What does the arrow mean in B-Spec?
- Thread starter Bonedwarf
- 49 comments
- 10,828 views
- 26
Just one last thing to note, Opera Paris sucks. 
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I agree man
[/QUOTE]I agree man
Seems to me the arrow simply means the car is going quicker than the rest. Not just at a single point, but on the whole, perhaps over the past few seconds or so. Thus, it's likely to appear when drafting/overtaking, but can also appear when the car is out on its own and, say, clears a chicane particularly well.
Well, you're half right.
Yes, drafting definitely gives you a speed advantage, but it's not because of turbulence 'sucking' you along. Rather, the air behind the car in front is both a) lower pressure and density, and b) travelling at roughly your speed and in the same direction that you are travelling in. The first factor means slightly less air to deal with, which contributes in part to the second, far greater factor means that there is much less wind resistance on your car.
With less force pushing back on you, your car is able to accelerate faster and reach higher speeds than it can out in open air. It's not a force pulling you along, it's a diminished force pushing back that's doing the business.
Nonetheless, and physics aside, it all comes together as drafting, and it's an essential racing tactic. On that score, you're spot on the money and I'm sure it's helped your racing.
JohnBM01
Well, you're half right.
Yes, drafting definitely gives you a speed advantage, but it's not because of turbulence 'sucking' you along. Rather, the air behind the car in front is both a) lower pressure and density, and b) travelling at roughly your speed and in the same direction that you are travelling in. The first factor means slightly less air to deal with, which contributes in part to the second, far greater factor means that there is much less wind resistance on your car.
With less force pushing back on you, your car is able to accelerate faster and reach higher speeds than it can out in open air. It's not a force pulling you along, it's a diminished force pushing back that's doing the business.
Nonetheless, and physics aside, it all comes together as drafting, and it's an essential racing tactic. On that score, you're spot on the money and I'm sure it's helped your racing.
- 347
Bonedwarf
They should have stated things like this in the 6 page manual I got with the game
- 18
Ok, now that we know what the arrow and the red/blue bars mean, there is another question: What does the little red dot that sometimes appears over the bars mean?
edit: i think the red dot appears, when a driver is on the way to a new fastest lap.
edit: i think the red dot appears, when a driver is on the way to a new fastest lap.
- 208
JohnhannibalThey should have stated things like this in the 6 page manual I got with the game
You got it, bro.
That manual is a real shame, because it's so awful. It is 100% content-free, in my opinion. I enjoy reading game manuals (mostly when the rest of the family is watching TV, I'll break out the manual for the game I'm playing to try to learn something that I'm missing.)
The GTA series of games had pretty awful manuals too, but at least they had some character.
I've notice that the arrow will appear above a particular car is losing ground on the preceding car. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for the arrow and there's no explanation in the owner's manual for the game, even though they explain everything else on the B-Spec in great detail.
lol.. the fool i wasBonedwarf
Give that man a coconut! đź‘Ť
It means just that... that the car behind did the last sector faster than the car in front of it. Thus, if you are in 3rd place, and the 4th place car is constantly showing the arrow, he is faster than you in each sector and he is catching you up... time to increase the pace or hope he pits!
- 23
I've at least noticed that the arrows CHANGE when the sector lines update and at no other times. It doesn't mean they'll change at every sector update (i.e. the same car is gaining the same ground/still doing a push from one sector to the next) but IF the arrow changes it is ALWAYS during a sector update.
<edit> Ok, I was wrong, the arrows do dissapear during the sectors sometimes. Hmm, if it's a measuer of sector speed then why wouldn't it remain during the entire sector? Unless it only remains for X seconds, and sometimes the sectors are awful long (like at Cote D' Azur there are only 3 sectors)
My brother thinks it might mean when you gain significant amounts of grounds on the car in front of you, but I've seen it on the lead car at times...which wouldn't make any sense unless you're increasing the distance on the car behind you.
We have noticed (so far) that you see fewer and fewer of the Red Arrows as the race goes on...which would indicate what? Unless the red arrows indicate your best time through that sector over the whole race - but that doesn't make sense either as we still see Red Dots (best lap times) near the end of the race, but no red arrows.
Thoughts?
UMP
<edit> Ok, I was wrong, the arrows do dissapear during the sectors sometimes. Hmm, if it's a measuer of sector speed then why wouldn't it remain during the entire sector? Unless it only remains for X seconds, and sometimes the sectors are awful long (like at Cote D' Azur there are only 3 sectors)
My brother thinks it might mean when you gain significant amounts of grounds on the car in front of you, but I've seen it on the lead car at times...which wouldn't make any sense unless you're increasing the distance on the car behind you.
We have noticed (so far) that you see fewer and fewer of the Red Arrows as the race goes on...which would indicate what? Unless the red arrows indicate your best time through that sector over the whole race - but that doesn't make sense either as we still see Red Dots (best lap times) near the end of the race, but no red arrows.
Thoughts?
UMP
- 23
Ok - got the Red Dot above the sectors figured out. It means that your PREVIOUS LAP was your fastest so far - watch it and see!
UMP
UMP
Just read through this post, and while pointing out what other people have already said may seem pointless - it may help to reduce the obvious confusion on the matter.
Dot = fastest lap
Arrow = last sector was quicker than the sector of the car in front - stays up there until the car finishes its next sector.
Dot = fastest lap
Arrow = last sector was quicker than the sector of the car in front - stays up there until the car finishes its next sector.
- 23
Ezz777
To clarify: Dot = the previous lap was the fastest.
If the red arrows mean that the car was quicker than the car in front, then why don't we see them near the end of the race? Does that mean that all the cars have quit gaining ground on the car in front as the race progresses? I can't imagine that the cars spread themselves out far enough to the point that no other car runs a faster sector than the car in front of it ever again...they might be falling behind overall, but cars still hit walls, get in the dirt, catch a draft, whatever...
And are you saying the arrows disapear when the car in front of the car with the arrow finishes it's next sector? That makes sense for the arrows dissapearing above a car in the middle of a sector...
I don't think your post was pointless at all...sometimes restating something in a different way can clarify it for someone else, and I am seeking difinitive answers, so any information is helpful (to me at least) đź‘Ť
My brother and I were discussing it and saying someone should write Polyphony and ask them, only we figured the answer would be something like "Uh, the guy who programmed that in quit so we don't know - he didn't comment his code, but we think it has to do with sector times."
- 117
I've been meaning to ask this question for some time now. It's one of those annoying little things that you really want to find out.
Unfortunately, it seems like there are a number of different opinions and observations on the arrows. Some say that they stay the whole sector, some say they don't. I've personally seen the arrows appear for only a few seconds, and sometimes for most of a lap. However, I've never seen the arrow above the lead car (thatÂ’s not to say that it won't, only that I haven't seen it).
WHY did the manual have to be so useless. "This is how you put the disk in, this is how you hook up the control, this is how you turn the console on..."
Unfortunately, it seems like there are a number of different opinions and observations on the arrows. Some say that they stay the whole sector, some say they don't. I've personally seen the arrows appear for only a few seconds, and sometimes for most of a lap. However, I've never seen the arrow above the lead car (thatÂ’s not to say that it won't, only that I haven't seen it).
WHY did the manual have to be so useless. "This is how you put the disk in, this is how you hook up the control, this is how you turn the console on..."
