ARCA Sim-Racing 08/ARCA Sim Racing X

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Spider892

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VIP
Hot Pass Member
Mar 21, 2019
9
3
@theevanscottrussell
Absolutely! I'm in the 8. And yes, the dooring is one of the pieces of behavior I've yet to localize.

I suggest starting with ASRX or ARCA as they're already stock-car centric. I couldn't be much help getting rfactor up to the Arca/stock-car starting point. Additionally, I found the physics in the original ARCA 08 game to be more appropriate than ASRX in comparison against iRacing as a gold standard, but that's personal preference and limited to the ARCA bodies, not the Cup, Xfinity or Trucks (my initial attraction to this game are the gen4 bodies).

In ASRX they give you the original track and the AltAero version. AltAero is more like the racing we see now at these tracks. the original track is more reminiscent of 01-04 plate racing. My changes can be applied to both.

Firstly the rf JRPlugin is one of the main ingredients. Its widget doesn't display in the top left corner of the game to adjust settings as it should, but it does still work in the background. You just have to trust it. I would love to expand or dial in its effectiveness but I don't know anything about plugins. I believe this to be responsible for 50% of the experience created in the video you watched.

For Talladega, I swapped the Arca dega tire compound for the ASRX "CUP" dega tire compound. I can't recommend this enough.

Talladega AWI:
"drivinglines=3" - This is one of the simplest, yet most impactful changes. Seriously this simple in Talladega's case.

"AIDraftStickiness=1.000" - This is playing with how likely AI are to jump out of the draft. People's first inclination is to think the draft is the most important thing at superspeedways, so this gets set high. 4.000 seems to be the standard setting around the internet, but I've found that the higher variable finds the cars restricted, more afraid to leave the draft wake. I've set it at 1 and seem to see an appropriate amount of jockeying (though somehow this didn't have a major effect on the direct dooring you noticed... A head-scratching piece of behavior). This line largely helps promote a 3rd and sometimes 4th line of racing.

PLR:
AI to AI Collision Rate="39" // Detection rate per second (1-40) for AI-to-AI collisions - I'm still playing with this, but it seems to help smooth out their most erratic maneuvers and impacts.
Auto Line Smooth="3" // 1 = fastest line, 2 = inside/outside, 3 = fastest and inside/outside - this works in tandem with the draft stickiness to promote multiple racing lines.

I don't know where it is, but "Slowwhenpushed=1" is more accurate for 01-04 drafting packages. It creates a cushion of air between the back bumper and front valance that dissipates as the draft effect increases.

These are the main things to get you going. You should see an immediate difference. I'll have to look back over everything when I get back to my other computer after work to see what else I changed. Happy to share. I think there's a lot overlooked in this game, especially in terms of superspeedway simulation.
 
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DaleTona

The Professor
Hot Pass Member
Aug 16, 2016
1,636
113
Absolutely! I'm in the 8. And yes, the dooring is one of the pieces of behavior I've yet to localize.

I suggest starting with ASRX or ARCA as they're already stock-car centric. I couldn't be much help getting rfactor up to the Arca/stock-car starting point. Additionally, I found the physics in the original ARCA 08 game to be more appropriate than ASRX in comparison against iRacing as a gold standard, but that's personal preference and limited to the ARCA bodies, not the Cup, Xfinity or Trucks (my initial attraction to this game are the gen4 bodies).

In ASRX they give you the original track and the AltAero version. AltAero is more like the racing we see now at these tracks. the original track is more reminiscent of 01-04 plate racing. My changes can be applied to both.

Firstly the rf JRPlugin is one of the main ingredients. Its widget doesn't display in the top left corner of the game to adjust settings as it should, but it does still work in the background. You just have to trust it. I would love to expand or dial in its effectiveness but I don't know anything about plugins. I believe this to be responsible for 50% of the experience created in the video you watched.

For Talladega, I swapped the Arca dega tire compound for the ASRX "CUP" dega tire compound. I can't recommend this enough.

Talladega AWI:
"drivinglines=3" - This is one of the simplest, yet most impactful changes. Seriously this simple in Talladega's case.

"AIDraftStickiness=1.000" - This is playing with how likely AI are to jump out of the draft. People's first inclination is to think the draft is the most important thing at superspeedways, so this gets set high. 4.000 seems to be the standard setting around the internet, but I've found that the higher variable finds the cars restricted, more afraid to leave the draft wake. I've set it at 1 and seem to see an appropriate amount of jockeying (though somehow this didn't have a major effect on the direct dooring you noticed... A head-scratching piece of behavior). This line largely helps promote a 3rd and sometimes 4th line of racing.

PLR:
AI to AI Collision Rate="39" // Detection rate per second (1-40) for AI-to-AI collisions - I'm still playing with this, but it seems to help smooth out their most erratic maneuvers and impacts.
Auto Line Smooth="3" // 1 = fastest line, 2 = inside/outside, 3 = fastest and inside/outside - this works in tandem with the draft stickiness to promote multiple racing lines.

I don't know where it is, but "Slowwhenpushed=1" is more accurate for 01-04 drafting packages. It creates a cushion of air between the back bumper and front valance that dissipates as the draft effect increases.

These are the main things to get you going. You should see an immediate difference. I'll have to look back over everything when I get back to my other computer after work to see what else I changed. Happy to share. I think there's a lot overlooked in this game, especially in terms of superspeedway simulation.
Thanks! I have been looking for good offline gen 4 racing outside of nr2003, so knowing how to dial in the AI is great!

If you find out anything else, feel free to report it! There seriously is not enough solid information on isimotor oval racing, as most people try it from stock, and dismiss it.
 

Spider892

Member
VIP
Hot Pass Member
Mar 21, 2019
9
3
@theevanscottrussell
I think there's massive potential. ARCA game was largely overlooked due to lack of support, but it could've offered a great ai experience if it had been developed. Unfortunately, ASRX elected to break the AI of the game and focus on online racing so some tracks are complete shambles in terms of AI and far from my level of experience fixing. Some work well. Some don't. Some are in better shape than others, but odds are you can find a working version of your favorite track(s) somewhere.

The superspeedway AI do impress me though. As a superspeedway junkie, this is the only experience where I felt confidently used by another AI for their own gain, and passed me on the outside, no less. NR2003's superspeedway ai operate like a revolving door. The packs look mostly right, but they don't actually race and move correctly inside the pack in superspeedway terms of line racing. The ARCA ai actually push their way to the front, form, and dissolve racing lines, follow aggressive maneuvers and will kick you out of line to dry if they can. Far more dynamic by almost every account save for the collisions. The ISI motor just has a horrid collision model. Nr2003's crash physics are gold standard. In the PLR you can see where ISI was working on this issue and had variables for a new model that eventually went into the sequel I believe but they never actually updated the rfactor 1 builds even after leaving place holders.

Additionally, In my video, I believe AI are set to 105% difficulty with 80-90% aggression.

I've been working on a Daytona version but I've only gotten 2.5 racing lines going adequately.

I've been trying to locate a legitimate clean copy of Arca Sim Racing 08 for months now so I can work with the full original files and make a singular clean mod that can work in ASRX. I've only found a strange Chinese rip of 08 and some of the most important files are totally encrypted or locked off so I cant see what they've done differently between ASRX and 08. If anyone can help with locating it, it'd be much appreciated.
 
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DaleTona

The Professor
Hot Pass Member
Aug 16, 2016
1,636
113
I think there's massive potential and the ARCA game was largely overlooked due to lack of support, but it could've offered a great ai experience if it had been developed. Unfortunately, ASRX elected to break the AI of the game and focus on online racing only so some tracks are in complete shambles in terms of AI and far from my level of experience fixing. Some work. Some don't. Some are in better shape than others, but odds are you can find a working version of your favorite track(s) somewhere.

The superspeedway AI do impress me though. As a superspeedway junkie, this is the only experience where I felt confidently used by another AI for their own gain, and passed me on the outside, no less. NR2003's superspeedway ai operate like a revolving door. The packs look mostly right, but they don't actually RACE and move correctly inside the pack in superspeedway terms of line racing. The ARCA ai actually push their way to the front, form, and dissolve racing lines, follow aggressive maneuvers and will kick you out of line to dry if they can. Far more dynamic by almost every account save for the collisions. The ISI motor just has horrid collision detection and relegation of momentum. Nr2003's crash physics are gold standard. In the PLR you can see where isi was working on this issue and had variables for a new model that eventually went into the sequel I believe but they never actually updated the rfactor 1 builds even after leaving place holders.

Additionally, In my video, I believe AI are set to 105% difficulty with 80-90% aggression.

I've been working on a Daytona version but I've only gotten 2.5 racing lines going adequately.

I've been trying to locate a legitimate clean copy of Arca Sim Racing 08 for months now so I can work with the full original files and make a singular clean mod that can work in ASRX. I've only found a strange Chinese rip of 08 and some of the most important files are totally encrypted or locked off so I cant see what they've done differently between ASRX and 08. If anyone can help with locating it, it'd be much appreciated.
I think @ti2blegrr has the original ASR08 disc, so you might want to contact him.
 

The_Tigg

"The One, The Only"
Staff member
VIP
Moderator
Dec 24, 2016
3,749
113
Oh, you want to buy my original mint copy of ARCA '08 do ya? It's a collectors item now a days, so it'll cost ya! LOL!WIN_20191028_22_51_29_Pro.jpg
 
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ARC_

Rookie
Cold Pass Member
Dec 20, 2019
0
1
I know this reply is WAY TOO LATE or just FAR FROM THE DATE POSTED, but I just got my hands on ASRX which is still active and I wanted to know if there's any way to edit a field or not, is just because I kind of like the racing in this sim.
id love to just get my hands on it, how can you?
 

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