Pentathlon Event Thread - IMPORTANT: START TIME ADVANCED TO 19:00 GMT!!!

[thefast1]

tonight was a disaster for me, 2 weeks ago my dog ran into the Internet wire and yanked it out of the PS3 and ever since it randomly signs me out and gives me an error code repeatedly for up to 2 to 3 hours at times, so i need to take my ps3 back to the shop to be replaced or fixed, GT5 was unplayable coming into the 1st corner was horrendous cars popping up all over i didnt know were to turn and then i got the error code and by time i got back on i had missed it all.

 

[bullie77]

congratulations to the winner(s).

 

[jjaisli]

As noble as this idea was, I think it was just too much to take on. There are simply too many (unique) problems with each game to really make an all encompassing effort work with any sense of cohesion. And in fairness to some of the players, I think the last minute change of time unfairly caught some people out, even though Mario made every effort to make this known.

My comments in general:


GT5P: Don't need to say anything. It was a disaster. Prologue's player matching system is for the birds and is easily the single worst game of these five in which to try and run an organized race, without question. I had to try three times to get into a lobby with one of the Pentathlon members. I finally entered a lobby with GTP_Hun and five other non-members. I was punted out in the first corner by a Brazilian guy. I was able to catch up about 1/3 of the way through the first lap and watched him take a side swipe at one of the other racers and then punt him out. Into the hairpin he pushed me out again.

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There's a lot of lag in the video above but I saw enough of his antics to convince me it was intentional. I know every game has it's punters but the situation in Prologue is intolerable because you have no real choice other than to quit and hope the game matches you up with somebody else. Not having a history with the GT series as a lot of people on this board do, I can say my (online) experience with Prologue, the only GT game I've played in earnest, has been nothing but a miserable experience where at least 1/3 of the participants think they're playing Battlefield instead of a racing game and 1/3 are alien specialists who achieve times that are beyond belief. There seems to be very little in between. I finally got ahead of the punter and he couldn't catch me so he quit. I continued to slowly chip away at the two guys in 700pp NSXs that were in front of me. I managed to catch them around lap 6 but they were having this strange race between each other and both of them suddenly slowed down, side by side leading up to the spoon curve and I ended up going off trying to avoid them. I think one may have slowed down after putting the other off but I'm not sure. Around lap 8 I had caught up to them again when they took each other out, again at the spoon curve and I managed to get by and finish in 2nd place, although a distant 30 seconds behind Hun. My best lap was a 2'04.243. Could be better, could be worse.



NFS: Shift: I think I've spent enough time expressing my feelings on Shift. It does a lot right but is ultimately a let down in the physics department. The first race started OK and I managed to take a better line through a corner than Arvore and addictions in front. But then they had a coming together, I went up on the curve to avoid it, as well as addictions who I could no longer see. I think addictions was out of control, because he hit me, hard, and from an odd angle and then I was disconnected from the EA Network.

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At that point I left and figured I'd practice SCC. I was just about to start a practice lap when it was announced that everybody would return to the lobby in Shift and try again. The 2nd race started OK and I was doing rather well, even managing at one point to pass Arvore for the lead...

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Atlhough it didn't last long. I made a big mistake and lost it under braking near the end of my first lap and from that point, the rest of my race was marred by silly driving mistakes, seemingly at every other turn, including this beauty, trying to shift (the G25's H pattern shifter into 6th and putting it into Reverse instead)

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Considering how I drove lap two, I'm happy to finish where I did.



SCC: I'll make it quick. It started off fine. I got hit from behind once (completely unintentional), had a weird lack of control going through Eau Rouge once, drove 'though' two cars that were under penalty and it literally launched me across the track and once put a wheel on the grass in the braking zone and spun. It just wasn't my day. Most of my laps were red and my best lap was a full 2.5 seconds slower than my leaderboard time. Still, there was a lot of fun, close racing in this round. While it lasted, and I wasn't shooting myself in the foot, I really enjoyed it. That said, I really have to congratulate both Shaggy and Arvore who put up an amazing performance.

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Results Here:

SSV8:NC This was my very first time playing this game on-line. And my poor showing was simply a lack of experience since I've played the game a total of maybe 4 hours since I've had it. It should say something that my best lap was actually at the end with worn tires. My one place advancement was not even a legitimate pass. It came at the expense of Bullie getting a little sideways under power. Actually, more than a little.

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As I only have the NTSC version of F1:CE I wasn't able to take part. At any rate, I don't want to seem so down on the event. Obviously, Mario went through a lot of trouble and personal grief to put this together and it's perhaps sad that it actually had such a small showing. I guess it's clear that we all have our own preferences but the results were certainly interesting, if not entertaining.

 

[Blitz187]

First of all thanks to Mario for giving it a shot and organizing this massive multi-game event. It was a great idea, but had its fair share of problems in practice. The races I did get a chance to do were fun though and I really enjoyed it. In GT5 I had some good battles with addictions and new_soul, managed to come back after going off on the first lap... and was happy with my effort. Shift on the otherhand was a bit of a disaster for me, havent played in ages but luckily the car was forgiving and I only went off once or twice. Also got caught at the carrousell and got in Frawes way... SCC I sadly didnt participate since I had to pick up my significant other unexpectedly.... Had great fun with you all and hope to see you all online again! 👍

 

[addictions]

jjaisli

yes regarding shift race 1 me and arvore brushed each other with flipped me to the left and put a wheel on the grass and we know happens then. it looked a hard bump from you but despite that I felt no contact.
Great bit of breaking and line commitment passing arvore that was a great move. Respect.
I was also impressed with the non shift racers especially GTP hun I noticed something happened to him near the ending of lap 1 if it wasn't for that.. Well lets just say I think the final positions would of been surprising.

 

[vompatti]

Interesting to read posts about the event. I bet it was a blast even with the difficulties with some games. I knew (like everyone did, I'm sure) that GT5P would be a challenge to organize. We've tried to do some racing on it and it's 1/10 times that we get every driver in the same lobby 👎 It really is a shame, because you can get really close and tense battles in it when there is no punters around.

I just have to make a game suggestion for the coming(?) multi-game events. Even though it is a bit more arcadish, personally I think that the handling and wheel support are very well done and very logical, meaning that it's very entertaining and natural to drive. And it has very well working online with private lobbies! It does differ from the games that were in this Pentathlon, but I guess that the point is to have different kind of games to get used to? The game I'm talking about is of course Dirt2 (And I have it, so it would mean one more game for me to take part in )

 

[jjaisli]

yes regarding shift race 1 me and arvore brushed each other with flipped me to the left and put a wheel on the grass and we know happens then. it looked a hard bump from you but despite that I felt no contact.
Great bit of breaking and line commitment passing arvore that was a great move. Respect.
I was also impressed with the non shift racers especially GTP hun I noticed something happened to him near the ending of lap 1 if it wasn't for that.. Well lets just say I think the final positions would of been surprising.

Watching the video (and at the time it happened) it was somewhat amusing. It was as if the game was telling me: "Player jjaisli--you have experienced a heavy impact and are dead. Game Over!"

GTP_Hun does manage to adapt very quickly and I have to be really on the pointy end, no matter what I play, if I want to beat him. I'm guessing he spun right before the Döttinger Höhe because we both passed him carrying a lot of speed.

I played Shift quite a bit for the first few weeks but I quickly grew disenchanted with it's arcade like at-the-limit physics, some of the ridiculous off-line events you need to pass to collect stars (I never advanced past tier 3) and the all-out crash fests that take place on-line. The game had so much promise and I just felt very let down by the end product. As such I don't play it that much anymore. I practiced for about 2 hours for this event. It was probably the most I've played it in 2010. I wasn't really expecting to do well in this event but if I had managed to keep up my lap one pace on lap 2 (without the stupid mistakes), I would like to think I would have at least stayed in touch with the leaders.

@ Mario - are you even going to bother tabulating points for the event?

 

[arvore]

Interesting to read posts about the event. I bet it was a blast even with the difficulties with some games. I knew (like everyone did, I'm sure) that GT5P would be a challenge to organize. We've tried to do some racing on it and it's 1/10 times that we get every driver in the same lobby 👎 It really is a shame, because you can get really close and tense battles in it when there is no punters around.

I just have to make a game suggestion for the coming(?) multi-game events. Even though it is a bit more arcadish, personally I think that the handling and wheel support are very well done and very logical, meaning that it's very entertaining and natural to drive. And it has very well working online with private lobbies! It does differ from the games that were in this Pentathlon, but I guess that the point is to have different kind of games to get used to? The game I'm talking about is of course Dirt2 (And I have it, so it would mean one more game for me to take part in )

I also own DIRT2 ...

GTP_Hun does manage to adapt very quickly and I have to be really on the pointy end, no matter what I play, if I want to beat him. I'm guessing he spun right before the Döttinger Höhe because we both passed him carrying a lot of speed.

I played Shift quite a bit for the first few weeks but I quickly grew disenchanted with it's arcade like at-the-limit physics, some of the ridiculous off-line events you need to pass to collect stars (I never advanced past tier 3) and the all-out crash fests that take place on-line. The game had so much promise and I just felt very let down by the end product. As such I don't play it that much anymore. I practiced for about 2 hours for this event. It was probably the most I've played it in 2010. I wasn't really expecting to do well in this event but if I had managed to keep up my lap one pace on lap 2 (without the stupid mistakes), I would like to think I would have at least stayed in touch with the leaders

.

You and Mário would be competitive in which ever game you bother to put some hours in...👍

Shift,after SSV8NC, it's probabbly the easiest game to pick and play from the set,speccialy with the slower cars which behaviour is much more predictable.
With a few extra hours of pratice you woild be disputing the lead:tup:
I think this was the purpose of choosing the more accessible cars,allowing the non regular players in each game to have an enjoyable evening instead of struggling to keep the car on the tarmac

 

[darkos]

You are added Blitz 👍 the only one missing still is nWcPL, don't know if he will show up tonight.

Cross my psn off Racing list. I'm done with playing racing games in close future.

 

[jjaisli]

Great bit of breaking and line commitment passing arvore that was a great move. Respect.

Thanks for the compliment. But I guess the ultimate goal is to make it stick. Oh well.

Even though it is a bit more arcadish, personally I think that the handling and wheel support are very well done and very logical, meaning that it's very entertaining and natural to drive. And it has very well working online with private lobbies! It does differ from the games that were in this Pentathlon, but I guess that the point is to have different kind of games to get used to? The game I'm talking about is of course Dirt2 (And I have it, so it would mean one more game for me to take part in )

I have Dirt2 as well. I picked it up a few months back at a reduced price. Although, I really haven't played it that much--maybe 5-6 hours? Taking it for what it is, it really isn't bad. 👍 It can be a lot of fun. It's just tough trying to find the time to really put into these games in order to really be competitive. More than 30 minutes in front of the PS3 and I always feel like I'm neglecting other responsibilities.

Cross my psn off Racing list. I'm done with playing racing games in close future.

Well, you're a little late Darkos, the event has already ended. I saw you did join the text chat, stayed for a few minutes and then left without a word. I hope all the heavy hitters in that room didn't scare you away.

 

[new_soul]

Hi, I had a a long weekend at work, cold not stay awake on saturdays practice, and was werry tired yesterday, gt5p went fine but at the end cold not wait for F1. Had som good racing in GT5p and SCC. In bouth games cold not realy keep the car on the track, didnt practice SCC at all and for gt5p i chouse the corvette 1- 2 h before the start, made a set up and had a go, was to slow on the straight, but the balance was werry well, was gaining allthe time in the corners.

JJ nice video highlights:tup:👍

 

[darkos]

Well, you're a little late Darkos, the event has already ended. I saw you did join the text chat, stayed for a few minutes and then left without a word. I hope all the heavy hitters in that room didn't scare you away.

No it's not that. 👍 Probably on line racing is better without me.

 

[Shaggy Alonso]

PS... Arvore you drive so much better on juice. I joined alcoholics anonymous a group of us get absolutely smashed and don't tell anyone.

Had good battles with Ben,new_soul-amazingly fast as always and had won for sure if wasn't stucked behind me-and Jeff:tup:
In SSV8NC Ben used his F1 experience in driving worn tyres and after he overtook me never gave me a chance to keep up with him,great win Benedictus
By the moment we got to F1 CE we were only 4 left(the mosqueteers) Ben-who needless to say lappped us all.my best lap was 1,19,his was 1,07 -hosted for me,Bullie and Frawe and showed us that this game (despite very dataded in the graphics departement) is probably the hardest for casual players since the demanding sim handling and pit strategy makes it only manageble to regular players.

We had some good racing last night Miguel, and compliments to you for your performances. Jeff was clearly stunned by your efforts in SCC and I was somewhat amazed at how long you kept new soul behind you as well 👍
In V8 I noticed we seemed even in the first and final sectors but I always seemed to gain ground on you in the middle sector I think. Lovely tight race, I knew I couldn't afford any mistakes or I was done for.

I probably underestimated the difficulty F1:CE presents to newcomers. This game was half the reason I bought a PS3 believe it or not, I just thought it looked that incredible. I was a complete novice to sim racing when I got it but still found a way with this game because of my love for all things Formula One. I guesstimate that i've had about 500 hours with this game, I should really check this stat actually

Since I got a G25 a while back and also broadened my horizons with SCC and GT5P I can now appreciate the sim elements of F1:CE a lot more, and believe it or not I feel that SCC has helped my driving in F1:CE - my style isn't as forced as it used to be.

SCC: I'll make it quick. It started off fine. I got hit from behind once (completely unintentional), had a weird lack of control going through Eau Rouge once, drove 'though' two cars that were under penalty and it literally launched me across the track and once put a wheel on the grass in the braking zone and spun. It just wasn't my day. Most of my laps were red and my best lap was a full 2.5 seconds slower than my leaderboard time. Still, there was a lot of fun, close racing in this round. While it lasted, and I wasn't shooting myself in the foot, I really enjoyed it. That said, I really have to congratulate both Shaggy and Arvore who put up an amazing performance.

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Results Here:

My punt on you was rather embarrassing actually as my dumb Irish brain forgot to brake approaching the bus stop chicane - I don't know what I was thinking (probably too busy fending off arvore who i'd just passed) but it seems not much harm was done as we both emerged 1st and 2nd from it (I don't so much like using the phrase 'punt', let's call it a 'boost' ). Straight after this I held back on the approach to eau rouge so as to not gain any advantage.

What I was more concerned about after the race was about the incident two laps after when you were all over the back of me going through Blanchimont and then I noticed you spun across the track in front of me as I was braking for the bus stop - very much like Liuzzi in Shanghai yesterday. I worried that maybe I had caused this as the rearview button on my G25 decides for itself when it wants to work and it wasn't functioning at this stage of the race. I believe Biggles has the exact same problem 👎 Was relieved when I found out I didn't cause this for sure.

I just have to make a game suggestion for the coming(?) multi-game events. Even though it is a bit more arcadish, personally I think that the handling and wheel support are very well done and very logical, meaning that it's very entertaining and natural to drive. And it has very well working online with private lobbies! It does differ from the games that were in this Pentathlon, but I guess that the point is to have different kind of games to get used to? The game I'm talking about is of course Dirt2 (And I have it, so it would mean one more game for me to take part in )

I own Dirt 2 as well and I had it in mind for future events as it's a very good game when all is said and done. Some sim-heads may baulk at it and the presentation is rather vulgar and aimed at the sort of people who turn out to be punters IMO. But it's a marked improvement over Dirt 1 and Grid. The handling may be overly forgiving and the cars have way too much grip, but at the same time they all have real weight and handle predictably so whilst obviously not being realistic, it is definitely fun - unlike it's predecessors which were neither - I also think its handling beats Shift hands down. But I think the main point is that it seems pretty good online and could probably work well in another event of this kind.

My proposal that i've mentioned to Mario in a PM is that we should do a Triathlon - 3 games, 2 races in each or 2 races in 2 games and 1 race in the other - or something like this. I feel it'd be much more managable and should ensure a bigger turnout.

No it's not that. 👍 Probably on line racing is better without me.

?

Cheer up chicken!

 

[Biggles]

I worried that maybe I had caused this as the rearview button on my G25 decides for itself when it wants to work and it wasn't functioning at this stage of the race. I believe Biggles has the exact same problem

I have this problem because, while removing & reattaching the wheel to fix another problem, I severed the (tiny) wire in my G25 then operates the left-hand button on the wheel. I guess it's possible that your contact is getting a little tenuous.

I probably underestimated the difficulty F1:CE presents to newcomers.

Were you racing with collisions on? Pitstops?

I have a lot of time in F1CE, mostly offline (about 214 I think - but I have a feeling that statistic excludes all the time spent racing when you abandon a race & re-start - which is a lot!). Even then, the online looks & feels so different, that when you go online it takes a lot of extra time to adjust to that IMO.

 

[Shaggy Alonso]

I have this problem because, while removing & reattaching the wheel to fix another problem, I severed the (tiny) wire in my G25 then operates the left-hand button on the wheel. I guess it's possible that your contact is getting a little tenuous.



Were you racing with collisions on? Pitstops?

I have a lot of time in F1CE, mostly offline (about 214 I think - but I have a feeling that statistic excludes all the time spent racing when you abandon a race & re-start - which is a lot!). Even then, the online looks & feels so different, that when you go online it takes a lot of extra time to adjust to that IMO.

Pitstops were on which means damage but collisions were switched off. It was just a mismatch of players in that it was 3 novices against one very experienced one. The outcome would have been the same if you put that group together in any game. It was a pity neither new soul nor ChilledAnt could make it.

 

[Blitz187]

Is it me or has Mario not been in here since the event took place? Havent seen any posts of his or how he felt about the outcome of the event or any race results for that matter...

 

[jjaisli]

What I was more concerned about after the race was about the incident two laps after when you were all over the back of me going through Blanchimont and then I noticed you spun across the track in front of me as I was braking for the bus stop - very much like Liuzzi in Shanghai yesterday. I worried that maybe I had caused this as ...

No, it was pretty much my own fault. And it's clear if you look at the video, I put my right tire(s) on the grass under braking and it spun me around. It was a combination of trying to be as close to you as possible without actually hitting you in the braking zone (a big worry in this game) and trying to get a good line going through the chicane.

I'm sure you've noticed but braking distances in SCC are much shorter if you brake in a straight line. If you brake while turning it's very easy to get lock-up and increase your braking distance. So you can potentially outbrake somebody, even from higher speed (assuming you both have ABS turned off) if you do it going perfectly straight. But in a situation like that, I just clipped the grass.

But this is all part of a larger issue that's been bugging me. Last night, I re-watched most of the full length video I shot for these races. And one common element that all of these games have, in varying degrees, is a serious and compromising issue with lag. Ferrari Challenge and Prologue were the first racing games I played on-line. From my initial experience, I thought Prologue handled lag issues much better. And this was correct, although at the time, I didn't quite understand the reasons why.

Generally speaking Ferrari Challenge handled lag very poorly. Cars would bounce up and down like balls, leaving a trail of car parts in their wake--it was quite comical to watch but very disturbing for the uninitiated. Cars would also blink on and off and suddenly disappear and then reappear as if they were teleporting to various spots on the track. The cars in Prologue were beautifully rendered and always seemed solid, even though they had movements which seemed a bit awkward and abrupt. My initial thought was it was just the way GT players drove--like a swarm of bees. Prologue races always seemed chaotic as a result.

But as I came to realize, with Prologue's player matching system, the game automatically puts players who are best matched by their connections in the same lobby together. And unless you race in International Events, you're segregated into regions where you're more likely to be in a lobby with other players who are located much closer geographically. And that's a key point.

As I've also learned, the outright speed of your connection matters much less than the ping speed, although they do go hand in hand. So while Prologue initially seemed better, the more likely result was it had more to do with the fact that I was playing Ferrari Challenge with players from Australia, South Africa, South America & Europe. And in Prologue I was playing almost strictly with players from North America.

As I've learned more about what elements are important for a successful online session, I routinely do a ping speed check before playing with various servers in areas where people I'm playing with are located, to gauge current conditions. Sometimes it's better than others and I'm very lucky to have a very good service provider with good bandwidth and excellent DNS throughput. But it also depends on the person at the other end. And there is no way, somebody in, say, Montreal and somebody in Melbourne will ever be able to have a ping speed of <25~30 ms. This was never more evident in NFS:Shift, where the game actually shows the ping speed below the name tags. I can routinely achieve a seek time of 175ms or less to people in Europe. But that number varies. And while game manufacturers are constantly improving on prediction code (look at how smooth the lag APPEARED to be in Supercar Challenge when I was right behind Shaggy), it has not been eliminated and never will be. In my opinion, anything above 50ms is just unacceptable for the fast pace and lightning quick reactions of on-line racing. And in reality, that's not going to happen under the current internet framework.

A little over a year ago, Biggles was down in the New York area on business and stopped by my house, with his PS3 and G25 in tow. We were able to set up a mini network and had a few races in Ferrari Challenge using the LAN play option. The result was surreal. There was no lag at all. None. Nothing. It was possible to race side by side and the movements of the cars seemed perfectly natural. There seemed little difference than when you raced AI cars. Now games like V8SS and NFS:Shift and even SCC itself have improved the visual tracking of the cars through more advanced prediction code. Look at how the HondaS2000 seems to irratically track all over the screen by comparsion in my first Prologue video. But, especially under quick transient manoeuvers and under heavy braking, it's very, VERY easy to hit somebody in all of these games and quite unintentionally because where the car appears on screen is not necessarily where it REALLY is. When I tried racing closer with Bullie in SSV8, we made a lot of contact, something for which I never really apologized to him. (FWIW, the huge deadzone didn't help). But this helps to illustrate my point. While there may appear to be little lag, there actually is an element of unpredictability underneath it all.

And I fear, no matter how much games improve or whether GT5 meets everybody's expectations, that this will always be a bit of a fly in the ointment. I now understand why PD may have decided to region lock most of the online racing.

If any of you ever have the chance to meet up face to face with another forum member, try a few LAN races with Supercar Challenge. I haven't had the opportunity to do this myself but I would imagine it's the same or similar to Ferrari Challenge. The difference, especially under braking is staggering. And I wish we had the opportunity to race in such a LAN environment more often.

 

[drivatar]

The truth however is: Developers are leaving out LAN mode more and more. 👎

Examples: GT5P, Forza 3, SSV8NC, SHIFT - all without LAN support

And it's not in the annouced features of GT5!

It's a shame because it gives you the best experience you can have without depending on the internet (and current firmware )

On Xbox360 it's even worse because you can't abuse online play for local matches without Gold membership. And the system link feature can't be abused for online play because of a ping protection. As soon as the ping is above ~ 50ms the game disconnects. M$$$$$$.

 

[bullie77]

The lag issues in all games is quite obvious and it has its letdowns. However, taking SCC as an example, the usual pack of drivers are more and more use to it which ultimately do in fact enable us to avoid (within possible limitations) that contact at most.

I recall the 348 Challenge race from the Ferrari Challenge Series which did go smoothly as possible on that aspect. Sure there were few contacts but if you recall how things went 5/6 months ago, it was impossible to do it as smoothly (patch improvements aside).

LAN playing ability although nice ultimately would be vaguely used. To do so you would have to join physically everybody on the same room and wire all PS3 together. In SCC, besides myself and Mario who lives about a kilometer away from me, I'm pretty convinced that few would be able to gather in person to do some races.

 

[drivatar]

LAN playing ability although nice ultimately would be vaguely used. To do so you would have to join physically everybody on the same room and wire all PS3 together.

Yes, but the effort for LAN mode should be minimal if there's an online mode already. I suppose many devs use it internally. They just save costs for testing and certification or remove it for political reasons (my speculation about Forza 3).

 

[jjaisli]

Yes, it's a shame that it seems to be a disappearing feature. But as Bullie rightfully points out, few people probably ever really use it. And as developers know this, it's one of those features that they probably figure can be cut and few, if any, will miss it. I have to admit, I've only used the feature myself twice. Ever. And both times with Biggles.

Sergio, I know what you're saying, but I suggest you get in contact with Mario (he is alive BTW--just busy) and see if at some point in the next few weeks, you can arrange a time where you meet up with your PS3s and try a race in SCC using LAN play. Just to see what it's like, if you've never had the opportunity. Granted, you two are close enough that you probably have few problems. But I guarantee you, you'll notice a difference.

I'll give you a key example. And I want to be careful how I word this because I don't want you to get the wrong idea. During the 348 Challenge event, I respected your right to defend your line and position. But in the context of the game, I didn't think it was an all together fair thing to change your line and block into certain corners because the lag we experience makes this a bit dangerous. I know we had a coming together on the oval section while you were trying to defend. And again, I don't blame you for doing so. But at one point, for an instant, it was hard to tell where your car was and which direction you going. And the next thing I knew there was contact. In general, a lot of minor contact in this game, at least lets say, between experienced players, could be avoided with a superior connection. But we'll never achieve that on-line.

Try it again through a LAN and I promise you, there's none of that and it's possible to race right next to each other, including under heavy braking and the cars won't jump around. Yes, the lag is certainly acceptable online with this game. It has to be because I don't think it WILL get much better. But I guarantee you, if we really had a chance to all meet up, 8-10 guys, all with PS3 and a small TV in tow, in one room together, you wouldn't believe how the racing would improve.


EDIT:

...or remove it for political reasons (my speculation about Forza 3).

? Care to elaborate on that one?

 

[drivatar]

? Care to elaborate on that one?

Forza and Forza 2 had LAN mode and I'd say it's still appropriate for a game that want's to be the definitive racing game/simulator or whatever this gen.

I can imagine two reasons why it was removed:

• The game was rushed and they cut everything that's not lowering review scores to save time.
• LAN mode allows players without XBL Gold and modded/banned consoles to play together. It's a way to get more people to pay for XBL.

LAN mode is kinda present in Forza 3 via the multi screen feature

 

[jjaisli]

I can imagine two reasons why it was removed:

• The game was rushed and they cut everything that's not lowering review scores to save time.
• LAN mode allows players without XBL Gold and modded/banned consoles to play together. It's a way to get more people to pay for XBL.

I would probably agree on the former. I'm not so sure on the latter. I think it's pretty clear, at least with this latest generation of consoles, that on-line gaming is where things are going. And the market for LAN play is much smaller than the market for online play and it will continue to decline. I suppose it doesn't help that my favorite on-line driving game is a PAL only release. But I do find some irony that the closest (regular) player of this game is some 300-km away. JasonB is only about 120 km away but I haven't seen him play SCC in an age. I suppose this is an extreme example but at the same time, one just doesn't hear about LAN parties anymore. At least, not in the circles I run in.

That said, I really WISH that LAN mode was something developers considered. But I think it's going the way of the 'send to fax' option.

 

[bullie77]

I understand what you're trying to say Jeff and you weren't wrongly understood. However, in my defense, although aware of the lag issues I find to be debateable that one should "ease up" its defensive driving having in mind that contact may occur. It's a risk indeed that can come both ways or even ruin the race altogether to both drivers, but in my opinion is part of the deal. Please notice I'm referring only "clean" moves like defending your line or even blocking someone who's close but clearly still behind your rear!

Also in fairness you have to understand that I drive solely in dashview which in this game is similar to be driving a lorry without the side rearview mirrors (I'm not even mention the inboard rearview mirror which, if you're lucky, you'll see 1/10th of it!), so I simply don't have a notion where your care is unless it appears in my side. So what I was simply doing most of the time was trying to stick to the regular normal racing line and keeping an eye to the time counter to see if you're too close or not.

As for the LAN experience, I never tried it but I don't doubt that it would be a more smooth experience all together. However, I was simply stating the obvious: how many people would gather up together to play this in a LAN enviroment? In SCC, as for portuguese guys, theres me, Mário, Miguel and a couple more others. Me and Mário would easily set up this but Miguel lives 300kms+ away and the other two rarely are play neither I know where they're from. So unless you're lucky enough to have a racing gang (regular) all living in the same city, this is pretty much useless.

 

[Hun200kmh]

Is it me or has Mario not been in here since the event took place? Havent seen any posts of his or how he felt about the outcome of the event or any race results for that matter...

Sergio, I know what you're saying, but I suggest you get in contact with Mario (he is alive BTW--just busy) ...

Hi all! Yes, I am alive but only now (since the event was happening) I have the chance to write here

First of all, I want to thank everyone that took part in this. And I want to apologize to everyone for having to leave soon after the event started. Apologies also to Bullie for the need to advance the event's start being put out/published in such short notice. Anyway, you didn't lose anything special, the first hour was spent in GT5P and it resulted in nothing but what was again a wasted effort.

A shame really, especially from my POV, because GT5P was the only race I could reasonably expect to win

Anyway, it was most unfortunate that I HAD to leave during a online event I had organized myself. It's very embarrassing, like inviting your friends to your home and after they arrived telling them all "sorry, I must go, help yourselves, drinks are in the fridge and food is on the table." It just shouldn't be done.

I must also tell you that the reason why I left has nothing dramatic about it, I won't elaborate on that but trust me, I HAD to leave, and in the end for a GOOD reason, not a bad one.

I have my "Event notes" at home, so I will write about it later, anyway the races I entered were only GT5P (against Jeff) and SHIFT so I don't have much to say. I am reasonably happy with my performance in GT5P, did my own race miles ahead of everyone else (beggining lap 10 I think I was more than 40 seconds ahead of second) and then, because I wanted Jeff to be able to see that I had won, I just did a cruising lap (my son was getting all nervous by the end of it saying "father if something happens you will lose the race!!" and I must say it was very pleasing to notice, looking back at Casio, that it was "jjaisli's red Ferrari" who showed up there, in second place. I had no idea where he was up to those final seconds of the race.

About SHIFT, it's all a bit blurred in my mind, but I did an "ok" race up to the last corner before the big straight in the 2nd lap (sorry I don't know the names) where I went off. Starting that straight very slowly I had two cars passing by me and that was it, I think I finished in 4th (was second behind arvore before that incident, if my memory doesn't trick me)

After that ... I left. Already did my reading here and it seems you guys had fun. That makes me glad, although all of it is somehow bitter-sweet, because clearly GT5P has no real place without lobbies and with the more serious connection problems I ever recall to have experienced in the glorious days when I was a GTP Events regular ... AND, because I had to leave to attend to something that couldn't wait and to somewhere where my presence was indispensable (does this word exist?).

So, sorry again guys, hope that from all of this you had at least some fun. One thing is certain, you never had an event as crazy as this before in your gaming lives!

 

[jjaisli]

All clear. Although I do want to state for the record, I don't have a problem with the way you drove. I just mean to say, defensive maneuvers of this nature ARE a part of real racing and ideally, could and should be part of online virtual racing. But lag makes it nearly impossible. Or not impossible, but...tricky.

I guess my point really, is that no matter how great the new Eutechnyx games or the (alleged) new Simbin game or GT5 turn out to be (all of which I will probably buy and I'm looking forward to), I'm starting to have doubts if we'll ever be able to enjoy the kind of close racing that's already available now via LAN mode.

In the races I had with Biggles, it was kind of a wash because it was just the two of us and in nearly every round we raced, either I made a mistake or he made a mistake and except for a few key moments, we just weren't that close together. But when we were, it was something to behold.

Maybe one of these days...

 

[addictions]

indispensable
&#8211;adjective
1.absolutely necessary, essential, or requisite: an indispensable member of the staff.
2.incapable of being disregarded or neglected: an indispensable obligation.

&#8211;noun
3.a person or thing that is indispensable.
&#8212;Related forms
in·dis·pen·sa·bil·i·ty, in·dis·pen·sa·ble·ness, nounin·dis·pen·sa·bly, adverb

 

[Hun200kmh]

LOL, it does exist, thanks adddictions!

 

[bullie77]

Apologies also to Bullie for the need to advance the event's start being put out/published in such short notice.

No harm done 👍. Although at the time I did get p***** off because we were online late the night before and when some asked if the event could be antecipated and you did at the time (rightfuly) answered that it would IF at the time everybody was online. But that's all gone and we have to look forward for next Sunday's race under the Ferrari Challenge Series at Montreal!

Anyway, it was most unfortunate that I HAD to leave during a online event I had organized myself. It's very embarrassing, like inviting your friends to your home and after they arrived telling them all "sorry, I must go, help yourselves, drinks are in the fridge and food is on the table." It just shouldn't be done.

Well it could be worse, you could do a disgusting face and say "Oh... so you came after all. Well get a drink and off you go back home!"

I must also tell you that the reason why I left has nothing dramatic about it, I won't elaborate on that but trust me, I HAD to leave, and in the end for a GOOD reason, not a bad one.

And that's the important part, the motive was a positive one and not anything more "serious" like health issues 👍

"father if something happens you will lose the race!!"[/i]

We already knew that the kid was a better movie director than the father... now we know he is wiser!

I guess my point really, is that no matter how great the new Eutechnyx games or the (alleged) new Simbin game or GT5 turn out to be (all of which I will probably buy and I'm looking forward to), I'm starting to have doubts if we'll ever be able to enjoy the kind of close racing that's already available now via LAN mode.

In the races I had with Biggles, it was kind of a wash because it was just the two of us and in nearly every round we raced, either I made a mistake or he made a mistake and except for a few key moments, we just weren't that close together. But when we were, it was something to behold.

Maybe one of these days...

Well we can do what we portuguese call "vaquinha" (literaly, little cow - don't ask why ): we all put some money in and get some submarine LAN wire to link all of our PS3's together

 

[jjaisli]

I must also tell you that the reason why I left has nothing dramatic about it, I won't elaborate on that but trust me, I HAD to leave...

Well, I'm glad your son didn't damage the Morgan. But 187 kmh in a 80 kmh zone? And only 14 years of age? Man, he's in trouble.

...I am reasonably happy with my performance in GT5P, did my own race miles ahead of everyone else (beggining lap 10 I think I was more than 40 seconds ahead of second) and then, because I wanted Jeff to be able to see that I had won, I just did a cruising lap (my son was getting all nervous by the end of it saying "father if something happens you will lose the race!!" and I must say it was very pleasing to notice, looking back at Casio, that it was "jjaisli's red Ferrari" who showed up there, in second place. I had no idea where he was up to those final seconds of the race....

I'll tell you where I was. Being PUNTED off! After rewatching the video last night, I wanted to comment further.

1. The Brazilian guy in the S2000, pushed, punted, shoved, nudged or at least "helped" me to leave the road no less than THREE times on the first lap. It was a disaster. You could see in the video where he also nerfed at least two other cars off the road. His actions may have been partially down to lag and it's obvious from the video I posted that his car seemed to be all over the road. But I'm convinced after watching it a few times, he was dirty as soot. And when I finally got around him and was in the clear, he simply quit. One of the other racers he had savaged also quit, presumably out of disgust.

2. As for the incident with the the two NSX cars, well I realize now after watching it a few times that I'm mostly to blame for this. Mainly because it was probably avoidable and I was the one coming from behind. After four laps of pounding away at them (during which Mario and I were running relatively similar lap times) I was slowly reeling the NSX duo in. One of the cars left the track, the other clearly thought it may have been his fault so he slowed. Both cars were still coming back up to speed as I came flying over the blind crest of straight leading up to the spoon curve. One of the cars immediately moved to the right. I don't know if he was trying to make way or defending his line or if he was completely unaware of my presence. But I was coming full on, completely committed to my line and had no choice but to stick to it or I would have rammed him full on. And either from lag or on purpose (I can't tell), the car moved over on me right as I was about to pass him. Granted, there wasn't a cms to spare but we made contact and I went spinning around and flying off the road. (This was long before the braking zone). And to top it off, I suffered a ramming penalty as a result! Outrageous!

So it was a total of 4 times that I left the road due to contact. I know you're fast Mario but don't think you're THAT fast. Two laps later, I managed to catch up to those two, again at the spoon curve. One was just rejoining the track as I passed and the other was moving slowly, obvioiusly waiting. Both took off after me. I made a slight mistake on the next lap and the car immediately behind was really hounding me. He was about 2 seconds back in the braking zone of the spoon curve on the last lap and was drafting me going into 130R. But I managed to take a good line and stay in front of him all the way to the finish line. I think he finished less than a 10th behind me.