rec.autos.simulators

http://www.racesimcentral.net/

1991-1993 Type C

Fun addon tracks including Fuji and Rouen.

I hate pretty much every mod I've tried for F1C, but this one is very
very nice.

Jason

Steve

It is very nicely done (kudos to the VLM guys), but I just can't get
terribly e***d about it so far.  It's not a criticism of their work, but
just my take on how those super-aero cars are to drive.  That 10,000lbs of
downforce kind of ruins the fun of hurtling around a scary place like Rouen.
Flat through ALL the medium to fast corners with no drama at all.  But that
was in the 905, which has a stupendous level of downforce, so I'll have to
trim the wings back or find a really ***car in there and have another
go... ;-)

Kendt

   I may have been spoilt(Tolkienized spelling) driving the ETCC mod so
much, but I'm spinning all over the place.  If this is 10000 foot pounds
of downforce, they must be from pygmies!  
   I tried the Konrad at LeMans online and couldn't get outta the way of
fast movers quick enough.  Man!!! What a slug.  The trouble with this mod
is two fold...  The big tracks need the lower classes to clog up the
track.  I would assume LeMans would be much more of a challenge if you
are dodging Porche 911's all day.  And second there, are about 2 ***
and 2 super*** cars.  All the rest are field fillers.  I suspect the
majority of online events will be in Evo2's and Toyotas and Mercs with
Diehard Britophiles running the Purple Jags.  Anyone who picks a Braun or
a Lola etc will be way off the pace.  Hmmmm  maybe I can handicap the
races and force the fast guys into the slowest chassis.  

http://www.racesimcentral.net/***ing-brm.jpg

Jason

Jason

Driving around the tracks feels great during "test days", but the 15-20fps
during races kinda spoils the fun. I've gone to 800x600x16bit, low detail
everything, only 9 AI cars running... nothing seems to help :/ ETCC runs
quite smoothly at 30-40fps at higher resolutions and details.

   According to their forum, Group C does take more computing power.  The
reason are the vastly complicated car shapes of Group C.  They are planning
on bringing out different carsets, like the Mid 80's LeMans cars, and those
are very much easier to model.  The 956/962 Porches and such are much more
of a rectangle so the polygon count will be much lower.

OK - you could probably drive (nurburg)rings round me in any given
sim, but I'll give my 2cents on coming to terms with the cars (from a
crappy sim-driver perspective), mainly from running Spa and Suzuka in
the Jag and Pug.  As a reference, I can run 1:48 at Suzuka in the Evo2
with the included setup.
The biggest thing to keep in mind is the huge difference between the
mechanical and aero grip, and how stiff the setups are to deal with
the aero.  I have to be *really* ginger with the accelerator at low
speeds.  For chicanes, esp the bus stop at Spa, you either tiptoe
through on the track, or if you want to ride the curbs you have to
straight-line them, and only touch the wheel/acc when the car has
settled and can take a change in direction.  Curb-riding is really
hard, especially on high speed corners where the upset to the chassis
is so severe.  I take that back - it is actually alot of fun when you
manage to save it - nipping the curbs at Suzuka can be quite exciting
;).
Of course alot of this may be setup-related, but I normally have
limited time to play sims, and way too many to choose from, so that
limits my setup tinkering.

Kendt

Sure look at the greatest and most raced online sim. GPL.  How many people
would race BRM's or Honda's unless they wanted to challenge themselves or
were forced to by a handicapping qualy procedure.  I don't have a problem
with it. It's much better to be accurate than have Ferrari's and Minardi's
at basically the same speed. And once the 962's come onstream there'll be
bucketloads of fast cars.

   One concept I've floated from time to time in the TPTCC leagues was
weight-sucess penalties to try and balance the fields.  MAN did I get
shotdown.
I got very very few positive comments about that.  The fast guys were
adamnant against it.  They were fast and wanted to stay that way.  :)
of course, what they don't realize is that they could take a concrete-
filled blockcar and still circulate around a course faster than some of us.
dave henrie