B-spec noob questions, any help appreciated

[alexthecamel]

Hi All,

I've recently started grinding B-Spec, purely to get some cars I wouldn't otherwise have access to. Could someone please clarify the following:

1. When I press increase pace and the little timer comes on, is that the time period in which Bob will speed up, or is it just a timer before I can issue another command.

2. First question may well answer this, but overtake doesn't seem to do a great deal, Bob will overtake anyway if his speed allows. Is it a timing thing, and again, will he only attempt a pass whilst the timer is on, or continue to push?

3.. If I just leave Bob to his devices his times speed up and slow down according to his stats I assume. Given that, maintain pace does what? Surely he is trying to, but can't because of stats.

I get the feeling I should be constantly issuing orders, but this gets poor old Bob a little hot under the collar. There must be more to this than picking an overpowered car and going to play COD for a bit on my PC, and obviously as I climb the XP ladder, overpowering won't be an option against already powerful cars.

Many Thanks for any pointers.

 

[iLex]

Hi All,

I've recently started grinding B-Spec, purely to get some cars I wouldn't otherwise have access to. Could someone please clarify the following:

1. When I press increase pace and the little timer comes on, is that the time period in which Bob will speed up, or is it just a timer before I can issue another command.

2. First question may well answer this, but overtake doesn't seem to do a great deal, Bob will overtake anyway if his speed allows. Is it a timing thing, and again, will he only attempt a pass whilst the timer is on, or continue to push?

3.. If I just leave Bob to his devices his times speed up and slow down according to his stats I assume. Given that, maintain pace does what? Surely he is trying to, but can't because of stats.

I get the feeling I should be constantly issuing orders, but this gets poor old Bob a little hot under the collar. There must be more to this than picking an overpowered car and going to play COD for a bit on my PC, and obviously as I climb the XP ladder, overpowering won't be an option against already powerful cars.

Many Thanks for any pointers.

1. The timer before you can use another command.
2. In certain situations overtake will definately work. Try a bit, it has to do with timing.
3. Maintain pace is just telling him to keep to the pace he's currently on. He won't automatically decrease/incease his pace for some time.

Play around a bit and you will soon find when to issue which commands. Also play around with different cars (overpowered and not overpowered) to get an idea of how you Bobs drive.

 

[Addiosamigo]

1. When I press increase pace and the little timer comes on, is that the time period in which Bob will speed up, or is it just a timer before I can issue another command.

This is the period in which you can not issue Bob any more commands, I assume this is also the time period that the chosen command will last for.

2. First question may well answer this, but overtake doesn't seem to do a great deal, Bob will overtake anyway if his speed allows. Is it a timing thing, and again, will he only attempt a pass whilst the timer is on, or continue to push?

Bob will overtake on his own, but this is used to make him overtake when he wouldn't normally, this may be a risky move though.

3.. If I just leave Bob to his devices his times speed up and slow down according to his stats I assume. Given that, maintain pace does what? Surely he is trying to, but can't because of stats.

Maintain pace is carry on the speed he's going, don't speed up, don't slow down.

I get the feeling I should be constantly issuing orders, but this gets poor old Bob a little hot under the collar.

If you issue too many commands to Bob, especially at the start, he will wheelspin and just generally get freaked out. Its best to keep him in the middle, not too hot, not too cold!

My advice, and this worked for me is overpower the AI, if they've got a 400HP car get a 500HP even 600HP. Issue the takeover command the minute the race starts, keep doing this until he's fourth at the least, then issue maintain speed, even pace down if he looks like he's losing it.
When he's 1st, (and he will be!) just Increase pace on every straight, check the gap in the laps, if the gap is 10 secs or more let him be on his own!

Hope this Helps!

 

[Harley45]

Unitl he is around the Level 10 Point you'll need to keep a Close eye on him and Button Mash him to Death with Commands

Level 10-15 is less Button mashing

Level 15-20 even less but the occasinal look at what he's up to is a good idea

20-25 means your now into the area where on at least a Few Occasions you'll beed to Button Mash him a bit more than you'd like dependant on the Competition and theres at least one Race where you'll need 2 Drivers .

Then the Real fun begins

 

[alexthecamel]

Thank you both for your replies.

Seems to be some confusion over the timer, but I'll guess we'll never know for sure as the most detailed times we get are the sector times so hard to tell. I have just been looking for sectors I am losing time against the leaders and increasing pace there.

Will work on my overtaking and ovals, but I guess that's a whole other post, am going to try the setups listed in other posts on the subject before whining about that.

Was only planning on doing it until I got the Muira (I think it's called) for Like The Wind, but do find it strangely compelling being able to play whilst doing other stuff at the same time.

 

[Mig]

I tend to think of it a little differently, On the straights I get him as calm as possible aslong as the exit speed from the previous corner is good I have not noticed a difference in speed along the straight with either a fast or slow pace. I like using the meter as a kind of a stress-level tank. This allows me to issue the overtake command when he is at his calmest, his overtakes are much better thought out and executed. once he is in the lead its pretty easy from there

 

[alexthecamel]

20-25 means your now into the area where on at least a Few Occasions you'll beed to Button Mash him a bit more than you'd like dependant on the Competition and theres at least one Race where you'll need 2 Drivers .

It's a shame you can't put 2 Ferrari's out and have one set the pace only to let the other through to win via a poorly hidden radio command.

 

[Harley45]

Thank you both for your replies.

Seems to be some confusion over the timer, but I'll guess we'll never know for sure as the most detailed times we get are the sector times so hard to tell. I have just been looking for sectors I am losing time against the leaders and increasing pace there.

Will work on my overtaking and ovals, but I guess that's a whole other post, am going to try the setups listed in other posts on the subject before whining about that.

Was only planning on doing it until I got the Muira (I think it's called) for Like The Wind, but do find it strangely compelling being able to play whilst doing other stuff at the same time.

Timer Example :

INDY Track 6 Times a Lap (thats a extreme example though) more likely 2 times maybe 3 but as I mentioned its dependant on the Race and on the Car B-Spec Bob is using Plus the Experience he has .

Its easy to Pick up (even i can do it ) mostly just instinct and getting the little virtual git to do as you wan't

Button Mash Command lasts roughly 10 seconds then rinse and repeat till you get the result you wan't , faster , Slower , Keep Pace , Overtake

 

[alexthecamel]

Timer Example :

INDY Track 6 Times a Lap (thats a extreme example though) more likely 2 times maybe 3 but as I mentioned its dependant on the Race and on the Car B-Spec Bob is using Plus the Experience he has .

Sorry, just to clarify, your saying on Indy (although it is an extreme example) you would increase/decrease pace up to 6 times a lap but less on regular circuits?

Many thanks for all your replies.

 

[Harley45]

Sorry, just to clarify, your saying on Indy (although it is an extreme example) you would increase/decrease pace up to 6 times a lap but less on regular circuits?

Many thanks for all your replies.

Erm how can I put this , its Dependant on his Position if he's Behind then you'd like him in front so PACE UP if he gets stuck Behind use Pace UP or Overtake they both to some extent do the same thing .

Now then he's in front so Pace Up for a While then Maintain Pace till he has a good lead , after that keep a eye on him

Use the Live Timing Screen to check his Lap times against the Others and decide the if there is a need to hit him again with a command

You only really use PACE DOWN if he's drivng like a lunatic and that'll be either because

A) He's a Idiot (to some extent they all are)
B) he's tired so he is making Mistakes
C) you've overpaced him to much with the Pace UP Command so know he's driving is erractic

Its very simple to do , but Difficult to explain

 

[Sum1s2pid]

It's a shame you can't put 2 Ferrari's out and have one set the pace only to let the other through to win via a poorly hidden radio command.

 

[bigjoe]

I think Pace Down/Up/Keep Pace are misnomers.
They should say:
Cool it Idiot (Pace down)
You're doing just fine keep it up (Keep Pace)
Pay more attention to the race dummy (Pace Up)

I use them purely to keep his bar in the 50 to 75% range. I don't really see much slow down until the bar is all the way to the left.

Overtake has no relation to the state of the bar. It only seems to affect anything if your driver has the speed to pass anyway, it may cause him to make a move he wouldn't normally make (pass inside instead of braking to stay in line.)

 

[Harley45]

The other key area is the pick an mix selection screen

You've got a choice of Bob's in terms of Tempermant

Hot - that'll be a Bob with his Bar in the Red area usually high to the right

Medium - in the Middle of the tempermant level

Cool - A Safe and Stready Bob

I decided on the Cool one as training a hot headed physco in the early stages seemed to be to me not a good idea to start off with .

Funny thing about him was yes he was slow and if you let him get on with it his meter would drop right over to the left really quickly .

But if you nagged him by button mashing him to death and kept his Bar right over buried in the Red , he didn't seems to make too many mistakes .

Later on I got brave at level 25 and got a hot head he paced up way quicker but he also tended to cut the grass a bit more by wandering all over the place , he was also a lot harder to tell to pace down . It wasn't like he was ignoring me (i'd delete the bugger if he did that too often) but his hot headed nature meant he didn't calm down so quickly .

I didn't bother with a Middle Bob as to me he's not going to be either hot or cold just a middle Bob which is a compromise .

 

[Rossticles]

Just to add to the help B-Spec Bob loves AWD.

 

[Mig]

Overtake has no relation to the state of the bar. It only seems to affect anything if your driver has the speed to pass anyway, it may cause him to make a move he wouldn't normally make (pass inside instead of braking to stay in line.)

Im sorry but i totally disagree, In my experience when the bar is at its coolest/calmest and you issue the overtake command he will overtake much more effectively. If his bar is all the way in the red he will take ridiculous chances most of the time running up the back end of someone rather then overtaking. Obviously the situation at hand should determine whether or not you should use the overtake command but in my opinion the state of his bar also greatly effects his overtaking ability.

 

[saidaouita]

One thing I've done is always at the start of the race I press "overtake" and he pases a few other cars. Generally I leave him alone but if he gets too large a lead he slows and allows the field to catch up.
I use overtake and pace up mostly.