rec.autos.simulators

I just found an actual use for muting the sound to get performance.
turning the sound off (ctrl-m) in a replay gives a big framerate
increase for me. Even if you have the pre-race music OFF and you
can't hear anything, you still get the same frame rate hit as if
the music/sound is on - so hit ctrl-m anyway. DirectSound
really sucks, i guess. how can it kill the frame rate so much even
when there is no sound being played? Is this a driver issue,
perhaps? i've got the latest AWE64 drivers from Creative, however.
blah:) i dunno.

The sound impact on perf is news to me. I'll ask dev. I can tell you that
sound isn't free - perhaps some of you saw the feedback on the FlightSim 98
joysticks problems. Problem turned out to be that the default sounds
(higher frequency stereo) were saturating the system & the Joystick input
couldn't get through consistently. We found that by changing to lower
frequency mono sounds the joysticks suddenly started working again. So,
it's quite possible that sounds are impacting perf some.

The drifting when stopped is a bug - it's fairly low priority since you
don't spend much time stopped in an Indycar - still it's something we'll
investigate. As for no standing starts, we do em running because that's the
way the CART organization does them & we wanted to be true to the real
thing.

Great to hear you're getting some entertainment out of the game. I have to
admit I'm a bit envious of 1:05 at Laguna. I trust you weren't using rain
tires :)

Eric.

Hope this helps.

Rob C.

Hi Eric,

using rain tires :) <<

How about 1:01.22 on soft, and 1:00.91 on rain? :)

Achim

Hi jim :)

what do you consider to be a shortcut? all 4 wheels off the track?
any wheels on the dirt on the inside of a curve? i quite often run
a little wide on exit, just touching the dirt, because of sloppy
steering:) i don't really worry about that much because i know that
if i had done the corner well i could have steered through even
faster without running wide, i personally hate the idea of running
off the track to get speed deliberately, and try not to do it. my
best laptime is a 1:04.12 on slicks, which i did in a multiplayer
game while kind of watching TV at the same time, there was no
cutting of corners or anything. i am not an overly fast driver,
so i am not at all surprised that others are down into the 1:02's.
normally i would lap around 1:05-1:06 however.
i have fiddled with my setup somewhat though, to get myself to this
speed:) although the car is now really sluggish to control, compared
to the usual Gp2 car i am used to:)

-- some parts snipped --

I don't know what causes it. It has happened to me perhaps 3-4 times
(although it hasn't in awhile). I know it has happened to others as
well. You might not realize it happened if you weren't paying
attention to your lap times as you were driving.

Let me first say that I'm not trying tell anyone how to drive a sim or
what should or shouldn't be allowed. That said, for "official lap"
purposes, I think that at least 2 wheels should be on the track at all
times. I have seen such a guideline before on web sites that collect
hot laps.

I downloaded a replay of a 1:02.xx time someone had, and the driver
was all the way off the track more than once in very advantageous
places (such as coming out of Turn 2).

The problem is that in some sims (CPR included), the off track
materials (dirt, grass, kitty litter) isn't modeled quite right, and
it can be too foregiving to the driver. I don't believe in
intentionally taking advantage of that shortcoming.

By the way, my best is 1:07 (with the full version), but I can
envision a 1:05 or 1:06 lap if I run it perfectly. But I can't see how
a sub 1:02 is possible if I stick to my personal guidelines.

That 1:04 is a great lap and consistent 1:05's and 1:06's is awesome.
Given that you aren't surprised that folks are running 1:02's and
given the apparent ease in which you accomplished your 1:04 (watching
TV!), and given the quantity of people (not just one or two world
champs) that are posting 1:02 or better times, I wonder if there isn't
more to the story that we realize. Do you have the trial version?
Perhaps there is a difference between the trial version and the gold
version (mine)?

Of course there is always the chance that I am just not that good and
don't realize it. I do have quite a bit of sim experience and, in all
humility, I like to think I can hold my own against stiff competition
(and have done so), but you never know. Oh well, if I say any more it
will sound like I'm whining, and that is certainly not my intention.
Back to practice!

Jim Getzen

---------------------------------------------
Unofficial CART Precision Racing Headquarters
http://members.home.net/getzen/
---------------------------------------------

Jim, Achim really _is_ that fast. Over on CompuServe he has been
dubbed "A.C.H.I.M.", A Computerised HotlappIng Machine. I've seen
Achim turning stunning laps firstly in ICR2, then GP2, Monster Truck
Madness, the occasional dabble in NASCAR2 and now CPR. Whatever you
think the limits are, this guy will redefine them.

Achim mentioned that he had a 56s lap due to the HOF bug, but the 1:01
and 1:02 laps are clean. The other thing about Achim is that he is
_scrupulously_ honest, and a lap will never see the public eye unless
it is legal in every sense.

If you ask for an e-mail of the replay I'm sure you'll get one, and
then prepared to be staggered! :) FWIW I've already done a 1:24.9
around Surfer's Paradise and there's easily another one or two seconds
there if I could hook up a mistake free lap. There's a lot of fat to
be chopped out of those hotlaps yet!

Cheers!
John

I've known Achim for over a year and can vouch that he _is_ that fast!

I've got a 49 second HoF time <g>

I've done a 1:03 (minor use of gravel exiting a couple of corners) but
can't get within 2 seconds of my rain tyre time using softs. My driving
style is really suited to hotlapping these days though ;-)

Cheers,
Richard

Why do people always assume that just because they can't do such fast
times that others can't?

Cheers,
Richard

I have raced two or three times on the Zone against "StealthRacer" (Arthur
Axelrad, I believe). He is unbelievable (should put him up against
Achim!) -- I think he averaged about 1 second per lap faster than me during
a 12 lap race at Portland, and I was running personal best laps (57.xx's).
I'll bet he had a low 55.xx lap in there somewhere. He is also consistent,
not just a hot lapper, which really impresses me. Apparently, he has won
several ICR2 leagues, etc. etc. If I extrapolate that kind of performance to
Laguna, and take even two seconds off my 1:05.68 time, I still get 1:03.6
and not 1:01s.

Side note: I looked at some hot lap setups (1:01 and 1:02 times) and all of
them used rain tires. It makes me wonder about the other conditions of the
hotlap. Perhaps traction control on? No tire wear? Boosted air temp to
improve grip? No fuel consumption? (two of the setups had 1 gallon of fuel,
not enough to do a hot lap with fuel consumption turned on). Shortcuts?

It can certainly be argued that any and all options can and should be
exploited by the pure hotlapper, short of hacking the program, but I
personally don't subsribe to that. I guess that is one reason why I'm not a
great hotlapper (the other reason being my lack of skill)!

No doubt about the fat. That is a good Surfer lap. I've done a 1:26.05, but
I haven't spent that much time there. I am pretty sure I can get down to the
1:24.xx range with some work and practice. Something to think about: judging
from the Laguna hot laps, which are, say, 6 seconds faster than what I
consider to be a solid lap (1:07), then the best laps at Australia might be
7-8 seconds faster (given the longer lap) than a solid Aussie lap (say 1:25)
which means the best should be around 1:18 or 1:19. Think it is possible? By
the same token, should we expect a 50.xx second lap at Portland? :-)

Unrelated side note: despite CPR's flaws in terms of the AI, etc. (which
will hopefully be patched), I have to say that just about every track is
simply a blast to drive, even those that I hated driving in ICR2, such as
Australia and Detroit. I can't quite put my finger on it, perhaps the tracks
are wider, or maybe it is that the car simply has better performance (too
much so?), but I find myself having a ball now "rediscovering" some of the
tracks I had dismissed from ICR2.

Jim Getzen

Unofficial CART Precision Racing HQ
http://members.home.net/getzen/

First of all, unless you wrote the physics engine you can't know if
it's as real as it gets. I personally have grave doubts.

Secondly, I've thought the same thing about some of Achim's laptimes
in every sim he's tried, but plenty of other guys like Richard Walker,
Michael Wollenschein, Ralf Tzschoppe, Georg Naujoks etc are always
snapping at his heels, so the times are possible.

We just need an open mind and more practice :)

Cheers!
John

Achim needs his head examined. I've raced sims for 6 years, and the best
I can do at Laguna is 1:06.78 with soft tires, little wing and a nearly
empty tank.

1:01??? Don't think so! This game is as real as it gets from a physics
point of view anyway. Unless Someone can do the corkscrew in 6th, 1:01
just isn't real