Targa Florio WIP

This is how most people are, very few actually prefer long tracks like the 'ring, etc. Not to say I didn't go through a patch where the 'ring in GPL was my favorite track...

 

Unfortunately it is difficult to learn an entire track when you have to drive through 50+ corners in a single lap and the time it takes to do so runs the in the 10's of minutes. This is where it would be nice to have a training mode where you could select a section of a track and practice that area till you have it memorized, then move on to the next section similar to what the GTR2 training did.

 

That or ghost of your self!
I really think that ghost is a very nice feature when you want to improve your self and learn a track

 

I go in phases, typically I prefer more complex tracks with lots of turns but quite often I love to hit up the 'ring and just cant stop!

I can pretty confidently say that if I had an infinite stretch of track in RF2 I would probably have died in my chair by now.

 

Problem with ghost is it can be just enough distracting that you can't see the road properly specially when you are running just a bit behind the ghost.

 

The point to enjoying Targa Florio, is the fact that it *IS* so long! The objective is to drive the course and marvel at its scenery, while taking in its gorgeous landscapes and horizons, and be able to do it with the dozens of cars we'll eventually get here in rFactor 2. I don't like long tracks either but Targa, as well as The Isle of Man are the exeption to the rule. They are beautiful tracks and I always get lost in their environments when driving them in GPL.

If only we could get Jim Pearson to start doing a full IoM or Dundrod for rF2, that would rock!

 

When it is well programmed the ghost get more and more transparent as you approach

 

It was called Targa Trainer in GPL, Im not sure if rf1 Targa had it.
It did what you are saying. It divided Targa in sections and you could drive where you wanted.

btw it was not so difficult remembering Targa. It looks (well, it is!) intimidating at first, but soon you remember at least dangerous points.
One thing in your favour is that you have so many easily remembered refference points (villages, carambinieri, Fiat 1300's he he).

 

I don't know about Targa,because I never raced this track, but I love long tracks like the Nurb' where I remember every cm of it!

 

There is big difference between Nordschleife and Targa. And the difference is learning curve. Nordschleife is very unique track because it has certain type of "flow". It is easy to learn as most of the turns are such that you have time to brake into those turns when you first see them. Sure there are few spots which needs to be remembered. Reason why Nords is so appealing is that it is easy to learn, but hard to master. From Super 2000 class racer to a Formula One, it is fun ride. All sorts of different cars adapt naturally to this road flow.

Targa in contrary, has mostly turns that you have to remember. It has lots of tight blind turns after relatively high speeds. It is not scenic drive, it is mostly hard work. More powerful car you have, harder it gets. I always wanted to like this track, but it is not very fun after all.

 

I love longer circuits. Nords, Spa, Targa (which I don't know well at all, admittedly)... They offer a very unique challenge from a bygone era. There's just nothing like them.

 

I´d like to disagree.
IMO Targa has the "flow" you mentioned, with the exception of a few tricky places you need to remember.

Best way to get a feel for it is to start with slower cars (they´re more fun anyway )
and keep the fast cars for when you really know the track.

But at the end of the day, everyone enjoys different kinds of tracks.

I can only speak for myself when i say the most fun i had in simracing was on this track

 

For me it was completely opposite, I agree with Nikos.

Learning Targa was actually easier than nords for me.

If you only did like 5 or 10 laps at the targa, you can't really say if its easy or hard to learn.

While learning Targa seems totally impossible at first because it doesn't have flow and there are so many blind corners, with every next lap you do the landscape suddenly starts to help you so much that you start to remember it much quicker and quicker.
Overall I'd say the total time required to learn Targa is comparable or even smaller, despite Targa having 3 times more corners (almost 600 damn!).

Nords is actually more about brute memorizing than Targa. I think I did less than 100 laps on targa, maybe 50-70?

Btw I managed some 31:10 with Capri DRM, which is about the fastest car that makes sense on the track, 80s or newer cars really don't fit there graphically nor by feel.


But it is important to note that the first couple of laps I felt frustrated and thought that all those GPL guys who had been driving for a year or two are lying. And I couldn't understand how they can enjoy this torture. It takes time until you start enjoying it but it is so worth it to persevere

 

Interesting opinions I never had problems learning Nords, sure there were those 3-4 spots I always crashed in the beginning, but apart from that, it was pretty much just gas and go. Targa, and similar type of tracks (but shorter) are way harder to get grasp on. I'd say that for example Machwerk falls in the same category, I've lapped it hundreds of times and never learnt it. There is just something that doesn't click...

 

Well, if this track is released I will make an honest effort to enjoy it and get to like it, but time will tell

 

But of course racing on Targa really isn't comparable to permanent circuit racing, if you load up 30 cars on regular grid there you're gonna have a bad time as it will be frustrating crash fest, nothing more, it is basically rally like event where the point is to run away from all other cars.
Only if you meet cars much slower than yours you can safely overtake, as in multiclass races can be real fun too.

 

Targa has warning signs and at least rF1 had them well placed, one could drive it with quite good pace just by trusting those signs.

But indeed, thrill of long tracks is that they are so hard to learn that there are always turns that one could do better, there are always places where one has to back off as not quite remembering them corners. I have completed perhaps 3 full laps on Targa, never more than 1 lap in session, so I have only done pitout laps, never I have been able to actually do full speed lap there, I end up crashing so easily and for me lapping has not much of offer anyway, I like more from developing cars and testing them at such tracks like Targa.

For hotlapping something like Mills Innerloop C is much better.

 

Looks way cool! Can't wait to toss a Historic F3 out on that track!

Speaking of long tracks... has anyone thought of doing "Solitude" from the GPL days?

Just a thought... don't kick me too hard! LOL!

Bryan

 

Well...it really was/is a dream come true

Only short of Mille Miglia in history thickness, it was a track everyone bet that it was impossible to mod as I remember, and then you guys did it, with profound success

Pure respect at mod team