Short Version +) Let my start by saying that this is my first post on the forums and that I am writing this because I care about the game. +) Ever since the big patch in June all the competitions in Novice mode are - well, simply put - completely broken. Broken beyond belief actually. No really, that's just the way it is. A quick glance at the Novice Leader boards from competitions before and after the patch makes this obvious. +) Detailed Evidence and in depth analysis are provided in the follow-up "long version" to this post. But here are the "highlights" in a nutshell: No. 1: Before Patch: Top novice racers usually placed around top 80% of all racers = 80 % of the other drivers from get real and amateur mode were faster. After Patch: Top novice racers place around Top 20 % or better of all racers = Only 20 % of racers from get real and amateur mode were faster. Note: In the current thrustmaster competition that rate has gone further down to a mindboggling 3 %!! Yes, that's right, place 25 of currently all 758 drivers(as of this writing) is now held by a player in novice mode, just 1.4 seconds slower than the fastest get real driver. Gosh, these must be some very sloppy auto brakes out there Because mine and apparently those of some other players too sure still brake like hell and early on, not matter what. Which leads to No. 2: Before Patch: Top novice racers are usually between 7 to 15 seconds slower than top get real racer. After Patch: Top novice racers are now often between 3 seconds or less slower than top get real racers. No. 3: Before Patch: Top 10 novice racers are usually within 0.5 to 1.0 seconds range of each other. After patch: Top 10 novice racers are now often within 3 to 8 seconds range of each other and sometimes as much as ten or more seconds. +) Frankly, I have no idea why this has gone unnoticed and unfixed so far. But that doesn't really matter. The only thing that matters is that this issue is a serious one and needs urgent attention, especially in the light of the thrustmaster competition where hardware prizes are awarded, but a fair competition in novice mode is at the moment , unfortunately, absolutely impossible. +) @ S3 team: I would be glad to help out as much as I can (Send you replay files or even Shoot videos if that helps, answer further questions, etc.). There is also a quick and easy way to make a reference measurement (can be done by anyone within a few minutes to figure out for yourself what this fuss is about): Simply try to run a lap in novice difficulty in the GT2 corvette @ Laguna Seca in practice mode (or in the current thrustmaster competition directly if you prefer) and do the following: Run full throttle the whole lap through (don't worry, auto braking will have you fully covered) and try to run a somewhat decent line (no need for a perfect line at all, as a range of 2-3 seconds within what you think would be your best possible effort is more than sufficient since this is all about some 10 to 15 seconds of total lap time discrepancy.). What time do you get?. Somewhere above or around 1:35:00?. Or noticeable below 1:35:00 or even below 1:30:00. Well, anything significantly below 1:35:00 is definitely more than would ever be possible on my install and would be a clear indication that there is something deeply different between different installs. (Just to be on the safe side, before writing this I even uninstalled and reinstalled the whole game. Although that raised some new questions, if maybe something sinister are hard to spot happened during the June patching for some players - see follow up post for more details ) Currently I can manage to run a bit below 1:37:00. For purpose of reference that is with full throttle pressed during the whole lap (as auto braking does the rest) with an okay race line. I know there would still be room for improvement of maybe another half second or even a little more by fine tuning the race line. But where's the point in trying harder if the top time on the leaderboard Shows: Top novice time around 1:20:00. 1 Minute and 20 seconds. 15 seconds below that. Hmmmmmmmmm......... +) Just curious what times the S3 team or other players would get on that test? Do you still have a pre patch version somewhere you could try for reference and comparison? +) This post is based on thousands of laps in various novice competitions before the June patch and quite another handful of laps after the patch, a thorough understanding of novice game mode and how to be (consistently) fast in it, as well as observation and analysis of the leaderbords before and after the June patch. (Just quickly comparing the novice leaderboards pre and post patch really tells the whole story). +) This post is by no means a hasty response. It is not of the "Oh nooooo, someone is half a second faster than me and we're all going to die", kind. We're talking about 7and to sometimes 15 full seconds lap time difference. In comparable and sometimes even similar events (2 different DTM14 events at Hungaroring for example: same car, same track, yet mind-blowing changes to the overall novice lap time statistics). In a game mode with automatic braking that considerably limits your top speed through each and every corner, mind you. It would be no problem if this would be the same for all players , i.e. all players are now - depending on track and car - on average 7 to 15 seconds faster, simply because of changes to the game. (Even though something tells me, that novice players being able to come as close to 2 seconds or less near the fastest get real drivers, is nothing the developers had ever intended) . So yes, that would be perfectly fine, a new and faster but nonetheless level playfield for everyone. But sadly that's not the case. Instead it seems as if there are two groups of player's now, that are being "treated differently" by the game. You could call it a two class society: - One group that stays witin their previous range of possible top lap times. - and the other group that inexplicably dials in lap times that are anywhere between said 7 to 15 seconds faster than those of the other group. (And I guess they might not even be aware of this but rather wonder how come that many competitors can be so "incredibly slow") +) And finally: I DEEPLY care about this game. It has brought me lots of joy and happiness and helped me to improve my driving skills, and even taught me some unexpected but highly welcome lessons about mentality and everyday life. It genuinely got me infected with the simracing and hot lapping virus . I highly appreciate the effort and enthusiasm from the development team that have been put in this game so far. And seeing Novice mode "bleeding" like this after the June patch, hurts me and it hurts the game. If my choice of words sounds overly dramatic or unnecessarily harsh, please be ensured that this post is absolutely not meant to offend or discourage - quite the opposite actually. The follow up long version with in depth analysis of the problem hopefully puts things in context a lot better. So, PLEASE save novice mode! Thank you.
Hello @el_novice In the June patch came a modification of those brakes. The game starts applying auto-brakes if you do not yourself brake. If you do brake, the game will stop braking for you and you will be able to carry your own speed through the corner. The changelog was huge for that patch so maybe it got missed. But this was done in an attempt to make novice mode less... boring shall we say. Doing laps with full throttle on 100% all the way through the lap, is that really a racing experience? It ended up being about optimizing racelines to using the shortest possible route. People were fast not because they were good drivers, they were fast because they were good at using this novice mode logic where the car is so painfully slow that it becomes about finding the shortest route.
I really like the changes it feels like you have to break as late as possible without the game "catching you" really added something to do in novice mode.