ICS 2005 20-lappers tonight?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 7:08 pm

Boys:

I do like the ICS 2005 league idea (see separate thread), but Zeppo has a great point that the disconnect issue could piss in that punch bowl pretty quickly.

So until the connections are stable for XBL play, let's run some 20-lappers tonight at an assortment of tracks. I'll play host. Pro level, all flags, no AI cars, no assists, random grids (to keep things moving), three to four minutes of practice before the race to work on race setups. I also ask that everyone use auto trannies, if possible, as you'll avoid the gear-locking glitch.

How does 11 p.m. (EDT) sound? That will give me an extra 30 minutes to watch WRC and give those who want to play GR:IT some time to play, especially if they start sooner than the usual 10:30.

Sound cool? If so, leave your Gamertag here, and I'll give you an invite. My connection says it can play host to 10 or 12 drivers, so don't be shy. Looking forward to it!

And I don't want to hear about how you'll be a rolling chicane, how you suck, etc. Just join us and race! Seriously, I think guys are much more tolerant of mistakes in this game because many are learning the black art of oval racing, learning about caution procedures and realizing that this game takes more concentration than any driving game I've played since F355 on the Dreamcast.

Take care,
PK

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 7:17 pm

You are the man! I am in for sure.

Gamertag = DChaps

SRNomad · Post by **SRNomad** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 7:26 pm

Sounds like fun. I haven't really played in a decent Pro with cautions room. I'm in if there is room for me.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 7:44 pm

PK,

I think having the AI off will allow many of us to race without getting bumped and eating concrete. I can't tell you on have many races I've had the AI throw me into the wall. I'm sure some of its my fault but when its from behind I'm quite vulnerable.

Looking forward to it. PK, we could just start a mini-season where we do Homestead first and then see how far we get into a season.

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 7:55 pm

I'll give it a shot and see how it goes.

slimer · Post by **slimer** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 7:56 pm

I'm there.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 8:05 pm

I'll give it a go, pk. Send me an invite, please.

Mixdorf · Post by **Mixdorf** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 8:21 pm

Sweet. I'm in.

pigpen81 · Post by **pigpen81** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 8:33 pm

I should be there

Neckthai · Post by **Neckthai** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 9:56 pm

As I said when you called my desk. I'll play.

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:04 pm

"Dude were there"

mixdj1 · Post by **mixdj1** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:19 pm

Count me in.

mixdj1

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:39 pm

OK, fellas, that's 12. I think my connection can handle it without AI cars, but we'll see.

Alternates can feel free to sign up in case primaries don't show.

Looking forward to this!

Take care,
PK

Talamius · Post by **Talamius** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 11:37 pm

I'll signup as an alternate since I should be on this evening.

SRNomad · Post by **SRNomad** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 2:09 am

Well that was fun even though we spent most of the time under caution. I gave up after 2 DC's and could not get back in the server.

Thanks for the races guys.

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 3:31 am

What was the deal on that last race? I was in 4th when the yellow came out. I slowed immediately to follow Zeppo who was in 3rd, however the green arrows did not show over him, although it was clearly showing him 3rd and me 4th. Zeppo was seeing the green arrows jumping around, so we heard neck say that the pace car was at the start/finish line, so Zeppo and I sped up to catch up to the pace car. When we caught up, I started seeing the pace car with the green arrows, which I did not understand, as there would have been no possible way that I should have been following the pace car in first. However, I decided to follow the game. As I passed Zeppo and a couple others to get behind the green arrows of the pace car, it then immediately turned the arrows off, as if I needed to go around and catch back up again. I guess these yellow problems could still be attributed to "user error", but I think I understand the rules of yellows, and it still did not seem to be working last night. I also had a deal in an earlier race where Terry spun out and hit the wall in front of me under yellow, then came to a complete stop in the infield. Even though I was running slow with a good bit of buffer, there was no way I could have not passed him unless I had just come to a complete stop. The game then told me I had been black flagged.

The few laps we had at race pace were pretty fun. Neck and I had some nice close racing going on. Until "we" (the racers), or Codemasters get the yellows worked out, is anyone interested in running some 20 lap or quarter distant races with fuel and tire wear on, simple damage, and flag rules and penalties off completely?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 10:55 am

That last race was glitchy as hell, even more than normal. The pits opened and closed two or three times in one pace lap. Definitely not human error, I think.

Last night was not a very enjoyable experience between the disconnects and the endless caution periods.

The disconnects are Codemasters' fault, no question. But I still have a sneaking suspicion that the lengthy cautions are caused somewhat by human error. We need to pack up behind the car in front of you with the green triangles more quickly and stop crashing on caution laps.

I didn't help much last night when I was leading behind the Pace Car because I didn't keep a constant speed, mainly due to my kitten running amok and getting into stuff.

But I can't stress enough: Pack up quickly behind the car in front if it has the green triangles. If the car in front doesn't, then pass it and haul ass until you see the car in the distance with the green triangles over it. Then slow down, keep a consistent, yet close, distance from the car with the green triangles and keep your fuel mix at 0.

<b>One other BIG tip: Don't pit during a closed pit situation unless you're automatically sent to the pits due to a big wreck. If you can limp around behind the Pace Car with the rest of the pack, that will open the pits more quickly. Every time you dive into a closed pit, you break the chain of packing up the field behind the caution, and the pits can't be opened. Stay in line. Wait until the pits open.</b>

I know this is remedial for many, but I saw quite a few instances last night of collisions under caution and times when I couldn't count all of the cars in the field behind me because people either were pitting voluntarily into a closed pit or because people weren't packing up properly.

We had almost no problems getting the pits open during XBL racing Monday night, but that was with a pretty veteran bunch. I think that some of our woes last night were human-induced.

No worries. We're all learning, and it's all good.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 10:58 am

>>>Until "we" (the racers), or Codemasters get the yellows worked out, is anyone interested in running some 20 lap or quarter distant races with fuel and tire wear on, simple damage, and flag rules and penalties off completely?<<<

You bet I'm interested. I'm ready to run under any rules!

Take care,
PK

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 12:20 pm

PK - good tips about yellows and pitting. I did pit during closed pits last night top repair damage, but could have waited until the pits opened. Sorry, I didn't know. BUt every time we were under yellow, I got back behind the car with the arrows ASAP. I'm not sure if any of last nights problems were my fault, since it was my first night with the game?

It was fun for the few laps that we were racing under green. I was having a hard time not hitting the right side wall. It seems like a magnet. Any pointers would sure be appreciated. Is there a way to make my steering more "sensitive" or "responsive". It seems hard to turn away from the wall quickly. My car felt awful tight on the turns. Also, any other basic stuff to get me through the "learning period" would also be appreciated. The manual doesn't tell you crap. I did start on the Master Class tutorial last night, but couldn't even get past the 1st one. I keep missing by .50 of a second.

Looking forward to learning this game if it kills me!

Thanks to PK, Pigpen for the tips. Please keep em coming. I need lots of help!

Fshguy · Post by **Fshguy** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 12:39 pm

I'm sure I'll be out there tonight, please invite me if there is room.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 1:05 pm

I don't think that pitting under yellow to repair damage has any negative effect. Many times, I've pitted with damage under yellow, and the pits then opened even though I was in the pit lane on my way out or even once I'm back on the track, catching up to the line. That is, somehow I think if I am in the pits during a yellow, I no longer 'count' in terms of having to be in line to get the race restarted. This has happened to me quite often. In fact, a few times the pit has opened as I was approaching the pit entrance after diving down into the apron to get in there. You'll notice the green arrows will disappear from a car in front of you once it gets down in the apron in front of the pits.

I think one big problem last night was accidents under yellow. The pace car goes 80mph (as far as I can tell, it's the same on every track), and on the 'green next time' lap it goes 100. I try to keep to 80 once I see the pace car. One big issue last night was a sort of elastic effect, where the space between cars would strech out, and then collapse to the point where several cars had to brake to 25 or 30mph to keep from hitting someone. It was like a yo-yo. It's pretty scary for me when under yellow to suddenly not be able to see through tons of smoke from cars in front locking up their brakes. A few times of that, and I learned the 'stagger under yellow' lesson.

I'm pretty sure the times the pit opened then closed again were due to acidents occuring while under yellow.

When I hear there's a yellow, I immediately lay off the throttle, and crank the fuel mix down to zero. Then once I get my bearings and if no one is in front of me, I can floor it with mix at 0 and go about 135-145mph. What's great about this is that the car is very easy to control, and doesn't go too fast to be able to slow down to pace-car speed just by easing off the throttle. Sometimes it may take a while, but at this point I think it's better to be safe than sorry. (I used to run a lot under yellow with mix at 1 to catch up, but one time I had no choice, as I was all but out of fuel when the yellow came out. So, I stuck with the zero mix, and it worked so well, I'm sticking with it). With the pace car cruising at 80mph, I know I will catch up with the line even at mix zero, going 135 or so. Sometimes it takes like a lap, but I'd rather do that than the other thing, which I've done many times, namely going too fast catching up, and then when I do catch up, being unable to slow down reasonably and causing problems, whether it be locking up braking too hard, or zipping by and getting a black flag.

Earlier last night I ran in a room with 1/4 length races. After 6 aborted tries at Nazareth (some of these guys were asking 'what's a yellow flag?' One wonders why they are in a 'pro' room, but whatever), we went to Indy (that was when terry showed up to witness my deplorable driving up close!). In that race we had several yellows (some of which I caused by hitting the wall), and some of them seemed to take forever, but eventually they did clear, and we had one stint of some 15 laps or so. But my point is, in that race, the yellows took at least as long as some of the yellows we were under before aborting.

I don't know what was going on last night. I know on Sunday when we had quick yellows, we only had 4 or 5 cars, maybe 6. I also don't think disallowing people pitting for damage under yellow is the solution; like I said I've done it myself plenty of times with no ill effect on the restart.

I'm tmepted to think we just need to eat the yellow, and if we run 10 laps to finish the race under yellow, so be it. I mean it sucks, but there's no way to know why they won't get the restart underway in these situations, so you can't help but feel that there's some glitch. But maybe there wasn't, it's impossible to tell. Anyway, really long yellows are another good reason to run 1/4 distance. It seems like people get bounced out in the lobby area, or in practice that stuff. Once the race starts, I didn't notice a lot of d/c's, but then again i can't say i was looking too carefully.

Even with all the messiness, we had a few good stints last night. This game keeps me coming back online for more punishment, since the good parts are so damn good.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 1:14 pm

Zep:

Interesting findings. Good points.

Thanks,
PK

beltzies64 · Post by **beltzies64** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 2:09 pm

As will I, let me know if there is any extra room if some people don't show...