Sick's Race Room - great racing with a classic flavour - now on Project cars 2PS4 

Longspread
I've also had initial issues with my wheel (t300). What wheel you've got?

No, the t300 doesn't calibrate when quitting, only on startup. But i also have to calibrate it in game everytime i start the game.
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That's interesting - I have the older T500 - it calibrates the wheel on startup and the brake pedal is calibrated in game when you first depress the pedal all the way down. One important thing about the T500 (I don't know if it applies to other wheels) - the wheel motor gets very hot when playing Project Cars - it has to stay on so that the fans keep running until it is completely cool - it needs to stay on a long time after you finish playing otherwise the electronic parts can suffer - I restart the console when I finish gaming so that the wheel fans stay on.

@buybon355 I can't load the app because I don't have a smart phone or tablet - I've only just progressed from two bean tins with a tight length of string between them! Are you going to be ok with cockpit view - I am only selecting cars which have good visibility with an excellent cockpit view - I was proposing to lock it to this as some of the other views are faster, but less immersive.
 
Sick Cylinder
That's interesting - I have the older T500 - it calibrates the wheel on startup and the brake pedal is calibrated in game when you first depress the pedal all the way down. One important thing about the T500 (I don't know if it applies to other wheels) - the wheel motor gets very hot when playing Project Cars - it has to stay on so that the fans keep running until it is completely cool - it needs to stay on a long time after you finish playing otherwise the electronic parts can suffer - I restart the console when I finish gaming so that the wheel fans stay on.

@buybon355 I can't load the app because I don't have a smart phone or tablet - I've only just progressed from two bean tins with a tight length of string between them! Are you going to be ok with cockpit view - I am only selecting cars which have good visibility with an excellent cockpit view - I was proposing to lock it to this as some of the other views are faster, but less immersive.
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I only play in cockpit view. Helmet view is also good as it simulates your head turning to look for the apex. You guys may want to turn the master scale down in the force feed back settings to around 70 rather than 100bto give your wheel a break.
 
What i've found out is that different wheels could face different issues with this game, regardless if its the same model, or different brand.. anything can happen ;-)

One thing that could help with the heating issue, at least with t300, is to download the latest version to the wheel from thrustmasters website, via a pc. I dont recall the version number but the latest one should help. As said, not sure about t500 though.

The issues i'm talking about were more of a problem when the game came out i guess. Now, 18 months and 10 patches later many issues, if not all, are probaby solved. Anyway, i still do the calibration in game on startup, just in case, old dogs...

About the cockpit view and immersion: when using the helmet view, turn up the g-force and all the other effects. Wow!
 
Sick Cylinder
@buybon355 I can't load the app because I don't have a smart phone or tablet - I've only just progressed from two bean tins with a tight length of string between them! Are you going to be ok with cockpit view - I am only selecting cars which have good visibility with an excellent cockpit view - I was proposing to lock it to this as some of the other views are faster, but less immersive
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Haven't tried it, but will give it a go! I'm sure I'll get used to it after a couple of laps. We're running stock right?
 
Its a T150, did work when I was playing, but last night, no inputs could be made only with controller.

Also found I hadn't calibrated the wheel, watch a video on you tube.:dunce:

I'm with Sick, don't have smart phone or tablet, were just luck we have the internet:lol:
 
Alex ONeill
I'll be home in about an hour from work. Will any of you be online?
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I will be from time to time - I'm not working today, but my priority is to get the thread up in the online racing section with the detailed information that you guys need. Normally I have everything buttoned down well in advance, but this being a new console and new game I was not too sure on what options were available, but having finally got online (Wednesday) and after doing a lot of testing since then including some really helpful test races with Skip 7950 last night I now know a lot more about the games online features - big thanks Skip!

John Wells
Its a T150, did work when I was playing, but last night, no inputs could be made only with controller.
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I sometimes get a problem where the wheel has no force feedback - I have found the PS4 has to be switched on from the controller and I musn't press the X button on the wheel until the game has loaded - it shows the outline drawing of a guy in project cars coloured lines - at this point the wheel is skewed so I straighten it and then press X and everything works properly. Sometimes I find the wheel buttons stop working, but I find if I press a button on the controller the game unlocks the wheel and lets its buttons work again.

Longspread
One thing that could help with the heating issue, at least with t300, is to download the latest version to the wheel from thrustmasters website, via a pc. I dont recall the version number but the latest one should help. As said, not sure about t500 though.
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Good advice from Longspread to make sure you have the latest firmware on your wheel. I'm not very computer literate so I got my friend and fellow GTPlanet member Mook to do this for me - he also sorted out my PSN and linked and calibrated my 5.1 sound system to the game - it now sounds incredible - I've left my engine sound at 100, but reduced the sound effects to 25 as I found my engine was getting drowned out and the volume of wind noise and other effects out of the rear speakers was distracting.

Longspread
About the cockpit view and immersion: when using the helmet view, turn up the g-force and all the other effects. Wow!
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I haven't played with those much yet. If you want to ramp up your immersion you could invest in tactile transducers - Scaff recently did a review of all the current PS4 driving games and rated the tactile effects in Project Cars as the best from a circuit racing game. It's a bit frustrating that I haven't been able to get my tactile system to link to the PS4 yet (it has less connection options than the old PS3). Great review by Scaff - click on the link below:

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/tactile-review-reckhorn-2-1-bs-200-kit.353088/

buybon355
Haven't tried it, but will give it a go! I'm sure I'll get used to it after a couple of laps. We're running stock right?
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Yes - we will be sticking with default setups. I will make sure that we only select cars with good cockpit views and which are controllable / enjoyable using the default setup.


Testing of Online Features - Results

If your own knowledge or tests indicate something different please comment - this is a new game to me and I don't have a very detailed understanding of it yet - I welcome any corrections / extra detail / clarification.

In GT6 qualifying could be kept short (i.e. 5 minutes) and if the track was longer than 5 minutes the qualifying calculated the distance travelled by each driver in 5 minutes and set the grid correctly. PC (Project Cars) doesn't do this - it requires that the qualifying duration is longer than the laptime. For the Nordschleife the qualification for the Aston Martin would probably be 15 minutes.

For some shorter tracks on which you would expect 5 minutes to be enough the car comes out of the pits after the start line so has to complete almost two laps before recording a time so 10 minutes is the minimum qualification period.

On GT6 we have been running 30 minute races with 10 minutes of qualification - this fits easily inside our 60 minute time slot. Because PC is a harder game and many of us are new to it my intention was to run 2 x 15 minute races.

It seems that if you run 2 races you have to run a qualification for each - I tried to delete qualifying from the second race this morning, but the game would not allow the race to start until I put qualifying back.

One of the good things about the game is the ability to fill the grid with AI opponents. I expect that we will probably get around 6 to 10 human drivers so we will be able to fill the grid with an additional 4 to 8 AI drivers. It will be helpful if people can let me know before the race if they plan to be to be away so I know how many AI to add.

I have found that if you skip qualifying the game defaults to put the human drivers at the back of the grid.

I am not a fast driver (about average or below). I will set the AI level at a point where I am battling with them - I expect the faster drivers such as @AndreasR to be ahead of the AI opponents battling with the other fast humans.

For the Aston Martin Series the AI will be set at 50.

Based on the above we will run 2 x 15 minute races plus 1 x 10 minutes qualifying and 1 x 5 minute qualifying for shorter tracks such as Brands Hatch. When the track requires 10 or 15 minutes qualifying we will only run one race, but it will be longer so that you don't have to complete 2 long qualifying periods (I always try to maximise the amount of time spent actually racing). If we have run 2 races only the best result will score championship points.

It is disappointing that the GT6 options of next race based on previous race finish order and reverse finish order seem to be missing from PC.

PC does not display the race results for very long after the race has finished - certainly not long enough for me to get them written down - I think we will need to help each other by posting the results in a conversation so I can then tabulate them and post the championship table on GTPlanet.

Car Liveries and Numbers

I will add via another post as GTPlanet is currently running at a snails pace!
 
Car Liveries and Numbers

In Project cars you cannot choose a race number like you can in GT6, but you can choose a livery which is pre-fitted with a race number. Go to garage and select the car then scroll through until you find the one you want then save. When you go to race online you go to garage and choose the car which you saved earlier.

Please choose one of the following - note if we avoid the metallic green ones I think that the AI drivers will select those. Please treat the AI drivers with as much respect as the human drivers - note the AI drivers sometimes cut the track, but we humans never do that!

22 Sick Cylinder - Red with white stripes
24 Long Spread - Light Blue
28 Available - Dark Red
44 Andreas - Blue with white stripe
46 John Wells - Yellow
14 Skip - Dark Blue
18 Available - Light Green with black stripes
30 Available - Dark Green with orange stripe
31 Available - Dark green with light blue stripe
50 Buybon - Green with yellow lips

That should be enough to cover the number of people that have signed up so far.

3 AI
4
5
6
7
8
9
19
20
 
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Sick, my I initial reaction is regarding qualifying length. 1 have run in several leagues on Pcars, and quali is at least 15 minutes, sometimes 20 at most tracks except Nord. Nordschleife in the DBR1 is a very long lap, and you need to complete 2 laps to get 1 quali time. Now that would mean absolute minimum of 15 min., but if one small thing goes wrong, even not your own fault, you will end up with no quali time at all...then you will fall to the back of the field. Remember on pcars the quali session ends when the time is up...no completing existing lap like in GT6. You can be 10 yards from the finish line, time ends, and the lap does not count!!
When you first leave the garage in quali, you will note the clock starts as you cross the finish line leaving pits, and that time is ok because your speed at Nord leaving pits is pretty much the same as a standing start on the track...however, if you need to zap back to your garage during that iNitial lap, when you go back out again The clock won't start until you complete that lap and cross finish line....
I really think if you want to run a race at Nord (which I very much support..best track in the game!) We should think in terms of longer overall session...perhaps 30 minute practice to get into the track and car mentally, 30 minute quali, 3 lap race.
As far as all other tracks, 10 minute practice, 20 minutes quali, then whatever laps you want.
I would very much suggest a 5 minute warm up session between quali and race...! leagues use this as a bathroom break, get some water, or just settle in before race starts..very helpful to us old folks .
As far as AI filling the field, interesting idea I have never seen done until last night when you and I were running the test races. The one thing I want to say is I wish that didnt have to be in our real races though, because it is very fun to be racing only against your human league mates...you can get into racing each other without extraneous AI cars getting in the way, or even causing accidents. Pcars AI is notorious for being overly aggressive at times...
Last point, you mention race results not staying there very long on screen...you can take a 'screen shot' right after the endof the race of the results screen by using the 'share' button on your wheel...push it and you will see option pop up to save screenshot. It will then be saved in your PSN profile page for as long as you want.
All this stuff is just my opinion/observation of course, so whatever you decide to do is okey dokey with me!!
 
In case you guys new to PS4 dont know this, there are 2 great forums with a wealth of info from the last couple of years about everything Pcars and Playstation 4 issues.
Search Google for:
Playstation 4 forum
Project cars forum

You will find lots of input for wheel issues of all kinds...

By the way, everything I have read says the firmware updating is for PC users, not Ps4. Ps4 automatically uploads all updates as long as you have your machine set up to receive them...At least that is my take on it.
 
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I've used 5 minute qualifying without problems for literally hundreds of championship races. We only have a one hour timeslot (more like 50 minutes in reality) so time is precious. I've always expected people to turn up for the meeting ready to race - hence no practise session. On GT6 participants normally practise alone or together before entering the room or earlier in the day or week. If people only have a short time to get a lap in they will sometimes make a mistake and start from lower down the grid, but this should be rare once they get used to a conservative approach to qualifying and also any below expected results balance out over a season.

I will vary the qualifying time between 5 and 15 minutes so that people can get at least one lap in. When we do a long track such as Nordschleife we will do just one race partnered with a longer than normal qualifying. Race length is likely to be 2 or 3 laps - it is a very intense experience, but Nordschleife does not normally produce good multi-player racing, however we have to use it as part of this series because of its historical significance to the Aston Martin DBR1 and Stirling Moss.

I want to try racing with the AI cars, because we have that option and it is very unlikely that we will be able to get a full room on Project Cars - if we are lucky enough to start getting full grids there will be no need for AI cars. I don't think the AI will get in the way because we are only using a setting of 50 - the faster drivers will be well ahead of them. If the AI prove to be problematic I will stop using them, but they may add something when we have only half filled rooms.

If we are running two races in a session I will put a five minute warmup in before the second race - in the past we have dealt with the comfort break issue by delaying the start of the second race by a couple of minutes.

I'm very much looking forward to Monday and hope we get a good turnout and a successful test - note the test will be at Brands Hatch GP.
 
Sick Cylinder
I've used 5 minute qualifying without problems for literally hundreds of championship races. We only have a one hour timeslot (more like 50 minutes in reality) so time is precious. I've always expected people to turn up for the meeting ready to race - hence no practise session. On GT6 participants normally practise alone or together before entering the room or earlier in the day or week. If people only have a short time to get a lap in they will sometimes make a mistake and start from lower down the grid, but this should be rare once they get used to a conservative approach to qualifying and also any below expected results balance out over a season.

I will vary the qualifying time between 5 and 15 minutes so that people can get at least one lap in. When we do a long track such as Nordschleife we will do just one race partnered with a longer than normal qualifying. Race length is likely to be 2 or 3 laps - it is a very intense experience, but Nordschleife does not normally produce good multi-player racing, however we have to use it as part of this series because of its historical significance to the Aston Martin DBR1 and Stirling Moss.

I want to try racing with the AI cars, because we have that option and it is very unlikely that we will be able to get a full room on Project Cars - if we are lucky enough to start getting full grids there will be no need for AI cars. I don't think the AI will get in the way because we are only using a setting of 50 - the faster drivers will be well ahead of them. If the AI prove to be problematic I will stop using them, but they may add something when we have only half filled rooms.

If we are running two races in a session I will put a five minute warmup in before the second race - in the past we have dealt with the comfort break issue by delaying the start of the second race by a couple of minutes.

I'm very much looking forward to Monday and hope we get a good turnout and a successful test - note the test will be at Brands Hatch GP.
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I understand and fully support what you are setting up...didn't mean to offend, just as I said offering another point of view. Looking forward to our first go round!! Thanks for getting this whole thing together for us!! :lol:
 
Skip7950
I understand and fully support what you are setting up...didn't mean to offend, just as I said offering another point of view. Looking forward to our first go round!! Thanks for getting this whole thing together for us!! :lol:
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Thanks for all your help and support Skip - I now understand that the practise session could allow people more time to accept the invitation and join the race so I will try starting with a 10 minute practise in the test race today at Brands Hatch.

Note to all - I won't be online again until I send out the invitations at 20:25 this evening as I am working an extra long day today.

Note 2 - I ordered an upgrade to my broadband. It will be "Ultra-fast" in time for round 1, but for today's round 0 it will still just be what the supplier calls "High Speed" (in other words slow!) - if we have problems with wobbly cars etc. tonight - hopefully that will be fixed by the upgrade in time for round 1.
 
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Hi all

I will create a room at 18:30 GMT with similar settings for practising

This room will be opened for public in order to invite new drivers. So don´t be too disturbed by them.

starting with 25 min of free practise, 10 min Qualifying and 3 x 15 min Races

5 min break ( or driving) between every session


feel free to join (or leave) as you like


Finish is fixed set at 20:15 GMT


Good fun everybody

:cheers: Andreas R
 
Weird...I thought there would be some comments on here after our test races yesterday....Am I missing something?? Is there another thread I don't know about?
Anyway, I had a great time and am looking forward to next week!!
Only question I really could not tell real from AI drivers/cars out there...Didn't know who I was racing most of the time in some individual battles, except a couple of times the opponent pushed on my car and almost caused me to wreck...The kind of moves Pcars AI is noted for...So I am assuming it an AI opponent. No worries though, I am going to get the hang of that along the way I am sure! Thanks Sick again for getting all this going for us!
 
Alex ONeill
If you saved the replay, while watching it you can pause and take pictures. While in picture mode you can move the camera to any location to get the angle you want to capture.
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It would be good to get some photos up - always good for publicity - likewise if anyone is able to do a highlights video of a race.

I didn't manage to get any of the race results down - it would be very helpful if someone could screenshot the results and then post that.

My broadband was upgraded yesterday so hopefully that will improve the room slightly.
 
Important - for attention of all Racers
I have decided to run an extra Test Round (00) at Brands Hatch Indy next Monday to enable us to try out the damage and penalty settings - you will also be able to experiment with assigning buttons to look right and left and try these out in a race situation. This is our first race series on Project Cars and I would rather delay the start of championship racing by one week and get the format right for this and future series.

By using the very short Indy Track we will be able to run 5 minute qualifying sessions and complete more short races to test out different damage options.

During the extra test round several drivers will deliberately try to incur penalties and damage which we will then discuss afterwards: - I propose that those drivers be myself, @Flaco13 and @Alex ONeill

Please do not take offence from any deliberate bad driving during the extra Test Round (by those nominated drivers) - I have to learn more about this aspect of the game. I do not want to implement it if there is a high risk (as in GT6) of the innocent party being awarded the penalty or a high risk of people being disqualified from the race for no fault accidents or being unable to get back to the pits to continue the race.

Flaco13
Fuel and Tire wear would also be more realistic, you can set tire-warmers though, so the difference from colder to warm tires isn't too extreme.
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Alex ONeill
Unfortunately you cannot turn on tire warmers. Only cars that use them in real life racing have tire warmers (GT3, Formula's, LMP's).
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Note - although switching on tyre and fuel wear may be more realistic I will not be doing this for several reasons:

There are bugs associated with using default setups with tyre wear. Some of the default setups do not have much fuel onboard so unless you add pit stops the cars can run out of fuel - their are bugs associated with using default setups with pit stops. This series is aimed at all ability levels and starting on cold tyres - based on what I have read on other threads normally results in first lap carnage. Finally - it takes many hours of testing time to check and select tracks for a series and this would be increased further if I also had to check the fuel consumption of the cars on a default fuel load - note the cars and track combinations have already been tested and selected for Monday and Wednesday series for the whole of 2017.
 

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