about time to share my experiences. (By the way, GPL is
my first racing sim, if you discount a little while spent
with GP2, and Pit Stop on the C64)
Just like everybody else I spent my first few days crashing,
spinning, and crashing again. This was not helped by the fact
that I was using a joystick and running a Riva 128 under the
beta openGL drivers. Monza, stock Eagle. Which leads us to our
first lesson - buy a wheel (or pedals to go with the joystick,
but a wheel is more fun for me.) I got a Thrustmaster GP1 -
$20.00 at Electronics Boutique. Bring it home, plug it in -
boom - 2 seconds a lap improvement. So I platued (sp?) at
something pathetic like 1:37:xx, always overcorrecting and
weaving back and forth across the track.
Lesson number 2: crank up that frame rate. needless to say
the Riva on a PII 266 wasn't up to the task of GPL - and
was just plain ugly besides. So I ordered a Voodoo2 from
***ian Outpost, whom I highly recommend. $160 for a 12MB
Creative (-$50 rebate at the time) and free shipping the
month of November. Ordered the card Friday, it showed up
Saturday. Let me tell you, I was psyched. Whoa what a difference!
I've been set at 800 x 600, most details on for training, 640 X
480, medium details for a race with a full field. Except at the
start frame rates are pretty steady at 36. (sometimes a car
in the mirrors will slow it down to 30. Haven't tried much Monaco,
though.) I'ld love to try a Rendition v2200. Keep your frame rates
high, it'll prevent much frustration! Crank the graphics back up
for replays.
Anyways, back to driving. I've probably run around 300 laps. Maybe
400. My best time so far is 1:33:09 in the stock Eagle at Monza,
and I know I can squeeze some more out of the first Lesmo. (my
times have been getting better every night) Does
anyone have a list of best times in the stock setups? I've found
that turning in a little early, sometimes with a throttle lift,
helps keep me on the racing line. Read the guide that comes with the
game to get an idea of how to drive each circuit. Watch replays of
yourself. As far as racing is concerned,
if you can keep decent fps with a full field, there's no reason
to tinker with the AI settings. A 1:35:00 or so will put you near
the back, but not all the way, and you'll be able to fight a few
battles in your first races. So what if you don't finish in the
top six? How many drivers scored points in F1 this year?
anyways, I hope this was useful to somebody.