rFactor

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--- Sports Car Challenge Concern ---
The website to the North-South Connection Germany (NSCG) may have had their site shut down. Their website is < http://nscg-online.de.vu/ >. But when I tried to there today, it redirects to some other site. You know how most websites aren't up, so an alternative website pops up in its place? That's what's happening here. The Sports Car Challenge was the project that NSCG was behind. They are responsible for their project being a hit for EA Sports' "F1 Challenge" series. This was a planned conversion from F1C to rFactor that features about 41 cars to provide traditional sportscar racing thrills. Now with this site being down (or terminated) and with very few updates on their rfactorcentral.com page ( http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=Sports Car Challenge ), I'm concerned that we may not get to see this mod for rFactor anytime soon. If indeed this thing is stalled or terminated completely, then the only true hope of traditional sportscar racing in rFactor will lie in the hands of EnduRacers' Le Mans Series ( http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=LMS ). Even then, some WIP mods seem to use some of the cars from the LMS series into seperate mods. So I'm not real sure about what to say or expect should this persist.



I'm not home yet as of this post, so I can't say that I've downloaded and installed the ETCC patch as of yet. I just wanted to reflect on the Sports Car Challenge deal and the NSCG's downed site.
 
--- Test Driving the ETCC ---
I finally raced with the ETCC mod. First impression is that the cars are wonderfully balanced. The sounds and such are very authentic. They also look VERY well done. Loading times were pretty slow in getting in all those cars on a track. But when they are all on the track, there isn't as much slowdown like say... the ProtoRacer cars. There is one thing I didn't like- make a mistake, and your race is pretty much over. There have been times in which either I was tagged from behind and spun, or I make a driving error which resulted in me falling behind and never catching up. It's almost like doing a Formula IS race, only these cars have fenders. My first car in this mod was a BMW from the first available class. Some of the cars aren't readily available. I made double sure to check out the Alfa Romeos so that I'd stand a chance. But every car handles beautifuly. I mostly stayed within BMW and Alfa Romeo, but I think I picked up a Volvo or even a Honda. It is a great experience if you have the time and patience to download the 290-something MB file.


I've looked on rfactor.org's torrent deal. And sure enough, the FIA GT mod is there. It comes in at a massive 575.42 MB size in one file. I'm coming to terms with the torrent terms. I think a seeder is someone willing to share a torrent to keep a person's thing connected so that downloads can go smoother. A leecher is more like someone who just downloads it and not willing to share. I'm new to all of this, so I'm still learning. The FIA GT mod package looks like a great package to download and enjoy more SCGT-style racing. That is, in the sense of GT cars racing around tracks. I'll learn what this torrent thing is about and see what I could do with this.
 
A seeder is someone who has the full torrent and is only sharing it, a leecher is soeone who is downloading it, a leecher can also be sharing the bits of the file he has already downloaded while he is downloading though. If you need any help with torrents just holler.
 
I have had rfactor now for 5 weeks, I have installed 48 mods and many tracks and cars with complete success as the downloads are well organized for installation. I simply had zero issues until this morning when all of a sudden every online race i attempted to enter would produce a pop-up mas file error or mesh file error and the loading yellow bar would stop. After hitting enter key several times the load would continue and i would actually make it into the race but usually after a few turns or being in the game for a minute or 2, I would get kicked to the desktop with the send or not send error report pop-up. Offline seems to be working just fine.... I am baffled and have looked at all files and folders and see nothing to indicate a problem. Since I race online 95% of the time this is a real bitch of a problem. Please, please help me resolve this issue.
If anyone wants to email me i am @ ayrlainprenna@comcast.net. I have recently been invited into several leagues but now I cannot race online as the mas files seem to be lost corrupted or something...PLEASE help!!! Also since we are limited to a few re-installs, I need to fully understand the issue before wasting a re-install. I have written a request to ISI for help but have not received a reply yet and I am hoping someone in here would be willing to point me in the right direction.....
Ayrlain Prenna
 
Have you patched the game to the latest update, 1.250 I think? Also some mods get updated over time as well, so check sites like rfactor central to see if there's a newer version of that mod or anything.
 
i downloaded the FIA GT mod and Track pack, and i must say that the game is really well made:tup:. I just love driving with the BMW M3 GTR or the Ferrari 575 GTC on the Dubai track:D. I really recommend downloading that mod
 
I downloaded a lot of things on Thursday. So take a look at all this.


--- Megane Madness ---
Yes, that's right. I downloaded the Renault Megane Cup to see what makes this series #1 among rFactor players (according to the Hall of Fame listing on rfactorcentral.com). I didn't want to try this mod because the latest Megane looks hideous, and even more hideous with these race car modifications. But when I raced these machines, they're pretty quick and pretty powerful. They make about 330hp and have been modified with rear-wheel drive. These things are pretty loud. Not Mazda loud, but they'll mess up your ears a bit. On the track, they are more like go-karts. Complete fun to drive. If you do a 20-car exhibition race, they'll pay you some mad money when you finish high. But be prepared to fight for everything. It's a pretty cool mod. One other interesting feature about this mod is the animated showroom background. Speaking of showrooms...


--- Alternative Showroom ---
Someone's created a 3D showroom for your car. It comes complete with tires, jack stands, toolboxes, and more. It's almost as if you have your own little garage. Best thing is that you can customize the design of this thing even making your own sign. If I get a chance, I'll show you some of the art work that I have done with my alternative showroom.



Now get ready for a track explosion.

--- My Mont-Tremblant Experience ---
I consider Mont-Tremblant as perhaps Canada's most beautiful circuit. Mont-Tremblant is actually an SCGT conversion I downloaded. This still remains a nice-looking track, but it's also a big test for any driver of any level. The most challenging aspects of this track are the elevation changes and blind corners. I could imagine if Mont-Tremblant was once the home of the Grand Prix of Canada because this certainly looks like a track Formula 1 cars likely raced.

--- Mountain Sprint and its Four Seasons ---
Because it is Winter here, I did the Winter course in a Vayline Venom. First corner of the track, I flew off the track and had to have my car reset on the track. The other seasons are just fine. This is an Italian fantasy course that is unique in that it can be raced in any of the four seasons. It's more like a rally course, but I did race my Howston around the course. It is a pretty fun course. Just remember not to take so many wide turns because you'll end up hitting a wall.

--- Bahrain ---
The Bahrain circuit is another one of those "jewels in the desert." Today's racing is trying to expand in the Middle East. But when this track was created, it was one of the more interesting and (as someone commented) most exciting race courses. The package I downloaded only came with the Grand Prix configuration. People who played "ToCA Race Driver 3" knows there are more configurations for this course. Among these are the exterior course and an interior course. If you're new to the Grand Prix configuration, remember not to think the race is over when you see the second set of grand stands. There are about three different grand stand areas around this course. The first is usually the interior course, the second is nearing the front straight, then the final one is the wonderful grand stands on the front stretch. I must warn you- do NOT race this track at night because it can be very hard to keep track of where the road is. Nighttime in rFactor is incredibly dark. You need to know the track before doing a night race here.

--- Istanbul Park ---
Let's go from Bahrain to Turkey. Istanbul Park is a track that I've grown to respect. The thing I liked most about this track is simply how much of a high-speed track this is. Take a look at this track map: ( http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/MidEast/Turkey/istanbul.html ). There aren't as many heavy braking areas. The roads are pretty wide to allow for great racing. The DTM came out to this track before including the (mod that I can't wait for) Le Mans Series. In fact, the Le Mans Series had this track as one of its venues. It's just a very well-done track. Almost like a Turkish Monza, only much more technical. The thing I like most about this track is its pit buildings. I think they look like an upscale shopping center, but it looks very wonderful.

--- Other Downloads ---
I picked up the UI add-on that has the expanded UI including the Verify option to leave courses. I got the XV mod. It works VERY well. I suggest if you want the User Interface that you can most work with and modify, go out and get the XV version of the UI mod.



That would be all from me. So thanks for reading.
 
Let me entertain you a bit.

--- Radical ---
While waiting for the Radical mod to be complete, some of you in America may have seen the World Series of Video Games on CSTV. One of the featured games was Project Gotham Racing 3. The teams raced with the Radical SR3 Turbo. It was so cool watching these cars in this XBOX360 game. The competition mostly took place on the London and Tokyo tracks. It seems like the cars were relegated to a white car vs. a yellow car. So what does this have to do with rFactor? Well, the Radical mod for rFactor is a nice indication of what racing in rFactor could be like once the mod is complete. The nice motorcycle-engined prototype is a wonderful British sports car. I love these Radicals. It would be even better to make my own Radical. And the more this catches on, the better it will likely be a Hall of Fame deal on rfactorcentral.com.



--- Sports Car Challenge Update ---
I noted that the website to the Sports Car Challenge could likely be a stalled project. My screenname on rfactorcentral.com is "Gold_Moon." What I was told is that there were some "phishing" problems with the website to the NSCG (North South Connection Germany). One time I tried to access their website, I was VERY apalled(?) because some stupid and loud ad was there in a Java pop-up. Much worse, a porn ad. Got to be f:censored:ing kidding me. But anyhow, the project is still on. Some people were anticipating a bit too early because people think the conversion from F1 Challenge to rFactor is that easy. But an interesting tidbit came about in a post on rfactorcentral.com. Someone mentioned (or was it for the LMS mod?) that the physics model for rFactor is kind of strange. So I'm a bit curious as to how rFactor's driving model would be so shaky for prototypes. I think rFactor does a pretty good job balancing the different types of cars in the game.

--- Howston vs. Stock Car Challenge ---
I set up a sort of invitational in which I set up a race against fully-tuned Howstons (mine included) versus stock cars. I had it set up as a road course race followed by an oval race using Orchard Park Raceway. What I found in my test run was shocking. This would be a case as to whether a pure GT race car can take down stock cars. The shocking aspect? The shocker was that the highest-placed Howston after two laps was 7th out of 20 cars! Can you believe it? The game's best road racing car... getting outmatched by stock cars! I would be scared to do Le Mans or Sebring with this Howston/Stock Car challenge. Now wait until some more high-powered GT race cars are made available for rFactor (FIA GT mod nonwithstanding). Then we can see if a stock car on a road course configuration can take down the best GT cars made available for rFactor.


Finally, check out this new WIP mod: < http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=RFR: 20 Years of Rally >. It's called the rFactor Rally: 20 Years of Rally. It is based on some of the most significant rally cars since the defunct status of Group B. Some of today's WRC cars are some preliminary pictures.

--- The Transistion from rFactor to GTR ---
Let's face it. rFactor is a game you can really have some casual fun with if you like. GTR is straight up pro. Both driving models are dramatically different. To imagine what racing FIA GT cars would be like in rFactor, I tried out a number of cars in GTR (not GTR2. The requirements don't match my PC for GTR2). I look back on GTR from my rFactor experience, and all I can say is that GTR is dramatically different. This is not to say that rFactor isn't good compared to GTR. It's just that rFactor is a more casual and more accessible game than GTR. The aspect that I best take away from GTR is that the variety of cars and speeds are better in GTR than in rFactor. The loweest-powered car in GTR is the Lotus Elise. The most powerful is likely a toss-up between the Saleen S7 and the Chrysler Viper GTS-R. Maybe even the Ferrari 5xx series. It's the disparity of performance among the cars that trumps rFactor, especially in GT/Endurance/Sportscar racing. It's also why people are trying to get the FIA GT mod for rFactor. My lagging dial-up will take somewhere between a few weeks to even a month to fully complete. I'm around 9.5% and 10% complete after trying to download this for a few days. Still can't wait for some open-top prototype racing once the Sports Car Challenge and/or Le Mans Series mods are complete. At least half the puzzle is in that FIA GT mod.

Then too, one can kind of piece together certain mods and make their own GT class of racing if people can't get the massive FIA GT mod. I have the BMW M3 GTR mod, but haven't installed it yet. A basic GT race would be these BMWs matched up with Porsches. I think it's the Porsche German Cup that's the flagship version. That is just enough for a GT2 class of racing in rFactor if one sets up a race to feature BMWs and Porsches.


That's all. Happy President's Day!
 
Thanks for the heads up on that rally mod john, looks like it will be a lot of fun. That's sometihng I've noticed with RFactor, the consistecy with the mods is good. They're generally all being done to a pretty good standard.
 
My copy of the Nureburg(?) Village is pretty screwy, so I'll move on to something else.

--- Porsche Carerra Cup 2005 ---
I downloaded the whole PCC '05 package. The key one to download is the German model. You get these GT3 Cup Porsches that make some great horsepower and handle sweetly. Keep in mind that these are rear-engined cars. Front-engined cars give you that pull of the road. Mid-engined cars give you that handling advantage. Rear-engined cars (pretty rare combination) give you the same handling of the road, but rear/RWD cars can be a b:censored: to keep on the track. Unlike the Ruf "Yellow Bird" in Gran Turismo 4, these Carerra Cup cars have some great handling. You have to be careful not to gas it too early because the back end of these cars will loosen up as you head into the turns. In fact, it's almost like drift cars if you're not careful. The mod gives you one of the UPS Porsches to start out with. The one I'm using is the #3 Porsche as part of Araxa Racing. It is a blue and white Porsche that's kind of like the Team Arturo rF3 car. I ran a race at Surfer's Paradise and Hitchin. This series is very competitive. You may be leading by one or two seconds at one point. Then the next thing you know it, here comes a Porsche running right for your position. I've won both races in 20-car fields (thanks in virtue of having random positions of 2nd and 3rd in both respective races. Go out and get this if you love Porsches. I may "invite" some Porsches to one-off racing challenges. You can't have a sportscar racing series without GT2 and GT3 Porsches.

--- Le Mans Series Mod Notes ---
Visit this thread on another message board. Then look all the way down at the final post of this page: < http://enduracers.easyforum.fr/Endu...ion-f3/LMS-Mod-v10-Screenshot-Thread-t255.htm > (WARNING: mostly in French). Do you see that prototype? Yes. That is the Audi R10. And as you may notice, this mod is looking even more beautiful with each coming picture.

--- Green Hell ---
I am not the biggest N&#252;rburgring Nordschliefe fanatic. But looking in the rFactor lineup of tracks has convinced me to go for the N&#252;rburgring All Road package. The past few times I tried to get the all road package, the download stopped and failed (then, I'd lose my daily downloading opportunity for that day at rfactorcentral.com since I try to do things without wasting a single penny online). So I'm going to look into the Nordscheliefe package that was #4 by rfactorcentral.com. Any racing I do here in rFactor will be mostly limited. I do have sort of a soft spot for the longer races involving the Lienz Festival of Speed. I still can't imagine doing 24 hours around a track like the 24-hour configuration at Lienz.


--- Love Kart Racing? ---
...then here's your wake up call! The Intercontinental A Karting mod is available. Take a look at this link: < http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=Intercontinental A Karting >. Classic karting action can be had here. I just wonder if there will be smarter AI than that Superkart mod.


In the future, I may elect to get the X-Race Oval Series mod. I kind of feel like I'd want to do some racing in the form of the IRL or Champ Car. A mod on (then) CART in 1998 is in the works. So people get to race Alessandro (Alex) Zanardi when he was the big dog for Chip Ganassi Racing's dynasty in Champ Car. I did a post on rfactorcentral.com about this mod, and here is what I said about this mod:

"This mod project holds a special place in my heart. Reason being is because it was 1998 when I first saw a Champ Car race on TV. It was the Texaco Havoline Grand Prix of Houston back in 1998 (some of you may remember this as a VERY wet event). This was when Michael Andretti, Dario Franchitti, Paul Tracy, Greg Moore... and even a guy named Alessandro Zanardi were kicking butt and taking names. I loved the roar of these cars (today's Champ Car sounds are wonderful in their own right). I think if any Champ Car mod gets a green light by a mod team, that wonderful engine noise has to be captured very well. This is a mod I would love to race with in rFactor to remind myself of what racing in this series was like before the financial tumult it would experience years later. But all in all, it still remains a solid racing series. This 1998 deal were the days." -me; more info at: http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=Fedex CART World Series 1998

Thanks for reading!
 
My rFactor experience takes me to the N&#252;rburgring in some shiny new muscle.

--- Green Hell ---
I call it the "N&#252;rburgring Nightmare." In my previous write-up, I could not get the N&#252;rburging AllRoad package going. It wasn't until I found an alternative link someplace else. From there, I picked up the All Road package for this track. I got this variant out of curiousity. I still could not get Nureburg Village to work because of some missing or unspecified textures or whatever. I did manage to race some other tracks in the meanwhile. There is a Traveller's route that takes you around the southern end of the Nordschliefe. It was a bit slow to load since the track is so massive. I didn't get to fully complete a lap around the Travel course. There is also a course that the V8 Star series presumably used. This part of the track winds its way through a small village within the confines of the famed N&#252;rburgring Nordschliefe. In addition, this course uses most of the western and northern ends of the track. Finally- the nightmare itself. You get the full N&#252;rburgring F1 course... then get attached to the big track itself. I must say that it is the first time ever that I race the full N&#252;rburgring Nordschleife in any game. I'm most familiar with the N&#252;rburgring Grand Prix course because it is the track that I would agree to race if given the opportunity in a game. I've ran several laps around the Nordschliefe in GT4 and Enthusia (and maybe Forza as well). Combine the GP course and the Nordschliefe, and you get a 13-mile nightmare that will really test your patience and concentration. I shudder to think how many total corners there are. The course is insane. The minimum number of laps you can run for any race in rFactor is two. So if you did a two-lap race around this course, be prepared to have anywhere between 20 to 25 minutes for two laps around the full course. This is not a track for those who have little time on their hands.

--- Ferrari F430 ---
The Ferrari F430 mod gives you the awesome and beautiful Ferrari F430. You get a 485hp Italian stallion with only two choices of rear wings for customization. Because I want my own F430GT, I opted for the fanicer wing. You can choose between 10 different colored F430 models. I have two- one in the traditional Rosso Ferrari (Ferrari Red) and in a royal blue color. They handle very well and sound beautiful at speed. It's a very well done car.

--- X-Race Oval Series ---
Image Space... why didn't you think of Indy and Champ Cars? This mod gives you to ability to race Indy cars around your favorite circuits. The thing about this mod, however, is that the cars have rear wing styles almost like the A1GP. I think you should be encouraged to race with in-car views when behind the wheel of one of these cars. Some of you old school racing fans may instantly think "Indy Car Racing 2 comes to rFactor!" The problem is that large packs of these cars can be pretty slow to run with an in-car view of some kind. When behind the wheel of these cars, the steering feels a bit heavy. These cars get up to speed the way you expect an Indy Car or a Champ Car to be. I raced tracks like Laguna Seca and Surfer's Paradise with these cars. You get some custom car to use at first, but you have the ability to pick out your favorite Indy Car driver and their cars. For example, you get the cars of Dan Wheldon, Sam Hornish Jr., Helio Castroneves, Eddie Cheever Jr., and a little lady known as... Danica Patrick. There's also a treat for you Champ Car fans. You even get to race the #4 Target Chip Ganassi (then) CART car driven by 1999 Champion, Juan Pablo Montoya. One of my problems is that I can't really get my cars to push the 240 mph mark like these cars normally make it to. In addition, the sounds for this pack are... okay at best. You don't get that full signature roar of a Champ Car or an Indy Car. The braking sounds make me think that I broke something in the car. I know the emphasis on this mod was for oval racing, but the steering is a bit too heavy for road racing. I'm using this mod as my Champ Car and Indy Car racing series for rFactor. Until the 1998 CART mod is released for rFactor, this is the best way to go if you love the IndyCar Series or the Champ Car World Series.


And that's all from your Houston boy- John.
 
I've been having a blast in the LEYENDAS 76 BETA mod racing in some Ford Capri's at the Ring. I've just finished a 3 lap race and this is how close it was.

I finished in second place, I'm in the red and white car.

The mod can be downloaded from here (it's listed as the RFactor GTL beta), but it's a 300mb file.
http://wrracing.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=39

Oh and there's plenty of other cars in the mod too, a few different types of Porsche, the 904's, a few 911's and 914's, and theres the BMW CSL's, Cheverolet Corvettes (an 80's one I think), DeTomaso Panteras and Ford Escorts all to race with.
 
I know you people would love to see this: http://enduracers.easyforum.fr/Endu...-f3/LMS-Mod-v10-Screenshot-Thread-t255-15.htm

This mod is looking better and better with each new picture. The latest pictures on EnduRacers' thread contains pictures of the Audi R10 competing against other prototypes at Laguna Seca. I dare anyone to tell me that this isn't all that exciting. This group is doing an amazing job with this project.

As a side note, rfactorcentral.com is currently down. So don't expect any updates on my downloading experiences until the site is back up and running. Both Audi R10's are shown competiting in both pictures from the link I've given you all. The top picture shows both cars from the rear. The bottom picture shows the silver/red #1 Audi R10 leading the Highcroft Lola and the silver/yellow #2 Audi R10. Exciting, isn't it?
 
I picked up a very special mod today. I'll tell you about it in a future post.

--- John Goes Australian ---
I got the V8 Factor deal that includes Bathurst. This now makes it two Australian tracks I have (the other is Surfer's Paradise). I never realized that the Aussie V8s weighed 3100 lbs. This is about 300 pounds lighter than a Nextel Cup stock car. But man... these cars can fly. The V8 sounds were pretty good, but not really the traditional pitch of the Australian V8 engines. I have about 4 cars from the series I use. I stayed with the big factory efforts from both sides. So I have Mark Skaife's HRT Holden and the blue/white Ford Australia car. Because I love blue and some sort of gold or yellow, I have the dark blue/royal blue/gold Weldjen Ford. Included with this package is Mount Panorama- Bathurst. Simply put, this is the greatest track in Australia hands down. It is a race track that also serves as a roller coaster ride for race cars. There are some areas I struggle at in which trailing cars pass me in areas where I don't really need to apply the brakes. But for the most part, it's a well-designed course and a well modeled course on top of that. I applaud the developers for coming up with a brief tribute to the late, great Peter Brock. It is a very good mod. Be sure to download it if you love this kind of racing. Now I just need to win more races at Bathurst.

With the inclusion of Bathurst, I'm also obligated to have my own Bathurst 24 hour experiences. I can't imagine 24 hours around the Lienz 24 hour course, but I can with Bathurst because it's been done before. I think I even remember Peter Brock winning this race when I first seen it. He was in a Holden Monaro for that race. If I had something like the FIA GT series or anything like that, I'd probably try my hand with sportscar racing machines. Some of the pictures of the LMS mod by EnduRacers use Bathurst in pictures for their mod.


I'll be sure to put (this specific rFactor mod) on my PC and do some races in rFactor for it. What did I install? And how did I like this mod? I'll tell you what it is and how it worked on my PC in my next little write-up.
 
I was going to give happy news that I downloaded the FIA GT mod at long last from that WR Racing link live4speed brought up. However, the f:censored: executable was corrupt. So no FIA GT for me from that version. I was going to report that bit of happy news, but I'll have to be relegated back to BitTorrent. I'm at about 15% or so there.

Sorry for getting your hopes up.


On a lighter note, I did pick up the Sprint Car mod, and damn... those things are fast! I also got Indianapolis as a track download.
 
^lots of liveries the FIA GT champ. Great cars too.

I downloaded the Super Clio Cup yesterday, and have just had a go taking them around Surfer's Paradise. (Cause I love that track y'see) They are really good fun, and very nimble brutes.

Also took it on the Top Gear Test Track and got a 1.17.392... so I'm faster than a CCX :D

from Wiki
1 1:17.6 &#8211; Koenigsegg CCX (w/TG wing)
2 1:18.4 &#8211; Pagani Zonda F
3 1:18.9 &#8211; Maserati MC12

ClioTGTT.jpg

Lining up for Top Gear Power Lap
 
oh c'mon theres not contest a DBR9 is gonna be more powerful and quicker than any Clio. lol
 
* The Renault Super Clio Cup and Trois-Rivieres have been noted as Hall of Fame tracks on rfactorcentral.com. Something I've had a habit of doing in terms of tracks is with downloading F1 courses. There are some I don't like all that much like Imola and Indianapolis. But I got Imola anyways. I may even get Interlagos for rFactor. * There's been no real progress on the mods I'm watching (LMS, Sports Car Challenge, Radical Extreme Sports Cars, North American GT, and Mini Challenge), but some more pictures were posted on the "RFR: 20 Years of Rally" package. And let me tell you... it's going to be a great mod. I know what vehicle I'll use- the Peugeot 206 WRC (granted the mod has it). The 206 WRC has been one of my favorite rally cars in a number of games. Those include GT3, GT4, Enthusia, Colin McRae Rally 2... just about any game or mod that included this car, it was sweet to drive. Most likely rFactor will have a great remembrance of the 206 WRC. It's a great car.

As some off-topic stuff, click on "Buenos Aires" here: < http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/SAmerica/Argentina/argentina.html >. This track seemingly adopted some super-long sections of road. Variations of track include the Senna Curve. Talk about a multi-adaptable race track! I also never realized Argentina has had so many race tracks.
 
Is there a Monaco rfactor track? cant remember if its in game, or has to be downloaded in mod form
 
Yes. In fact, there are two Monte Carlos. One is the more modern Monaco while the other is best suited for old-school racing. I haven't gotten it yet. I'll report on these tracks that I picked up in a future post:

Interlagos (Grand Prix of Brazil; MAS error, no report forthcoming)
Imola (Grand Prix of San Marino)
A1-Ring (Grand Prix of Austria)
Sugo
Albert Park (Grand Prix of Australia)

The Intercontinental A karting mod is best suited for go-kart tracks because top speed is 75-80 mph. If you have a suitable race track, race that mod with those cars. Everything runs smooth. So go check it out.
 
Now let me report on some of the different tracks I downloaded.


Remember that I'm kind of making a habit to download F1 tracks. Reason being is because I've just grown fond to some of these world-class tracks. I sure dream of Monaco, but here are some of the others I downloaded on Wednesday:

--- Albert Park: The Australian Grand Prix ---
Now my Australian track count is at three. Albert Park is usually the first Grand Prix run. This track looks great. I thought it was good on SCGT, but it's much better in rFactor. It's probably safe to say that I love urban settings. I also like tropical-like settings as well. Set a race at 6:30 PM, and you'll see the AI have their headlights on. It isn't dark enough to illicit lights, but they are on. Never realized how long laps can be here.

--- Imola: The San Marino Grand Prix ---
As I noted before, I'm not really a fan of Imola. In my test run around the track, the track slightly runs slow. I do like the somewhat urban setting surrounding the track. Most of us know Imola for the WRONG reasons. That was the track in which we lost one of the greatest of all time- Aryton Senna. Some of the pictures from the Sports Car Challenge came from Imola.

--- A1-Ring: The Austrian Grand Prix ---
Now let's get one thing straight. Austria is a beautiful country. The greenery around this track is amazing. The track doesn't have a serious number of turns, but it is one of those "wolf in sheep's clothing" deals. The key point of emphasis is on how well you navigate the super-slow corners. It can be great fun in a beautiful environment. You could also say that this track puts me at two Austrian locales other than Lienz.

--- Interlagos: The Brazilian Grand Prix ---
It used to be that Japan was the final stop. Now it's Brazil(?). Unfortunately, there are some MAS problems when loading, so I'm unable to enjoy some Brazilian road racing. If I get these things straight, I'll report in another post.


I did get one non-F1 course:

--- Sugo ---
This should be the perfect set up- pick up as many Japanese tracks as possible to have some Japanese racing action. You can download Formula Nippon to race these courses, or you can wait on the JGTC All-Stars mod (like appie17). This course can be fairly moderate or fairly challenging depending on your view point. There are two versions that can be raced forward or in reverse. One version is the traditional layout while the other features a chicane at the late section of the race (presumably for motorcycles or really fast cars). I raced the chicaned version and found out the hard way about the chicaned portion of the course. But it's a nice course. It's challenging without being too challenging.

--- So You Want to Set Up a Japanese Championship? ---
A Japanese course in the works is Fuji < http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=Fuji Speedway >. Now if you're envisioning a Super GT/JGTC-style championship, visit < http://supergt.net/supergt/circuit/indexen.htm > for the schedule of this season's championship. Suzuka, Sepang, Sugo, and Autopolis are currently released. Fuji is still worked on for rFactor. Okayama and Twin Ring Motegi have yet to be conceptualized for rFactor. Visit this site for more Japanese race tracks in existance and in times past: < http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/Asia/Japan/japan.html >. Believe me when I say that Japan has some pretty interesting race tracks. Former JGTC tracks include Mine ("mi-nay") and Nakayama among others. I'm not sure if Tsukuba was raced by the JGTC in formal action. Tsukuba is also out already. Tokaichi looks like a street course with its layout. So there are plenty of options available to set up an rFactor Japanese championship of some kind.


--- In the Future... ---
I'm going to work on getting Formula Nippon, install my Lamborghini Gallardo Challenge, and maybe get Sepang. Here are some "stats" for you:

--- F1 Tracks That I Have Raced in rFactor and Sports Car GT (that I remember): ---
* Albert Park
* Monza
* Suzuka


--- In the Meanwhile... ---
It may now be possible to enjoy FIA GT action without having to worry about getting Simbin p:censored:ed off. Take a look at the FIA GT3 2006 mod: < http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=FIA GT3 2006 >. GTR featured the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Not much in the way of updates here: < http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=Proximus 24 Hours of Spa 2006 >. Mini Challenge is looking great as well.


Take care, everyone!
 
Here's something big that I have to report.

--- I Had it All Along? ---
Back track to when I noted that I downloaded the FIA GT Championship mod from another website. I said that the installation failed, resulting in me not having any FIA GT action. It wasn't until I was looking around on my computer for a folder entitled "Programme." I opened it and found a folder called "rFactor" in it. What I realized was that as the installer was trying to put this all into my rFactor directory, this extra folder acted as a sort of Temp folder. I thereafter tried to check for the validity of everything. Make sure nothing was hurt or not properly installed. As it turned out, all or most of the files I've tested all work. I checked a few *.DDS bitmaps- no problem. I listened to the three included songs- all very well. I then tried to copy everything to my rFactor folder. As I installed everything the long way, I didn't think this thing was going to work. Turns out... * everything works just fine! * So I'm officially part of the FIA GT deal for rFactor!

I tried to look at all the different cars. Among them, the first collection has most of the GTR machinery. I'm assuming most of the GTR2 machines were in the 2004 GT collection. My official test track for rFactor is Orchard Lake's road course. Again, I chose that track because it combines handling and speed quite well. Then too, it's a track to test high-speed driving. My first car was the black Lamborghini Murci&#233;lago GT-R with orange accents. The Murci&#233;lago in GTR was a very fast and very quick machine. Same in this conversion. I've won a few races with this thing. I even test drove the Maserati MC12 in the package. That thing is VERY fast! It was also harder to control as spinning out seems a bit more apparent. I think the highest I got this car to go at rFactor's Jacksonville Superspeedway was about 176 mph. This seriously trumps the high-end H6 Howston. Speaking of which here are some sample times I made in a one-lap pass at Orchard Lake's road course:

One-Lap Pass:
Lamborghini Murcielago- 1:19.978
H6 Howston (GP1-spec)- 1:31.787

So when I talk about some pure racing machines, this is about as best as it comes. I said that the H6 Howston is the best available GT racer in rFactor. But there's nothing like the FIA GT machinery. Only bright spot is if I use one of the lesser-powered machines against the Howston GP1 on the same course. Some of the lower-powered models include the NGT and G3 Porsche 911 crew, the lone Nissan 350Z, and (are you ready, live4speed?) the TVR 400R.

My testing regimen included several lapped sessions around Orchard Lake's road course with the various automobiles. I then instituted a test session featuring more than one car on track. The end result was a racing deal that went very smoothly. I then went out for real and came up with some races. Using the same track, I would do a race at 12:30 PM in the game, then do a 10:00 PM race on the same track. The best thing about this mod is that everything runs smoothly and that there isn't extremely long loading times to load every single car. Waiting usually gets long when there are multiple cars to load (I'm talking about different cars and not just the same car with different liveries). I thought the ETCC 2003 deal was smooth, albeit some long times to load each car. When the race was under way, the action all moved very smoothly. No serious slowdowns while racing. Night racing still goes slow on my PC, so I had to use the Auto FPS feature to get things to about 30 FPS during night racing. But it was still fun to get all those details worked out. I then tried to race various other race tracks in my collection. All went very well.

I think the only person I really have to thank is live4speed. You suggested the GT Legends beta deal when I went to that site for something else I saw. It all worked... eventually. Now I think I have something to occupy me during Spring Break starting this Thursday for me. It is probably one of the most popular rFactor mods there is. Getting something like this is an indication as to the kind of racing I'd love to take part in when either the Sports Car Challenge or the Le Mans Series mods are complete. At least you get half of the puzzle with these GT cars. I just can't wait for some sportscar racing action with prototypes. Even if this is a conversion of something of Simbin's, this is still a great mod.


--- FIA GT3 Project ---
A group of guys on rfactorcentral.com are coming up with a recently-unveiled attempt at bringing us all FIA GT3 action. Even the FIA GT3 Champ is a part of rfactorcentral.com and praised the work done with this mod. And unlike the FIA GT Championship mod, this one is pretty much 100% legal. Cars included consist of the Lamborghini Gallaro GT-R, Chrysler Viper Competition Coupe, and more. For more information, visit this link: < http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=FIA GT3 2006 >.


--- In Other Things... ---
I finally got Interlagos and Sepang to work. You apparently have to appropriately name the folder. I had to change the folder name in the Locations folder as "Sepang" for the Sepang course, then something else for the Interlagos course. I'll talk about my Interlagos experience in a future post.


And that's all from me in this report. I think I'll be in Heaven racing in rFactor right about now. ^_^
 
It's usually said that you never know what you have until it's gone. I still think this mod is pretty special with true GT racing machinery. I'm almost obliged to find a Porsche to use because let's face it- you can't have traditional sportscar racing without GT Porsches. Porsche 911 RSR's are a dime a dozen in sportscar racing. While I say that Porsches in sportscar racing is like Honda Civics in everyday driving, Porsche remains a competent brand with competent cars. The Porsches are reliable and capable. The FIA GT mod deal has several Porsches. I could have myself some Porsche racing with GT-spec Porsches. I usually look for cars either in blue or red. The most appealing wins my vote unless the car is crap. I'll definitely toy around with this FIA GT mod on the various tracks in my possession (and many more to come). I may even be inclined to do Lienz. I especially want to do Le Mans with these machines. Most of them would feel in their element here. I'm not going to give into any N&#252;rburgring Nordschliefe excursions. In the weirdest of challenges, I may even do the Lienz 24-hour course and have a simulated 24-hour trip around that course. The thing about the FIA GT mod is that everything seems to run so smooth and that loading all the cars doesn't really take that long. I'm almost inclined to do maybe 40 to a track. It's real funny how I could race against 20 cars in rFactor with little or no problems, but have everything run so slow in GTR. I think I attempted a full field of cars in GTR, and not only were the loading times slow, but the thing just slown down way too much. Now I almost feel like someone should come up with some kind of Le Mans Prototype package for rFactor so these FIA GT machines can be matched up against prototypes in traditional sportscar racing.

I noticed something about this mod. There is a certain damage dynamic to the cars. I had moderate crash damage (I set it to 25%, and the next thing I know it, my Zakspeed Viper doesn't have a hood or front fenders! I noticed this when I even raced a Lamborghini Murci&#233;lago GT-R when my front bumper was missing. Word to the wise- DON'T WRECK! That means all you NASCAR types. It's still strange how I still had all this from my previous failed attempt to install everything fully. This is still a great package even if it isn't a from-scratch deal. Massive download, so you may have some trouble if you don't have dial-up like I do. And that's all from me.

Mosport was recently released on rfactorcentral.com. Also, I recently found out that the Bahrain course for rFactor by CTDP also joined the Hall of Fame on this site at #18. It's well deserved because it's one of the brightest "jewel in the desert" courses. Congrats, CTDP.
 
www.skro.de is another mod site for RFactor, most of the mods can be found elsewhere but this site is very straight forwards and theres an addon pack for the FIA GT mod and a fix for the the pack. It adds the Chevy C6-R, Aston DBR9 and the Alfa 8C.
 
Funnily enough I've literally just downloaded it this morning. Not tried it yet though.
 
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