For the gamers
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 16,265
Likes: 7
From: NJ
For the gamers
I'm not sure if there's an autox game available that's popular on Xbox/PS3, but perhaps this might work for any of the usual titles like Gran Turismo/Forza.
Get out the blue painter's tape. Assuming you don't have a open face, grab your helmet. Put it on. Try to position yourself in front of the monitor so that the height is as close to the real thing (your car). Fire up the game and switch to the street view. using a highlighter marker (obviously not a permanent marker like a sharpie) color the "far field of vision" on the visor. In other words the part of the visor where you see down to the next corner/cone. The area below where you color would be what's immediately in front of you.
Take off the helmet and using the painter's tape cover over the area that you've highlighted. Now do a few laps. This should force you to make a conscious effort to lift your head and perhaps build in that 'muscle memmory' of sorts where your neck favors looking further out than keeping your head down and focusing on what's immediately in front of you. Some mountain bikers do this with their eyewear by taping of off the top 1/4. Seems the same benefit could apply to autox.
Get out the blue painter's tape. Assuming you don't have a open face, grab your helmet. Put it on. Try to position yourself in front of the monitor so that the height is as close to the real thing (your car). Fire up the game and switch to the street view. using a highlighter marker (obviously not a permanent marker like a sharpie) color the "far field of vision" on the visor. In other words the part of the visor where you see down to the next corner/cone. The area below where you color would be what's immediately in front of you.
Take off the helmet and using the painter's tape cover over the area that you've highlighted. Now do a few laps. This should force you to make a conscious effort to lift your head and perhaps build in that 'muscle memmory' of sorts where your neck favors looking further out than keeping your head down and focusing on what's immediately in front of you. Some mountain bikers do this with their eyewear by taping of off the top 1/4. Seems the same benefit could apply to autox.
Pro
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 622
Likes: 3
From: Calgary, AB
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 208
Likes: 7
From: Los Alamos, NM
Yea, autocrossing is in Forza 4. I've played it quite a lot and I really like it.
A couple of comments about me before I continue. First, this is my novice season. First AX race ever was in April. Never done autocross before that. Secondly, I'm currently about 2 seconds off the average time of my class at the moment (SS class). I started off the season maybe 6-8 seconds off SS class average. Note, that is SS class and not novice. In Novice I tend to get 1st-2nd. So, in a nutshell, I kinda suck. I just replaced my shot front tires with some 18" wheels and Durezza ZIIs. I plan to actually run SS class next time and hope to only be about 1 second behind average.
Anyway, here's what I've found with XBox/Forza 4 autocross for a novice autocrosser
1) The game is great at teaching lines. In 'Rival' mode, you set a time and F4 lets you race someone slightly faster as a 'ghost'. That means you can see the car in front of you on the track. You can watch them brake later, or pick a better line through the slaloms. Repeatedly doing this means you have to keep picking better lines. I know the lines I choose today are different than what I was choosing in April. I think that helps me in real AX.
2) You can practice looking ahead. When I started both the game and real AX, I tended to focus on the cone nearest the car. In the game, I can continually remind myself to look ahead. I found in my last AX race, I was actually doing that in the car during the run.
3) Actual car handling in game compared to reality sucks. I typically run the "A Class" 997 SC car. That's the closest car to my actual car (2005 997 C2). However, it doesn't really feel all that similar to my 997. So basically, you won't be able to get 'seat time' by playing the game.
However, for a novice just starting, I do think the game is good at teaching good lines and at looking a cone or two ahead. If you have an XBox, you can probably get F4 used for something like $10-20. Well worth it, although you might need to get a steering wheel to make it feel a little more realistic.
A couple of comments about me before I continue. First, this is my novice season. First AX race ever was in April. Never done autocross before that. Secondly, I'm currently about 2 seconds off the average time of my class at the moment (SS class). I started off the season maybe 6-8 seconds off SS class average. Note, that is SS class and not novice. In Novice I tend to get 1st-2nd. So, in a nutshell, I kinda suck. I just replaced my shot front tires with some 18" wheels and Durezza ZIIs. I plan to actually run SS class next time and hope to only be about 1 second behind average.
Anyway, here's what I've found with XBox/Forza 4 autocross for a novice autocrosser
1) The game is great at teaching lines. In 'Rival' mode, you set a time and F4 lets you race someone slightly faster as a 'ghost'. That means you can see the car in front of you on the track. You can watch them brake later, or pick a better line through the slaloms. Repeatedly doing this means you have to keep picking better lines. I know the lines I choose today are different than what I was choosing in April. I think that helps me in real AX.
2) You can practice looking ahead. When I started both the game and real AX, I tended to focus on the cone nearest the car. In the game, I can continually remind myself to look ahead. I found in my last AX race, I was actually doing that in the car during the run.
3) Actual car handling in game compared to reality sucks. I typically run the "A Class" 997 SC car. That's the closest car to my actual car (2005 997 C2). However, it doesn't really feel all that similar to my 997. So basically, you won't be able to get 'seat time' by playing the game.
However, for a novice just starting, I do think the game is good at teaching good lines and at looking a cone or two ahead. If you have an XBox, you can probably get F4 used for something like $10-20. Well worth it, although you might need to get a steering wheel to make it feel a little more realistic.
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 16,265
Likes: 7
From: NJ
it would be cool if you could design your own course. I find that most autox venues can only be configured so many ways before it starts to repeat because of space limitations. If you could input a course layout, six pin here, four pin there, slalom in the beggining, hairpin at the end, etc. so that it basically mirrored what usually goes on at your local venue it would be a big learning aid.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,046
Likes: 186
From: Seattle-ish, WA
Ok, I think I may have something of use here. Its a small autocross game called SkidPad. Currently I have a lite version published and am working on pushing out a full version soon.
Here is the link to the app. This is my very first attempt at pushing something out to an app store.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...dPadLite&hl=en
The controls are quite simple using the touch interface. The tilt interface though.. I'm not a big fan of it, so its still pathetic. That will probably need some more work.
It would be really great if the forum members try out the game and provide some feedback
Here is the link to the app. This is my very first attempt at pushing something out to an app store.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...dPadLite&hl=en
The controls are quite simple using the touch interface. The tilt interface though.. I'm not a big fan of it, so its still pathetic. That will probably need some more work.
It would be really great if the forum members try out the game and provide some feedback
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,046
Likes: 186
From: Seattle-ish, WA
In case anyone is interested, a new version has been published in the Android App store
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....SkidPad&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....SkidPad&hl=en
