GTR v1.4.0.0 Update Includes New Lobby System

SIMBIN today released v1.4.0.0, which updates the v1.3 retail version and adds a number of important multiplayer features. You can grab it from the downloads page.

Changes since 1.3.0.0:

New Features and Enhancements
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o Intergrated support for the RaceMore system (see below for details)
o Ingame Multi Lobby Chat Rooms – Language based chatrooms and private chatrooms
o Ingame Lobby improved protocol for faster list population
o Ingame Lobby sortable drivers list
o Ingame Vote Booting – Vote to kick a player off a dedicated server
o “Teams=” added to Result file

Miscelaneous fixes
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o Monza season weather issue fixed
o Enna AI arcade mode update – AI collides with Safetycar in pitlane – fixed
o Seat and Vertigo arcade mode – Cars get stuck in gears – fixed
o Some memory leaks in NET module fixed

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Introducing RaceMore – Phase One
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What is RaceMore?
o RaceMore is the place where sim-racing can be enjoyed as a hobby or taken to the level of a sport
o If a quick racing fix is what you need then RaceMore is the place to get it
o  If league racing and real hardcore competitions is for you then RaceMore is the place to be
o If you are looking for a place to meet other sim racing fans from around the world then RaceMore is the place for you

By having a close relationship with SimBin Development Team, RaceMore is able to offer features that will be exclusive to RaceMore and its users.

RaceMore Features:
o High-end low ping game servers
o Web based server list/lobby system that allows for the user to automatically join servers simply by clicking the server name in the server list
o A chat system that offers many different topic and language driven rooms
o A chat system that allows the users to share setup files, MoTeC logs and replay files directly through the chat interface
o Comprehensive statistics tracking on all RaceMore servers
o Driver profiles with full statistics

Phase One is the open trial period where all areas of RaceMore are free. The duration of Phase one has not yet been determined, but will allow for all users to get familiar with the options and features on RaceMore.

The use of RaceMore will be open to all and we welcome everyone to come and spend time on RaceMore. Should your ambitions with Online Racing be to participate in organized RaceMore competitions and events or race in one of the forthcoming RaceMore leagues, then there will be additional subscription based options available.

After Phase one, access to RaceMore servers, statistics and other features of the RaceMore interface will require a subscription fee.

RaceMore Phase One will be officially launched on the 1st of May, 2005. Detailed information on how to use the RaceMore system will be released at that time.

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The New Lobby System
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1.400 contains a number of improvements to the Ingame Lobby system.

The most significant new feature is the Multiple Chat Room system. Next to the main chat box, you will now see a list of Chat “Rooms”. A number of Chat Rooms are created initialy by the central server, these are to allow language specific localisation of the chat sessions. The original single chat room has been replaced by a series of “MAIN” chat rooms, where a MAIN chat exists for each language of the game. Which default MAIN chat room you join at startup depends on the Language installation of your game.

E.g. German users will go to “MAIN (GER)” and English users will goto “MAIN (ENG)”

You may switch between the chat rooms by selecting them from the room list.

Coupled with this is a “Show All” option at the head of the drivers list. With this ON, you will see every user inside the GTR lobby system, users in the same Chat Room as yourself will appear GREEN in the list, everyone else will be Grey. With “Show All” off, you will only see users that are in the same Chat Room as yourself.

There is also an option to CREATE a custom Chat Room, and specify a welcome message and a password, for private group chats. Your custom Chat Room will remain active as long as there is a user present in the Chat Room.. The creator of the Chat Room can leave at any time, and the Chat Room will remain active so long as there are active users in the Chat Room. It will be closed down by the Lobby Server system once it has detected the room is no longer in use by ANY users.

The Ingame Lobby Driver Lists are now fully sortable. You can sort in order of Player Name or Game Name, to organise the list according to players or which game they are currently racing in. To sort the Driver List, simply click on the Driver List headers.

The overal performance of the Lobby System has been dramatically improved. Most noticeable with the population of the Driver and Server lists.

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Vote Booting
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Players can now vote to kick a player off a dedicated server.

Use this carefully !

A couple of restrictions have been placed on the booting system to prevent it from being abused.

Each player is allowed to call for ONE vote only per Event( the combination of Practice, Qualification, Warmup, and Race sessions). Even if you leave the server and rejoin, you will not be able to start a KICK PLAYER vote again. There is no restriction on the amount of vote casting (YES/NO).

Careful consideration must be made before calling a vote to kick a player. If your vote FAILS, you will not have the option to start a KICK VOTE again. You may want to first discuss the kick vote with other responsible drivers in a game and reach an agreement before the actual vote is started. You will then be safe in the knowledge that your one and only Kick Vote will be passed and the person you want off the track is gone.

This measure has been introduced to prevent “flooding” of the kick system, where an abusive driver constantly starts votes after they fail, and to avoid the complication of multiple vote kickings simultaneously.

To Start a vote to kick a player, go to the Chat section of the Garage, select that driver in the list, and his name will appear under the KICK option. Select KICK and that will start the vote. Other users can then vote Yes or No in the normal manner.

A successful Kick Vote will remain in action for the duration of the current event (the combination of sessions). This means that if a person is voted off a server, they will not be allowed into the same server again until the next event is started (i.e. the Race is over).