Why do the racing lines suck? (New to sim racing)

[gyrotim]

They either tell me to brake too early for a corner where I can go faster or don't use the track effectively (i.e. cutting through the edge of an apex). Following racing lines often sees me like 6 seconds off a bronze time but I'm even worse without it when i'm new to a track.

[Chunibyou Kuroi boro]

because racing lines aim for the conventional racing line for every corner, they're not meant to be the fastest or even fast, they're meant to be a half decent starting point.

[gyrotim]

Originally posted by Chunibyou Kuroi boro:

because racing lines aim for the conventional racing line for every corner, they're not meant to be the fastest or even fast, they're meant to be a half decent starting point.

Ok, i'll be honest, the lines themselves aren't that bad, but the breaking zones are generally pretty bad.

[κyrιαn]

they're not bad and they're not amazing. They're there to help you get to grips with your speed (green/red arrows) and some easy track placement to follow to make your progression on that track faster and help you get to grips with the game/track easily.
In regard to braking zones, they differ per car - some cars have very short braking distance, while others (cough cough alfa, still love em tho) have longer ones

[gyrotim]

Originally posted by Typhon:

they're not bad and they're not amazing. They're there to help you get to grips with your speed (green/red arrows) and some easy track placement to follow to make your progression on that track faster and help you get to grips with the game/track easily.
In regard to braking zones, they differ per car - some cars have very short braking distance, while others (cough cough alfa, still love em tho) have longer ones

The breaking lines should be adaptive like in the Forza games.

[κyrιαn]

Originally posted by gyrotim:

Originally posted by Typhon:

they're not bad and they're not amazing. They're there to help you get to grips with your speed (green/red arrows) and some easy track placement to follow to make your progression on that track faster and help you get to grips with the game/track easily.
In regard to braking zones, they differ per car - some cars have very short braking distance, while others (cough cough alfa, still love em tho) have longer ones

The breaking lines should be adaptive like in the Forza games.

That would be a good idea, but it would require them to do that for every single map with every single car, and update every map when a new car is/was released. But these lines are guides and shouldn't be relied on, you should be able to do some self-learning via experience on how to handle the track otherwise its like all the answers are given to you, meaning there's no fun because you're not actually thinking for yourself.

[gyrotim]

Originally posted by Typhon:

Originally posted by gyrotim:

The breaking lines should be adaptive like in the Forza games.

That would be a good idea, but it would require them to do that for every single map with every single car, and update every map when a new car is/was released. But these lines are guides and shouldn't be relied on, you should be able to do some self-learning via experience on how to handle the track otherwise its like all the answers are given to you, meaning there's no fun because you're not actually thinking for yourself.

I'll admit it did get a little repetitive following those breaking lines in FH4.

[Sassanid]

Forza braking lines are always going to be better because they work in real time relative to the driver's speed whereas I believe AC ones are static and fixed.

I would suggest turning them off in any sim. Instead use visual markers like the 300/200/100 feet markers on the sides of the track coming up to a turn and get used to braking in time at the correct distance, then trail braking around the turn. After some practice you'll find it comes naturally and braking lines will only serve as a distraction rather than an aid.

[Mr Crisp]

Originally posted by gyrotim:

The breaking lines should be adaptive like in the Forza games.

Originally posted by gyrotim:

I'll admit it did get a little repetitive following those breaking lines in FH4.

Which is why you should just turn them off in a race sim and learn braking points by looking at track-side objects because all that happens is you end up racing the line and not actually learning racing skills IMO.

[gyrotim]

Originally posted by Mr Crisp:

Originally posted by gyrotim:

The breaking lines should be adaptive like in the Forza games.

Originally posted by gyrotim:

I'll admit it did get a little repetitive following those breaking lines in FH4.

Which is why you should just turn them off in a race sim and learn braking points by looking at track-side objects because all that happens is you end up racing the line and not actually learning racing skills IMO.

But what if I form bad habits that constantly get me poor times?

[κyrιαn]

Originally posted by gyrotim:

Originally posted by Mr Crisp:

Which is why you should just turn them off in a race sim and learn braking points by looking at track-side objects because all that happens is you end up racing the line and not actually learning racing skills IMO.

But what if I form bad habits that constantly get me poor times?

hmm maybe try to target those bad habits by identifying what they are and how you can avoid doing them

[Mr Crisp]

Originally posted by gyrotim:

Originally posted by Mr Crisp:

Which is why you should just turn them off in a race sim and learn braking points by looking at track-side objects because all that happens is you end up racing the line and not actually learning racing skills IMO.

But what if I form bad habits that constantly get me poor times?

Then unlearn them and learn things to improve your times.

[オナニー]

Ive stopped using racing lines in any game and just learn the track naturally either on my own or following the ai

[gyrotim]

Originally posted by Mitsubishi FTO GP VerR 2.0 V6 NA:

Ive stopped using racing lines in any game and just learn the track naturally either on my own or following the ai

Following the AI is a good idea. But is it possible to download other peoples ghost cars to try and follow their technique around the track?

[ling.speed]

You can use ghosts of other people but there is no unified sharing method to them afaik. You just have to ask somebody to provide one.

Usually how people do it is to just race online, plenty of ghosts to follow there, only difference is that they are solid.
You can also join a community and ask faster people to drive with you.
I often come early in practice to our events (or just school events) and drive in front of slower or just fresh to combo people at consistent pace and lines. They usually do PB after PB. Its way more effective than chasing some hard pushed ghosts.

And on that note, when using AI to practice, try using as high AI strength as possible. Its better to give them a slower car and run it at 100% than scale it down to match your pace, since AI only gets close to natural driving at max pace.



AC lines are crap because they dont have braking information (whats shown in colors is usually wrong). So you dont gain much from them as just looking at track grooves. (whuch can as ideal lines be wrong too, because of technical reasons).
But then racing line theory isnt hard. You can read up on that and form your own "good enough" line.

The true benefit of "racing line" is the dynamic aspect some games (not AC) has in that they show optimum speed and braking markers. Because ultimately, you turn at maximum grip almost all the time, and its the speed that determines where your car will actually go.

This is also why ghosts wont help you that much, as they usually are from personal bests, and that means somebody tried real hard to go as fast as possible. If you try to copy that you WILL NOT drive on proper racing line, because you'll fixate on keeping up and the car will go its own direction.

Originally posted by gyrotim:

But what if I form bad habits that constantly get me poor times?

Learn to look at the delta often. If you make a "mistake" and end up faster you know you have work to do in that corner.

[オナニー]

The ability to upload and download others ghost like GT has is a good idea. Maybe someone could mod that in as well as implement a leaderboard so there's an incentive but then again we do have modded tracks so that could be hard.