Server Procedure ??

[Tuffy]

Start the game and access the server via "Multiplayer"? It never finds the server.

Somehow, "run" the mod? Nothing ever happens, it doesn't seem. It is in a folder in the "NASCAR Heat" folder; looks good.

Feeling stupid and just don't know the process to run the game and get to the track. My multiplayer experience was point-to-point with one hosting.

[DusterLag]

There is a shortcut included with the nhrlc11 mod it should be in the nhrlc11 folder within the NASCAR Heat Folder to launch the mod, or you can use mod launcher as most of us do...

We can see that you are very new to Heat in general, please follow the guides on the links below these will help you get started...

Setup with CD > http://www.heatfinder.net/guides.php?c=nhscd

Setup with Essentials Download > http://www.heatfinder.net/guides.php?c=nhse

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Also if you are running Vista or 7 or a 64-bit operating system check out these guides that will help fix common bugs...

http://www.heatfinder.net/guides.php?c=nhwpb
http://www.heatfinder.net/guides.php?c=nhwv7i

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After all of this then you can install the nhrlc11, nbs, and cts mods that you can find for download here at NHRL.

[DusterLag]

Also...

- Your questions don't really have anything to do with server procedure.

- To connect to a server you need to enter the ip in the find box, servers will never display on the multiplayer screen otherwise unless they are local (on your network).

- If your looking for general places to race then you can see a list of servers at heatfinder.net

[Tuffy]

Thank you much for stopping by to clean me up a bit. I did resolve some of this after leaving you guys last night and will explain below. Your first link, the getting started steps over at Heat Finder is the kind of thing that I was looking for here. Yes, I have seen something similar here on the signup page, but the one at HF goes as far as the Mod Launcher. It's in that area that my problems resided last night. I really HAD downloaded the correct mod, but never got it to kick off, either from the desktop icon or directly from within the folder. After leaving you guys, I downloaded it again and it worked fine. The only thing that I did differently was to also download "nhrlcup". I'm not sure what that is, as opposed to "nhrlc11". I don't think it has anything to do with it, but I can conceive of that being a prereq for the season mod, which worked fine after this download. Yes, it was in the correct place the first time; just one of those PC things, I suppose. Anyway, my "run-the-mod" problem appears to be resolved, at least for the Cup. I will download the "Mod Launcher" after seeing that in the HF link and that should help, too. I suppose trying the other season mods makes sense.

As for the setups and such, there was no problem with them....EXCEPT that I had to move them into the correct folder once I got the mod running. Since I was just running NH, I had them right for that. In my defense, it was my expectation that a mod such as the season one would "modify" the program on my PC. I might describe this one as a separate application that USES some of the original files. Of course, that makes perfect sense, but I sure don't see it explained that way anywhere on this site; that's the value of the HF link that you sent in making that more obvious. Yes, I have seen some posts in the forum that make more sense now with that clearer understanding, but they didn't do it for me thinking that the mod would just modify the program that I was/would run. Hope that makes some sense.

Anyway, where I AM weak is my understanding of the car graphics stuff. I understand the file concepts, but think I need to create one and download one to see how they fit in with in-game versions. I had not touched that area; that IS the part in which I had no experience. (Question about car selection at tracks, but separate from this discussion) The bring-it-with me approach is the way I'd like to go, but thought I could just select at the track, and probably can, when there with the mod running. Any help on the car graphics will be met with a much less defensive appreciation than my normal all-too-human defensive "here's what happened" discussion such as this one. I hope you and others understand. I'll play with the files in this area today.

Back to the basic subject: I, of course, had a basic server problem at the time that I created this topic. It was my own stupid typo in recording the IP address and I had obviously resolved that by the time I saw you guys at the track. Other than those stupid old-man mistakes, I understand the concept of servers, although the Ventrillo one still seems to have me stumped, probably another mistake on my part, but not in the area of understanding. It doesn't matter for now, I guess. Since that was a pretty basic obstacle to reaching you guys at the track where I could uncover others such as actually RUNNING the mod, that was the way I titled this topic.

With only minor defensiveness, I'm realy NOT new to Heat itself. I just had never competed with anyone but my adult son on the local network and picked up a lot of bad driving habits that way. It will take some interactive practice, but I accept my shortcomings in that regard and hope to improve. That's the bottom line on that, but two things gnaw at me a little on the subject. The first is that I'm adding to my problems by using the faster setups from lepage. That leaves me learning more about car handling at the same time I'm learning to be more careful in racing interactions with others. If I don't like my progress, I might have to ease up on the setups and do it in two steps. Honest feedback is appreciated, which leads me to my 2nd thought. I know you guys understand the guilt-by-expectations possibilities and I accept that as the way it is in all of life. Still, it's tough to be the low-quality one and have the "he wrecked again" fingers when someone else is guilty. I dearly look forward to learning enough and earning enough acceptance to pleasantly debate some of that. I spun once last night, failed to hold my line a time or two, and slowed slightly once or twice....all MY mistakes. However, I WAS
popped several times.......Nice to have the mods working so I will be able to see who those guys are...

I'm running a decent PC with decent graphics. It's a Dell with a 930 I7 processor and 12MB of memory and an ATI 5870. It benchmarks 58+ in the game,k so all seems fine in that regard. It is running 64-bit Win 7 and I haven't run into any admin priv problems with the files yet, though it does tell me that it is going to require it, it all seems to have worked fine working with the setups, etc.

As a newcomer wading in, I'd have to offer the feedback that we could use some extended version of the info on the signup page. Of course, the number of people that you are working with may make it just as easy to accomplish on a case-by-case basis. That has the advantage of requiring more research/learning from we newcomers, which has to be a good thing, I would think. It does make me expect to have questions every step of the way though. For the sake of discussion, I'll try to list some of those here. Both the answers (that I don't have) and the thought of where-was-I-supposed-to-have-seen-that would be my purpose. In no particular order:

1. Other than close to race time, when is the server open for interactive practice? Since I didn't work out the correct IP address until 10pm, the answer might be supposed to be obvious to me.
2. How do I know which car I can select AT the track? Actually having been there with the mod RUNNING would probably greatly enlighten me, huh?
3. How do I chat while on the track? I was told last night, but where was I supposed to have seen that? I'm thinking that it's THIS kind of thing that you were thinking talking about general Heat experience. Maybe more general online experience is a prereq for racing here; I couldn't argue with that and it would keep folks like me from dumping those kinds of questions on you guys.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply here. I think that your links to HF is THE key for me. Much of what I would ask about are really general online racing questions and the place to learn much of that is there. Please keep me in mind if a practice opportunity there or here pops up. I thought Daytona was a good place for me to start working on my interaction skills, but guess we're moving on to Atlanta now. Please pardon any of my defensiveness; I'm new in lots of ways but as sensitive to criticism as the next old guy.... It's progress for me; I'll owe a round of Buds and Pepsi soon, I hope, and will have some willing to drink them with me.

[DusterLag]

- The nhrlcup mod was the leagues cup series mod prior to this season, it has winged cars. It is no longer used.

- The reason we were all upset with you was the following, you were a big red car that was running at a significantly different speed not only affecting you but every other car around you that needed to "avoid" and "get away" from you. Regardless of if you were actually spinning or not.

- I hope that your "12MB" of memory is a mistype, lol

1) The NHRL server is always up, you can post in the Practice forum here if you want to get others to race with, you can simply go into the server and see if anyone else comes in or you can just check HeatFinder.net on the listing or in the chatroom there to see if anyone else is waiting to practice.

2) You can run the car (and car number) that is not already selected by someone on the particular series's sign-up thread or the NHRL series's roster.

3) "t" pushing the "t" on your keyboard will bring up the chatbox and you can type after that. (3 of us did tell you that).

Yes the HeatFinder chatroom has a lot of newbies in it however many of them have the time to help you through a newbie problem and actually explain it to you or walk you through it.

Good Luck!

[Tuffy]

LOL...Thanks. You were ALL big red cars, so I know what you mean. Didn't feel like the SPEED was that different....buy the "getting away from", though. REALLY hate to visit with you guys at non-SuperSpeedway now. Didn't realize upset was that pervasive. Sure must not have many new drivers visit. That couldn't have been the worst that you see....maybe so. Will play with the HeatFinder and practice with others. No reason not to go anywhere with the nhrlc11 mod, is there?

Was a mis-type...12GB

Need to learn who else is using which cars? They are not "reserved"? Will print the roster, but recognizing all of the other reserved cars seem like it's asking a lot...just saying. If that's the way it goes, though.....Sure would help if there was a way to see "open" cars.

"Chat Room" is the Vent thing? Better work on making it work, huh?

Please note again that I DID get the in-game chat instructions last night and thank those that told me now. Question included here was wondering where I should have already seen that. Believe the answer is "in earlier online experience".

Thanks again. Hill seems a little steep. Any way to just spectate?

[DusterLag]

Sure must not have many new drivers visit.

We do. Just not usually drivers that are so new to Heat in general.

That couldn't have been the worst that you see....maybe so.

It was.

No reason not to go anywhere with the nhrlc11 mod, is there?

No Idea what your asking...

"Chat Room" is the Vent thing? Better work on making it work, huh?

I was referring to the chatroom on HeatFinder.net when you login... But I'm sure if you find someone in Ventrilo they could also help you...

Please note again that I DID get the in-game chat instructions last night and thank those that told me now. Question included here was wondering where I should have already seen that. Believe the answer is "in earlier online experience".?

It is a small see-through box in the middle of the screen.

Thanks again. Hill seems a little steep. Any way to just spectate?

Join the game after the race has started, however you will not be synced with the server so cars may do crazy things on your screen that they are not actually doing. You could also just pull off the track and view that way.

[bover907]

Here's some advice on car and car number selection and "car graphics". First off, Lets talk about the numbering system. Each driver who competes in a series claims a number, much like real nascar teams do. For instance my number is the Number 53. That's my number to keep until I relinquish it or quit, etc.

Now, most people when they upload a custom car skin use a 3 digit number for their skin file, i.e. car253.tex. There's a reason for this. Lets say your number was 18. And you wanted to paint yourself a custom car instead of using the #18 car that is included in the mod. If you named your skin file car18.tex, You wouldn't see your custom car in the game, nor would anyone else, because that file is the original 18 car skin (Kyle Busch's M&M's car). So, to aleviate this, you'd name your skin file something like car118.tex or car218.tex, etc.

All that said, I'd not worry about custom car skins until you get your feet wet. If I were you, I'd run the rest of this season with one of the unclaimed in-game cars. The mod has 35 cars in it, and I think less then 5 of them are actually used. I know for certain, that the 24, 48, and 21 cars get used. By looking at the roster page, you can see what numbers are claimed already, and you could basically pick any number that isn't claimed yet. If you pick a number that corresponds with an unused in-game car, it makes things that much easier for you, and you can just focus solely on racing, which is the reason you're here right?

Then once you're here and acclimated to this whole thing, you can worry about custom car skins and all of that.

[Tuffy]

Thanks...that's about what I was concluding...Do like the thought of painting one and started messing with it...LOTS to learn there, though.....couldn't figure out how to zoom OUT or REMOVE decals...at least not in the Heat Paint . My family was in the race horse business and the "stable colors" and horse logo possibilities were the only reasons that I was worrying much about it.

Oh yeah....I thought for a while that I had to dig the reserved cars out of that huge post, but found the rosters. Hard to be encouraged re: my driving skills, but I do like the group/league racing concept. Hope to practice sometime if the folks can stand it.....Sure some can't....

[bover907]

Painting cars is definately not something that comes overnight. Even for those of us that get called 'good' at it. Some paints can take up to 8 hours or so over multiple sittings to do.

[DusterLag]

Do like the thought of painting one and started messing with it...LOTS to learn there, though.....couldn't figure out how to zoom OUT or REMOVE decals...at least not in the Heat Paint .

You don't want to use the in-game painter it is useless and you wont even find it in the new mods. We use downloadable templates and image editors such as Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro. Like bover said its not something you want to get into overnight.

[Tuffy]

Thanks, guys. I'm thinking that I might be a better painter than driver until I'm ready to debate that with Duster . I'll probably play around with GIMP at some point, but have done enough image work before to know that image editing is tedious. I have this image of what I'd want in a car, though, and may try to come up with a rough version and have someone work from it at some point. There are large parts of the year in which I have a lot more free time than I do for the next couple of months. I am more aiming at Heat than there right now, but used to love the game and can imagine getting into it deeply in the near future. I'm old and have been on a lot of extended "kicks" over the years; this one looked like a good one. In the short-run, I'll practice when time allows.

Oh yeah, Duster....the question that didn't make sense to you: Outside of NHRL, if I should find someone or a site hosting practice sessions (or friend), is there any reason why I should/not use the NHRL mod? I guess other league sites would have something of their own, but, would it matter in "pick-up" sessions?

It's all good, just thinking out loud, for the most part. At this point in my experience, I have the impression that there is room for an explanatory procedure that is just not all together now from my point-of-view. Maybe my sole contribution will be to put that together some day. I always hate to wade through forums for odds & ends and understand that the basic questions are hard to see if you are far beyond that. I love what you guys are doing here, but there might be something to be said for a "rookie league" to feed new blood. It's hard to both avoid trash contamination and an air of exclusion; there must be a way to segment that would allow both less discouragement AND less irritation for the regulars. There are folks like me that want to run, but have no business getting in the way of your thing. I guess your thing is just not for us in that regard. No fault to be found in that; just the observation.

[DusterLag]

Thanks, guys. I'm thinking that I might be a better painter than driver until I'm ready to debate that with Duster . I'll probably play around with GIMP at some point, but have done enough image work before to know that image editing is tedious. I have this image of what I'd want in a car, though, and may try to come up with a rough version and have someone work from it at some point. There are large parts of the year in which I have a lot more free time than I do for the next couple of months. I am more aiming at Heat than there right now, but used to love the game and can imagine getting into it deeply in the near future. I'm old and have been on a lot of extended "kicks" over the years; this one looked like a good one. In the short-run, I'll practice when time allows.

Oh yeah, Duster....the question that didn't make sense to you: Outside of NHRL, if I should find someone or a site hosting practice sessions (or friend), is there any reason why I should/not use the NHRL mod? I guess other league sites would have something of their own, but, would it matter in "pick-up" sessions?

It's all good, just thinking out loud, for the most part. At this point in my experience, I have the impression that there is room for an explanatory procedure that is just not all together now from my point-of-view. Maybe my sole contribution will be to put that together some day. I always hate to wade through forums for odds & ends and understand that the basic questions are hard to see if you are far beyond that. I love what you guys are doing here, but there might be something to be said for a "rookie league" to feed new blood. It's hard to both avoid trash contamination and an air of exclusion; there must be a way to segment that would allow both less discouragement AND less irritation for the regulars. There are folks like me that want to run, but have no business getting in the way of your thing. I guess your thing is just not for us in that regard. No fault to be found in that; just the observation.

There are over 100 mods for Heat. Only the NHRL races the NHRL mods for the most part.

As for last night, we were racing the COTPlatinumG2 Mod with the new 2011 sub-mod(carset) that was released yesterday in the HeatFinder Public 1 server. You need to keep in mind that the NHRL is a league for Heat (there are several of them). Places like The Mod Squad (www.themodsquad.info) are moders and developers for heat this is also where you will find that mod from last night. Its a large and diverse community and is my no means limited to the NHRL's nhrlc11 and nbs mods.

[DusterLag]

The HeatFinder Community Links page here...
http://www.heatfinder.net/links.php

Has links for many of the Heat group website but it also has brief descriptions of what each group/website is. It might help you out a bit.