do one > more lap from that point on do you? Maybe I was mistaken. Don't think I'll > be such a fuel gambler in future, though... > Mark > Reading, UK > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ > Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

I started thinking a bit more about it and maybe what happenned to me was this - I crossed the line with zero time left and no fuel, but I was running third. Maybe the race isn't over until the leader takes the chequered flag. So, leader crosses line with 3 seconds remaining, and I'm behind by, say, 10s. So the counter is zero, I've crossed the line, but the leader still has a lap to run. Catch my drift? I've not been a great GT follower in the past, but is this how it works? Is the race only complete when the -leader- crosses the line when the time is up? I enjoy SCGT - I find the driving somewhere between N2 and CPR - which is fun. If they hadn't written the manual for 5 year olds, had included tyre temps and allowed the saving of setups it could have been -so- much more. A classic from the manual was that there are three tyre compounds - hard, medium, and soft. Soft have treads so should be used in wet conditions! That sort of thing dumbs the whole thing down. Why not say three tyre types - hard, soft and wets? It'd make me respect the game more. That's just one example of many. Had care and enthusiasm been applied to the manual I have no doubt review scores would have been higher. Personally I think it's a better game by far than TOCA, the reviewer's darling (only my unimportant opinion, TOCA fans). How the hell did I get into this rant? Sorry. Oh yeah, It's because the PIII I was due to get on Friday from SIGHT AND SOUND COMPUTERS -still- hasn't turned up and I'm pissed off as hell! That, and all the back pain ***... Mark Reading, UK Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

Oh yes, I forgot about that. I'm pretty sure you are right. Racer X Veteran Sim Racer Victory Lane- http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1423/

I believe you are right. In my experience, the leader needs to take the checkered flag before the race is considered over. Glen

If the leader crosses the line .05 seconds before the time limit expires, the race will run one more lap. This is standard practice for timed races. wilbur