Online Racing... Part II

After signing up, I had loads of reading to catch up on. Things to look out for while racing online. How does the race start? What do I have to do to be at the start line when the race starts? How does it all work? Of course, the League had a step-by-step guide for newbies. It was all a little overwhelming to start with and I laugh thinking back to things I took notes on. Things that just come naturally after a race or two.

My first big issue was making sure I knew the track that we were about to race on. The name was Watkins Glen. It was a street circuit and I had a good idea of the layout, but I couldn't say I knew the track that well. I made sure I could connect to the server and tested the whole 'online' feel out for a while. I was the only person on the server so it hardly felt different to my usual drives offline. Only now there weren't even AI cars (computer cars) to race against.

Then someone joined the server. I was so excited, I crashed. I had this picture in my mind that I've just wrecked my race car and the race hasn't even started yet. I limped back to pits. It took a few minutes to get the wrecked car back, all the time, the new player on the server was chatting (sending messages that flashed across the bottom of the screen). I was warmly welcomed and asked a few questions. I had no idea how to reply to their messages. Typing didn't just appear on the screen. I never knew that I had to press a 'talk' button first, so the poor chap must have thought I was really rude.

A few more people joined the server and I learned how to 'watch' them on a little tv that appeared in the corner of the screen. It was fun watching them and I found it hard not to call everyone I knew to tell them how amazing it was. And the race hadn't even started yet!

I had a look at the laptimes that these other drivers were setting up and I was stunned. I thought I was pretty good before, but these guys were awesome. I joined the track to drive around with them when I realised my car was a whole lot slower than theirs. I didn't know how to chat to them yet, so I just watched them drive past me on a straight. Then the admins announced, "Qualifying starting..."

My heart was beating in my ears. My hands were shaking as though it was -10 in the room. I drove the most cautious laps I've ever driven. The track felt as though it was a fine line and I was a tight-rope-walker. Everything just seemed so intense. I forgot to breathe until my lungs were almost bursting and I gasped for air as I drove around the track. I failed miserably. I was so slow, I think a granny with her crutches passed me down the straight. I managed to qualify about 10th out of 12 cars! I finished ahead of someone! I was ecstatic!!!

The race was about to start, and I was in the pack. I learned later that the other two cars I started ahead of had both suffered from disconnections and didn't get a chance to qualify. I would have qualified stone last had they qualified, I imagine. The lights turned green and I almost passed out with excitement/nerves. I was praying I didn't crash into anyone and ruin their race. The race was only 20 laps long that took about 1 minute per lap, but each one felt like it was taking an hour.

I struggled to keep up with the other guys but put that down to inexperience. Maybe they knew a trick that I didn't? I wasn't running last though and at the time that was all that mattered. I was probably the slowest car on the track! Racing against people was so different to racing against a computer. When you race against a computer, you have to wait until you get to a part on the track where you are much faster. Then you make a move and pass them. Move on up to the next car, repeat. Humans though, they're funny. If you close up to them, they go faster. They keep going faster and faster until they crash. If someone's catching up to you, you feel the pressure build. You make mistakes. Without them going any faster, you feel as though they're flying. You make one little mistake after another and by the time they're behind you, you've given up and let them through.

I think I finished my first race in 8th. There were a few crashes ahead of me and the cars that started behind me passed me.

It was only after discussing my race with the other drivers during the week that I realised I had a faulty pedal. My car was driving with 10% brake locked on. This gave me new hope. I fixed the pedals with some solder and iron, then went back to Watkins to practice until I could match the times of the front runners. I imagined it would take me days to master but found I was on their pace after just a couple hours. New hope! New race in one week! I couldn't wait to show them how good I really am!

That week dragged by so slowly. Each day I practiced a little. I had no idea how fast the other drivers were, so I was racing against ghosts for most of the time. Sometimes I felt I was way ahead of what they could do, then, the next moment, I felt as though I had to push harder just to keep up. I'd only know how fast I really was by Saturday night. I couldn't wait!

Part I : Online Racing ...

My online gaming 'career' started way back in 2005.

I bought "Grand Prix Legends" from a bargain bin for about R90. I've always been into racing and played just about every racing game on every platform up until then, and this game blew me away. It was what I've always wanted in a racing game; a real driving simulator.

I played around with the cars and pushed harder and harder. Trying to last a race distance was almost impossible, but I wasn't going to lower the difficulty level just to finish a race.

While I was playing around, I stumbled upon a 'ranking' site. My eyes almost popped out my head when I saw how many other people were playing the same game. Not only were they talking about the same game (until now I felt like the only guy in the world who played racing games this seriously), they were also uploading their laptimes onto a server. I could do the same and compare how I was doing with their times. It didn't require anyone to race together on the same track yet it gave me targets to beat.

After a few weeks of uploading times, I finally managed to get a national ranking. I pushed my way up the leader-board little by little until I made it into the top 10 in South Africa.

I found that the other drivers were playing with a 'modern' game called Nascar 2003 by Papyrus. I got the game and played around with it. I mean, if they liked racing as much as I did and they recommended a game, I had to at least try it.

I played around with N2003 for about a month before looking online for patches and game updates. There were versions of the game that were so heavily modified that it was hard to even see any resemblance to the original game. I tried some of them out and time flew by. One minute it was 5pm, relaxed in front of the pc, starting the game... next thing it was 3am...
I was addicted! (In a good way!)

I started searching online for ranking systems in South Africa to compare my lap-times with and found a group on racers based in SA who ran their own league... SARL. There is only 1 online racing league in South Africa, and they happened to run N2003 with exactly the same mod! What luck! I couldn't believe it!

I signed up straight away. It was Saturday morning and their next race was going to be held later that evening. I had a lot to learn before starting...

SA Gaming

I've been playing online multiplayer games in South Africa since 2005, a the age of 27. I was a late-bloomer! Looking back, I think my introduction to online gaming was pretty smooth. I work in the IT industry and wasn't too worried about taking that big step.

I'm still surprised to bump into gamers (in South Africa) who enjoy their gaming, but don't play online. Why don't gamers in South Africa play online? There are tons of players (lawyers/doctors even) who enjoy playing games but playing online seems like a big step that they aren't willing to try. Or just don't know is possible.

Internet access is pretty expensive here. Not many students (the gaming target market) can afford to play online. Not only is the cost of a connection expensive, but the users have to pay extra for each mb used. A game like Battlefield 2 (BF2) uses around 100mb an hour. A decent round lasts up to an hour. At this rate, it can cost the gamer R200 for 10 hours of gaming. (More than the game itself!) As a result, the gamers that do play online for the first time are either living with their parents (under 16) or are a little older than the average student (25 and on).

Once the gamers are online, they find that they don't get a decent 'ping' to gaming servers outside of the country, so playing online means that most gamers play against other South Africans. SGS and iGame provide many servers for most multiplayer games (like Battlefield and Call of Duty), and there are plenty of slots open.

There are a few cheaper 'bandwidth' options available now (local bandwidth costs a fraction of the international), but setting up a dual account looks a little daunting for most, never mind a person who's setting up an internet account for the first time. This has decreased the cost of gaming and increased the numbers in the gaming community.

To take online gaming in South Africa forward, I'd suggest a better marketing scheme that targets the costs of internet and gaming. There are many people who have an interest in gaming but still remember the costs of internet access from a few years ago when they first looked into it. Costs are coming down all the time. Non-gamers need to know about this to get their interest back, and then become gamers again!