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iRacing |OT| The Real Racing Simulator

jlevel13

Member
Orgun said:
Oh and does anyone have a suggestion for my first rookie race, I don't think jumping into an F1 race would be appropriate :)

As a rookie there's not a lot of options open to you. Personally I loathe the mini oval tracks - I used to do okay with them, but seem to have lost my touch as I've grown to really dislike racing the same tiny circle every 17-18 seconds. I'm trying to do the rookie road courses now and it seems like they flip between Laguna Seca and Lime Rock Park every week(?). Do some time trials and qualifying sessions to get your rating up and get used to it - also the open practices can be good (since there is no penalty in practice for screwing up - other than annoying the other folks on the track).
 

19Kilo

Member
Yeah the Legends can be an SR killer until you get the hang of them. I'd stick with a road course series and just practice on your own until you are comfortable with the car and track. Then try some online practice sessions to get used to driving close to other cars and learn the lines. Once you can do 10 laps or so in a row without any incidents then do some time trials and start building up SR.

You may or may not want to qualify, since your iRating will be low you will be placed at the back of the field f you skip qualifying. That can be helpful if you're just trying to avoid first-corner mishaps. Have fun, and good luck!
 

Orgun

Member
Well I still haven't figured out my FFB problems BUT I did change my degrees of rotation to 900 which made a huge difference in car control. :lol

Still haven't worked up the guts to even jump into an open practice session heh
 

isamu

OMFG HOLY MOTHER OF MARY IN HEAVEN I CANT BELIEVE IT WTF WHERE ARE MY SEDATIVES AAAAHHH
Aaaaaaaaaaaand on that note, I too am now officially an iracing member :D

Signed up for a promo discount and hot a full year with the F1 Willy, Silverstone and Zandfort all for a measly $70 :)

Have only been testing the Mazda for a little bit at Lime Rock. Man these cars are hard to drive! Talk about nimble and nervous
nervous.gif
I think me not being used to racing in cockpit view has a lot to do with why I'm struggling to keep this puppy on the track.

But I will say the FFB is pretty darn good. Well, OK maybe it isn't "OMFG the FFB is so good I'm gonna stop playing all other racing right this instant" good, but it is leaps and bounds better than say, Shift(the stock settings anyway). Not quite as alive in the collisions department as I'd hope for, but perhaps some fine tuning will sort that out.

Like I said, car handling is on the nervous side for me, especially coming from a significant time spent in GRID, but I really think I'm gonna enjoy iRacing in the long term once I finally come to grips with playing a full blown racing sim :)
 

bee

Member
once you start getting 59.xx around lime rock and consistently in the 1.00's then you're set, the mx-5 series is arguably the most fun as it produces ridiculously tight races at times and you also don't need to know your way around a car as its fixed setup

we had a race the other night where the top 4 of us were separated by about half a car length each for around 5 laps and there was no contact at all, you simply can't buy that or program that into a game, it just comes from a mature and dedicated community and at least in my experience, iracing is the only racing game with that, especially on public servers
 
I hate lime rock so much. I understand why they put the free tracks into the formula fun league, but god damn it. what a painful week for loving the f1 williams. silverstone next week. I really wish they'd have a mid-level player type formula league. with all more suitable tracks for the car, midohio and roadatlanta would be great. definitely no lime rock park. fixed setup. and the races would need to count towards the ratings, as I don't want to race any other car at the moment and it isn't doing anything to my rating hehe, so it's going to be forever or never until I'll be able to take part in the proper formula league. need spa and some japanese tracks now.

bee said:
we had a race the other night where the top 4 of us were separated by about half a car length each for around 5 laps and there was no contact at all, you simply can't buy that or program that into a game, it just comes from a mature and dedicated community and at least in my experience, iracing is the only racing game with that, especially on public servers
yep, definitely. the close races like that is why I love iracing so much. I haven't played any other game where you can race this close and for the most part no one feels the need to crash themselves or you out unnecessarily. although the f1 williams races are a bit more chaotic.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Black Friday special!

http://www.iracing.com/news/black-friday-and-thursday-saturday-sunday-and-monday-too/

Black Friday comes to iRacing this week. The day after the Thanksgiving holiday is the biggest shopping day of the year, when shoppers all over America line-up in the wee small hours of the morning to take advantage of all those great one day sales.

iRacing.com has its own Black Friday special: Renew your iRacing membership for a year or more and receive $30 in iRacing credits as a bonus. Use them to purchase cars, tracks, hosted sessions or to extend your membership further. Think of it as a little “thank you” from your friends at iRacing.

Better yet, there’s no need to stand in line at the mall. You can take advantage of iRacing.com’s Black Friday from the comfort of your home. And you don’t have to wait until Friday. At iRacing.com, Black Friday starts Thursday, November 25 (00:01 GMT) and runs through Monday, November 29 (23:59 GMT).

To earn your bonus credits, simply log in to your account, got to My Account, click on Renew Early to extend your membership by a year or more – and we’ll take care of the rest. We’ll e-mail you a promo code by the end of the week of the 3rd which will add the $30 in iRacing credits to your account.


What could be better? Or easier?

Offer valid 11/25/10 – 11/29/10. Limit of one per customer.
 

markao

Member
As mentioned earlier, worlds fastest sim racer, Finland's Greger Huttu got a chance to drive a real race car, Star Mazda, at Road Atlanta and iRacing released the matching video.


Greger Huttu at Road Atlanta


Organized races at Sim-Challenges for years and met the guy and he is not only the fastest, but also one of the nicest guys and I'm so glad he finally got a change to drive a real car. Very cool to see how much physique (motion sickness :D ) there is to driving a car in RL, compared to sitting behind a desk ;)
 

Orgun

Member
I read about that on Top Gears website, very cool.

I haven't jumped on iRacing in awhile, I really should get back into it. It's just GT5 and F1 2010 have the instant gratification of numbers going up :lol
 

TheExodu5

Banned
I'm subbed right now, but I won't lie, I have no idea what I'm doing in the game. The web interface is so completely confusing, I just don't know what's really available to me. All I've done is the only race I could find that I was eligible for, a race on Laguna Seca with a Solstice I think.

Any tips?
 

jlevel13

Member
TheExodu5 said:
I'm subbed right now, but I won't lie, I have no idea what I'm doing in the game. The web interface is so completely confusing, I just don't know what's really available to me. All I've done is the only race I could find that I was eligible for, a race on Laguna Seca with a Solstice I think.

Any tips?

Takes a little time to get used to the interface. Go to the dashboard and under the RED what's hot area - there's a list of all the races, qualifying sessions and time trials upcoming. As you're a rookie, you will only be eligible for rookie races with cars or tracks that you own. There are a series of check boxes to cut down on what is displayed here, you can check to show either oval or road races, then only races (R), qualifying (Q) or time trials (TT). You can also check a box to only display events you are eligible for or races that are populated. Decide what you want to do and click on the green steering wheel under the Reg (register) column. The page will then load you to a pre-event screen that shows how long until the event starts. You can wait it out or test your car on the track during the wait.

Also below the what's hot section should be an open practice area that lists all the practice sessions going on. Joining one of those is a good way to get a feel for driving with others on a track without worrying about your safety rating.
 

Arucardo

Member
Just bought a 3month membership for 12usd, can't wait to try this out with the G25 I bought recently :D . Pretty sure I'm not going to be buying any extra cars or stuff for a while tho :lol .
 

iam220

Member
jlevel13 said:
The new iracingTV says Spa should be out before the end of the year...

http://iracing.tv/

I'm more excited about the new Japanese tracks (SUZUKA!), the FORT GT and especially the new tyre model. I mean if the current model is so incredible it just boggles the mind to think how amazing the new one will be.
 

Arucardo

Member
Man, can't believe how much fun it was to just drive an MX5 on one track for 100+ laps. Participated in one race too and came 6th, but I made two pretty bad mistakes in the later parts of the race, lost a good 20 sec on them.

EDIT: Tried hard to get a laptime under 1 minute in Lime Rock Park but the best I managed so far is around 01.00.5xx I think.
 
ford gt!

TheExodu5 said:
I'm subbed right now, but I won't lie, I have no idea what I'm doing in the game. The web interface is so completely confusing, I just don't know what's really available to me. All I've done is the only race I could find that I was eligible for, a race on Laguna Seca with a Solstice I think.

Any tips?
watch the new iracing.tv episode. they go through the homepage
 

jlevel13

Member
iam220 said:
I'm more excited about the new Japanese tracks (SUZUKA!), the FORT GT and especially the new tyre model. I mean if the current model is so incredible it just boggles the mind to think how amazing the new one will be.

hey - I'm looking forward to Suzuka too (will buy), but don't know anything about Okayama (which is supposedly coming out first).

Spa is apparently up for pre-order now. How long is it usually between a track going up for pre-order and a track getting released?
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
elohel said:
really wanna try this game

do a majority of people play with a wheel or is a controller doable?

Probably wheel dominated. For obvious reasons, dude.
 

bee

Member
i found it pretty much unplayable with a pad when i tried it due to a sprained ankle, i'd even go as far as to say that wheels with a low turning degree are equally bad

pre ordered spa last night, can't wait for that :D
 

iam220

Member
Yoritomo said:
Wow. I honestly don't think i could use that. It seems subtle enough but I'm getting a little sick just watching the super low res youtube video, and games have never made me sick in the past.

I'll have to try it out though.

Yeah some people on the forums have been complaining about that. It didn't really effect me, although it was extremely wobbly if you got on the grass, but your mileage may wary.

One thing to note is that it highly customizable, the default setup worked for me but you can always tone down the effect if you find that it's making you sick.
 

Arucardo

Member
elohel said:
really wanna try this game

do a majority of people play with a wheel or is a controller doable?
Did a practice session on Lime Rock with one guy using a 360 pad, he wasn't doing bad actually :lol . It's almost impossible to be consistent with a pad tho and he was only using it temporarily while waiting for his wheel to arrive.
 

jlevel13

Member
argh... so frustrating when you spend a bunch of time waiting around for a race (the last race you can do for the night since they only run once an hour) only to get pretty much completely taken out in the first corner (rear ended and spun into multiple 360s!), limp around the rack a bit then give up...
 

isamu

OMFG HOLY MOTHER OF MARY IN HEAVEN I CANT BELIEVE IT WTF WHERE ARE MY SEDATIVES AAAAHHH
jlevel13 said:
argh... so frustrating when you spend a bunch of time waiting around for a race (the last race you can do for the night since they only run once an hour) only to get pretty much completely taken out in the first corner (rear ended and spun into multiple 360s!), limp around the rack a bit then give up...

Can't you use some sort of Tow Truck gimmick that places you back on the track with your car fully repaired?
 

1-D_FTW

Member
Well I just joined the 3 months for 12 dollars offer. It'll be interesting to see how I like it compared to rfactor (which I LUV with real feel enabled).
 
isamu said:
Can't you use some sort of Tow Truck gimmick that places you back on the track with your car fully repaired?
yeah, towing the car takes a minute or two and you're restarted back in the pit. really painful minutes. and of course you'll be almost a lap down. it's better to just be super careful in the first lap, so many morons take themselves out of the race by being way too aggressive anyway. so you'll get a lot of positions for free just being careful in the beginning.
 

Branson

Member
jlevel13 said:
argh... so frustrating when you spend a bunch of time waiting around for a race (the last race you can do for the night since they only run once an hour) only to get pretty much completely taken out in the first corner (rear ended and spun into multiple 360s!), limp around the rack a bit then give up...
Welcome to the world of (sim)motorsports.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
Branson said:
Welcome to the world of (sim)motorsports.

Do you play iracing? Because it seems the whole point system is designed to prevent driving with aholes (if you're not one). I can see problems when you're a rookie though. Until you prove yourself, you're forced to race with other noobs.

bee said:
use the qualifying sessions so you don't end up back in the pack with the turn one heroes

As long as you're in here, what do you set your wheel at? I've put it at 360 degrees, but it's a G27. So I can go higher.
 

Branson

Member
1-D_FTW said:
Do you play iracing? Because it seems the whole point system is designed to prevent driving with aholes (if you're not one). I can see problems when you're a rookie though. Until you prove yourself, you're forced to race with other noobs.



As long as you're in here, what do you set your wheel at? I've put it at 360 degrees, but it's a G27. So I can go higher.
Yup, been a member since 03-03-09. Just saying that even in the biggest of motorsports stuff can happen, first turn, first lap.
 

markao

Member
1-D_FTW said:
As long as you're in here, what do you set your wheel at? I've put it at 360 degrees, but it's a G27. So I can go higher.
iRacing whil set the wheel, depending on car/class, for you, just use the full 900 degrees in menu (windows).
 

1-D_FTW

Member
markao said:
iRacing whil set the wheel, depending on car/class, for you, just use the full 900 degrees in menu (windows).

Gotcha. I'll change that and recalibrate so it's not set on 360 in the profiler (which is obviously where it's in the game since I didn't rotate beyond the force when calibrating).
 

jlevel13

Member
Branson said:
Welcome to the world of (sim)motorsports.

nono - I like it but hate it at the same time. Definitely the iRacing style gives you that extra feeling of danger since screwing up has real-ish consequences & I'm willing to pay for that. Still frustrating when things don't go your way and it's not your fault, but like you say, that's racing (sometimes).
 

1-D_FTW

Member
jlevel13 said:
The Mazda is so much better/easier to drive than the old rookie solstice you had to use though (thank God).

This thread has some good videos samples of how to drive fast on Lime Rock & Laguna Seca in the Mazda. I know watching them is definitely helping me a lot...

http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/1329050.page

Just got around to watching these. Thanks for the link. What I love about the GUI is you can see what they're doing with the gas/brake. I'm braking way too much. That's where my 10 seconds are going on Lime Rock and Lagenu Seca.:lol
 

iam220

Member
1-D_FTW said:
Just got around to watching these. Thanks for the link. What I love about the GUI is you can see what they're doing with the gas/brake. I'm braking way too much. That's where my 10 seconds are going on Lime Rock and Lagenu Seca.:lol

10 seconds? :O

Watch more replays I guess, your line must be wayyy off. Also use the split timing (tab key) it's very very useful for improving lap times. Keep pressing tab until it displays "vs optimal sector". Watch the http://www.iracing.tv/ episode 4 @ 26 minute mark. They explain the whole thing.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
iam220 said:
10 seconds? :O

Watch more replays I guess, your line must be wayyy off. Also use the split timing (tab key) it's very very useful for improving lap times. Keep pressing tab until it displays "vs optimal sector". Watch the http://www.iracing.tv/ episode 4 @ 26 minute mark. They explain the whole thing.

Well I only ran like 2 laps on Limerock when I posted that. After watching those, I'm down to 1:03.0xx. Though I've pretty much hit a wall at the 1:03 barrier.

Laguna Seca, which I actually did know, I was also 10 seconds off. Haven't played it since watching the video.

Honestly though, this info has pretty much killed my motivation. It seems like I'm always 3 seconds slower than the elite racers for online. I'm not sure there's any real incentive for me to continue. I can grind away with this slow car, on a couple tracks, and hope to improve... or I can go back to living in a cave with rfactor. There I can set the AI to a level that's comparable to my skill, be in the dark about what I should be running, and just have fun. Plus I can have my pick of courses and exotic cars without a single cost to me.
 

iam220

Member
1-D_FTW said:
Honestly though, this info has pretty much killed my motivation. It seems like I'm always 3 seconds slower than the elite racers for online. I'm not sure there's any real incentive for me to continue. I can grind away with this slow car, on a couple tracks, and hope to improve... or I can go back to living in a cave with rfactor. There I can set the AI to a level that's comparable to my skill, be in the dark about what I should be running, and just have fun. Plus I can have my pick of courses and exotic cars without a single cost to me.

You'll improve .. like I said use the tools available to you, replays, split timings, etc. Look at your optimal lap for lime rock. Is it also in the 03's? Also, read up on racing fundamentals there's a good chance you're doing something wrong.

Also, if you race iracing will do its best to pair you up with people of your skill level so you don't really have to worry about getting near the elite times just yet ...
 
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