iRacing

those pics are stunning Dave, wish I had the cash to pick this up but since buying my house im a little light in the money department :P

Doing it Wrong!



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Yeh, it's a volkswagen

Yeah. Who'd want a good car eh?

From todays Pro Series Race.

Through the esses on lap 1.



The new VIR Villas.



5 car battle for 5th.



And then there were 4.



Challenging on the outside.



5th place spun and tried to block me when rejoining. This was the result.



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Highlight video of an eventful VW Jetta TDi race.

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lol@the purple one :p

Was that a win then on the last corner? nice race. What do you people get like about accidents? Would Gui's driving be tolerated in iRacing?

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

@dave

how good is iracing, are the races full, is the etiquette on the road any good?

i've got rfactor, only managed one online race, the lobby system sucks, is iracing any better, any lag?

Cheers

Plenty of full races, especially in the lower series. Higher series tend to have about 5-10 per week, depending on the track.

rFactor lobby is broken. iRacing is all done through the website. Not a problem finding a race and registering. No lag around Americans and Europeans. Australians lag, but I don't know any game where they don't.

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Okay, I'm sure this has been asked, but.... Well, its always nice to know currently rather than a few months or so ago. I ask here rather than at RSC as I know you guys better (And thus prevent listening to an iRacing fanboy who has not a clue)

You people are really making me want to pick up iRacing now. However, I have a few questions that I can't seem to find in their FAQ on their site.

Level system - Apperently there is some sort of level system, is that just for matching you with drivers of the same skill, or do they limit what cars you can drive? If so, now would be the time from what I've read (As of now there isn't to terribly much that interests me on the road racing front car wise, but, well, there is a C6R Coming from what I've seen)

Subscribing/Unsubscribing - The major sticking point for me right now. Okay, if I subscribe (Well, for the first month I'd probably do the radical promo if it still works, unless there is a better option) and buy something else (Say a car or track) and don't re up the next time, but say, 2 months later I want to resubscribe, will I still get that content I had and maintain my info from the original subscription? (Seems like a dumb question, but it's one of my iR fears)

Mixed class racing - Does it require one to have ALL of the cars that your racing against? I've seen a few vids of the Riley racing with the Solstice- so would one need the Riley to drive the Solstice in the same race? (Or does the system not even work that way?)

I'm really close to making the leap (Over the past few days in rF I've finally gotten to going online and for the most part, have had a blast), it looks great, the physics are supposedly the shiznit (I would believe so), only problem is a lack of cars I would like and these sticking points. Hopefully one of you guys will swing by here and chime in with some answers.


The Flanker is gone.

Level system - Apperently there is some sort of level system, is that just for matching you with drivers of the same skill, or do they limit what cars you can drive?

Both. There are 2 rating systems

1 - Safety Rating (SR). This measures how safe you are, and is responsible for your license progression. The safer you are, the higher your license, and better cars you can drive. Licenses are upgraded at the end of each season (12 weeks) except for Rookie Licenses which are every 4 weeks. Higher cars (Riley, Radical) require higher licenses than the lower ones. The upside to the system is it really does make you a safer driver (and it certainly helped me), and it keeps drivers who can't keep it on the road out of the higher races. The downside is it can take awhile to progress up the ranks. You can drive the better cars no matter how fast or slow you are. You just need to keep it on the tarmac, and off of other peoples cars.

Licenses go from Rookie, to D, C, B, A and then Pro. With the exception of Pro, all you need to do is not crash to progress upwards. For Pro you need to have a high iRating and Safety Rating and be in the top 250 drivers to gain the license.

2 - iRating. This measures how fast you are. If you beat drivers who are rated higher than you, you gain iRating. If you lose to drivers who have a lower rating than you, you lose iRating. After a season or two, your iRating will level off to about where your currently skill level is. iRating is used to pair you to other drivers in races to give you a competitive grid. For example, the maximum number of cars for a Riley race is 30. If 40 people register for the race, the system splits the race into 2 grids of 20 cars. The top 20 iRating drivers will be put in 1 split, and the bottom 20 be put into the second split. It gives you a more competitive race.

will I still get that content I had and maintain my info from the original subscription?.

Yes. Your account is never deleted, just inactive. If you go away for 2 years and come back, you have everything you had before (and maybe more, they do throw you the odd free update, and old content does get updated).

Mixed class racing - Does it require one to have ALL of the cars that your racing against?

At the moment yes, but it won't be 'soon'. Currently the only mixed class racing is during the Fun Week at the end of the season (Season is 12 weeks, the fun week is week 13, no ratings apply), where they tend to mix the Radical. Riley, Solstice and Spec Racer Ford. At the moment it requires all the cars to be owned. When a proper series is introduced for mixed class racing, they say by then the system should allow you to drive on circuit with cars you don't own.

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Thanks for the answer Dave.

Finally got around to doing the Radical promo, yet to drive (Downloading Updates) but, I'm just kinda baffled. Just looking through the series' up there, it just seems odd how little there is out there for the default content, or should I say how little default content you get.

I don't mind a monthly subscription, but man, this will cost an arm and a leg. Though, over time, but, man, that's alot. I would assume that you can just pop into a race in any series providing you have that car and track, so, I guess it would make sense then.

We'll see when the rubber meets the pavement tomorrow. Certainly is a whole lot more professional than I was expecting (The website is just mind blowing!)


The Flanker is gone.

The base content goes further than you think.

If you take the base road cars for example (Solstice and Spec Racer Ford) then you have a full seasons worth of racing for nothing. The Skip Barber (Can be run with a Rookie license), 6 of it's 12 tracks are base content. Two of it's tracks are VIR - which is used in every road series in the game - so is a bargin and should be one of the first, if not the first circuit that road racers pick up. A lot of the base content is used right to the top as well. Laguna Seca and Lime Rock for example.

Similarly, on oval, if you take the base content you currently have 2 Legends, which handle very differently. They use only the base content as well. If you look at the Late Model (can be run with a rookie license) then you are set for a long time. It is by far the most popular oval series. Martinsville is another circuit that is used all the way up to the top (but this time the Oval ladder) and is a bargain for the amount of use it gets. Like the road, some of the oval base content goes right to the top - Lowes for example.

On the flip side, there are circuits I wouldn't recommend buying really. USA and Concord for example. Not much use, not much fun, and circuits I now avoid using.

It does cost a lot. But then I've found that quality is more important than quantity. I'd rather have 1 good iRacing track then 10 meh rFactor tracks. But to some people it is just a game, it is too much money, and it isn't worth the cost, and that is a fair enough opinion to have. No matter how it is justified, and how I believe the quality is worth it, it is at the end of the day a lot of money that can be used elsewhere.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/2009 08:21AM by DaveEllis.

But the question then becomes Road vs. Oval. Not sure on that one, hopefully more time will make that question easier.

First impression is rather unconvincing. Turned a few laps in the Radical @ Laguna, had some strange Deja Vu. Leave, go to a practice session in the Legends @ Lanier, turn 5 laps, server goes down for maintenance.

BAH!


The Flanker is gone.

From the news section/iRacing Twitter:

A web site update is being applied at 10:05am. The site will be down for approximately 5 mins.

It was back up a few minutes later.

I hate the Radical personally. Needs the suspension redone. Doesn't ride bumps at all. Legends however are a boat load of fun.

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The one real complaint with the iRacing safety rating is that you need to race the idiots to build up your safety rating before you progress to the next level. You lose safety ratings for collisions, whether they were your fault or not, but the law of averages means that if you're better than useless, then you'll lose less than those who are causing the crashes, so you will progress anyway.

Each level after that has less and less prats, so each step of the ladder will have cleaner racing. When you get to the B level there are barely any collisions at all. The A and Pro levels feature side-by-side racing, sometimes for lap after lap (even on road courses!), without any contact whatsoever.

Keep in mind though, that part of any racing is avoiding the crashes of others. It's obvious, but it means more in iRacing than it does in any other sim, and as Dave said, it will improve your ability immensely. Consider when making a move on someone, or how you're going to defend against someone first until you know what they're like (chances are you'll end up in races which feature a lot of the same guys). Also, when you feel confident about your own ability, both in speed and safety, qualify for the races. Many don't bother qualifying, so if you do, you'll end up ahead of them off the line, and will inevitably avoid any first corner crashes and having to overtake a less considerate driver. Your safety rating will soar that way.


smorr Wrote:
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> But the question then becomes Road vs. Oval. Not
> sure on that one, hopefully more time will make
> that question easier.

Ovals and road courses are completely separate in terms of ratings. I've never once raced on an oval, so I'll have no oval ranking to speak of, though your stats do compliment each other if you race on both.

You can stick to one or the other or both if you like. Rank progression is separate between road and ovals.

Some series do use the road courses on ovals though, such as Daytona's, so in that instance you'd need to buy Daytona to run on it.


smorr Wrote:
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> First impression is rather unconvincing. Turned a
> few laps in the Radical @ Laguna, had some strange
> Deja Vu. Leave, go to a practice session in the
> Legends @ Lanier, turn 5 laps, server goes down
> for maintenance.
>
> BAH!

You can tell from your reaction that you already need it back though.

Radicals are a bit naff in my opinion. They don't do much for me. I find the Solstice is quite good fun though when you start pushing it, and the Legends on road courses are interesting. The Skip Barber car is a Marmite one - some love it, some hate it. I'm the former.

And then it came back, TRIED to do a time trial in the Solstice, and on lap 3 (of the 4 clean laps needed) decided to go all wonky on me again. I'm going to wait a while to try again. Really annoying that is. (Who knows, might be on my end, but I'm not to sure about that)

I'm not bothered by the idea of a safety rating- actually, I like it. If anything, should help slow the fast buggers down who constantly abuse the rumble strips.

I already planned on not qualifying for the races, as if I'm at the back to begin with, I have plenty of time to get out of the way. Bad Idea I presume? (I'm not one of the fast bastages, but I can hang onto the bumper with most people)

I did notice that the Radical (Dave will flip) felt very.... I dunno.... GTR2 like almost. Quite sterile and boring IMO.


The Flanker is gone.

smorr Wrote:
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> I already planned on not qualifying for the races,
> as if I'm at the back to begin with, I have plenty
> of time to get out of the way. Bad Idea I presume?

Not necessarily. Sometimes you'll get caught up in them, sometimes you won't. It's just you're more likely to miss a crash if you qualify. You only have to qualify once, and then any times you race that day (or until the track changes) you'll keep that time, so you don't have to qualify for every race.

Okay, so, let me get this straight.

Races are on the same track through Saturday night. If I qualify, say, Monday, I'll use THAT laptime in the same series on say, Friday night.

I can do as many races in a series as I would like, but only the top 3 finishes count towards points? (I'm confused. I could do 50 races, but only my 3 best races count towards my points, atleast thats what it seems)

Well, finally got a race coming up I can enter, we'll see how that goes.


The Flanker is gone.

Haven't got a clue about the standings to be honest. I've never consciously entered a race for the points. Many do look at the standings, but I tend to just race for the racing.

But yes, I believe that your best qualifying lap will be the one which determines your position on the grid for any subsequent races until the events at that track finish and move to another.

Dave will clarify this I'm sure.