1973 Indianapolis 500 [May 31st]

Anyone have any Tips for setups?

The Default setup is decent, you can almost run wide open once the tires heat up. Engines are going to be an issue though, the "lesser" Offy's have ver different reactions to the same gearings.

That depends on wether you are talking about race or qualy setups. The defaults are "safe" race setups, which I put to help people not inclined to fiddle around with the garage to be able to run well. You can go faster with some more front wing in race trim, which will also help in traffic (Get ready for heavy aero effects, these cars generated gobs of drag and turbulence around them), but you will pay the price of a more delicate handling.  Tires are designed to wear evenly or a bit more on the front in normal conditions, as otherwise you would end the stints with a very dangerous tod rive car.

My advice would be to spend some time driving on the server (once it is up on May 1) with others in a pack. Then you'll see, as Alberto says, the huge effects that the turbulence from a car ahead of you creates. If you have an even-handling car, it would suddenly push because of the lack of frontal downforce in the turbulence.

Another key factor is the fuel load. During the race you'll be going from 75 gallons down to zero, which means the handling changes a lot.  If you start the run with an even-handling car, it may be too loose by the end of the run, so you have to come up with a compromise setup you can live with during a full tank run.

Sadly, when I try to download the mod, I get a captcha on the download page that won't go away so I'm unable to download the mod and have a go to see if I might join up for this one

Jonatan Acerclinth wrote:

Sadly, when I try to download the mod, I get a captcha on the download page that won't go away so I'm unable to download the mod and have a go to see if I might join up for this one  

That happened to me when trying to download the update. I waited a few minutes and tried the link again and it worked.

Jonathan if the problem persists let me know and I will PM you a working link

For those of you who have been having issues with Mediafire downloads,

Try these:

1.0b update
https://mega.co.nz/#!W5kiDDwQ!kTP1id-RevMZ0T0UFQrdkgcQipN1J7co5ly3zsJWcW4

1.0 mod
https://mega.co.nz/#!alNWHBIQ!F4JFkcEN0-McJTp0IydIajT7Zk3OkdAxdoZFtXrYYMg

track
https://mega.co.nz/#!r8VUUJrC!O2cfFdafEL0-Ctf6VC8eUtyyjDu3k-FF8kNiI8UEtDs

Going back to the setups topic, a car that is predictable and easy to drive is key for success. You maybe think you can handle a little bit of tail happiness in exchange for a couple less tenths a lap, but believe me, after 2 hours, in the middle of traffic, and with worn tires, you can't.

As much as i would like seeing everybody crashing and me winning the sportsman in me preferes to race against a full field rather than ending the first hour with half the cars that started.

For anyone looking to test setups offline with AI, I created an addon that makes them at least halfway competent. The addon requires the track pack at the top of the thread and adds a new track called "1973 Indy 500 Trainer" with:
-Working fast, inside, and outside lines.
-Working pit in/out and paddock-to-pit path.
-New grid and teleport positions. Cars now grid two wide.
-Some AI slowing parameters in the AIW eliminated for more competitive running.

Download here:
https://mega.co.nz/#!IgB3RY7D!NWdZ2tY0KVgQhbqVIVw6aM2cLjDsdZyMKzep4UOlCJM

For best results, set the following in your plr file:
AI to AI Collision Rate="20"
-Significantly higher and lower values caused cars to run into and through each other quite a bit more. Very messy.
Fixed Upgrades="1"
-So the AI will use your boost setting.
AI Limiter="0.00000"
-So it's a race, not a parade.

It's still not nearly perfect (being rfactor AI, after all) but generally about 2/3 of the field reach the finish in my testing. The biggest issue at this point is AI collisions in the pitlane from one slowing to enter their pitbox and the other running right into the back.

Wow that is great Dana you saved us lots of work for the 1.1 version of the mod & track

Dana
I will give this a test later.

Great work!

Dana, is your version of the track completely separated from the one we are using for qualy and the race, or does it overwrite the 73 track?

No overwrites!

It relies on files from the trackpack but it's really just a new .aiw and the supporting files (.scn, .gdb, etc) to allow it to be listed in-game as its own track.

From what I gathered from what Alberto said, We cannot choose to change the lefts, only the rights.

No, you can change all four or only one side

Well when I'm ingame there are only two tire slots, Front and Rear, Front and Rear stagger I assumed. There is no option for all 4 separate tires on mine.

I did a quick test, and you can save about two seconds if you only change right side tires. That may not sound like a lot, but a second in the pits can be 100 yards on the track. So it could be quite significant when two cars are battling for position. Of course if you are repairing the car, the time figure is shot to hell.

Yes Richard but when you are on track the pit menu in-car gives you the option to change right side only

That's where I was talking about, will check next week.

I plan to launch the server at midnight tonight, Eastern Daylight Time (which will be 6:00 AM Paris Time, May 1).  I do not foresee having any issues, but if any complications occur, I will post an update here.

Will there be a hot lap tracker?

Jason Fitch wrote:

Will there be a hot lap tracker?

Yes there will be.  Once the server is launched, I will post a link. 

Good practice to you all ! Go for that 200 mph lap !