rec.autos.simulators

by **Michael R Sisso** » Tue, 09 Jan 2001 14:18:32

Just a couple of observations of the excellent Act-Labs shifter (sporting
the 5 pos plate and *JSJ*'s GPLshift utility) that I picked up on
Friday..

1 - Mis-shifts are now a very real possibility :) nice! Twice today, I
accidentally shifted from 4th to 1st (was looking for 3rd) at Spa.
Instant engine Swappah; from back to front. :)

2 - Using *JSJ*'s GPLshift utility, there is no longer a throttle blip
when you downshift. You have to provide one yourself. Say, for example, I
am braking hard for Parabolic, right foot fully off the gas pedal, revs
gone down to neutral. I shift from 5th to 2nd, no gas. The game slams the
car into 2nd, the revs shoot up from neutral to werever... There is a
very good chance of losing the back end. Also, I am *not* shifting down
too early (been caught many times by that one in sequential shifting).
The car is just dumping the clutch now; you have to give it the gas to
ease the mating of the clutch plates.

This shifter makes GPL more brain racking to drive and puts even more
emphasis on driver skills. I like it a lot.

MRSisson

--
LOAD "GPL",8,1
RUN

by **evente..** » Tue, 09 Jan 2001 15:12:52

[snip]

Damn straight :)! Anyone who has GPL and an Act Labs shifter
absolutely *must* give JSJ's shift patch a go. F'ing fabulous!
I didn't catch the throttle-blip thing right away - I kept wondering
why my car was so tail-happy on corner entry all of a sudden ;).
I'd post the link if I had it handy - someone mentioned it in a
previous thread.
The patch works fine even with modified (Carsound, engine swapper) GPL
exe's - you must have the latest GPL version, though.

Kendt
(GPLRank hidden to prevent embarrasment)

Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/

by **Thomas Soerensen** » Tue, 09 Jan 2001 18:06:20

I agree totally with you two guys - much more difficult - and much more fun.
Maybe I should get the setup *JSJ* has - he plugged a second set of pedals
into the gameport - he uses the USB for the Act Labs - and has the clutch
there as a real pedal - he tells me it is quite cool.

Thomas Soerensen
Proud Alpha/beta tester og GPL Shift

> > Just a couple of observations of the excellent Act-Labs shifter
> (sporting
> > the 5 pos plate and *JSJ*'s GPLshift utility) that I picked up on
> > Friday..
> [snip]

> Damn straight :)! Anyone who has GPL and an Act Labs shifter
> absolutely *must* give JSJ's shift patch a go. F'ing fabulous!
> I didn't catch the throttle-blip thing right away - I kept wondering
> why my car was so tail-happy on corner entry all of a sudden ;).
> I'd post the link if I had it handy - someone mentioned it in a
> previous thread.
> The patch works fine even with modified (Carsound, engine swapper) GPL
> exe's - you must have the latest GPL version, though.

> Kendt
> (GPLRank hidden to prevent embarrasment)

> Sent via Deja.com
> http://www.deja.com/

by **Pierre Robitaill** » Tue, 09 Jan 2001 22:37:35

> I shift from 5th to 2nd, no gas. The game slams the
> car into 2nd, the revs shoot up from neutral to werever...

By this, do you mean that the car goes directly from 5th down
to 2nd without going through 4th and 3rd? I didn't think it
was possible. Is a patch required to do this?

by **Thomas Soerensen** » Tue, 09 Jan 2001 22:45:27

Yes it is possible - yes it requires a patch - it reqiores the GPL Shift
patch by *JSJ* find it here http://home.worldonline.dk/%7E7471000/

Thomas

> > I shift from 5th to 2nd, no gas. The game slams the
> > car into 2nd, the revs shoot up from neutral to werever...

> By this, do you mean that the car goes directly from 5th down
> to 2nd without going through 4th and 3rd? I didn't think it
> was possible. Is a patch required to do this?

by **Mike Barlo** » Wed, 10 Jan 2001 00:18:20

I just ordered a 1.0G Athlon T-bird and a few exytras to go with it.
Now that I should have a system that can handle GPL at something better then
all graphics off at 800x600, I'd like to try some of the other new things..
IE Force Feedback wheels and an RS shifter. Could someone give me a URL for
the shifter.

Also, how does the shifter plug in, or what does it plug in to?

by **Txl** » Wed, 10 Jan 2001 01:07:12

www.act-labs.com

easy enough

> > I agree totally with you two guys - much more difficult - and much more
> fun.
> > Maybe I should get the setup *JSJ* has - he plugged a second set of
pedals
> > into the gameport - he uses the USB for the Act Labs - and has the
clutch
> > there as a real pedal - he tells me it is quite cool.

> I just ordered a 1.0G Athlon T-bird and a few exytras to go with it.
> Now that I should have a system that can handle GPL at something better
then
> all graphics off at 800x600, I'd like to try some of the other new
things..
> IE Force Feedback wheels and an RS shifter. Could someone give me a URL
for
> the shifter.

> Also, how does the shifter plug in, or what does it plug in to?

by **Michael R Sisso** » Wed, 10 Jan 2001 01:35:09

> > I agree totally with you two guys - much more difficult - and much more
> fun.
> > Maybe I should get the setup *JSJ* has - he plugged a second set of pedals
> > into the gameport - he uses the USB for the Act Labs - and has the clutch
> > there as a real pedal - he tells me it is quite cool.

> I just ordered a 1.0G Athlon T-bird and a few exytras to go with it.
> Now that I should have a system that can handle GPL at something better then
> all graphics off at 800x600, I'd like to try some of the other new things..
> IE Force Feedback wheels and an RS shifter. Could someone give me a URL for
> the shifter.

> Also, how does the shifter plug in, or what does it plug in to?

www.act-labs.com

The way the wheel, pedals and shifter are set up is cumbersome, IMO. You
have the wheel with a cartridge slot at the back. You plug a cartridge
that comes with the shifter into the wheel. Then you plug the RSEngine
cartridge into the shifter cartridge. The shifter lead plugs into the
shifter cart, the power lead plugs into the RSEngine cart. The pedals
plug directly into the wheel. The USB and serial leads come out of the
RSEngine cart. The new set of pedals w/clutch being made are supposedly
to plug into the second port of the shifter cart.

The shifter as it stands now can only be used with the Act Labs wheel.

The Act-Labs wheel... I am reserving my thoughts on it for now as I hear
it loosens up after a number of hours play time. (I am coming from a
Logitech old style, smooooth) Also, I need to find the right core.ini
settings for my machine.

The pedals... suck. I don't know how these make it out the door. They do
not have anywhere near a smooth progression along their range of travel.
I have gone to Slots site and done mod #1 on them and they are a bit
better, but they still suck. No getting around it. Throttle modulation
and brake threshold finding is proving very very troublesome. (I am
coming from CHPedals hardwired to the Logitech). The Logitech pedals
where panned pretty good, but I find that they were much better than
these A-L ones. Heck, even the single axis Thrustmaster T2 pedals sitting
next to me are way better. I am holding off on buying either another set
of CHPedals or the TSW special made ones until the new set of pedals
comes out for the A-L. *Before* I received the A-L set I would have
ordered it right away, but not now. I am taking a wait and see attitude,
if these pedals are any indication.

MRSisson

--
LOAD "GPL",8,1
RUN

by **Wosc** » Wed, 10 Jan 2001 03:08:59

Can that be considered a cheat by some people? Much quicker
downshifts...hmmm. I think we have a controversy.

JB

> Yes it is possible - yes it requires a patch - it reqiores the GPL Shift
> patch by *JSJ* find it here http://home.worldonline.dk/%7E7471000/

> Thomas

> > > I shift from 5th to 2nd, no gas. The game slams the
> > > car into 2nd, the revs shoot up from neutral to werever...

> > By this, do you mean that the car goes directly from 5th down
> > to 2nd without going through 4th and 3rd? I didn't think it
> > was possible. Is a patch required to do this?

by **Jason Mond** » Wed, 10 Jan 2001 06:00:11

Or think of it like this: We usually want driving aids to be slower
than the with aids off right? Well think of the auto-double clutching
as an aid. Hence, if you want to go faster you need to drive/shift
without auto double-clutching. If someone has the talent to pull off
manual shifting (gated shifter) and can still carry the same lap
times/or go faster. All the power to them! Call them aliens to the 2nd
degree :-P

Drive on.
Jason.

> Can that be considered a cheat by some people? Much quicker
> downshifts...hmmm. I think we have a controversy.

> JB

> > Yes it is possible - yes it requires a patch - it reqiores the GPL Shift
> > patch by *JSJ* find it here http://home.worldonline.dk/%7E7471000/

> > Thomas

> > > > I shift from 5th to 2nd, no gas. The game slams the
> > > > car into 2nd, the revs shoot up from neutral to werever...

> > > By this, do you mean that the car goes directly from 5th down
> > > to 2nd without going through 4th and 3rd? I didn't think it
> > > was possible. Is a patch required to do this?

--
Jason Monds
http://www.proracingclub.com - Pro Racing Club! (N3, GPL, Fun Run Sims)
http://www.racersdomain.com - Race hosting.
(Please remove 'no extra spork' when replying)

by **ymenar** » Wed, 10 Jan 2001 07:07:52

> Can that be considered a cheat by some people?

Nope.

--
-- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard>
-- May the Downforce be with you...
-- http://www.ymenard.com/
-- People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise
how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.

by **Ambulate** » Wed, 10 Jan 2001 09:54:03

Heh heh, yeah I'm having fun with GPL and my RS shifter, but it is
harder............as if I needed that :-)

--
Chris "Ambulater" Lee
"Don't Bother Running.........You'll Just Die Tired."
Reviews at www.sim-arena.com

by **Ambulate** » Wed, 10 Jan 2001 09:56:52

If you're going to use the shifter you also have to have an ACT-LABS RS
wheel (although they are reportedly working on a USB shifter that will be
compatible with other wheels). You can get the Force RS Wheel and RS
Shifter as a combo for a really decent price at www.act-labs.com.

--
Chris "Ambulater" Lee
"Don't Bother Running.........You'll Just Die Tired."
Reviews at www.sim-arena.com

> > I agree totally with you two guys - much more difficult - and much more
> fun.
> > Maybe I should get the setup *JSJ* has - he plugged a second set of
pedals
> > into the gameport - he uses the USB for the Act Labs - and has the
clutch
> > there as a real pedal - he tells me it is quite cool.

> I just ordered a 1.0G Athlon T-bird and a few exytras to go with it.
> Now that I should have a system that can handle GPL at something better
then
> all graphics off at 800x600, I'd like to try some of the other new
things..
> IE Force Feedback wheels and an RS shifter. Could someone give me a URL
for
> the shifter.

> Also, how does the shifter plug in, or what does it plug in to?

by **Ambulate** » Wed, 10 Jan 2001 10:03:29

It's not a cheat because it's just a whole hell of a lot harder. I've just
now got my times back to about where they were with paddle shifters. I do
like the smooth braking you can produce in places like the back straight at
Monza. You can basically leave it in 5th (or maybe 4th) and brake smoothly
all the way into the parabola then hit 2nd as you go into the turn. Those
types of situations are much easier to control, but almost every other shift
is harder. You have be much more careful to match RPMs to the gear your
shifting into and you have to take your hand off the wheel and find the
right gate as your attempting to corner. It's very tough, but much more fun
and realistic.

--
Chris "Ambulater" Lee
"Don't Bother Running.........You'll Just Die Tired."
Reviews at www.sim-arena.com

> Can that be considered a cheat by some people? Much quicker
> downshifts...hmmm. I think we have a controversy.

> JB

> > Yes it is possible - yes it requires a patch - it reqiores the GPL Shift
> > patch by *JSJ* find it here http://home.worldonline.dk/%7E7471000/

> > Thomas

> > > > I shift from 5th to 2nd, no gas. The game slams the
> > > > car into 2nd, the revs shoot up from neutral to werever...

> > > By this, do you mean that the car goes directly from 5th down
> > > to 2nd without going through 4th and 3rd? I didn't think it
> > > was possible. Is a patch required to do this?

by **Pierre Robitaill** » Wed, 10 Jan 2001 13:10:00

That's great, thanks! ;)

> Yes it is possible - yes it requires a patch - it reqiores the GPL Shift
> patch by *JSJ* find it here http://home.worldonline.dk/%7E7471000/

> Thomas

> > > I shift from 5th to 2nd, no gas. The game slams the
> > > car into 2nd, the revs shoot up from neutral to werever...

> > By this, do you mean that the car goes directly from 5th down
> > to 2nd without going through 4th and 3rd? I didn't think it
> > was possible. Is a patch required to do this?

rec.autos.simulators

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter

Act Labs Shifter