Online Racing F1 2014 - League?

[mexos]

Yeah same. But you may be able to use your pedals and stand. Thats why I still have mine.

[kiroquai]

Given Meerman only has an Xbox one of us is going to have to take on the mantle of Group Dutchman.

I'm looking at you, LeChuck.

[kiroquai]

The designer who works with me is Dutch and was most impressed by my knowledge of his countrymens' idiosyncratic tendencies.

He didn't really understand why I was convinced all drivers over there smash into bollards on a regular basis, though.

[sixbuttons]

This is all good as I already had it preordered on PS4 :/\

Will we try and make it as F1-esque as possible or are people interested in mixing it up, multiple disciplines and things?

[mexos]

I would prefer an F1 focussed championship as the meat of the racing. Certainly the league.

Nothing to stop us trying the other single seaters etc on the side. Hell even the enduro cars. I'm less into the other stuff, but hey we haven't tried any of it. Open mind and all.

F1 as the main league and mini cup competitions in other disciplines could work...?

This is all good as I already had it preordered on PS4 :/\

Oh yeah, I just remembered I ordered it already - about 6 months ago...

[sixbuttons]

Yep, no issue with that Mexos but if I'm organising a thing then I will leave it to someone else to sort out the others. Organising one championship is difficult enough without taking on multiple, regardless of if they're mini events (although I will absolutely organise a special endurance race, because we should do Le Mans accelerated for God damn certain).

I realise I am making a massive assumption in thinking you guys want me to sort this out though. I am quite happy to step aside if someone else wants it. Also like the F1 championship I will also only do it for one season and then leave it to someone else to take up the mantle (and use my original template and spreadsheet for ease if they so wish)

What I will say is don't underestimate races in souped up city cars on smaller tracks. Some of the most fun, close, competitive racing this side of a touring car. Although pCars is more about the pureblooded race thing so I doubt there will be any city cars on the roster.

I believe the following is the confirmed locked in track selection for the game.

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Sonoma Raceway

Donington Park

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Brno Circuit

Nürburgring

Cadwell Park

Suzuka Circuit

Circuit de la Sarthe

Azure Coast

Azure Circuit

California Highway

Glencairn

Mount Panorama Circuit

Oulton Park

Road America

Watkins Glen International

Brands Hatch

Dubai Autodrome

Hockenheimring

Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari

Autodromo Nazionale Monza

Motorsport Arena Oschersleben

Silverstone Circuit

Circuit Zolder

Bristol Motor Speedway

Obviously not a great deal of existing F1 circuits there, but we should obviously use those that are there which are:

Spa

Nurburgring

Suzuka

Dubai

Hockenheim

Monza

Silverstone

I also feel we should consider:

Laguna Seca

Sonoma

Donington

Watkins Glen

Zolder

EDIT: Skipped over Brands Hatch by mistake. Sorry, sorry

Any other thoughts (anyone suggesting Bathurst will be shot immediately - not in an F1 car thank you very much)? Do you guys want to go the full calendar or abbreviate and end it at the summer break?

[mexos]

Since we are not bound by the F1 calendar by not having the tracks we can do whatever we want.

Maybe the way is to have smaller championships so it's less of a 'slog'. Then we can start and finish as we please.

10 is a nice round number.

I'd prefer to stick to proper circuit racing tracks rather than 'made up' tracks but we haven't played them yet so the mind stays open

And of course I am very happy for you to run the show!

We now have two months to convince Meers to buy a PS4...

[sixbuttons]

10 rounds sounds good. I think that qualifies as a medium length championship and strikes the right balance between not having enough races to be a valid reflection of form and the chance of someone dominating and making the latter half of a longer championship completely irrelevant.

FWIW we always aimed for 8 weeks on GHZ Forza, although we had multiple races on a single night there.

It's just on the consideration list at this point LeChuck. There's a whole bunch of tracks on there I simply don't know and might be superb choices for motorthings!

[sixbuttons]

To be fair Seca in Forza with F1 cars is bloody hard work, very few overtaking spots and corkscrew is a complete nightmare. Not as ridiculous as Bathurst which is undrivable on that game in the F1 car, but definitely not a circuit designed with our open wheeled friends in mind.

But I am just pitching the tracks I like with that list, and others should also pitch their prefered circuits too

[kiroquai]

This all sounds quite cool really - I'd definitely be up for some short, maybe even one-evening championships in other formulas ( Formula Ford!) made up of shorter sprint style races, but yeah - I am all for us running the F1 stuff as the main.

As for circuits, based on my experience, Road America is glorious for open wheel stuff - some of the corners round there are true balls-to-the-wall efforts. It's America's very own Spa . Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari is Imola so that would suit, and I've always wondered what Le Mans would be like. Options!

I might even dust off the old RLLMUK F1 News typewriter...

Edit: Road America on the PC version in the F1 car...

[John0]

Hi guys I'd be up for PCars PS4 .

Also should get around to selling my wheel I suppose darnit...

[mexos]

This thread is making me

[Moodmon]

I'll start munching on the stroopwafels and raw herring in preparation.

If you start going "Hey Mood... good luck." before a Destiny raid I'm going to be pissed.

Also totally in for this, I have not doubt the actual driving will be ace and am just crossing fingers for decent netcode. Also look at all those tracks. I was happy enough with the Lotus F1 car in Forza, but this could be really special. Just like Buttons's maths. And his cornering.

Well, might as well start things early.

[mexos]

Edit: Road America on the PC version in the F1 car...

[sixbuttons]

Well, might as well start things early.

If I wasn't feeling a period of reconciliation with you I'd stick in some snippy comment about no-selling your current Facebook post.

Oh wait :/\

[Marmite]

Id be up for something like formula ford, GT or Touring cars.

Probably need to play the game first mind!

[kiroquai]

RLLMUK F1 News Special: Where Are They Now?

'When I look back on those days, I can't help but feel emotional'. Many people could have uttered these words; 80's footballers about the then-fashionable short shorts, English cricketers about the two-year period where they looked competent, or anyone born after 1978 who has recently bought a bag of Wotsits and realised they aren't the giant dayglo Orange snacks of yesteryear.

The speaker, however, is none other than Captain LeChuck, former Welsh Wizard and the Tifosi's most loathed man after a a season spent giving frank assessments of their favourite team's ability to build racing cars. 'It was tense, exhausting but boy was it fun. I have a heck of a lot of memories'. He combs back his perm - now less buoyant but still tremendously alluring, and gazes out of his window.

He is, of course, talking of RLLMUK F1, a series that enjoyed an intense but mercurial 3-year existence before seemingly being shuttered for good a year ago. 'No homo,' continues LeChuck, 'but those guys felt like brothers to me'. A single tear falls from his face and poetically lands in his glass of whisky.

So what happened to those merry men whose ability to steer F1 cars at rapid pace wowed literally tens of half-dozens of people all those long nights ago?

Dutch baron of brutality and fury Meerman retired to a small patch of land in his native Holland, whereupon he built what is now the world's premier mini golf course. 'Tried it once' muses LeChuck, 'it would be good except every single fucking hole is a windmill hole'. Figures. His uncle Albert and brother Denis, both skilled drivers themselves, now help out with course maintenance and in running the facilities' cafe, where you can buy some wicked cool ham and cheese toasties'.

Snowman melted away into a life of selling hand-painted gnomes in Belgium, which sees him turning a tidy profit. The man once famous for always starting last and finishing high occasionally bumps into former team mate f. Grimes, who curiously is now actually the King of Belgium itself. No one knows quite why or how.

JohnO, perhaps predictably, headed east to Japan, where he has a weekly television show discussing latest haircut trends. When reached out to for this article, the man himself said 'you know, as nice as a finely tuned quiff is, it still can't compare to taking 130R flat. Nothing does'. 'I'm not quite sure I'd agree with that' counters LeChuck, combing his taught locks once more.

Kiroquai enigmatically quit the high life and built a castle in his home county of Dorset, becoming somewhat reclusive and growing a stupid beard and trying to make his own cheese, to mixed results. Sometimes Rice Kingford, now a fishmonger and self-confessed 'most badass piano tuner in the U.K.' pops around and the two reminisce of a time when both featured on some awfully corporate Mercedes banners for an entire season whilst pissing Ross Brawn off and costing their team thousands in libel lawsuits and cat food bills for Maximum Gary.

Moodmon grew fond of his brief stint as a RLLMUK reporter and is now chief editor of the Daily Mail, where he berates women who leave the kitchen and consistently gives front-page publicity to terrorist schemes and ideals. 'I'm not really sure what I am doing, to be fair' he says somewhat tiredly. Some attribute his bitterness to Kingford, in what was supposed to be an act of kindness, sending him a trophy bearing the inscription 'Season 6: Maximum Gary Championship Runner Up'. 'Act of kindness my arse' yells Moody; 'the fucking trophy is a bronze-plated trollface'.

A short trip down Oxford Street will find any curious reporter the location of Mexos, who used his expertise in driving fast and web design to no extent at all and opened a hat shop instead. 'I find peace amongst the hats' he says, staring at a wall of fedoras proudly. In his office sits a 2011 Lotus, his present from the team for having to drive the shitbox for an entire season. 'I tried selling the thing to Meerman' he muses, 'but the bastard refused to take it unless I gave him 25% equity in bowler hat sales. He can get to fuck - as if I am missing out on fully exploiting hipster fashion trends'.

A sometime customer of Mexos Hats is Marmite, who having retired from the sport now spends his time setting world records. 'I just beat the one for most cream crackers eaten in a minute!' he announces in his familiar chipper manner, 'time is short though. I have to pilot a ship into space, perform brain surgery on someone, solve a few impossible maths puzzles and lap the Nurburgring on a unicycle blindfolded next week'. Good to see the famed Excellence in Excellence motto still shining through to this day.

Apart from a disastrous few months spent as a Scottish rap funk duo with Boozy The Clown, Myoozikk is now arguably even more famous than during his F1 days - so busy is he that his response when asked how things were going was limited by time to 'hello!'. A man of pioneering musical ability, he is most recently famed for occupying slots 1-40 in the French music charts for 5 consecutive weeks. Astonishing stuff.

Having spent years as Red Bull drivers, it's no surprise to discover that MSP Mike, Picasso of Pain and Joyce have all teamed up to launch their own energy drink. Although Cock Raiser is currently only on sale in Luxembourg, the trio have racked up enough sales to allow them to buy and own the entire town of Stockton Tees, which they have renovated into a giant water slide fun park.

And of LeChuck? 'Getting into lawn mowers when I did was a fucking disaster' quips the Welshman, no doubt rueing his luck that grass has been banned in Wales for 2 years now. Like a phoenix from the ashes, however, came his latest and greatest venture: LeChuck Spacehoppers. 'They're fucking wicked cool, these - look how high they can bounce!' A short demonstration later and I am indeed impressed at the velocity and ease with which he can travel around his office sat on a giant inflatable ball. 'I've made millions off these - if I sign one it can fetch up to £3,000 on eBay! You know, I wonder if...'

He stops suddenly, mid-sentence, his gaze fixed open a small figure outside. 'Come here, quick!' he whispers. 'What does that look like to you?'.

Outside, sitting next to his swimming pool and sheep racing circuit, sits a cat. Not any cat - a round, serious-looking Bengal. It stares intently at LeChuck before turning and pottering away, meowing arrogantly to itself. 'Does this mean... It's time to get the band back together?' the Welsh Wizard queries, somewhat enigmatically. 'Keep in touch - this could be an interesting few months'.

An interesting few months indeed.

[sixbuttons]

[mexos]

Fucking amazing, Kiro!

Oh how I've missed this league! Dependent on how many can race online, I may have someone new to bring into the fold. No, he's not a welshman; he's frop oop north. He's only recently (post Destiny) joined the forum. But he's an F1 fan.

Excellent, a fellow Northener. Get him in!

Great work Kiro. I bought by first hat only recently for a certain event in Abu Dhabi... I call it my douchebag hat. Because it makes pretty much anyone but it's real owner look like one when they wear it.

[myoozikk]

Blimey the threads alive. I'm up for some Pcars when it comes out. I'm on PS4 now.

I take it reading back the the Fanatec is 100% not supported for PS4?? Crap I was holding out that it would.

I'd love to be a part of whatever we do, time permitting

Ps Kiro I've missed F1 news. So good.

[Maximum Gary]

No championship is worthy of competing in unless it has my name on it.

[JimmytheMook]

I'd like to take part if there's a space.

[Marmite]

What are you guys going to do about wheels? I can't go back to a controller now so looking at options. Doesn't look like anything is currently available that works across platforms.

T300 apparently decent but I'd like to at least be able to salvage my pedals for re-using.

[mexos]

What are you guys going to do about wheels? I can't go back to a controller now so looking at options. Doesn't look like anything is currently available that works across platforms.

T300 apparently decent but I'd like to at least be able to salvage my pedals for re-using.

Yeah I'm thinking T300. Might wait a bit and see if anything else pop up. There was a buy that was selling a board that would let you use fanny pedals with it but I his site now looks abandoned.

[myoozikk]

Probably a pad tbh.

Which is shit or see if I can use the Fanatec sans feedback. Would probably be better than a kick in the tits.

[mexos]

Every new video gets me a little bit more at the thought of some competitive racing again.

[sixbuttons]

I'm gonna need your help guys. Battlefield Hardline's out on the same day and given that beta was like complete pure uncut crack to me I don't think pCars will get much angle from a single player perspective for a few weeks until my own personal hype has faded slightly.

WHICH MEANS! I won't be playing it a lot to check out various settings and things.

You don't have to do a lot: Throw tracks, rules, cars at me, basically narrow down the choices I have to make so I can do them in a lot less time.

TANK U

[mexos]

I will do exactly that

[SharkyOB]

Unfortunately I'm on the xbox one so I won't be able to join your league. I'd be up for seeing if there's enough players to justify a bone league though - anyone??

[sixbuttons]

It ain't too late to flip reverse if we can get better numbers on Bone. I do think it should be down to a vote of the players who have both machines.

That said IIRC we have three with PS4 only (LeChuck, Kiro and Marmite) and two with Bone only (Meerman, Sharky) so there will be no vote for now.