iRacing release price details

I'm very aggressive and always will be, that's how I race in life and in sims.

I will sit on your tail all the way around, I'll love tap you to make sure you get the message too! :D

Unfortunately in iRacing people tend to do one of two things when the above happens; spin in front of you ending your race or defending until they are using all the track trying to control the car making it tricky to pass but fun to watch! lol

I just enjoy putting people under pressure and capitilising, I also LOVE being under pressure myself, if someone is pushing me I'll step up my game, I watch the F3 splits like a hawk gaining a fraction of a second of a lap is rewarding. :D
 
Edleake said:
I will sit on your tail all the way around, I'll love tap you to make sure you get the message too! :D

Unfortunately in iRacing people tend to do one of two things when the above happens; spin in front of you ending your race or defending until they are using all the track trying to control the car making it tricky to pass but fun to watch! lol
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So you'll 'love tap' them from behind, and you wonder why they 'spin in front of you ending your race'

Yes, that's a tricky one to work out . . . :D
 
GUTTED:



LRP, I start 4th, end up third after T1.
Me and 1st and 2nd run nose to tail for 6 or 7 laps, couldn't get a rizla paper between us. Then the first two touch and half spin. I avoid the two of them and clear of into the lead.
So I'm picking my way through the back markers and watching F3 to see what the other two are up to, now running 2 and 3, mainly in the hope that by racing each other they will slow one another down, making my life easier. Not only is an incident free victory on the cards, but it'll push my SR over 4 at last.
Coming up over the hill onto the straight, I take the opportunuty to look at the F3 display.
One of my pursuers has gone from the list, it takes a second for this to register......I look back, yes, he's gone, possibly a back marker victim. I look back ahead.......and realise I've overshot my braking point. One LOOOOOOOOOOOONG slow motion slide into the barrier later, and I've got about 10 incident points and am parked up across the kerbs in a wreck, no option but to bail out.

Hero>>>>>>>>>>>>Zero in one single glance at a readout.


:(:(:(:(:(
 
Have any of you guys recorded some races? I'd like to know what this game is like and if it's actually worth paying to play it online.
 
.Sean said:
Have any of you guys recorded some races? I'd like to know what this game is like and if it's actually worth paying to play it online.
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Although I'm a critic of many aspects of iRacing, I do think that any 'serious' sim racing fan should at least sign up for a month and get an idea what the fuss is about. Ok, in order to try the un-missable (IMO) Skip Barber you'll have to hand over at least another $15 for the car and more for the better tracks it races on (when you've earned the right to race it online rather than just in solo testing) but I genuinely think iRacing is the best sim code available to us. Nothing else comes close IMO... except maybe NetKar Pro, but even that doesn't light my candle after trying iRacing.

There *are* better (ie more polished) racing games around... for instance I quite enjoy GTR Evo once I'm on the 'Ring in traffic. That helps take my mind off the fact I don't 'feel' the car under me in the same satisfying way that iRacing manages. Having said that, today's F1 at Monza had me trying the F1-esque car in LFS again, and that was more satisfying than I remember.

Getting a flight or driving sim right is very difficult. Some code just never quite feels right, but for some reason Kaemmer seems to have had his finger on the right programming buttons for a decade or so. Try iRacing. The worst that happens is you waste a little money and end up, like me, struggling to decide whether the great sim code is worth putting up with the considerable limitations the (current!) iRacing framework places on you.

Andrew McP
 
.Sean said:
Have any of you guys recorded some races? I'd like to know what this game is like and if it's actually worth paying to play it online.
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At the moment, it's not actually possible to save replays, which is odd, as the older incarnations of the engine (GPL and spascar2003), could both do this.
You can always Fraps a replay before you exit the game (and indeed this is where the tube clips come from), but it takes presence of mind, which is something often lacking, post-race.

It seems to be on their Fix-it list though.


I too think it's fido's love-spuds, the GPL engine+10 years development+range of car models=WIN WIN WIN if you ask me. I mean, I STILL play GPL regardless of all the shinier, more modern games. Graphically, Iracing is great, but not the best. If I were them, I'd add SUBTLE HDR and motion blur (not the "overexposed and smudged" look that you can get in Grid or Project Torque if you're not careful, just very much gentler implementations. I don't think the actual graphics themselves need much more work, just that little bit of post-pro should smarten it up nicely.


I do wish there was some limited AI, or even ghost car functionality. Not only can some modern games do excellent AI (Race07/GTR-evo are by far the best, you actually feel like you're racing people...I don't even ram my way past :D ), but you need to learn how your car sits on the road with others, how the mirrors make traffic appear[1], and most importantly, how to drive the "wrong" line through corners.


Some kind of demo mode is badly needed, while I appreciate that pay-to-play keeps the donkeys away......it also deters many fine sim racers who are just plain tight fisted.



[1] Prime example...T1-L1 at LRP, I'm on the outside, another gent on the inside, I was flicking between the mirror and the view ahead, trying not to have a shunt. The chap on the inside fluffed, and dropped back about a foot, and I decided to pull accross to the better line for the 2nd apex, and block the bugger into the bargin. It looked clear in the mirror, but as I moved over I JUST touched my rear right to his front left. No damage to either of us, and only a 0x incident.....but it could have been nasty.....particularly with the whole field behind us. I just think "mirror practice" with AI's would help.
 
thegoonden said:
I just think "mirror practice" with AI's would help.
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Yes, in my month I never found more than one other person on a no-SR practice server, so there was never a chance to race against traffic without it counting for real. While this may fit in with the iRacing "treat it as if it *were* real" ethos, it's no help whatsoever for thos eof us who'd like to build up our skills and confidence without taking risks with other people's SR. If I screw up and lose SR, that's fine. Screw up and hurt other people... that's a different matter.

This kind of thing is why I wish I had the willpower to stay away. It's frustrating to have such a great sim waved in front of you, yet not given all the options and tools you'd like to make the most of the experience. I know some of it will come with time, but these kind of "amateur, gamey" features, like the ghost cars I'd also *really* appreciate, seem so far down the agenda as to be unlikely to ever happen.

Andrew McP
 
Yep, LRP is soooooo much nicer than Laguna :)

Just had 3 races, first two were uneventful but good, just working on getting into the low 1:04's consistantly. third one though was awesome, group of 4 of us, very evenly matches nose-to-tail for most of the race, then I had to throw it away with 3 laps to go, still only 5 incidents in the 3 races (1, 1 and then 3 :p) so SR up again :p

Also identified an area that I need to work on, I'm getting much better at being followed closely now, which was a problem for me and led to many mistakes, but I can't seem to follow someone that well, at 0.3+ on F3 I seem fine, but as soon as it gets to 0.2 or 0.1 I panic and brake too much, even if I know them well enough to know that they are just as quick as me into/through the corner and end up 0.5 ish on the otherside due to slowing down too much...

The Skippy at Infineon is down right evil though, can't seem to get consistant there at all, not even slow and consistant.

Would be nice to have a ghost car tbh, either it automatically, or via you saving a replay, using your PB as the ghost. Replay has the advantage of using other drivers replays if you want (eg GH just to see the ghost fly into the distance :p). But there are other things, like pitting, flags, sector times and actually being able to save the replay that I think should take precedence over ghost cars in testing...
 
thegoonden said:
I look back ahead.......and realise I've overshot my braking point. One LOOOOOOOOOOOONG slow motion slide into the barrier later, and I've got about 10 incident points and am parked up across the kerbs in a wreck, no option but to bail out.

Hero>>>>>>>>>>>>Zero in one single glance at a readout.
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I only allow myself to look at updated info on the longest straight of any track (as long as I'm not lining up a draft / pass) Just one look per lap, at this point. It's a good habit to get into. Looking away just before a braking zone is asking for trouble :) But you know what they say - good judgement comes from experience, experience comes from bad judgement.

Andrew_McP said:
Nothing else comes close IMO... except maybe NetKar Pro, but even that doesn't light my candle after trying iRacing.
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I just this week worked out the difference between nKpro and iRacing (for me )

In nKpro if I am going all out for a PB, I'll probably only complete 1 in 5 laps because pushing at 100% for every corner puts me in the wall so much. The commitment needed means you're totally at the mercy of your decision to launch the car into a corner at 100%

In iRacing I can push 100% but it's more about getting the line right, finding the limits and hitting the perfect lap. But the sim allows you to push that far because the physics are more detailed and subtle. nkPro has sublime physics, but in iRacing I complete more laps when trying to push to the limit, I just don't hit a PB unless the lap I turn actually deserves it.
 
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I'm wondering if it's time for me to move away from rookie solstice?

Last night was AWFUL. :(

My first race went well, having not qualified I started last on the grid in 12th and made it to 4th on the first lap! I finished the race in 3rd and easily snapping the heels of 2nd place man, he nearly lost it to my pressure.

So I decide to qualify, 1:03.7 or something like that, not bad.

Next race I start 2nd and after just a lap I noticed the 1st place guy is a bit awkward, watching him too closely I put a foot wide and spin in a post I've never span at before, in to the wall and game over. I reset and carry on to finish 10th having unlapped myself, but pretty crap as it should have been my race.

Next race I start from pole position. I lead from the off grabbing a whole 3 seconds in the first lap, by lap 4/5 I've extended it to 8 seconds from 2nd place man and have already lapped 2 cars! Awesome.

Then I come across P10 who simply will NOT move over, he's that messy that I'm struggling to find a clear overtake, I hang back for 2 whole laps... 2nd place is eating in to my monster lead. Annoyed, I pull out on the main straight knowing I can easily out brake him on the inside at T1, after all I'm some 4 whole seconds faster a lap... seconds later he pulls in to my line MID main straight, not near the corner and taps me off. I head in to the barrier and total my car.

Absolutely fuming - where are the bloody blue flags!!!
 
Yeah, I had a day of nightmare races day before yesterday, stupid backmarkers blocking, 1st place binning it then purposefully pulling out on to track into me so I wouldn't take 1st, even had some guy called Samu (hes always on pole usually, blue white car) just force me over on to the grass on the right BEFORE T1 and caused the biggest 1st corner smash I have ever seen. Then at the end of the race blamed me! Saying his move was ok because Lewis Hamilton did something the same at monza (least LH was actually on the racing line), he basically had the whole chat room having a go at him but would not admit what a utterly dumb thing he did.

That pretty much made me pull out all the stops to start racing the skippy, the standard of driving must be better. Been practicing at sears IRL all yesterday, got my times down to low 1:51's just need today to work on my consistency and I'll probably attempt a race tomorrow.
 
Bigsy said:
That pretty much made me pull out all the stops to start racing the skippy
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I had a very uneventful life in the Solstice. That's the advantage of being slower than a slug in treacle, and always looking not to be an obstacle. But when I got into the Skip Barber I met all sorts of aggressive and dangerous driving. I was quite surprised. Fortunately I was also getting a lot of satisfaction from learning to push the car, so that helped... it's a much more enjoyable ride even for lowly backmarkers like myself.

The best thing you can do in iRacing -- as in real world racing -- is learn to expect trouble at any time. I know the sim is sold as being for serious racers, but I met all sorts on there during my month. The only qualification to be there is to have room on your credit card. That's not a talent or attitude filter.

I believe one or two people have been banned for dangerous driving, and I'm sure Nim sends out quite a few warnings, but at the end of the day they need subscribers. So knowing when to race competitively and when to back right off and bide your time will remain an important skill in iRacing, just as it always has been in every other form of online racing.

Andrew McP

PS It's important to remember that the only qualification for racing the Skip B is an SR of 4. In theory that means a driver is fairly safe to race with. In practice it means nothing. I got there by hardly ever racing with another vehicle... I rarely found anyone slow enough to stick with me for long. :-) In the Skip B, drivers who were solidly faster than me in the Solstice were driving beyond their skill level too soon, hence the danger I faced regularly as others overtook, spun off, then came back again.
 
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I've had mixed experience in the skip barbers, one race I was in a very strong field, most of them doing 1:16's round VIR south and whilst I couldn't keep up long it was close and very sensible for the time I did,

On the other hand I had a race where 3 of the people on the grid were either shockingly bad (as in causing wrecks when being passed on more than one occasion), or they admitted they'd never driven the track before and were all over the place, that's just dumb,

I don't think the standard of driving in the skippy is that much better or worse than the solstice, but then I've generally not found too many issues in either (or ovals), done a fair few races and it's rare for me to be seriously annoyed with something someone else has done...
 
If someone intentionally takes you out you should report them.

As for the level of aggression, careless driving, I've been time trialling in the Mazda and in one session after 20 laps with only one inc I only increased my SR by .04. This tells me that by the time we get to Class B, you simply won't be able to race up there unless you can keep your safety rating up. I really think a lot of wacky racers are going to get a shock when they realise they won't be able to progress past the Mazda unless they wise up and start racing clean.

You can time trial your way up I guess, but with the weighting being obviously lower, impulsive, impatient drivers by their nature are not likely to be willing to turn hundreds of solitary laps (all clean) just to progress. Because I'm sure at the higher license levels SR will get hit much harder when you do mess up. Staying in class B and above will be a real test for sure.
 
See they got some new tracks.

Mosport is great, T2 (clayton corner i think) was probably my favorite corner in GPL.
 
I hated T2 with a passion, it was either awesome or I screwed it up, there was no in-between :p

Mosport isn't till next year though, Sebring now though which isn't a bad track, although only ever played it in Forza, be interesting to see it in the skippy, think it could be a nice 'easy' track for good close racing...
 
Wahey, just noticed i've got my iRating above 2000 \o/

Had a great, if incident filled, race in the solstice round LRP earlier, led from pole but after about 10 laps and building a 10s lead I span in the first corner knocking it down to sub 1s, guy behind was quick and pressuring me which i'm not great with yet and ended up making a mistake into the first corner a few laps later,

After being passed though I get my concentration back, managed to set a new PB whilst reeling him back in (1:03.805 iirc), but couldn't pass even though I was a bit quicker he was good enough to not give me any chances so I 'accepted' second place. But then he had a blowout and went off, leaving me to win, feel slightly bad for him but was a good feeling, even if I hadn't earnt it :)
 
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