I think npt stands for "normalised player time". Anything over a value of
1.0 slows down the whole field of AI cars, the quick ones by a lesser amount
than the slow ones. This has the effect of spreading the field and giving
for more interaction with the AI for the human player. Set at 0.0, the
default, the value is automatically adjusted according to your best
performance on each track to date. Thus, if you don't fiddle with it, and
assuming you keep going faster, the AI field will get quicker and more
tightly bunched each time your personal best improves.
I think what Alison Hine was saying about a value of 1.20 was probably that
this is the starting point when running on automatic. If you leave the
setting on 0.0 (auto), the 1.20 would gradually reduce to 1.00 level as your
performance improves.
I have run with npt_override setting of 1.0 since the software was released,
with no unusual AI behaviour. To my mind, the advantage is that I get a
more authentic feel to the sim, a fixed benchmark against which I can gauge
my slow improvement, and of course, a healthy adjustment to my ego.
Mark Croasdale
