rec.autos.simulators

I have just started driving NASCAR Racing 2 and have comments/questions.
The only track I have been on so far is Talladega.  There have been a lot
of comments regarding a better driving model in N2 and I guess I feel
better is relative.  The N2 car seems to be less stable in the corners at
Talladega - which may be quite realistic.  Turning into turn 3 at full
throttle it is very difficult to stay on the bottom of the track and I find
the cars nose tends to turn then push - turn then push causing the race car
to twitch a bit.  This is using the same basic setup I use on N1 - where
staying on the bottom of the track is easy (60psi tires, near 100% shocks,
40 degree spoiler).  My initial reaction was that it is very difficult to
keep the car in line when in traffic - whereas in N1 I am able to run side
by side all the way around the track (usually on the high side) without
touching anything or anyone.  This does require letting off the throttle
just a touch through the dogleg - but not much.  Also, you need to run as
low as possible through the corners, almost touching or you get passed in
the turns).  This also requires the Talladega AI patch or the computer car
won't stay inside (I haven't raced enough to see if I need to create
another AI patch in N2).  The dogleg in N2 is much easier to negotiate and
the car actually seems more stable on the straights too.  However, I
struggled a lot on a track where I am smooth on N1.  I am just looking for
others impressions of turning down into the corners at Talladega - relative
to N1 etc.

My next comment is on frame rates.  They appear similar to N1 - but they
feel slower.  On my P120 with a Stealth S3 VRAM card - I get fair frame
rates with most graphics off following one or two cars.    Other sim racers
talk of good frame rates on slower machines which surprises me.  Are we
talking 30fps on P100's?  If so, is the Stealth VRAM not a good choice ?
Or does the sound card play a role in frame rate ?  Mine is an old Media
Vision Stereo card.  I have a P200 waiting which will up the PCI bus to
33mhz and the processor to 200 (and I figured that out without a
calculator).  I figure this to yield about 25% improvement if I am lucky.
Still doesn't seem that I will get anywhere close to 30fps in traffic with
even minimal graphics on.  I have run UVCONFIG and UNIVBE appears to get
loaded.  I tried with and without and the graphics speed does seem a tick
faster with UNIVBE loaded.  I also plan to try a Rendition board - but I
have to wait for the NT driver before this is viable.  I did see numbers
showing a slight frame rate improvement with this 3D accelerator (thanks
for this useful info), but it looks as though just much improved graphics
is the biggest win.  I saw numbers showing a huge improvement in ICRII
using the Rendition accelerator.  However, ICRII also runs very well on my
P120 - better than both N1 and N2.

Thanks in advance for any comments in response.

The Klamath is the first of the IA-32 family (also known as Pentium
Pros) to support MMX.  It lacks the PPro's internal L2 cache, but gets
double the L1 cache.  The upcoming 440LX chipset should be the
motherboard of choice (SDRAM support, AGP, etc.).  Both should be
generally available near the middle of next year.  I'm not sure if the
Klamath's pinouts will differ from current PPros, so it could rule out
using one of the current Orion or Natoma MBs.

--

Emory University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
The IWCCCARS Project: Q & A Representative
Nascar Setups Page: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~ebusch/

 My initial reaction was that it is very difficult to

It's not you, it is different. The dogleg is much easier, but the turns
are alittle trickier(maybe a trade off for the new and improved dog-leg)

Alot of these guys think 20fps is "good". I have a 133 w/an stb128 and
can run car texture,skids,wall at probably around 25fps. To attain my
"desired" frame rate (29-30fps) I have to turn everything off exept
skids
(gotta have the "groove") I just ordered an intrgraph card, I hope it
will increase the framerate, I am told it will. It should be here
Friday, e-mail me if you want the results.

 If so, is the Stealth VRAM not a good choice ?

Good queston I'd like to know that. ALso there is no FM sound option on
N2 that might help you out as in N1 is there?
  Mine is an old Media

Hey, help me out alittle. I am currently accumulating parts for a
homebuild. I have everything exept the MB and the chip. I was going to
wait on the MMX PPro do you have any idea when this will be out? Or what
the best MB for these chips are??  

Mick in Tampa
--
 ______________________________________________________________________
|                               |                 |       ____  ___ ___|
| Mike Schreiner                |CNSRL ADMIN.     |  ---\    / /   /__ |
|http://pages.prodigy.com/CNSRL |                 |    --\  / /---/_   |
| "Mick" on Hawaii              |Earnhardt Rules!!|      -\/ /   /     |
| "Mick_S" on Ten               |                 |             /      |
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Actually the best upgrade would be to get a P55C in January.  Why spend
all the money on a P200 now, when these MMX Pentiums are due out in
less than a month?

--

Emory University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
The IWCCCARS Project: Q & A Representative
Nascar Setups Page: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~ebusch/

motherboard.

The Klamath will have a different pin out and a single chip package.  It
will not be usable in a Pro motherboard.   I just upgrade to a P200 for
now, not a Pro, because this is my next upgrade plan for a motherboard.

My N1 setup was getting smoked... so I lowered the right side tire
pressures to 58 and made the shocks a little softer. Also adding about 20
lbs. of cross weight should make up for the tendency to push entering the
turns.

Perhaps it the air playing "twitchy".  I was at an Eli Gold This Week
In Nascar a couple of years ago (94) and someone asked Dale Earnhardt
what it was like to drive at a track like Talladega.  He basically
said it was like driving 85 mph on the freeway, only a lot lighter,
and a lot twitchier.

I have the Diamond Stealth 64 with 2 meg VRAM.  I got a pretty good
frame rate at Rockingham, but when I got to a pack of cars, I had to
turn off the grandstands and objects.  On a P120.  But your
motherboard plays a role, and the amount of cache, etc.  The Asus
Triton 2 chipset motherboards are really nice and perform rather well,
for example, faster than my P120.  I would dare say that a P100 on a
good motherboard will outperform a P120 on not so good a motherboard.

also, the # of cars drawn ahead, behind and the number of cars heard
make a difference, as well as the number of cars running.  I run 23
cars, 6 ahead, 2 behind, and 3 heard, not that default 39 cars, 12
ahead and 8 behind or whatever it is.

don't forget to get a good motherboard. if you have any questions,

not a salesman of ANY sort!!)

sooo, you're running this in NT mode or dual boot with DOS/Windows95
or ?

Yeah, but who's going to pay that price for one?

--

Emory University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
The IWCCCARS Project: Q & A Representative
Nascar Setups Page: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~ebusch/

The nature of restrictor plate racing is that all the cars even the
slowest ones on the track should benefit from the draft and thus bunch
up in a huge group around the track.  It will require further study by
the physics group at Papyrus to get this right.

David Martin

David Martin