New to NetKar and Online Racing and could use some direction and instruction

Mark Oates · Apr 18, 2011

Hi All, I want to get involved online, but I'm I am a bit worried that I don't have enough experience, and there are some many tracks, racing leagues, cars, tracks, im not sure where to focus.

I drove several arcade sims as well as GTR2, and a little Oval track RFactor in a league on a private server, but wasnt exactly impressed till I found NetKar Pro. I drive well enough to get out of the way, race clean, yet remain respectful when punted. I'm in my thirties and have a wife and kid... so I'm old enough to know better you could say. I also use a Logitech G25 and TeamSpeak is cool with me.

I am wondering if there is a good place to start online? Are there pick up races for the new guys? Should I join a league? Focus on hot lapping? Is that even possible when you dont have real setup skills? Is there a practice server? Too many questions.

Ill roll with any car and track for experience, just not much of an oval guy anymore.

Bottom line... I am new to all this

Hate to say it, but it is what it is at present. I'm looking for some help to change that little problem. All advice welcome.... really!

Paul Hamwa · Apr 18, 2011

NinjaMark said:
Hi All, I want to get involved online, but I'm I am a bit worried that I don't have enough experience, and there are some many tracks, racing leagues, cars, tracks, im not sure where to focus.

I drove several arcade sims as well as GTR2, and a little Oval track RFactor in a league on a private server, but wasnt exactly impressed till I found NetKar Pro. I drive well enough to get out of the way, race clean, yet remain respectful when punted. I'm in my thirties and have a wife and kid... so I'm old enough to know better you could say. I also use a Logitech G25 and TeamSpeak is cool with me.

I am wondering if there is a good place to start online? Are there pick up races for the new guys? Should I join a league? Focus on hot lapping? Is that even possible when you dont have real setup skills? Is there a practice server? Too many questions.

Ill roll with any car and track for experience, just not much of an oval guy anymore.

Bottom line... I am new to all this Hate to say it, but it is what it is at present. I'm looking for some help to change that little problem. All advice welcome.... really!

You've come to the right place! (haha I would say that though!):tongue:

Once you get your licence just jump in a club race, it's fun and low key and there's drivers of all levels. You don't need a ton of experience to race Netkar. On the contrary, I think it sometimes it gets a bad rap for being too much of a hardcore sim, probabaly because it's got no AI, meaning if you wanna race it has to be with real humans online.
All I can say is I like the real feeling in the wheel and it was easier for me to learn on Netkar than on other sims I've tried, but we all have our own taste in sims here at RD, just my personal opinion.

If you need any info feel free to PM me.

Good luck and welcome!

InsaneOzzie · Apr 18, 2011

Hiya NinjaMark, as Paul said, Welcome to RD.

If your after good clean fun races with nKPro you cant go past this group of guys IMHO :thumbup: theres even pirates racing here.
I dont race much online, due to being in Australia, time difference is a killer.
But if your wanting to improve your race skills and have fun doing it, then this is the place. What I like about RD is
you dont need years of experience or the best gear, just a willingness to have fun, and the guys here are allways happy to help out or offer advice, they'll even upload their competetive race setups for you to use, some are even good at it, rofl.
Age is no barrier around here either, I'll never see 50 again, lol, most guys are 30+ anyway (I think).
Anyway, I could "flap my gums" all day about it, but I'll leave ya to enjoy the site, cya on track soon.

Cheers,

Andy.

Dave Stephenson · Apr 18, 2011

Hi Mark,

Best thing you can do in my opinion is get stuck in at the deep end. You don't have to be fast or even consistent to race here at RD, just have to do your best to be safe, and if you got one, bring your sense of humour.

After putting off online racing on the grounds of skill for many years, when I finally made the jump, I learnt so much from having good friendly, helpful guys around me, and in such a short time. I was gutted not to have joined in sooner.

The netkar regulars are great guys, I'm sure they'll help you out as much as they can. If you want to give it a go and join in some races here, then head over to the link below to read the rules and apply for a license (it's free

). The rules might seem daunting at first, but their are mostly about having respect and common sense.

Hopefully see you one track.

http://www.racedepartment.com/application-rules/

Andy White · Apr 18, 2011

Do as said above and apply for your racing licence, then join the NetKar club events on Wednesday nights. The NetKar drivers in the club are a very friendly bunch. I had the same fears as you when I joined, wondering if I would be fast enough or if I'd get in peoples way etc. Don't worry at all, the nk club has a nice relaxed atmosphere and there are people of different skill levels, so there is always someone to race against on track.

Do be aware though of the current issues that netkar suffers with netcode. Collision detection online is very funky at times and is the cause of most accidents/collisions (there is a patch due out soon which is said to address this issue). I can honestly say though, I have never seen an arguement between drivers over a collision in the nk club.

Grab your licence, sign up, and most of all have fun.
Make sure you hide anything of value whilst you're racing though, there are pirates in our midst, lol.