NASCAR Sim Series (NSS) Development Blog

More Headway

2011-09-11T20:53:00.003-05:00

Did a bit more work on the Bristol (AKA high banked) suspensions this evening. New roll center heights, locations and angles are working well. Got some steps in place so that rolling out these changes to the other suspensions will hopefully move along at a quicker pace in the near future.

Making Some Headway

2011-09-05T20:17:00.004-05:00

I'm currently going to college full time, so working on the mod is primarily on the back burner.

However, I think I've solved the suspension issues that I've been experiencing in the past. I had a chance to implement and test for one track. So far, so good. Now I need to get these numbers plugged in to calculate roll center and give it a full test when I have time.

Still Working, Albeit More Slowly

2011-06-18T23:27:00.002-05:00

I've had quite a few changes in my personal life which has resulted in less time to work on the mod. On the plus side, I've already completed the core physics. Recently, I have been testing out some ideas in the tires to get better results.

Also contemplating just starting a league for the mod. It would have the dual role of mod testing as well as just fun racing.

Beta Testing On Hold

2011-05-17T15:58:00.002-05:00

Going through some personal health issues that are knocking me out of commission. Haven't had time in the past week to do any work, and looking like the same until I can heal up.

As a result, beta testing is being put on hold.

May 08, 2011 Updates #2

2011-05-08T18:31:00.001-05:00

Air pressure ranges are current, from Daytona thru Darlington.

Previously noted suspension edits have been completed.

May 08, 2011 Updates

2011-05-08T01:36:00.003-05:00

Updated front toe, front sway bar and track bar settings to reflect reality. Also changed air pressure settings, have Atlanta locked in. Still need to add pressure changes to all of the other tracks.

Still in the process of moving a-arm ball joints.

Tested some setups at Atlanta, sourced from NASCAR Racing 4, NASCAR Sim Racing and up through iRacing. Trying to figure which platform I should base the default setups off of. Setups in the latter ported over very, very successfully. Leaning towards those as they're stable and reflect "modern" sim racing, though they are far from authentic in a few major key areas.

May 04, 2011 Updates

2011-05-04T21:57:00.002-05:00

Been working on suspension. Glad I have been, as I've been able to find a fix for a specific tire issue. Down side is that it's a tradeoff between realism and stability, but it's an rFactor issue. Maybe rFactor 2 will model a-arms that are actually connected/attached to the spindle and tire hub.

Sorted out some ride height issues. Still a WIP, but close to being done.

I've also tested out both types of setups and both work great. The soft front springs got me within 0.8 seconds of 2nd qualifying last year. Not bad for not even finalizing grip or the tire itself. It mostly tells me that the RPM/torque band is pretty damn realistic.

Burned Out For Tonight

2011-04-29T22:07:00.002-05:00

Got a lot done today.

Rear differential torque sorted out. Now, downshifting at short tracks like Martinsville is plain dangerous. Gotta match those RPM's to do it right.

Also worked on the engine file, trying to get the torque/horsepower as close to reality as possible. Still need a bit more work, reducing torque by 25-50% of my current alpha NSS engine file. Very close to finishing that portion of the mod.

NSS 7.0 Mod Testing Soon

2011-04-27T09:46:00.004-05:00

I think the suspension side of the mod is just about finished. I have a handful of things to complete and then we'll be ready to begin general physics and tire testing. I'm aiming for May 25th at the latest, hopefully sooner.

Testing will be a mix of online and offline. If you're interested in turning laps and giving feedback, then feel free to send me an email and let me know:

dougfromtos@yahoo.com

Telemetry Tire Loads

2011-04-20T17:07:00.004-05:00

Though exhausted, I was able to get a little bit done today. Did some tire research, then I examined telemetry data from both the NSS mod and NR2003. Primarily dynamic: tire loads, left/right/front/rear weight distribution percentages in addition to cross weight calculations. Comparing between the two sims the tire loads are clearly very, very similar at the same places on the track.

While reviewing data in MoTeC, I had some inital concerns about the loading being too high. It's comforting to see those concerns were unnecessary.

Back Online

2011-04-19T15:07:00.002-05:00

After some personal issues, I am back online. Still in the process of moving and sorting, but I should now be able to give more timely updates as they come.

Per the mod, I've updated tire sizes to reflect real life. Tire work still continues. With the new aero rebalance, I'll be able quickly get accurate downforce data into the game.

I'm also beginning to think about starting online multiplayer alpha testing with select people.

April 2011 Update

2011-04-03T13:08:00.002-05:00

While my time is pretty tight, work is still coming along with the mod. A couple of key news items:

- Each track has a specific suspension with upper A-Arms balanced for each. Steering arms pitched at proper angle so cars now turn/rotate as they should.

- Aerodynamics are rebalanced to better match the spoiler and splitter combination. Splitter is also locked at 9 inches out per new rules.

- Tires are now, for lack of a better term, 1:1 compared to reality. No more heating issues, more specifically covering up a heating problem to cover up lousy physics and suspension modeling. Even a certain sim that you have to pay for is guilty of doing this.

- Implemented new toe that NASCAR used to get the cars to loosen up. Will get more information on this, but does work as it does in real life.

- With the changes, NASCAR Sim Series mod now supports both types of Cup setups. Old setups (stiff front, soft rear springs), from early 2000's and modeled in NR2003, work as designed. You can, in fact, port over NR2003 setups and they will work flawlessly. New setups work as well (soft front, stiff rear).

Next on the agenda is calculating and adding downforces based upon weather history (altitude and pressure). Will also continue planned tire work.

Going Offline

2010-12-27T16:26:00.003-06:00

Just a heads up that due to real life commitments and changes, I'll be going offline for the foreseeable future. Work on the mod will be ongoing.

Tire Work

2010-12-02T13:51:00.002-06:00

Making excellent progress on the new tire model. Initial testing seems to indicate that tight seems to be faster...especially for qualifying. You can drive it max loose, however, but the pucker factor is 100x. Plain scary. You can also step these cars out a lot farther and reign them back in.

Also found a track surface grip that equals that of iRacing, at least according to skid pad results.

Going to work on fixing the track pack this afternoon.

Still Working

2010-11-20T16:18:00.003-06:00

Work is still progressing, albeit more slowly than before. Have a lot of things going on in life.

I've just about finalized the diffuser in conjunction with more accurate spring multipliers. A lot of testing to be done, then I'll plug in the downforce data and begin work on the new tires.

Diffuser Now Working

2010-09-08T18:07:00.002-05:00

Finally got early diffuser lift working. Very excited about the possibilities to emulate the real cars.

The unrestricted engine has also been updated, courtesy of public data from Roush-Yates. Higher RPM idle, torque curve adjusted to match data.

FMS Cup & CTS Track Pack Version 4.0

2010-08-20T23:14:00.006-05:00

FMS Cup & CTS Track Pack Version 4.0
====================================
Initial Release: 04/01/10 by JNS Tracks, http://www.jnstracks.net
Final Relase: 08/20/10 by JNS Tracks, http://www.jnstracks.net and Freedom Motorsports, http://www.racefms.com
-----
This pack contains all of the current CUP and CTS style tracks for use with the NSS 2010 Mod provided by John Alley and FMS (http://racefms.com)

These tracks should be considered fictional as they do not exactly duplicate any real world tracks. They can be substituted for real world tracks that these may resemble.

DOWNLOAD
==========
Note: Multiple links are provided for availability. All links contain the same file.

FileFront

http://www.filefront.com/17214478/FMSTrackPack4.exe

Megaupload

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=H8N3BHJ0

Rapidshare

http://rapidshare.com/files/413989010/FMSTrackPack4.exe

Fileplanet

http://www.fileplanet.com/215579/210000/fileinfo/FMS-Track-Pack-4.0

Mydropbox

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8694080/FMSTrackPack4.exe

JNStracks

http://jnstracks.net/fms_files/FMSTrackPack4.exe

Installation:
=============
Before installing this track pack please delete any FMS_Tracks folder from your locations folder and HAT files that may be in your "rFactor\userdata\log\hat" folder. Now you can install this track pack by extracting the exe file from the downloaded zip file to a temp location on your system and double-click on it. Make any corrections that may be needed to the default game location shown (C:\Program Files\rFactor\) and click the unzip button.

That’s it, now you can fire up the game and go racing.

Needing a league that uses our tracks with the NSS 2010 mod? Then check out Freedom Motorsports (FMS) at http://www.racefms.com. This is a free league that provides a lot of fun and close racing.

Special Thanks to John Alley and everyone at Freedom Motorsports for their assistance in helping to improve these tracks. Visit them at: http://www.racefms.com

Special Thanks to Petre Tutunea (malvictis) for allowing us to use his great looking track loading screens. His generosity to the community can be seen at: http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=MAL%20Track%20Loading%20Screens

Credit for the Flagman goes to Keeper: http://www.thepits.us/board/viewtopic.php?t=7420&highlight=flag

Credit for the pit road lights goes to JoeB at: http://www.nascarsimseries.com, thanks JoeB.

Report any problems or comments at: http://jnstracks.net or email me at support@jnstracks.net

Additional thanks to Drew Brunson for Infineon texture updates; William Bradshaw for various texture updates.

Have Fun!
Joe
http://jnstracks.net

**************************************************************************
All Trademarks acknowledged, and are the property of their respective owners.

This track release is free to use for personal use and may NOT be sold or distributed for commercial purposes, or money exchanged for this track or any part thereof. JNS Tracks is distributing this track free of charge in the hope that it will be useful to the community but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
**************************************************************************

Uploading

2010-08-18T17:36:00.002-05:00

Got the track pack done. Created a installer and am now beginning to upload to the various free hosting sites. Being on a slower connection, it'll take a while. I would venture a guess to say that the target release date will be this Friday, August 20th.

Engine Work

2010-08-17T07:26:00.003-05:00

A new engine torque curve and HP has been created. Now closely reflects available dyno numbers.

Suspensions Updated & Track Pack

2010-08-16T06:34:00.003-05:00

Did work on 3/4 of the suspensions early this morning. Had to get upper control arm angles within realistic ranges. Also did some background work on the diffuser.

Heard back from Joe. Barring any catastrophic event, on Wednesday I will begin uploading files in order to release the new FMS track pack.

New Downforce Numbers

2010-08-14T00:56:00.002-05:00

Got some new downforce numbers calculated and plugged in and I think I've settled on one that provides realistic balance, also helping with the bottoming out. It's comparable to a case of three people seeing the same thing, yet describing three different things. It's all a matter of how you view something.

Still fighting to get the diffuser numbers working as it should in real life.

Going to make some control arm angle adjustments on the 22 suspensions this weekend.

Track Pack 4.0 Is Nearly Ready

2010-08-13T17:52:00.003-05:00

The FMS Track Pack 4.0 is nearly ready for release. Very, very close.

I had one small issue that I couldn't fix on the texture side of things, so I've sent it up to Joe Evans to see if he may be able to provide a fix.

Once complete, I'll be looking for hosting and begin initial uploading thru the usual free sites. I believe that you guys are going to be impressed with the quality of these tracks. In my opinion, it supersedes the quality of the 3.0 release.

The Culprit

2010-08-09T07:22:00.003-05:00

The culprit of my recent problem appears to be a front downforce issue with the front springs. Either the new diffuser upgrade coming up will solve the problem, or I'll be forced into a SpringMult. Hoping the former works!

Any Work Is Good Work

2010-08-08T05:25:00.002-05:00

Been doing some smaller work lately. Fixed an axis issue with all of the rear suspensions, a simple edit really. Working on some fixes for a certain issue the car is having, which is leading me into doing some much needed work on the diffuser.

Also, I've gotten back into downforce work a bit. Interestingly, my physics and math for the front end is accurate within 20 pounds of real life data taken from 2002. Only problem is, the rear end aero balance data is vastly different. Not going to touch it, though. If the math for the front end is correct, then so too is the spoiler. I'll chalk up any downforce and/or aero balance gains being made in the body department. A lovely grey area, indeed!

New Car Models

2010-08-02T07:47:00.002-05:00

New car models appear to be in the pipeline for the NSS mod. In addition to one friend doing initial work, another has talked to me about wanting to modify and update the current models.

It's these guys who will get all of credit for how the NSS cars look, and it appears to be in great hands.

Nothing new to report on the physics side of things. Stepping away for a bit to avoid burnout and to reinvigorate myself with ideas and solutions.

July 28 Updates

2010-07-28T22:22:00.003-05:00

New springs are in and finalized, as well as spring compression distance. Now experimenting with ride heights and spring multipliers.

Decompressed

2010-07-27T08:33:00.002-05:00

I took the weekend off from all mod work so that I was able to really decompress and think about this spring situation. Glad to report that I was able to come up with a solution and will be applying it in the coming days. I've also received some information about spring height requirements that will be added into the mod. The future is currently looking very bright!

SpringMult

2010-07-20T07:09:00.002-05:00

I've tried to avoid it like the dickens but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to use them for all of these new suspensions. I know what the real Cup spring ranges are, but in rFactor the cars are bottoming out something fierce. Higher spring rates fix the problem in the garage, so I'm left with few options. Grrr....

Twenty Two

2010-07-19T06:47:00.002-05:00

Twenty two chassis' have now been integrated into NSS 7.0. Not ready for prime time, so more work ahead.

RF Chassis Completed

2010-07-18T05:27:00.002-05:00

Got the right front suspension completed. Rear end suspension finalized. Now the fun begins in creating all of those new track-specific chassis'!

Testing New Hampshire AI

2010-07-15T08:55:00.002-05:00

Woke up too early this morning, so I worked on the AI a bit. Still using Joe's AIW except for one small change, but made edits in the TBC, HDV and PLR files. Here's the result:

Compiling Data

2010-07-14T17:15:00.002-05:00

After talking with my source, I'll be compiling a lot of data in the next two days then begin building the new suspensions this weekend. The new NSS mod will have 22 track-specific suspensions/chassis'.

Springs Are Nearly Done

2010-07-13T06:48:00.002-05:00

I've almost completed the spring sizes. Since there are so many sizes, I've had to strike a balance. My previous work on them made them too small by 4 or so inches, which was causing very serious binding. All I need to do in this area is decide upon a rear spring angle and that area of work will be completed. RF control arms appear to be ready to go in as well. Holding off a bit on that for LF info. Based upon what information I receive, I have the option of finding an average and using 4 chassis'....or modeling a chassis for each track on the schedule. Won't be a problem either way, but it the fact remains that it needs to be correct. Ideally, whatever work I put in now will save me time down the road...especially if certain physics changes are made for rFactor 2.

Work Continues

2010-07-12T06:36:00.003-05:00

Making a lot of gains with the control arms and steering arms. Got a few things to clear up and I'll be ready to put the numbers into the new suspension files. Also another spring update is in the immediate works. Can't wait to be done with the suspension!

Data Mining

2010-07-06T07:25:00.002-05:00

Been an incredibly long weekend, but the data mining I've accomplished will surely pay off. Very productive weekend, so I may take a couple days off to relax before getting back into the grind of modding.

More Research Completed

2010-07-05T05:57:00.002-05:00

Got some research done last night and crunched a few numbers. Primarily control and steering arm angles, and this morning various arm lengths. Still have a lot of work ahead, but I'm making good headway.

FMS Track Pack Update

2010-07-04T07:56:00.002-05:00

I have heard back from Joe Evans, and he is willing to look into these last few track issues and see what he can do.

Also, to all of you reading this, I want to wish each and every one of you a happy Independence Day! Stay safe out there!

7/04/10 Updates

2010-07-04T07:29:00.002-05:00

I was able to get a couple things done this morning:

1) Center of Gravity has been recalculated.

2) Inertia has been recalculated, based on the mass and Center of Gravity changes.

3) Modified centerline trailing arm connections in the suspension.

How does it drive?

In short, the car handles nicely. But you'll need a gentle touch on the throttle because you can definitely feel the horsepower. During a quick test session I was getting too aggressive on corner exits at New Hampshire, the rear tires broke traction and I looped it. I definitely need to put some work into the front sway bar, but that's for another day.

Mass Recalculated

2010-07-03T02:37:00.002-05:00

Mass of the car has been recalculated and is now accurate. Now 33 lbs lighter than the last version. The lighter weight will help the suspension respond a little more quickly, as well as downforce having slightly more impact. This is very good news considering how much the spring travel has changed!

Keep in mind that the downforce numbers are track specific and are completely brand new, using actual math and known physics to obtain numbers that are closer than just guessing, as other mods do.

Camera Fun

2010-07-03T01:12:00.003-05:00

I finally got the dang LOD dropped down to 2 feet in the TVCOCKPIT view, AKA the 3/4 hood view from the Driving Cameras key. Comes out to about 2 feet, which is roughly the length of a human arm. Previously, if you panned around you would see the steering wheel moving down in the dash. I tried to correct it's location as a first step, but something is amiss with cockpit location. If I moved the wheel as seen from the hood view to it's correct place, the actual cockpit wheel would move closer to the drivers viewpoint.

Anyways, I'm working on getting the hood view as close as possible to the broadcast onboard cameras, that way my future comparison videos will better reflect similarities and differences.

Phoenix Track Cam

2010-07-02T23:06:00.002-05:00

I just realized that I forgot to release my Phoenix track cam in V3. It was in the 2010 track pack. So, I'll make sure to get it in before final release.

FMS Track Pack Version 3.0 - New Features

2010-07-02T22:50:00.003-05:00

FMS Track Pack Version 3.0 - New Features
-----------------------------------------
Taken from Joe's post:

There are way many changes to list but here's some notes of interest;

* Better looking fencing at all tracks.
* Improved texturing and some modeling of track side objects at a number of tracks
* Any garages that were still on pit road like Marty is now moved to the infields.
* Marty is also updated with the new concrete pit road.
* There is now 2 versions of Charlotte, the regular one and All-Star one. The All-Star one will run under the lights if the race start time on the server is set to use track default.
* Updated or made new AIW files at a number of tracks.
* Updated or fixed a number of camera files.
* ORP is replaced with a new track so it now has multi grooves.
-----------------------------------------
Also, Drew Brunson updated the Infineon textures. He wrote:

"It updates the bill boards going into the last turn, makes the curbs yellow and blue, and updates some other textures.The bill boards are the same(for the most part) as the ones that were at the track to give a little more realisim."

I sorted out quite a few texture issues. Mostly involving horizontal flipping, and a few required overhauling or creating new textures. You will notice that the tracks now look much more professional at higher resolutions (1600x1200 is what I use, and they look great). Joe Evans (http://www.jnstracks.net) has done one heck of a job!

When the new NSS mod is released, it will include brand new AIW's for all of the tracks. Gonna try to get the AI in decent enough shape to be raceable, much like VHR has done with their tracks.

Uploading

2010-07-02T09:07:00.002-05:00

The track pack is now uploading, which is going to take 5 hours on my connection. After which, I'll send Joe an email and await his approval and/or fixes.

FMS Track Pack V3 And Miscellaneous

2010-07-02T06:35:00.003-05:00

I will be attempting to finalize the new track pack today. All that really remains is adding to the readme, clearing errant files, taking screenshots and creating a thread for Joe to hopefully fix a couple of issues. Biggest hurdle will be uploading the track pack, courtesy of my slow DSL upload speeds.

I've got a lot of research done for control arms, though no solid information. If anyone has any photos or information of NASCAR upper and lower control arms (A-Arms) including lengths and angles for which tracks, it would definitely help out!

Tonight, I intend to recalculate the mass.

Upgrades INI Updated

2010-07-01T15:25:00.002-05:00

Adjusted all of the spring multipliers in the upgrades INI file. Now I get to turn some more laps. I think I'll do some road course work and make sure the chassis is reacting properly.

This is the fun part of modding!

NSS Mod Testing At FMS New Hampshire

2010-07-01T10:28:00.000-05:00

I've uploaded a newer video of NSS mod testing at FMS New Hampshire. Included a picture in picture for comparison with Stewarts onboard view, as well as increasing audio and video quality.

Recommend you watch it on 720p for the best viewing experience!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVIDUIZ6Bio

Speeds haven't been fixed since development is still pretty early, but racing line and chassis handling is interesting to watch.

Two Chassis Types

2010-07-01T10:26:00.001-05:00

As of yesterday, the mod now has two different chassis' based on trailing arm rules. Further roll out will hopefully include a chassis for: Superspeedways, Short Track, Road Course and Intermediate.

Springs and Multipliers 1

2010-07-01T10:20:00.000-05:00

Posted - 6/30/2010 : 6:15:44 PM

I was able to sit down this evening and turn some laps with the newest HDV and suspension files. Initially, the car just didn't want to turn at all. After doing some troubleshooting, I got it running.

As stated in previous posts, in rFactor the pushrods act as both the spring and the shock. In the upgrades INI file, which basically overrides the HDV settings on a per track basis, the spring multipliers were set too high (varied from 1.05 to 1.85). Months ago I was doing previous experimentation to better match real spring settings which is why those numbers were there. By running a 1.0 spring multiplier (that is, spring physics effects are 1 to 1 to their real life counterparts), the springs now act as they should.

For the next version, ride heights will be incredibly important to watch. I intend to lower the front springs back down to better reflect reality, however....and this a big however.....you cannot ignore bump stops any more. They will be VERY important in determining your ride heights beyond actually just setting the Ride Height in the setup screen. For example:

At 400 lb front springs, our current base limit, I had to run AT LEAST 2 inch bump stops on the LF and RF while testing at Michigan.

Keep in mind that the undertray points still need to be fine tuned after suspension work is completed, but the above will still remain true.

Just something to keep in mind for the future!

Springs and Multipliers 2

2010-07-01T10:17:00.000-05:00

Posted 6/29/2010 : 7:40:57 AM

Just to add a bit of information to my last post. The average height of a spring is roughly in the 10" range? Currently (what we're racing now) in the mod, since the pushrod acts as both spring and shock, its current length as a spring is roughly 2 feet long!

2 feet is a very conservative number. Looking at the editor, the current springs are probably closer to 3 or 4 feet in length.

Front Pushrods

2010-07-01T10:11:00.000-05:00

Posted - 6/29/2010 : 7:29:11 AM

The front pushrod locations have been moved in the front suspension. Instead of using shock mount locations, the new locations are the spring mounts. In rFactor, the pushrod assumes that the shock is inside of the spring. Haven't turned any laps yet to see if there are any ill effects. If any, I would assume that the shock throw would be the same as the spring throw....thus shocks having less effect as before. On the other hand, springs should now bind up as they do in reality.

The front spindle locations, as well as spindle mounts (upper control arm, lower control and steering arm) are now even. My previous calculations made an adjustment for the right side tires being higher, megating the fact that the suspension automatically takes tire size differences into account.

Going to finish up the track pack for release in season C, as well as doing research into control arms lengths and angles. I have a link for a setup book that I'll be referencings to better understand how they're utilized. If anyone has photos or information, feel free to share!

Rear Axle

2010-07-01T10:02:00.000-05:00

Posting older information.

Posted - 6/22/10 : 7:18:31 AM

Rear axle is in correct location and rearward trailing arm mount locations are in place. Next, I'm going to use a plotter to calculate center connection points based off specific length data.

Front suspension spindle connections (upper control arm, lower control arm and steering arms) are within +/- 1.5 inches of real world values.

First Post

2010-07-01T09:07:00.000-05:00

This blog will allow me to be update everyone, from FMS to the guys on RFC, on the progress of the rFactor NASCAR Sim Series mod development process.