rec.autos.simulators

    Any case, Running at the Glen I was just starting to get the hang of all
the weight of the car and starting to be able to maintain my momentum
through the turns.  Watching the replay of two consecutive and identical
laps I noticed that the first lap I left a mark from my LR through the
ninety.  The very next lap I left a mark starting a bit before and a ended a
bit after the first on the exact same trajectory and left a small mark from
my RR.  In a GPL league at Silverstone I did the same thing for just about
every lap in the last turn with each tire mark being on a slightly different
driving line.  Unfortunately at the most there were four sets of tire marks
every time I came around and some times there weren't any.  Watching the
driver ahead of me doing the same thing I noticed that as his tires left an
inch of mark, there was an inch of old mark disappearing.  Apparently there
is a set amount of memory set aside for these marks and once that point has
been reached, every length of new marks deletes the same amount of old mark.
During those few times there were a lot of these marks that I left I started
to use them as my race line as they looked almost perfect just as if they
weren't really skid marks but more of a darkened race line.  I use the drawn
race line in GPL for brake and acceleration points.  Now that I have a
faster computer system I have started to use some of the off track graphics
for these points, so I'm starting to get used to driving without the drawn
race line turned on.  In N4, I don't see any option to turn that drawn race
line off.  I can only assume that in both GPL and N4 that the memory set
aside for these tire marks is not adjustable.  But then again, I don't know
how papy has this coded or how it works with computer resources.  In any
case, I'd gladly give up some graphics options, starting with the drawn race
line, if it were possible to have these tire marks stay there all race long.

    (a suggestion for papy and/or anyone else).. Failing any possible fix
for this, I'd like to see this implemented in the next racing Sim.  Maybe
something like at the start of the race the drawn race line is there but as
these marks are being put down, once that point of memory allocated for tire
marks is reached, instead of deleting the old tire marks, maybe allow for
deleting the drawn race line first?  or something to that effect.

    btw: these marks I left I don't think they were skid marks as they were
lighter then the skid marks left by other drivers but I may be wrong.  I may
have been skidding and not knowing it.

marks I left I don't think they were skid marks as they were
  Either that or it's raining inside your computer.  :)  N3 has a skid
buffer
memory settings in the options...and I think the buffer can also be adjusted
in
GPL, increase the amount of memory dedicated to holding the skidmarks and
they last longer before being erased.  I haven't dug into N4 since I have
been
turning graphics off rather than on to try and manage the framerate.
dave henrie

I don't recall if there's a similar global setting in N4, but I think you
can toggle the "race line" graphic on and off.  Perhaps you could have the
race line graphic set on and the "skid mark buffer" set to high, then toggle
the race line off once you have the skid marks you want.
</guess>