rec.autos.simulators

The below should make you happy.

Can I adjust mechanical (tyre) grip levels on the track, grass and
gravel trap run-off areas?

All the different types of track surfaces, such as tarmac, grass and
gravel have different properties which can be editted in the
terrain.ini file.

Here is an example from Terrain.ini:

// This file defines terrain feedback and special effects.
// Note that the dry/wet coefficients are only part of the grip
equation ... the tyre
// grip also has dry/wet components, so that even if a terrain has
equal dry and wet
// components, the tyre grip may be less in the wet, depending on the
tyre.

// Roads
[FEEDBACK]
Dry=1.00 Wet=0.80 Resistance=0.0 BumpAmp=0.01 BumpWavelen=100.0
Legal=true Spring=0.0 Damper=0.0 CollFrict=0.4 Sparks=1 Sound=dry
Reaction=whitesmoke Map=smokewhite Max=512 Scale=(1.0,1.0,1.0)
Growth=(2.0,2.0,2.0) ASDEnvelope=(0.2,0.2,2.5)
Reaction=skid Map=skidhard Max=2048
Reaction=wetskid Map=skidwet Max=2048
Reaction=spray Map=rainspray Max=512 Scale=(1.0,1.0,1.0)
Growth=(3.0,3.0,3.0) ASDEnvelope=(0.2,0.2,0.5)
Materials=road,conc,rdcem,rdrd

You can adjust the dry and wet grip levels for the particular surface,
and other physical properties such as bumps

I appreciate the effort Dave, but call me a purist - I'm not keen on
sticking band-aids on a game to fix it.  As I've said, I'm enjoying playing
the game for what it is but the fact that the hotlaps have no integrity
means that I really feel compelled to spend my time with something else
instead.

On Tue, 16 Oct 2001 12:51:03 +1000, "Damien Smith"

Part of the appeal of PC's are the fact that you can tweak the files
to your liking. It's not a band-aid approach, it's altering the game
data to your liking - nothing more. What do you mean by "hotlap
integrity". I'm not into hotlapping myself though.

   If you can easily adjust the grip values and other factors then somebody
could edit a track so that he could theoretically run it flat out without
braking and NOT loose traction.  So even if you tweek your files just
slightly, this gives you a performance advantage.  Hotlaps depend on
everyone running the same values so that the laps can be compared fairly.
If I took out a majorly tweeked version of F12001 and obliterated the hotlap
records, then the whole validity of the ranking would be destroyed.
  As the N4 online racers have found, you cannot depend on all your fellow
racers to run clean fair and legal.  F12001 will be rife with cheats...the
'pros' will make very small alterations so that their record times just
barely beat existing records...this will make them hard to detect....after
all a lap 3 tenths better won't raise suspicions like a lap 5 to 10 seconds
below the records.
dave henrie

Yes, I see what he is talking abut now, but I read here
http://www.the-best.racesim.net/ the following regarding F12001.

 No file checking is currently performed, and lap-times shown are not
necessarily set "in line with the nature of fair competition".

To anyone who is modifying the game to gain some sort of advantage...
enjoy it while you can !!!   Cheating will soon be locked out.