Board Thread:Game Discussion/@comment-30967537-20190108000156/@comment-28169398-20190111210331

SM Racer wrote: RattleSnack wrote: Szanky wrote:

RattleSnack wrote: Do a quick test for yourself. Try starting and stopping the stopwatch on your smartphone in the shortest time possible.

The best I can manage on my iPhone is 0,08 seconds, which is somewhat slower than 1/20th of a second! RattleSnack, You are right this is one factor. I just did an quick experiment. I used to go off-track at T12 and T20. I recorded 10 runs and stopped the video when I started to break. I was fairly consistent with the break point at T12 and T20 +/- 1.5-2.5m. In my case I think the variability was more significant in the speed at the break point. I had +/- 6-13kph diff. I draw the conclusion that consistency is the key. I cannot control MP4-X well and a lucky good exit in the previous turn (where I used to be bad) kills my lap at the next. Good point! The differences in speed attained at the braking point just compounds the braking consistency problem.

Basically this car has insane acceleration and deceleration, which multiplies the effect of our inconsistent human reaction times. If we were (ro)bots it wouldn’t matter. There is more of a case for using brake assists with this car.

I actually can brake quite consistently after the long straights, which is why I‘m not complaining about the lack of markers on this track like some others are. My problem is more lack of steering consistency, especially through sections like the esses where you have to just throw the car from one corner into the next. I am just flying by the seat of my pants through these sections with no time to think, which sometimes sort of works, but mostly goes horribly wrong with no chance of correcting! Good discussion of the issues here. In addition to the variables of braking point and velocity at the braking point, I'd break "steering consistency" down into two parts: (1) turn-in point, and (2) rate of rotation. Regarding (1), I find it much harder to be consistent on turn-in point than braking point. With the braking point I'm staring at the marker as it approaches and generally brake at my marker, but for turn-in you have to elevate your eyes toward the apex and can't track a marker! So it has to be done by 'timing' or 'feel'. At the corning speeds of the MP4-X, getting the timing right seems to mean a window of a couple of hundreths of a second!

On (2) rate of rotation, carrying the highest speed through the turns means staying at the limit of grip, which specifes a particular arc (or line) through the turn. It's not a constant degree of rotation, either, given the weight transfer of decelleration and acceleration and the grip changing with speed. There is no marker for nailing this line, it's all feel. And in RR3 we don't get feedback from the car!

What awes me about Jan's runs is the speed he carries through the turns, meaning he nailed the turn-in point and line. I just can't do that with any consistency. I have a long-standing problem of not turning in as aggressively as the grip can handle, but even when you get that right you have to have turned-in at just the right moment for that line to arrive perfectly at the apex.

The MP4-X just makes all of this faster and harder, and the consequence is lack of consistency. I think SM Racer's points have a lot more to do with the issues that people are seeing and the Velocity of the car and the rate at which things happens only magnify it.

The reaction time that RattleSnack is talking about is that of responding to an unexpected stimulus. With braking, the brain is simulating everything before hand, so the signals are being sent before they need to be. Take the first turn. You are pretty much looking for the braking point the instant you cross the start line. Your brain already has a plan for what it is supposed to do well before it. Now if a deer suddenly ran across the road, that is where that instantaneous reaction comes in.

For me, I think that the hardest part about COTA is that one turn sets up the next in a way that we don't see on the other tracks in the game. The amount of rapid changes in direction, and how sharp those changes can be not only can catch you out, but also have a big effect next set of turns.

The interchange between turns 6 and 7 were the places I kept getting caught out the most. Then even if you make it through there, you have to nail turn 8 to set up turn 9 so that you have speed for that stretch of straightaway. There were times I could make up 3/10ths on my ghost just by getting the turns right in that section. Getting 13 slightly wrong leads to getting 14 a little more wrong which leads to a really bad exit on 15 where your really want to be carrying as much speed out of that section as you want to be flat to 19....

It is a great test, but I agree with the sentiments of many in that it feels forced and not organic. While difficult as well, Spa feels a lot more natural, like that is the way the track should be and as a result there is a flow to it. COTA feels more like someone decided they would make a really hard exam as a challenge.