League Admins: League essential features

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by 88mphTim, Aug 29, 2013.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. RJames

    RJames Registered

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2012
    Messages:
    567
    Likes Received:
    0
    Actually this is a very good point and one i forgot, thanks for bringing it up!

    Having the ability to skip directly to a car would be fantastic and make the streaming presentation much more professional. If we was able to (at least in config file) assign key's to each position it would make things much easier. For our streaming i'd put together a dedicated stream button box, with each button assigned to a position etc.

    Rob.
     
  2. Denstjiro

    Denstjiro Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2010
    Messages:
    2,952
    Likes Received:
    14
    Ok a few more from us, its possible its already been mentioned :)

    Essentials:

    * Auto-vmod functionality. (select car/track and vmods gets created) (using custom vmods if people want to do more with it) (possibly force login to auto-create ID)

    * In-game admin control panel (using buttons etc instead of the pesky /commands)

    * session hold button/command - simply suspends the session timer instead of resetting the session. Would be very useful in cases where we see drivers disco right before heading to racetime


    Useful:

    1. ADMIN 'announce' mode which halts/mutes other chatters so announcements can be made
    2. ADMIN 'broadcast' mode which send chat message to both off track chat plus on track racers [this would override incar chat muting]
    which needs:
    3. allow drivers to set incar chat for only ADMIN Broadcasts (and all the redundant chatter or join/leave messages simply don't show)


    Basics:

    * built in sprint/feature race weekends with grid resetting parameters [top 5/10/etc] - would greatly simplify everything.

    * Show flags in replays (very helpful for stewards and race analysis)

    * built in weekend report option - xml data is great but to get leagues using rF2 a built in report export would go a long way

    * in the server list, box with info on car/track status...allow admins to add extra info below server name. simple text will do. would help to advertise better and users can quickly see what the deal is for that particular server.
     
  3. DocJones

    DocJones Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2011
    Messages:
    403
    Likes Received:
    5
    I agree on the broadcasting stuff in previous posts and would like to add something I have seen in iRacing streams. When switching between drivers who are rather close together on track, the camera makes a pretty realistic swinging movement like a real cameraman would have to do. Don't know if this is a standart feature in iR or a plugin, but it adds a lot to a more professional broadcast.
    Would also be very nice to have: functionality for the broadcast operator to replay incidents without rewinding the live image (keep showing live action while the operator rewinds the replay to find an incident, then on his command show the replay, then switch back to live action). A dedicated broadcasting tool for all that might be a good idea.
    Why do I mention the broadcasting stuff in this 'league essential features' thread? Broadcasts are becoming a key factor for the success of leagues in my experience as an admin. Also, ISI should see it as free advertising of their product. The better it looks in a broadcast, the more potential buyers.


    Other things important to have for me (some already mentioned)
    • Random weather. Really, we need it.
    • Sanction overtaking under yellow flags.
    • Option to create events with multiple races, including options on reversed grids etc., all set up at the start of the event. In the recent Q&As I read it's something you are aiming to accomplish. Listed here again as I want to have it sooner rather than later. It's a real pain in the behind atm if you run a 2nd race with reversed grid and want to have some control over weather and realroad settings in the meantime.
    • Make marshals show yellow flags also when non-car debris is on the track! There's no warning of haybales and reflector posts on track and that is just a killer in league racing. If this is impossible to implement, please give us Spa & Monaco with an option to remove/disable haybales (two layouts for instance, one with & one without haybales).
    • Make reflector posts at Spa either visible at all track detail settings or, as above, with the option to not have them at all. Equal terms for all drivers is essential in league racing. Others talked about rainspray and tire smoke, but the reflector posts are an even bigger problem imo.


    Waiting for more users. Judging from the number of views on rF2-specific threads on our forum, there is huge interest in the sim in our community. Only few of those readers bought rF2 yet, though. Reason being, imo, that there is a lot of negativity on graphics quality (decreased with the release of recent cars & tracks, but unfortunately replaced by talk about excessive performance demands), unresolved aswell as new bugs with seemingly every build & slow development (even though I'm sure you guys are working your asses off!). To overcome that I think we need solid builds. Take your time on those, but make sure they're solid.



    Great idea, +1
     
  4. Guy Moulton

    Guy Moulton Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 12, 2012
    Messages:
    2,310
    Likes Received:
    16
    A lot of the features I'd like to see are already on the way so the only things I have to add:

    1) have a different type of install for servers than playing. In this type of install when you load up the dedi server a lot of the options in the .plr are available to change without opening the .plr directly. Things like safety car multiplier, recon time and etc.

    2) make sure updates only come out on Wednesdays. Most leagues race on weekends or the beginning of the week (of course there are exceptions) and a weds release gives a couple days for MOST leagues to update. Even if it's on Monday, MOST leagues already raced so the update won't cause too many issues.
     
  5. Radar

    Radar Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 20, 2010
    Messages:
    687
    Likes Received:
    60
    Additional to what others have written, plus my own..

    Essential/required (explain why essential, why would it be REQUIRED for your league)

    1. Damage Physics. I made changes to the rF1 damage file where hitting a car hard enough pushed in panels where it was hit. Rolling the car showed the roof impact depending on where it hit (ground, another car, etc.). Even side swiping a car showed evidence of impact. Made it easy for replay review where drivers would say 'I didn't hit them'.

    2. Turn the smoke down was mentioned, as too was the ability for players to 'turn down' their Special FX settings so they don't see rain spray, smoke etc (essentially cheating as one mentioned). I'd like to see an option for admins to set for a Low, Med or High Special FX setting on the server so that players on that server are on a level playing field. GUI Setting.

    3. URL Download Link in the VMOD rather than from the RFCMP file. This has been discussed in the forums, but I believe it will be easier for admins who create Race Series' rather than using d/l links from other tracks and mods ie I could use my Leagues FTP download URL as a primary look-up for downloading any missing RFCMP, if not found then use the RFCMP URL to download.

    4. Driver Reconnection to allow drivers to re-enter a race after a disconnect. If their Player ID matches, then they could start in the Garage in the same car after a reconnect.

    5. More than 1 x Race over a Race Weekend If we set the server to the number of races (max 5 maybe) that it uses the finishing positions from the previous race rather than having to manually change the grid. Having more than one race over the weekend adds an additional challenge to Tyre Management but it's something that was used in the V8 Supercars and something that no other Sim does. If this can be added, please ensure that a Warm-Up session is added between races, an option server admins can turn off if they wish, but helps if rest breaks are required between races. GUI Setting.


    Useful/nice to have (things that would make your life easier, your league more successful, etc)

    1. Knockout Style Qualification sessions ie Top 10 Shoot-out. Ideally an option for an admin to set the number of qualifying sessions (say max 5), and to set which drivers it affects from the previous Quals (say Top 15, Top 10 etc). GUI Setting rather than editing the PLR file.

    2. Tyre Management An option for a 'Set' number of tires to be used over a weekend, 6 Sets, 10 Sets etc. (obviously resetting a weekend will reset the tyre management), and which compounds they 'must' use (Compound A, B, C, D, E values would be easier than setting it by name (soft, med, sprint etc) I would imagine. In the drivers menu, drivers have the ability to use their used tyre options available, or a 'green' tyre/s option available to them. GUI Setting.

    3. Forced Pitstops An option to set how many pitstops must be done within Laps / Time. GUI Setting.

    4. Random Weather I know the function is there, but it doesn't work and I know it's coming. Would be nice to see this working soonish, along with Rain Drops on the windshield. I was going to put this into Basic, but I think it was more complicated than basic otherwise we would have it already :)

    5. Grid Editing for those who have Admin password privileges through the in-game GUI setting at Warm-Up session. Same screen as where they could reset the Race Weekend, they would see the option to Edit Grid. Options available 'Random', 'Top 10', 'Manual' (Manual reads the drivers from the Quals session, admin could then click the driver and place number next to driver to represent grid spot for Race. File that it creates could be something like GRIDEDIT.XML, if rFactor 2 doesn't find this file then it proceeds with reading from the Quals .XML file. GUI Setting.

    6. Success Weight Ballast / Penalty for those who have Admin password privileges through the in-game GUI setting, could add weight to a players car (Mass Weight Value) by clicking the driver and to enter any value they wish. I realise that a weight ballast to a car is more complicated than just the cars Mass weight ie center of gravity is also affected but maybe some standard formula that changes this value also ???. GUI Setting.


    Basics (what you consider fairly basic features that you would have expected us to have implemented, but haven't yet seen)

    1. Pitlane Speed on Dedicated Server GUI rather than in the PLR file. GUI Setting.

    2. RealRoad to normal rate, not accelerated rate. Someone suggested a setting on the Server GUI, I do like this idea as we then have the choice of 'Normal' or 'Accelerated'. GUI Setting.

    3. Tyre blows after excessive wear (currently doesn't blow). Driver can limp back to pits for replacement tyre.

    4. A Mirror Showroom without anything else :) It was nice to take a screenshot of the car without seeing some Lazy Susan or Record style turntable. Just a black screen with the cars reflection, that's all..
     
  6. smithaz

    smithaz Registered

    Joined:
    May 3, 2012
    Messages:
    272
    Likes Received:
    1
    This is more of a bug report but I'd say they count as essential league features.
    1. In qualifying, it is possible to set a laptime which counts to your grid position even if you start the lap after the chequered flag is out.
    2. No penalty is given if qualifying ends and you have an outstanding drive through or stop go penalty.
     
  7. Ricklandia

    Ricklandia Registered

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2012
    Messages:
    111
    Likes Received:
    0
    Better/more control for dedicated server please.

    Currently, unless I'm wrong, the only supported option for starting the dedicated server is through the launcher. For league purposes [in rFactor1] we had the ability to create 3 seperate driver profiles [Practice Player, Club Race Player and Race Day Player] which then allowed us to use Windows Scheduler to auto launch these profiles at preset dates/times. VERY useful. So far I do not see that as being possible in rF2.

    Practice/Qually times - currently in the dedicated GUI you can set Race time of day but not Practice session, or Qually. Might be possible in either the PLR or Mult INI files but would be greatly easier if in the dedicated server GUI.
     
  8. Dave-NRT

    Dave-NRT Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2012
    Messages:
    364
    Likes Received:
    2
    Tim:

    You might want to take a look at The Sim Factories: :ARCA Sim Racing 08" Bob and Nick came up with a very ADMIN friendly control panel.

    re: GUI menu's.

    Just a thought seeing you are looking for some suggestions.

    The ARCA Admins would have liked to seen more, but...that is usually the case.. :)

    Dave
     
  9. Galaga

    Galaga Banned

    Joined:
    Jul 16, 2013
    Messages:
    1,292
    Likes Received:
    2
    I think the following questions are also relevant for rf1 league admins:

    1. What specific features are you currently using in rf1 which are unavailable or buggy in rf2?
    2. What mods are you running in rf1 that you need in order to rf2?
    3. If numbers one and two above were satisfied, what would most compel you or prevent you from moving (I.e. RealRoad, physics ffb improvements, graphics improvements, graphics bugs, system requirements, etc.)?
    4. How many league participants do you currently have in rf1?
    5. What is your league name and website address?
     
  10. F1Fan07

    F1Fan07 Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2012
    Messages:
    627
    Likes Received:
    46
    Too much to read and check so if these are repeats then consider them as extra votes!

    Essential/required (explain why essential, why would it be REQUIRED for your league)
    - better logic for pit stalls. Leagues I've raced in sometimes run into issues with multiple cars using the same pit box. I realize that's controlled by the track files adn mod files but it would be nice for the sim to have base logic to try and sense a conflict and reassign the pit box in the event of a conflict
    - indication in Pit LCD of your pit stall # so you know before coming in approzimately where you need to stop.

    Useful/nice to have (things that would make your life easier, your league more successful, etc)
    - load real road preset from chat line before advancing session like: /realroad "Mills_Race"
    - a web GUI for server control so I can make adjustments without a RDP connection to the server, for example with a tablet

    Basics (what you consider fairly basic features that you would have expected us to have implemented, but haven't yet seen)
    - ability to set reverse, random, reverse Top n grid from the chat line /reversegrid for example
    - some form of quali grid browser in a server admin GUI, most server admins have had a server issue that forced a restart and the quali order gets scrambled. Currently it's nearly impossible to quickly find/load the correct grid unless you have a RDP session open to the server.
     
  11. JWE

    JWE Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2010
    Messages:
    97
    Likes Received:
    2
    First thing I can think of is that I would like to have te opportunity to restart the qualification too.
     
  12. tommy86

    tommy86 Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 10, 2012
    Messages:
    161
    Likes Received:
    4
    Essential/required
    - Special Effects : on/off server settings for rain, spray and smoke
    - Tyres : add option to force the use of 2 different compound during the race. add tyre in use on rfactor lap times monitor
    - Server commands : more user-friendly commands (like edit grid, penalties etc.) - adding an extra window for server commands will be great.
    - Collisions/damages : improve realism, more accurate collision models
    - Weather : natural track behaviour (smoother weather change, realistic weather, download data from weather service).
    - XML : add more informations to best control drivers, if needed.

    - Useful/nice to have
    - PitStop : add pit stops info on lap times window
    - Standings System : add a central standing system, directly connected to each driver and its license.
    - Qualifying : add support to qualyf format like real F1, qualyfing sessions (Q1-Q2-Q3)
    - Engine/Tyres : add tyre usage limitations (during race weekend); add engine consumption feature


    - Basics
    - KERS : add KERS feature
    - Tv Style : add something similar for live tv streaming (customizable)
    . DRS : add option to disable DRS in raining conditions.

    Thanks
    VirtualRacingGroup
     
  13. RMayfield

    RMayfield Registered

    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2011
    Messages:
    82
    Likes Received:
    0
    Useful, Nice to Have:

    I love that you can script the weather at 5 different points, but after watching the 2011 BTCC races at Oulton Park, they started on a damp track but it wasnt raining. Some teams started with slicks and some with wets. This gave me the idea of having at least a 6th option for something along the lines of "Track wetness upon arrival" where the percentage would pertain to how much water is already on the surface. To go along with this, think back to Qualifying for the 2013 Formula 1 Spa Francorchamps race where the weather went through tons of different stages in just one hour. Hopefully we can do multiple sessions in one day (Final Practice then 3 Qualifyings like F1, or Practice, Qualifying, and Race like SSCA, etc) while the weather and road continue progressing.

    Almost every race event has multiple support series running on the same weekend. What do you guys think of having an option to maybe choose a number between 0 and 10, with the number pertaining to how many support series have run in the time before your own session? In theory this would define how much of a dry line is already forming/formed on the racing surface after a shower. Without rain, this could help define how much the racing line has "rubbered in" before its time for your series to get on track.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 3, 2013
  14. F1Fan07

    F1Fan07 Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2012
    Messages:
    627
    Likes Received:
    46
    I just remembered a "nice to have":

    - The ability to restrict aids by driver. It's hard to explain what I mean without an example. We run a V8SC series with fast guys, mid-pack guys and new racers. It would be awesome if the admin could create a file ahead of time that assigns max level of aids to each driver. That way we can let the lower class guys run with aids but not the top. Something like this in a txt file we can run with the batch command:

    /editdriver Senna TC=0, ABS=0...
    /editdriver Grosjean TC=1, ABS=1
    /editdriver MyMom TC=3, ABS=3
     
  15. cloudXXI

    cloudXXI Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2011
    Messages:
    98
    Likes Received:
    4
    * Useful/nice to have

    -KERS, Push-to-pass,... let modders had the option to use them and setting them. Just like you can modify a car for having pitspeed limiter or not, give modders those options
    - Options for different weekends formats: two races, inverted grids, Q1, Q2, Q3,...forced pitstops, forced use of different tyres...
    - Option to set a maxium number of tyres in a weekend. And the ability to use tyres in race already used in qualy. Plain and simple, F1 races

    * Basics

    - Option to choice the speed limit in the dedicated server.
    - Random Weather
    - Penalty for crossing pit lane while exit

    Basically, options to race real F1, DTM, V8Supercars races....
     
  16. RichFreed

    RichFreed Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2010
    Messages:
    29
    Likes Received:
    0
    [BASICS]
    In addition to reinstating incidents into the log file......

    Update the replay system to include next & previous 'incident' buttons.

    and to reitterate previous requests - Options to enforce Blend Line infringments -> need to have the ability to specify either ALL, Entry, Exit.
     
  17. Denstjiro

    Denstjiro Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2010
    Messages:
    2,952
    Likes Received:
    14

    + over 9.000!
     
  18. zim2323

    zim2323 Registered

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2011
    Messages:
    132
    Likes Received:
    1
    +99999999999999

    Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4
     
  19. Guimengo

    Guimengo Guest

    Useful:
    - With a user waiting for open server slot, allowing him to be added with pit start upon doing race restart, instead of having to restart entire weekend.
     
  20. andy breedon

    andy breedon Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2012
    Messages:
    34
    Likes Received:
    0
    If you haven't switched yet: What are you waiting for? If you have, what else do you need?

    I manage a community at www.simracingpro.com, we have been patiently waiting to launch leagues for a while, the reason we wait is that the sim is missing so many utilities and unfinished parts of the sim for us to be confident of a smoothly ran league, tyre compounds, driver swaps, reversed grids, additional qualifying sessions, mulitple race sessions, parc-ferme, success ballast.

    If you can, please split your list into:- Essential/required (explain why essential, why would it be REQUIRED for your league)- Useful/nice to have (things that would make your life easier, your league more successful, etc)- Basics (what you consider fairly basic features that you would have expected us to have implemented, but haven't yet seen)

    Such much to thing about and lots to include, many have already posted what we all need as league admins.

    -Parc Ferme; not only the option of using parc ferme rules but also defining those rules specific to how we wish to use parc ferme for our leagues. This will aid us to personalise how we wish to use parc ferme and can tune it to match that of any other real life series that uses different rules.

    -Pre-Season Qualification session & live results feed; This feature could run as its own session, over a specific time frame set by the admins drivers can enter the server to qualify to enter a league etc, if it was to produce live timing files that can then be synced with a php file system that we can post in our forum or on the site with live updates of the qualification session (every 60mins updates etc).
    Quite often our leagues receive more sign ups than we/the sims can account for, or we host two divisions with a promotion/demotion point system and we are lucky we have a talented script writer to make a live qualification results page to make qualifications available to us though it takes alot of work. The feature will aid admins to set up a timed qualfication server to place drivers either in the league or decides which division they must start in.

    I understand it maybe hard to impliment but what a feature that would be!
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page