How do I interpret rally pace notes?
This applies probably much more broadly than to DiRT 3 only, but what do all the pace notes my co-driver provides mean? (Left|Right) [1-6]|"Hairpin" is easy enough to understand, along with the literal "keep left", "near house", but there are random numbers mixed in and other more abstract directions.
The general structure of pace notes is designed to inform the driver about the conditions of the course ahead in a shorthand fashion.
Most commonly they encode the distance to the next turn, the direction of the next turn, and the severity of the next turn. So a pace note might be "100, 5 Left" - which might mean "100 meters ahead is a severity 5 turn to the left." Higher severity in the DiRT 3 pacenotes indicates that the turn is shallow, and can be taken at a higher speed/gear.
Pace note structure and format varies, as it's essentially a form of rapid-fire communication between the driver and co-driver. Part of that is what's written on the page, and part of that is how the co-driver reads what's written.
Some common elements of several systems I researched:
- "Down" and "Up" for downhill and uphill
- Don't Cut or D/C - don't cut the corner, there's a hazard/dropoff.
- Flat - go full throttle, or flat out
- Square - a 90 degree bend (oversquare being more than 90 degrees)
If there's a specific term that's tripping you up, let me know and I'll try to find a specific reference for it.
I haven't play dirt 3, but pacenotes are easy once you watch others use it. let's take a certain note and decode it: 100 R5 100 shows distance until turn R5 shows turn and severity, R or L for right or left, and 1-6 for intensity 6 being almost straight to 1 being almost or a full u-turn more codes can be found online, but these are basics