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[Raceray]

Hi Bernard,

There are many other items to be considered in order to conduct a fair race. Who is organizing these details?

i agree, we cannot expect that all organizing things have already be done by Martin!

I do not forgot that you were the first initiator of a x-sim racing league and i appreciate it. Unfortunately the time wasn´t ripe for our community in those days and your efforts come only to little feedback of our members. (Me included). I thing the time has changed, more and more members own a real motion simulator and are willing to drive against other x-sim members.

So, don´t take it badly when i ask you "now" for help in organizing our first common race.

How much bandwith we need for estimate 20 user? How cpu hungry is it?

I could try to help out with our server, running rFactor server with WINE on Linux. (Maybe as second "backup" server) But I never set up a rFactor server on Linux before and it needs some testing.

Maybe you find a way and are willing to reactivate your "old" gameserver?

[bvillersjr]

Sorry, I never played rFactor.
Some generally questions to the most votet game rFactor:

1. Why you need a server, is the official gameserver bad or is ,if a user opens, a host game bad?
2. It seems the skins are slowly transfered, so making a package of all skins may help?
3. What are the quick entry steps to setup for a fair race with "noobs". (Car etc. ...)

Here in germany I think everybody has a adsl connection with 16000 MBit and fastpath for good pings.

The x-sim game interface will provide a track voting system, you do not need to vote here because this will change
after each solved race. Also the game creator will have to offer a step by step manual what the drivers need
to join his game (he can offer a link to a skin pack which has to be downloaded and installed). This quick
and free changable text can carry e.g. the game server name to join to.
I thought the creator will host the game = is gameserver.
Alowed simulators and the played game are listet in the main chat system.

cu

The 'host a game option' from within rFactor or any game for that matter lacks many of the features necessary to host a league race, which is why all serious leagues have dedicated servers. If you like I can eleborate, but it would be a long list of lacking options.

I am not sure that track voting within the software will be useful because the dedicated servers already provide this. Most importantly, the dedicated servers are aware of which tracks are installed and available to be served and are therefore able to offer an appropriate list for people to vote on.

Also, a dedicated server collects race statistics for all participants . One of the features of the SimXperience Commander is to collect and present these statistics.

Also, even a quad-core PC will not both play the game and host 20 users.

I can prepare a dedicated rFactor server with a quad-core processor and 32gb of RAM sometime this weekend.

Another common thing for leagues to do before a race is to have the dedicated server online with the tracks that will be ran so that drivers can practice and everyone has a fair shot. If yoiu look around in rFactors multiplayer section, you will see many locked league servers that are labeled for practice.

SirNoName is correct about skin packs. Everyone will need to upload the car skin that they intend to use (if it is not a default skin) so that others can choose to download and install it.

Also, if any non-standard tracks or vehicles are being used, the host will need to make these available for download before the race as well.

Other items such as flag rules, damage percentages, amount of practice time, fuel consumption rates, etc... must be decided upon. Maybe the best approach is for me to get my dedicated server online, and let people practice on it so they can form an opinion.??

[Raceray]

Hi Bernard,

I can prepare a dedicated rFactor server with a quad-core processor and 32gb of RAM sometime this weekend.

What a beast, i assume that thing does not stay in you living room

It´s really great. After some training hours, we should discuss pit stop, flag and other rules as you said.

Are there ways to integrate racings statistics like actual driving track, pole position, fastest lap into the "new" x-sim website? Maybe some files, XML, CSV or API acces to a rFactor server DB?

B.tw. my rFactor DVD copy (to drive online) will be delivered monday, i hope so.

regards
René

[egoexpress]

Just would like to remind, that we didnt choose any tracks so far.

I think we should deactivate pitstop, fuel, tire wear etc for the first few races...

It will be tricky enough to get the whole thing running together with XSim etc, so we should keep the race itself as simple as possible for now, imho.

regards

[bvillersjr]

The server is almost ready. I should have it completed this evening. I started a quick web page (http://www.simxperience.com/XSimReleaseParty/tabid/184/Default.aspx) where I will post whatever cars, skins and track files we determine are necessary. I will also be posting some vehicle setup files and rFactor tips here in hopes of making the race a little more fair.

I will post back here with the name of the practice game server tonight. Also, anyone with a track preference can respond now and I will include it in the server and download web page.

[Raceray]

Thanks... i will drive my traininglessons on it, when it´s done

Track desire: Nurburg ring (nordschleife), Bahrain, monza, monaco

[bvillersjr]

Sorry for the delay! I ran into a few issues with my new firewall. The rFactor server is ready, and I will adress the firewall issues tonight so that everyone can access it.

Is there any interest in having the TeamSpeak server put back online? I recieved a PM about this recently. I dont want to build it again if it isn't going to be used.

[bvillersjr]

The game server for the X-Sim 2.1 Launch Party is now online and accessible from your rfactor installation by choosing "join a game" from your rfactor multiplayer menu. The Game name is X-Sim launch party. It is difficult to find in the rFactor list, but it IS there. For some reason an alphebetical sort does not always work correctly in rFactor, so you may have to look through the list manually to find it.

The default rFactor cars are terrible, and so we will need to choose a mod. Currently, the server is configured to use the McLaren F1 mod, which has received excellent ratings, and I am also sure that the cars geometry is correct and therefore gives out correct g-force information. Additionally, the cars default setup is VERY competitive, which will make the race a bit more fair for newcomers. You can read more about and download the McLaren F1 Mod here http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=McLaren%20F1%20Challenge Please be sure to download version 3.5. Another decent mod is the NAGT mod. I am placing these files on my website, as well as default skin templates for those of you that want to paint your own car for the race. Please be sure to let me know if you have creatyed a skin so that others can download it before the race begins.

The server is configured to allow most other default rFactor cars, but you will have little chance of winning in these vehicles. I highly suggest downloading the McLaren F1 version 3.5 mod!!! If anyone who is planning to participate in the race is having difficulty understanding how to install the mod, please say so and I will get some installation info posted for you.

Currently, the server is configured to use black flag only rules (this saves alot of time because we wont have to re-run formulation laps after each caution flag). Fuel and tire use are set to normal, but will be disabled soon.

I was unable to find Nurburg Ring or Nordschlief. I thought that they were part of the default install. I am investigating this further to see where I can download them from. Currently, only three tracks are enabled (Essington Park, Mills Metro Park and Toban). They are default tracks that came with rFactor, so everyone will have them.

Also, I added two AI drivers to the server, so you can find out if your connection performance is acceptable.

Please post any opinions or issues back here so we can address them BEFORE the race.

[Raceray]

Hey guys,

i want to tell that a buddy and me are driving at the gameserver for some trainings. Would be nice to see some of you there right now

Edit: @ Bernard you find the nordschleife here:
http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cf ... ing%202007

Cu
René

[Raceray]

Can u tell us the IP of the Server? Sometimes the server is online, but very difficult to find...now it seems to be offline...cannot find it anymore.

Thanks.