2001's Title Fight @ Wales - 8th - 10th January 2016

Well... that was pretty rough on my part lol. DNF in the third stage, wrecked on all three stages. Probably should find some time to run all the stages at least once prior to racing next time.:p

Nice job guys, some pretty insane times in there!
 
Did it on a lark. I absolutely hate Wales though, it makes me like the sim less. How could roads really be that windy and bumpy for no reason. Can England not even build decent roads? I understand the going over forest roads at speed is gonna toss you around, but it feels like we're in a go kart with no suspension. And the co-driver still stinks...

(And I'm not just ranting because I was 20th out of 22 finishers at the time... :) )
 
Did it on a lark. I absolutely hate Wales though, it makes me like the sim less. How could roads really be that windy and bumpy for no reason. Can England not even build decent roads? I understand the going over forest roads at speed is gonna toss you around, but it feels like we're in a go kart with no suspension. And the co-driver still stinks...

(And I'm not just ranting because I was 20th out of 22 finishers at the time... :) )

Me and @Roy Magnes should've videoed the Finnskogen stage in Rally Sweden, the tight areas on that stage makes the Rally Wales in DiRT Rally look like a flat 8-lane motorway :)

I think the co-driver is quite good now that I've gotten used to it. I must admit I still do mistakes thinking that a numbered-corner is the gear I should be in. Which is not the case in DiRT Rally. Also sometimes I struggle with two corners coming tight, as DiRT Rally for some reason have the number after, not before "left/right".

With that being said. I like that in Finland, the co-driver sound somewhat desperate, and if you spin out, and get going, he sounds neutral, as the car is not going as fast :)
 
Me and @Roy Magnes should've videoed the Finnskogen stage in Rally Sweden, the tight areas on that stage makes the Rally Wales in DiRT Rally look like a flat 8-lane motorway :)

I think the co-driver is quite good now that I've gotten used to it. I must admit I still do mistakes thinking that a numbered-corner is the gear I should be in. Which is not the case in DiRT Rally. Also sometimes I struggle with two corners coming tight, as DiRT Rally for some reason have the number after, not before "left/right".

With that being said. I like that in Finland, the co-driver sound somewhat desperate, and if you spin out, and get going, he sounds neutral, as the car is not going as fast :)

For me, I thought the co-driver was doing pretty well on the Finnish stages, but then I came here, and it seems like he is inaccurate or lacking detail. I can recall a few times I thought, "Boy, that sure seemed like a 'left 5 tightens 3', rather than just 'left 5'" - right about the same time I smashed into a tree:D. I don't know, maybe it's just me trying to not accept that I need a lot more practice, or maybe they had different people writing the pacenotes for different locations. Either way, it would be nice to have the ability to do a shakedown, and actually alter the pacenotes to fit your own preferences.;)
 
I think the pace notes are not quite appropriate for sim racing. They might be perfectly accurate in their terms and how they're laid out, but if I were writing my own notes I think I could gain time and crash less by simplifying the notes. It might be that the game engine can't pick up on the real time cues and time things better. Example: far too often it seems like you do a long straight and then they give you a "left 6 into right 2" command. Clearly there should be a note saying "slow down" first. The calls aren't quick enough to keep up with the car at high speeds. So even if the note is "left 6 immediate right 2", you're already committed to the left 6. And if you change the timing to get the right call on those corners, you get overwhelmed at Wales, Finland and Sweden when the co-d barks "left 1 into right 2 careful immediate left 3 into left 4 over two crests left 4 stay inside rocks on exit", meanwhile you're barely into the right 2, and you need to remember all the rest, because he ain't repeating it.
If they had a "conservative pacenotes option" where survival was maximized, I believe many racers would choose it. It is far more beneficial to take conservative notes, and take risks on top of those to improve times than to have the current notes that, when performed flawlessly, offer the maximum performance. We are all amateurs and are not likely to perform flawlessly...

To me, it likens rally racing to speedrunning a platform game. It puts more emphasis on timing and memorization than I would like. (I have a great memory and learn tracks very quickly too.) But of course, there are great drivers who go out there and wing it and superb car control gets them to the top. I could use more of that also!
 
Quite interesting actually, as the majority would say that the pacenotes for the Finnish stages are way for forgiving. You can usually drive much faster through the corners there than in the other countries.
I do think it is all about getting used to it. I felt they were horrible in the start as well :)

EDIT: @Ryan Ogurek
 
I think the pace notes are not quite appropriate for sim racing. They might be perfectly accurate in their terms and how they're laid out, but if I were writing my own notes I think I could gain time and crash less by simplifying the notes. It might be that the game engine can't pick up on the real time cues and time things better. Example: far too often it seems like you do a long straight and then they give you a "left 6 into right 2" command. Clearly there should be a note saying "slow down" first. The calls aren't quick enough to keep up with the car at high speeds. So even if the note is "left 6 immediate right 2", you're already committed to the left 6. And if you change the timing to get the right call on those corners, you get overwhelmed at Wales, Finland and Sweden when the co-d barks "left 1 into right 2 careful immediate left 3 into left 4 over two crests left 4 stay inside rocks on exit", meanwhile you're barely into the right 2, and you need to remember all the rest, because he ain't repeating it.
If they had a "conservative pacenotes option" where survival was maximized, I believe many racers would choose it. It is far more beneficial to take conservative notes, and take risks on top of those to improve times than to have the current notes that, when performed flawlessly, offer the maximum performance. We are all amateurs and are not likely to perform flawlessly...

To me, it likens rally racing to speedrunning a platform game. It puts more emphasis on timing and memorization than I would like. (I have a great memory and learn tracks very quickly too.) But of course, there are great drivers who go out there and wing it and superb car control gets them to the top. I could use more of that also!

Very often the places where I think that the notes are way to late or somewhat wrong, I find out after driving the same stage some times, that you do get a "caution" first. "Over crest, caution, into right 4 tightens 2, 30 left 3 opens over crest jump maybe". It's not easy to get and remember all the notes, but that's how it is in rallying. I think the notes in DiRT Rally are the best co-driver in any rally game so far. Well with the exception of the tightness of the corner coming after the direction. I would rather hear how sharp the corner is, before which way to turn. It's much better with a "4 right" than "right 4".

It's a bit like Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica - many people in RBR and DiRT Rally are more used to circuit racing, and while learning the driving dynamics might be easy enough, the whole package with notes etc. can be hard to get used to.

I am not saying it's perfect just because I'm used to this and find it great, I just think it's more of a learning and getting used to, than anything else.
 
Quite interesting actually, as the majority would say that the pacenotes for the Finnish stages are way for forgiving. You can usually drive much faster through the corners there than in the other countries.
I do think it is all about getting used to it. I felt they were horrible in the start as well :)

EDIT: @Ryan Ogurek
That may be a part of why I liked them, I realized right away they were way too forgiving, so I could listen to them and comfortably push a bit faster than they were calling and be fine, even on the first run. Here I kept winding up in corners expecting them to be faster than they were, or them tightening without any warning. I guess I feel a bit of the opposite way Ryan Soucy does, I don't mind the timing, but like a bit more detail in them as far as positioning through corners, which just speaks to the need for a bit more customisation. Certainly is an interesting topic. Having said that, hey, it's just a game. I'll get used to it.:D

You are probably, right, getting used to it is a huge factor, the last time I really used pacenotes was with RBR, which I haven't played in probably 8 years at least, so I know I'm rusty.
 

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