rec.autos.simulators

by **Trygve Jense** » Sun, 20 Dec 1998 04:00:00

Hi.Is there anyone out there who-like me-finds the driving model of
GPL much too 'swimmy'?By swimmy I mean it floats around all over the
track,and is damn little precise.I can't imagine being able to race
closely on this sim.Bought the sim,loathed it,sold it.Tried some more at
a friend just to make certain that I gave it a fair shot,but no:Couldn't
get myself immersed.
Was the cars like that,or is the driving model not up to scratch.I
was not expecting razor sharp handling,but for me this is
uncontrollable,or to be more precicely:I'm more worried about the car
going straight,and not spinning round than actually watching ahead,and
getting on with the job of racing.I like the cornering of GPL,but
straight forward I have my hands full just keeping the car on the track.

One last thing:I find that the traction between track and grass to
be too little.One should slide more dramatically when hitting grass as
compared to asphalt.Just my opinion.
Anybody with an opinion?

--
Homepage: http://www.racesimcentral.net/

by **John Simmo** » Sun, 20 Dec 1998 04:00:00

Since you dind't mention it specifically, I would suggest purchasing a
wheel/pedal setup. That would improved control significantly. The
default setups can surprise you if you have driven other sims to any
extent. Camber, toe, and tire pressure are the biggest reasons your car
tends to hunt (what you call "swimming") as it proceeds down the track.

I've found that equalizing the camber (making both front wheels the same
amount of negative camber, and then making the rear camber the same for
both rear wheels, but more positive than the fronts). You might also try
increasing the steering ratio to improve your control.

Consider that you've got a 1000 pound car, usually travelling in excess
of 100 mph. Grass is slippery. I've driven a race car across grass, or
more accurately, hung on and enjoyed the scenery while it was sliding
through the grass. It's modelled fairly accurately. The problem I have
is that the sand/gravel pits seem to be more slippery than they should
be. The best example I can think of is Monza - if you're sliding
sideways through the gravel, it should stop you much sooner than it does.

Boy, that's a loaded question... :-)

--
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by **NanaKo** » Sun, 20 Dec 1998 04:00:00

I think that adjusting your steering linearity will cure you of the problem.

by **Dan** » Sun, 20 Dec 1998 04:00:00

Sounds like you didn't really give yourself enough time with GPL. It does
take longer to get used to than any other sim I've used. After awhile
however you'll find you can control it pretty well even on cold tires. With
enough time behind the wheel some of the default setups will even start to
seem way to tight and you'll be looking for ways to loosen the car up. :)

As for traction on grass/dirt vs asphalt, apparently you've never nipped the
grass while under power even on a straight ;)

Dan

> Hi.Is there anyone out there who-like me-finds the driving model of
>--
>Homepage: http://home.c2i.net/trjensen/

by **Dean William** » Sun, 20 Dec 1998 04:00:00

If you're using a joystick... I feel for you.
Without the ability to feather the throttle, it is extremely difficult to
drive.
I have a wheel and pedals, and it makes all the difference (I've also spent
enough time behind GPL to almost cost my marriage and my job).

Just imagine having a car with 400 horsepower and pushing the pedal to the
floor in first gear each time you start the car rolling. That's what the
joystick simulates.

A tip for you... Manually shift the car, and keep the RPM's low. The car
really "Swim's" at high RPM's.

> Hi.Is there anyone out there who-like me-finds the driving model of
>GPL much too 'swimmy'?By swimmy I mean it floats around all over the
>track,and is damn little precise.I can't imagine being able to race
>closely on this sim.Bought the sim,loathed it,sold it.Tried some more at
>a friend just to make certain that I gave it a fair shot,but no:Couldn't
>get myself immersed.
> Was the cars like that,or is the driving model not up to scratch.I
>was not expecting razor sharp handling,but for me this is
>uncontrollable,or to be more precicely:I'm more worried about the car
>going straight,and not spinning round than actually watching ahead,and
>getting on with the job of racing.I like the cornering of GPL,but
>straight forward I have my hands full just keeping the car on the track.

> One last thing:I find that the traction between track and grass to
>be too little.One should slide more dramatically when hitting grass as
>compared to asphalt.Just my opinion.
> Anybody with an opinion?

>--
>Homepage: http://home.c2i.net/trjensen/

by **Cartbria** » Sun, 20 Dec 1998 04:00:00

If you hit the gas too hard the weight transfers to the back of the car and
the front tires have no traction. You will float back and forth. Also each
time you hit "shift-r" the tires are new and cold

> Hi.Is there anyone out there who-like me-finds the driving model of
>GPL much too 'swimmy'?By swimmy I mean it floats around all over the
>track,and is damn little precise.I can't imagine being able to race
>closely on this sim.Bought the sim,loathed it,sold it.Tried some more at
>a friend just to make certain that I gave it a fair shot,but no:Couldn't
>get myself immersed.
> Was the cars like that,or is the driving model not up to scratch.I
>was not expecting razor sharp handling,but for me this is
>uncontrollable,or to be more precicely:I'm more worried about the car
>going straight,and not spinning round than actually watching ahead,and
>getting on with the job of racing.I like the cornering of GPL,but
>straight forward I have my hands full just keeping the car on the track.

> One last thing:I find that the traction between track and grass to
>be too little.One should slide more dramatically when hitting grass as
>compared to asphalt.Just my opinion.
> Anybody with an opinion?

>--
>Homepage: http://home.c2i.net/trjensen/

by **John Moor** » Sun, 20 Dec 1998 04:00:00

actually it is swimmier than a pool full of greased olympians but if you
drive a few hundred laps it will magically become rock solid natural,
amazing.

> Hi.Is there anyone out there who-like me-finds the driving model of
> GPL much too 'swimmy'?By swimmy I mean it floats around all over the
> track,and is damn little precise.I can't imagine being able to race
> closely on this sim.Bought the sim,loathed it,sold it.Tried some more at
> a friend just to make certain that I gave it a fair shot,but no:Couldn't
> get myself immersed.
> Was the cars like that,or is the driving model not up to scratch.I
> was not expecting razor sharp handling,but for me this is
> uncontrollable,or to be more precicely:I'm more worried about the car
> going straight,and not spinning round than actually watching ahead,and
> getting on with the job of racing.I like the cornering of GPL,but
> straight forward I have my hands full just keeping the car on the track.

> One last thing:I find that the traction between track and grass to
> be too little.One should slide more dramatically when hitting grass as
> compared to asphalt.Just my opinion.
> Anybody with an opinion?

> --
> Homepage: http://home.c2i.net/trjensen/

by **DAVID J ROBINSO** » Mon, 21 Dec 1998 04:00:00

Brian,

Actaully its the wheel spin that unloads the chassis and makes car behave
differently. When a wheel starts to spin it unloads the suspension and all
weight transfer is lost in exessive cases. This also lets car dart and
weave about and seem to hang in if caught whith steering wheel movement.

Dave

by **DPHI** » Mon, 21 Dec 1998 04:00:00

>actually it is swimmier than a pool full of greased olympians but if you
>drive a few hundred laps it will magically become rock solid natural,
>amazing.

>> Hi.Is there anyone out there who-like me-finds the driving model of
>> GPL much too 'swimmy'?By swimmy I mean it floats around all over the
>> track,and is damn little precise.I can't imagine being able to race
>> closely on this sim.Bought the sim,loathed it,sold it.Tried some more at
>> a friend just to make certain that I gave it a fair shot,but no:Couldn't
>> get myself immersed.

John, I totally agree. I bought GPL the day it was released after driving
hundreds of laps with the demo, and found it to be very difficult and
frustrating. However, last weekend, after weeks of practice, and trying the
excellent setup advice of Allison Hines and Steve Smith, I finally got the
"feel". It was like turning on a switch in my brain that allowed me to drive
these cars at their fullest potential. What a blast! I even got my first pole
position this weekend!

Now if I could just figure out how to start a race without losing 5 places<g>.
As the man said, Practice, practice, practice....

-don

by J » Thu, 31 Dec 1998 04:00:00

I guess, everybody started like that.
A few hours training, get a good setup from the WWW, and I'm sure
you'll enjoy like hell.

Jens

---------------------------------------------

Remove "NOSPAM" before using my email-address

by **Gary Saucie** » Thu, 31 Dec 1998 04:00:00

Hi,

I'm running Pentium II 450 Mhz, 128 Mb ram, Matrox G-200 video card (8
mb). I have a recurring and sporadic problem with GPL kicking me back
to Windows 98. This appears to happen after maybe 20-30 min of
gameplay, but sometimes sooner other times later. Has anyone else
experienced this and what is the fix (if any)? Thanks.

Gary

by **Mark** » Fri, 01 Jan 1999 04:00:00

On Wed, 30 Dec 1998 17:51:34 -0500, Gary Saucier

>Hi,

>I'm running Pentium II 450 Mhz, 128 Mb ram, Matrox G-200 video card (8
>mb). I have a recurring and sporadic problem with GPL kicking me back
>to Windows 98. This appears to happen after maybe 20-30 min of
>gameplay, but sometimes sooner other times later. Has anyone else
>experienced this and what is the fix (if any)? Thanks.

>Gary

If I recall correctly from other posts in other places... get rid
of your desktop wallpaper and/or run the desktop in 16-bit
color... if I don't recall correctly it can't hurt <g>.

by **DAVID J ROBINSO** » Fri, 01 Jan 1999 04:00:00

i had the same problem on demo then i found that it did not turn off my
screen saver and the saver booted me every 10 mintes like clockwork.

by **NIlic714** » Fri, 01 Jan 1999 04:00:00

>Subject: GPL question

>Date: 31/12/98 9:51 AM AUS Eastern Daylight Time

>Hi,

>I'm running Pentium II 450 Mhz, 128 Mb ram, Matrox G-200 video card (8
>mb). I have a recurring and sporadic problem with GPL kicking me back
>to Windows 98. This appears to happen after maybe 20-30 min of
>gameplay, but sometimes sooner other times later. Has anyone else
>experienced this and what is the fix (if any)? Thanks.

>Gary

On Thu Dec 17, Jan Lammers wrote
--------------------------------
installed it on my brandnew Intel Mendocino 300a, (Asus P2L97 LX motherboard)
64 Mb Ram (100Mhz), with Diamond Stealth II G460 8Mb videocard, Soundblaster 16
soundcard and 2.1 Gb U-DMA harddisk. I haven't really seen my wife and daughter
since, because this is really a great game! It's even better than the old Hard
Driving Console (personal best: over 1.3 million points - 45 minutes of racing
on a single coin) Especially Zandvoort, since I remember visiting the last
F1-races out there in the early seventies with my father. However, I'm getting
increasingly frustrated, because the game seems to shutdown randomly during
play. It doesn't just freeze: it shuts down back to the Windows98-desktop.
There seems to be no connection to high or low frame rates or excessive
on-screen action. I also can't get the racing groove, although I don't now if
these two problems are connected. Please help: I'll buy an even faster computer
if necessary to run this sim.

A lot of people are having the same problem, me included, and there is
a number of ways of fixing. GPL is very FPU intensive
and thus very sensitive to minor voltage changes so when you have
very slight "noise" or voltage changes it kicks you back to the desktop.
Solutions:

If you have AbitBX or BH motherboard you can bump the CPU core
voltage from default 2.0v to 2.05v and it will fix the problem.
I did this and GPL never crashed back to desktop again.
Since you have Asus Mobo and raising the core voltage is a little bit
more tricky i would suggest another alternative which i found
just the other day.
You can download Waterfall 2.01 which is a software program
that prevents your cpu from overheating and thus drawing too
much voltage and thus crashing back to Windows. Use the CPU
throttling feature and set it at 99% and 5 seconds.

Download here cpu.simplenet.com/leading_wintech

Again not a single kick back to Windows since i tried this little
proggy.

Another solution is to get a voltage and power regulator filter
which is bit more expensive than above solutions.

If you have any further probs let me know.

I run GPL on AbitBX C300A 4.5 x 112 504 Mhz 128 Meg PC 100
Ram.

Cheers
Chatham