Race reset requested

Sorry, the only reason the other race was reset is because the host sent me a PM (I was notified of that, unlike the threads).

We are currently developing tools to manage the entire service more efficiently, and this is part of that. However, it would still only be in our hands. I agree, that we need to implement a better / more structured method for resetting races, which is why we are building much more advanced tools for the job.

One concern I have with making this available to hosts is, what is to stop someone from using it to cheat? E.g. every time their reputation declines, resetting the race, for example. That is why it was not made available to hosts, to prevent it being exploited.

Ignoring that, what would have been the ideal solution for you? Perhaps there is a way we can secure it from exploitation.

The "connection problem" error is a generic message, meaning that the viewer can not connect to the simulator. Literally thousands of things could cause this error in theory, but the system is actually pretty solid for the most part, and two specific errors keep recurring. They have been around for some time, and we are aware of exactly what causes them and how we need to fix it.

One of the issues can cause very laggy / choppy connections to the viewer. The other, the one behind this thread, causes the "Connection problem" message, because it takes down the simulator service temporarily, forcing a reboot and for it to resume the state of all races. As the service restarts, people often need a minute or two to rejoin, which during pit windows can be critical. We understand just how much it can affect gameplay and are taking it very seriously.

All evening I've been working on a fix for the issue behind "connection problem" errors this week. But it requires a tedious process of splitting thousands of lines of code apart and re-arranging how the whole system works that processes races. Essentially, recent increases in demand have uncovered a scalability problem. I expect it to take several days at least, to fix.

As for the occasional lag spikes (also caused by increased demand), that requires a longer-term fix and rewriting how the simulator handles races. Chris is working on that.

You might have noticed that these issues always occur around the same time each evening, affecting the same leagues. This is very unfortunate for the individuals in those leagues, they happen to be on at peak hours when this is more likely to happen. It might look like a chronic problem if you are one of the people I've mentioned, but it only happens for a minute or two every other day, with the service running flawlessly for the rest of those 48 hours for everyone else.

A temporary stopgap solution for hosts might be to move race start times, if they can. I expect to have the connection problem issue resolved within a week, though. We will continue working flat out on these issues until the service is of equal quality at peak times as at any other time of day.In the meantime, please accept our apologies and we appreciate your understanding and patience on the matter.

These are actually long-standing issues, some left behind by a previous developer. I will explain more about the changes behind the scenes at some point, but I recently acquired full ownership of iGP, having previously shared it, and brought in new people. We're making good progress for what is at the core, a two-man team.

I'm going to launch a small patch tonight, but only expect it to improve the situation a small amount. A complete solution to the recent connection problems will take a few days, and a complete solution to lag spikes will take up to 3 months.