Implemented Pit stop timer

it's already there in the Pit information. i.e. 158 seconds repair, 168 fuel....equals 168 second total pitstop time. You can hit ?(space bar or esc, I forget which already) ? to stop repairs at any point.
 
blowgun said:
Where? I only have a counter going up, not down. Do I have to turn it on somehow?
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Actually I stated the operation incorrectly. You might call it a Count UP timer. The timer will show how many seconds needed for damage to be repaired and then how many total seconds to fuel the car. In a practice session, I had 44 seconds of damage and then 47 seconds shown for fuel.
That 47 number is the total time. (first lap spin, I didn't need very much fuel) So watch the timer counting up to ....in this case...47 seconds. The car will drop after tires are done and then wait for whatever the final number displayed is...and THEN Go GO GO....
My apologies for not verifying the method. As usual, I had already correctly answered this question a few months ago...but totally forgot I had. Message #5 in this thread was correctly stated.
 
@davehenrie Thank you! Sorry that I didn't just scroll up here to see your message. I wasn't sure with this timer going up, which was the correct "target time". If I would had to add the numbers for repair, fuel and tyres. But your description matches what my experience was, so the last number is already a total time. A bit confusing I think.
 
Would definitely second this, or at least getting more info than the programmer art we currently have with pit stops and the timers for them.

After the 2.4H of Le Mans over the weekend and experiencing my first pit stop, I felt very left in the dark as to what is exactly happening in the pit stop due to the lack of information on the pit stop process. For those who know the WEC rules have an idea, and they can marry that up with the car moving up and down on the air jacks, but there's always that lingering fear of "did I set the tyres correctly" or "am I putting in the right amount of fuel / NRG?". One other thing that wasn't immediately apparent was whether damage was done at the same time as the fuel or tyres, as in one of my stops, the amount of time taken to do an action differed to the time indicated.

Would be great if we could get a more detailed HUD element in the pit stop, that breaks down:
- Fuel / NRG amount going in and the amount of time remaining to complete this process.
- Tyre compound going on and the amount of time remaining to complete this process.
- Damage being repaired. A break down of key components (like aero / bodywork, suspension, engine, etc) and their times remaining would be ideal.
Having pit crew present with animations would go some of the way to help this also, much like it does in ACC, but I know this is more costly in terms of performance and getting the required mo-cap animations to implement.

Hopefully though, this is something that will all come together in the future to make players feel more confident about their pit stops and provide a more enjoyable experience.
 
Yorkie065 said:
Would definitely second this, or at least getting more info than the programmer art we currently have with pit stops and the timers for them.



Hopefully though, this is something that will all come together in the future to make players feel more confident about their pit stops and provide a more enjoyable experience.
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There already is a 'thing' to help get more comfortable with pitstops. Practice, race, practice, race, practice, race....
A lot of people are coming from different sims, like iR or ACC, and things will definitely feel unfamiliar. Just takes time to unlearn some habits and build new ones.
And there is a timer on the right, but it counts UP. So the text will say tires xx seconds, fuel xx seconds damage xxx. Whatever that last value is the TOTAL time of the pitstop. Also remember you can hit the spacebar to stop repairs if you think the car is in a derivable state.
 
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davehenrie said:
There already is a 'thing' to help get more comfortable with pitstops. Practice, race, practice, race, practice, race....
A lot of people are coming from different sims, like iR or ACC, and things will definitely feel unfamiliar. Just takes time to unlearn some habits and build new ones.
And there is a timer on the right, but it counts UP. So the text will say tires xx seconds, fuel xx seconds damage xxx. Whatever that last value is the TOTAL time of the pitstop. Also remember you can hit the spacebar to stop repairs if you think the car is in a derivable state.
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As mentioned, that's coder art and it's not exactly sufficient hence the request for more clearer info. Sure, it has the times there, but I was left wondering and half panicking in my first pit stop in the 2.4H Le Mans race, to the point that I half screwed myself over with an additional stop.

I didn't realize that cars aren't ghosted in the pit lane online, and there was cars in the spaces immediately either side of my box at the time so I had the narrowest of spaces to drive into. Inevitably, I hit those cars, picking up more damage than what I had, but due to the lack of info currently in the pit stop, I had a bunch of questions running through my mind:
- Fuel is done first and then tyres, right?
- What about damage? When is that getting done? Is it going to be at the same time as the tyre change, at the same time as the fueling as well, or completely separate to and after both?
- When the refuel and tyres were done and I was sat there repairing damage, I was wondering how much was or had been repaired. I can see the option to skip repairs, but is that going cancel all repairs made or let me go in the half/semi repaired state? How bad is that half repaired state? What components are prioritized for being fixed first over others? What exactly on my car is damaged and what is fixed?

In the end, I did end up stopping the repairs to drive out thinking that enough repairs had been done for the car to still be driveable and competitive, but the car was actually worse than it was when I drove in (due to the damage picked up hitting the other cars). If I had been given the appropriate info, I would have been able to make a much more informed decision that wouldn't have been as costly as I pitted the following lap to repair the rest of the damage. It's made worse by the fact the timers given didn't seem to actually match up with the amount of time it took to do said tasks too (could possibly be a bug). I even set the fuel / NRG in the MFD to 100% for that second stop, having just filled to 100% and only done 1 lap, yet the time taken to fill it up just those few % felt similar to if I were on 10 or 20% NRG when pitting.

I get the element of learning and improving, but the player should feel in control and be able to obtain knowledge quickly to not be at such a disadvantage compared to others. Having something happen that is negative and makes the player feel like it was outside of their control is not good, and currently after multiple pit stops in that race, I don't feel too much the wiser as to how the system works and if it is working correctly as the devs intend it. So yeah, whilst there is something, it's far from being ideal or optimal and can be much improved!
 
Experience, you clearly have come, I would guess, from either ACC or iR and the pit lane crowding must have come as a shock. (during Covid when I first viewed iR esports and witnessed the cars driving through each other in the pits...that to me was just....wrong....so I can emphasize how foreign it must feel to experience the exact opposite) Those sims have been holding your hand while LMU wants you to walk & then run on your own. So now you have seen the methodology. The timer will count UP and matches the order of the pitstop text. It would be something like fuel, tires, damage. (that is from my cloudy memory :> ) you only have to really pay attention when one of those thresholds is passed. say, just for example, 30 seconds for fuel. then 12 seconds for tires... when the count-UP timer reaches 42, those two operations are complete. Then the damage is attacked by your crew last. If the text says 150 seconds, that is roughly when your crew will complete the work. That last Damage number is your total time.

If you only have body damage, you can often let that slide, hit the space bar and be on your way. But if you have damage that has messed up your steering, then getting that completely fixed is probably the optimal solution.
One area that is confusing to all of us, not just the new users, is the adding of fuel. When you set a level to reach the end, you almost have to calculate in your head ONLY the amount of litres/gallons that you need, NOT THE TOTAL VALUE WE ARE ALL USED TO.
They made this change after one of the earliest updates so, not a bug, but certainly confusing to how almost all sims(even rF2) have worked.

I may mess this up, but I'll try and give an example.
You need 10 litres to finish the race & you have 3 litres left in the tank. When you pit, your's (& everyone else's) inclination would be to set the fuel to 10 litres. But what you really need to consider is only how much fuel you need to get 10 litres into the tank. Thus... adding 7 litres is all you would need. Also energy consumption doesn't always equate to fuel consumption. Thus the % figure in your pitstop box becomes an issue, raising the % tells the sim that you will run out of fuel sooner. & lowing the % will extend the next stint. I myself don't have enough experience with that so HOPEFULLY somebody else will chime in. If your pitcrew says you are low on energy and need a pitstop, get in, even if you have fuel onboard for more laps. Running out of energy will incur a stop & hold penalty that must be served within 3 laps. If you are short of energy/fuel then getting the pitstop done first is a requirement so you don't run dry halfway around the circuit, and then you will have to return within the next couple of laps to serve the penalty. There should be an option in the pitstop hud to choose the penalty or the pitwork. Best to drive conservatively and only stretch your stints when your 'soon to be much more experience' tells you that one or more laps is possible. All this is just what the actual WEC teams have to consider so while confusing, it pretty much should be part of a WEC sim.

You are doing the proper things...racing to get more exposure to the process and asking questions about what is confusing. Keep doing both and your muscle memory will eventually take over 'most' of the tasks.
Welcome!
gadzooks!! still more .... lol... When YOU need a stop, like for repairs but your tires & energy are ok, your crew is sitting in the garage stuffing their faces or napping. You need to call them about 3/4ths of the way through your in-lap so they can get their gear on, grab the tires etc. If you just come in, they may not be fully ready and your pitstop will randomize a number of extra seconds to add to the stop. Make sure you have mapped a button or key to request pitstops. Each track will vary slightly where you need to press the button to avoid surpising your crew. Practice will teach you when you press the pit-in button, you should see a message before you reach your pit stall that states the pit crew is ready. If you do NOT see that message, you waited too long. Similarly, if you press it too soon, like crossing the S/F line, your crew will get ready and then eventually lose focus...causing....those extra seconds to creep in again.
 
All this info is very useful, so thanks for that, but it's not great when only me, you, and 10 other people see and read all of it. What about the other 1,988 odd people playing the game each day?

I just looked back at the recording of my pit stops and what is given to the player makes little sense without the context that you've added in your post above. When you see: Tyres 12 seconds, Damage 48 seconds, Virtual Energy 101 seconds, Pit Timer: [X value counting up]....The way it's easily read is 12 seconds for tyres, damage is 48 seconds and then virtual energy is 101 seconds. Why is virtual energy 101 seconds? Obviously it's not, as per your explanation, but that is not clear unless you've read your or someone elses explanation of the system! It's also in a completely different order to what the pit stop process actually is and still doesn't answer the question as to whether there is any overlap like there is in other sims.

This is the whole point of improving the communication of the pit stop system as a number of us are requesting and putting ideas forward as to how to do it, so that players can easily learn from the in-game mechanics and get a clear understanding rather than having to come to a forum and find a specific post in a multi-page thread. Making the HUD clearer is not dumbing down the system, taking away from any of the realistic elements of collision in the pit stops, having to park in the right place, calling the pit crew, etc, but instead giving the player the feedback they need to best utilize the system and not cause unnecessary frustration and push players away from endurance races because they don't understand pit stops.
 
For a LMGT3 car the energy tank should take 40 seconds to fill completely based on completing a full stint.
I believe the same time applies to Hypercars.
There is also an "additional docking time" before the energy tank refill process starts.
That seems to be a variable time specified in the BoP for the car

EDIT: you should never be able to run out of real fuel as the virtual tank will always empty first.
 
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