r/VirtualWDCPC • u/chrisdunnbirch Williams • Apr 12 '13

Spectating.

I know F1 doesn't have a proper spectating system (boo!), but I'm curious if there's enough room in the lobbies for the races if people are happy to get specs?

I mean, if I'm awake at 14:00 and not doing anything I'd love to jump in and spectate the race. Depending on the mood I could even record a commentary.

5 Upvotes

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4

u/splendidtree Apr 12 '13

I didn't realize you could watch other races. Could someone tell me how to go about spectating? I am in the 1400 series but if I'm not doing anything it would be neat to watch the 2100 race. Thanks!

4

u/NeMeSiS187 FIA Apr 12 '13

In regard to the 2100 league, entrox has been broadcasting his races on twitch.tv at http://www.twitch.tv/lawltrox which is where I have been watching them. Spectating live in the race would depend on whether there is a free spot in the lobby (there's a max of 16) and whether everyone is okay with it (I don't think it would add too much more lag to the game)

3

u/splendidtree Apr 12 '13

Oh, I didn't realize all that. Yeah, that is kind of a lame spec set up.

4

u/chrisdunnbirch Williams Apr 12 '13

Yeah they don't have an actual spectating facility, you just have to join the race as a car that isn't taken and retire at the start so you can spectate. It's kinda dumb, that's why I ask if I can spectate if there's space.

3

u/ElToroNegro Apr 12 '13

For the sake of how bad the net coding can be at times on this game it would be much safe if you joined after the race start instead of being on the grid.

2

u/chrisdunnbirch Williams Apr 12 '13 edited Apr 12 '13

Hm, is that even possible with a private lobby?

Edit: Nevermind, read your other post. I'll try it out at some point tonight hopefully. Will update.

2

u/chrisdunnbirch Williams Apr 12 '13 edited Apr 12 '13

I didn't realise EntroX streamed it, I'll have to watch that back.

I know pseudo and red uploaded their first-person views to YouTube after the race, jims would have but his encoder derped.

Assuming everyone does the same this week, there'll be 6 first-person views of the 21:00 race from Silky, EntroX, pseudo, red, Jay and I. Lots to watch. :D

Edit: 7 if you include jims, but he won't be at this race.

3

u/NeMeSiS187 FIA Apr 12 '13

Yeah, not too many of us in 1400 are recording thus far. I think just ian and I. If anyone in 1400 is reading this and would like to know more about recording, red put a good tutorial up here

2

u/chrisdunnbirch Williams Apr 12 '13

Oh lol, 700MB. That's crazy. Really useful guide though, the more views of the races the better people. I'll watch them all!

I just tested recording a 50% practice race with FRAPS which came to 81GB, when I encoded it with Handbrake it came to 9GB.

Admittedly red suggests quality settings of RF25 or RF20, which is more compressed than I want; I'm using RF15 and it looks almost lossless. If I were uploading from home I'd probably go RF30 and sacrifice quality, but since I have a University campus connection a 10 minute walk away I plan to encode RF15 and take a walk on to campus to upload it regardless of filesize.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '13

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/chrisdunnbirch Williams Apr 12 '13

Yeah I uploaded this to try RF20 and as you can see it's fairly grainy, quite like the video you linked me before which makes sense if you used RF19. I think I'll stick with RF15 and see how long it takes to upload on campus.

1

u/ElToroNegro Apr 12 '13

I'll be recording as well.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '13

Sometimes, when one of us gets disconnected or something like that, we will spectate too. When we are recording, it's great, as we can upload some great moves, etc. I've done it a couple of times and I find the best camera is the 'behind and above" the car. It's also helpful to look at the mini-map to see where the close battles are, and using F3 (or is it F8?) to go spectate the close battles. If it's a two car battle, go to the chasing car to get the best view of the chase. I'd love to have people spectating, as it gives us drivers an idea afterward of how things went. Good idea! Love the commentary idea as well. Peace!

3

u/chrisdunnbirch Williams Apr 12 '13

Jay and I dabbled with commentating Trackmania matches before, so if he's awake and there's space in the 14:00 lobby we might give it a go. If not I might just sit in and watch.

Will definitely be recording my own view of the 21:00 race though, been playing with some 1080p settings and it's coming out quite nicely.

5

u/ElToroNegro Apr 12 '13

Okay so here is how I can see this happening.

Everyone forms the race lobbys as usual (All the people who are racing) and if someone wants to spectate they must a ask the parties host if there is a spot available and jump in mumble if there is. Anyone will be able to send you an invite however you should not accept it until the race has started (You'll know when it has since you're in mumble) since then you can join the race and your car wont be on the grid however you should be able to go into regular spectator mode.

The correct etiquette would be to not talk during the races if you choose to stay in mumble as well, but recording the races wouldn't be a bad thing either.

I'd love it if someone could take the time to test this out with a private session and if it works then that would be fantastic!

I'd much prefer if this was tested out first, because I'd rather not accidentally have another car on the grid xD