rec.autos.simulators

Man, it had been so hard to read posts on r.a.s. about that movie without
being able to watch it. But last night they FINALLY put it on TV here in
Germany.

This movie sure has it's similarities with, well, *** films <g>:  nobody
really wants to see the talking (LOL). I had the VCR running, and I already
see myself cutting out all other scenes but those on the racetracks...but no
question, for us GPL'ers it's absolutely worth the (almost) three hours
spent in front of the telly instead of our kompjooters.

My hat goes off to the cameramen - brilliant work! How did they do it back
then? Wow!

The movie also shows how good Papy modelled the tracks - I'm amazed! Only
that banking at Monza...I know this has been discussed before, but could
someone please tell me a) where exactly those two turns were located and b)
why they are flat in GPL? And the track in SPA seemed to be much more
"rugged" than in the sim (in my opinion ALL tracks in the sim look a bit too
"clean/new").

If I wasn't already totally ***ed to GPL, that movie would have done the
job! How about a "Limited Edition" of GPL bundled with the movie <g>

Mea***er

"kompjooters"?

<snip>

On Thu, 3 Dec 1998 10:24:10 +0100, "Mea***er"

        I can only hope you got the widescreen version (just like
GPL!).  Not as good as the original Cinerama (sort of an early IMAX),
I've heard, but better than the regular TV-size broadcast.  

        I'm sure someone can give you a better description of the old
Monza track, but in GPL you do pass underneath the banking right in
the middle of the Seraglio.  It's the deadly concrete "bridge" with
Coca-Cola advertising.  The entry of this same banked turn can be seen
on the right as you barrel down the main straightaway.

        The first time I did Spa in the Ferrari and passed a certain
brown house, I couldn't help thinking about those two brothers Sarti
hit!

Martin
Nigel Mansell RIP!

The banking was part of an additional oval portion of the track.  About
half way down the front straight (on the way to Curva Grande) you
entered the oval by turning right.  The oval proceeds clockwise, passing
over the main portion of the track on the concrete bridge that you see
in the game that is between the second Lesmo and the kink, and then
rejoins the main straight past the Parabolica on the left.  Here is a
link to a diagram of the track:

http://www.racesimcentral.net/

And here is a link to a picture of a Ferrari driving on the track:

http://www.racesimcentral.net/

The oval isn't present in GPL because in 1967 that portion of the track
was no longer in use.  The last year they used the oval at Monza in F1
was 1961.  In the movie, "Grand Prix", they just added it for more
e***ment.  You can even hear the track announcer in the movie mention
that this is the first year that the oval has been used since 1961.

That's probably from all of us going off-road and mowing the grass.  
;-)

Dave Ewing

Thanks Dave for the info!

Alternatively (or additionally), you can see a lot of beautifully
modeled racetracks on the wall of "Sarti's" house in the movie. The
Monza track there features the "normal" track as well as the oval.

One thing I didn't quite get: how did they drive the oval and the
standard track at once in one race? Did the drivers have to go around
the one track first, and then the other, with the start-finish
straight as some sort of intersection? Scary thought...

--
Wolfgang Preiss   \ E-mail copies of replies to this posting are welcome.

It seems to me that they went around the road circuit first, exited
the Parabolica and stayed to the right.  They then entered the oval
past the pits, went around it and exited the oval on the main straight
to the left of the Parabolica exit (you can see this in GPL). That
finished the lap and they went across the start/finish line.  

Jeff Haas

It is a common misunderstanding that the cars had to change track
sides, which would have been dangerous.

Right.
There were two parallel lanes (which did not cross) on the very wide
S/F straight.
Basically, there was an inner lane coming out of Parabolica going to
the 1st banking, and an outer lane coming out of the 2nd banking
leading to Curva Grande.
--
   _____
 /_______\              .\\ a t t h e a d
I  XT /~~~~                    
I  500\_____       1977' Yamaha XT.Rex 500 Enduro
 \____/\__I_I      http://matthead.home.pages.de/

Yes, this makes sense. The oval and the road track are intersecting,
but if you drive through both, you don't have to cross your own line.
Thanks.

--
Wolfgang Preiss   \ E-mail copies of replies to this posting are welcome.