rec.autos.simulators

Tony

http://www.theuspits.com/owheel/gpl/files/gpl_1.2.0.0.zip

--
Joe Marques

--
Joe Marques

[ To read this file, select Edit/Word Wrap from the menu above ]

                TABLE OF CONTENTS

        1.  GENERAL

        2.  MULTIPLAYER

        3.  CONTACTING SIERRA

1. GENERAL
----------

This patch will upgrade GPL version 1.1.0.3 to version 1.2.0.x.

GPL 1.1.0.3 introduced a bug that could cause the game to run slower
than normal.  This lead to numerous problems, most of which were even
worse when running multiplayer races.  This is now fixed.

The driver selection list on the race weekend screen could contain
blank entries. Also, when selecting a driver from the list, the
program might focus the camera on the wrong car.  This is now fixed.

If you miss the start of the race, you must now join the race within
about two minutes, or the green button is taken away and you will not
be allowed to join.

If you have installed replays from many different players, the
<Player> drop-down list on the Load Replay screen would expand off the
bottom of the screen, instead of turning into a scrollable list of
players.  This is now fixed.

If you had any saved replays from players that did not enter a driver
name, the <Player> dropdown list would default to showing only replays
created by these players, instead of showing replays created by "All
Players."  This is now fixed.

2. MULTIPLAYER
--------------

GPL 1.2.0.x clients and servers will not connect to GPL 1.1.0.3
clients and servers (and vice versa).  If you try to connect, you will
be told that the server is incompatible.

If you disconnected from a race server, and then reconnected to the
server, the server would no longer score laps driven by you during the
practice session.  This is now fixed.

A new chat command has been added.  Any Boss may now tell the server
to stop the current race (if any), disconnect all clients, and exit by
issuing the "!shutdown" command as a chat message.

It was possible, particularly when connected to a fast dedicated race
server, that your pit stall placard and lap time board would be
positioned incorrectly when transitioning from one race to another.
This is now fixed.

You can now issue private chat messages to any one of the players
connected to the server.  Begin your message with "/", followed by the
name of the player (or #car_number), followed by the message.  For
example
 /#16 Hey, John.  What's up?
 /smith What's up?
 /j.smith What's up?
 /jo.smi What's up?
 /john.smith What's up?

 The message will only be sent to the person you identify (or you will
be given an error message if the program couldn't figure out who you
meant).

GPL 1.1.0.3 added a new method by which a client would try to stay in
step with its server.  When latencies were fairly stable, it was
smoother than the original method employed by GPL 1.0.  When latencies
were unstable, however, the game could speed up or slow down rather
excessively, making it very difficult to control the car.  We've
reworked this synchronization method to make it less sensitive to
fluctuations in latency, and to prevent it from applying excessive
adjustments.  It should now be much smoother than the GPL 1.0
synchronization method, even when the latency is very high and very
unstable.  The new synchronization method is used by default.
However, if you had switched to using the old synchronization method
with GPL 1.1.0.3 because the "turbo/slow motion" effect was destroying
game play, please give the new method a try (just remove the
synch_method=0 line from core.ini, or change it to read
synch_method=1).

The Internet can be a harrowing medium through which to race.  Game
play is directly affected by the latency, reliability, and consistency
of the connection between you and the game server, so it's important
that the program give you a good sense of these factors.  GPL 1.2.0.x
now has graphical displays that allow you to monitor the status of
your communications with the server when you are a GPL client.  These
meters can only be displayed while in the car.  They can be toggled
on/off by pressing Alt-M while in the car.  They can be distracting
while driving, so they are turned off by default.  You can request
that they be turned on by default by adding the following two lines to
core.ini

[ Communications ]
show_meters = 1

 The bar graphs are as follows...
vvvvvvvvvvv NOTE TO TRANSLATOR vvvvvvvvvvv
The letters in parenthesis below correspond to the first letter of the
IDS_METER_Latency, IDS_METER_Quality, and IDS_METER_Skew entries from
racetext.rc.  Be sure to use whatever word you've chosen for the
IDS_METER_* label in the description so that the user will make that
association when they play the game.
^^^^^^^^^^^ NOTE TO TRANSLATOR ^^^^^^^^^^^

     (L) Instantaneous latency from 0.0 seconds (the bar is empty) to
1.0 seconds (the bar is full height).  This is the amount of time that
it takes for a message to go from the server, to your client, and back
to the server.  Note that Alt-L shows average latency, not
instantaneous latency.
     (Q) Quality from 100% (the bar is empty) to 0% (the bar is full
height).  The more data that is lost or garbled during transmission
from the server to you, the lower the quality of your connection, and
the higher this bar will go.
     (S) The time skew (difference) between your GPL client and the
server.  If your current time is behind where you expect the server to
be, this bar will be below center.  If it is at the bottom, then you
believe that you are 1.5 seconds (or more) behind the server.  If your
current time is ahead of where you expect the server to be, it will be
above center.  If it is at the top, then you believe that you are 1.5
seconds (or more) ahead of the server.  If the bar reaches the top or
bottom, then your client will resynchronize itself with the server (it
will smash its clock).

    Ideally, no red bars should be visible whatsoever.  That is, you
have 0.0 seconds of latency, 100% of data from the server is getting
to you, and your client believes that it is at the same point in time
as the server.  In practice, this will not happen.

 The (L)atency bar will almost always be visible since it is not
possible for data to get from the server to you instantaneously.  The
higher the latency, the longer it takes for data to get from the
server to your computer, and so the older it is when it gets there.
The older the data is, the more "predicting" your client has to do
about the positions of other cars on the track.  The more that it has
to predict, the more likely that it will predict incorrectly, and the
more the other cars will jump around when it realizes its error.

 It is not uncommon for the (Q)uality bar to be completely empty
(indicating little or no data loss), but it is also not uncommon for a
few percent of the data to be lost or garbled during transmission,
showing as a small (Q)uality bar.  If the bar starts to grow steadily,
then something bad has happened on the route through the Internet
between you and the server (or the server has crashed).  If the route
doesn't clear up quickly, you will soon be disconnected.  If it does
clear up, there will probably be short period of mayhem as the route
settles down, and old data that has been stuck in transit is flushed.

 If the latency is varying a bit, it can be difficult for your client
to determine what point in time the server is currently at, and a
small (S)kew bar is likely to appear.  If the (S)kew bar grows
continuously until it hits the top or bottom, your client will smash
its clock to resynchronize itself to the server.  If it does this,
then either the connection between you and the server is very poor, or
either your machine or the server machine is extremely overloaded, and
your client can no longer stay in step with the server.

3. CONTACTING SIERRA
--------------------

yada, yada...

Andre

On Wed, 29 Sep 1999 21:02:15 -0700, Tony Jester