rec.autos.simulators

GPL- Am I the Worst

Douglas Sharp

GPL- Am I the Worst

by Douglas Sharp » Thu, 26 Nov 1998 04:00:00

I have (tried Alison's Coventry setups), and I did (thank her).

One other quick thought. Alison writes in her Driving help article, "I never
feel really comfortable until I've done at least 500 laps at any track".
That should say it all.

David Mocn

GPL- Am I the Worst

by David Mocn » Fri, 27 Nov 1998 04:00:00

Don't know about winning, though, I got 1:30.8 in the Lutus and 1:31.4 with
the Ferrari at Monza with the standard cars. Also, I haven't really pushed
them at this track that much... I just played a lot of Monza in the demo.

BTW, you might want to change the gear rations to suit you better.

Regards,
David Mocnay




>writes:



>>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..

>Can ANYONE beat the standard AI with the standard cars?  My best at Monza(Eagle
>default), while improving at a 1:32.66, is still WAY off Clark's
>1:30-1:31's...pauvre moi. :)

>Eldred

David Mocn

GPL- Am I the Worst

by David Mocn » Fri, 27 Nov 1998 04:00:00

Thue in some cases. Though, now that I feel that I know the car quiete well
(after few hunred laps on numerous tracks), I get get reasonable lap times and
consistancy on any given track no matter how new it is to me within 15-20
laps. I'm talking about 1-2 seconds of the Jim Clark's times in the game. This
is not a testiment of "how good I am" but really how good the game is... I'm
comfortable driving in GPL by the "seat of pants" (ie. the feel/ feedback from
the game) now that I know the car and it takes a very short time to learn
layout of tracks if you can drive by "feel" and concentrate on the track.

Best regards,
David Mocnay



>I have (tried Alison's Coventry setups), and I did (thank her).

>One other quick thought. Alison writes in her Driving help article, "I never
>feel really comfortable until I've done at least 500 laps at any track".
>That should say it all.

Mark

GPL- Am I the Worst

by Mark » Fri, 27 Nov 1998 04:00:00

Excellent post, MC.  I went thru this with GP2... consistency,
consistency, consistency -- the key to winning races.  Plus the
plateau thing.  Anyone frustrated with GPL, just quit trying to
go fast and just go consistent.  You'll start noticing things...
places to brake a bit later... places to accelerate a bit
sooner... different places to turn in on entry to a corner,
different lines to take other than the 'printed' ones on the
track.  But, if you don't have consistency at slower lap times,
you won't be able to discern the miniscule advantages that add up
to faster lap times.

Given a couple thousand laps at a particular track, you'll be a
mental wreck after completing a long race in the top 3 amongst
good drivers.  In other words, the concentration level is high,
as is the penalty for wool gathering <g>

And, as you said -- a decent controller and a high FPS is a must
to run well.  Memory fades, but it took me about 2-4 months to
get up to winning semi-pro level (vs. the AI) in GP2.... and I
was no stranger to F1/Indycar sims.  For those that don't know
GP2, there are two skill levels above that....

Rgds,
Mark R. (wishing for wings ;-)

On Wed, 25 Nov 1998 15:00:41 GMT, "Michael E. Carver"



>% Thanks everyone for your posts - having read them I'm glad that
>% there are others in a similar position.
>% I'm going to give it a few more weeks practice. Perhaps
>% I'll post some lap times then if things get better, and we can all see
>% whether
>% we've improved or not. Here's hoping.
>% PJ

>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.

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

Eldre

GPL- Am I the Worst

by Eldre » Fri, 27 Nov 1998 04:00:00


That's part of the problem.  Out of ALL the setup info(ICR,ICR2,NCR,N2,GP1 & 2)
I've seen,read,been told, I understand about 15-20% of it.  I guess I'm just
'automotive challenged'. :)  The only time I've made an adjustment that really
worked was in NCR(Bristol).  I changed the crossweight to some outrageous
setting.  The car was a real BEAR to drive for about 7 or 8 laps.  After that,
I was EASILY the fastest thing on the track.  To this day, I do NOT understand
what I did, or why it worked...

Eldred


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