NorCal (Bay Area) DRIVE Chat Thread

[Clipdat]

It says I can't access Community until I get an A license O.O

Originally Posted by PMok

I won't be back home until late but if I recall right, you go to the Community section of GT6... scroll through your friends until you find me. Then there should be a button under my profile that lists my shared tracks.

From there I think you can test drive, or save those tracks down to your own set. Let me know if that doesn't work and I'll look at it when I get back in front of my PS3...

[LANWarlordII]

Anyone know if the 86norcal drive for tomorrow at 6:30 is still up? I've been cheeking the weather and it seems to be just a bit cloudy. If anyone know an update would be pretty rad.

[PMok]

It is cancelled.


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[SFCFRS]

Dang I was looking forward to it too since the rain cleared out.

[PMok]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

It says I can't access Community until I get an A license O.O

Better get to work then!



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[PMok]

Originally Posted by SFCFRS

Dang I was looking forward to it too since the rain cleared out.

The rain may have stopped but the roads may still be wet on the mountain pass. The heavily wooded areas don't get much sun and may take a few days to dry out so they may still be quite slippery...


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[BigFatFlip]

Originally Posted by PMok

I don't know if you heard me mention this at the last weekend drive, but for you GT6 players there is the ability to design and share custom tracks now in the game... with the help of @mkivsoopra I got user-created tracks that replicate Buttonwillow, Thunderhill 5-mile, Thunderhill West... and I started mapping a few local drive routes as well... if you're my friend on PSN you can go into GT6 and view my shared tracks, and copy them to your profiles as well...

Originally Posted by overlookedx

Wow that is awesome! They finally added this feature after talking about it for years. Too bad I have two broken ps3s! Can someone take a video of one of these virtual tracks?

Originally Posted by Clipdat

I can't seem to figure out how to import these. Could you tell me the exact process? Where is the "view my shared tracks" link?

So in lieu of getting up early tmrw for a drive, I'm staying up late dusting off the good ol GT6. Had to update my IRL car stand-in to have FI now and gave P's tracks a try.

Sorry, no video, but I'll give my impressions.

First, tried redwood since I felt like I was most familiar with it. The very first hair pin gave me an eerie sensation. It felt like the xmas tree farm should be there but instead there was nothing but green grass. Working my way thru the pass, that eerie feeling of "I've been here before" continues, feeling strangely familiar but looking completely different. All the turns were there with out the land marks or the road imperfections. Over all, I think its an awesome track but lacks the sense of any elevation. This particular direction of Redwood I think of as the "uphill" direction and I did not feel any of that. The turns were there and even some of the banking, but the sense of hurling yourself up the hill, which was 90% of the satisfaction to me, is just not there. I still saved the track of course.

Next up, gave T-hill East a try since I'd consider it one of the tracks I'm most familiar with (more so than MLS or Sonoma). From the looks of it, I'm guessing this was the "by-pass" configuration. Again, it looked awesome, all the turns were there, most of the curbing was right, even the timing building was in the right spot! I liked how the "Eifel" standard background made it feel a lot like T-hill in the spring time, with all the beautiful green grass (but no wind mills in the distance). On the other hand, my one and only complaint is the same, the lack of any elevation change, which is one of T-hill's distinguishing characteristics, is just not there. No mounds to drive around, no hills to crest, no off-camber turns and no blind turns to "guesstimate" the apex. But still, it makes for a very close and very good approximation.

Same story goes for T-hill west, the 5-mile "Thunderschlefe" and buttonwillow. I'll probably keep these for "practice" to learn the track before I finally get to try them for real.

Overall, still worth the trouble of updating my PS3 for several hours and dusting off the game. I'll definitely have to switch between GT6 and Dirt Rally for the next couple of weeks.

Thanks @PMok!

[PandaBRZ]

Originally Posted by BigFatFlip

I'll definitely have to switch between GT6 and Dirt Rally for the next couple of weeks.

Thanks @PMok!

I've never hated and loved a game as much as I do DiRT Rally. I've rolled off cliffs more times than I'd like to admit. But I just bought an Alpine in the game and it's glorious.

[PMok]

Originally Posted by BigFatFlip

First, tried redwood since I felt like I was most familiar with it. The very first hair pin gave me an eerie sensation. It felt like the xmas tree farm should be there but instead there was nothing but green grass. Working my way thru the pass, that eerie feeling of "I've been here before" continues, feeling strangely familiar but looking completely different. All the turns were there with out the land marks or the road imperfections. Over all, I think its an awesome track but lacks the sense of any elevation. This particular direction of Redwood I think of as the "uphill" direction and I did not feel any of that. The turns were there and even some of the banking, but the sense of hurling yourself up the hill, which was 90% of the satisfaction to me, is just not there. I still saved the track of course.

Next up, gave T-hill East a try since I'd consider it one of the tracks I'm most familiar with (more so than MLS or Sonoma). From the looks of it, I'm guessing this was the "by-pass" configuration. Again, it looked awesome, all the turns were there, most of the curbing was right, even the timing building was in the right spot! I liked how the "Eifel" standard background made it feel a lot like T-hill in the spring time, with all the beautiful green grass (but no wind mills in the distance). On the other hand, my one and only complaint is the same, the lack of any elevation change, which is one of T-hill's distinguishing characteristics, is just not there. No mounds to drive around, no hills to crest, no off-camber turns and no blind turns to "guesstimate" the apex. But still, it makes for a very close and very good approximation.

Same story goes for T-hill west, the 5-mile "Thunderschlefe" and buttonwillow. I'll probably keep these for "practice" to learn the track before I finally get to try them for real.

Overall, still worth the trouble of updating my PS3 for several hours and dusting off the game. I'll definitely have to switch between GT6 and Dirt Rally for the next couple of weeks.

Thanks @PMok!

I have to agree with @BigFatFlip 's assessment. The biggest thing missing is the elevation changes. Unfortunately as it currently stands the game lets you design custom maps primarily on the flat terrain map (Eifel Flat). There are other hilly terrain maps but then the editor won't let you trace with an overlay which is how I think most of these "real world" maps get made. Here's hoping that eventually they will allow something cool like pulling in real world terrain data from Google Earth or something, and editing elevation. But... it's fun to have virtual versions of the roads and tracks we drive and love... and I'd never be able to try bombing down Niles Cyn Rd at 140mph IRL LOL.

[BigFatFlip]

Originally Posted by PandaBRZ

I've never hated and loved a game as much as I do DiRT Rally. I've rolled off cliffs more times than I'd like to admit. But I just bought an Alpine in the game and it's glorious.

Well, this is getting a bit off-topic, but if you've been here long enough, you'd know that pretty much every thread on this forum is off topic lol.

I heard of Dirt rally referred to as the "dark souls of racing games" and would have to agree. Part of its charm is its sheer brutality. After ~160 hrs of play, I am barely staying mid-pack with the Master's class (2nd to most difficult I believe), and would only podium if the once in a while somebody crashes out. If you like breaking records and getting first on every race, this isn't the game for you. I really like how they emphasizes making it to the finish more so than clocking in the fastest time, the rally motto "press on regardless" rings true also.

But enough about that. The weather is looking nice. @Clipdat you still wanna to do grizzly peak Sunday morning?

[PMok]

took a short cruise up Redwood Rd and back down after lunch... before anyone starts in with the "why didn't you post it, I would have joined you"... I was stuck behind slow traffic most of the way. I did confirm though that the roads are nice and dry at least in the Redwood Rd area. Even at the softest settings of my Tein SRCs though, and at mild speeds, the bumps of Redwood made me wince a few times...

[07jazzrs5gt86]

Sorry for the cancelled event for today but actually I think its much better for us to postpone the drive for the up coming Saturday as its a long tricky and technical route

As the weather forecast for next weekend seems perfect for the drive it'll be good

Ok here's the drive plan

4-30-16 Saturday
Meet time 6:30 am start 7am sharp
Meet Place will be the very 1st vista point exit right after crossing the golden gate bridge heading north. The vista point is right before Alexander exit.

1st drive is going north to stinson beach/ Muir woods exit to shoreline hwy.
Then hit panoramic highway
After that take Muir woods rd back to Shoreline hwy
Continue up north to sir Frances drake
That'll be the last leg

Thanks

[07jazzrs5gt86]

Originally Posted by PMok

took a short cruise up Redwood Rd and back down after lunch... before anyone starts in with the "why didn't you post it, I would have joined you"... I was stuck behind slow traffic most of the way. I did confirm though that the roads are nice and dry at least in the Redwood Rd area. Even at the softest settings of my Tein SRCs though, and at mild speeds, the bumps of Redwood made me wince a few times...

I did the same around 10 am and was surprised how dry the road were but as usual that cross section between pine and red is slippery after the slightly rain. Another nice surprise is no traffic

[Clipdat]

Unfortunately no. Got a sore throat and a cough since Friday that's not going away.

Originally Posted by BigFatFlip

@Clipdat you still wanna to do grizzly peak Sunday morning?