Cold Laps Event (date TBA)

[Kennett Ylitalo]

Starting this one early so we can get enough confirmations and decide when and how.

So the event is about unknown track. There is only one exception and lets get over with first cause it's a big deal..

I want to race too But since i've built the track, i know every inch of it. But fortunately, i'm not that fast anyway. From the past Cold Laps events, i've been in top three in free practice and by the end of event, i'm where i'm suppose to be. So if you can live with that (and that i won't be doing timed laps in free practice at all, just outlaps) everything is fine. If not, well, i'm prepared to drop out (i'm sure this is not an issue, it has never been. If i was 7 times champion, things would be different ))

The format is:
Classic F1 (or F3000, both are well suitable)
1h practice (or less)
2x30min Races
Changeable weather (i would like Daniel to make one extra weather file, prutty prrleeease with dry 30min in practice then everything goes, the track IS designed specially for damp to extreme wet conditions with extra weather features..)

The track is released inside password protected zip file. Password is released no more than 30 minutes before the event. As a gentleman rule, everyone is allowed to inspect, install and test the track offline as a safety measure but we trust no one actually uses it to learn anything.. I will be online during that time to answer any questions. This means one extra step for server owner: you need to use the same installed package everyone has on server and home machine, then login in to server and report back to me (just to make sure everything works little bit ahead of time, you'll get the password early). We'll use a backup track from Race07 with the same format (skip practice at 15 minutes to mimic Cold Laps) if ANYONE has troubles.

I try to get this as scheduled RD Club race event. That means regular 1xtire wear and possibly some other minor changes. I've done this before, the main element of surprise can be achieved.

From experience, i can tell that these are really special events. Nothing beats taking multiple drivers, putting them on a track that no one has driven before and really measuring the skill of track learning and solving problems on the fly.

About the track..

Well, i wont tell you a lot, that would defeat the idea.. Maybe some teasers. Maybe i'll drop more clues along the way.. maybe..

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

I do have this mod: http://www.bsimracing.com/f1-legends-for-gtl-gtr2-and-race-07-released-f1rl/

AFAIK, it's legal, scratch made mod. It doesn't use the real car brands and is a bit shoddy but there are couple of cars that behave like a proper Classic Era Beast should. So i would suggest a single/dual make race, choose one or two cars which all uses. I can make custom skinpack with simple colored versions for the selected car if there's enough want (videos would look stupid..)

 

[David Turnbull]

wheres that :holyshitconfusedashell: smiley when you need it.

 

[Jim Hawley]

The track is released inside password protected zip file. Password is released no more than 30 minutes before the event. As a gentleman rule, everyone is allowed to inspect, install and test the track offline as a safety measure but we trust no one actually uses it to learn anything..

Let me get this straight.... we get to unzip the track 30mins before the 1hr practice starts... is that correct?

But we can test the mod on other tracks as much as we like?

Jim

 

[Reik Major]

Let me get this straight.... we get to unzip the track 30mins before the 1hr practice starts... is that correct?

But we can test the mod on other tracks as much as we like?

Jim

Sounds like that. Would have done so (starting after wednesday's event) if you didn't ask.

I like the format idea and Kennetts effort very much!

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

Sounds like that. Would have done so (starting after wednesday's event) if you didn't ask.

I like the format idea and Kennetts effort very much!

Yup, of course mod can be tested and should be. They are very twitchy beasts, going over 250km/h really takes some guts. Just putting throttle to the floor on 2nd gear on a straight is as scary as going thru Watking Glen esses side-by-side with 2007 F1..

ZIP password will be released 30 minutes before practice starts. Only i and server owner has the track installed before that time. Best would be that server is opened 1 hour prior and then when everyone has installed and tested the track they join the server. That way we can make sure no one does any extra laps and we get nice pre-event chat time.

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

I would prefer not knowing what car, or a gentlemans agreement not to try it before the event. Otherwise I feel the idea of everybody getting the same amount of practice time on the track gets a bit lost, as some will have several hours of experience with the mod while others try it for the first time. Or from my view, an event I cannot prepare for (very desireable) becomes an event I should prepare for (less desireable)

But this is as always only my view, and I would very much like to race the classic f1-cars.

 

[Daniel Hansson]

I could make some weather for this. When is it?

 

[Reik Major]

Are the cars all the same in terms of physics?

 

[Reik Major]

I would prefer not knowing what car, or a gentlemans agreement not to try it before the event. Otherwise I feel the idea of everybody getting the same amount of practice time on the track gets a bit lost, as some will have several hours of experience with the mod while others try it for the first time. Or from my view, an event I cannot prepare for (very desireable) becomes an event I should prepare for (less desireable)

But this is as always only my view, and I would very much like to race the classic f1-cars.

I completly support the idea to no neither the track nor the car.

Nevertheless the car mod to use in this event is unvealed now, so I suggest many (me too) are curious to drive it now. (so I asume anyone who considers taking part in this event will have a go with this car before)

I suggest we live with it this time and for the following event Kennett unveals the track and the car (mod?) shortly before the event.

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

Are the cars all the same in terms of physics?

I'm not sure. It's easy to check thou, i'll do that.

I thought that idea that both are unveiled at the same time but it's too much risk to get everyone installing a working mod and track in 30min time. They are not that bad to learn: gearing and revs, getting use to zero or positive camber at the front and the loss of grip at high speeds (no downforce....) are the main issues. Besides those, they are just basic cars. Braking distances are long...

 

[David Turnbull]

ive actually still not got a clue whats going on here

i'll just go with the flow and give it a try whatever it is.

 

[Reik Major]

I dropped the stuff from the zip into common/race07 but it doesn't show up in the car selection screen. Any suggestions?

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

Worked for me without any difficulties. Did you check inside the zip? It has for ex open fisor mod packed as well, it's not GameData/Teams format from the root... I can repack it so it's simpler to install.

David, i'll try to explain. Everyone downloads the track. It is archived with a password (ZIP Crypto). 30 minutes before we start i will give the password to the zip file which everyone then unpacks and installs to Race07 folder. We agree to do a quick test offline, couple of corners to see that it works for everyone.

Gentlemen rules with one exception. I am Neo (or i'm the Architect and the winner of the race is the Neo? Give five minutes and you can read the novel: Matrix 4: Racing.. "this stuff writes itself" as my good friend H. J. Simpson would say): since i made the track and format, i'm racing but i will promise not to practice starting from today and i also skip the official practice. If it helps, one can think of it as a challenge: can you beat me with only 1h of practice ? I know the answer and around lap 8 all the aliens have passed my pb..

Just polishing details (v1.0 tested and fully in the bag) and i need to know if anyone is planning on joining with 512mb videocard? I'm using custom skies, double size and pretty much taking everything out of that 512mb and it most likely will grow to ~700mb (my target with 30 AI, anything above is cut out and i like to have some headroom for specially heavy mods..). I can make a second release, SD version that will fit inside 450mb easily but it hasn't got so much eyecandy and no custom skies (thanks to Steam, modders can now reuse SimBin textures and models with same filenames, that's called redundancy, if the texture fails to load in first directory it reverts all the way to Game Data root if necessary.. That's the beauty of having Race in Common folder, non-HD versions can exist side by side with original HD version..).. Track folder itself is not yet 100mb.

Daniel: I think 2 x 30min is good length for the race, practice max 1h (it doesn't matter if we decide to use only 45min or 30min if it's longer.) Qualify is not yet decided, we could start with 1h of practice when everyone joins and then switch to qualy at official time Then we would most likely want to have some warmup time, this could be cut from the 1h qualy to save time.

Note: Faster you join on the server on game day, the faster you're actions can be monitored so please, arrive early and afk. It is not a requirement but removes doubt.

Then discussion time, let's decide these:

Official time: Regular weekday wednesday and regular starting time? One hour earlier suits Eastern Europeans, what about Ozzies?

Revised format:
1h practice, cut short at official time ^ Drenching wet, Thor rules.
45min Qualy, dry
12 min warmup, Daniels choice
30min race, dry
We'll cycle back to practice for 5 minutes break if so decided. This is Fun Race, after all...
30min race, Daniels choice

I got few ideas how to decide overall event winner but simply combined results with some points from pole position. Maybe we can make a price for that, at least i can design a sticker, new ideas are welcomed

 

[Peter Decker]

ive actually still not got a clue whats going on here

i'll just go with the flow and give it a try whatever it is.

You and me David,,,, you and me

Yeah, this sounds like some testing of something else than what we run now. Just hit me with whatever it is!

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

It's off-season, Fun Race to celebrate the end of season 11. Also a chance to settle scores, a race of champions. I can't explain any simpler.

No one can practice so everyone starts from clean. That is ensured with password protection. Password is announced 30 minutes before event starts. You install the track when you get the password and join the server.

Only exception is me, i've made the track so of course i know it very very well. But you just have trust that i wont use my knowledge unfairly, i find no joy from "noob bashing"; i wont drive until laptimes have improved over my pb (if that wont happen in time for race 1, i'm going as a safety car and help people out if they stuck to the ditches..Also if i go and beat everyone for 30 minutes and then get to thrown in to my own place , that can't feel good, better to wait in garage until others catch up) In any case, my special role is special. No one has commented how this aspect feels to them, do i have enough trust?

Time table: two weeks from now, wednesday, regular Presto hours. Is that ok?

 

[Daniel Hansson]

The weather setup is cool with me. Do you need 100 % wetness in the practice, or just very wet?.

How are the rain tires in the classic F1 mod? Should they be avoided?
If there would be any rain it may not be clear which tires are the better, since you don't know the thershold between dry and wet tires. Should it be announced before the event which tire to use, or should the conditions "make it obvious"?

 

[Valerio Vinassa]

seems a bit "Jeux sans frontières" all at last time is crazy but Im in and OK for "time table"

Good observation Daniel it makes sense in this case

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

The weather setup is cool with me. Do you need 100 % wetness in the practice, or just very wet?.

How are the rain tires in the classic F1 mod? Should they be avoided?
If there would be any rain it may not be clear which tires are the better, since you don't know the thershold between dry and wet tires. Should it be announced before the event which tire to use, or should the conditions "make it obvious"?

I can make a quick test on it and check the mod tire files. The track itself, i'll PM you the grip values

Practice: go wild, no one is allowed to drive anyway... I'll set it in dusk or dawn for extra eye candy that is rarely used from extra set of of scene lightning settings and glorious skyboxes from 6e66o aka Geggo so you can go to any extremes as i surely will. Time to show everyone how good this game can look (unfortunately, since SimBins idea is "no mistakes" and rF/ISI is "it works", those GTR2 and rF night features are taken out since they sometime bug..). Track latitude points to northern Finland so i have to use day in all other sessions (sun angle starts to bug beyond Helsinki or 60th latitude, which is recommended max lat anyway..)

For video guys: if you really want, i can do extra CAM file for pauses and slow speed moments.. I can program all kinds of stuff in to stationary scenes like flybys, zooms, walkaround the grid etc.. They won't work in regular replays but can produce some wild angles when used in manual camera mode The release is packed with regular CAM file, but i'm having fun with cameras ATM and they do look spectacular, i can do "Matrix" effect, 360s on a moving objects.... Edit: superidea! I'll do the extra cam file after the race.. that way we can pick specific moments in time and insert new cameras to record it from any angle... ffs.. that's just genius stuff, aih? To all new guys, this is how i think, while writing.. I go thru notepads pretty quickly..

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

Some info on the mod:

Torque/Weight (nm/kg):
Grab: 261/601
Hoop:285/638
Britu:305/605
Yond:320/656
GBR:316/626
Beag:310/628
Scarr:305/613

First two are the worst in the class and even don't drive that well. I would say that the rest are in better order. Please, someone test (i'm not touching that mod before the event) and confirm that the rest 5 cars are somewhat in the same league. From memory, the last car was the easiest but still had good grunt. Driveability it most likely to be in higher role than pure power but there is... well.. all i can say is that compromises have to be made when choosing gearing.. and ride height.. and.. everywhere.

Tires are classic, threaded and there is no wet compound but soft and hard. They are equally slippery in all conditions ... They start at 40C and warmup slowly so keep that in mind. Optimal i guess is around 70C.