Best way to play the game as a n00b?

Hi guys. I'm new to the PC racing sim world and just started playing GTR Evo. It's great so far. Tried a couple of events with a Mini Cooper and came in 1st in an 8 lap race on Curitiba with the AI at 89%.

I'll be playing the game offline for the most part until I get better, but as a complete noob, what is the best way to start playing the game as far as what to do first?

The problem is there are too many options...lap quantity, different rules, flags/no flags, loads of cars, classes etc. And since the game doesn't have a structured career mode it's very daunting as to which direction to go in.


OK some questions:


1)I want to recreate my own Gran Tursimo/GT Legends/rFactor-like career mode, by starting with some slow cars first and work my way up to fastest cars incrementally. What's the best way to do this? I've already tried the Minis because they seem pretty slow. Are they good to start out with? If so, what should be next after them?

1)What should I set the AI to? I had trouble beating them at 89% at Curitiba and just barely got lucky and squeaked by with a 1st place win. Should I lower it to something like say, 85%?

2)How many laps should I race? What's the norm in a game like this?

3)Is it OK if I turn off flag rules? They're kinda getting on my nerves, with all the stop and go penalties I appear to be getting for no apparent reason.

4)I have disabled practice, warm up and qualifying. I just want to jump in and race. How important is it to have qualifying turned on? What is the purpose and is there any added benefit to doing it?

5)Other than turning off all driving aids(which I have done), any tips as far as car setups go?Any tweaks I can make to the Minis to make them go faster?

5)I guess I could doing championships....so how many tracks should I enable in a championship? 1? 5? 10? 20? What's the norm?

Using a Frex FFB wheel, CST pedals and SST Lightning Shifter btw.

Thanks in advance :)
 
IMO career mode is certainly fun for some people.... but for me, that was fun while I was growing up. Those arcadeish games where you earn a bigger engine or better tires.....

This game and many that are successful today are designed to support racing simulation in the human vs human mode. Join a club race and finish on the podium... then you've done something. I'm not trying to belittle your skill or accomplishments.... as long as you're having fun, that's all that counts.

Really, this discussion is trying to compare apples and oranges. This game isn't for you if you want the career mode type gameplay.
 
I dont think I have ever actually taken part in an offline race, don't really see the point in it really, AI is never going to be as random and able as a human brain in a car.

Use the practice and hotlap areas to improve, they are very useful and obviously tailor made for someone who is competitive and doesn't want to race online until they are quick.

I know the feeling, there is nothing worse than knowing there is someone 2 secs a lap faster than you on pole, but be confident that to go that quick they are on the limit, and usually fall off and make mistakes as a result.

As in any game like this there are freaks than can lap fast and stay on, they play a different game to the rest of us and are no doubt the same playing COD 4 or Streetfighter. It's nothing to do with your own ability to drive as this is a game, it's about understanding the physics and how the programmer's mind works in the car setup. That gets you feel and laptime as you understand more.

You will race against people who ser unsymmetric setups and have weight all over the place but I have won league races in a boggo car using a Simbin setup so don't worry.

Racing in publics is frustrating yes and time consuming as people tend to want to hotlap for hours without actually racing, but you will get quicker if you do it.
 
Awesome and fantastic advice guys. Much appreciated.

Right now I'm taking a slight break away from GTR:E and spending some time doing the Cup Challenges in GT Legends. GT Legends.....man, talk about a game for nothing but the extreme hardcore! Those vintage cars are very unforgiving and you need to be flawless around the track because just a *TINY* little swerve will cause a spinout and bam....put a sock in it cuz it's race over. No catching the car in 1st. I can't tell you the amount of times I've screamed and yelled out loud every expletive in the book during some of the cup challenges in GTL....and I'm only doing AMATUER!!!!!! I'd hate to see what Pro is like!

Anyway I'll be back on GTR:E as soon as I'm done with GTL. I already miss GTR E and all these posts about how fun online is, is making me want to jump right in! :plus1:
 
  • SimbinRacer

Well then, let me write a post to balance up the opinions around online vs singleplayer.

Online is great for the human factor it brings and knowing for sure what can be done through watching the competition. It does require that you find all these great other people to race with (difficult on public servers) right when you got the time to play and that the internet gods are benevolent. For me, that combo has worked out to provide a superior driving experience a fraction of times compared to the numerous offline races I've been able to run.

If one runs a race with AI on 100% one will always find stiff competition and reasonable spread with realistic times and I don't see at all how this would be hindering development to be faster. Unless one needs teamspeak to improve that is. Can't teamspeak with the AI. We can't benchmark exactly with what AI does because AI physics are not playing by the same rules as ours but lots can still be learned and the times are still overall good, realistic benchmarks. And you can set up a race with fair, professional and fast racers any time on any track with whatever class you wish with whatever rules you want to apply - on demand. How is that not an awsome formula I wonder?
 
Good points. The AI is allways ready to drive for as long as you like. When considering only laptimes, the AI is a good sparring partner for sure. You'll get faster and faster until you're the alien among us. But when battles on track are considered, it isn't the best practice there is. There's too many tricks you can do with AI that Online are just impossible, rude or even considered worthy of a kick out from the server. Everyone that has driven with AI knows how to use them in your own favor and still that's all considered legal in offline.

So if you plan to drive a lot offline, then the best lessons are in offline but if you think of joining drivers in Online, then there are no better practice than, well, Online.. I will make this point thou: you'll never be a real gentleman driver, which i consider the only one that deserves the title DRIVER other wise you're just a PLAYER, than competing in private online enviroment, for ex here on club and league events. IRL you can't have a raceday every day, you'll have to wait for it unless you're immensely rich and can afford to pay 15+ drivers to be at you're disposal in any given moment of day. Or you're :chuck:

This is a simulation game and every aspect that enhances it, benefits the whole experience. I think that the dispute on offline and online gameplay is always an issue and there's different valid points on both sides. The iOpener maybe the deciding factor if it ever becomes succesful as following the real drivers on a virtual track is the best possible AI i can think of..
 
I have to add: Start driving online as soon as possible. When your lap times are becoming constant ie. +- 0.5sec or better, then it's time to head on to drive with real people. The offline AI is good for early practice but it does teach you some false techniques. Real people drive more unpredictable than the AI and they don't back off like the AI does in certain situations.

Hi guys :)

Well after a grueling but rewarding offline campaign with GT Legends, Im back on GTR Evo. Kenneth I would like to take your advice and start playing Evo online. I went to the lobby list and noticed the RACEDEPARTMENT.COM server. Right now it seems pretty busy too so I'd like to jump in and have some fun. But the server is password protected. Would someone be kind enough to tell me what the password is?

Thanks in advance :)

What are some other good servers out there?
 
Hi guys :)

Well after a grueling but rewarding offline campaign with GT Legends, Im back on GTR Evo. Kenneth I would like to take your advice and start playing Evo online. I went to the lobby list and noticed the RACEDEPARTMENT.COM server. Right now it seems pretty busy too so I'd like to jump in and have some fun. But the server is password protected. Would someone be kind enough to tell me what the password is?

Thanks in advance :)

What are some other good servers out there?

To race online on the RD servers you will need to do some reading :)

Clicky - read and make sure you understand everything, then fill in the form and you will be accepted soon enough.

Also, real name means your real name - there have been a lot of applications denied lately because of people ignoring this.
 
  • leahcim

I honestly don't understand why you're here

Nope, I don't hate it. There's nothing to hate really.

Why am I here? Well, since you asked :-

Initially I got a very different impression when I was looking at race pro about (a) The quality I could expect from Simbin's PC games and (b) The kind of racing you'd expect at sites that purported to play them in a particular way.

This is after playing forza 2 on the 360. Which, irrespective of how good the physics are or aren't, pretty much nailed the online experience, in terms of leaderboards / community etc. (But obviously there were quite a few negatives too) I wanted something better - In hardware and software terms to get around some of the limitations and also because Forza 2 was getting old and FM3 obviously wasn't close.

Now I'm here I guess because, based on those 2 things that turned out to be fallacies, I'd spent the cash on the game and a wheel.

Well obviously that's not strictly true, we're here, I imagine, to read and write posts about these subjects. This forum isn't actually sim racing itself, as I'm sure you realise even when you made your false conclusions about what I hate.

e.g After a quick look at some of the RDTV races (which at one time continually and annoyingly popped up by itself whenever I visited the site)
What I saw seemed to have as many crashes as a windows 95 PC.

So yes, after reading post after post after post from you guys, either dissing consoles or public servers or talking up so-called virtual racing, I did expect more when I watched the races. Mea culpa.

Especially given some of the responses in threads from folk asking for help driving.

But hate? No, don't be silly. Underwhelmed by the experience the site showed me? Yes, absolutely. So what? Well, I've played on line, it's laughable that, at times, there are either 3 people across all the servers, or the occasional idiots, but I don't really believe anymore this premise that a site exists where people use their real names and it's racing nirvana.

Of course the leaderboards are another farce.

Yes, the game's online sucks, but so far as I can tell, it sucks equally everywhere, and unless simbin sell a few copies of a game and improve the features in it, that will remain the case.

Hate GTR Evo? Again, no. Underwhelmed by the experience of playing it after the hype used to sell it? Yes. Specifially, as I expressed, the lack of features and gameplay.

Yes, you can start the game and do lap after lap and yes, there are a few classes and a fair number of tracks to pick from.

But as I said, you're pretty much on your own, in every sense of the word from that point, and imo it soon underwhelms. Albeit, it also overwhelms as the OP suggests. You have both a game with little in terms of competition or goals, and at the same time, little in way of telling you how to play it or improve at it, or describe or help in any way etc. Hence people like the OP then deciding to find a site that might give them a clue to some of this. But from whom exactly?

That's not to belittle anyone, I think as I've said that the game is flawed, not the players, and it doesn't surprise me that many get nowhere fast, even if they think the game is brilliant or not. But I do think some falsely believe this is somehow related to an inherent difficulty caused by the game's lofty "sim" status. I'm sure some are reassured by the fact they can't play it that it is therefore "a sim"

So, I've played many multiplayer games, so we're not talking about story mode or career mode, for thousands of hours, yet I've rarely found anything to keep me entertained for more than an hour or so at a time...and plenty that's either broken, or simply missing or that's left me feeling frustrated with the experience. Yes, that disappoints. But hate? No.

Because, it's not that I don't like the genre, or the idea of racing, but that there is seems to be no decent alternative either. So far as I can tell from demos and videos of other similar games. They all suck, and usually, in pretty much the same way.

Now you might argue that the so-called "sim community" would disagree with me and they've written the games that people want and this is why the games are like this. But, afaict this is simply not true. They don't sell, and clearly there aren't a significant number of people playing them...and no, not even if you have to invent a pretend bunch who are all playing offline - because even if they exist, and they don't, they don't really change anything.

So I did sympathise a lot with the OP's dilemma, and shared some of my own thoughts too. Ergo, my points earlier. Disagree with them by all means - or ignore them, but this ad hominen stuff is easy to do and I think, only goes to proves some of my points for me.
 
You know nothing about racing club since you're not a member. We have a lot of fun races here with full fields...
You don't like simracing, but I don't understand what's the point in writing 53 posts about that... We understand that you don't like it. No need to continue.
 
  • Andrew Evans

more verbose posts don't make your argument any more convincing... you're on a sim racing site - trying to tell a bunch of sim racers why you don't like sim racing.... and you think we would care because?

edit: ninja'd :thumb:
 
  • Matt Crouch

but this ad hominen stuff is easy to do and I think, only goes to proves some of my points for me.

There was nothing ad hominem* about the post that you quoted, it was an entirely separate observation.

Some of what you say is right, and there is a lot I disagree with. I could spend some time writing a long post in response, but I think I'll save everyone some time by adding you to my ignore list and not saying anything else about it after this post.

All I will say is that there is a lot more to sim racing than the aspects you seem to be interested in. Regardless of what your actual opinion is, your posts come across as someone who has bought a game and visited a website which haven't lived up to your own personal (and not completely realistic) expectations, and everyone else must know how you feel. Anyone who disagrees personally offends you to the extent that you repeat all of your arguments again with even more words in between. That may not be what you think, but if you want people to believe otherwise then the tone of your posts (which is largely belittling to the community as a whole) hardly helps.


For the sake of a balanced post, here are a pirate and a ninja :pirate: :th_o:


*Is now a good time to point out that you spelt ad hominem wrong? I know it's the ultimate irony but I'm weak, and let's face it you can't trust anyone who can't hit the right keys on a keyboard. And yes I did look ad hominem up on wikipedia
 
I actually agree with leahcim on that the game is very much flawed. Not at all what a real sim-racing game should and could be. And the problem is the same in every game not just in Race-series. But there's nothing to do right now but to hope and press the issue of getting better and more realistic games.

Now i understand your point of view. It's like seeing the most hyped movie of the year and when it turns out that it's good or even excellent the hype destroyed it before you even saw the opening credits so you'll be disappointed in any case. I honestly thought that by this time, year 2009, we would have amazing games but noo. They are still the same games with better graphics but the inside is what counts for me. I don't care if there's a billion polygon graphics with zillion special effects and and and.. If the game it self sucks, no amount of good-looks is going to save it.

In any case, GTR is one of the best and while we could sit and mourn about it, we simply do what we can. That is to play on what we have. If we'll wait for that perfect sim-racing-game, we'll be sitting for the next thousand years, it never will be perfect, IT*S A FREAKING SIMULATOR, not REAL LIFE.. Unless somebody invents a gravity manipulator or something in that category, then we could be pretty close but it won't be perfect even then.. Maybe full neural transplant is the next step!

I think the goal in games in general is to have a good time anyway..

As a community, yes, we have crashes and yes, there are too much of them. I just hope that we could have a more realistic "crash-modelling".

A side question, a slight off-topic can the damage be adjusted to 200% in the servers? I really do hate that you still can crash a car at 200km/h and walk away with at least partly functioning car.. That way the accidents WILL decrease..

And leachim, please don't use words like ad hominem, it makes you look like an arrogant bas"#d.. not helping, mate.
 
  • Klyde Parker

Although online racing may seem daunting, maybe it's time to jump into the fray? You will see all sorts of drivers on the open Public servers and you may surprise yourself with how you perform. Give it a try and see!

Good Luck !!!
 
The issues affecting online racing really are that boring not to go into again and again.

For me the real issues are that club and leagues racing (not that I do it here so not an accusation or crit of RD, I just use the forums) are far too anal and utterly formulaic.

The public servers can often serve up much more fun and better racing and also quicker racing, in that the servers are not so tied to time limits and you can vote etc to speed the whole thing up.

I have raced in leagues and public but never offline! Leagues are not for me, too many rules, procedure and long races.

My best racing even now was GT Legends when it first came out, real quick servers, smallish tracks, hardly any aliens and not too many wreckers, brilliant admin that booted them ASAP and a bunch of guys that really knew what online racing was all about, quick races, limited rules decent damage levels that allowed close rubbing racing and a simple fun approach

Having to say "leaving pits" every time you do smacks up utter rot I'm afraid!! But fair play to those that can!
 

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