rec.autos.simulators

Hello all and thanks for reading.   I have a problem with my GPL set
up that is really preventing me from making any progress at improving
my lap times.  First off, I am using a PowerSpec 400 mhz Celeron with
a Banshee Voodoo II (16megs).   For a controller, I like one that is
called the UltraRacer.  Its a hand held controller with a dial for
steering and a trigger for throttle and braking.  

my problem is this.  After only 10 minutes of playing, the game
develops what i call "driver shakes".  That is, even if I bring the
car to a complete stop, the drivers hands (and the front tires too as
a result) shake back and forth at a high rate of speed.  Needless to
say, this makes steering incredibly difficult.  Impossible is more
likely.  

I dont know how to troubleshoot PC's very well.  The only thing I did
is bring the car to a stop, observe the driver shake, and then unplug
the controller.  With the controller unplugged, the hands stop shaking
and everything is great.  Plug the controller back in and all the
shaking starts.

Is this controller fried?  Its only a month old so I have a hard time
believing that.  Of course, its only $20 so it is rather cheap.  Can
anyone offer any help?  I dont even play anymore because it is so hard
to steer.  GPL is hard enough when everything is working right!

Can anyone recommend a similar type of controller?  I just dont have
the space for a wheel.

Thanks fellow racers!

tom

You dont want to use a trigger for throttle and breaking, you need
to use something with more precision such as a wheel and peddles or at
least a joystick.

I have the same computer and setup you do, the  PowerSpec 400 mhz
Celeron with a Banshee Voodoo II (16megs) (mines AGP) allthough I
havent had any experience with the Ultraracer your using. I use a
Logitech Formula Force wheel and have  no problems like your talking
about. My guess is that your problem lies in your controller and not
in your system. Allthough you might want to go to contoller settings
in GPL and adjust the linear settings slide bar back and forth and
possibly that could fix your problem. To be abouslutely sure that the
problem lies in your controller you might want to try it with another
game but if I was a betting man my money would say the problem lies in
your controller.

As far as saving space goes my bet would be for you to go with a
joystick. Before I bought my wheel I was using one without any
problems. I wouldnt go out and by the cheapest one though, play with
them at the computer store and see wich one has the best feel. I had
a CH flightstick but I dont know if they make them any more. You can
set it up where to accelerate you move your joystick forward and
backward to break, left and right to steer. I'm still having a hard
time beating  old lap times using my wheel!

Good Luck........Jim

A couple more things I forgot to mention........ Your gonna want to
put a fan inside your case if you aint done it allready. I had a bunch
of overheating problems with the CL Banshee when I first installed it
and the fan cured them . The PowerSpec only has one tiny little fan
inside the case and it doesnt create much airflow.  Also your gonna
want to upgrade your Banshee's BIOS and drivers to the newest ones
(you can get em at the CL website) that also solved a lot of problems
for me.

Take Care.....Jim

If you re-calibrate and things get steady for awhile before they start
shaking again, it sounds as if your gamecard is suffering from heat
enduced drifting.  See if you can move the card to a different slot with
more space around it for air flow.  It may just be that you have a
flakey soundcard/gamecard.

If the problem does not clear up after re-calibrating (once the shakes
begin), then it does sound like a flakey controller.

% Hello all and thanks for reading.   I have a problem with my GPL set
% up that is really preventing me from making any progress at improving
% my lap times.  First off, I am using a PowerSpec 400 mhz Celeron with
% a Banshee Voodoo II (16megs).   For a controller, I like one that is
% called the UltraRacer.  Its a hand held controller with a dial for
% steering and a trigger for throttle and braking.  

% my problem is this.  After only 10 minutes of playing, the game
% develops what i call "driver shakes".  That is, even if I bring the
% car to a complete stop, the drivers hands (and the front tires too as
% a result) shake back and forth at a high rate of speed.  Needless to
% say, this makes steering incredibly difficult.  Impossible is more
% likely.  

% I dont know how to troubleshoot PC's very well.  The only thing I did
% is bring the car to a stop, observe the driver shake, and then unplug
% the controller.  With the controller unplugged, the hands stop shaking
% and everything is great.  Plug the controller back in and all the
% shaking starts.

% Is this controller fried?  Its only a month old so I have a hard time
% believing that.  Of course, its only $20 so it is rather cheap.  Can
% anyone offer any help?  I dont even play anymore because it is so hard
% to steer.  GPL is hard enough when everything is working right!

% Can anyone recommend a similar type of controller?  I just dont have
% the space for a wheel.

% Thanks fellow racers!

% tom

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

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

thanks for the advice Jim.  What kind of overheating problems did you
have with this system?  What were the symptoms?  So far, I have not
had any problems other than the one i described.

tom

   Well actually I only had one overheating problem and it threw me
for a loop until I fianally figured it out. When I first installed my
card whenever I did a warm re-boot (restarted the computer after it
was running for a while) it would lock up on the Windows 98 startup
screen. As long as I let it cool down for a while after I shut it off
(5+ minutes) it would start up with no problems at all. I could let
the computer run all day and night, play all the 3dfx games I wanted
and it worked great but come time to do a warm re-boot and it would
always lock up on me. After I installed a fan inside the case the
problem was solved.
    The other problem I had was that the mouse cursor would get screwy
when I clinked on a link in Internet Explorer. My mouse cursor would
also go nuts when I launched Adobe Photoshop. After I installed the
lastest drivers and BIOS from Creative I never had no more mouse
problems.

Jim