rec.autos.simulators

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

Mclaren

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

by Mclaren » Sat, 28 Nov 1998 04:00:00

When I use AOL to race on VROC I don't get a green "flag" to connect to the
host server.  It looks like AOL doesn't give me an IP address which is needed
to connect to the host server.  Can I race using VROC on AOL?  How?  BTW, it
works fine on my Compuserve connection.

Thanks,

Peter

Eldre

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

by Eldre » Sat, 28 Nov 1998 04:00:00


Although I can't help you on the VROC issue(haven't tried it yet), I can tell
you that AOL *does* give you an IP address.  If you run WINIPCFG after you
login in, you can see your address...

Eldred

MeatWate

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

by MeatWate » Sat, 28 Nov 1998 04:00:00

I remeber AOL having a special dialup-networking software that has to be
used. It could be that this software prevents you from connecting to VROC.
Do you have ISDN?

Mclarenm6 schrieb in Nachricht

Mark

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

by Mark » Sat, 28 Nov 1998 04:00:00

Peter, historically AOL has been an extremely poor choice for
heavy-duty online *** (Quake, flight sims, car sims...).  I
can't give you any meaningful tech discussion other than the
latency is generally poor or highly variable.

Your stated problem is probably due to VROC/GPL simply 'timing
out' waiting to get sync'd to the server... which means a latency
problem.  If you see the server ping time higher than 300-350ms
on the VROC page, you shouldn't try to join.  Hit the Refresh
button a few times while on the VROC page to see if the ping is
stable.  If you do manage to get into the race, and your
connection is poor, you'll probably  warp all over the place.
This generally causes havoc for everyone.

I'd strongly suggest you shop for a new ISP.  I've been thru at
least half a dozen... it can be frustrating, but that's life <g>.

Rgds,
Mark R.


Mclaren

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

by Mclaren » Sun, 29 Nov 1998 04:00:00

No ISDN.  My cable company keeps promising cable modems so I am waiting for
that.
I know that AOL doesn't use MS DUN, but I can't believe none of the GPL players
use AOL.
Thanks,
peter
Eldre

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

by Eldre » Sun, 29 Nov 1998 04:00:00


It ALSO could be related to 'peak-time' usage.  When I tried NROS, sometimes I
would get a marginal but 'good' connection.  Other times I would get 'forget
it'.  Nothing in my system had changed, not even the access number I was
dialing.  I never really tried to *purposely* test it at different times of the
day, though.

Eldred

Mark

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

by Mark » Sun, 29 Nov 1998 04:00:00


<snip>  but I can't believe none of the GPL players use AOL.

Peter, the hard cold truth is that at least on my GPL host, I'd
rather not see any AOL players due to the latency situation.  So,
with all due respect, it's time to wake up and smell the coffee.

They are shunned in the online flight sim world too.

AOL is training wheels, pure and simple.  It's not designed for
speed and efficiency, it's designed for hand-holding.

Rgds,
Mark R.

Eldre

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

by Eldre » Mon, 30 Nov 1998 04:00:00


Yow...
How much do they(we) slow down the races/connections...?

Eldred

Mark

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

by Mark » Mon, 30 Nov 1998 04:00:00



>(Mark R.) writes:

>>Peter, the hard cold truth is that at least on my GPL host, I'd
>>rather not see any AOL players due to the latency situation.  So,
>>with all due respect, it's time to wake up and smell the coffee.

>>They are shunned in the online flight sim world too.

>>AOL is training wheels, pure and simple.  It's not designed for
>>speed and efficiency, it's designed for hand-holding.

>>Rgds,
>>Mark R.

>Yow...
>How much do they(we) slow down the races/connections...?

>Eldred

Eldred, it's not that they(you) slow down the connection, it's
that the car of the poor-ISP-player warps all over the place,
more often than not causing a crash as other players see the car
materialize and/or disappear right in front of them (or right
behind them -- or in front of them and then behind them)... at
170MPH, this can be disconcerting to say the least.

AOL says they've spent big bucks upgrading their system over the
past year or two, so perhaps things have improved a bit, but I
wouldn't bet the farm on it.  There are so many other ISP's out
there... certainly no need to be wedded to a particular one for
life.  If all the other cars seem warpy or jerky from your point
of view, you've probably got a poor connection or a poor ISP.

Rgds,
Mark R.

Eldre

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

by Eldre » Mon, 30 Nov 1998 04:00:00


So if you SEE the other cars warp(even though your view is stable), that means
YOU have the poor connection?  Dang...
And I *have* had another car pop up right in front of me.  It did WONDERS for
my heart rate. <g>

David Er

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

by David Er » Mon, 30 Nov 1998 04:00:00

Try this. Next time you join a game go for a ride as an observer with the
host as he goes around the track. If your view is steady in that situation
then chances are that your connect to the host is not the problem.
David Erb


Eldre

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

by Eldre » Tue, 01 Dec 1998 04:00:00



>Try this. Next time you join a game go for a ride as an observer with the
>host as he goes around the track. If your view is steady in that situation
>then chances are that your connect to the host is not the problem.
>David Erb



>>So if you SEE the other cars warp(even though your view is stable), that
>means
>>YOU have the poor connection?  Dang...
>>And I *have* had another car pop up right in front of me.  It did WONDERS
>for
>>my heart rate. <g>

Hmm..I never thought of that.  Thanks, it's worth a try.  I'd hate to think
that *I* was ruining everyone elses fun... :(

Eldred

Marc

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

by Marc » Wed, 02 Dec 1998 04:00:00

No, your view is stable no matter what, it is on your computer.  Now the other
cars warping could be you or the other person, but is most likely both.



> (Mark R.) writes:

> >AOL says they've spent big bucks upgrading their system over the
> >past year or two, so perhaps things have improved a bit, but I
> >wouldn't bet the farm on it.  There are so many other ISP's out
> >there... certainly no need to be wedded to a particular one for
> >life.  If all the other cars seem warpy or jerky from your point
> >of view, you've probably got a poor connection or a poor ISP.

> So if you SEE the other cars warp(even though your view is stable), that means
> YOU have the poor connection?  Dang...
> And I *have* had another car pop up right in front of me.  It did WONDERS for
> my heart rate. <g>

--
Thank You
Marc Johnson

Outside of a dog, a book is a mans best friend.  Inside of a dog, it is too dark
to read -Groucho Marx
Eldre

GPL-No green flag on AOL???

by Eldre » Fri, 04 Dec 1998 04:00:00


>No, your view is stable no matter what, it is on your computer.  Now the
>other
>cars warping could be you or the other person, but is most likely both.

Rats.  Well, I was just in a race that OZ hosted.  To me, his car was fine, but
another one that he was following was warping slightly...
Back to the drwaing board... :(

Eldred


rec.autos.simulators is a usenet newsgroup formed in December, 1993. As this group was always unmoderated there may be some spam or off topic articles included. Some links do point back to racesimcentral.net as we could not validate the original address. Please report any pages that you believe warrant deletion from this archive (include the link in your email). RaceSimCentral.net is in no way responsible and does not endorse any of the content herein.