rec.autos.simulators

>I intend to post this in irregular intervals, adding new thoughts now and
>then, so those of you who are new to GPL and VROC get the idea of how to
>improve these events for the benefit of all others and for yourself. If
this
>gets annoying to you guys and gals, give me a note, if you find this
>helpful, apply it.....I don't wanna look like a wise-crack, all I want is
to
>have fun playing GPL-Online:).......and plz excuse my rusty english, it's
>been over 20 years that I've been in the states......

>[NEW]
>Topic Comment-Clumn: To keep hooligans out of your race (as host), there is
>a possibility to at least minimize their occurance: Host a passworded race
>and post the password in the Comment-Column of GPL-Spy-Boy, e.g. state
>"Password is: F3 Cars Only". This way ppl joining are *forced* to read the
>comment and again *forced* to type the password and therefore *should*
apply
>to the host's rules!

>[NEW]
>Topic warping: To find out if you are a distraction to others, meaning you
>are warping all over the place, making it hard for ppl behind you to keep
>their concentration, just hop into the host's car during the qualifying
>session (cockpit-view): If you receive a smooth picture, you're ok and
>someone else is causing the trouble; if the picture is choppy, please
>disconnect, the others will be thankful! (Thanx Ron, nice hint!)   Also a
>good indication of a bad connection on your side is a short flicker of the
>screen followed by a reset of the red tach (?) of the rev-meter (?); at
that
>moment, you have most probably just warped, please disconnect in that case
>also.

>[OLD]
>(with an assumed permission of requote by Michael Barlow)
>Topic Start line accidents:  I've been paying attention to the start line
>accidents. More specifically, what causes these crashes..  what I have
found
>is that some drivers sincerely believe that they have to get up to speed as
>quickly as possible. Even if it means running over the car directly in
front
>of them.  I've started races where the driver in front of me doesn't push
>the gas peddle when the green flag drops. making me sit there and wait for
>what seems like an eternity as all the other drivers whizz by.  I'll slap
>the gas and throw the car into first gear only to have to slam on the
breaks
>because of this.  If I didn't slam that brake peddle I would have ended up
>like the guy just in front of him spinning and spinning from hitting the
guy
>in front of him.  what usually happens next is the guy in front of me will
>then start off and wind his way through the crashed drivers with me
>following. we both end up making it through the carnage without a scratch.
>Think of the start as a fast moving pace lap, don't pass anyone till the
>field has a chance to get sorted out. Even if that means waiting till lap
10
>of an 11 lap race.  So, Rule of thumb: don't slap the gas down till the guy
>in front of you has done so. And be ready to use the brakes.
>Topic Turn one accidents: I've been involved in many accidents in the first
>turn on the first lap. The ones that I've been involved in were from
drivers
>watching everything else but what's coming up.  Coming up to turn one, I've
>made it through with a guy in front of me, a guy beside me and a guy on my
>tail.  Because we ALL knew the turn was coming up, We each started to brake
>early. Each driver broke(?) earlier then the one in front. By doing this we
>all were able to keep that same distance between us and make it through the
>turn quickly and evenly. (in fact, this happened through the entire lap)
>So, Rule of thumb: Get on the brakes sooner then normal while following
>someone into a corner. Slow down to a point where you think you're slow
>enough, then slow down a bit more.

>[OLD]
>18 Steps to get a *clean* Windows for playing GPL online via VROC/SpyBoy
>1:) Get your Win95/Win98-CD and copy the folder "eru" (to be found under
>E:\other\misc\eru) onto your hard-drive. Read the "eru.txt" for
instructions
>on how to use it (very easy!).
>2.) Use erd.exe to backup your current system-config, selecting *all* of
the
>proposed system-files.
>3.) Start regedit.exe (to be found in C:\win95).
>4.) Goto "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion" and
>check the entries "Run", "RunOnce", "RunServices" and "RunServicesOnce":
>there should be *no* entries in the right window, if there are, remove them
>all! Don't be afraid, you backed up everything before (you did, didn't
>ya?!), thus you can do no harm.
>5.) Repeat step 4 in
>"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion".
>6.) Repeat step 4 in
>"HKEY_USERS\Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion".
>7.) Start sysedit.exe (to be found in C:\win95\system)
>8.) Check "win.ini" for entries under "Run" and "Load" and remove them all!
>9.) Open explorer.exe (to be found in C:\win95)
>10.) Goto c:\win95\startmenu\programs\autostart
>11.) Copy all files there to a new backup folder (for example "autostart
>reserve") and delete the files in "Autostart".
>12.) Remove all crap that makes your Desktop nicer (Backgrounds, sounds,
>icons, screensavers, smooth-scrolling and so on), no1 needs this stuff.
>13.) Use erd.exe again to make a backup of your new config (name it like
>c:\erd\gplconfg.......8 letters max!)
>14.) Turn off your computer.
>15.) Turn it on again  (no ctrl+alt+del !!)
>16.) Windows should now be running in a clean environment, *don't* start
any
>other programs as they flood your PC's memory again, just start your
>Internet-Connection, start SpyBoy and......enjoy!
>17.) To get back to your original-config, cold-boot again, when you see the
>boot sequence, press Shift+F5 to get a DOS-Prompt.
>18.) Goto the folder you saved the original-config to (C:\erd\original),
>type "erd", select "restore all".....that's it.......and vice-versa if you
>want to switch to your GPL-Config.

>Troubleshooting:
>It could be that you have deleted items in Registry, Autostart or Win.ini
>that are essential for either your modem, your sound-card or your
>graphics -card (*very* unlikely though) and you will get problems starting
>Windows or your Internet-Connection. If so, no problem, restore your
>original config, do steps 3 to 13 again, this time looking a bit closer at
>the stuff you are removing, maybe leaving the one or the other entry where
>it is and try again, narrowing on the crucial entry like that.

>[OLD]
>Topic Start of Races: When on very crowded grids, I switch view using F10
>until I've passed the first one or two corners, then I switch back to
normal
>cockpit-view. This gives a better overview of what's going on around you,
>there are no mirrors, though, but if you are able to start in a straight
>line, this is less a disadvantage, than F10 is of advantage (any1
understood
>this sentence?).

>[OLD]
>Topic Manuals: I know it's boring and you want to get to the real stuff as
>fast as possible, but a lot of problems would not occur if ppl would read
>the instructions (RTFM) of each new program they use. For VROC it's
>essential to setup your Dial-Up-Network correctly, look at the frame-rates
>you're receiving under heavy traffic, install VROC-Software,
>Spy-Boy-Software, core.ini's etc etc; all this has to be read about in the
>corresponding places, so take an hour and get informed, it's not *that*
>hard!

>[OLD]
>Topic Qualification for a Race: Often I would like to slap ppl with a large
>trout (whatever that means..) when I'm on a flying lap and they're pitting
>out right in front of me.......lap is ruined even without a crash. Guys, we
>have the possibility to use the "live"-button in GPL, where you can see
>who's about to cross start/finish, so press it and pit-out right behind the
>flyer and don't race him! When on your warm-up-lap, don't go creeping
around
>at 20mph, run at 90% of your normal racing speed because 1. When a flyer
>runs up to a creeper, mostly the flying lap is ruined and 2. You can build
>up the rythm (rhythm?) for your own flying lap better this way........

>[OLD]
>Topic Chatting in GPL: Many drivers find it disturbing when those who
>crashed out or just quit a race keep filling the chat with useless stuff.
On
>the one hand, it's up to them to turn the chat off, on the other hand you
>would like to stay informed about the ongoing race......difficult to find a
>satisfying solution here, maybe we all should cut down a little to the real
>important stuff, moreso as we now have this great toy called Spy-Boy.

>[OLD]
>My 2-year old daughter now uses the toilet instead of her pants! This had
to
>be said  :-))

>[OLD]
>Topic Discipline: Some time ago I joined a GP-Race in Spa hosted by Rick
>Sweeney and there were NO incidents on the start with 20
>drivers.....incredible......why can't people discipline themselves and try
>to equalize this "world-record"? Instead, mostly ppl try to get from last
to
>first in half a lap .....complete nonsense, just causes pileups and
>frustration ;-((. To cool ppl down, I myself only host *Pro*-Races so if
you
>hit  something,.....bye....there should be a lot more of that......

>[OLD]
>Topic competition: Next thing is we wanna have fun while racing, right? My
>driving-policy is, when in the lead and see no1 behind me, I wait (drive
>slowly in *safe* places, don't stop, you get kicked if idle too long) for
>others to catch up and race them again....who cares if I win a race (except
>championship-races of course).....Same applies, if you're in 6th, guy
behind
>you spins and recovers, why not wait for him?.....I want competition, if I
>wanna hotlap I can do that alone offline......

>[OLD]
>Topic Chat-Keys: Regarding last thought, maybe we all could agree on some
>fixed short-message-keys for the

> I intend to post this in irregular intervals, adding new thoughts now and
> then, so those of you who are new to GPL and VROC get the idea of how to
> improve these events for the benefit of all others and for yourself. If this
> gets annoying to you guys and gals, give me a note, if you find this
> helpful, apply it.....I don't wanna look like a wise-crack, all I want is to
> have fun playing GPL-Online:).......and plz excuse my rusty english, it's
> been over 20 years that I've been in the states......

> [NEW]
> Topic Comment-Clumn: To keep hooligans out of your race (as host), there is
> a possibility to at least minimize their occurance: Host a passworded race
> and post the password in the Comment-Column of GPL-Spy-Boy, e.g. state
> "Password is: F3 Cars Only". This way ppl joining are *forced* to read the
> comment and again *forced* to type the password and therefore *should* apply
> to the host's rules!

> [NEW]
> Topic warping: To find out if you are a distraction to others, meaning you
> are warping all over the place, making it hard for ppl behind you to keep
> their concentration, just hop into the host's car during the qualifying
> session (cockpit-view): If you receive a smooth picture, you're ok and
> someone else is causing the trouble; if the picture is choppy, please
> disconnect, the others will be thankful! (Thanx Ron, nice hint!)   Also a
> good indication of a bad connection on your side is a short flicker of the
> screen followed by a reset of the red tach (?) of the rev-meter (?); at that
> moment, you have most probably just warped, please disconnect in that case
> also.

> [OLD]
> (with an assumed permission of requote by Michael Barlow)
> Topic Start line accidents:  I've been paying attention to the start line
> accidents. More specifically, what causes these crashes..  what I have found
> is that some drivers sincerely believe that they have to get up to speed as
> quickly as possible. Even if it means running over the car directly in front
> of them.  I've started races where the driver in front of me doesn't push
> the gas peddle when the green flag drops. making me sit there and wait for
> what seems like an eternity as all the other drivers whizz by.  I'll slap
> the gas and throw the car into first gear only to have to slam on the breaks
> because of this.  If I didn't slam that brake peddle I would have ended up
> like the guy just in front of him spinning and spinning from hitting the guy
> in front of him.  what usually happens next is the guy in front of me will
> then start off and wind his way through the crashed drivers with me
> following. we both end up making it through the carnage without a scratch.
> Think of the start as a fast moving pace lap, don't pass anyone till the
> field has a chance to get sorted out. Even if that means waiting till lap 10
> of an 11 lap race.  So, Rule of thumb: don't slap the gas down till the guy
> in front of you has done so. And be ready to use the brakes.
> Topic Turn one accidents: I've been involved in many accidents in the first
> turn on the first lap. The ones that I've been involved in were from drivers
> watching everything else but what's coming up.  Coming up to turn one, I've
> made it through with a guy in front of me, a guy beside me and a guy on my
> tail.  Because we ALL knew the turn was coming up, We each started to brake
> early. Each driver broke(?) earlier then the one in front. By doing this we
> all were able to keep that same distance between us and make it through the
> turn quickly and evenly. (in fact, this happened through the entire lap)
> So, Rule of thumb: Get on the brakes sooner then normal while following
> someone into a corner. Slow down to a point where you think you're slow
> enough, then slow down a bit more.

> [OLD]
> 18 Steps to get a *clean* Windows for playing GPL online via VROC/SpyBoy
> 1:) Get your Win95/Win98-CD and copy the folder "eru" (to be found under
> E:\other\misc\eru) onto your hard-drive. Read the "eru.txt" for instructions
> on how to use it (very easy!).
> 2.) Use erd.exe to backup your current system-config, selecting *all* of the
> proposed system-files.
> 3.) Start regedit.exe (to be found in C:\win95).
> 4.) Goto "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion" and
> check the entries "Run", "RunOnce", "RunServices" and "RunServicesOnce":
> there should be *no* entries in the right window, if there are, remove them
> all! Don't be afraid, you backed up everything before (you did, didn't
> ya?!), thus you can do no harm.
> 5.) Repeat step 4 in
> "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion".
> 6.) Repeat step 4 in
> "HKEY_USERS\Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion".
> 7.) Start sysedit.exe (to be found in C:\win95\system)
> 8.) Check "win.ini" for entries under "Run" and "Load" and remove them all!
> 9.) Open explorer.exe (to be found in C:\win95)
> 10.) Goto c:\win95\startmenu\programs\autostart
> 11.) Copy all files there to a new backup folder (for example "autostart
> reserve") and delete the files in "Autostart".
> 12.) Remove all crap that makes your Desktop nicer (Backgrounds, sounds,
> icons, screensavers, smooth-scrolling and so on), no1 needs this stuff.
> 13.) Use erd.exe again to make a backup of your new config (name it like
> c:\erd\gplconfg.......8 letters max!)
> 14.) Turn off your computer.
> 15.) Turn it on again  (no ctrl+alt+del !!)
> 16.) Windows should now be running in a clean environment, *don't* start any
> other programs as they flood your PC's memory again, just start your
> Internet-Connection, start SpyBoy and......enjoy!
> 17.) To get back to your original-config, cold-boot again, when you see the
> boot sequence, press Shift+F5 to get a DOS-Prompt.
> 18.) Goto the folder you saved the original-config to (C:\erd\original),
> type "erd", select "restore all".....that's it.......and vice-versa if you
> want to switch to your GPL-Config.

> Troubleshooting:
> It could be that you have deleted items in Registry, Autostart or Win.ini
> that are essential for either your modem, your sound-card or your
> graphics -card (*very* unlikely though) and you will get problems starting
> Windows or your Internet-Connection. If so, no problem, restore your
> original config, do steps 3 to 13 again, this time looking a bit closer at
> the stuff you are removing, maybe leaving the one or the other entry where
> it is and try again, narrowing on the crucial entry like that.

> [OLD]
> Topic Start of Races: When on very crowded grids, I switch view using F10
> until I've passed the first one or two corners, then I switch back to normal
> cockpit-view. This gives a better overview of what's going on around you,
> there are no mirrors, though, but if you are able to start in a straight
> line, this is less a disadvantage, than F10 is of advantage (any1 understood
> this sentence?).

> [OLD]
> Topic Manuals: I know it's boring and you want to get to the real stuff as
> fast as possible, but a lot of problems would not occur if ppl would read
> the instructions (RTFM) of each new program they use. For VROC it's
> essential to setup your Dial-Up-Network correctly, look at the frame-rates
> you're receiving under heavy traffic, install VROC-Software,
> Spy-Boy-Software, core.ini's etc etc; all this has to be read about in the
> corresponding places, so take an hour and get informed, it's not *that*
> hard!

> [OLD]
> Topic Qualification for a Race: Often I would like to slap ppl with a large
> trout (whatever that means..) when I'm on a flying lap and they're pitting
> out right in front of me.......lap is ruined even without a crash. Guys, we
> have the possibility to use the "live"-button in GPL, where you can see
> who's about to cross start/finish, so press it and pit-out right behind the
> flyer and don't race him! When on your warm-up-lap, don't go creeping around
> at 20mph, run at 90% of your normal racing speed because 1. When a flyer
> runs up to a creeper, mostly the flying lap is ruined and 2. You can build
> up the rythm (rhythm?) for your own flying lap better this way........

> [OLD]
> Topic Chatting in GPL: Many drivers find it disturbing when those who
> crashed out or just quit a race keep filling the chat with useless stuff. On
> the one hand, it's up to them to turn the chat off, on the other hand you
> would like to stay informed about the ongoing race......difficult to find a
> satisfying solution here, maybe we all should cut down a little to the real
> important stuff, moreso as we now have this great toy called Spy-Boy.

> [OLD]
> My 2-year old daughter now uses the toilet instead of her pants! This had to
> be said  :-))

> [OLD]
> Topic Discipline: Some time ago I joined a GP-Race in Spa hosted by Rick
> Sweeney and there were NO incidents on the start with 20
> drivers.....incredible......why can't people discipline themselves and try
> to equalize this "world-record"? Instead, mostly ppl try to get from last to
> first in half a lap .....complete nonsense, just causes pileups and
> frustration ;-((. To cool ppl down, I myself only host *Pro*-Races so if you
> hit  something,.....bye....there should be a lot more of that......

> [OLD]
> Topic competition: Next thing is we wanna have fun while racing, right? My
> driving-policy is, when in the lead and see no1 behind me, I wait (drive
> slowly in *safe* places, don't stop, you get kicked if idle too long) for
> others to catch up and race them again....who cares if I win a race (except
> championship-races of course).....Same applies, if you're in 6th, guy behind
> you spins and recovers, why not wait for him?.....I want competition, if I
> wanna hotlap I can do that alone offline......

> [OLD]
> Topic Chat-Keys: Regarding last thought, maybe we all could agree on some
> fixed short-message-keys for the in-car-chat (I for myself can't type and
> drive at