PD, please fix the "Fastest First" grid in online lobbies.

[chuyler1]

Everyone seems to have their magic incantation about getting this to work...but it clearly is messed up because the following bugs appear time and time...

* Cars that enter and leave the track end up at seemingly random places on the grid. Sometimes the front, sometimes the back. Your best lap should be maintained unless you change cars.

* Cars on the track sometimes are placed ahead of cars on pit road even though cars on pit road ran faster qualifying laps.

* Cars that haven't run any qualifying laps sometimes end up in the pole position.

* Cars are sometimes invisible the entire race (ok, not a gridding issue, but it is still crazy to have a networking protocol that allows driver A to see driver B when driver B cannot see driver A)

Normally these things work themselves out after a lap or two...but what's the point of qualifying if you're going to get put at the back of the pack for waiting patiently on pit road while others put their laps in?

 

[Derrict]

^
I go into the pits to help avoid the black screen upon gridding but end up at the back even though I post the fast lap. It's annoying having to cut through 8-9 people in traffic to get back to the front only because I pitted to prevent a long load time. It's now at the point I don't pit because I can't spend 2 laps going through traffic.

 

[zzz_pt]

that bug sucks -.-

 

[iamjajo]

I've noticed some of the same issues. Mostly I agree with you. But, I think you should lose your lap time if you make any adjustments to the car, change driving settings (like ABS/TCS), or change tires.

 

[Downhill Dino]

I never considered the "fastest first" thing was based off of your best time. Are you sure it goes like that? I always thought it went by what your transmission was set to, as in, the higher the final gear was set, the better position you would start with. Other then that, if it really is by lap times, then those are some bad bugs.

 

[Vitzio]

^
I go into the pits to help avoid the black screen upon gridding but end up at the back even though I post the fast lap. It's annoying having to cut through 8-9 people in traffic to get back to the front only because I pitted to prevent a long load time. It's now at the point I don't pit because I can't spend 2 laps going through traffic.

I thought going in the pits before the race didn't help prevent black screens.

 

[chuyler1]

I dont think going into the pits has anything to do black screens...those occur when someone with lag fails to load the grid.

...and fastest first has nothing to do with the transmission.

 

[Tornado]

I've noticed some of the same issues. Mostly I agree with you. But, I think you should lose your lap time if you make any adjustments to the car, change driving settings (like ABS/TCS), or change tires.

You can change driving settings without even leaving the track.

 

[Downhill Dino]

I dont think going into the pits has anything to do black screens...those occur when someone with lag fails to load the grid.

...and fastest first has nothing to do with the transmission.

Ok just wondering. That's what I thought at least. That's pretty cool that it goes off of free run lap times.

 

[tim_2shy4u]

Fastest first is based on the last Race, not your practice session. It puts the cars in order of their last finish results. You can also reverse the order.

 

[iamsupernasty]

Fastest first is based on the last Race, not your practice session. It puts the cars in order of their last finish results.

This is not correct.

--

Fastest first is supposed to be like qualifying where the starting grid is based on your best lap during free run. Chuyler is right though, the system is very glitchy and provides very inconsistent results.

 

[chuyler1]

Wow, people really don't even know how the system is supposed to work do they. I believe there is a separate option for Fastest based on last race. There is a Reverse based on last race which works fine (unless drivers start exiting and reentering the lobby to get to the front).

But anyway, fastest first is supposed to serve as qualifying. It works if all drivers enter the track and run continuous laps without stopping. Once drivers start going to the pits, back to the lobby, reentering the track, stopping on the track, etc...the system breaks down and who knows where you'll be on the grid.

 

[D-Max]

* Cars are sometimes invisible the entire race (ok, not a gridding issue, but it is still crazy to have a networking protocol that allows driver A to see driver B when driver B cannot see driver A)

That is due to the connection between the drivers. It doesn't take A lot of hard work to figure that 1 out. When you play Call Of Duty for instance, you lag like hell and cant shoot anyone when you have a bad connection. Well, in GT5 you are simply unseen which in my eyes, is good. If you have A bad connection to other drivers you will lag everywhere and generate the weight bug which, when you collide with another car, they go miles down the road and you have no idea you had A crash. Qualifying or not, the invisible cars help us out by avoiding what could be huge crashes..

But anyway, fastest first is supposed to serve as qualifying. It works if all drivers enter the track and run continuous laps without stopping. Once drivers start going to the pits, back to the lobby, reentering the track, stopping on the track, etc...the system breaks down and who knows where you'll be on the grid.

The system has been fixed so that if you leave the track aftr setting A hot lap, you're position is kept. I have had this many times before. Those who havent set A lap time are ALWAYS last when I'm online. You must have A unique problem, or PD loved me so much that they gave me A pretty good version of the game.

 

[iamsupernasty]

Qualifying or not, the invisible cars help us out by avoiding what could be huge crashes..

Disagree. When the cars that can't see each other try to occupy the same space, they can get stuck together. Also, sometimes the invisible car will smash the other car out of the way simply because they don't know they are trying to occupy an already taken spot. I always boot invisible cars.

The system has been fixed so that if you leave the track aftr setting A hot lap, you're position is kept. I have had this many times before. Those who havent set A lap time are ALWAYS last when I'm online. You must have A unique problem.

Again disagree. Not a unique problem. Usually the system works, but there are
certainly occasional glitches.

 

[chuyler1]

it works sometimes...but not always.

It's not a lag issue with the invisible cars. Driver C can usually see both Driver A and Driver B. Driver A can see Driver B...it is just that Driver B cannot see Driver A. That is some whacky network bug related to their hosting system.

 

[D-Max]

it works sometimes...but not always.

It's not a lag issue with the invisible cars. Driver C can usually see both Driver A and Driver B. Driver A can see Driver B...it is just that Driver B cannot see Driver A. That is some whacky network bug related to their hosting system.

If you exit the room and join again, you find it will be normal, for A short period of time. You will find if you change lobby host things will pick up depending on there connection to the PD Network

 

[Johnnypenso]

I have never had any of the problems with qualifying that Chuyler is talking about. When I qualify first I start first every time. What I think confuses some people, and this might be part of the issue, is that when you are qualifying and see that list to the right of the drivers, that's not the qualifying order for the whole session, that's the qualifying order of the current fastest lap times for those currently on the track. It's as dumb as H. E. Double Hockey Sticks, but it is what it is.

In other words, I shoot out of the pits at GVE in a 600pp car, warm up a lap, blast off a 59.4 for the pole on my next lap and then return to the pits, I will go from the top of that leader board as soon as my lap is complete, to the bottom when I enter the pits. That's because although my time is saved and I will start on the pole, the order list in the game will put me in my current "on track" qualifying position and since I'm not on the track I'll go to last place, or close to it, depending on how many are in the track or in the pits.

Come the start of the race I will start on pole, unless someone gets a faster time in the process. The only time the display is relevant and accurate is if everyone exits the pits, qualifies and stays on the track and never leaves until the race starts.

You can go and make adjustments on the car and it won't affect your position. What will I believe, although I rarely do this, is changing cars, but I could be wrong. There's so little time in most qualifying lobbies you don't have time to swap cars around.

My question from the beginning was, after 5 years and countless millions of dollars, why can't GT5 come up with a qualifying leader board that works? I should show myself on pole regardless of whether I am out for 5 minutes or an hour qualifying so long as I have the fastest time. Dumb, dumb, dumb!!

 

[chuyler1]

Johnny, that happens as you said most of the time. But we have distinct examples of specific cars that are painfully slow ending up on the pole. it usually happens with a long qualifying session where cars are coming and going and hanging out in the pits. In the past, if I exited to the pits to check everyone's vehicles it almost guaranteed i was going to end up in the back row unless i got back on the track and ran another qualifying lap before starting the race. I haven't seen that happen lately though...but I do still see some cars dropped on the front row that haven't put in a clean lap.