Cappuccino Cup Racing (RM) - SEASON 1 COMPLETE!

[BrandonW77]

Im in a online race right now looking at timing and the order is based on the best lap in the session.

The live timing screen? As long as everyone is on the track they are ranked by fastest order, but watch what happens when one of them goes to the pits. They drop to the bottom even if they don't have the slowest time. See the below cell phone shot from Tuesday night's qualifying session. You returned to the pits right before I took the picture and dropped to the bottom of the list even though you were second fastest. You'll also notice that LancerEvo7 is not listed in order.

I learned something tonight during a practice race for the Monaco GP regarding how the game lines us up on the grid for a race, it's somewhat relevant to this discussion. When we do the Capp races people return to the lounge after they've done their qualifying runs, other people go out to qualify and then return to the lounge, yet it has started us in the correct order every time. BUT.....during the Monaco race tonight I hit the Start Race button while I was on the track and Owens and Wardez were in the pits. I was classified 1st on the leaderboard even though I was 3-5 seconds off Wardez's time. They stayed in the pits during the countdown, sure enough when the race started I was on the pole.

My conclusion is that you're position on the track seems to over-ride your fastest lap time, which doesn't really make sense. For the Capp races,I have everyone leave the track after qualifying, then return to the pits and stay there during the race countdown; since nobody is on track (more specificially a timed lap) it works fine. But once somebody crossed the start line at the end of their "out lap" they would then be ranked by their position/time relative to the other cars on the track instead of the fastest time of the session.

I'm by no means trying to argue or anything like that, this game makes this stuff way confusing and it doesn't make any sense. After tonight I think I finally have a pretty firm grip on how the game classifies us for the starting grid. Basically, sometimes the leaderboard is accurate and sometimes it's not, but I've kinda figured out how it works or at least how to work with it.

Back to the point, for future qualifying sessions I will group the faster drivers together and the slower drivers together. I just hope nobody takes offense if I put them in the slower group. If it helps, I will be in that group. lol


B

 

[IforceV8]

Yeah i see what your talking about with the order being wrong but i think Evo was already in the pits because he was ahead of me on the track.The room i was in tonight i was in the pits and the other 4 cars were on the track doing laps and the order was ok.If the order of the cars gets all out of whack when the cars return to the pits then maybe the quickest way to get it is for all cars to stop on the track, and not return to the pits until the times are checked.

Who's hosting Friday and Saturday's races?

 

[Müle]

Mule, did you have any luck? I remember you were having problems on Friday too. Hope you get it straightened out, I know it's frustrating. 👎

It's been a bit better the last few days. I can usually last about 20 minutes in a race before it boots me. I'll probably try resetting the Router and seeing if that does anything.

I'll try to host tomorrow, but be ready (read: 2nd person in the room) in case I drop.

 

[Johnnypenso]

I've thought about this, but I think updating as we go would have the same confusing effect because somebody could have a new worse race that would be dropped (instead of the one that's already "dropped") and really shake up their points standings.

After the 4th race I can tally the points with the worst result eliminated so that would give us a clearer picture going into the final round. But it still won't be entirely accurate because the final race could end up being their worst result which would alter their points from what they were before the finale.

Does any of that make sense?


B

It makes sense and of course each new week's results will change the standings and the newest race may be the dropped or a previous race but that's to be expected. It's 6 of one, half dozen of the other, but I think it's closer to where we really are, as compared to including all results.

Just a suggestion, not a big deal...lol.

 

[OwensRacing]

Basically offer four races a week. Your highest finish goes towards points for week. Winners can race and win all four. Defending that spot and it's points.

Simple as pie. Easy to maintain. Make for extremely tight points battle. Tons of racing weekly as well fair shake at points for the less fortunate on time.


The biggest thing with points battles you get commitment from catering the points and making racers want to do well.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Although I can usually only make the weeknight races, I do like the idea of throwing all the races into a pot and having one big championship with your best finish of the week counting. If you want to throw a real monkey wrench into the gears and see who the gamblers are, you could make it such that, if you enter a second or third race that week, you lose your previous finish in favour of your latest finish. Get 5th in the first race and want to improve? By all means go ahead, but the 5th is gone once you cross the finish line in your next race that week...lol.

Only problem I see with this is that you could have a lot of demand towards the end of the week and the rooms only hold 16 people. Who would get first shot at racing if more than 16 want to run? If you've already run that week, do you get put to the bottom of the waiting list? It would be tough to figure out and police. As a middle ground, we could do what we are doing now, but also have an overall champion based on your rankings on your one particular night that you race, and perhaps a "Race of Champions" night where the top 8 or 10 are invited for a one race, winner takes all type of thing. Finding a night where everyone can make it will be the difficult part.

As far as qualifying goes, I think what we're doing now is the best comprimise between having an open track to qualify on, and not having the whole race night last too long. You might perhaps stretch it another 6-8 minutes by sending 3 groups instead of 2, giving 15+ second gaps instead of 10+ second gaps. Anyone on cruise control should be punted and if they come back you can discuss it with them at that time, or send them a message after the race. Not sure if you can get back into a lounge after you've been punted or not.

So far a great job, it's been great racing, so far everyone I've come across has been a fair and courteous driver and makes a conscious effort to avoid contact.

 

[BrandonW77]

Basically offer four races a week. Your highest finish goes towards points for week. Winners can race and win all four. Defending that spot and it's points. Make for extremely tight points battle. Tons of racing weekly as well fair shake at points for the less fortunate on time.

If you want to throw a real monkey wrench into the gears and see who the gamblers are, you could make it such that, if you enter a second or third race that week, you lose your previous finish in favour of your latest finish. Get 5th in the first race and want to improve? By all means go ahead, but the 5th is gone once you cross the finish line in your next race that week...lol.

Only problem I see with this is that you could have a lot of demand towards the end of the week and the rooms only hold 16 people. Who would get first shot at racing if more than 16 want to run? If you've already run that week, do you get put to the bottom of the waiting list? It would be tough to figure out and police.

Some good thoughts here. Johnny, I like your idea but also agree that it starts getting too complicated and brings in too many variables. But part of Owens' idea suggests an interesting aspect I hadn't thought of.....

3 races a week like we do now, but only 1 overall points standing. Drivers are free to compete in all 3 races but only their highest finish will count towards points. The strategy that this will introduce is the defending of your finish, for example if you have a good finish at Tuesday night's race you will want to run in the other 2 races because even though you may not improve your finishing position you will take up a points paying spot and prevent other people from gaining as many points.

Another example, if you get 1st place on Tuesday and also get 1st place on Friday you will not improve your weekly position but you will have prevented somebody else from gaining maximum points so there's still a benefit to participating in multiple races per week. I think this could also encourage people to participate in more races per week in an attempt to defend their points standing.

As for the qualifying groups/times, for the longer tracks I will probably stick to 2 groups at 7 or 8 minutes and at shorter tracks do 3 groups at 5 or 6 minutes. That will allow us to still wrap everything up in a timely fashion. It's hard to get a perfect qualifying plan with multiple cars on an open track but our system seems to be working well so far and by grouping the faster drivers together I think it will improve a little bit more.

@Mule, I can host the race tonight if you're not confident with your connection. I'll check in with you later today to see what your situation is. Maybe we can coordinate with each other, let me know first when you open a room so I can be the first one to join. That way if you get dropped it will automatically cycle me to the host position and we won't have to ask everyone to leave and re-join. 👍


B

 

[BrandonW77]

I noticed something last night that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere on the board, surprisingly. I was doing a short online race with Owens and Wardez last night and when Wardez crossed the finish line for the victory everyone's screen displayed his name and driver avatar in the lower right-hand corner! So now the whole helmets/racing suits addition makes a little more sense because when you win an online race your driver is displayed to everyone else as the winner!

Not a huge addition or ground breaking feature, but when I saw that pop up on my screen I literally said "WHOA!! COOL!!". The driver's image is displayed during the entire post-finish countdown, so as everyone is finishing their race they get to look at the driver who beat them.


B

 

[Johnnypenso]

3 races a week like we do now, but only 1 overall points standing. Drivers are free to compete in all 3 races but only their highest finish will count towards points. The strategy that this will introduce is the defending of your finish, for example if you have a good finish at Tuesday night's race you will want to run in the other 2 races because even though you may not improve your finishing position you will take up a points paying spot and prevent other people from gaining as many points.

B

I do like this in principle, I just feel it might get a little unwieldy and at some point you have the potential for rooms filled to capacity and people unable to race and losing out on points. Imagine you are doing well, you can only race on Sunday for some reason, you go to enter the race and the room is full with people who have already raced twice that week. That could be an issue and the only way I can see to resolve it would be to open a second room, which raises the issue of how many people are racing, how many points do you get, do you have two winners?....etc. I'd sure hate to get 3 or 4 races into the season and have that happen...even once is once too often...

 

[BrandonW77]

I do like this in principle, I just feel it might get a little unwieldy and at some point you have the potential for rooms filled to capacity and people unable to race and losing out on points. Imagine you are doing well, you can only race on Sunday for some reason, you go to enter the race and the room is full with people who have already raced twice that week. That could be an issue and the only way I can see to resolve it would be to open a second room, which raises the issue of how many people are racing, how many points do you get, do you have two winners?....etc. I'd sure hate to get 3 or 4 races into the season and have that happen...even once is once too often...

Good points, I hadn't come across those roadbumps in my brainstorming. I think that will be a roadbump with any method of doing a combined points structure. I want to stay away from having 2 rooms at the same time if at all possible, that would create a logistics nightmare.

So far we've only had 1 race that was at full capacity, but I could see a combined points structure encouraging people to get to the track a little more often so I definitely need to have a plan for when a room does get full. I think the easiest thing to do would be to make it clear that drivers who have not raced that week get priority to the room; meaning if the room is full and somebody that's hasn't raced is trying to get in then I will have to politely ask a driver who's already raced that week to sit this one out. I will have to make a list before every race of who has/hasn't raced that week so I know who gets priority, and if a driver that hasn't raced can't get into the room they will have to send me a PM on PSN to let me know.

This situation is already present with our current format, the only difference is if a driver can't get into a room because it's full they'd only suffer in the points standings for that night and not the other 2. I'll have to think a little more about this plan, and I welcome anymore feedback about it because sometimes a different point of view will see different aspects or problems. 👍


B

 

[Blind829]

I'd say do whatever is easiest for you to maintain Brandon, we don't want to overwhelm you. I'm just here for a good race and points aren't much of a concern, but that attitude is probably the minority. Keep up the good work.

 

[StingrayX]

I'm not going to make it tonight or tomorrow...going camping with friends.

 

[Müle]

I think I'll try to host the race tonight in my Lounge. I'll make it a bit early again, so people can come in and we can test it.

 

[BrandonW77]

I think I'll try to host the race tonight in my Lounge. I'll make it a bit early again, so people can come in and we can test it.

Good deal. If you do it in your lounge then we don't have to worry about host duties if you get disconnected. I'm going to make sure to be there though so I can take over if something happens.

In case some of you haven't heard, there are some things everyone needs to be aware of about the new update before tonight's race. First, some people are reporting that the settings and tires on their cars have reverted to stock. They haven't lost their tuning parts or tires that they've purchased, the car has just reverted back to all the stock settings and equipment. So be sure to check out your tires and settings before you go out on the track.

Also, there has been a change to the physics engine for off-track excursions. Now, if you go off track and go through grass/dirt/sand the tires collect more debris and it takes longer (as much as a full lap) to clean it off. There is more than one place on the Nurburgring track that you can easily go off track and collect this debris, so it's something everyone should be aware of. Another report is that if you make contact with another car or a wall/barrier it slows you down significantly more than it did before, enough that apparenty "rubberband grinding" does work as well as it used to because the contact slows you down enough that might not always get 1st.

I'm going to hop on early to do some investigating of these reports to see what kind of effect they have. I haven't had much chance to investigate any of these reports, but it seems like there are enough small changes that we could be in for a slightly new experience tonight! If you see my room open, feel free to join in.


B

 

[BrandonW77]

Looks like GTP_HummelRacing has a practice room open, I'm there so you can follow my yellow ball to get there if you want some practice.


B

 

[Müle]

I turned the internet off on the laptop, and moved the router to a more open place in the house, and was able to be in the WSGTC room for over 2.5 hours. The room also had mics disabled, so I may end up doing that.

 

[OwensRacing]

Who's ready to race!!!!


Will the race be in open lobby or private lounge. Wanna practice in the right environment.

Thanks

Practicing in my Lounge, feel free to join

 

[Divecable]

#67 Divecable (Divecable): Saddle tan brown / Gold --- more like gold and gold

Don't think i can make the week races but would love to have a go on the weekends
Thanks

 

[Müle]

Okay, so my connection seems stable again, so long as I keep my mic turned off during the race.

So I will host tonights race, and it will be IN MY LOUNGE!

So if you haven't added me on psn, please do so, and I'll accept you ASAP.

 

[diabolicwyvern]

sent fr to mule

hopefully I'll acutally find the/a room tonight. The first series was good fun.

 

[BrandonW77]

sent fr to mule

hopefully I'll acutally find the/a room tonight. The first series was good fun.

Room's open now, qualifying starts in 15 minutes (10pm EDT). Add me and come to my lounge. PSN: BrandonW77

 

[Müle]

It's still saying it's my lounge at the top, just so you know. ;x

 

[BrandonW77]

Oh yeahl. Sorry.

 

[IforceV8]

I was going to join to watch the timing but it looks like a full house so i will leave the spot for someone who wants to race.

 

[OwensRacing]

Well that blows.

Thanks for running me over. And I mean seriously. Did you even hit the brakes??? My 10 yr old son was watching. Asked why would that guy run you over dad. Bumper view. Has a mirror. I seen you coming. Not time to react.

Then I made a huge mistake. Having run hvy dmg every league but here. I headed for the pits for repair. Then realizing it healed itself. I was committed. So knowing that nobody else would be pitting. I was not interested in a 30 minute hot lap alone in the Cappy.

Bad luck night.

 

[BrandonW77]

Here are the results for Friday Night: Round 3. Congratulations to PonyStig on holding off GTP_LancerEvo7 and winning by less than 1/2 second! And incredible turnout for tonight's race, 16 started and 14 finished and post-race reports indicated exciting battles throughout the field! Next race is tomorrow at 2:00pm EDT, I will be hosting. Thanks to everyone for the great turn out tonight! Very impressive!

Brandon

 

[fatrab]

OwensRacing - I just watched the replay and that was totally my fault, not CAMikaze's. I was following Cam into the chicane, and while we both braked I let mine off just before he let his off putting you both into the wall. I apologise for ruining your night and I will try to ensure this doesn't happen in the future.

 

[Blind829]

I haven't had a chance to see the drivers name and logo on the results screen, that's pretty cool.

 

[polizei]

Got knocked out by a dirty pass and didn't feel like continuing. Can we come up with a better way to qualify? I dont see why qualifying needs to take twice as long as the actual race

 

[diabolicwyvern]

I've run 8 races in the Coffee Car and this was easily the most exciting. And the great part was it was on the one track off the list I assumed would be a downer and tranny tuning could take a few cars up the road and that'd be the end of it. I do feel as though I let Mule down though. Had my car be able to achieve a 5th gear we could have bump drafted early on to catch the draft rather than follow each other for 12 laps running identical times. Still was excellent racing.

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Another week should bring the cars closer together. The hardest section of the track (for the Cappy) is nullified when you run GVE in reverse, so aside from the misjuding the apex on turn 2 I think it will be pretty straightforward (albeit in reverse )