It is a good time to start looking forward to events / series for next year.

I'd like to center the discussion around rFactor and GTR2. Magnum and I will have a separate one for the SimHQ iRacing events available to discuss after the current All American series is over.

The 2011 discussion is here:
http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3227209/1.html

First questions I would ask:

What worked well and 2011 and what didn't?

What was more fun than you expected, and conversely what was a flop?

If you had to pick a single race from any carset/track that was best of the year, what would it be?

What cars look the most exciting in the upcoming rFactor2?

What can SimHQ do better for sim racers?

Has iRacing stock cars killed VHR racing?

Take the discussion any other direction you like, but SimHQ Motorsports' success is dependent on getting what you want to drive, and then offering events that you will find interesting enough to attend.

Thanks for you thoughts!

I'll answer what I can.

What worked well in 2011 and what didn't?

Looking back, the majority of my non-SCES participation was oval racing. I think most of that turned out pretty good. I didn't run across anything that didn't.

What was more fun than you expected, and conversely what was a flop?

Nothing really caught me by surprise, and nothing really failed.

If you had to pick a single race from any carset/track that was best of the year, what would it be?

Out of everything I raced, the SCES cars at Sebring because the fuel/tire settings in that initial race allowed me to use a strategy other than "fill the tank every time in". Good field, good day to night transition, my first endurance race in a sim...all around great stuff.

Has iRacing stock cars killed VHR racing?

I'm sure it's nice, but for those of us who can't afford iRacing it isn't even a consideration.





In terms of rFactor events for 2012, I wouldn't mind seeing a series that features great tracks. It can be regular length race events or something more lighthearted (short 5 lap sprints), but it would feature something easy for everyone to drive (like the PCC mod) on a variety of famous tracks. Let the circuits shine for a while; we always focus so much on racing different types of cars. Maybe this time, settle on a car and use it to tour the world.

What worked well and 2011 and what didn't?

I thought the multi-race series...DTM and SCES...were probably the most successful overall. The 1985 F1 race was a hit, but it was also a one-off race of a historical set in an era most racers grew up with/read about.

If you had to pick a single race from any carset/track that was best of the year, what would it be?

I'd have to agree about Sebring...it brought more of the element of strategy into play, plus it was the first event of a lengthy series and probably had the biggest field. It also taught us that we all need patience at times, due to the makeup of the field, so it helped for the rest of the series and set the tone for a successful long-term series.

What cars look the most exciting in the upcoming rFactor2?

As a long time open-wheel fan, the F1-style models I've seen. But, there's not as many open-wheel fans here as there is sports cars/prototypes. As long as I'm feeling up to it, I'll run in about anything I'm comfortable in.

What can SimHQ do better for sim racers?

I think success is more on the participants than it is SimHQ myself...SimHQ's been great at providing the opportunities, maybe some thought specific mods selected didn't quite pan out to everyone's liking. Some are going to have different tastes is all. I'd like to run VHR (especially if I could paint my own car), but there's something about the FFB in it that really messes me up and it's also a fixed setup series and I've always ran stock cars with the way I want them to feel, not adjusting to something more neutral. I was also looking forward to the F2 races, as I love open-wheelers, when they were announced...but the mod forced me to change my whole way of thinking in setting up a sim car, following real-world principles the majority of the time (yeah, I did use a couple of long-standing sim "theories" for my Indy setup... ), and that made it not as enjoyable for me when I have to accomodate a mod's way of handling physics properties. But it was a success overall and the people that ran it had a lot of fun and the racing was competitive...and that's really all that matters at the end of the day. There's always going to be people that will not feel comfortable with some mods and just won't feel up to running them.

The most successful events seem to be those that allow custom skins (everyone likes to be creative and see those creations on the track) and are of carsets/styles that everyone can be competitive in. As we've got a lot of different talent levels, I think the class configuration mods are the ones that offer the most "bang for the buck" as it gives people more choices and styles to fit their particular interests. Both the DTM and SCES series were class oriented and they seem to have good attendence. They both were also fixed setup series (I think DTM was) and those will allow for maximum participation as I know a lot of people don't have the time to put in to setting a sim car up for every different event....it is slao a long and at times frustrating process and can discourage newer sim racers. Even though I'd rather run in open setups races, I do know that is a key consideration for getting the most participants and that's the important thing.

I'm not sure if rF2 will have that class configurations immediately, but I'm sure it will soon in the form of mods soon if it doesn't. GTR2 has it, and while I know some have problems with GTR2's netcode, my first race at SimHQ was with GTR2 and I had a blast in it myself, but not everyone has it.

Tricky questions to answer as most things are fairly subjective and we all like different stuff but from my point of view...

What worked well and 2011 and what didn't?
The DTM's were surprisingly popular and seemed to maintain good momentum, the two tier system worked well and all the races were exciting. Despite losing a few drivers, the SCES remains top of the pile for me simply because it's the kind of cars/format i like best. The Skoda's. In terms of fun factor absolutely NOTHING comes close to a grid full of these. One off 'special' events were great for focusing interest. Indy and Bathurst spring to mind.

I can't think of anything inparticular that didn't work at all. I was disappointed that the S2000's didn't get much interest.

What was more fun than you expected, and conversely what was a flop?
It's not my favorite kind of racing but I'd have to say that the classic F1's were more fun that i thought. I don't think there were any particular 'flops'. For me it's less about the cars/tracks and more about getting out there and enjoying the racing. Providing there's enough of us on track then anything is fun.

If you had to pick a single race from any carset/track that was best of the year, what would it be?
It would be hard to argue against SCES Sebring. Full grid of cars, great track, challenging conditions. It was a flagship event by any standards. I also enjoyed SCES at Spa too.

What cars look the most exciting in the upcoming rFactor2?
To be fair i'm not much interested in the cars, i'm more looking forward to the new features. If i had to chose i'd go with any GT stuff and the historicals.

What can SimHQ do better for sim racers?
I'd like the odd extra VHR event for sure, possibly using some of the other series too. The core backbone of Multi class endurance/touring cars with intermingled special events works really well IMO. I'd like to see a couple of handicap based events where the faster guys have to drive slower cars or some kind of other system to even the field. As Steve said, the events where people get involved work well, simulation of real world events, custom skins etc. all help people connect.

Definitely important to keep the 'fun' aspect. The Skoda's are testament to that and it's worth thinking about things like sprint cars, off roading, rally x, Trucks (proper European trucks, not the girly NASCAR ones:) These are all things i've seen be very successful elsewhere.

Has iRacing stock cars killed VHR racing?
It's made a dent for sure. The sim racing community is a relatively small place (in gaming terms) and racers often tend to stick to one sim at at a time, so every time a new sim hits the block you get a further dilution as people naturally gravitate elsewhere.

Personally i'm quite sad at the lack of VHR races this year. As Alex said there are many people who don't use iRacing for all sorts of reasons. There's definitely still a place for it IMO.

It's too hot to answer all those questions, but I think one thing which hasn't worked well is 4 class racing. We simply aren't able to sustain those numbers for good racing in all classes, I've been lapping by myself for the past few. Road Atlanta looks fun though, because it brought the P1 and P2 classes more or less into one class.

I am an iRacing guy. So I will focus on the VHR iracing question.

I would have to agree that VHR is not dead. I would do both it they were available. However like most have stated iRacing is more expensive than VHR. If iRacing wasn't fun outside of the SimHQ races I would not continue paying for it. VHR on the other hand I have but do not use a lot. If SimHQ offered a season or even just a select few races I would definitely be apart of it. But I am not going to go out a join another racing League with VHR. It comes down to preference and the question do you want to play a online only racer or a offline/online racer.

From the initial event (Sebring) it looked like it would work, though.


For whatever reasons, people have steadily lost interest and left SCES behind.

We could go into long discussions about why that has happened, but unless we're coming back for season #2 it might not be worth the time and it would DEFINITELY be a topic for a whole new thread.



Multi-class racing definitely has a home here, though. We're not a huge group but we're diverse in our skills. While I've been a contender in P2 there are guys in other classes that would be a nightmare to go up against. And of course we also have Cossacco who completely blows the curve for everyone.

Ok here's my 2 cents...

What worked well and 2011 and what didn't?

That's a very subjective question, and for me there was a lot on offer this year that I enjoyed taking part in and some I sadly missed out on... I like a few others have really enjoyed the multi class racing of the SCES and DTM series', and the weight penalites in the skodas and DTM made things more even and competitive... As far as what didn't work... Can't really say..

What was more fun than you expected, and conversely what was a flop?

The 85 race at Paul Ricard... I've never got along well with those cars, nor the track, but that race was a blast although I was still more then happy to see the chequered at the end though... I wouldn't say that anything was a flop, but the attendances of the SCES have been disappointing after Sebring, sure the P2 class has been competitive, but the other classes need fields for it to feel like a proper multi class race...

If you had to pick a single race from any carset/track that was best of the year, what would it be?

SCES Sebring would be hard to top multi class racing, full field, tough conditions, but then again Zandvoort in the DTM was a huge blast as well...

What cars look the most exciting in the upcoming rFactor2?

ALL OF THEM!!!!!

What can SimHQ do better for sim racers?

The only thing I can think of is what I've said a few times in other threads, that for major series like SCES that go on for a few months, there be a break the weekend before so there's 4 practices for the series event over the fun series or one off races...

Has iRacing stock cars killed VHR racing?

For this freshly blooded VHR noob I can't really comment as Iracing is not on my agenda at all... The idea of a subscription that needs to be renewed just puts me off..




Completely agree this subject should get it's own thread, such is my love for these even if they just get run as one offs I'll be in them next year...





I quite like the PCC mod idea, maybe with weight penalties to spice things up, but yes more great tracks of the world is always very welcome in my books...

Oh, and maybe some off-road or rally events.

As this was my first year of racing at SimHQ, I'll give my noobs perspective.


What worked well and 2011 and what didn't?

Without a doubt for me what worked well was the fixed setup aspect of most of the racing. As for what didn't work, it was more a question of numbers for some of the races. The VHR races could have been phenomenal with some more entrants.


What was more fun than you expected, and conversely what was a flop?

the multi class racing (DTM & SCES) was the most fun in that they were the best attended races, But personaly My best moments were in the VHR cup Races from Tona and Dega! Flop for me was races where open setups were used such as the F2 races. (at least I think they were F2)


If you had to pick a single race from any carset/track that was best of the year, what would it be?

Single race pick for me would have to be Taladega with the VHR cup cars but it would have been even better to have our own skins on the cars.


What cars look the most exciting in the upcoming rFactor2?

The sixties F1 cars without a doubt!


What can SimHQ do better for sim racers?

Not a lot. Ask not what SimHQ can do for you but what you can do for SimHQ. The one thing SimHQ could do with is more drivers, so if we can all encourage other drivers to give SimHQ racing a try then that would be great. To help with that we need series that are easy to drive to encourage more in. Look at the Meganes popularity on the open servers. I really believe that is down to how easy that mod is to handle.


Has iRacing stock cars killed VHR racing?

Not at all. iRacing burned a lot of the old Papyrus sim racers when they screwed them over when they were issueing writs and trying to sue everyone in sight and I will never forgive or forget that. If nothing else, that incident should teach us the value of maintaining a healthy competition in sim racing production.