F1 2012 Career, Caterham and Melbourne: What can I expect?

[ptroinks]

I'm on my practice session at Melbourne with Caterham (PC), and as I'm running the game without any assists and with Legend AI, I'm struggling somewhat. For the life of me, I can't get my lap times below 1:33, and I'm wondering if this is just me not getting used to the physics and set-up "logic" of F1 2012 (vs. F1 2011), or if this is what I should be satisfied with. I know I can get a couple of tenths by adjusting my set-up, but I'm currently in 24th position, and I don't know if I can do any better...

 

[Roberto Costa]

Well, that was a really nice lap to be honest! I thought it's even gonna be 26.xxx. You can carry more speed into T1, T9 and T14. If you do it - you'll definitely get a better Q time than me. I've also been a really bad qualifier, but your times are definitely not bad. As for the brakes, I may try to use F1 2012 Data Logger to see when what and where exactly I use, but I've been trying to be on the brakes with as much power as possible without locking up.


np for the setup. Glad I could help.

As for the converter. I'd never use Movie Maker. Usually I'm using Camtasia Studio 7, but it uses only CPU and it's kinda slow to convert with it. I'm with an i7 and it still takes quite a lot of time. GPU rendering is a LOT faster. You can try Super LoiloScope. Awesome program. It's expensive but you get 30 days free trial. I used 'em already, but you can try it. CUDA rendering rocks. ^^ Mind that you'll get their logo on your video if you use the trial!

Your setup helped me a lot, really. I wasn't able to do even 1.28.xxx before, then after getting used to the setup it worked very nice.
Thanks for the tips about T1, T9 and T14. Thats when i know im talking to a real Pro lol. Just a pic at a video and it finds where i can improve.
Sometimes im faster on T1 but im not sure about T9 and T14 (T9 is the first turn at sector 3 right? The S turns. Looks like i exit that turn around 230-240kph doesn't matter if i do it on gear 6th or 5th, but i haven't noticed if i'll be faster in the middle of the turn if i do it on gear 5.
. My biggest problem is with the brakes. As you saw a lot of times i maybe braking early, if i try to go more agressive i always end up out of the track or at least i lock the brakes, even if i downshift very fast, still a no go to me "yet"
For now i can do better times if i brake early and try to carry more speed without downshifting too much, that why i did some turns on gear 4 instead of 2 or 3. But this doesn't seems to be a problem when i keep the speed and don't go down too much with the revs.
Maybe with some practice i can be better at braking. I'll check about this F1 2012 data logger, never used it, thanks for the tip, maybe this can help me a lot, at least when talking about braking points.

For the videos... I hardly upload some videos, that's why i used the WMM for the conversion.
I've used some Adobe softwares and also a Pinnacle one, but they were too much, i was looking for something with less features lol. I believe i'll need to learn more about it, much more about CUDA rendering since im really focused on learning 3D modelling. I wasn't aware that GPU rendering was faster as you said, maybe my little 560 can beat my proc
I'll see about these softwares, but i really don't like the idea of having their logo on my videos!

 

[Kristian Nenov]

Your setup helped me a lot, really. I wasn't able to do even 1.28.xxx before, then after getting used to the setup it worked very nice.
Thanks for the tips about T1, T9 and T14. Thats when i know im talking to a real Pro lol. Just a pic at a video and it finds where i can improve.
Sometimes im faster on T1 but im not sure about T9 and T14 (T9 is the first turn at sector 3 right? The S turns. Looks like i exit that turn around 230-240kph doesn't matter if i do it on gear 6th or 5th, but i haven't noticed if i'll be faster in the middle of the turn if i do it on gear 5.
. My biggest problem is with the brakes. As you saw a lot of times i maybe braking early, if i try to go more agressive i always end up out of the track or at least i lock the brakes, even if i downshift very fast, still a no go to me "yet"
For now i can do better times if i brake early and try to carry more speed without downshifting too much, that why i did some turns on gear 4 instead of 2 or 3. But this doesn't seems to be a problem when i keep the speed and don't go down too much with the revs.
Maybe with some practice i can be better at braking. I'll check about this F1 2012 data logger, never used it, thanks for the tip, maybe this can help me a lot, at least when talking about braking points.

For the videos... I hardly upload some videos, that's why i used the WMM for the conversion.
I've used some Adobe softwares and also a Pinnacle one, but they were too much, i was looking for something with less features lol. I believe i'll need to learn more about it, much more about CUDA rendering since im really focused on learning 3D modelling. I wasn't aware that GPU rendering was faster as you said, maybe my little 560 can beat my proc
I'll see about these softwares, but i really don't like the idea of having their logo on my videos!

Lol. Thanks for the nice words.

As for T9, no it's the last turn before S3. It's like right-left. The turn on which Vettel overtook Rosberg. And T14 is the one that you don't have to brake for, but you do brake (or that's how it looked like).

I don't think you're braking early. I mean, you could brake 5m later, but do you think it really matters? Actually braking 5m sooner can give you better cornering speed.

As for CUDA rendering. Of course it's faster than CPU. I mean, that's what the GPU is made for, right?

 

[Roberto Costa]

Lol. Thanks for the nice words.

As for T9, no it's the last turn before S3. It's like right-left. The turn on which Vettel overtook Rosberg. And T14 is the one that you don't have to brake for, but you do brake (or that's how it looked like).

I don't think you're braking early. I mean, you could brake 5m later, but do you think it really matters? Actually braking 5m sooner can give you better cornering speed.

As for CUDA rendering. Of course it's faster than CPU. I mean, that's what the GPU is made for, right?

Whoa, now i got it. I can "usually" do the turn 9 better than this one on the video, but not so good. This time i was a little late at the brakes . Also one thing was the little track cutting at the first turn in sector 2, doesn't happen ofter
But now you got my weakest point T14. As you said, then i guess its the turn just before you do the last 2 turns right? (The left-right turns before the pit straight). If it is then you are right, i use the brakes. I downshift from 5 to 4 and do slightly touch on the brakes. Its the worst turn to me, now i can do the turn "ok" 90% of the times, but i still can't do it without braking. I'll try to just downshift and see the results

As for the rendering, now you made me confused.
So that means that when you convert a video the gpu is rendering it frame by frame? Never imagined that way but then it would make sense being faster on GPU than it is on CPU.
My guess is that it was just using some code in the conversion. Yeah i really don't know about video conversion lol.

 

[Kristian Nenov]

Whoa, now i got it. I can "usually" do the turn 9 better than this one on the video, but not so good. This time i was a little late at the brakes . Also one thing was the little track cutting at the first turn in sector 2, doesn't happen ofter
But now you got my weakest point T14. As you said, then i guess its the turn just before you do the last 2 turns right? (The left-right turns before the pit straight). If it is then you are right, i use the brakes. I downshift from 5 to 4 and do slightly touch on the brakes. Its the worst turn to me, now i can do the turn "ok" 90% of the times, but i still can't do it without braking. I'll try to just downshift and see the results

As for the rendering, now you made me confused.
So that means that when you convert a video the gpu is rendering it frame by frame? Never imagined that way but then it would make sense being faster on GPU than it is on CPU.
My guess is that it was just using some code in the conversion. Yeah i really don't know about video conversion lol.

Yeah, that's the turn. The key with it is to turn in at the right point, but it's hard as there aren't any markers or anything. Even on my 100% race video you can see that a lot of times I don't do it correctly. I actually did that race for practice for a League race, so it wasn't really a good race, but.. Yea.. Win is win.

 

[Roberto Costa]

Yeah, that's the turn. The key with it is to turn in at the right point, but it's hard as there aren't any markers or anything. Even on my 100% race video you can see that a lot of times I don't do it correctly. I actually did that race for practice for a League race, so it wasn't really a good race, but.. Yea.. Win is win.

I haven't watched the full video, but i watched the last part, wanted to see the laps with less fuel than the race start
I have to agree with the "right point", sometimes don't turn at the right point and then even using the brakes doesn't help
If that wasn't a good race, im sure i don't want to be your rival on any online race!
As you said Win is Win!

 

[Kristian Nenov]

I haven't watched the full video, but i watched the last part, wanted to see the laps with less fuel than the race start
I have to agree with the "right point", sometimes don't turn at the right point and then even using the brakes doesn't help
If that wasn't a good race, im sure i don't want to be your rival on any online race!
As you said Win is Win!

Ah, don't worry - I almost never get to have good races. So far I have 1 race that I'm proud of and I've made only one mistake on it. Here it is (highlights video):

Aaaand, when you miss your turning point for T14, do not smash the brakes. You'll just lock up and go to the gravel. You can maybe put 10% brake power but nothing more. Cuz, you know what happens when you make your tyres to corner and brake at the same time. Grip goes down. So you get a little cornering power and a little braking power resulting in nothing.

 

[Nick Karshev]

Nice Driving

 

[Roberto Costa]

Ah, don't worry - I almost never get to have good races. So far I have 1 race that I'm proud of and I've made only one mistake on it. Here it is (highlights video):


Aaaand, when you miss your turning point for T14, do not smash the brakes. You'll just lock up and go to the gravel. You can maybe put 10% brake power but nothing more. Cuz, you know what happens when you make your tyres to corner and brake at the same time. Grip goes down. So you get a little cornering power and a little braking power resulting in nothing.

Wish i could have only one mistake in a full race! In a 100% race i'll have at least 15
Very nice video, and race. Really a race to be proud of! Some more laps and my guess is that you would have lapped all the drivers! Congrats!

When i miss the turning point on T14 i almost always use the engine to brake, i hardly get to the gravel, but i end up too slow or with the left tyres on the gravel, and now with the new system, dirt tyres and T15 goes bad too! lol
Gonna watch the video again, the wet part is so cool!

 

[Andrew Bortz]

Ive only skipped through this thread im using pretty much the opposite setup to Kristian

Maybe it'll help someone.

 

[ptroinks]

But yea, hoped I could help more but I don't use Cockpit camera.

Maybe you can now . I uploaded a lap so you could take a look at it.

 

[Jamie Fluke]

Maybe you can now . I uploaded a lap so you could take a look at it.

I'm no expert but the big thing I noticed was turn 14 I think (sweeping right hander before the last 2 corners) where you braked and dropped down 2 gears. I personally lift off and maybe shift down once but definitely no braking.

 

[Kristian Nenov]

Maybe you can now . I uploaded a lap so you could take a look at it.

Well, to be honest your lap was pretty nice. But I can tell you a few things.
First, I think you can brake later for almost every turn. But later doesn't mean 50 meters later, just a few. Maybe 5. It gains a lot of time. Also you still can do rapid downshifts but it doesn't really help. What I learned is locking up fronts helps a lot if you have unstable rear end which happens a lot when you're driving on the limit of the car. So if you do feel your rear end is gonna slide, just increase by a little your brake power so you can lock up a little. It's enough so your car stays stable on the track. Remember, front tyres locking results in understeer, rears - oversteer.

Look at this picture of the track:

Your major problems are T3, T6 - for which you just can brake later.
T11 and 12 - I just slam the brakes for less than a sec and shift down 1 gear. You shift down 2. You can carry a lot more speed there.
T14 - make the track as wide as you can and make just 1 downshift by just lifting off. I don't think I use brakes there altho I don't really remember. But I think I didn't use brakes.


Also try working on your gears. Don't wait to hit the limiter before you shift up. You lose time by this. Shift on the reds or even sometimes on the green lights. When you hit the limiter you lose quite a lot of time. I wouldn't be surprised if this is even around half a second.

But your lap overally was good. Especially for Primes.

 

[ptroinks]

Thanks for your feedback . I'll work on my braking for the corners you both mentioned as well as my gearing. I'll report back when I've done some practicing!

 

[ptroinks]

Well, I've done some laps now, trying to change my braking points and gearing habits. I managed to do a 1:29.xxx lap on primes without using DRS, which I'm very happy with, but I think I was very lucky, because I'm having problems getting the lap times down consistently. I tried delaying my braking points by just a little, but I just don't have the reaction time for it . I guess you guys are just in another league than me... I'll continue my career on Legend, though (I would feel like a noob if I didn't ), and I hope I'll get a contract offer from a better team for next season.

One thing that I noticed, was that my braking technique may be poor. I always brake as hard as I can without locking, and then release the brakes and turn in for the corner to avoid understeer, accelerating to get as much speed as I can at the exit without going into the gravel . I think that if I could learn to judge my grip levels better, I would be able to brake later and brake into the corner (turning while braking), but it's incredibly hard for me to judge how hard I can brake without losing too much front end grip. I may get better at this as my season progresses, but it remains to be seen . Hopefully, I'll remember to practice this.

Thanks a lot for your feedback and support .

 

[Roberto Costa]

That was a nice lap, looks good for corner in and exit.
Guess your bigger problem is on sector 3. Starting with turn 11, looks like you are losing too much speed on the corners, braking too much. Guess you'll easily go to 1.28 if you keep more speed on sector 3 corners.

I've made a FFB mod that increases most of the FFB effects in game. Can help to judge the grip levels, but not too much really. Even with big settings i don't think the FFB works good to help with a loss of grip feeling. Works best for rear loss of grip, but wheel locking doesn't look good imo. I can manage much better my brakes now than a month ago, but i still don't feel im good to judge the grip levels.
If we had a % meter, i guess my braking would show something like this:
Start braking - 100% pressure, soon down to 60% pressure. From 60% i keep applying the brakes but reducing the pressure, when im inside the turn im applying no more than 20% pressure and then i stop braking. (Using +or- F48%-R52% to avoid locking up the front)
Not saying that this is the right way to brake, but it works and it was good to help me with better lap times.

 

[Kristian Nenov]

I can do a video that includes my foot work if you want to actually..

 

[ptroinks]

No, that's fine, Kristian . I think I'm close enough to my personal limits to take it from here and try to learn what I can as I play the game . Come to think of it, F1 2012 should have these gauges showing pedal and steering wheel movement like iRacing has...

About my sector 3 braking; I do feel I'm at the very limit at the moment. I tried just a short 100% "tap" of the brakes before entering turn 11, but that gave me waaay too much speed and understeer, so I had to wait until the exit of turn 12 before even thinking about accelerating. I don't think I can do much about turn 13, but I'll try. I can definately stop using my brake pedal at turn 14, but I need some practice to get it right .