Simmunity pre-alpha testing + offline championship discussion

testers

Testers, I've created a new event and captured it using the tool released today.
View attachment 15908

Initial testing has gone well, so please try and apply this file with the latest tracks.exe (you were pm'd)and upload results.

 

Done. And great mod The tires are just wow. Thanks for giving me a reason to download it

Testers,

FYI, I have extended the "expiration" time period for Lobby and Interactive Offline Championship to 30 days to allow more time to race. Keep in mind that the "first attempt" rule is still in place, meaning that only your first upload in the last 30 days will count. This is to prevent unfair advantage of knowing the results of your competitors.

I will also be adding a Rank page which does not have this restriction so we can submit as many results as we want and have fun "one-upping" each other

And I also want to eventually add a couple of more pages (although we will need to test concept using this thread first to get the process right) to enable sharing/"publication" of championship designs (VEH/Talent/AIW ; Setups ; VMOD ; race configs ; skins ; etc ; etc.) as well voting on the design(s) to use for structured weekly Interactive Offline Championships.

 

Malaysia. Just for fun (who cares that it didn't exist in '92 ). Default setup + terribly slow (gives me something to work on! )

http://www.mediafire.com/download/9v9ynt3tjdz3z0b/Filtered_Data.zip

Edit - Silverstone ==> http://www.mediafire.com/download/fpfgb9n0betdwfw/Filtered_Data.zip

 

haha yes, I didn't get along well with earlier versions of the mod, but this one is magic.

...And pleased to report that everything looks like it's working perfectly.

I noticed the filtered data folder is now deleted when performing the import or export which is good but it made me wonder...
When we export, it would be nice to either have track/car in the zip name or some method to differentiate the filtered data zips and on the flip side, when loading a list to choose from.
That way I can point the folder to my downloads directory, download the file and apply it without archive/copy/paste/apply.

I can see myself with 150 filtered_data zips with no clue if there was one I wanted to keep. It would also be useful for those events where we can keep tying to outdo each other.

 

Yep agree 100% so will add this to the enhancement list along with David's different file extension idea so we can use windows Associate for one-click download-apply.

Edit - It just occurred to me that some may not be aware that the plan is enable uploading/attaching/downloading configs directly to/from Lobby, Session Summary, etc. Doesn't preclude IMO the value of ability to name / select files to apply. Just thought I'd mention because it presents an option to storing / managing files locally where you instead can just use the one-click feature to download/apply from website when you race vs navigating local directories if that makes any sense.

 

Mat I downloaded your config but it didn't work, I guess because I don't have the mod you used. Which one is it? This is the line in my 'all track.cch' file before I go ingame:
SinglePlayerVehicle="C:\Games\rFactor2\Installed1MultiPlayerFilter="|1979_un|GP79_Alfa|GP79_Arrows|...then lists all the cars"
TrackName=CROFT_ROAD_COURSE

PSR if we don't have the mod being used, perhaps we need a popup saying what mod we need to get?

 

I will add that to the enhancement list.

Testers,

I have added a new link "Rank(Time)" to the website, where Matt should find me nipping at his heels at Malaysia in the F1'92

Note that (to avoid clutter) the Lobby will NOT show every result that you add to it for a given combo and, in fact, once you have added one result to the Lobby for a race you no longer even have to add subsequent attempts to the Lobby for a combo as your latest upload will automatically be used

I'm coming after you, Matt!!

 

Hi Rapala, the mod is the 92 F1 season from these guys ASRFormula.com

While I have that combo installed, I searched all the files collected and neither croft or the 79 cars were listed, so it must have...
a) stayed the same as the last config you used
or
b) had a wild stab in the dark and got it wrong

I'll have a go at an ISI config and upload that once I've woken.

 

It's probably because it's early but I feel a tad confused about this sentence.
Can you differentiate the scenario where this is used as opposed to what we discussed about only allowing the first upload to be applied?

 

A bit off kilter I was yesterday... Today... I'm on song and firing all cylinders.


You've already done it lol...
Sigh give a man a chance to finish brekky will ya!

 

Sure.

For the Interactive Offline Championship only the FIRST uploaded file will be used.

For Rank, only the LAST file uploaded is used.

NOTHING will be used for a given combo until AT LEAST ONE result is added to the lobby for that combo but after that the most recent result uploaded will automatically be used for RANK and there is no need to add it to the lobby.

 

Awesome, that's some nice design.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

View attachment 15918
Stock ISI collection from new tool.
Silverstone National with Spark F2

 

Go it working now on the ASR92 mod, just too useless to finish a race without crashing.
Try again tonight and upload hopefully.

 

@Rapala, do me a favor and try to apply Matt's Filtered_Data.zip above for Spark F2 at Silverstone. I am getting some weirdness and want to know if you are getting the same.

@matf1, do me a favor and make some changes and "re-apply" your Filtered_Data.zip above and see if you get any weirdness.

This is what I get in Scene section when I apply it...

Code:

  "SCENE":{
	"AI Database File":"C:\\Users\\rf2sucks\\Documents\\rFactor2_930\\Installed\\Locations\\Malaysia\\1.42\\MALAYSIAN_GP.AIW",
    "Options Component":"rFactor2 UI",
    "Options Dir":"C:\\Games\\ISI\\rFactor2\\Core\\UIData\\",
    "Options File":"UI.OSC",
    "Options Version":"1.0f",
    "Scene Description":"MALAYSIAN_GP",
	"Scene File":"C:\\Users\\rf2sucks\\Documents\\rFactor2_930\\Installed\\Locations\\Malaysia\\1.42\\MALAYSIAN_GP.SCN",
    "Scene Signature":"751beca0bd964763a70e69b35f2c80ff42f7c8d582d6a54817240b15d4f31848"
	"AI Database File":"C:\\Users\\rf2sucks\\Documents\\rFactor2_930\\Installed\\Locations\\ISI_Silverstone_2012\\1.35\\SILVERSTONE_NATIONAL.AIW",
    "Options Component":"rFactor2 UI",
    "Options Dir":"C:\\Games\\ISI\\rFactor2\\Core\\UIData\\",
    "Options File":"UI.OSC",
    "Options Version":"1.0f",
    "Scene Description":"SILVERSTONE_NATIONAL",
	"Scene File":"C:\\Users\\rf2sucks\\Documents\\rFactor2_930\\Installed\\Locations\\ISI_Silverstone_2012\\1.35\\SILVERSTONE_NATIONAL.SCN",
    "Scene Signature":"b5330b9590ca206529cc737c96bf053d13196f8e4f80f4197aed8158deff32bc"
},

...and I didn't even have Malaysia for Scene originally, I had Mills. I also created my own Filtered_Data.zip with Silverstone, changed track and applied and it worked but every time I apply your file I get Malaysia added to Scene file along with Silverstone. I looked at your .json extract and didn't see anything of note and I also sent to developer so she can reproduce but this is disturbing so want to make sure others can reproduce also. Only other idea I have is for you to "re-Collect" to create another Filtered_Data.zip for me to try again...

Edit - @Rapala, nevermind I think because I see a race from you at Malaysia in the lobby (and NOT one at Silverstone) so I think I already have my answer from you

@matf1, just to be sure do you mind re-creating Filtered_Data.zip as a re-test just to make sure?

Also here is a Filtered_Data.zip that I created (at Silverstone National) for you to test please ==> http://www.mediafire.com/download/8yel140llfd377z/Filtered_Data.zip

 

Found the bug and boy it was hiding well.
It occurs when applying and then collecting within the same session. If I close the app in between, all is well.
The data is appended instead of replacing so clearing the buffer before an event fires should work fine.

 

Nice catch, Matt. Thanks!

 

OP updated with new website and race config tool training videos and stable race config tool download link for new testers.

 

Now that the race config tool is stable I'd like to begin brainstorming, formulating and testing a structured championship design ==> publication ==> voting ==> administration process.

As some of you are aware, my development approach is to manually test processes prior to automation or user interface enhancements because the forum thread as a means of communication and sharing and the wireframe website user interface allows for a great deal of flexibility as processes are being shaped and tested.

Having said that, allow me to share my thoughts regarding one way to implement structured Interactive Offline Championships with maximum quality and participation levels.

The first is to limit the number of simultaneous championships to focus participation (avoid grid dilution) and a number of the core testers have referenced iRacing's model of having few, focused races by genre and possibly voting on combos used, etc.

This sounds good to me and I would only add two ideas. First is that, while the user base is still growing, that we have only one race instead of a race for each genre JUST until we have the numbers to support multiple genres but of course that idea may be bad because having multiple genres can increase demand as well so again like I said I am just brainstorming so, as usual, please reel me back in if I am overthinking it. Also regarding this idea is that if it DOES make sense then we could vote on genre and then on combos/design (you get the idea. Now on to design which is idea number two...

What I have found in designing my own championships is that a fair bit of testing (i.e. testing if combo is good and testing what to set AI strength % of each combo in order to produce a reasonably level degree of challenge from race to race, etc.) and in some cases modding of content to, for example, eliminate situations like a driver who is on multiple teams (as is the case with the T280 vehicle) because this prevents consistent participation from race to race etc., etc.

My point is that a good championship requires good design and testing and thus the Solo AI Championship might be the perfect "incubator" for a championship design. So for example, you can create and test your championship design as a Solo AI Championship (of course saving your race configs along the way with the config tool, etc.) and when you are satisfied with your design you simply "publish" your championship to a Championship Lobby just like you add individual races to the regular Lobby today. Then people could vote on which design to race next week, etc., etc. And a side benefit is that others could use your design to duplicate your individual experience in their own private private Solo AI championship, etc., etc. and you could compare overall results with each other at the end of the complete private championship, etc., etc.

So to summarize I think the Solo AI Championship is a good way to define, test and vote on potential Interactive Offline Championships.

Thoughts?

Edit - Please also include what mod you would like to race in our test championship, whether you are flexible, whether you have an existing design or would like to create a design for us to use or any thoughts regarding design (such as short races, long races, weather, full weekends or race only, etc., etc.) so we can decide on something most will be happy with to get good participation in the test.

 

See OP for development updates