iRacing: It's a geometry problem

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The General: Mar 4, 2007

2.99 Sr. I'm so close. I'm gonna race K&Ns at Dover to hopefully push that up.

# ? Sep 5, 2016 22:37

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# ? May 2, 2024 22:46

Cojawfee: May 31, 2006; I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius

If this image is anything to go by, it looks like they fixed the mirror window and maybe I can start streaming from my Rift.

# ? Sep 5, 2016 22:46

Harveygod: Jan 4, 2014; YEEAAH HEH HEH HEEEHH

YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYIN

THIS TRASH WAR AIN'T GONNA SOLVE ITSELF YA KNOW

The General posted:

2.99 Sr. I'm so close. I'm gonna race K&Ns at Dover to hopefully push that up.

If you only need 0.01 SR, then maybe just do a Time Trial. Once you go past a whole number, you get a small "extra" bit.

# ? Sep 5, 2016 23:23

The General: Mar 4, 2007

I did it. 3.4 something. When does the promotion happen? After week 13?

# ? Sep 5, 2016 23:41

MC Fruit Stripe: Nov 26, 2002; around and around we go

I think it's when they push the patch so like in the middle of week 13. On to trucks?

As for me I think I'm gonna make a run at Formula Renault this season, might as well see how I can do.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 00:02

njsykora: Jan 23, 2012; Robots confuse squirrels.

Promotions are end of week 13 because they have the official series' running to give people a chance to push themselves up to where they need to be before the deadline.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 00:18

Cojawfee: May 31, 2006; I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius

When it swaps to week 1, it does the promotions.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 00:31

The General: Mar 4, 2007

On to whatever comes after d class I guess. If it's trucks, it's trucks. Might also start looking at non fixed series. But like I know anything about setting up a car.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 00:34

njsykora: Jan 23, 2012; Robots confuse squirrels.

The General posted:

On to whatever comes after d class I guess. If it's trucks, it's trucks. Might also start looking at non fixed series. But like I know anything about setting up a car.

If you're going to C ovals then welcome to the immense hell that is Nastruck. Also I missed this complaint when week 13 news went up but where the gently caress is my Identity Crisis? That was the best addition to W13 since Tube Frame Twister.

E: Also obligatory posting of the best week 13 video for newbies who haven't seen it before.

njsykora fucked around with this message at 00:46 on Sep 6, 2016

# ? Sep 6, 2016 00:41

algebra testes: Mar 5, 2011; Lipstick Apathy

Nastruck is the best but also the worst.

If its good its good but if you are in a split with people who literally are at the ceiling of their ability who can't work out that they are bad and call you out on the radio for crashs they loving cause it is the worst.

Also I have an A safety rating but trucks are too much of a risk even for me.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 00:51

Full Collapse: Dec 4, 2002

B class is p much the only decent oval series with participation.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 00:57

algebra testes: Mar 5, 2011; Lipstick Apathy

Minto Took posted:

B class is p much the only decent oval series with participation.

However,

If you don't care and they are both at the same track race b first and then do c and feel like you are in slow motion and drive fast as a result :hellyeah:

# ? Sep 6, 2016 01:02

njsykora: Jan 23, 2012; Robots confuse squirrels.

I did B class last season and pretty much wanted to come back to trucks fairly soon because I just feel more comfortable in the trucks.

Also I want to be able to find a race before 11pm at night.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 01:06

IOwnCalculus: Apr 2, 2003

Indy Fixed is the best C oval. :colbert:

# ? Sep 6, 2016 04:30

Full Collapse: Dec 4, 2002

IOwnCalculus posted:

Indy Fixed is the best C oval.

Maybe if the community wasn't so toxic.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 04:31

Roller Coast Guard: Aug 27, 2006; With this magnificent aircraft,
and my magnificent facial hair,
the British Empire will never fall!

The General posted:

On to whatever comes after d class I guess. If it's trucks, it's trucks. Might also start looking at non fixed series. But like I know anything about setting up a car.

I don't think there's any open oval series at C licence or above that gets any participation whatsoever. Maybe Super Late Models if you're into short tracks rather than superspeedways, but all the open NASCAR series are dead.

Open oval series are in an awkward place because the cars are so setup dependent, and the setups can be much more complex than the road course equivalent (extreme asymmetrical suspension and spring layouts), but at the same time iRacing does so little to help you understand what all the options do.

Roller Coast Guard fucked around with this message at 11:52 on Sep 6, 2016

# ? Sep 6, 2016 11:39

Tony Montana: Aug 6, 2005; by FactsAreUseless

In Week 13 that Tube Bender one I just had a look at, it looks pretty awesome. Tracks like Monza and Gilles V, with a bunch of different cars.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 11:48

Vando: Oct 26, 2007; stoats about

So yeah I'm gonna work on a new OP this week as last time I was all "Jason is gone, we need a new OP" then he said he was still here, then failed to update anything I'd asked for.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 11:52

Roller Coast Guard: Aug 27, 2006; With this magnificent aircraft,
and my magnificent facial hair,
the British Empire will never fall!

Tony Montana posted:

In Week 13 that Tube Bender one I just had a look at, it looks pretty awesome. Tracks like Monza and Gilles V, with a bunch of different cars.

Tube Frame Twister should be an official series with the road cars removed.

Vando posted:

So yeah I'm gonna work on a new OP this week as last time I was all "Jason is gone, we need a new OP" then he said he was still here, then failed to update anything I'd asked for.

Iracing: 4-wide is about the limit

Roller Coast Guard fucked around with this message at 11:57 on Sep 6, 2016

# ? Sep 6, 2016 11:54

General RAARGH: Jan 24, 2003; armchair general

Tony Montana posted:

In Week 13 that Tube Bender one I just had a look at, it looks pretty awesome. Tracks like Monza and Gilles V, with a bunch of different cars.

Yeah, was really fun last W13

# ? Sep 6, 2016 12:01

njsykora: Jan 23, 2012; Robots confuse squirrels.

Helicon One posted:

I don't think there's any open oval series at C licence or above that gets any participation whatsoever. Maybe Super Late Models if you're into short tracks rather than superspeedways, but all the open NASCAR series are dead.

Open oval series are in an awkward place because the cars are so setup dependent, and the setups can be much more complex than the road course equivalent (extreme asymmetrical suspension and spring layouts), but at the same time iRacing does so little to help you understand what all the options do.

And of course none of the guys who actually understand setup building share their setups or do anything to help newbies, then bitch endlessly on the forums about the fixed series taking away people who wouldn't be running open anyway.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 12:13

MC Fruit Stripe: Nov 26, 2002; around and around we go

Week 10 is the most recent week with stats

C fixed - 1974
B fixed - 1198
Indy fixed - 743
A fixed - 506
B open - 230
A open - 129
Super Late Model - 92
C open - 78
Sprint car - 31

Re: setups. I'd even wanted to start running open myself until I realized something. The plusses are obvious, oh that'll be great, I'll be able to set the car up to drive how I want. Well apart from the major time investment, there's this. If you're running in or near the top split, the absolute best case scenario is that you can make your setup as fast as someone else's. More likely, your setup will be slower than theirs. If you want your setup to be as good as the best driver's, there's a way to do that - run the fixed series.

There's also this, and I am comfortable saying this because I've inherited enough pro setups through friendship to believe it. There is a massive amount of "this is still a video game" involved in setting up the car. Which is to say, you need to understand how a car is set up, but you also need to understand how at its root, some of these setup options have a correct value or at least a correct ratio which no amount of personal taste is going to overcome. For example, some of the tire pressures I've seen are patently absurd and would be almost impossible to luck into - you just have to know, from the guys who know, how to set your tires up.

e: Ran into The General last night in practice but we ended up getting slotted into separate week 13 splits. You didn't miss anything in my split, just your standard "drive for a few laps until you get caught in someone else's mess" kind of evening.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 13:13

biglads: Feb 21, 2007; I could've gone to Blatherwycke

When I first got my D-class Oval licence I got the LM and a load of short tracks. Bit of a mistake really because of whats already been said and crap participation 90% of the time.

The National series is much better, especially as season 4 sees some longer tracks.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 13:13

njsykora: Jan 23, 2012; Robots confuse squirrels.

Short tracks are something you run as a side series. I still enjoy jumping in the modifieds on a weekend since their participation is small but reliable, and I know how most of them drive at this point.

Also the Season 4 build is being deployed, so Test Drive will be active for most of today. For those who don't know this is basically the offline testing mode where you can drive any car you have downloaded, whether you own them or not.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 13:21

Vando: Oct 26, 2007; stoats about

MC Fruit Stripe posted:

There is a massive amount of "this is still a video game" involved in setting up the car. Which is to say, you need to understand how a car is set up, but you also need to understand how at its root, some of these setup options have a correct value or at least a correct ratio which no amount of personal taste is going to overcome. For example, some of the tire pressures I've seen are patently absurd and would be almost impossible to luck into - you just have to know, from the guys who know, how to set your tires up.

Skips at Bristol was a great example of this. Crank the outside wheel up as high as it'll go! It's the Best Way!

# ? Sep 6, 2016 13:37

Roller Coast Guard: Aug 27, 2006; With this magnificent aircraft,
and my magnificent facial hair,
the British Empire will never fall!

Vando posted:

Skips at Bristol was a great example of this. Crank the outside wheel up as high as it'll go! It's the Best Way!

I tripped over this completely by accident in practice whilst trying to avoid bottoming out :frogbon:

# ? Sep 6, 2016 14:51

IOwnCalculus: Apr 2, 2003

Helicon One posted:

Tube Frame Twister should be an official series with the road cars removed.

Maybe just the Radical because it's so effective at shoveling the full body cars out of the way. Late Model is definitely the best, but it's fun to do one race in the LM, then do the next in the C6R.

I'm pretty sure I've only ever run one or two official LM oval races, but god drat the car is a shitload of fun in Tube Frame Twister. I just wish more people ran it because there were only three LMs in the first split I did last night, and two in the next.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 16:38

Cojawfee: May 31, 2006; I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius

Start all the downloadin

# ? Sep 6, 2016 16:42

Roller Coast Guard: Aug 27, 2006; With this magnificent aircraft,
and my magnificent facial hair,
the British Empire will never fall!

IOwnCalculus posted:

Maybe just the Radical because it's so effective at shoveling the full body cars out of the way. Late Model is definitely the best, but it's fun to do one race in the LM, then do the next in the C6R.

I'm pretty sure I've only ever run one or two official LM oval races, but god drat the car is a shitload of fun in Tube Frame Twister. I just wish more people ran it because there were only three LMs in the first split I did last night, and two in the next.

Driving a GT1 in TFT is a textbook example of missing the point :colbert:

# ? Sep 6, 2016 16:52

Noteworthy scenery: Jan 9, 2007

Does iracing work on linux? Was thinking about getting it and saw linux listed as supported on their site but Googling around has me doubting that.

Is ColdPie still around? OP mentions him as being the one who made the linux port (wine wrapper?).

# ? Sep 6, 2016 16:54

tater_salad: Sep 15, 2007

Cojawfee posted:

Start all the downloadin

Thanks for this, I wanted to log inbut through the memberiste it was down and I was all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH1ekuvSYzE&t=19s

week 13 doesn't excite me this time around.. Sadly I was hoping for identity crisis or something similar to come through, but instead it's sprint cars.. and I"m scared of those.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 16:55

MC Fruit Stripe: Nov 26, 2002; around and around we go

tater_salad posted:

week 13 doesn't excite me this time around

That's not terribly surprising - I think the joke kinda wears itself out after a bit. A wacky figure 8, a multi class race with late models on a road course, and a bunch of unofficial series. Other than the tube frame twister, not a lot you need to revisit there.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 19:08

tater_salad: Sep 15, 2007

I was really looking forward to identity crisis, it was super fun, but they aren't doing it again this time around.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 19:13

njsykora: Jan 23, 2012; Robots confuse squirrels.

tater_salad posted:

I was really looking forward to identity crisis, it was super fun, but they aren't doing it again this time around.

I've never been so tense in iRacing as the Identity Crisis race I almost won in a truck, that series was one hell of a challenge.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 19:20

Cojawfee: May 31, 2006; I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius

Potential gooncar issue. I just did some testing at Iowa in the skip. In our race on the second, my fastest lap was a 28.242. That's obviously with a draft. In my testing session, I didn't have to lift and my best time was a 28.260. That's obviously with no draft. It had the same exact weather as the gooncar session. I didn't run long enough to notice any effects of dynamic track but this could be an issue if Iowa has become another flat out lap like Charlotte.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 20:17

Vando: Oct 26, 2007; stoats about

I assume it'll just have the same solution: the draft will increase top speed at the end of the straights so lifting will be required in the corners. Also is that on a race line or a qual line?

# ? Sep 6, 2016 20:21

Cojawfee: May 31, 2006; I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius

Vando posted:

Also is that on a race line or a qual line?

IDK I just did what I normally do when I'm not near anyone. I don't do any weird stuff like run the high line for two laps or anything, I drive the same in qual as I do in a race. I just checked Bristol as well. Doing the tweak of having 2 SPO left and -4 SPO right and I get effortless, full throttle, turn left 17.9s.

# ? Sep 6, 2016 20:26

Vando: Oct 26, 2007; stoats about

Race of Champions poo poo contained within :siren:

REMINDER: there's a race on Sunday that isn't in the calendar. Because it's a tournament race and they're "special".

So it starts at the usual time with a 30 minute "qualifying" session, though the times don't count: grid will be based on reverse championship positions for...

Race 1: New Hampshire Road! Finishing positions will determine the grid (reversed again) for...

Race 2: New Hampshire Oval!

Tune in for me losing my poo poo trying to make the iRacing website launch the right session at the right time. Endless fun!

# ? Sep 6, 2016 20:39

Vando: Oct 26, 2007; stoats about

Hey nerds how does this look for a new OP? Will add a second post outlining what Gooncar is and why it's awesome to go in the second post of a new thread.

quote:

Welcome to the SA iRacing thread! Where all your dreams of listening to an angry dude from Indiana can come true!

(credit to ManicJason for large parts of this post's content. Come back and race with us nerd )

What is iRacing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKO5_hDc5JQ

iRacing is that game you heard about that costs a loving bomb with as much DLC as Train Simulator but with added rednecks running trucks with Trump stickers all over them who will absolutely blame you at the drop of a hat when they murder themselves into an insanely detailed laser-scanned wall at 200mph. The good news is their whining is impotent and you don't really need to race with them anyway.

Hyperbole aside, iRacing is hands-down the best place to race against actual humans online. At any given time of day you can most likely hop onto the website and fire up a race with at least a dozen other assholes to compete against, and on a good day you can even triple that number. If you're sure, that is.

There are a whole bunch of SA goons kicking around in the various official series, and just a few weeks of not being aggressively terrible will get you a slot in one of our teams for the 12 and 24 hour endurance events that run roughly every two months, where being a meatsack who can be awake at 5am Eastern without crashing is the minimum ability requirement.

Discord
https://discord.gg/g4PDRhM

Thread crew hangs out here pretty much exclusively, the old IRC channel is dead. Jump in to ask stupid questions. There are also usually people there willing to spot or jump into a practice.

Mumble
We've been using the Goonrathi Mumble while racing. There's a channel buried in there somewhere that has to do with turning left or Tony Stewart killing people or something. If you get lost, go to Discord.
mumble.goonrathi.com
64738
pw: mellon

Cost
The truth is that this is a subscription-based game with loads of DLC. The good news is that you can get started for $6 for a month or $15 for three months, and all of the rookie series run free cars and tracks. Extra tracks are $15 and cars $12. Once you get out of rookies, you'll probably want to spend $12 on a car and $30 or $40 on tracks to run most of a full 12 week season. There are bulk purchase deals and occasional game credit deals to save 10-30%.

Controls
You'll also need a steering wheel. You may be able to run a few races with a gamepad, but realistically you're going to want at least a $100 steering wheel. The best bang for buck would be a Logitech G27 that can usually be found new for $220-$250. Tyler Hudson, the reigning champion of the NASCAR-sponsored pro stock car series, uses that same wheel with a triple monitor setup, so that's the highest you should realistically aim to spend. Crazy people spend a lot more!RIP the humble G27, killed by Logitech for being too beautiful for this world. The master SA resource on wheels is over in the PC Sim Racing thread, head over there to find out what the current good poo poo is.

PC specs required
Any Windows, Mac, or Linux computer with 2+ gigs of RAM that can run a four year old game. There are lots of settings to make things as pretty as the above videos, but this game has been around for six years and can be run on almost anything. The Linux client is not officially supported, but goon ColdPie made the port and can and should be hassled about it.

Rookie series
The basic rookie cars are the Mazda MX-5 on the road side and the Street Stock on ovals.

The MX-5 cycles through Lime Rock, Summit Point, Okayama, Laguna Seca, and occasionally Charlotte's road course each week. Street Stock bounces between USA International and Charlotte. Rookie success is all about wreck avoidance. If you're going through rookies, either road or oval, the following video series is mandatory viewing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqsKm8irA7U

FAQ
What the hell is this Safety Rating poo poo anyway?
The license system and safety rating are what make iRacing work. Every time you are involved in an incident, you get incident points. One point for going off track, two points for spinning by yourself, and four points for crashing into another car. It is a no fault system. This means that, if you you get rear ended by someone whose cat pissed on his brake pedal, you get the same 4x that you'd get for wrecking the entire field on a race start. The system works well for a few reasons.

You have to drive clean to compete in higher-tier series

Good drivers will avoid more of the other-guy's-fault accidents than bad drivers.

Everyone has to deal with the same idiots at the lower levels. In fact, you'll be one of those idiots a few times. Thousands of people have gotten up to A license. It's frustrating when you have that one not-at-fault accident that kills your safety rating and ends your race on lap one, but I promise that every driver in A class has had a dozen of those moments, likely many more.

As you gain safety rating, you'll progress through the licenses from rookie, D, C, B, and A separately in oval and road racing. It's true that the most difficult cars are A class (F1 and NASCAR Sprint Cup cars,) but aiming to fly up through the licenses for the sake of progressing is a mistake. Most goons took their time progressing and settled in to one or several series along the way to A class in both road and oval. The most common series for thread posters are the Skip Barber D class road series and one of the two C class oval series (IndyCar and NASCAR trucks.) There's no real 'grind' as safety rating rises as a natural part of doing clean races so if you're racing well and getting results, your SR will rise along the way.

There are hundreds or words written about exactly how safety rating works, but the gist is that your SR will be a number from 1.0 to 4.99 with a letter. It is calculated based on your incident points per corner. D 4.0 = C 3.0 = B 2.0. Getting to 3.0 makes you eligible to promote to the next level at season's end. 4.0 will promote you immediately. 2.0 at season's end will drop you down. 1.0 will drop you immediately.

What cars/tracks are there?
There are currently 40+ cars and 70+ tracks. Membership comes with seven free cars and ten free tracks.

Is it worth trying iRacing without a wheel?
Trying? Sure. It's a lot more difficult, I'm not going to lie to you, but Bentai often runs with us in the Gooncar oval races using a pad and isn't aggressively terrible. I'd still strongly endorse a wheel as the #1 way to make your experience with the game more fun though.

How do you see other people's paint schemes?
Install Trading Paints and run it whenever you race. That's it. Yes, everyone uses this same third party tool. It's effectively an official part of the game at this point.

How do I get out of rookies?
Drive clean until your safety rating gets to 3.0. You will instantly un-rookie-ify.

What are the most popular series?
On the road side, pretty much anything with a GT3 car in it will get solid races at most times of the day. The Skip Barber series is also a perennial favourite. On the oval side of things, any of the fixed setup NASCAR series are well attended. Pretty much every available series will have at least one race with good attendance per week, info on this timeslot can be found in the relevant series forum.

Do I need to use the clutch for X car?
Unless it's the Spec Racer Ford, you probably don't need to clutch on upshifts. Downshifts depend. Here's a list of all transmission types in iRacing

Why does it take so long to get my fast repair in the pits?
By default, the game gives you new tires and fuel every pit stop, even if it's a pit stop that gave you a brand new car. Put the following into your app.ini to make iRacing default to no pit service. You'll have to manually select tires/fuel on the rare times you actually want them:
code:
[Pit Service]
autoResetPitBox=0

Vando fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Sep 6, 2016

# ? Sep 6, 2016 21:48

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# ? May 2, 2024 22:46

Vando: Oct 26, 2007; stoats about

quote:

So what's this "Gooncar" thing people keep talking about?

Welcome to the most fun part of iRacing. On Sundays at around 5pm ET is where you'll find a band of merry idiots all racing together in what might charitably be called a "reasonably well-run and competent league of racers". We race the Skip Barber, and the new season starts on September 18th, though it's not an all or nothing deal, drop in for one race or several, it's cool. Tracks are a 50/50 mix of oval and road, with a focus on free tracks as much as possible but also a commitment to use any paid track we select multiple times and not discard it after just one season. This policy has notably brought us Iowa Speedway, aka the One True Gooncar Track. Buy Iowa.

Again the participation requirements amount to 'can get into the server and onto the track, consciously or otherwise', but regular 'don't be a dick' rules apply. It also helps if you can run laps without wrecking on every corner, particularly on ovals as we run with cautions on and lots of caution laps and no racing makes OhsH flat out murder a guy. Don't be that guy. On road courses you can pretty much get away with diving off onto the green bits as much as you like without really impacting other people so go ahead and suck out loud, it's fine.

As well as the regular Sunday Gooncar league races, recently we've started running races on Friday nights for "just random poo poo". This has been mostly ovals as learning ovals is quicker, so just picking up and going is easier to achieve, but there's also potential for some wackier road race options (warning: may result in buying Bathurst). We usually run between 1 and 3 shorter races on a Friday to mix things up, and <insert car> at Iowa is a strong combination. Buy Iowa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN5ubelct_o

Buy Iowa.

Vando fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Sep 7, 2016

# ? Sep 6, 2016 22:12

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > iRacing: It's a geometry problem

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