I would not
LOL!!!
DM
Phil Bower wrote...
Its just too bad that a year after they release GP3, the first computer
that
has enough horsepower to run GP2 will be in the design stages!
Maybe he'll take a leaf from Bill's book and call it GP2000
Regards
DM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Error, no keyboard - press F1 to continue." - PC Bios Message Marc wrote... I wouldn't expect it until Late '98 at the earliest (Dec'98). More
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To reply please remove < .nospam > from my e-mail address
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than likely early '99.
Jeezuz, Phillip!!!
How about a bucket of water being thrown over you every ten minutes by
an assistant!!
What you are requesting/expecting would require a whole new sim called
"F1RS: Wet Version"!!
--
Bruce
(at work)
"Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get
tired."
(Jules Renard)
assistant!! <<
That would seem a little too much I must admit. But then again ... So long
as the assistant angled the water so it hit you from the correct angle and
direction then it might be OK. :-)
"F1RS: Wet Version"!! <<
Are these things really asking too much ?
*** Variable weather. With periods of wet and dry, or harder and softer
rain.
This should be quite easy using a random number generator and a few lines of
code.
First establish if a session will be wet or dry if dry then pass over the
wet weather routine.
If wet then generate a random number between 1 and say 5 to set the number
of different weather periods in the session. Then random generate the length
of time for each weather period using either a predetermined arbitrary
maximum and minimum time or else random generate such a max and min. Random
generate a time period to change from one period to the next so that abrupt
weather changes dont necessarily always occur. Expand or contract the total
weather profile to fit within a predetermined timeframe or just leave the
last weather state to continue indefinitely, or cycle the whole weather
profile - whatever. And there you have it. A random weather generator with
different periods of weather type over a given time span. This is really
very easy to do and I dare suggest that anyone with only a moderate amount
of programming experience could do this.
*** A race weather report for the crews so that a wet race strategy can be
planned.
Once the weather profile has been generated as above then you can easily
write a short program to convert the profiles into a weather report and
forecast. You can even include a random error component so that the weather
reports are only approximately accurate. ( Have you even heard of a 100%
accurate weather forecast ? )
Once the weather profile and report were generated you should be able to
save and load such at will. This is because one will need to be able to
send a copy of the weather under which you raced to others if you want to
encourage off-line racing competitions. Everyone in such a competition will
of course need to use the same weather profile. Apart from the random
weather generator you could also include a manual weather profile writer for
folks who would like to make up their own profile - for a competition or
whatever. With such a manual system you could reproduce the actual weather
conditions that occurred in a real world F1 race and transfer that to the
sim. All of this is not that hard to do.
*** Different conditions at different sections of the track as is so often
the case in real life.
This is hard to do. You could leave this out if necessary. A lot would
depend on the type of terrain mapping system used by a particular sim. Some
systems would lend themselves to this better than others no doubt. A simple
x:y coordinate system could be adapted for this. I have a better system in
mind, a variation on an x:y system but won't bore you with the details. In
any case this is not a major item. Itd be nice and certainly could be
implemented but would require more work than the simple random generation
concepts from above. Some random generation would still apply of course.
*** Drying track function. With a dry line coming in and out of play in
response to the weather conditions.
This is a major desirable function of a wet weather system. Its
implementation depends very largely on the track mapping system used by a
sim. Its interesting to note though that CartPR, just for an example, has a
road mapping system that shows a different colour track on the most used
line. A simular thing could be used for the dry line idea.
Whether or not and to what extent a track has a dry line is simply a
function of rate of rain falling less the rate of rain dispersing over time.
These figures shouldnt be too hard to work on.
There are at least two functions of a dry line system. A visual one and a
grip factor one. The visual one can simply be a matter of a program
implemented lightening of a built for the purpose track texture. The grip
factor can be tied to the texture lightening function ( but not
necessarily ) and coupled to a tyre type wet weather grip profile. Such
profiles can be obtained from the tyre companys.
I fancy a separate track grip and visual track plan as sort of separate
files to which the car model routine refers. With such separated underlying
profiles you could do a number of different effects, including dry lines,
dirty off lines, different traction base-lines for different and/or even
evolving conditions. And the basic design is relatively simple. Heck you
could then literally just paint a colour coded track plan and use to RGB
components as function values. If you want to make different traction
profiles for a track simply paint the tracks grip plan. Etc etc.
*** Water run-off across the tracks that also is common in real life.
This could be another ***e but perhaps not. Run off zones could be
included in the above grip profiles ( or have their own grip profile
plans ) to which the necessary visual effects could be tied. Not easy to
be sure but I think implementable.
So I dont think Im being unrealistic in expecting professionally trained
programmers to solve these matters, some of which seem basically simple. I
ve only ever done basic and visual basic programming which I know is not
worthwhile for things like this. But still it gives one at least a little
insight into what can be done unless of course Im massively self deluded
which is always a possibility. :-)
I think developing a realistic wet weather function would be something an
enthusiastic young ( or not so young ) programmer could take under their
energetic wing and nurture to completion. Something to get their teeth into
to make their mark and excel at. It has to be someone who loves the subject
though. This makes all the difference I think.
Well thats my 2 cents ( or maybe even 4 cents ) on the matter FWIW.
Phillip McNelley
The Grandprix 2 Unofficial Manual
http://www.racesimcentral.net/~philmak/GP2MAN/
hehe Well you better buy F1 Racing Sim cause it has variable weather
during the race...fun fun fun....of course its rather difficult to
change the setup and the weather report is not all it should be...
But all in all F1 Racing sim is bad to the bone...
PAPA DOC
(snip)
the weather report is not all it should be...
(unsnip)
In other words, it's realistic? :-)
--
Bruce
(at work)
"Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get
tired."
(Jules Renard)
Phillip, what you are desiring is not impossible, by any means but one
has to take into account the additional work needed to include it and,
equally as important, what *gets left out* in order to provide a
comprehensive changeable weather feature.
It is situations such as this that cause developers to tear their hair
out/go bald at the age of 22/bug out and become hermits! They also are
accountable (these days) to the beancounters and the marketing people
(witness the release of GP2 "before it was finished" and CART:PR, before
it was started!)
How nice it would be to have the "ultimate" sim but each of us has our
own conception of "ultimate". With regard to F1RS, I would prefer to
see the developers work on (a) fixing the menu system and (b) fixing the
start/first corner slowdown....if that is possible. There are no
graphics "improvements" that I personally desire so the next in order
for fixing would be an editor for the names/teams/nationalities and then
a paint program.
But them's *my* preferences, which are most likely completely different
to someone elses.
That's why programmers/developers suffer anxiety attacks :-)
--
Bruce
(at work)
"Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get
tired."
(Jules Renard)
.....
Well, if you look at the average weather forecast over here, there's no need for
ANY kind of programming here. They are wrong 60% of the time, so a collection of
general forecasts and a random pick would do :-)
...
What will really make the difference is how well he gets payed... <G>
Let's hope...
JoH
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