rec.autos.simulators

by **Soren Sarstru** » Thu, 30 Mar 2000 04:00:00

Hi all,

In my infinite ignorance, Ive had this great idea for racing sims regarding
setups - here goes:

I am a die-hard GPL fan of the worst sort, right down to the level of
starting to buy coffee table books on classic racing, something that
wouldnt have bothered me before GPL. However, I am still (2 years on)
slightly stumped by all the setup options, and I must admit that I just
cant be bothered to fiddle with my own setups - I download them from the
people who actually know what they are doing.

Now, for somebody like me (and I assume Im not the only one) who loves the
racing and the detail of something like GPL, but doesnt want to fiddle
around too much with setups, wouldnt it be great to have sort of a "racing
engineer" function in a game? What I am thinking of, is something like a
wizard, that would allow you to dial in a basic setup by moving sliders (or
something...) that would regulate the cars behaviour. Ive come up with a
few examples:

A slider to regulate whether the setup pre***ly understeers or
oversteers
A facility to dial in the right gearbox settings for track conditions, e.g.
high gearing for Spa, low for Monaco etc.

Theres more, but I cant think of them ATM. Anyway, a sort of friendly
setup interface that would make car setup less intimidating in the
beginning. Of course, all the setting should still be available for further
fine tuning, the facility shoud just be there to get you started.

Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what yall think!

Regards,

Soren Sarstrup
Birmingham UK

by **Olav K. Malm** » Thu, 30 Mar 2000 04:00:00

> Hi all,

> In my infinite ignorance, Ive had this great idea for racing sims regarding
> setups - here goes:

> I am a die-hard GPL fan of the worst sort, right down to the level of
> starting to buy coffee table books on classic racing, something that
> wouldnt have bothered me before GPL. However, I am still (2 years on)
> slightly stumped by all the setup options, and I must admit that I just
> cant be bothered to fiddle with my own setups - I download them from the
> people who actually know what they are doing.

> Now, for somebody like me (and I assume Im not the only one) who loves the
> racing and the detail of something like GPL, but doesnt want to fiddle
> around too much with setups, wouldnt it be great to have sort of a "racing
> engineer" function in a game? What I am thinking of, is something like a
> wizard, that would allow you to dial in a basic setup by moving sliders (or
> something...) that would regulate the cars behaviour. Ive come up with a
> few examples:

> A slider to regulate whether the setup pre***ly understeers or
> oversteers
> A facility to dial in the right gearbox settings for track conditions, e.g.
> high gearing for Spa, low for Monaco etc.

> Theres more, but I cant think of them ATM. Anyway, a sort of friendly
> setup interface that would make car setup less intimidating in the
> beginning. Of course, all the setting should still be available for further
> fine tuning, the facility shoud just be there to get you started.

> Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what yall think!

No, it's not at all ridiculous. CART Precision Racing has a engineer that
asked five questions, and you had five alternatives for each answer.
Depending on your answer the engineer suggested changes and you had to aprove
those changes. I found out that it helped to improve the car too, so even in
it's infacy it worked ok.

How many drivers change their setups anyway, they give feedback. I guess,
although i don't know, that the pro's don't tell their engineer that they
want to stiff the third spring with 1 lbs/inch. :)

I would even strech your idea further. I don't only want a engineer that would
set up the car according to my feedback, but also a team manager that tells
me the strategy. I find it most unrealistic that when I enter the pits I
have to decide what kind of tires to put on and how much fuel. Let some other
guy take car of when to get into the pits and what to put on and in the car.

Is it possible to make a engineer for GPL ? It could be a nice in the next
version of GRE :) It must be able to analyse replays though, so it knows what
to do with the car.

--
Olav K. Malmin
remove spam when replying

by **Ace** » Thu, 30 Mar 2000 04:00:00

maybe another coffee-table book, one on setting up race-cars might be in
order...

>Hi all,

>In my infinite ignorance, Ive had this great idea for racing sims
regarding
>setups - here goes:

>I am a die-hard GPL fan of the worst sort, right down to the level of
>starting to buy coffee table books on classic racing, something that
>wouldnt have bothered me before GPL. However, I am still (2 years on)
>slightly stumped by all the setup options, and I must admit that I just
>cant be bothered to fiddle with my own setups - I download them from the
>people who actually know what they are doing.

>Now, for somebody like me (and I assume Im not the only one) who loves the
>racing and the detail of something like GPL, but doesnt want to fiddle
>around too much with setups, wouldnt it be great to have sort of a "racing
>engineer" function in a game? What I am thinking of, is something like a
>wizard, that would allow you to dial in a basic setup by moving sliders (or
>something...) that would regulate the cars behaviour. Ive come up with a
>few examples:

>A slider to regulate whether the setup pre***ly understeers or
>oversteers
>A facility to dial in the right gearbox settings for track conditions, e.g.
>high gearing for Spa, low for Monaco etc.

>Theres more, but I cant think of them ATM. Anyway, a sort of friendly
>setup interface that would make car setup less intimidating in the
>beginning. Of course, all the setting should still be available for further
>fine tuning, the facility shoud just be there to get you started.

>Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what yall think!

>Regards,

>Soren Sarstrup
>Birmingham UK

by **Steve Pritcha** » Thu, 30 Mar 2000 04:00:00

I must admit, I've been thinking the exact same thing. It would be really
handy to have a race engineer facility.

You would take the existing setup and say that you are getting oversteer
on the exit to corners - the race engineer could make adjustments for you,
or based on the setup you are using, he could advise that you don't just
boot the throttle etc.

It's the sort of things that somebody with an excellent knowledge of
setups could put together as a utility. However, one problem with this is
that, ideally, this should be available within the sim so you don't have
to keep exiting it to change your setup.

The thing that strikes me is that it could improve the popularity of a sim
for the masses, as undriveability is normally a setup issue, but a lot of
people are daunted by the setup options in most sims.

Let's hope somebody is listening.

Cheers,

Steve.

by **David Er** » Thu, 30 Mar 2000 04:00:00

I think "Mo Funn" aka GPL Racing Engineer (GRE) might go a long way to
answering your needs. While its not exactly a wizard in the sense that
Microsofts CART Precision Racings had it is still a big help in making a
workable setup. Particularly useful is the way help is implemented with a
right click over any subject bringing up explainations of the function and
effect of the part involved. It won't do your final setups for you (mostly
becuase it is an external to GPL utility) but it will get you a decent
baseline setup. Available at Alison Hines Eaglewoman site at
http://www.racesimcentral.net/

David

by **James Harmo** » Thu, 30 Mar 2000 04:00:00

Right on Brother

Jcharm

by **Mel Lanzer Co** » Thu, 30 Mar 2000 04:00:00

I'm not alone!
And I thought *everybody* f**ked with the setups except me! Hell, I'm still
using the "Doug" setups for the Eagle I DL'ed from Allison's site a year & a
half ago!

Warlock!

> Hi all,

> In my infinite ignorance, Ive had this great idea for racing sims regarding
> setups - here goes:

> I am a die-hard GPL fan of the worst sort, right down to the level of
> starting to buy coffee table books on classic racing, something that
> wouldnt have bothered me before GPL. However, I am still (2 years on)
> slightly stumped by all the setup options, and I must admit that I just
> cant be bothered to fiddle with my own setups - I download them from the
> people who actually know what they are doing.

> Now, for somebody like me (and I assume Im not the only one) who loves the
> racing and the detail of something like GPL, but doesnt want to fiddle
> around too much with setups, wouldnt it be great to have sort of a "racing
> engineer" function in a game? What I am thinking of, is something like a
> wizard, that would allow you to dial in a basic setup by moving sliders (or
> something...) that would regulate the cars behaviour. Ive come up with a
> few examples:

> A slider to regulate whether the setup pre***ly understeers or
> oversteers
> A facility to dial in the right gearbox settings for track conditions, e.g.
> high gearing for Spa, low for Monaco etc.

> Theres more, but I cant think of them ATM. Anyway, a sort of friendly
> setup interface that would make car setup less intimidating in the
> beginning. Of course, all the setting should still be available for further
> fine tuning, the facility shoud just be there to get you started.

> Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what yall think!

> Regards,

> Soren Sarstrup
> Birmingham UK

by **Don Scurlo** » Thu, 30 Mar 2000 04:00:00

For gpl, the help files in GRE are about as good as anything you'll
find. But I really like the idea of a race engineer in the game. It's
been suggested many times.

--
Don Scurlock
Vancouver,B.C.

by **GTX_SlotCa** » Thu, 30 Mar 2000 04:00:00

There are a lot of setup options in GPL that are interrelated and personal
preference also plays a part in it, so you probably still wouldn't get
quality of setup that the hotlappers give. Still it would be fun. Or Papy
could just send a guy out to do our setups on race day. That would be
realistic ;) Better default setups might also help.
For slot car endurance races, we often had a pit crew to lube the car, clean
the braids, put on tire bite and stuff like that.

Slot

by **Ken Bear** » Thu, 30 Mar 2000 04:00:00

Not ridiculous at all, and actually MORE realistic in many games. Maybe in
GPL and NASCAR Legends, you'd have the driver more active in telling them
exactly what to change on the chassis, but in more modern times the majority
of the drivers are going to give the crew chief info on what the car will
and won't do, and he'll determine the appropriate changes to make - then the
driver can tell him if they're working or not.

Way back when in the Commodore 64 days, there was a sim for it - Ferrari
Formula One. It had very detailed setups for the day, and had a crew chief,
Mauro, that would suggest changes. It also had the test track with the
multiple time traps where you could analyze the performance in various
corners and sections of the track.

I think in many sims this would be a great feature - I think many folks may
run in the "arcade" mode of many games due to not having the setup knowledge
to get the car working well in the sim mode. A "crew chief" function where
you "tell" him the car is understeering and slow on the straights would
prove to make sims much more accessible I'd think.

--
Ken's Sig 3.01

"Who is the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him?" -
Obi-Wan Kenobi

Go #43 and #44!

volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com

by **GTX_SlotCa** » Thu, 30 Mar 2000 04:00:00

I think Mauro is retired now.

Slot ;)

> Not ridiculous at all, and actually MORE realistic in many games. Maybe
in
> GPL and NASCAR Legends, you'd have the driver more active in telling them
> exactly what to change on the chassis, but in more modern times the
majority
> of the drivers are going to give the crew chief info on what the car will
> and won't do, and he'll determine the appropriate changes to make - then
the
> driver can tell him if they're working or not.

> Way back when in the Commodore 64 days, there was a sim for it - Ferrari
> Formula One. It had very detailed setups for the day, and had a crew
chief,
> Mauro, that would suggest changes. It also had the test track with the
> multiple time traps where you could analyze the performance in various
> corners and sections of the track.

> I think in many sims this would be a great feature - I think many folks
may
> run in the "arcade" mode of many games due to not having the setup
knowledge
> to get the car working well in the sim mode. A "crew chief" function
where
> you "tell" him the car is understeering and slow on the straights would
> prove to make sims much more accessible I'd think.

> --
> Ken's Sig 3.01

> "Who is the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him?" -
> Obi-Wan Kenobi

> Go #43 and #44!

> volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com

> > Hi all,

> > In my infinite ignorance, Ive had this great idea for racing sims
> regarding
> > setups - here goes:

> > I am a die-hard GPL fan of the worst sort, right down to the level of
> > starting to buy coffee table books on classic racing, something that
> > wouldnt have bothered me before GPL. However, I am still (2 years on)
> > slightly stumped by all the setup options, and I must admit that I just
> > cant be bothered to fiddle with my own setups - I download them from
the
> > people who actually know what they are doing.

> > Now, for somebody like me (and I assume Im not the only one) who loves
> the
> > racing and the detail of something like GPL, but doesnt want to fiddle
> > around too much with setups, wouldnt it be great to have sort of a
> "racing
> > engineer" function in a game? What I am thinking of, is something like a
> > wizard, that would allow you to dial in a basic setup by moving sliders
> (or
> > something...) that would regulate the cars behaviour. Ive come up with
a
> > few examples:

> > A slider to regulate whether the setup pre***ly understeers or
> > oversteers
> > A facility to dial in the right gearbox settings for track conditions,
> e.g.
> > high gearing for Spa, low for Monaco etc.

> > Theres more, but I cant think of them ATM. Anyway, a sort of friendly
> > setup interface that would make car setup less intimidating in the
> > beginning. Of course, all the setting should still be available for
> further
> > fine tuning, the facility shoud just be there to get you started.

> > Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what yall think!

> > Regards,

> > Soren Sarstrup
> > Birmingham UK

by **Stephen Warrio** » Thu, 30 Mar 2000 04:00:00

I don't think it's a ridiculous idea at all - it's been suggested before.
Some of the initial announcements about GRE led me to believe that it would
do something of the sort so I was a little disappointed when I downloaded it
and found out that it does not. It's still an excellent utility though and
I appreciate the efforts of the Hines'. But, for those who are less
familiar with the intricacies of race set-ups (I number myself in this
group) it offers an even more bewildering number of options, fine controls,
etc. Alison's help file seems to offer some clear advice on each of the
options and I am starting to work my way through the explanations. Who
knows, maybe I'll learn something.

> Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what yall think!

by **Schlom** » Fri, 31 Mar 2000 04:00:00

I would personally love a wizard feature incorperated into the sim. Now
granted I know a descent bit about the setups and have developed quite a few
(mostly for the Eagle and BRM). But still to have a utility I can ask
questions of when I get stumped would be a godsend. I tend to get tripped up
with the bump/rebound settings...I often dont know which way to go with them
(then proceed to get fed up and tell myself its just I cant drive and keep
trying with the [maybe] faulty setup) Besides...driving is the fun part
anyways...so what if im driving the car like Steve Kinser :-)

Ahh the famous slotcar enduros :) I remember running one a year or so ago
where all that was left of the body was the center section where it mounted to
the chassis...the rest had been crashed off (it was afterall a 12 hour race we
ran in conjunction with Sebring).

Chris

by **Michael Greatri** » Sun, 09 Apr 2000 04:00:00

At one time I had Brands Hatch installed, but have since re-installed GPL. Now during the install of either Brands or
Dubai, it fails midway thru. (brands.exe error) Does anybody know how to fix this? Its not the file, I downloaded it
again to make sure. I originally had installed it using the nocd version of GPL, but it does the same when using the cd
version. I can't find anything in the registry that might correspond to GPL.

rec.autos.simulators

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)