Alfa Z-Cup - Johnnypenso and Carracerptp Z-Cup Co-Champions!

[Menown]

The wind sound in GT4 and TT were amazing, I hope it is like that it really added to the sense of speed

 

[Diabolical_J]

Does anyone know how this DLC track change effects other accounts? If I bought the DLC tracks on one account and I switch over to another account, can I use those DLC tracks, or do I have to buy them on every account I plan on using?

 

[Menown]

Also, how does Spa work, rather not work now. Do the have-nots just get the access prohibited message like they don't meet regs?

 

[Johnnypenso]

Has anyone done much actual racing since the update? I'm right in the middle of the new seasonal event right now, and I can't believe how the game has changed...

While racing, it seems like every bump and movement the car makes is so much more exaggerated than before the update... I typically use the "chase" camera view and the difference is unbelievable. The camera seems like it is now fixed to the back of the car instead of just being fixed behind the car, it gave me a headache the first time I raced with it... I tried using the in car view, and everything still seems over-exaggerated.

And the updated sound... When you race, the sound of the tires and cars around you totally cover up the sound of your car... I was having trouble with hitting the rev limiter because I normally shift by the engine note instead of looking at the revs... It's a little better with the in car view, but still not good.

It honestly looks, feels and sounds like a totally different game. It's almost arcade'ish in how it plays compared to before.

I have read the same about the chase cam although I've never used it except by mistake. Apparently it's much more dynamic now, with the camera moving along with the car's movement. Might take some getting used to if that's the view you use. I believe they've also changed the angle and zoom of at least some of the models in that view according to the posts I've read.

I did test out a few cars for sound. The sound overall is much more dynamic and rich. I use Dolby Digital 5.1 with a high quality sound system and you can definitely hear the difference. Some of the engine sounds have been improved slightly on a couple of the cars I tested. Wind noise is definitely enhanced now and is a major factor at least in the hood cam view I use, didn't test others. The biggest improvement I think is in the tire sounds. It no longer sounds generic and you can actually hear each individual tire's squeal under braking and cornering. When the rear lets go now, you can easily and clearly hear it. Take a car out to Rome now and you can really hear the cobblestones. This to me is a dramatic and welcomed improvement.

If you find the sound of the tires covering up your car, there are a couple of things you can do to adjust that if you have a 5.1 or better system and use hood cam. First is to enhance the db level of the rear speakers. In hood cam view, the engine sound comes from the back so raising the db level of the back helps highlight the engine sound. Second, in the options menu change the room settings. Large room, small room and maybe a couple of others. Can't remember what mine is set to off the top of my head (but I think it's large room) but it does make a big difference which setting you use.

Another change that was not announced and isn't defined in any detail, is in tire wear. According to early reports, the softer compounds now don't last as long and the hards last much longer. One person posted that in a Nascar test he got 19 laps on racing softs, about half the old distance, and racing hards about 40 laps. If this is the case it has some implications for online racing and for tuning. I haven't tested this yet, but the reason for higher tire wear on the harder compounds was assumed to be the amount of drifting or sliding that occured with the harder tires. If they have muted the effect this has on tire wear, it could mean that tires will more evenly now front and rear and under and oversteer are far less of an impact on tire wear. Not sure what effect this will have on SS tires on the Alfa but I'm sure we'll find out shortly.

No shifter Kart!!!! Didn't know about the DLC track issue Brandon mentioned which is hugely disappointing, until then, no shifter kart was my major disappointment. The only real difference with this kart and the old 125, and the other karts is, you can change the tires and put any compound you want on this one, or I should say, I changed it to racing softs and it allowed me, so I assume it'll take any compound. Now makes tire choice come into play in karts and possibly drifting as well. Sounds a little different than the other karts too.

 

[BrandonW77]

Let's plan on a testing session this evening around 7-7:30pm EST so we can all give the new update a thorough testing and figure out how this is going to effect our season.

 

[Menown]

I'll be around tonight, worst case 8 EST. I actually got out of bed to update so I could see if the kart was a shifter. Alas no.

The tire wear has me a little excited, I tend to run easy on them, so it should help me be competitive over the drive like crazies

 

[Johnnypenso]

I'll be around tonight, worst case 8 EST. I actually got out of bed to update so I could see if the kart was a shifter. Alas no.

The tire wear has me a little excited, I tend to run easy on them, so it should help me be competitive over the drive like crazies

That depends on how they modelled tire wear. My guess is, tire wear is now more dependent on distance travelled, rather than scrubbing off rubber by losing grip. Harder tires wore out in the past it was presumed, because people drove them too hard, lost grip under braking or hard accel and this increased tire wear. If PD changed the model to one more of distance rather than what's happening on track, then driving smooth may no longer be as much of an advantage as it used to be concerning tire wear, although it obviously still has advantages in lap times. Tire wear is now a real game changer and will dramatically affect online racing, tire choice, pits stops etc. A very welcome change indeed!!

My guess is on the Alfa, the SS tires will last a very long time.

 

[dsgerbc]

Let's plan on a testing session this evening around 7-7:30pm EST so we can all give the new update a thorough testing and figure out how this is going to effect our season.

I should be around.

 

[RDAardvark]

Has anyone looked at the tyre wear setting? According to the list of improvements, we now have "Tire-wear speed adjustment". Does this mean I can speed up tyre wear (like the time progression at a track) or am I misunderstanding this?

 

[Naptown25rs]

That depends on how they modelled tire wear. My guess is, tire wear is now more dependent on distance travelled, rather than scrubbing off rubber by losing grip. Harder tires wore out in the past it was presumed, because people drove them too hard, lost grip under braking or hard accel and this increased tire wear. If PD changed the model to one more of distance rather than what's happening on track, then driving smooth may no longer be as much of an advantage as it used to be concerning tire wear, although it obviously still has advantages in lap times. Tire wear is now a real game changer and will dramatically affect online racing, tire choice, pits stops etc. A very welcome change indeed!!

My guess is on the Alfa, the SS tires will last a very long time.

I ran about 15-20 laps at Daytona Road in my lounge earlier with the Alfa and it definitely felt like there was more grip than before with the S3 tires... Not sure how that is factored with the new wear model but I didn't really notice any more or less wear than before, just seemed more stable, like it had more grip. I felt like I was able to turn in more aggressively and the car held better.

 

[BrandonW77]

Has anyone looked at the tyre wear setting? According to the list of improvements, we now have "Tire-wear speed adjustment". Does this mean I can speed up tyre wear (like the time progression at a track) or am I misunderstanding this?

I believe this means that PD has adjusted the speed at which the tires/tyres wear out, which has been confirmed by many people. I think it was just bad wording, they haven't given us an adjustment we can control, they've simply adjusted the code in the game.

 

[Menown]

Just read of a bug that filters used in photomode persist into racing. If they do, this is a huge problem for me. I usually run some laps, grab some pictures, rinse and repeat.

They also said the only way to clear it is to restart the game :/

 

[Johnnypenso]

Just read of a bug that filters used in photomode persist into racing. If they do, this is a huge problem for me. I usually run some laps, grab some pictures, rinse and repeat.

They also said the only way to clear it is to restart the game :/

Can't help but laugh at that one but it does present a bit of an opportunity. We could do a black and white or Sepia race in the Alfa 💡

I was hoping "tire wear speed adjustment" meant it was under our control, but as Brandon says, they changed the rate at which the different compounds wear out behind the scenes. Is it too much to ask for at least some brief descriptions of these kinds of changes or do they deliberately leave them vague?

 

[Blind829]

Let's plan on a testing session this evening around 7-7:30pm EST so we can all give the new update a thorough testing and figure out how this is going to effect our season.

I think I can make that.

....I typically use the "chase" camera view and the difference is unbelievable....When you race, the sound of the tires and cars around you totally cover up the sound of your car... It honestly looks, feels and sounds like a totally different game. It's almost arcade'ish in how it plays compared to before.

I also use the chase camera occasionally when I'm in a lot of traffic. It sounds like now instead of it being an independent camera, it's directly attached to the rear of the car so any move the car makes, the camera makes also. It probably feels arcade'ish but I imagine it's simply replicating what the car has always done, now that it's fixed you can feel it, more like a bumper view. I will take some getting used to but it should make the immersion factor better and help with tuning.

I ran about 15-20 laps at Daytona Road in my lounge earlier with the Alfa and it definitely felt like there was more grip than before with the S3 tires... Not sure how that is factored with the new wear model but I didn't really notice any more or less wear than before, just seemed more stable, like it had more grip. I felt like I was able to turn in more aggressively and the car held better.

Double check all the room settings, I remember last update it reverted some of the settings and people were claiming more grip too, but it is possible this time with the tire wear change.

 

[Johnnypenso]

No work for a week now...so I ran a 12 lap test run at Daytona Road Course to test tire wear and grip.

After 12 laps at full race speed, running very consistent laps, I had about 25% tire wear on the right rear, slightly less on the other three tires. Lap 12 was within 3/10ths of my fastest lap and there was only a slight difference in grip towards the end of the run.

I'd have to conclude that at least at this track, tire wear will not be an issue in a 10 lap event.

 

[dsgerbc]

FYI: somebody needs to login into ORCA accounts and reset lounge settings. It won't let anyone in before this is done.

 

[BrandonW77]

^ I'll do that as soon as I get home (about an hour from now). That's kind of odd though, I hope they haven't made it so we can't open another person's lounge.


A reminder in case anybody missed it, we will be having an Alfa testing session this evening around 7-7:30pm EST so we can test out the new features and see if/how they will effect our season. I'll post here when the lounge is open.

 

[LancerEvo7]

^That normally happens when there's an update. Nothing to worry about.

 

[BrandonW77]

It's fixed. 👍

Had a quick drive in the Alfa, it sure feels like I can push it harder than before. Almost like a stronger connection to the road. Need further testing to confirm.

 

[ddsLeonardo]

I felt the same driving other cars.. so I guess it is not your imagination.

 

[dsgerbc]

Yeah, there is probably a bit more grip from SS tires, they wear a lil faster too.

 

[Torzilla]

ok so i got impatient and I opend up the ORCA champ lounge

 

[BrandonW77]

Sweet! I just hopped in. Everybody else is welcome to join us for some testing. We're in the ORCA_Champ lounge.

 

[BrandonW77]

Man, that was fun with no ABS! I actually found the car to be more driveable, I was using slip angle like a Moto GP rider




Once this gets delivered I may never drive this car with ABS again!

 

[Naptown25rs]

Man, that was fun with no ABS! I actually found the car to be more driveable, I was using slip angle like a Moto GP rider

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twypXqCSnGk">YouTube Link</a>

Once this gets delivered I may never drive this car with ABS again!

I've heard about these, do you know how much of a difference they actually make?

And with ABS off, I was pretty much "backing it in" to every corner... lol

 

[BrandonW77]

^ The reviews I read were all very positive, gives the brake a more progressive feeling. The G27 brake pedal is already decent but still lacks that really fine control, this should should make a nice improvement. They should be somewhere over the Atlantic right now.

Did you adjust your brake balance? At first I would spin every time I hit the brakes but when I turned the rears down to zero I had no problem and actually seemed to have more control when sliding. I know I gave Blind a helluva a show at la Sarthe with my crazy drifting action!

 

[Naptown25rs]

I started at 4/0 and ended up being the most happy with 2/0... When I did drift it was nice and controlled, and I wasn't losing much, if any time. I did notice it was a fair bit harder on the tires though...

Do the G27 pedals have force feedback? I know the DFGT pedals don't.

 

[OwensRacing]

I started at 4/0 and ended up being the most happy with 2/0... When I did drift it was nice and controlled, and I wasn't losing much, if any time.

Do the G27 pedals have force feedback? I know the DFGT pedals don't.

No feed back, best brake out is Club Sport Pedals from Fanatec. Has a load sensor. There is a conversion for G27 pedals. Ultimate Brake or something.

The DFGT has two springs inside them. One that matches the gas pedal and then a larger one. I took that larger one and opened it up more so there was more preload when installed. My kids like it a lot better this way. Also I think one could upgrade and play with different torsion springs on the DFGT.

Cheap and easy. Get a small bungy chord or a stress ball tuck in behind the pedal.

Be slick if the G27 pedals worked on DFGT. they ate actually really good pedals when you do the brake mod. I had something similar that I made. Took some trial and error to get it tuned to my liking but. Honestly liked it better the. My modded T500 pedals. Which I did not like prior to my modding.

 

[BrandonW77]

Well, good session last night but since we were running with ABS off I doubt we learned much about the new update. It was fun though, very frustrating until I adjusted my brake balance but it was a treat once I got it dialed in. Running the risk of lock-up really added a new element to everything and felt more "real". It was really cool hearing all the tires screaming when we'd all pile into a slow turn, and seeing tire marks all over the track was also pretty neat.

I don't think I will mandate "no ABS" for the season but I most likely will drive with ABS off as a personal preference. I do recommend everyone give it a try, just make sure to turn your rear brake balance to 0 or 1, higher than that and you'll be spinning like a figure skater. Once I adjusted the brakes I found I really had to stand on them to lock them up, but under normal heavy braking I felt like I had more feedback from the tires. The ability to kick the back end out for proper slip angle was, in my opinion, very nice indeed. 👍

What did everyone else think of the no ABS?

 

[Naptown25rs]

Like I said above, once I found a suitable balance, I was fine with it... I got caught out a couple of times entering a hard braking zone from the draft, but for the most part I was able to run on par with my usual times. I might give the no ABS a go for the season with more practice.