locked servers

dover16 · Dec 19, 2019

My question is.. Why does almost every server have a password so on line people can't join?
I could understand if the automobilista online racing was full or even half full but this is not the case.
I am sure that there are people out there who want to race but are singles not groups and are unavailable to go online and join a game.
It seems ridiculous to me that this is the case. Those I have spoken to really enjoy this product but it seems impossible to get a game online without joining a club. Thoughts please???

dover16 · Dec 19, 2019

I wonder what the server situation will be like with automobilista 2

Marc Collins · Dec 19, 2019

dover16 said:
My question is.. Why does almost every server have a password so on line people can't join?
I could understand if the automobilista online racing was full or even half full but this is not the case.
I am sure that there are people out there who want to race but are singles not groups and are unavailable to go online and join a game.
It seems ridiculous to me that this is the case. Those I have spoken to really enjoy this product but it seems impossible to get a game online without joining a club. Thoughts please???

Simple--open servers are typically crash-fests where 20 people can have their entire efforts and races ruined by one moron. The ratio is usually higher for the morons

The only way to have a satisfactory experience is to pre-screen your race mates, even if it's in a minimal manner. iRacing exists for no other reason than this.

This is such a serious problem that even Wreckfest--a game designed to have fun wrecking and racing (!!!!)--servers are full of malcontents that want nothing more than to ruin other people's fun (driving backwards, corner bombing, etc.) and you see the same trend there with locking. In the open servers, there is lots of continuous hassles with people being kicked for various stupid behaviour. It's part of sim racing, so get used to it and find a nice community to get involved in online racing. You are already part of one posting here...

dover16 · Dec 19, 2019

I watch servers numbers in automobilista and the numbers are all usually 0
Locked servers do nothing to promote this game online and is probably the reason for poor usage

Dann Murillo · Dec 20, 2019

Locked servers are not the problem. The main challenge for AMS is that it is running the older isiMotor 2 game engine from like 2004 and does not have an upgraded graphics engine like RaceRoom. We all know the physics engine is pretty solid but in this day and age, graphics are what sell. This where the engines like madness (PC2 engine), isiMotor 2.5 (RF2 engine) or Unreal Engine 4 (ACC engine) are literally more "attractive" to the community.

dover16 · Dec 20, 2019

Dann I come from a background of consul racing, pc2 ,forza7, assettocorsa, dirt and f1 2018.All which i can race on line ,
Most have great graphics. However none of these have great physics. I have since changed to automobilista for its more realistic attitude to the physical side of racing. Perhaps you race to look at the scenery. I prefer to interact with the driving.. I suggest to you that better graphics will attract more wreckfest drivers than better physics.
This morning I managed to find an open server with 15 + drivers on track. Everyone drove hard but sensibly. Yes there were crashes, but thats racing. Crashes were caused by people trying their best. Not wreckfesting.
Maybe its time to rethink if we want sim racing to thrive
I thought wreckfesters can be booted

Dann Murillo · Dec 20, 2019

"Maybe its time to rethink if we want sim racing to thrive"
"Perhaps you race to look at the scenery."
Not sure what this means. Any AMS fan is here because of the fantastic physics and force feedback. We dont create the games so we cant really rethink if we want sim racing to thrive. Of course we do but we are users not devs. It is good that there are so many options for everyone. As you illustrated in your other thread showing the number of users online, you can see AC clearly leads the way. AC, R3E, and RF2 all have updated graphics engines. I'm just saying people are drawn to that and the numbers show it.

1 assetto corsa 4600 users on line
2 Raceroom 2000
3 rfactor2 600
4 automobilista 125

Listen, I'm the same as you. I am just saying people are drawn to updated graphics. Not me personally. I am an AMS fanboy. I have been sim racing since 1996 so I have seen a lot in my days. I have ran an AMS league since it has been available. We have seen hundreds of drivers come and go. Graphics sell, which is all the more reason to be excited about AMS2.

dover16 · Dec 21, 2019

Dann Appreciate your thoughts. So how can we improve the numbers of players on automobilista on line?
Do we open it up by creating more available servers?
Do we organise more races that are open?
Do we promote.
I have completely enjoyed the switch to Automobilista But I am not a club person. I want to be able to join races when i can not be tied to a schedule of events.Being in Australia Times are different so what is available is already limited.

Dann Murillo · Dec 21, 2019

Reiza is doing what needs to be done. They are building a new game with updated graphics while trying to maintain the integrity of the AMS1 physics within the new madness game engine. From there marketing and promoting the product is also a task that is to be handled on their side. What we will need to do is be active and spread the word to the sim racing community. I do my part by running a league that has multiple open servers. We only lock them once per week on race day so we do not get random drivers who have not practiced for the races. AMSU is another group who has gone above and beyond by organizing daily events. But we league admins can really only work with the driver pool what we have. If there were 4000 AMS users online at a time, things would be much different.

Kjell Nielsen · Dec 21, 2019

Every new game that pop up every year makes people to buy this new games to test them.

Some people then leave a old game [not spend so many hours to play the old game].

The simracing community has always over the time having this "problem" since the start when people could
play games online [Multiplayer].

It happends when Internet www been released and public.

And then many people around this world could GO ONLINE and that still 2019 works and people can have great online contact with online friends on a Site like this site so we can write and other people can read.

The Invention of the Internet

dover16 · Dec 22, 2019

Had my first interactive ams game on my server yesterday was great . Would not have happened if my server was locked. Some one said "i dont look on ams servers very much since most are locked and the numbers on line (ams) are depressing"
Hence my original statement " do we need more unlocked servers in ams. I havent experienced wreckfest players but i am sure they can be booted in ams

Marc Collins · Dec 22, 2019

dover16 said:
Had my first interactive ams game on my server yesterday was great . Would not have happened if my server was locked. Some one said "i dont look on ams servers very much since most are locked and the numbers on line (ams) are depressing"
Hence my original statement " do we need more unlocked servers in ams. I havent experienced wreckfest players but i am sure they can be booted in ams

Just tried to join you and your server, but it was not online...

Emery · Dec 22, 2019

dover16 said:
Hence my original statement " do we need more unlocked servers in ams. I havent experienced wreckfest players but i am sure they can be booted in ams

Promotion works better than more empty servers. If you're hosting a server, announce in advance the time you would like to have people join you and what content you'll be using. If people are interested in the content AND you're in compatible time zone, they'll find you. Leave the server up and, eventually, people in other time zones that are borderline with your regular events will start making use of your server in your off-times. I used to run an rFactor server circa 2007-2010 era.

I'm on the USA west coast and prefer playing in the evenings, but most of world is either in bed or heading to bed when I want to play, so not so much action. Unfortunately, these days, my cellphone internet isn't as good as it was a year ago, so I'm down to single player action only.

Emery · Dec 22, 2019

Here's when peak activity happens in AMS, 17:00 my time. That's about 21:00/22:00 in Brazil and 01:00 the next day in London. Note that the count is of ALL players in AMS, not of the online players which are undoubtedly fewer, so most difficult to find ANY players online. Back when I was running an rFactor server, there were over 1000 players online (not counting offline players).

thepharcyde · Dec 22, 2019

The answer to your question was found over the course of this weekend when RRE unlocked all content for free for everyone. This meant a whole weekend of crash fest city. The driving standards of the general lobby players is very poor.

I do share your frustration, as an avid RF2 player, I can count on a single hand the number of online races I've played since I purchased the game in 2014, given the majority of online is behind a password, and or full of AI.

Hoping the new competition service will sort this out.

Emery · Dec 22, 2019

You're also up against the fact that AMS is the least popular sim. A very worthwhile sim, but still the least popular. The blue line in the chart below is the Assetto Corsa player count. The white line is Project CARS 2. The orange line is rFactor 2 (Raceroom is usually neck & neck with rF2). That nearly flat line at the bottom is Automobilista, the same as the chart I posted above... unfortunately.

Emery · Dec 22, 2019

thepharcyde said:
The answer to your question was found over the course of this weekend when RRE unlocked all content for free for everyone. This meant a whole weekend of crash fest city. The driving standards of the general lobby players is very poor.

Nope. While the free content days increased the players in Raceroom, they were new players rather than players of other sims and they certainly weren't pulled from the pool of active AMS players.

dover16 · Dec 22, 2019

Emery thanks for your comments.
I will certainly look at posting server time on line game style track cars etc. Just not sure where is the best place/ heading to post under. Considering there are not a lot of people using ams it stands to reason that the more common sims will attract more wreckfest. As Dann said Better graphics and newer games will attract more buyers and as such probably attract more wreckfest.I consider it like windows . Newer operating systems attract the virus creators xp is now a lot less attacked .It is my intention to boot hoon drivers as I would like to run a proper skilled race. We all understand crashes will happen but i do not tolerate idiotic racing.
My intention is to run a 15 contestant 2 ai ( for speed comparison)40 lap Sandown or Bathurst race for supercars and super v8. With 70min practice and 20min qual. Time to happen around 10.00 aust central time but could change depending where interest comes from.