rec.autos.simulators

I drove it quite a bit last night on the Mills sprint track, but never
really got comfortable with it.  The cars invariably go from a entry
push to snap oversteer.  I can dial out the apex/exit oversteer easily
enough, but that leaves a car that won't go through the corner any
faster than a Chevette.  The car won't change direction unless it's
almost at a stand still.

I was really jazzed when I first loaded the mod and saw the cars, but
left without much enjoyment.  Has anyone found a more comfortable setup
for these cars?

Pat Dotson

Pat, are you running the latest version of the mod? The physics changed
quite a bit in the later releases. Just an idea.

Cheers, uwe

--
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One thing that occured to me was that maybe these cars have traction
control as a standard feature.  That would explain why they are such a
handful.  I haven't tried driving it with traction control on yet
because I never use any driving aids.  In fact, I'm not sure I even
want to try it with TC enabled.  It might just be time to move on.

Pat Dotson

I'll stick to LFS, where i can just race.

--
David G Fisher

This is how I fixed the handling problem, I switched to the proton mod!
Handles great now!

| No. I will tell you why. Today I will download this mod, and install it,
| and attempt to play. I will connect to a list of servers, and find about
| 5 running this mod. I attempt to connect to each and get an error
| message each time. I must not have the correct track. I take a piece of
| paper and write down each track that each server is running. I then exit
| Rfactor and download these 5 tracks. I then go back to Rfactor. Two of
| the servers have switched tracks, I am down to 3. The first one has
| installed this mornings update of the track (which was not yet on the
| website) so I cant run that. The second server is empty. I connect to
| the third server and it switches to a track I do not have. Tomorrow
| morning I wake up bright and early, and download every single track. I
| attempt to connect to a server, and it wont work because they have
| updated the mod to version 1.11 to correct an inverted Marlboro texture
| on the #11 car.
|
| I'll stick to LFS, where i can just race.
|

I'll admit, it is sometimes difficult to get things straight when trying to
join a server with rFactor.  Typically, I don't have much of a problem.  But
there are a lot of versions of this and that, which makes things difficult.
Once a uniform patch is released, the situation should improve.  Moders are
quite content with releasing something that was not fully tested, and then
within an hour or two coming out with some new version.

Still, I can join a server very easily.  rFactor offers so much variety over
LFS that I tend to race rFactor online more than I do LFS.  You might try
joining the R.A.C.E.R. club, mentioned here a bit earlier.  All the needed
files are available at the club site and all club members stick to the
available downloads, which makes it easier to join one of their servers.
They usually have three or four servers up regularly.

Alanb

   I just saw there is a v1.2 with setups available.   I don't know any of
the details...just another version of the physics...
dave h

   This is getting to be a bad habit.  I just stumbled on the details of
version 1.2

 this is a cut and paste from the rfactor torrent site:

-------------

Description     Due to the work on the graphics component of the 1.2 update
taking longer than expected, and that a few things needed adjusting in
the physics, I am releasing the physics update 1.2 as an interim "patch".
Braintez has been delayed by real life stuff, and there is several
important updates in the new physics that many have been waiting for, and
a couple that are important to human drivers as well as those that are
for the AI.
A recent discovery is that the car numbers as defined in the VEH files,
are alphanumeric, not numeric. They were in the form "MCF1_01" rather
than just "1" or "01". This has caused the xml files exported from online
races, to be incomplete or incorrect by not containing those cars in the
race stats. Addon cars with proper numbers did show up, however. At least
one league running the McLarens found this problem. This problem, and the
lack of heating of the rear brakes, (causing front lockup or poor
braking), combined with the delay in the work to improve frame rates,
made it urgent enough to release this now, rather than wait for the full
1.2 update.
The following is from the 1.2 readme:

Physics Update v 1.2 May 24 2006 by Dave Purdy
This is an interim update/patch for the McLaren mod for rFactor. It
presumes you have version 1.1 already. Only the newly updated files are
included.
Fixes and updates in this version:
1. Rear brake heating / cooling adjusted so the rear brake temps are
similar to the front brakes for any brake duct setting used.
2. AI tire grip parameters adjusted to allow the AI to be competitive for
an entire fuel run.
3. Many setups provided for the AI, which can also be used at least as
starting points for human drivers.
4. Sound programming adjusted for improved sounds, for now. Some new
recordings may be included with the full update.
5. Tire wear factors for the soft, medium and hard compounds brought
closer together, so the tire compounds can be used according to the
different heating effects that different tracks produce. The soft tires
will provide better results, when temperatures are too low with medium
tires. Qualifying tires remain solely for qualifying. I wanted those to
go at least a second faster, but only for one or two laps
6. Small adjustments to various things to improve the ranges of engine
brake mapping, engine cooling, as well as brake duct cooling to make
things work better.
7. Addition of three levels of "power steering" in the upgrade options,
so you can pick the level without changing your base control settings
from this mod to others, (hopefully).
8. The car numbers in the veh files have been updated to just 01 and not
MCF1_01, (for example). This was causing a problem with xml results
files.
9. Overall base downforce reduced very slightly, but the rear wing opened
to 12 to account for some tracks. Existing setups may be slightly looser,
as the car steers and turns better, with a suspension geometry
improvement.
Graphics updates will come with the final full 1.2 update. So frame rate
improvements aren't ready yet. (A 7800 will cure it too, heh.
Since the rFm file is remaining the same for now, no new "official"
version number will be displayed online. I would ask servers updating to
this physics update, should indicate "1.2" in the server name for now, so
people will know which servers are updated.
I am not sure at the moment what the time frame is on the rest of the
update. Sorry for the delay.
Unzip this file to your \rFactor folder. There is a \GameData folder only
in there, with the usual \GameData\Vehicles\McLaren-F1 subfolders. All of
the team folders are included, but with only the veh files in them, as
the car numbers have been updated.
NOTE: that this patch is to update version 1.1, and will NOT work
correctly as an update to 1.0, since the MAS files are not included. If
you still have 1.0, please update to 1.1 first, then apply this patch.
I guess this will be sort of a public beta test of the update since any
issues that may be found, (if any), can be addressed when the full 1.2
arrives.

Dave Purdy

Update 1.21: a veh error in update 1.2 was corrected.

It's a bit of a dilemma that has been with rF from day one, so I agree
to a point with rex when he says that he can "just race in LFS".

It's more work to keep up with rF, so much is true, but it also means
that we get better mods and tracks all the time; looks like a bit of a
"cup half full / half empty" situation.

Cheers, uwe

--
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--
"Don't pee an my leg then tell me it's raining"

--
David G Fisher

For your snap oversteer problem, I recommend trying the following:
- try decreasing your rear anti-sway
- try decreasing your rear spring stiffness
- try increasing your wing
- lastly (I would try this last) try decreasing your rear tire pressure

One or some combo of these should give you the results you like. If all
else fails, well you could try just slowing down on the curves.  {:0)