rec.autos.simulators

If I can run Silverstone in 1.37 in the 'Cooper', I've done well, but trying
to consecutively run 20-30 laps is impossible without crashing. And as for a
race, passing cars usually results in me hitting them, (them hitting me) or
me then being too fast to enter a bend and crashing.

I'm not bleating about the situation - its definitely me not GPL, I just
wanted to let off steam.
If I'm not going to win anything in GPL, perhaps I can win the 'Worst GPL
Driver' award (unless anyone can top my pathetic record????)
PJ

Hi Paul

I'm no expert either but I noted one point in your message,
about you being too fast entering a bend. I remember reading
in the manual about going in slow and coming out fast. Maybe
try to go in a little slower and power out.

It's not those who go into the turns the fastest, but those
who come out the fastest who are going to turn the quicker
laps.
At Silverstone I only go as low as third gear. 2nd makes for
to much wheel spin under power. Even in 3rd she lets go from
time to time.

--

Redline Race Controls      

Nigel of Lakewood Motorsports
Nascar Coruba & Coke Chevy
Hamilton
New Zealand

Something that "seemed" to work for me (as i'm still an infant in GPL)
was the AI Tweak Utility. While the trainers can be raced, I found
such an immense difference between the trainers and the GP cars that I
wanted a different kind of breaking in period. By my "slowing" down
(about 10-20%) of the AI cars I was able to stay in the pack and
actually PASS some of them at speeds I could handle while still
staying on the track. It (the AI speed) has a great deal of
adjustability, and after a while you will find yourself moving it up
toward the defaults again. Again, this, combined with some downloaded
setups, reading HOW and WHY the setups work, advanced me faster (IMHO)
than running around with underpowered cars, but of course YMMV...
Thing is to ENJOY GPL, and for me the enjoyment started when I started
actually racing WITH the AI instead of being shattered by it..

G. Patricks

I'm sure I'm going to get blasted for this, but I'm giving up on GPL.  The
problem I have is this:  It doesn't matter how realistic a sim is, it is
still not real enough.  Until I have a VR***pit that simulates the actual
sensations of speeds and cornering, I will never master computer sims like
this one.  In a real race car you can "feel" everything.  You know exactly
how far you can push your car.  In a computer sim it is all memorization.
You memorize how far you can push your car in each corner, and I must have a
really bad memory! :)  There is no way a sim can produce the sensations that
are required to make it feel real to me.

Don't get me wrong, I think Papyrus did an outstanding job on GPL.  I just
don't know where people get the time to get good enough to have fun with it.
I have enjoyed almost every racing sim that has ever been released until
this one.  I have driven and raced some pretty powerful cars in real life,
and I have been fairly competitive on the NROS, but this thing completely
kicks my ass! :)

I'm glad everyone else is enjoying it though!

Brett

j

Now don't get me wrong, I still really suck, but it's really a neat feeling to
string 10 laps at a good speed together at Monza or the Glen. After that, you
start to realize it can be done and just takes practice.

Joe

 http://members.tripod.com/~HOSHUMUNGUS

    and

 http://www.frontiernet.net/~godsoe/bolt/home.htm

There are alot of things at play for getting the handle on GPL.

1) CPU horsepower
2) graphics horsepower
3) controller precision

The faster your computer and graphics card is, the easier you will find
it to climb the plateaus in GPL.  That's right, there are plateaus in
GPL.  It seems that there is a huge struggle to get to plateau and the
next higher plateau is even harder to achieve.  But guess what, this is
exactly true in auto racing (except for the very few extremeley talented
and gifted racers).  You also need a good controlling system (i.e.,
wheels and pedals -- or at least joystick and pedals).

That's where the consistency comes from, precise controllers.
Especially throttle and brake control.  This is the key to getting
around most GPL circuits.  To be fast and consistent you will find that
most of your real control over the car is with your feet.  

I know exactly where some of you are at, the frustration level is high.
Just last night, as I raced on-line via VROC, I was amazed at my ability
to stay on the track and be fast at the Glen and Monza (where most of my
seat time -- or feet time has been).  I was flashing back to when I
could only get one good lap out of 30 at 1:10 at the Glen.  Now, don't
get me wrong, I am still far from being the fastest or the most
consistent (but a string of race laps in the mid to low 1:07's are
pretty good).  

Anyway, as I ramble, the main point I'm trying to make, it will and
can come, but stop trying to go fast until you learn to "feel" the car
and the track.  Step back and grab Alison's Coventry setups
<http://nh.ultranet.com/~alison/gpl/coventry.htm> and learn what a good
setup feels like and how to attack a certain track.  Work on consistency
and sooner or later speed and even more speed will come.  

For quite some time (here he goes again, rambling....), I tried to be
FAST, and read all of the tips on where to brake and where to turn at
the Glen.  Well, guess what, everytime I tried applying these late
braking points and turning points, the worse I got, honest.  So I gave
it up and just concentrated on being consistent, once I got the "feel"
down (and this is important, you need to have a "feel" for the car and
the track), I found that my times have increased (race fast lap at the
Glen 1:06.42).  And also, low and behold, I was actually braking at
those magical late braking points.  

For an inexpensive, but precise controller, I would recommend the
Thrustmaster NASCAR Super Sport wheel and pedal combination.  It has
helped me alot in finding the sweet zone in GPL.

[sorry for the rambling incoherent post...]

--
**************************** Michael E. Carver *************************
     Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./.  [-  < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Another good thing with GPL is once you've got the hang of driving
those cars you'll get much better at both gp2 and f1rs. At least this
was the case with my driving style: going back to MGP or GP2 seems
easy after finally breaking the 1:10 barrier at the Glen. ;-)

Uwe

--
 Spam-proof e-mail: Uwe Schuerkamp <hoover at telemedia . de>
http://www.telemedia.de/~hoover ////// Phone: +49-5241-80-10-66
    Best of Scottish Folk: http://home.pages.de/~nsg
  >>> Blue Ribbon Campaign:  Support Free Speech on the Internet <<<

Same here: my "best" lap at the Ring is a 11:00. ;-) This
game is truely awesome, and I'll definitely enjoy it
in the years to come (although I'd enjoy a native linux
port even more ;-)

cheers,

uwe

--
 Spam-proof e-mail: Uwe Schuerkamp <hoover at telemedia . de>
http://www.telemedia.de/~hoover ////// Phone: +49-5241-80-10-66
    Best of Scottish Folk: http://home.pages.de/~nsg
  >>> Blue Ribbon Campaign:  Support Free Speech on the Internet <<<

Everyone should head over to Eagle Woman's GPL website and download her
setups for the Coventry and then see how bad you are.

After fighting with the Ferrari and Lotus, mainly at Monza, I was ready
to give up on racing other people.

Well, using those setups, I have been able to actually piece together a
string of laps without ending up in the sand or bushes.  My first 10
laps all yielded times 10 seconds lower than my previous best in the
Lotus and I still have a ways to go.  Lap after lap, I can shave a
couple of tenths here and there.

Everyone head on over and give them a try and while your there be sure
to thank her for her efforts!

http://www.nh.ultranet.com/~alison/gpl/index.htm

writes:

Eldred

Eldred