rec.autos.simulators

If you're determined to succeed, I would say try the trainers rather than
the grand prix cars, at first.  They are much more forgiving.  If you must
drive a grand prix car, go with the Coventry.  GPL is really a blast once
you get the hang of it, and you can slide that F1 monster all the way around
a corner.  Good luck!

-A

Now I'm no sim driving ace but I can pull a half decent lap  on  most
driving sims. I still play gp2 from time to time (great game) and have
recently begun playing rally 2000. I can drive well on both of these (and
many other driving titles) but on GPL I can only complete a lap of Monza 1
out of 5 times.

I love the feel of it, but I just can't drive it. I must be doing something
wrong.

I practised night and day fro a month and I certainly did improve (I can now
finish a lap of monza now and then). It is just too ***y hard.

Its not being played here anymore, like any game that's just too hard I give
up eventually. I feel cheated, I thought this would give me more  pleasure
than GP2 but it doesn't just frustrates me.

Anyway back to rally2000, bit arcadey but tons more fun than GPL.

Scott Andrews

Borut

You need to get your fps up a bit. Try setting the mirrors to "cars
only", then turn off skid marks and the driver's arms. These are big
CPU users and you don't need them. Leave the scenery level turned up
because if you reduce the # of objects you will also lose some good
braking-point markers (such as the sign on the left coming into
Parabolica at Monza). Some good setups downloaded from one of the many
GPL sites will also help. The biggest improvements will just come from
time. I used to go off all the time, but now I can drive within my
limits in a consistent way without having to think about it all the
time.

  Doug

Sent via Deja.com http://www.racesimcentral.net/
Before you buy.

try the beginners car, all aids on and nonlinear steering halfway or a
bit to the right. and after that: use the cooper.
oh yeah, very important: try to get max. 36 fps by reducing resolution,
detail or whatever: its much easier with a constant high framerate (like
always ... check quake and the like ...)

Lio

Don't nobody get me wrong GPLs a top notch wizzer, but it can SERIOUSLY do
your ***ing head in......I mean, c'mon lads and lasses both the big N and
Monaco is a ***s dreamboat....

Memories......

1st time around Monaco.....

"Eh..?........***y pavements.....turn yah sod.!!!!!.....ooohhhh the
tunnels nice n' easyyyyyyy.......kersplash straight over the ***y barrier
arse over tit......"

Head for pit..........avoiding eye-contact with pit crew...

"AND what the *** do you call that then......!!"

"Er........well, yer see boss there was this blonde with big bazzokas
sunbathing ........"

1st drive around the big N.

Flicking through manual...........

"How many ***ing miles.......!!!!!!!!!"

Mechanic.."AND what the *** do you call that then........!!!!"..he screamed
looking at my bent front end and wobbly wheels........

"Er........it was this great big ***ing rabbit, y'see boss..."

Somebody PLEASE write a program which lets yer coffin be glued to the ground
like a ***ing piece of gum..........

I've still got the shakes after I pushed too many revs in 5th and blew the
shit out of the engine and set fire to my arse......

Altogether now........

"AND what the *** do you call that then...........!!!!!!!"

idav

What system do you have?  I have a PII 450 with 128 meg of ram. I am also using
an old Hercules Thriller card for GPL.  I was experiencing some lag as well , so
I turned off smoke.  This really helped me in the corners when you are smoking
the tires a bit.  Cleaned up my driving a bunch, especially on-line. Although
the good drivers say never to smoke'em, but I am at a loss as to how this is
avoided with any consistency.  Anyway give it a try.

Rick Sweeney

Its all sooooooooo true:-)

I'm not just saying this, it really does matter. I  get constant 36fps
on my newer pc, with some adjustments made to the graphics and other
game settings (see below for more info on this).

But, I also have an older pc, a K6 200 (clocked at 225) with 64Mb ram on
an ATX Supermicro m/b and a 4Mb 3Dfx card. On this pc I get around 20fps
and GPL is like a completely different program, (eg, lots worse and its
much harder to drive consistently cos the graphics are not as good)
compared to my newer pc.

Also, make sure you are using one of the easier cars to drive, the Lotus
is a nightmare to master, try the Cooper or Brabham. The F1 cars are
also harder to drive, try using the learner cars first.

Also try some of the following tips to improve fps in GPL.....

The following is from my GPL webpage, I hope the info helps. See the url
in my sig:
--------------------------------------------------------------
To get the best performance from your PC when racing GPL (on-line or
off-line), ideally, it should be the *only* program running. Turn off
all (or as many as possible) your other programs before starting GPL. To
check what programs are running in the background on your PC,
(especially if using Win95/98) press Ctrl and Alt and Delete together to
get the "Close program" box on your screen. This will tell you what
programs are still running. Ideally you only need systray and explorer
to be running (but this will depend on how you pc has been set-up?)
Turning off virus checkers, and programs such as MS FastFind or ICQ will
help to improve GPL's performance on your pc, as these programs use up
valueable cpu resources if left running in the background.

GPL runs better with faster PC systems, *FACT!* If you have an older or
slower PC system, do not expect GPL to run perfectly at its maximum
(36fps) frame rate, with all the graphics and sound options turned on.
Ideally, for on-line racing you want to try and run GPL at a constant
36fps. Unless you have a brand new fast Ninja PC, this means turning
down or off some of GPL's options, Including some or all of the
following:

Reduce the no' of sounds heard, Ideally to 3 or 4.
Turn off the effects in the GPL graphics screen (Smoke, Dust, etc).
Turn off the quality items (Dynamic lighting, etc).
Turn down the detail slider.
Reduce the screen resolution.
Reduce the mirror detail.
Reduce the number of trackside objects.
Reduce the number of textured items (Clouds, Horizon, etc)
Reduce the number of AI cars running.

If your PC set-up is optimised for games, this will also improve GPL's
performance. 64Mb of system RAM is an absolute minimum, 128Mb is far
better. The latest drivers for all your sound cards, graphics cards, and
modem will also help speed things up. PCI based cards are also prefered
to older ISA cards, as PCI cards appear to have a lower CPU load than
ISA cards, which frees up more CPU cycles to concentrate on the actual
game itself.

8-)

*Peter* -  http://www.cix.co.uk/~peterpc/home.html

Trust me and all those others that have suggested it.  Get those fps
higher.  You won't be able to stay on the track otherwise.

I had almost given up on this game after owning it for about 3 months
and failing miserably to stay on the track for any considerable amount
of time.  I had run many, many laps at Watkins Glen according to the
manual that came with the game and the best that I could manage with any
of the cars was a measly 1:09 point something.  GPL was slowly being
relegating to collecting dust until that faitful day when I subscribed
to r.a.s. and the guys here were saying 'Get your fps higher' to anyone
who asked.

So I bit the bullet and revelation of revelations, it worked.  I could
stay on the track and, whatsmore, I started to notice a feel to the way
the cars handled.  The game became like a breath of fresh air, my times
started to tumble and haven't stopped - now have a best of 1:05.3 at the
Glen.  After over 6 months of regular GPLing my lap time improvements
are just starting to slow up.  Yes, over 6 months of regular racing and
I still haven't reached my limit with this game.

So, up those framerates, if you dare that is.  It may change your life
completely. 8-)
--
Peter Ives - (AKA Ivington)

No person's opinions can be said to be
more correct than another's, because each is
the sole judge of his or her own experience.