An idea for the penality system

I don't think this would be too hard to implement.
Keeping the same "system" in place, just add infringement notices.
i.e in settings have your choosing of notices giving before penalty is giving, 4 cuts "warnings" after them warnings. Next is slow down time, after that extra slow down time, then drive through etc, Lastly auto kick

 

I find the current penalty system really bad. Asking to slow down to 35kph or for 20sec with other cars still racing fast around is a source of collisions.
Certainly the risk can be reduced if you take your penalty out of the racing line but that's theory, in practice you see many players slowing down on the racing line, if not in the middle of a turn.

I'd find better to replace those slowdowns by drivethrough penalities, with some adjustable warnings before it triggers the DT (like server owner decide the 2 firsts cut only triggers a warning and the 3rd triggers a DT).

 

If we really have to keep the current penalty system, why not add the penalty time to the end of the round time, or ask the user to get into the pits to sit out his penalty time?

 

The solution I offered earlier is very 'do-able' and uses inputs the software is quite capable of tracking.
It will keep everybody 'honest' in that when you apply the brakes, the car is slowed.
If you attempt to brake for... but yet missed the corner you'd have already been slowing so you gain nothing.
If you cut the corner without an attempt to brake the four second penalty will kick in and negate any gains.
Either way you won't get an advantage and it doesn't inflict a draconian penalty which kills the actual racing.
The last step proposed, also takes care of those few guys who like to purposely ram racers off track.

 

This is a very short sighted opinion. The current 35km/hr or 5s slow down penalty is ridiculous. There should absolutely be two warnings and then the common sense solution of a pit lane drive through. I am really struggling to see how this is even debatable at this point. Having people nearly park in the middle of the track just creates more problems. I have played MP with the new toys for 4 days straight now. I had lots of fun, but noticed one thing. The servers with penalties become frustrating almost instantaneously. The popularity of the servers I was in this weekend directly tied to whether penalties were on or not. This pick up your driving excuse is utter garbage.

 

I think I already wrote that somewhere, but I'm repeating it for you: 2 warnings before a penalty are two free 5+ seconds cuts on many of the tracks (Les Combes at Spa and T1 at Monza are good examples where you can get an enormous adavantage by cutting). Stopping or slowing down in the middle of the track to serve the penalty is a bad idea, just find a safe spot and go off the racing line to do it. You absolutely can do it without affecting others behind you.
And I haven't noticed servers with penalties to be less popular that those without them. Most servers I race on have penalties on and they are fairly populated.
You're doing something wrong if penalties hit you so much. I do get penalties sometimes, but I take them as my own faults of exceeding track bounds. Stay in bounds and you're OK, simple as that.

 

If you are driving with players who intentionnaly cut to gain an advantage then I'd advise to change the players you are driving with.

 

I'm not sure what would be wisdom with this penalty system, but I'm sure it can/must be improved some how.

Two things come in to my mind that should be fixed with the current system.

First, find a way to detect if the cut made the driver gain or loose time. (or if it was intentional or not)
This could be done couple of ways, both described previous posts in this thread. Not perfect solutions but better than nothing.

Second, give more time (one extra lap) to serve the penalty, if it is given on the last sector of the track (unless it's the last lap of the race.)
This is to avoid situations where someone screws up the last turn and then jumps on brake pedal just before the finish line. = More time to pick a safe spot to serve your penalty.

I understand how "2 warnings and drive through" sort of gives free cuts for cheaters, but I'd still prefer it over the current system.
- You could of course add a time penalty, a second or two to the final time even from the first two cuts. 3rd cut would give you a drive through or stop and go, and maybe reset the added time penalties.. Does this make any sense? No free cuts and no slowing down on track.
This combined with the simple detection if the cut made you gain or lose time... Could it work?

 

And how exactly can I change the players? Most of the servers are open for almost anybody. I would ban those who I find cheating/cutting on a server that I have admin access to, but honestly I'd prefer to not worry about it at all. Policing the server takes too much time from actual racing

 

My point was I don't think there is that much players that would abuse, so that "free cuts" would be a non-issue. It would only happen marginally.
If it happens in an open server just don't take this player into account (bad player), and if it is in an organized league it is easy to penalize the player when the case occurs.

 

id rather they left it as it is... I kinda wish the 2 wheels out option was up to the middle of the car instead of to the wheels on the opposite side of the car... as it is now, with 2 wheels out option you can use all of the green stuff at monza and cut the imola chicane pretty heavily and with 1 wheel out you get penalized for inside wheels on the curb. I really dont like the idea of 2 free cuts or anything like that. for leagues maybe but not pub racing

 

it was a long time ago but when I tried tyres out = 1 in the cfg I got penalties for inside wheel on the curb where with tyres out = 2 I could go right up to the outside wheels on the inside curb

maybe it was soo long ago it was with the old system?

 

yeah, because racing is all about going slow and not pushing the limits... right?

 

Where do I say go slow? I typed 'slow down', that is totally different to go slow. You go no slower than parked upside down in a field, or buried in a barrier. There is a documentary about it called 'The Tortoise and the Hare' I would advise reading/watching it.

 

This scenario happens to me all the time. I am not sure what folks want me to do when a car is parked in the middle of the apex.

A sim's #1 quest should be towards realism. There is no auto racing regulatory body on Earth that penalizes like AC does. To consider it acceptable in its current state is just giving up. I have been here early enough to see worse systems, but more progress needs to be made. Why we even care about the true cheaters who cut massive chunks out of corners on purpose I will never understand. To "win" while cheating isn't really winning anything.

 

It's Christmas, give the Penalty system a break! If you spend that much time being penalized, you are doing something really really wrong.

 

It's Christmas Eve; so I get a whole day to rip into it. I have been off of work since the 18th. After two helpings of Star Wars I have been on an AC server almost the entire time. I have had tons of fun. The two new Lotus open wheelers are awesome.

That said, after turn 1 drama; penalties were the biggest pain in my everything during this run. So frustrating to get a race ending penalty for absolutely nothing. Especially when I go off to avoid carnage, only to get penalized. The current system does nothing against cheaters; it only penalizes the unlucky. The system is in dire need of a reboot. Again we should be striving for realism everywhere we can. I use the term we loosely.