Question Teach me ballast

Discussion in 'Community Support' started by Nash Bobo, Oct 17, 2021.

  1. Nash Bobo

    Nash Bobo Well-Known Member

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    This pic was taken at a ranked Portimao GP race Sunday at 5:35pm CEST during qualifying. Why does the game put ballast weight on three cars and not on other 24 cars (27 cars in the race) when we drive the same car GTR-4's or are we? By chance if it's setup, I only change steering angle, lock and FFB. I take the rest of the car as given to me by RRE. Why was ballast to my car added? When can we (drivers) expect ballast to be added for a race. We all are driving the same car at Portimao this week, don"t we?

    Trying to learn ballast

    "Nash"
    scoring1.jpg
     
  2. Vale

    Vale Well-Known Member

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    Ranked server ballast is when a car is considered faster than others in the same class (all cars of the same brand woud then have the ballast) or, in this case, when a player is using a driver aid e.g. traction or stability control.

    If you activate "get real" dfficulty level in the game options menu then normally there will only be factory TC/ABS and no other aids so therefore no ballast.
     
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  3. Maskerader

    Maskerader Well-Known Member

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    Oh, wow, that's true. A lot of ranked servers are now set to "Free choice" instead of "Factory ABS/Factory TC" as before. I wonder if it's deliberate or an oversight, I hope it's the former, but I'm not sure because not all servers are like that. For example "America #1" is set to free choice, but "Rookie America #1" - to factory assists.

    What I like is that it penalises you for each option separately. Like, if you turn on "Amateur" set of assists (ABS, TC, Stability control), your ballast will be 25 kg. But if you only turn on ABS, your ballast will be 10 kg.
     
  4. Nash Bobo

    Nash Bobo Well-Known Member

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    Vale, I understand you that when the race rules said's, "free choice" in driver assist, like this ranked race. It really doesn't mean "FREE". The pic is of the rules of this race. There could be a price to pay that you do not know about sometimes. I did look in my option menu and everything in assist was turn on. So we change these settings in options also, and just not in setup. I think you just told me and others, you might pay a price when it said's, "free choice".

    Thanks for the lesson in the word "Free", Vale.

    Thanks also to Maskerader for his input.

    "Nash"

    rules4.jpg
     
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  5. Nash Bobo

    Nash Bobo Well-Known Member

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    I did find to different styles of GT-4's in this race.
    GT-42.jpg
     
  6. Maskerader

    Maskerader Well-Known Member

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    What do you mean different styles? There are 7 cars in GTR4 class in this game.
     
  7. Nash Bobo

    Nash Bobo Well-Known Member

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    Maskerader, I just embarrassed myself. I was not paying attention. I only knew of the Lotus Evora

    "Nash"
     
  8. Maskerader

    Maskerader Well-Known Member

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    @Bavarian_Firebird No, no, he's got a point. When it says "free choice" your first impression is all choices are equal - which is not the case here.
     
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  9. Vale

    Vale Well-Known Member

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    Free choice by definition means that the person has autonomy to choose, not that all options are equal.
    EG free choice of gas supplier.
     
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  10. Maskerader

    Maskerader Well-Known Member

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    I know the definition, that's why I said "impression".

    Also, I'm not implying that it's like that every time in any situation (like in your gas supplier example), but if a UI says "free choice", not everyone would expect some of the options to be penalized. Being penalized after you made your choice might feel a bit off.

    Like, you go to a store to buy some bread, you pay for it and you're walking out, but then a manager comes to you and says: "Because you chose this brand, you must pay 5% extra. Or choose another brand." This would be illegal in most countries because it doesn't feel entirely right.
     
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    Last edited: Oct 19, 2021
  11. Maskerader

    Maskerader Well-Known Member

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    Last edited: Oct 19, 2021
  12. bubblejohns

    bubblejohns Active Member

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    youre running full TC or ABS and not factory setting or its ASM, something of those. youre running a drivers aid that yore being punished for
     
  13. Vale

    Vale Well-Known Member

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    When games donĀ“t come with a manual or online guide this is always going to happen. But then there are on track penalties for pit lane speeding and other offences which you also only find out about once you commit the offence so there comes a point where people learn as they go along.

    Perhaps the UI should have a pop up bubble when you move the cursor over ballast to explain why it is there.
     
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  14. Nash Bobo

    Nash Bobo Well-Known Member

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    Not only in sim racing but as we go in life.
     
  15. Nash Bobo

    Nash Bobo Well-Known Member

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    Have you guys notice that the rules for assist are different at Portimao on Severs Rookie Europe #9 and Rookie Oceania #2. I feel they are trying to throw us a curve ball or give us a choice. I guess I better pay attention to the rules better.

    "Nash"
     
  16. majuh

    majuh Well-Known Member

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    The servers probably feature different cars. In some cars, the assists are allowed without penalty ballast.
     
  17. Maskerader

    Maskerader Well-Known Member

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    No, even for the same combinations the rules can be different. F4 at Brands Hatch: Rookie Europe #1 is Factory assists, Rookie Europe #6 is Free choice.

    Looks more like an oversight to me than a deliberate decision. Like, recently created servers are set to Free choice by mistake and will likely be fixed when it's noticed. Sad, I don't want to see it gone, at least on some servers.
     
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    Last edited: Oct 20, 2021
  18. Nash Bobo

    Nash Bobo Well-Known Member

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    The only thing I can do is look at what RRE is going to do with my car (ballast, no ballast, some ballast etc.) in practice. If I don't like what they did, I can always go back into options and change it or just get out of the race. Just something I or we got to learn and understand. But I do like the options of servers RRE are giving us. It's a buffet of racing.
     
  19. bubblejohns

    bubblejohns Active Member

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    just turn aids off and abs, TC to factory and youll get none
     
  20. Maskerader

    Maskerader Well-Known Member

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    Should I have said "equally accepted" instead of "equal"? Or what's the right word here? Maybe that's where the misunderstanding comes from.

    Because obviously the options you have here aren't equal in terms of what you get. If you turn on in-game traction control and get slower laptimes or worse handling there's no one to blame because that's how this option works. Or if you simply choose one of the several available cars, same thing, they aren't equal in terms of speed and handling (but if there are BOP adjustments to some cars, it's announced).

    However, the nuance here is that you get a penalty exactly for choosing one option over another and you're not told about it upfront even though it's there and will be applied 100% once you make your choice. How free can such choice be considered then? My point was, if someone doesn't see it as "free choice", I can totally understand where they are coming from. Yet, some people disagree with it for some reason.
     
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    Last edited: Oct 21, 2021