something that only pasty-faced kids practised , hiding away in their
bedrooms for hours on end , going without food or exercise . Their only
contact with other kids being via an online game. That was until I got
knocked down by a car last year .
Normally I'm a bit of a keep fit fanatic , training a few times a week and
I've been a keen cyclist for the past 15 years , having done some racing in
the past . After the accident though I couldn't bend my knees much so I
couldn't exercise for half a year which led to a lot of frustration . I
needed something to pass the time while I was stuck in the house .
So lo and behold , I was in PC World one day when I noticed the selection of
racing games . I've had an interest in cars ever since I was a little kid .
So I thought , just up my street , and what's this , it needs a 3D card ,
I'll take one of those Voodoo2 cards on sale over there . So that's how it
all started , with a copy of Colin McRae Rally .
A few months passed and I bought a few more racing games ,GP2 , TOCA2 ,
SCGT , I've got a drawer full of the things . Then came the turning point in
December when I learned about this NG . I'll never forget the first night I
tuned in and read all the posts raving about how wonderful GPL was and how
it had such a huge following on the net with masses of downloads available .
I'd found what I was looking for . I bought it the next day .
My first few runs in the F3 at the Glen left me amazed . Doesn't seem very
fast and how do you get this thing to turn? Gradually I got into it and
decided to give the GP cars a try . So I loaded the Ferrari . I thought , oh
great , 5 gears , I started off using an old analogue joystick , gave it
some throttle and the front of the car seemed to want to run away from me .
I remember the first few runs up the straight after Eau Rouge at Spa with
the V12 screaming away like the real thing . Wonderful . I then realised I
was going to need a FF wheel to get the most out of the game so I bought a
MSFF at a hundred quid . HUNDRED QUID , how many of us would even consider
spending that much for our real cars .
Well over the past few months I've played around with game , trying to
perfect the art of keeping the cars on the track while trying to keep the
speed reasonable but I'll admit that I've found it frustrating many a time ,
swearing at the computer as if it was its fault . I've dabbled with GP2
again recently downloading many tracks including my local track seven miles
away but it feels so arcade , so un-involving compared to GPL . It's a
tribute to the quality of the game and Papy's daring in being so
uncomprising that we RAS'ers still rave about the game when it's two years
old . you certainly wouldn't do that about two year old hardware .
In the past few weeks I've become more and more immersed in GPL . With the
advent of GPLRank it's well and truly sunk its claws into me . I'm the wrong
side of thirty and should know better but I can't help myself at the moment
. Sad but true . I haven't posted to GPLRank yet since my times aren't good
enough for public consumption at some tracks but I've enjoyed reading all
the stories from JP Hovercraft and the demon Eldred , complaining about how
slow they are . Don't worry JP you're getting there and as for you Eldred ,
you're starting to get TOO ***Y FAST FOR MY LIKING . I was tired last
night after visiting the gym after work but was determined to have a bash at
the ring . I wasn't driving very well but managed a 9:40 despite spinning
3or 4 times including forays on the grass . I noticed tonight that you've
done a 9:32 . I suppose you think that's funny do you ?
Just to prove how ***ive the sim is , it's been very busy in work this
week , I supervise the work of others but throughout yesterday and today ,
I kept running through the corners of the Ring in my mind and thinking about
setups I could try for the Eagle , my favourite car at the moment. We all
need an escape from work but this week I've been finding IN WORK . I'll have
to stop . The sim's even giving me a lame excuse to stay off the bike when I
really should be training.
Oh well , I've got to go now , I haven't done any driving yet tonight . Been
too busy reading the NGs and typing posts. If you see someone on the grass
at the Ring it'll be me stopping for a picnic. If you see Eldred then ram
the bastard before he sets another PB.
Andrew