STCC and patch W9

[szyszek]

Quick question:

Will the STCC servers be hosted on this W9 patch, or will you wait until it's gone official?

Sorry if this has already been mentioned somewhere, I coulnd't find it!

[faster111]

I was wondering about this to.

[Jakg]

Becy would like to run Silver and Gold on W9, to see how to balance for the STCC league

[duke_toaster]

Becy would like to run Silver and Gold on W9, to see how to balance for the STCC league

Which leads to the next question - for all new rounds to take place, will the feature race grids increase to 27? And - if so - will the number of drivers in the heats increase? Just curious :P

[U4IK ST8]

So what happens if you don't get this W9 patch? Can you still race on the server?

[Jakg]

still in the discussion phase, but remember thats 8 more cars... 8 more hi-res skins etc, and we have drivers with PC's which could not only stuggle, but also remember Becky has to Fraps the thing, so we need to get her a Cray :D

EDIT - IF the server goes to W9, seeing as W9 is INCOMPATIBLE, you would need to use W9

[AndroidXP]

/\/\/\ Pff, ninja edit :p
So what happens if you don't get this W9 patch? Can you still race on the server?
No.

[keithano]

So what happens if you don't get this W9 patch? Can you still race on the server?

The patch is incompatible with other patches, therefore if the server is running w9 patch, u have to install w9 patch in order to join.

On the other hand, if u install W9 patch, u cant join patch W or V server.

[U4IK ST8]

:(

I think I'll wait for a compatible patch. The new features sound great but still, I'd rather not upgrade and have LFS crash, for whatever reason.

[wheel4hummer]

I just use two .exe files. LFS_W.exe and LFS_W9.exe, seems to work fine for me! When I want to play W, I use LFS_W. When I want to play W9, I run LFS_W9. Are W9 setups are compatible with W?

[U4IK ST8]

I just use two .exe files. LFS_W.exe and LFS_W9.exe, seems to work fine for me! When I want to play W, I use LFS_W. When I want to play W9, I run LFS_W9. Are W9 setups are compatible with W?
Hmmm...:scratchch Sounds like a good idea, never thought of that!

So I just make a copy of my LFS folder? Then run one .exe and upgrade that to W9? Is that it?

[AndroidXP]

No, just rename your current exe (version W) to something like LFS.W.exe, then apply the W9 patch. This will create another LFS.exe, which you can rename to LFS.W9.exe. AFAIK, there have been no substantial changes in the data folder, so simply using the changes from W9 should be compatible.

[U4IK ST8]

No, just rename your current exe (version W) to something like LFS.W.exe, then apply the W9 patch. This will create another LFS.exe, which you can rename to LFS.W9.exe. AFAIK, there have been no substantial changes in the data folder, so simply using the changes from W9 should be compatible.
Please forgive my 'n00bish' questions, I'm still learning...:)

So, when I rename my current .exe and download the W9 patch, it creates a new .exe? So the patch is infact a full .exe, not an upgrade for my current .exe?:scratchch

[AndroidXP]

The patch you download is just a compressed archive that contains a whole new exe. If you "apply" the patch normally, the old one simply gets overwritten. The exe itself is actually not "patched" or "modified", if that is what you meant :)

Just rename it, and you will keep the original patch W exe.

[U4IK ST8]

The patch you download is just a compressed archive that contains a whole new exe. If you "apply" the patch normally, the old one simply gets overwritten. The exe itself is actually not "patched" or "modified", if that is what you meant :)

Just rename it, and you will keep the original patch W exe.

Cheers for that, I just like to understand what is going to happen and not just go ahead and do it because someone says so. Thanks again.:thumb:

[SpikeyMarcoD]

If you want to be on the safe side and have enough diskspace then it might be better to just make a copy of your LFS map and patch that one.

This way you will have a full W and W9. It is safer that way since not only exe might have changed.

[U4IK ST8]

If you want to be on the safe side and have enough diskspace then it might be better to just make a copy of your LFS map and patch that one.

This way you will have a full W and W9. It is safer that way since not only exe might have changed.
When you say 'LFS map' what do you mean? The whole LFS folder? Because I have a 200Gb HDD so space isn't a problem.

[Highsider9]

Yes, the whole Folder. Copy your existing Patch W Folder and and then apply the Testpatch to one of the Folders.

[U4IK ST8]

Thanks, yeah that sounds like a better option.:thumb:

[Becky Rose]

STCC2 will be upgraded to W9 (or whatever replaces it) next week, it's vitally important I get to understand the effect of the new TBO balancing because we already have our own qualifying and points based balancing system.

It has a lot of ramifications, half the reason STCC is so exciting is because the fast guys dont start first. Also the 28 cars thing completely changes our qualifying system, and whether I can fraps the race in realtime with good skins. I also need to find out if South City Sprint is still 16 cars, and whether one of my old hacks still works.

In order to find all this out I need a W9 server populated with a load of racers, so i'll be upgrading STCC2 server after i've finished the broadcast.

[faster111]

STCC2 will be upgraded to W9 (or whatever replaces it) next week, it's vitally important I get to understand the effect of the new TBO balancing because we already have our own qualifying and points based balancing system.

It has a lot of ramifications, half the reason STCC is so exciting is because the fast guys dont start first. Also the 28 cars thing completely changes our qualifying system, and whether I can fraps the race in realtime with good skins. I also need to find out if South City Sprint is still 16 cars, and whether one of my old hacks still works.

In order to find all this out I need a W9 server populated with a load of racers, so i'll be upgrading STCC2 server after i've finished the broadcast. i can't get on get on stcc2 can i or if i did i would of help you.

[csurdongulos]

It has a lot of ramifications, half the reason STCC is so exciting is because the fast guys dont start first.

the fast fxo guys you mean :P

[Becky Rose]

Oh yeah, sorry Victor. We got a few stars in slower cars too ;). Maybe with whatever new system we have we should make them start in the midfield somehow :) *evil grin*

[The Moose]

I'd be happy to start anywhere in the field ;)

Lets hope the extra grid positions will eventually allow more people to compete in the league:)

[Shotglass]

Maybe with whatever new system we have we should make them start in the midfield somehow :) *evil grin*

wouldnt that mean that qualy will be all about who can set the slowest lap ?

[Becky Rose]

Currently qualification is done by heat races and in the last heat race the cars are grouped by car class with the slowest first, this creates a slightly jumbled grid with the faster guys at the front and the slower at the back, but with more of the slowest class toward the front and the quicker class toward the back.

This creates some exciting broadcasts as the faster cars try and find their natural position.

In a race with qualifying the faster car is at the front, and it just pulls away. What I was mockingly describing to Victor there, is that some other means of messing the grid up a little bit is likely to be employed still, so that we dont loose this exciting element of the broadcast.

I can say that next race broadcast (after round 7 coming out Monday/Tuesday), Blackwood RallyX, is going to be on the current patch because of logistical reasons. However Fern Bay Green i'm really not sure on, we may have a totally revised qualifying format, we may use the old patch for now whilst we figure out whats right, or we might have a variation or even identical system to what we have now - I really dont know.

Patches and game updates have proven to be something of a blind point of consideration in a year long series...

[AndroidXP]

To be quite honest, I wouldn't use W9. Yes, the new features are fantastic, but it is a test patch after all, and apparently quite buggy too. Once Scawen has fixed the random false start detections, I see much more sense in using whatever W version it is then, but not before. On the general question on whether to use the new features or not... I don't really see anything gained by delaying what will come sooner or later anyway. :shrug:

[SamH]

While I absolutely 100% agree with you, Android.. just can't help it.. must be on the leading edge, not the bleeding edge ;)

[Becky Rose]

I may delay because currently we have our own balancing system in place and it will need revision - we're in the situation now where we have 28 driver slots, and 30 drivers, where before we had heats that gave everyone a good night racing before the feature race, now we are left wondering what to do about the heats? Do we remove the balancing, and if so what do we do about jumbling the grid up abit or do we turn STCC into Formula One and have the guy at the front after qualifying run away with it... To me, there are very good reasons not to use the new patch just yet, until we can see what effect the TBO adjustments have had.

For us, as we use shorter tracks, the RB4 is faster than the XRT at almost all the tracks we use. We've just found out that the XRT is now slower...

There's lots to get right before we use the new patch, and that's all i'm saying. We might not migrate yet.

[mcintyrej]

When the STCC does finally switch over to W9 (or the latest patch at the time) does that mean space will be open in the league? If so, I suppose there will be another qualifying event for the league.

Sorry if this has been asked, but I'm not quite up to reading a page of reply's at this time of the night.

[Christofire]

I think there'll be a fair bit of work to do before there's any worry about more drivers. :)

[Jakg]

it might do, it might not, we'd need a lot more drivers (because atm there are 30, so that about 23 turn up and about 3 don't qualify for the feature race), plus as Becky tries to get good quality real time recording out of LFS, she's already had to use 1024 skins rather than the 2048's to keep the FPS up, so adding more cars might prove a problem. Also, we've yet to see how competitors machines work with the 28 cars - for example some people have problems with 20 cars as it is, how do you think the 27 racers that could at maximum (remember the safety car!) be on the starting line would do to someones FPS?

EDIT - i think it will probably (if the situation were to arise) be offered to the STCC Titanium license holders first, and then if more places were required to do it with the qualification event method

[Iron]

STCC2 will be upgraded to W9 (or whatever replaces it) next week

Seems like i got my silver licence just in time. :) Thanks for the STCC servers Becky, and all involved! :thumb:

[N I K I]

:scratchch maybe you should encrese number of drivers now to 45. 15 per class.

And best 27 are in feature race. And there will still be heat races. So by this way STCC will have more drivers in league and in race. It could be more interesting whit more cars. ;)

[Becky Rose]

maybe, i'll experiment with my LOD settings and a 30 odd car field as soon as i've finished the R7 broadcast. Remember I have to fraps the output, so it might slow down too much.

[AndroidXP]

Ah come on, just set the LOD to minimum. It's not like many people will notice that the cars are now 20-polygon boxes :D

[SamH]

Most of the full-grid footage I ever shoot is recorded at half speed, and bumped up 2x in Vegas. My processor can't hack a full grid AND fraps :)

[csurdongulos]

Most of the full-grid footage I ever shoot is recorded at half speed, and bumped up 2x in Vegas. My processor can't hack a full grid AND fraps :)

I was trying to do that once, but the sound was still played at the original 0.5 speed, am i really such a noob that I didn't find how to speed up the sound as well?

[thisnameistaken]

I was trying to do that once, but the sound was still played at the original 0.5 speed, am i really such a noob that I didn't find how to speed up the sound as well?

My version of LFS cuts the sound when replaying at anything other than normal speed - I think it's been doing that since version V or so - doesn't everybody's do that?

[Jakg]

only at a speed higher than 1 (ie 2 to 32), as speeds between 1 and .25 it plays sound, just at a lower pitch

[Becky Rose]

Premier, autodub and various other tools offer the facility to change the pitch or not when adjusting playback speed, I should think Vegas does this too, although i've no idea where.

[SamH]

I was trying to do that once, but the sound was still played at the original 0.5 speed, am i really such a noob that I didn't find how to speed up the sound as well?
See attachment :)
My version of LFS cuts the sound when replaying at anything other than normal speed - I think it's been doing that since version V or so - doesn't everybody's do that?
Mine cuts when playing faster than normal speed, but at 0.5x and 0.25x, the audio is there :shrug:

[AndroidXP]

Yes, originally when the new sound system was introduced it only played the sound at 1.0x speed, but then Scawen discovered that it's easy to play it slower, so he added that back in one of the later test patches. Playing sound faster causes problems with the sound buffering, though, so that is still not possible.

[thisnameistaken]

Mine cuts when playing faster than normal speed, but at 0.5x and 0.25x, the audio is there :shrug:

Ah, maybe mine's the same. I can't remember if it does it when running slower.

[SamH]

Ah, maybe mine's the same. I can't remember if it does it when running slower.
I'm glad it cuts when you press fastforward. I can imagine watching a replay, finding the action on lap 40 that you want to grab with fraps, and being able to hear nothing but the sound of lots of distant dogs barking. :tilt:

[csurdongulos]

See attachment :)

thanks, is that vegas, though? doesn't look familiar :) anyways, I would have never found out that would speed up the sound as well, so thx a lot.

[mcintyrej]

The way to speed up audio in Vegas, is if you click the audio...Hold control and drag it. Make it shorter to speed it up, make it longer to make it, uh, longer.

[SamH]

thanks, is that vegas, though? doesn't look familiar :) anyways, I would have never found out that would speed up the sound as well, so thx a lot.
Yep, it's Vegas 7.0b, on the Options menu :)
The way to speed up audio in Vegas, is if you click the audio...Hold control and drag it. Make it shorter to speed it up, make it longer to make it, uh, longer.
That's how you stretch or shrink, but the pitch option needs disabling, per the image I attached, if you want the pitch to change as you do so. :)

[N I K I]

maybe, i'll experiment with my LOD settings and a 30 odd car field as soon as i've finished the R7 broadcast. Remember I have to fraps the output, so it might slow down too much.

But will you keap racing only whit your 30 drivers whitout heats. Or whit 45 (or how many) whit new heats?

[11SuLLy11]

with this new patch will it make me lag ?i have an avg fps of 50/60 ?
thanks

[tristancliffe]

fps has nothing to do with lag. What connection do you have, how good is it, does it have throttling on it, and what pings do you get to various IPs?

[Jakg]

i think he means will his FPS decrease - as for some silly reason the terms lag and low fps are interchangeable :(

[Becky Rose]

But will you keap racing only whit your 30 drivers whitout heats. Or whit 45 (or how many) whit new heats?
I've not yet made any decisions. I'm very busy trying to get broadcast 7 released, hopefully tonight but maybe tomorrow, after that i'll actually install this new patch...

[franky500]

Becky. Just dont a quick test for SO Sprint 1.

It is still limited at 16.

[Becky Rose]

I thought it would be, I think there is an engine limitation in terms of the 'pitlane' and space. The 16 car capacity is built into the track file.

Thank you for the confirmation.

[IceMan31x]

Hey Becky, just wanted to mention that the STCC silver & gold server still says "changing to in-co patch (w9 or 10) by midweek. Is this still going to happen or did i miss something in the thread?

[Belain]

i know where u live!!!


xD

[IceMan31x]

i know where u live!!!


xD LOL what up m8, come on over!! :D if you have msn PM your username and ill send ya some race photos :thumb:

[CELTIC100]

Any Idea Becky of your plans cause it may effect my social life - Or not as the case may be :D

I think I'm in need of a new graphics card with this patch :(

3.06 Ghz Processor Celeron D 345
512 DDR Ram
Integrated Graphics

anyone got ideas of a cheap graphics card ? - Max £50 just to give me a steady 40fps not neccessarily on Ctrl F12 setting either ;)

[Jakg]

what slot you got? AGP or PCI-e?

[CELTIC100]

PCI-e thanks Jakg ;)

[Jakg]

£50 PCI-e? hmmmm - an nVidia GeForce 6600GT 256 MB (although you'll need to buy used - a quick search for "6600GT 256" on eBay should throw some stuff up) should fit the bill well (seeing as a good few months ago i sold my two for £50 and £60, i'm sure the prices will have dropped)

[Becky Rose]

STCC2 has been set to an S1 server. There is now an STCC2b running patch W10 which supports 28 racers.

[CELTIC100]

£50 PCI-e? hmmmm - an nVidia GeForce 6600GT 256 MB (although you'll need to buy used - a quick search for "6600GT 256" on eBay should throw some stuff up) should fit the bill well (seeing as a good few months ago i sold my two for £50 and £60, i'm sure the prices will have dropped)

Thanks for that Jakg :thumb: i'm on the case :D

Your right looks like I could pick one up for £35