2025 Season

[André Jahren]

Hi,

Here's a suggestion to the 2025 calendar:

30.01 Kyalami
4 weeks
27.02 Dijon 81 v2
3 weeks
20.03 Imola
5 weeks
24.04 Beal Valley 60s
4 weeks
22.05 Thruxton
4 weeks
19.06 Silverstone
4 weeks
14.08 Goodwood 65
4 weeks
11.09 V.I.R
4 weeks
09.10 Salzburg 74
4 weeks
06.11 Zolder
4 weeks
04.12 Rouen
2 weeks
18.12 Hilltop Torphy

[Bjørn Finnestad]

Well selected tracks André.

[André Jahren]

Olaf,

Did you get my PM?

[Olaf Lehmann]

Happy New year to all!
For info: I decided to drive Lotus or Eagle this season.

[snafu]

I've kept a low profile since my retirement from the final race of 2024. I visited the doctor regarding my ongoing issues with cramp in my foot while racing and is seems the cramp is actually a result of a different issue. I appear to have an issue with the "Talus" bone in my right foot. (It's a bone which allows the foot to pivot so it gets a lot of use in a racing sim). This might restrict my appearances in 2025.

I read with interest the comments about next season in the WatGlen71 thread and here are my thoughts.

I'm not sure dropping back to "Int" mode is really necessary. Unless it was already rolled back and I wasn't aware don't we currently run in "Olaf's Realistic" mode? (Which aligns the damage model with offline parameters). I seem to remember we used to run standard GPL realistic settings which I think are broadly in line with offline Advanced? I might be wrong in this assumption. But if I'm not I think dropping back to the previous version might be a suitable option.

Although I'm reluctant to complain about any innovations or work done by everybody who makes this league so enjoyable, I do think the variable repair isn't working as well as we might possibly have thought. If the races were a lot longer I think it has it's place but in a 1 hour (Average) race length a repair needs to be a complete repair, 100% not "partly done". It just doesn't work in my humble opinion. It took me 3 "repairs" to get my Brabham running in a straight line after damage at WatGlen71.

Increased tyre wear when off track... I've never been a fan of this and I've seen nothing this season to change that opinion. Off track excursions should be an annoyance not destroy any chance of a win and probably requiring an extra pit stop for tyres. There is no way tyre wear should increase to any noticeable extent running over the grass. I would much prefer to see reduced grip period extended as a compromise.

Tyre changes and repairs... A few of us have been able to modify our driving style to make a non stop strategy the fastest way to complete a race. I think the on track tyre wear is perfect. I definitely find the last few laps a real balancing act even if I've compensated earlier in the race, so a definite thumbs up from me. But for those who have worked this out it makes a stop for anything other than repairs a complete waste of time. So, I think the time for a tyre change and repair should be reduced. I understand clean driving should be rewarded but equally I don't think a pit stop just for tyres should effectively put you out of contention for the win.

We need more drivers... I suggested this prior to last season and I'll say it again. I think we should get a direct link in place off https://srmz.the-fastlane.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=32. The HIES vision is never going to be to everyone's taste but any extra publicity can only be good. I would also like to know why the regular names who I see on the practice server do not join us for the actual race, and also why previous regular drivers such as Doni and Dan decided to stop competing.

Sorry for such a long post and I don't want to sound like I'm complaining because I'm not, I'm just offering my thoughts.

TTFN
John.

[Olaf Lehmann]

Thank you John for your thoughts.

I have been struggling for weeks with an ingrown toenail on my left foot. I can only put on a few shoes, otherwise it becomes very painful. In between, the problems were almost gone several times; then I hammered my toe again and everything started all over again.
We all get old.

Although I'm reluctant to complain about any innovations or work done by everybody who makes this league so enjoyable, I do think the variable repair isn't working as well as we might possibly have thought. If the races were a lot longer I think it has it's place but in a 1 hour (Average) race length a repair needs to be a complete repair, 100% not "partly done". It just doesn't work in my humble opinion. It took me 3 "repairs" to get my Brabham running in a straight line after damage at WatGlen71.

Increased tyre wear when off track... I've never been a fan of this and I've seen nothing this season to change that opinion. Off track excursions should be an annoyance not destroy any chance of a win and probably requiring an extra pit stop for tyres. There is no way tyre wear should increase to any noticeable extent running over the grass. I would much prefer to see reduced grip period extended as a compromise.

You'll probably lose your chance of winning with the variable repair. Well, yes. However, the variable repairs also run faster than in real life. And: From the perspective of a slower rider like me, it seems to me that you still have a good chance of catching me...
I recently had the experience of André finishing behind me twice and it wasn't easy for me, despite multiple repair times.
From my point of view, variable repairs lead to unusual results (in case someone collides somehow) and that's intentional.

I can understand the annoyance about the tyres that sometimes virtually break in the grass.
I got the idea from a suggestion from André, who wanted us to have 0/1 and 2 stop strategies if possible. The wear effect really does seem to be more differentiated. On the other hand, the effect you complained about certainly takes some getting used to. I also noticed that with the new tyre model I usually had significantly more wear on the rear wheel than the front. The previous tyres were better balanced, it seems to me.

My conclusion: The old tyres would be perfectly conceivable. But I would be reluctant to do without the variable repair.

I'm not sure dropping back to "Int" mode is really necessary. Unless it was already rolled back and I wasn't aware don't we currently run in "Olaf's Realistic" mode? (Which aligns the damage model with offline parameters). I seem to remember we used to run standard GPL realistic settings which I think are broadly in line with offline Advanced? I might be wrong in this assumption. But if I'm not I think dropping back to the previous version might be a suitable option.

In dirtgearpatch, the damage model is always the same, whether INT or PRO, online or offline. It is always the hardest damage model that is used in normal gpl offline in PRO or GP mode.
So in dgp INT mode the cars are just as sensitive as in PRO mode.
My point was that the drivers who have lost a rear wheel, landed on the roof, got stuck in a hay bale, etc. can still continue driving - especially because there are so few of us.

We need more drivers... I suggested this prior to last season and I'll say it again. I think we should get a direct link in place off https://srmz.the-fastlane.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=32. The HIES vision is never going to be to everyone's taste but any extra publicity can only be good. I would also like to know why the regular names who I see on the practice server do not join us for the actual race, and also why previous regular drivers such as Doni and Dan decided to stop competing.

Well, I don't know if that really brings in more riders.
At the beginning of the year I always invite people to the next season in the forum there (I'll be doing that again soon). We are represented in Weekly (I have just entered our season and races). So all should know what we're up to...
But I have nothing against the suggestion if someone not called Lehmann wants to tackle it...

BR Olaf

[snafu]

Ah ok, I think I was becoming confused regarding Int & Pro and Advanced Damage and Realistic Damage. I've seen people (Unconnected to HIES) use the terms interchangeably.

So, if I'm now understanding correctly when you talk about Int & Pro you are referring specifically to the DG patch?

If so, then yes I agree that trying the Int version of the patch could be a good idea. I notice (If I'm reading the latest "Readme")..... The gear failure isn't repaired even if you return to the pits for other repairs. Am I understanding this correctly? Is it always the same gear which suffers failure? No alternative way to repair the gears during a race?

As far as getting an entry for the league added to srmz, I don't think it is any work on our side, we just let Paul know the address to link to (Either the main page or this forum). Plus provide a short sales pitch to tell people what we are about.

TTFN
John.

[Olaf Lehmann]

So, if I'm now understanding correctly when you talk about Int & Pro you are referring specifically to the DG patch?

Yes, all the time I´m in dgp universum.

Is it always the same gear which suffers failure?

No, it's gear 1,2,3 or 4. Which gear is absolute randomly.

The gear failure isn't repaired even if you return to the pits for other repairs.

Correct.

No alternative way to repair the gears during a race?

Very Good question. This brings the focus to a detail that I forgot to mention in the last post...
Originally the driver had the failure until the end of the race. But later I thought it's too disillusioning in long races.I would give the driver a bit of hope in better times...
At this time I saw in a real formula1 race in TV a driver lost a gear for some laps and then it works again. Nobody knew why.
So I developed an randomly selfrepairing algorhythm: Self-repair will occur at some point. It is not possible to predict when this will happen. If I remember correctly, it often happens after about 15 - 20 minutes, but it is really random. Theoretically it could happen one second after doing ShiftR (but this is very, very unlikely) or after one hour (this is also unlikely, but not impossible).

BR Olaf

[André Jahren]

I can understand the annoyance about the tyres that sometimes virtually break in the grass.
I got the idea from a suggestion from André, who wanted us to have 0/1 and 2 stop strategies if possible. The wear effect really does seem to be more differentiated. On the other hand, the effect you complained about certainly takes some getting used to. I also noticed that with the new tyre model I usually had significantly more wear on the rear wheel than the front. The previous tyres were better balanced, it seems to me.

BR Olaf

Olaf,

If possible, let's try a different tire wear model this year. One that is more on track tire wear related, and not so affected by a trip on to the grass.

Br
André

[Olaf Lehmann]

I didn't think of something yesterday: It exists no dg version with old tire model and variable repair.
And I lack the motivation to bring the two things together.
There are simply too few people interested to make the work worthwhile. And unfortunately there is no prospect that there will be more, especially as I could see that PDLR is now also driving on Thursday evenings.

Therefore, in view of John's thoughts, I would suggest using old tires and normal simple repair as in 2023 in INT mode.
Unfortunately we can't use the old version as there was a small bug regarding INT mode. But we could use a version I just put together with little effort and uploaded to the server.
You can now download this version (813) as usual (see first post in the dirtgear news thread).

P.S.: Andr'e...I forgot...: v813 has different amount of tire wear like in 2024 and in the the years before. So you should run the server in mode INT Short that we have enough tire wear.