rec.autos.simulators

1)Jim Sokoloff - Thanks for taking so much ***and suppling so many
answers...not that all are acceptible but anything is better than pure
speculation and I sincerely, as many others do appreciate and look
forward to your replies in this newsgroup!!!

2)Does anyone have the complete list of bugs for N2??  If so PLEASE e
mail me.

Other Issues:

3) Why when you have an accident do you not see those skid marks next
the time around?

4) What is up with all that AI fake pitting stuff..especially on
restarts?

5) Does Pappyrus know there are at least 11 different types of clouds?
 (Please no snide remarks about having time to look at the clouds..I'm a
pilot and can't help but notice)

6) In Multiplayer if the dial-ee hangs up the race is over, no continue
or print, not so if the dialer hangs up.

7) No Chat during race bites big ones ...as stated in N1 manual it's
there to raz your opponent...talk about stealing ones thunder. Ok, so
you can park and enter chat mode to do it's but very inconvenient. I can
see if NRO takes it out, but not for cross town racing!!!

8)How come you can't control the start race feature with Joystick/Wheel
accelerator button?  I'm pointing and clicking myself to death?

9) Since I don't want to be all negative, I dig the new Glen course.

10) No two line restarts is inexcusable!

11) In you spin out onto pit row you should be allowed to break the
speed limit w/ out getting the dreaded black flag.  If the only way to
avoid a wreck is thru pit row the speed limit should be non
existant....you guys missed this one in both games.  

12)Ok, I'll stop until I get the entire bug list for fear of repetition.

Scott Walter

David,

I am not a Nascar nor Nascar2 expert, but I think the AI would still
have to make sure the car was spinning, or that there was NO way to
avoid an accident short of going down pit lane.  

I know I would be tempted to get around a pile upin the front straight
if I knew that I wouldn't get black flagged for flying through the
pits.  This is a tough thing to program because it is a judgement
call.  I am not sure, but the officials at a race will probably
determine if you could avoid going down pit lane rather than slowing
up and pulling to the side of the track.

In the spirit of trying to find a solution, it may be that Papyrus has
a Spin function in the code that is executed when the car is spinning
or out of control.  It should be easy to check if the car is spinning.
If Papyrus would send me the source code, I woulds be VERY happy to
look at it....... ; )

Thanks,

Paul

<snip>
: 3) Why when you have an accident do you not see those skid marks next
: the time around?

Well, I'd be in trouble.  I use the existing marks for the "groove".  I
already have enough trouble staying in the groove without following my
last accident. <g>

: 4) What is up with all that AI fake pitting stuff..especially on
: restarts?

I think this is one of the bugs.  There was a quick fix posted in r.a.s
a few days ago.  I hope that Papyrus comes up with a real fix for this
one.

: 5) Does Pappyrus know there are at least 11 different types of clouds?
:  (Please no snide remarks about having time to look at the clouds..I'm a
: pilot and can't help but notice)

Speaking of clouds...  I recall a post by Adam mentioning that there
might be different "sky/clouds" based on the variable weather
conditions.  Has anyone seen such, or was this left out like the
sun-glare?

<snip>

: 9) Since I don't want to be all negative, I dig the new Glen course.

I will loudly SECOND that!!!

: 10) No two line restarts is inexcusable!

I am sure they have their "programming" reasons, but I too find this one
hard to fathom.  If they can have double file "starts", the code is
there for possible double file restarts.  

inside_position = 0
outside_position = 0
lapsdown = 1
carid = 2

# assumes car() is a list of cars in the order they are on the track
# 1=leader
if laps_remaining > 10 then {
   for i = 1 to active_cars (
        if car(i, lapsdown) > 0 then
                inside_row(+inside_position)=car(i,carid)
        else
                outside_row(+outside_position)=car(i,carid)
        endif
   }
else
  # another routine to put those on the lead lap first, everyone else in
  # the order they were on the track for the last 10 laps.
) endif

I know, it's not that simple, but. . .

: 11) In you spin out onto pit row you should be allowed to break the
: speed limit w/ out getting the dreaded black flag.  If the only way to
: avoid a wreck is thru pit row the speed limit should be non
: existant....you guys missed this one in both games.  

This one's gotta be a real toughy.  How is the computer going to know
why one is speeding down the pit?  This would be real nice, but "Damn it
Jim, I can'ta make her going any faster!"

--
**************************** Michael E. Carver *************************
     Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./.  [-  < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I love that they shut those people up.Now maybe those idiots will
keep the hands on the steering wheel and off the keyboard.

...
|> > 3) Why when you have an accident do you not see those skid marks next
|> > the time around?
...
|> Scott, in answer to number three, "why no dynamic skid marks?"  It's
|> simple.  These skid marks each entail the computer handling an object.
|> If hundreds of these get put down on the track throughout a race, the
|> computer's got to keep track of too many objects, and that would slow
|> the frame rate down way too much (though it'd probably still be faster
|> than GP2!!)  In answer to number seven, use the autochat feature during
|> the races to raz the other driver- it's detailed in the game's readme
|> file.

Doesn't Need for Speed do this though?  I seem to recall that on each
subsequent lap I could see my previous skid marks.  Granted, the races
are only 6 or 8 laps so you don't get that many, but it's kind of cool
anyway!

--


IBM Microelectronics
Burlington, VT                          Phone: (802) 769-7104 (tie 446)

Simple solution.  If you don't stop in your pit - don't enforce the stop
and go for speeding.  This way there is really nothing to gain by speeding
in the pits.
/THansen

That's a bug at Atlanta. (I'm not aware of it elsewhere; if someone

almost MANDATORY for this bug, as it's not 100% repeatable except at
Atlanta under caution.) The Atlanta problem is going to be fixed,
likely in the first gameplay patch.

In fairness to us, we are making a racing sim, and the clouds are
purely eye candy. Once we get EVERYTHING else about the game spot-on,
we can worry about dynamic clouds. Until that happens, we'd be remiss
in spending too much time on eye-candy, when it's gameplay that's
important.

The problem is actually getting the AI cars to line up double file
without crashing into each other and/or the player. When the AI
subsystem is re-vamped, double file restarts will be a requirement of
the new AI. (And yes, I realize how important they are to NASCAR
competition...)

---Jim Sokoloff, Papyrus

: > This one's gotta be a real toughy.  How is the computer going to know
: > why one is speeding down the pit?  This would be real nice, but "Damn it
: > Jim, I can'ta make her going any faster!"
: >
: Simple solution.  If you don't stop in your pit - don't enforce the stop
: and go for speeding.  This way there is really nothing to gain by speeding
: in the pits.

Sometimes the obvious and simplest approach is easily overlooked.  

--
**************************** Michael E. Carver *************************
     Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./.  [-  < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

That's a great suggestion, Tom! They would still have to give you a black
flag if you are caught speeding under full yellow, because you could race
through the pits to gain positions, but other than that, I can't see any
holes.

Dave Sparks
IWCCCARS Project: http://www.theuspits.com/iwcccars/index.html
Late Night League: http://www.sequoia-dev.com/Hawaii/latenite.html
Hawaii Handle: davids

Maybe there's a accident variable for each car. If a car is in a
accident the variable reads 1 at that time put about 7 seconds on the
clock and the racer can go at top speeds throw pit lane without
penalty.

So if your hit the accident variable reads 7. So if you go at top
speeds into the pit the Black Flag won't register and you have 7
seconds to get through pit lane before the accident variable is put
back to zero.

Q.B.M.