rec.autos.simulators

Anyone else noticed?
When exiting turn 4 the game slows down A LOT and you can see cars through the
fence(guess thats why the game slows down). It also becomes more difficult to
make the car steer through the corner (exiting). This is actually not the only
place I noticed these odd cars. Sometimes I can also see cars through the
pitlane barrier.
For a moment I thought there was a bug in that horrible corner towards the end
too. I couldnt belive I had to drive so slow (60 km/h). And the car just
wanted to spin off as soon as applied the throttle. I already named it "The
Ice-bug". After lots of practicing it has become a little more drivable
though : )

Ronny

Hi Ronny:

   I thought I was the only one racing at Estoril.  I hardly ever hear
anyone else talk about it.

   I'm getting the transparent effects you describe at several points
of Estoril.  I've seen that at another track, can't remember which.  I
don't notice my P6 slowing down at all.  This is the hardest track I've
done so far.  I started at Germany, which was the next race when F1GP2
came out, so there might be harder ones.

   That "Ice Bug" corner gave me fits to.  I learned it by riding with
the computer driven cars.  I take the right hand approach near flat out,
then *** the binders as I approach that killer left.  Once I'm at a
speed I believe will do, I maintain that speed, I really concentrate on
not attempting to accelerate until I'm out of that left.  As I exit that
turn I add just a tiny bit more gas and hold that throttle until I get
up out of the hole.  I steer to the outside of the turn, so my wheels
are usually on the outside line as the track gets level.  I'm not quite
finished with that right, but when the track gets level I find being on
the outside of the turn gives the next turns, 8 and 9, a bigger diameter
which allows me go go full throttle as I accelerate toward turn 10.

   After getting acquainted with this corner, I feel it is not a bug.
Perhaps we should christen it "Ice ***".

   I suck as a driver.  I drive with the the default setup, no help, and
invulnerable.  T1 steering wheel/pedal.  I'm consistently 10 seconds
slower than the posted best times at other tracks.  So I'm not telling
you how to drive anything, but this is the way I do it.  

                                                                   Larry

|>For a moment I thought there was a bug in that horrible corner towards the end
|>too. I couldnt belive I had to drive so slow (60 km/h). And the car just
|>wanted to spin off as soon as applied the throttle. I already named it "The
|>Ice-bug". After lots of practicing it has become a little more drivable
|>though : )

With lots of practise, it is driveable. After a few inboard cameras
shots from Estoril Sunday, it is exactly like the real one. The seem
to take around 50 Kms with no acceleration at all up to the top. I
like to give it a gentle tap on the accelerator as soon as I am
straight, then leave it again for the bumpy middle section and gently
re-applying gas, short shifting asap to second gear

JFD

Sounds like a job for soft suspension, and perhaps a touch more gentle on
the old throttle.

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Southend, Essex. UK
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Me too.  Seems to be noticeable in tracks with height variations.  No slowdown
noticed.

This corner appears to be modelled just like the real thing.  And don't forget
at 50kph they're getting no downforce at this corner.  Damon Hill calls the
section 'Cadwell Park' in reference to an English track which is just as
squirmy.  I love the way different levels of grip seem to have been modelled
into various parts of the track, which means at this corner the quickest way
through it is to be as wide as possible at the entry, do all your braking in a
straight line into the corner, then carry speed through the first left while
trying to make a straight line of the exit and getting on as much gas as grip
allows.  Amazing how one can lose a second on this corner by getting the
braking point wrong by just a yard.  SO annoying!  The AI for the other cars
is the best ever, but a couple of niggles at Estoril are that the AI cars take
a wider, slower line onto the straight which makes overtaking far too easy,
and at the end of the straight they brake too heavily and carry little speed
into Turn 2.  Most odd.

Oh, I suck too.  But I love F1, and watching the last couple of races have
been so enjoyable because I have a good idea of the kind of problems each
track brings for the drivers.  It's got a little obsessional though:  we have
Eurosport (Euro Satellite channel) which shows ALL the practise, qualifying
and race, ALL live!  Plus they have lots of driver interviews, and it's really
weird to listen to Jacques grumbling about Turn 4 at Estoril and find myself
thinking "Yeah, Jacques, I find just the same problem".  With the new F1
standard camera position on top of the cars featuring heavily, it's eerie that
the game and the real thing seem to move nearer and nearer to each other. I
may have to check myself in for help soon.... I haven't been outdoors for
seven weeks.

I find Estoril in particular very difficult without F7 traction help, so I use
this all the time, along with auto gears (yeah, I know, I'm a wuss!).  I use a
joystick, and I'm trying to justify buying a T2. I run SVGA, automatic, which
gives 17.2 framerate.  (P120, ATI 2mb, 20mb) I think it's a shame that the
'slow-motion' cheat (turning on all graphics options) means that comparing
times is meaningless unless you know the other guy's not cheating.  I like
one-on-one 'Best of Three' quickraces over the modem, so e-mail if you're in
London and run sub 1.26's in races at Estoril!

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