rec.autos.simulators

This is a work in progress, which will likely expand over time.

This is the general GPL FAQ. For questions about hardware, controllers,
and operating systems, see my GPL Hardware FAQ. For more information
about racing over the Internet, see my GPL Online FAQ. For information
contributed by readers of this site, see my GPL Reader FAQ.

1.1 What difficulty levels are available in GPL?

A variety of difficulty levels are available. Difficulty levels range
from Novice through Intermediate and Pro to Grand Prix. AI strength,
race length, and car damage models all vary depending on the diffculty
level.

Race lengths vary from very short at the Novice level to full-length
Grands Prix, and at the higher levels, the AI are very, very tough. If
you win a Grand Prix, you are really a good driver, and maybe Ron Dennis
would like to talk to you!

1.2 Are the difficulty levels the same in multiplayer races?

Essentially, yes. In multiplayer races, the host can choose the length
of the practice session, while this is fixed in single-player races. In
single-player races, however, an option called "Accelerated Time" allows
fast-forwarding to the end of a session.

All of the length and difficulty factors apply equally to single-player
and multiplayer races, and multiplayer races can include up to 20
players and/or AI cars. I've seen as many as 18 cars in one race on
Papyrus' LAN, but please note that bandwidth constraints limit
Internet-based multiplayer races to only a few cars.

Note: For more information about racing over the Internet, see my GPL
Online FAQ.

2.1 Are pit stops possible during a race?

In only a limited way. If you commit certain infractions, such as
jumping the start or shortcutting a corner, you will be black flagged
and required to stop in your pit stall and serve a time penalty.

You will not be able to change tires, add fuel, or effect repairs during
a race, except by use of Shift-R.

2.2 In an online race, I jumped the start by mistake. I got the black
flag on the next lap and came in to the pits to serve the penalty. When
I pulled into my stall, it had a black rectangle above it with my name
in gold letters and the infraction below my name. As soon as I stopped,
the infraction disappeared, but the rectangle remained with my name on
it. A short time after that I was booted back to the Weekend screen with
a DQ for the race result. What happened?

I had the same thing happen to me in the Nurburging Papy Cup race. What
I did wrong, and what you apparently did wrong too, was go too far
before stopping in the pit, to a point slightly past the area that GPL
considered my pit stall. Since I wasn't in the stall, GPL thought I was
just sitting still on the track, and eventually pulled me out.

The solution is this: if the description of the infraction on the black
pit board in your stall goes away when you come to a stop, then back up
a little until the infraction description reappears. Then wait till the
pit board goes away, and go.

3.1 Can I damage my car in a race?

Yes. In general, the damage model is quite comprehensive and quite
realistic, in my opinion. In many ways it goes far beyond other sims. I
haven't seen the recent demo but the damage model in the final release
is far more sophisticated than the one in the original demo.

The damage model is more severe - and more realistic - in Pro and Grand
Prix races, while the cars are much more robust and less easily damaged
in the lower levels.

3.2 Which crashes and failures will not take the driver out?

It's possible to hit something without causing noticeable damage,
assuming you don't clout it really hard. Doing this, however, will
increase the probability that another relatively light hit will cause
damage.

Some damage is terminal; you can rip a wheel off, or blow the engine.
However, other damage is disabling but not terminal; the engine may lose
power and start running roughly, for example, or the steering may start
pulling to one side, or the suspension may collapse and cause the wheels
to go to full negative camber.

3.3 Will shifting clutchless and without lifting lead to engine damage?

You don't need to clutch; the game has a semi-automatic clutch which
disengages automatically when you shift.

However, the engine can be damaged by over-revving. You can and probably
will damage the engine if you speed shift; you must lift out of the
throttle a little just after you touch the shifter switch, so that the
engine does not zing to redline. Once the next gear engages, you can
floor the throttle again. You don't need to use the clutch, which is
really only for starts.

I found this a bit of an adjustment at first, but once I had done it for
a few days, it became automatic and I no longer think about it.

You can also damage the engine if you hold it on the rev limiter for a
while, or if you zing it past redline by downshifting too early in the
braking zones.

The damage is cumulative and there is a randomizing factor. For example,
you may not damage the engine with one early downshift, but if you do it
repeatedly, eventually the engine will lose power or blow up. Similarly,
if you gear your car so that it reaches redline a second or two before
the end of the straight, you may well make it through qualifiying, but
are likely to lose the engine before the end of a race.

Also, some engines are more fragile than others. See the cars section
for more info.

I am delighted these engine damage features are there, because it's
another aspect of realism; you have to take care of your engine if you
want to do well in the race.

3.4 Will your car explode/quit working/be affected by fire in the game?

The car won't explode but will certainly burn. I believe fire is usually
associated with damage to the rear of the car, and it consumes fuel as
it burns. This implies it would burn out eventually, but I've never
waited that long to find out.

3.5 Can you "go swimming" at Monaco or go flying into spectator areas?

You can't go swimming at Monaco, and I believe most of the spectator
areas are inaccessible also. If you do happen to touch a person such as
a course worker, nothing happens. You can easily damage your car by
hitting things like fences, Armco barriers, and hay bales, however.

3.6 Can the AI cars get damaged? Can this damage be repaired?

I believe the AI cars suffer from the same damage constraints as the
human players; loosely speaking, at levels where you can repair your
car, the AI can too.

Papyrus AI engineer Mike Malone comments:

"The AI only gets to repair damage in Practice sessions. In those cases,
pretty much ANY damage can be repaired after a fixed amount of time
after having returned to the pits or being "towed" (i.e., popped off the
track). In other words, there is no modeling for how much time it takes
to repair different kinds of damage--maybe they have spare cars or maybe
it just isn't very realistic--I dunno.

"In Race sessions, a damaged AI car will either choose to continue
racing, or it will just sit as far off the track as it can get (given
its feeble powers and tiny brain), or it will try to limp back to the
pits (on certain tracks only). But if it is disabled or makes it back to
the pits it will be removed from the track and will never return."

4.1 I read in your report that drivers crashed and were able to come
back after the car was repaired. Did they use Shift-R?

Yes. In Novice and Intermediate-level races, Shift-R is available during
both practice and race sessions. In Pro level races, Shift-R is
available during practice sessions, but not during the race. In Grands
Prix, Shift-R is not available. Blow your engine, or damage your
suspension, and your race is over.

4.2 Doesn't Shift-R let wild drivers off too easily if they take someone
out?

There is a penalty associated with the use of Shift-R. When you hit
Shift-R, your car is righted (if it was rolled over) and all damage is
repaired. However, brand new (cold) tires are fitted, and the tank is
refilled with fuel to the level at which you started the session. So for
a while after you hit Shift-R, you'll be slow; it takes a lap or two
(except at the Ring and Spa) for the tires to come up to temperature and
start generating optimum grip. And if you're 25 laps into a 30 lap race,
you're going to have 30 laps' worth of fuel on board again too, so
forget about trying to set fastest lap!

Also, when you have stopped and are ready to hit Shift-R (it won't work
while you are moving), if there is a car approaching the location where
you are, Shift-R will be disabled until that car passes. So, for
example, if you qualify on the front row of the grid and make a demon
start, but go off in Turn One and rip off a couple of wheels, you'll
probably have to wait until the entire field goes by before you can hit
Shift-R and get going again.

After this happens a couple of times, you start getting a lot more
careful!

4.3 Do you feel that Shift-R should be available or unavailable in
races?

I feel it's great that there are modes where Shift-R is available, and
modes where it isn't. I feel that that it's important in multiplayer
races to have disincentives to discourage irresponsible driving.

However, don't underestimate the challenge involved in finishing a race
in GPL with realistic damage and no Shift-R. Papyrus has run a number of
multiplayer races at the Pro level, where Shift-R is disabled and the
damage model is at the realistic level. In a sizeable percentage of
these races, nobody finishes.

5.1 How does the driving model relate to the Papyrus sims? Easier,
harder? Is it easier to drive faster with it being more realistic?

This is a tough question. There is no question that GPL's driving model
is far, far more realistic than that of any other sim I've seen, from
Papyrus or otherwise.

Whether it's easier or not is extremely subjective, and depends on which
car you choose to drive in GPL. Most people want to jump right into a GP
car, but I think this is a big mistake; after a few hours of constant
crashes, things can get pretty frustrating.

5.2 So how can I learn how to drive these cars in GPL without getting
frustrated?

The thing to do is to start at the bottom, just as real race drivers do,
and hone your craft before you step into the ultimate challenge.

The Basic Trainers are essentially identical to the GP cars but have
only perhaps a third of the horsepower. These are relative pussycats to
drive, and I think most people will be able to handle them with a little
practice.

The Advanced Trainers have about 200 hp, and are more difficult to drive
but still manageable for most experienced sim drivers, and I think
almost anyone with a reasonable amount of determination will be able to
learn how to drive them quite well.

The GP cars are monsters. If you have driven the demo, you have some
idea of what they are like. They are difficult not because of any
artifacts of GPL's physics model, but because 1967 Grand Prix cars were
inherently quite difficult to drive. The Grand Prix cars in GPL are
difficult to drive because they model the real Grand Prix cars so
authentically.

I strongly recommend that you start with the trainers, and don't move up
to a Grand Prix car until you can lap quickly and consistently in the
Advanced Trainer. This will make the GP cars much more enjoyable.

And then, don't jump right into the Lotus! I recommend you try the
Coventry GP car first, and get good with that, before you try the more
powerful cars.

5.3 Why can't I race against the AI while driving a Trainer?

Actually, you can. You have to change one small item in your player.ini
file. I recommend you create a new player just for racing in each of the
Trainers. For example, I have three drivers: Alison Hine (for the GP
car), Ali-F2 Hine (for the Advanced Trainer), and Ali-F3 (for the Basic
Trainer).

Once you've created the extra player or two, open the GPL players folder
(by default, C:\SIERRA\gpl\players) and then open the folder for one of
the training players. For example, I would open
C:\SIERRA\gpl\players\Hine__Ali-F2. Now, using a text editor, edit the
file called player.ini.

Look for a parameter called driverRating. It's in the [ Personal
Information ] stanza. Change the value of driverRating to 2 for the
Advanced Trainer, or 1 for the Basic Trainer.

Now, when you race as one of these new drivers, the AI will go slower.

5.4 Why do I need to create a new driver for racing with a Trainer?

One reason is for convenience, so you don't have to keep going in with a
text editor and changing the driverRating parameter.

But there's another reason. As you race, GPL keeps a database of your
best laps in a file called player.sts, in your driver folder. As you go
more quickly, a mechanism called the Global Hype system makes the AI go
faster too, to keep you challenged. However, if you set some quick times
in a GP car, and then switch to one of the trainers, you may find that
the AI will be going too fast for you to keep up with. Using different
drivers for each type of car eliminates this problem, because each
driver has its own database of quick times.

Incidentally, there's no harm in deleting your player.sts file, although
the AI may start running more slowly for a while if you do this after
you've set some quick times.

You can also over-ride the data in the database by setting a parameter
called npt_override. For details about this parameter, see the section
called "Controlling AI for league play" in the readme.txt file in your
GPL folder.

You can download some files I've modified which cause the fastest AI
drivers to be more responsive to the times recorded in this database, or
to give the field of AI cars a wider spread, which is useful if you are
running fewer than 19 AI cars.

For more information about the Global Hype system, see the AI section of
this FAQ.

5.5 What is it like trying to pass? In the demo I need every inch of
track to make a decent laptime. It's hard to imagine going offline to
make a pass.

It's very difficult at some tracks to pass, while others have reasonable
passing zones. Monza, for example, has several places where you can dive
under another car, and the draft can give you a higher top speed and
help you close on the other car before the braking zone. It's still very
tricky; you have to be right on the other car's tail at the braking zone
and get your braking just right. It's all too easy to get too close and
tap the other car before you pop out for the overtaking attempt, and if
you brake a hair too late, you're going to spin or go off the outside.

At the other end of the spectrum is Monaco, where overtaking a car of
almost equal speed is all but impossible. You really have to wait for
the other driver to make a mistake, and hope not to get caught up in it.
Of course, at Monaco, mistakes are fairly likely!

I believe the secrets to passing are practice and patience. Patience is
essential; it's oh, so easy to dive into what looks like an opening,
only to find the door shut and yourself going backwards through the
grass. You have to learn to recognize a real opening, versus something
that only looks like, or you wish was, an opening.

I am practicing for the Papy Cup by racing against the AI, and also
against other beta team members when possible. This helps me learn where
other cars are likely to be slower than I am, and where I might try
overtaking them. It also shows me where not to try to pass!

6.1 Why are Grand Prix cars so hard to drive?

Think about it: 400 horsepower, 1100 pounds, no downforce, and very hard
tires. This adds up to a car that is extremely challenging.

6.2 Are some of the GP cars easier to drive and/or faster than others?

Once you acquire the skills to be able to drive the GP cars, you'll find
that they all have quite different personalities.

The Lotus 49, for example, was the defining car of the era and perhaps
the most famous GP car of all time. This is the car everyone seems to
want to hop into and drive, but I think that for most people this is a
mistake which may lead to some considerable frustration.

The Lotus turns out to be very quick but is probably the most difficult
car to drive in GPL. It is nimble, with excellent grip and traction, but
a peaky torque curve makes it a challenge to handle under acceleration,
and coping with the enormous power is what driving these cars is all
about.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Coventry is a relative pussycat,
with less horsepower, a user-friendly torque curve, and sweet and
forgiving handling.

Although hotlappers will likely gravitate to the Eagle and the Lotus,
the choice of which car to drive in races is not clear cut. The Eagle
and the Lotus are probably the fastest cars, but they are also the most
fragile. They require more care when changing gears to avoid engine
failures, and you have to be very careful not to thump too many walls or
curbs with these cars.

Also, the fastest cars are not necesssarily the easiest car to drive,
and a car that is slightly slower over a single lap may turn out to be
quicker over a race distance.

6.3 So which Grand Prix car should I try first?

The Coventry is the car I'd recommend most people drive first when
moving up from the Advanced Trainer. It's not really competitive against
the faster cars, but it's easier to handle and will help you learn to
adapt to driving car with so much power and so little grip.

In your early races, you are likely to get better results with the
Coventry than with one of the front-line cars.

6.4 What about the other cars?

The other cars are fascinating, once you acquire the skill to handle
them well.

The Eagle has a long wheelbase, plenty of power, and a slippery shape.
It is the fastest car in a straight line, and very stable in fast
corners. On the down side, it is a little more reluctant than the
smaller cars to change direction, making it a bit cumbersome on the
twisty circuits. I believe it has a slight edge over the Lotus on the
faster tracks like Monza, and is very effective at Silverstone. The
Eagle is my personal favorite.

The Ferrari, with its short wheelbase and broad power band, is nimble
and tossable, a true delight. It is slightly down on horsepower compared
with the Eagle and Lotus, but its handling more than makes up for this
on all but the very high speed tracks. For everyone but the most skilled
drivers, I believe this is the best all around car under racing
conditions.

The Brabham is small and nimble, with a very broad torque band, and I
believe it is a force to be reckoned with on twistier circuits. The
engineer who developed GPL's physics engine, Dave Kaemmer, has done some
stunning times with it at Spa, showing that it has potential at faster
circuits as well.

The Murasama and BRM, like the Coventry, are not really competitive with
the Fast Four, but each has its own personality and each is fascinating
to drive. The Murasama is particularly good at trail braking, and its
excellent power makes it fairly quick at Monza and Spa despite its heft.

The BRM simply lacks the power to be competitive, especially given its
weight, but it handles well and is a good car in which to learn. The
BRM's six speed gearbox with its left-hand and upside down shift pattern
is intriguing, and the H-16 sounds wonderful.

6.5 What about car setups? Are the default setups any good?

Some of the default setups are excellent. Papyrus assigned a very quick
driver to come up with setups for the various chassis at all the various
circuits. He used setups from a number of sources, including those used
by some of the fastest Papyrus engineers, and adapted some of the setups
developed by the beta team as well as developing his many own. I haven't
tried all of the default setups, but several of the ones I've tried are
better than anything I've developed myself. Others aren't so good, or
may not suit your style.

6.6 What do you mean, a setup won't suit my style?

There is a wide variation in driving styles, and a setup which works
great for one driver may be virtually undriveable by another.

For example, one of the beta testers, who I regard as something of a
setup guru in both real cars and in racing sims, likes setups which are
quite soft and fairly neutral. In his setups, it's very easy to provoke
oversteer. He can go blindingly quick with these setups, but when I try
them I just fall off the road.

On the other hand, I like setups that are relatively stiff in roll, and
with a lot of understeer so I can chuck the car around a bit. Also I
trail brake a lot, and this driving technique requires a setup with
basic understeer and more forward brake bias.

Eventually, you'll develop your own driving style, and you may find that
you'll need to adjust the car's setup in order to get the most out of
it.

6.6 How difficult will it be for me to create my own setups?

Logistically it's very easy. There's a well-designed setup menu in GPL,
and you can quickly set any of the numerous parameters to whatever value
you like (within their ranges, of course).

Creating a setup that works well, however, is another matter. Developing
good setups is both an art and a science, and learning how to do it is
not a trivial task. Documentation included with GPL will include a
comprehensive introduction to setup development by Steve Smith. Steve
and I plan to publish additional information with more specific details
on the Web soon.

6.7 After setting up new drivers as you describe in section 5.3, I tried
using Doug's setup files for the trainers but they do not seem to work.
Is there someting in the setup files which only allows them to be used
with the GP cars?

The type of car is determined by the last character of the filename
extension. You can simply change the extension to make the setup work
for another car. Thus:

Ali Eag Monza.ea1

changed to

Ali Eag Monza.ea2

becomes a setup for the Advanced Trainer. The same setup as:

Ali Eag Monza.ea3

becomes a setup for the Basic Trainer. You can also use it for a
different chassis:

Ali Eag Monza.fe2

becomes a setup for the Ferrari Advanced Trainer.

6.8 Are the engine sounds different from the engine sounds in the demo?

Yes. There is a new sound sample for the Ford-Cosworth, which I believe
is taken from a real Cosworth DFV. I believe the same sample is also
used for the Weslake V-12, where it works suprisingly well.

The Repco uses a sound which seems to me much like the sound in the
demo, sort of like a small block Chevy but a little raspier on the high
end. It suits the Repco perfectly.

The Ferrari has perhaps the best sound in GPL, in my opinion; it's raw
and raspy, a lot like the real thing. This is subjective, however; the
Ferrari sound seems to be one that people either love or hate.

I also feel the BRM has a great sound, deep and melodious. To me it
sounds a little like the BRM V-8's of the 1.5 liter era.

The Murasama and Coventry share a sound sample that seems a lot like the
Repco's. This is the only sound I find a little disappointing, but I
think perhaps someone will come up with a better V-12 sound before long

When you are running amid a pack of cars, with a chorus of widely
varying engine sounds snarling all around you, it's glorious!

7.1 How good are the AI drivers?

I feel the AI in GPL are very, very good indeed. While there are
sometimes places on certain circuits where I am a little quicker or a
little slower than the AI cars, in general, I can run very close with
them and the feeling is almost eerily realistic.

Watching a replay of myself running against 19 AI cars is very much like
watching a film of a real Grand Prix from the era. In the early laps,
the AI drivers boil around, apparently looking for a way by. With all of
them weaving around, each taking a slightly different line here and
there, plus the chorus of different engine sounds, and their tires
squealing and so forth, it's remarkably realistic. Sometimes they pass
each other - or me, if I make a mistake!

Occasionally an AI driver will make a mistake and go off. In one replay
from a Mosport race, I saw Hill make a mistake coming out of the turn 5
complex, lock up his brakes and lay streaks of rubber as he slid off
into the barrier and out of the race! The first I knew of this in the
race was when I came out of 5 and saw a set of skid marks going straight
off, and the Lotus sitting in the grass against the barrier. It was so
cool!

7.2 In GP2 and F1RS, there are only a few racing modes and you have to
be really good to keep up with the AI cars. In ICR2 and NASCAR 2 you can
set the AI cars to run at a certain percentage of their maximum, so you
can still race with the AI even if you're not really fast. How will the
user control the speed of the AI cars in GPL?

GPL incorporates an innovative technology called the Global Hype system.
This is a mechanism which dynamically adjusts the AI strength, with
reference to the best lap times of the player. A database is kept of the
average of the player's 10 best lap times at each circuit, and at each
circuit, the AI cars adjust their speed with reference to this average.
This adjustment only happens at the beginning of a weekend; in other
words, a fast lap time in practice won't cause the AI cars to go faster
in that race, but they will be a little faster in the next subsequent
weekend (practice and race).

The quickest AI drivers, such as Clark, Gurney, and Hill, will generally
be very fast in any mode, Novice through Grand Prix, but in the lower
levels the spread of the field is wider. In other words, the slower cars
are considerably slower in Novice mode. As your average time improves,
the faster AI cars will get a little faster, while the slower AI cars
will get a lot faster.

The speed of the AI cars is such that it's not too difficult to be
quicker than the slowest AI cars in a Novice race. However, it is harder
to beat even the slowest AI cars in the higher levels.

At any level, it is very, very difficult to beat the likes of Clark and
Gurney. GPL is supposed to simulate real Grand Prix racing, and
therefore the AI cars are simulating the very best drivers in the world.
To beat them, you have to be one of the very best drivers in the world,
too.

7.3 Gee! This means I may never win a race in GPL! Won't that be
frustrating?

My experience suggests that there is a lot of diversity in how quickly
people like the AI to run. Some people enjoy winning races, even if they
know in the back of their mind that the AI cars aren't going as fast as
the real drivers would have. Other people like to have to work hard to
finish in the top ten.

Along with several other members of the beta team, I lobbied for a
feature which would allow the user to adjust the strength of the AI
drivers somewhere in the menu system; in other words, to over-ride the
Global Hype system. This is one of the few important battles we lost.

It was something I felt strongly about at the time, but now I find that
I'm pretty happy with the final result. For one thing, the AI is so well
implemented, it's a great deal of fun to run with them even if I'm
dicing with the mid-pack runners.

7.4 So there's no way I can over-ride the Global Hype system and set the
AI to run at the speed I want?

Actually, there is. Papyrus has enabled the user to disable the Global
Hype system and to manually adjust the strength of the AI by using a
text editor to change certain values in initialization files.

The purpose of this is to allow organizers of offline racing leagues to
set up races in which all particpants are racing against AI cars which
are running at the same strength. There's no reason, however, why you
couldn't use these same parameters to over-ride the Global Hype system
and set the AI strength to suit your preferences, regardless of whether
you plan to run in a league or just race by yourself for fun.

There are details about these parameters in the readme.txt file in your
GPL folder. The key parameter which can be used to over-ride the Global
Hype system is called npt_override. For details about this parameter,
see the section called "Controlling AI for league play" in the
readme.txt file.

7.5 I raised npt_override to 3.5 and the AI are still going too fast for
me. Is there any other way I can slow them down?

The Normalized Player Time is clamped at 1.8, I believe, so raising the
value of npt_override above 1.8 will have no further effect on the speed
of the AI cars.

However, there is another way you can slow them down: in each track
folder, there is a file called track.ini. Inside this file, in the [ GP
] stanza, is a parameter called dlong_speed_adj_coeff. This parameter
impacts the straightline speed of the AI. I believe if you reduce it,
the AI will go slower.

7.6 I'm running less than a full field of AI cars, and they are all
going almost as fast as Clark. What's going on here?

The slower AI cars are quite responsive to the Global Hype system, and
will go much more slowly than Clark and Gurney when you are starting
out. However, the fastest AI drivers always drive nearly as fast as the
real drivers, no matter what your database shows for your best lap
times.

In their infiinite wisdom, Papyrus designed the AI system so that, if
you race with less than a full field of AI cars, the slowest AI drivers
are dropped first. This means that if you race with, say, 5 to 8 AI
cars, you'll be getting AI drivers who scorch around the track at nearly
the lap record. This can be frustrating!

However, it's easily remedied. The values that control the order in
which AI cars are dropped are contained in an editable initialization
file. You can download an initialization file I've modified to give the
field of AI cars a wider spread, if you are running fewer than 19 AI
cars. I've fixed this file so that even if you choose a field of only
five AI cars, you'll get some AI drivers from the very tail of the
field.

Also included in the zip file is a file which causes the faster AI cars
to be more responsive to the Global Hype system and the times recorded
in your lap time database. You can use this as an alternative.

Many of the parameters controlling the AI are visible in various
initialization files, and I am sure we will find more parameters to
tweak as time goes on.

See the driving section of this FAQ for information about how to race
with the AI while driving the Basic Trainer or the Advanced Trainer.

Papyrus AI engineer Mike Malone comments:

"Simply changing the order of the drivers in the DRIVER.INI has one
potentially undesirable result: it affects how the cars are randomized
in a random starting grid (if you skip the practice session). Start of
race incidents tend to go up at some tracks (e.g., Zandvoort or the
'ring) unless the bulk of the faster cars are near the pole and the
pokey cars are at the back."

8.1 Is the look left/look right feature in GPL useful?

Yes, I've used it, and I find it very useful for determining the
location of other cars in passing situations. It takes some adapting to
get used to it, and I'm still adjusting since I put look left-right
buttons on my wheel, but I think it is an almost essential feature.

Note that the implementation has changed slightly from the demo. The
original intention was that it would be used to see if the track was
clear before you re-entered after a spin, but the beta team asked for
modifications that would make it more useful when dealing with traffic
situations.

Also, I find that having buttons for these functions on my wheel is
really essential; it's too distracting to take my hands off the wheel
while at speed just to glance to the side.

8.2 How often is the "arm raise action" used?

The AI raise their arms when they have a problem which causes them to
slow down, or when they are slowing to go into the pits.

In multiplayer races, I haven't seen the arms being raised very often,
but perhaps that's because we don't have a drill sargent-style driving
instructor chewing us out when we fail to do so.

8.3 Is there any way to make GPL display a picture of me?

Yes. By default, GPL displays an image of a ghostly anonymous driver in
the Player selection menu and the newspaper that's displayed at the end
of the race. You can over-ride this anonymous image by placing a bitmap
image in your Player folder. This image should be 105x124 in size and
should be 24 bits in color depth (it can be black and white or color),
and must be named player.bmp.

For example, I'd place an image of me in the following location:

    C:\SIERRA\gpl\players\Hine__Alison\player.bmp

Now, your image will be displayed in the Player selection menu and also
on the newspaper whenever you win a race.

Also, you can over-ride the default image displayed for all players on
the Player selection menu by placing an image of similar dimenions in
GPL's layout folder.

For example, I'd place an image in the following location:

    C:\SIERRA\gpl\layout\player01.pbf

I believe that this must be a Papyrus PBF file. You can download a
utility called WinMip that will convert standard graphics files to PBF
format from several of the sites on my Links page.

You can download a sample player01.pbf and a sample player.bmp from my
downloads page.

9.1 Is there warping in multiplayer races?

As you may know, warping is caused by latency, which refers to the time
it takes to transmit data across a network. Latency on LANs is typically
very low, and in LAN races, warping is usually nonexistent, except under
exceptional conditions such as someone doing backups across the LAN
while a race is going on.

In Internet races, the amount of warping is dependent on the degree of
the latency between the GPL clients and the GPL server (i.e. the machine
of the player hosting the GPL game). With ping times below about 280
milliseconds, warping is virtually nonexistent. It becomes fairly
noticeable with ping times above 400 ms.

I believe this is fairly standard for all games being played over the
Internet, and is a function of the laws of physics. Note that two
clients each with a 400 ms ping time to the server will have a total
latency to each other of 800 ms, almost a second. There is only so much
you can do to guess where the car is supposed to be when the latest data
you have is almost a second out of date.

In my opinion, GPL does as good a job of doing this as any racing game
I've seen, and better than most.

9.2 How bad do the pileups in multiplayer races get?

Pileups depend on the skill of the drivers and the nature of the
circuit. The Papy Cup race at Monaco, for example, was early in the
season and many of the drivers were relatively inexperienced and had
difficulty handling the car, never mind getting around such a
challenging circuit in the middle of traffic. There were quite a few
crashes.

On the other hand, the Papy Cup races at Silverstone and the Nurburgring
have been remarkably realistic. After several weeks of racing, the skill
level of the less experienced drivers has gone up dramatically, and even
at the Ring, which is an incredibly demanding track, there were
relatively few crashes.

9.3 Will there be car damage in multiplayer races?

Yes. The damage behavior is the same in multiplayer play as in solo
play.

The damage model varies depending on the difficulty level selected by
the host. In Novice races, the cars are relatively robust and difficult
to damage. In Intermediate races, the cars become somewhat more fragile,
and in Pro and Grand Prix races the damage model is very realistic.

Damage includes bent or broken suspension, which changes the way the car
handles and can make it virtually undriveable; destroyed suspension in
which a wheel is removed from the car; damaged engine, which loses
power; blown engine, which no longer runs; and fire, which consumes
fuel.

Note that suspension damage can take many forms, including bent steering
arms, excessive rear toe-in, or collapsed springs, all of which have
different effects on the handling. Damage is cumulative; that is; a
light hit may cause no apparent damage, but makes it more likely that a
subsequent light hit will cause disabling damage.

Also note that it is possible to damage the engine by abusing it, which
includes holding it on the rev limiter for extended periods, speed
shifting (upshifting without lifting out of the throttle), or
downshifting too soon under braking so that the engine zings past
redline.

Some cars and engines are more fragile than others. The suspensions of
the Lotus and Eagle, for example, are relatively delicate, while the
Brabham is very robust. The Cosworth will take much less abuse than the
Ferrari V-12 or Repco V-8 before it lets go with a bang.

9.4 Will I be able to repair my car if I crash or damage the engine?

Car repair is optional; as in solo play, it depends on the difficulty
level selected by the host. In Novice and Intermediate races, the car
can be repaired by hitting Shift-R. In Pro races, Shift-R is disabled in
races, and in Grands Prix, it's always disabled.

When you repair your car with Shift-R, your car is also fitted with new
cold tires and your fuel tank is refilled to the level at which you
started the race or practice run.

Also, Shift-R is disabled if a car is approaching you from behind, to
avoid having you drop onto the track right in its way and perhaps
unwittingly involve it in a crash.

9.5 Can I include AI cars in multiplayer races?

Yes. You can include up to 19 AI cars. If the total number of AI cars
and human players exceeds 20, the human players will "bump" AI cars as
they join. Slower AI cars will be bumped first.

9.6 Will the AI cars suffer damage? Can they repair themselves?

They will suffer damage according to the difficulty level selected by
the host (see above). Their repairability will also be determined by the
host, and I believe it will parallel the player's repairability.

Note: For more information about racing over the Internet, see my GPL
Online FAQ.