The F1 2010 Weekly Time Trial

[Meers]

Thanks for doing this, Boozy!

[Boozy The Clown]

It's back.

[Meers]

Nice one!

[f. grimes]

Even if it'll irritate me all over again , a new and unexpected week's trial is certainly a welcome sight. I had meant to ask a few days ago about further interest and offer to continue with things if it was okay with yourself and our trialling buddies, Boozy. Perhaps for the better, I've had a bad few days and didn't get to even draft that post. I wouldn't want to let anyone down if... when the worst pain grabs me but if a back-up is ever welcome, I'd be happy to try to create a trial and would do my best to administer it for the week.

I added a positive to your results post the other day with a hope to return to properly leave a little appreciation, Boozy. You made it happen and as I've said before, both gave me an 'escape' and created the reasons to persist with this GNNNNNGH of a game. I found fun through participating and watching those times come in that otherwise wasn't there.

Thank you.

Onto today, knowing things were turning bad, I loaded F1 for the first time since Hungary and got myself two laps in. I'll get a better run one day! No matter, it's the old way: still tryin'! Like each preceding week, no matter how briefly, I'll aim to make another attempt - even though the better-than-expected (after the demo) Steam-y bargain Dirt 2 will be calling me away, the tasty siren! I really am going to have to med-up and have huge amounts of luck so that I can try the wheel with that one. There's hints of good stuff through the pad, so I feel that I'm missing out somewhat and if it's there, would like to experience control rather than twitchiness.

If no-one minds me asking here, do we not have a Dirt 2 thread? I tried the forum search during the night and then also ran through more than twenty pages of Google results to find nothing but references throughout a bunch of threads for other games. Maybe I'm out of Google Fu for the week...

Oh. F1!

Grimesy - M/PC - 1:37.213

Grimesy - M/PC - 1:36.244

I'll be back.

[Boozy The Clown]

The Dirt 2 Time Trials Thread

The Dirt 2 Time Trials Results thread

The Discussion

Dirt 2 thread starts here

Dirt 1 & 2 were contained in the one discussion thread which is probably why you had trouble finding it. That and it doesn't have the word dirt in the title wouldn't have helped. I've linked to the first post where Dirt 2 is brought up. Unfortunately you'll need to read through all the usual pissing and moaning speculation that comes with any codemaster's game between announcement and release.

Sorry to hear your having a bad time of it Grimesy.

Dirt 2 didn't take off the way I'd hoped it would, so it didn't go the distance. Great game though.

The PGR4 TT's were much more successful.

PGR4 TT thread

PGR4 TT results thread.

[f. grimes]

Wow! Thanks for that. Way more than I dared hope for! Again! Just popping in, so I'll read through things when I'm feeling a bit better over the weekend.

The reminder of Gotham 4's welcome too, B-Man. After I asked about it recently, I did return to the TT thread and found your later "*" for DLC cars, so I should be able to get somewhere dabbling with the standard cars available from the start that are hopefully in your lists.

8)

Oh, and I'm top o' the table again, eh? Yep, still got it...

[Boozy The Clown]

1. TT ends Midnight on Tuesday 7th December

[f. grimes]

I'm later than I wanted to be adding this, but here goes...

Despite doing everything 'right' something wasn't on my side and I couldn't get a good hold on the pain (how novel!). No matter, I'm here - and yes, as much as my timing was bad and as mad an idea as it was at that point, I did have a go yesterday evening. I guess I had the game working for me, after all (distraction).

That time immediately got down to a 1:35.159 and then...

Grimesy - M/PC - 1:34.875

I have two more. I'm holding onto those for now*.

[*Whilst also hoping that the last-minute guys do reappear this week... ]

[Meers]

Don't worry, my time will be posted tonight.

[f. grimes]

I was hoping you'd say that soon!

[Meers]

Meerman - M/W - 1:31.700

Sorry!

[f. grimes]

Oh man, so close!

Grimesy - M/PC - 1:31.69999999998 (unofficial timing)

Damnation! Least you tried. Good effort, old bean.

...

Ahem!

Meanwhile, not knowing if I'm provisionally at the pointy end, the back of the field or somewhere in-between, those other two laps:

1:33.368

Grimesy - M/PC - 1:33.094

[Meers]

Took me only 15 minutes.

[Boozy The Clown]

No.10 - 1/12/10 - 7/12/10 - Sepang Malaysian Grand Prix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXUBY2PvfcQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TByQb9mf28

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR3VYNFIIIs

Car - McLaren Mercedes MP4-25

-----------------------------------------------------------

Final Results

1. Meerman - M/W - 1:31.700

2. Grimesy - M/PC - Grimesy - M/PC - 1:33.094

3. Boozy - DRLC/A - 1:35.490

FFS!

[Meers]

I blame bandwagon hopping.

[morcs]

Sorry Boozy, I keep letting Boozy Racing Events^TM slip by. I blame work.

[Boozy The Clown]

New TT for you all to get stuck into over the weekend.

All 2 of you.

[f. grimes]

I'm not fit, but I'm going to try to run a few laps soon.

It does sadly look like there's a hefty measure of truth in Meerman's comment (people really do hop around quickly, these days!); but there's always the possibility of other reasons - whether that's interest waning with the real-world F1 season's close or just not having time. It's a shame people haven't been able to give it even a few minutes, though.

I have a serious dislike of the game whether or not I compare it to old favourites or even its contemporaries and pain's never on my side ("FG - the broken record!"), but I'll always try and post a time as long as this is running. I'd be happy with Forza trials as a replacement, but I sadly still don't have it yet. Back to F1, besides giving me an interest in the game through trialling and the 'escape' that I've posted of before, it seems the least we can do given your efforts maintaining it all, Boozy.

P.S. Yes, I am the eternal optimist!

[f. grimes]

I said I would, so here I am.

1:38.377

1:36.146

1:35.866

1:35.750

Grimesy - M/PC - 1.35.512

As probably usual, the times are deceptive in suggesting I'm at my limit. It'd be an easier second up if the time hadn't been disallowed due to a blade of grass running across the track and into my path! There'd also be a heck of a lot more than that to come if I could see where I was going. It has always been a problem with this game for me and I found that this is one of the worst tracks of those I've tried so far. With the heaviest braking zone, I have been hundreds of metres between applying the brakes on different runs (i.e. guessing, rather than feeling it), with my only way to slow being to put them on and off... some time, in such a bad way that I'm often, perhaps usually having to accelerate back up then brake again too. Worse yet, I'll have to do that repeatedly, as I have no sense of distance - and of course, no sense of timing to help gauge things and get into a 'rhythm'. More recently, I've had it sometimes with Gotham 4 during my brief sessions but improved somewhat with repeated runs on the track in question.

Having not struggled in such a way during twenty-five or twenty-six years of something that might be termed 'sim' (Revs being my first benchmark) or any other racing game besides the aforementioned Gotham 4, it is so frustrating now. Though I didn't want to, I think the only thing left is to try looking at editing the camera settings. It is an option as it's on the PC, leaving me with the hope that a change in viewing angle might be enough to offset some of my visual problems with the game. It's been too uncomfortable all year and I expect it has to be that or stop playing.

There is some optimism in there!

[morcs]

Which view do you use at the moment?

[f. grimes]

It's good to see you in here, morcs.

For a while, I ran with The Only View (cockpit) but between eye strain and the ridiculous antenna on some cars (see this week's Red Bull), I settled on the wobble-head cam. Aside from problems with each antenna to varying degrees, I unsurprisingly prefer the cockpit view. However, I can't always look 'past' an antenna and with very little between cockpit, nose and flopping head cams other than nose cam feeling too low for me, I've found the roll hoop camera to just barely be the best compromise.

[morcs]

Ah I can't bear the cockpit view! Without peripheral vision everything feels like 3mph.

I know it's more realistic, but it's a realistic version of driving an F1 car with a camera, TV and remote control!

Above helmet cam for me

[dayte]

Has anyone noticed how 'bouncy' the car is on this track? Or is it just my setup?

[f. grimes]

Yep, that surprised me - particularly coming from this game. I briefly toyed with suspension-related settings and it remains bouncy with both harder and softer settings on any of the components. I did for a change find that softer settings seemed to make a difference to how things felt and as I heard the floor scraping the ground anyway, stayed with the softer suspension option.

I don't think I'll manage it, but I'm hoping I can try a run for another few minutes tonight. I'll have to add a 'Grimesy B' if these numbers stay low! Have we climbed up to five of us this week (excluding 'Me B'!)?

[dayte]

I'll do a quick few laps before the race tonight, keep you company Grimes (A).

1.35.070

[Boozy The Clown]

Thread's dead baby. Thread's dead.

Forza 3 TT coming soon.

[morcs]

Looking forward to getting Forza out!

Not too powerful please Boozy!

[morcs]

BTW for me the desire to F1 will come back when the season starts again. Time trialling a circuit then watching it for real is awesome.