UKGTR Season 7 Super Endurance - Nürburgring (GP) - May 3

[Ade]

Unconscious! that's classed as sleep , unless your in a hospital.
anyways stop talking kack on a very serious thread! this sort of banter is for Idell chit chat need some unconsciousness

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

Roll Eyes.....you could have told the rest of us about the bumped weather too.  Tongue

Sorry, but I agree. You get used to the system and base your prep for the race on what you know. If you are going to tamper with it then please make it public.

Yep so do I!!! i cant be fair to show the race as real time weather, then for someone to change the setting before the race  must be of advantage to those in the know all the same enjoyed the race . Love and kisses Ade .

As psuedo has already said, the weather is based on the real world conditions, but since GTR2 has no way to do actual real time weather (and we wouldn't want it anyway) the rest is randomly generated, and always has been.

Normally when we use changeable weather everyone moans that it doesn't actually change, so I bumped up the (totally arbitrary) change rate slightly to encourage more variation. That worked nicely and we had one brief thunderstorm which made the track very wet and then it slowly dried out and warmed up. Random but probably quite realistic for that part of the world.

And what do I get for my trouble? Abuse, and thinly veiled accusations of cheating.

Paul, I would love to know exactly how you would've changed your preparation based on going from some chance of rain to a very slightly greater chance of rain. I had no more idea what the weather was actually going to do that you - if I had I would never have changed onto slicks so early!

[Truetom]

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the rain, but some of the lads spend hours fine tuning a  setup on-line coz off line it never works the same??? as for me i don't know what to tweak to make the most of the car ?? personally i cant just show up and race!!! it takes me loads of laps and time to get it together, just don't have the time to sort out wet n dry setups for every race. just in case the weather man is telling fibs.

Not picking on you, Ade, your post just "has it all in". 
I spent time setting up a car in time-trial, off-line. I don't think I spent a minute on-line, just to check I have the right track to train on. There is a difference in grip when you come to the server, it changes and times vary. But the balance of the car is the same and I came to know I can drive the same way in race, brake points are the same, also points when you floor it (or don't  ). Of course it all changes when it rains and there comes how well you know the car, your wheel, the track and your nerves. 

I must say I didn't have a separate setup for the rain. With the introduction of dynamic weather I set the car for raining less and less. All I did was take the dry race setup, stick hard wets on and brake ballance 2% to the rear. That was my rain setup, wing stayed on 7 as it was for the dry.    Looking on the weather prediction in race I surmised the track is going to dry a bit, not get wetter.

And: what's with all the  about the weather?    I'm here from Season 1 and as far as I can remember there was a talk about the dynamic weather, the real conditions, not knowing about the next minute, how this is "the only real endurance experience". Well, all that was here yesterday. I want more of it, not less.    That's my only chance against all the aliens. 
Well done, Dave. 

TT 

[Mike Hammer]

And: what's with all the  about the weather? 

In expressing my opinion, I didin't mean it as a suggestion to change things, I know that's not going to happen. Nor is it a complaint against SROU, I'm just venting my frustration a bit, regarding my own limitations, really. I doubt I'll ever discover the joy of wet racing, whether virtual or real.

[psuedo]

As psuedo has already said, the weather is based on the real world conditions, but since GTR2 has no way to do actual real time weather (and we wouldn't want it anyway) the rest is randomly generated, and always has been.

Normally when we use changeable weather everyone moans that it doesn't actually change, so I bumped up the (totally arbitrary) change rate slightly to encourage more variation. That worked nicely and we had one brief thunderstorm which made the track very wet and then it slowly dried out and warmed up. Random but probably quite realistic for that part of the world.

And what do I get for my trouble? Abuse, and thinly veiled accusations of cheating.

My initial post was not meant in any way to be abusive or accusing. Nobody (including Dave) could have known exactly what effect the slight change would make....I only mentioned it so the same settings can be used when I generate the weather for the practice servers.

[Paul968]

Paul, I would love to know exactly how you would've changed your preparation based on going from some chance of rain to a very slightly greater chance of rain. I had no more idea what the weather was actually going to do that you - if I had I would never have changed onto slicks so early!

That's a dead easy one to answer - I spent a fair amount of time on the server during the day (although I didn't drive that many laps because I was working) and there wasn't a spot of rain as far as I can remember. Given this and the fact that I've got so used to dry endurance races and the lack of variation, I didn't bother to do any wet practice or sort out a setup. Now, if you had posted beforehand telling us that you had made the algorithm more variable, and/or you had changed the server setting last week to give us a chance to experience the difference (maybe you did?) then you can bet I would have tried a wet weather setup.

There is no way of knowing if your tweak made a big difference or not, but I have to ask, what was the problem with telling us what you were going to do?

Anyway, I had a great race and I'm not blaming you for my tyre cock-up or anything else. I also like the increased variability as there has been too little in endurance races (which partly explains my lack of experience in dealing with them). I'd just have liked to know that the change had been made.

[Greystreak]

All up, a race of "firsts" in many respects:  first competitive GTR2 race in a GT1, and first experience with 'changeable weather', and it certainly showed.  As a pure 'game play' experience, it was all desperately exciting, and probably very realistic for the series/event it was trying to 'simulate'! 

In typical 'newbish' fashion, all my pre-race preparation was based on dry setup work, trying to maximise the low-end torque of the Lambo gear-box to achieve maximum power-down out of the corners.  I had never run any race/practice with rain or wet conditions, nor tried any of the 'wet' tyres in the game before, so the pre-race start period was one of near blind panic of trying all the tyre types, and resetting my gear-box, wing, dampers, etc., for what I hoped would be an appropriate wet weather set-up.

Having been fortunate to get out in Quali 'early', I managed a 'banker' lap that put me artificially up the order in 7th, before the heavens opened, and the set-up panic ensued.  The race start seemed OK, with hard wets on, but lots of us were obviously struggling to stay on the track and get braking points right, as I was punted twice from behind, and fell well down the running.  The sudden stoppage of the rain was the final straw:  my wets began to run super hot, so I dived into the pits for medium slicks, and it all went pear-shaped afterwards as it was much too early, and the track wasn't drying out very quickly.  My struggles to stay on the 'black stuff' just got me in the way of others, and after being hit off again at the Schumacher S-curve on lap 8, I hit the wall and spun broadside on, across the track with other cars approaching.  My available reserve of patience was used up at this point, so I 'punched out', rather than risk ruining someone one else's race experience.

All in all, desperately exciting, and desperately frustrating--lots to learn.   

[Truetom]

And: what's with all the  about the weather? 

In expressing my opinion, I didin't mean it as a suggestion to change things, I know that's not going to happen. Nor is it a complaint against SROU, I'm just venting my frustration a bit, regarding my own limitations, really. I doubt I'll ever discover the joy of wet racing, whether virtual or real.

Same here Mike, my opinion.    Of course not everybody likes wet conditions. I was saying that after so many seasons of mostly dry races, with an occasional wet one, we finally have changing weather with demanding conditions. More comes into play than just simple speed. So, as I'm not the fastest I have more chances - at least before the aliens learn the thingy... 

TT

[Simon Gymer]

In expressing my opinion, I didin't mean it as a suggestion to change things, I know that's not going to happen. Nor is it a complaint against SROU, I'm just venting my frustration a bit, regarding my own limitations, really. I doubt I'll ever discover the joy of wet racing, whether virtual or real.

Seriously Mike, stick with trying out the wet weather. I seriously couldn't get round a single corner in warmup or at the end of qually. With this in mind, when the race started I simply told myself to only use the car in absolute keep it on the track mode. Half throttle and I found more importantly half brake and no more. Did the trick. Once I got a good feel for driving within myself it's just a case of speeding up very gently.

As I had done no practice it really didn't bother me what the weather was doing and it was really tricky throughout working out how to drive and what to do with strategy. I wonder weather the changeability should default to a little higher than it does at the moment as it was really challenging and enjoyable imho. Maybe just for the Super Endurance, maybe for the 80 minute races, but they seem so short nowadays.

[Paul968]

Will the new variability be used in the normal endurance races (such as tonght)?

[Jeffrey]

I loved the conditions, they really make it interesting.
If I wouldn't have gone out the first lap in qually, I would have been at the back, and the race would have looked totally different.
I also went off during the race, almost costing me a lot of damage.
Anything can happen in these kind of races, so it's really worth sticking to the end and never giving up.

I didn't expect any rain as well, and also wasn't prepared. I only joined the server 30 or so minuts before. I had done no praccy before so all was new to me.
When it rained during the official event, I just tweaked the standard things done to a wet setup. It wasn't perfect, but doably.
In reallife, teams don't have a million laps to perfection their setup as well, and often have to give in to a half baked setup.
This all adds to realism for me.
And you are doing super endurance, so having a wet setup ready is normal. Then you only need minor tweaks and you're ready.

I was disappointed when Spa was dry, but this all made up for it . Like Psuedo said, it dried up very slowly, which is more like it should be, and it made it very interesting during the race.
It was all about guessing the right option.

weather

whether 

[Simon Gymer]

weather

whether 

LOL! Too much talk about the weather got my whethers mixed up, thanks for the correction.

[psuedo]

I wonder weather the changeability should default to a little higher than it does at the moment as it was really challenging and enjoyable imho. Maybe just for the Super Endurance, maybe for the 80 minute races, but they seem so short nowadays.

I also think it worked great for the weather yesterday....not to sure it should be defaulted to a little higher though...I know it makes it a little more complicated....(but not too much)....but imo the 'changeabillity' factor should relate to the real world changeabillity in the country the track is situated.

You often see more dramatic weather changes in the UK, Germany for example, but its much more stable and predictable in places like Spain or Dubai etc. This would add to the realism of the conditions expected (as shown yesterday) and of course give folk a more realistic chance of being able to predict and prepare.

[Jorgen Wahlby]

Have read the comments of some of the contenders and I must say that I feel lucky I didn't attend the race. (Had to pick up my kids at 18.00 here in Sweden) But Stayed to watch... and it was a BLAST. Really close racing from some drivers (TT, Gazza, Paul, RM) to mention a few. I must say that I didn't envy any of the drivers but ass TT says. It's consistency that is the biggest factor that comes to play for a race like this. I was lucky to be able to watch it and can only applaud the drivers in there... WELL DONE all of you. Worst possible start for allot of you. (lack of practice in rain or just no good rain setup) but some still tried to finish and did so with honers  I now feel that it was a good decision to stay clear from this particular race (lack of practice in rain and no real setup for the wet conditions) I would probably messed up the race for some of you and that is for no good to none of us 

Once again a bow my head to the once who had the "nerve" to attend and to finish (even so in last place) 

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

That's a dead easy one to answer - I spent a fair amount of time on the server during the day (although I didn't drive that many laps because I was working) and there wasn't a spot of rain as far as I can remember.

That's why it's called "random". There's no way to regenerate a weather file for each 'event' in practice - the game simply doesn't allow it.