rec.autos.simulators

Steering - Even when I set the sensitivity to maximum I need to give loads
of input before the car begins to turn. There doesn't appear to be any
option to recalibrate the wheel and it's completely un-drivable ATM. I've
tried reducing the null zone in DINPUT.DLL but this didn't seem to make any
difference.

Dump to Desktop - When I exit from a track to the setup screen and then try
and go back to the track I get dumped to the Windows desktop. Has anyone
else experienced this problem?

When I leave the first animation to play on startup the computer locks. If I
press escape during the animation then things proceed OK. Has anyone else
experienced this?

The Menus - God Help Us - THEY STINK!!!. Whoever though up the 'logic'
should be sacked IMO. They're also incredibly slow - I can't stand them and
have taken the piece of C**P off the computer due to this alone.

The Sound - Utterly pathetic

The Physics Model - Pitiful

I can't understand how this game has received so many positive comments - I
must be missing something?

A little info. on my system (inviting abuse I know):

Cyrix 166+ (with CPUIDEN turned off)
Windows 95 with 32 MB EDO RAM
Matrox Millennium 2MB with Matrox M3d (latest drivers from Matrox and Power
VR patch from
Ubisoft)
F1RS full retail version with 1.09 patch
I've tried a full install as well as medium and small, none of which seem to
be any difference.

--
Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

Nope
nope

you need to do a FULL installation so that menus aren't accessed from the
CD,
they are almost bearable then, especially if you have a quick machine.

there are lots of good replacement sounds available on the net
have a look at www.f1racingsim.com

On a well sorted quick system with 3dfx, ..and a bit of persistence you'll
discover
it does have a lot to offer, the leagues going round show that plenty of fun
is
being had out there by lots of sim fans.  For example, point your news
reader to
the cbr.cls.com.au server and the alt.games.f1rs group therein...

     _.~``':_,|\
   /                \
  \     Ron       /
   \_,--~^,..*_,/
                  v

TIA,
--
PATCO Lives!
----------------------------------------
Ramon L. Negron  (Cuco)

2) Also, I have a K6 200 and F1RS rocks? is your pc set-up ok to run
games generally? do you run other games and do they run ok? If not you
might want to optimise your pc so that it is biased for games? A cyrix
166 might not be beefy enough to run F1RS, no matter what it says on
the box?

3) I started with F1RS and 32Mb SDram, and it ran ok, but with 64Mb it
really flies?

4) Stick to a *full* install as this will speed up the whole game in
general (especially the menu's).

5) You are running it in *3Dfx* mode aren't you? make sure that when
you installed the game it recognised your 3Dfx card, and that when the
game starts it runs the f1voo.exe file and no other file?

I'm not sure if F1RS supports Power VR cards? and it is recommended
that you have at least a 4mb D3d card, you say you only have a 2Mb
card?

Sometimes f1rs can move two important files, check your windows/system
directory for Glide.dll & sst1init.dll. If they are there then fine,
if they are not, copy them from your original f1rs cd to the
windows/system directory and f1rs will now be able to see your 3Dfx
card ok.

6) Patches, make sure you have installed the latest patches for the
game as these do improve performance. I think the latest is v1.09 (get
it from any of the many good f1rs sites, just search for ubisoft &
f1rs on the net?) The latest patches are faster than the older ones,
as they actually incorporate the older patches in them.

7) Have you made the recommended changes to the sound files in the
game, this improves the first corner slowdowns you mention?
To alter the sound files do the following.....

In the F1RS\CPA\dll directory you'll find a file called Snd_cpa.ini.
You've got to change the following parameters:
SXD_DIST_SATUR=5
SXD_DIST_FADE=75
The SXD_DIST_FADE option is the most important: this one determines
the distance at which another car can be heard (or to be more precise:
at which distance the other car's sound will fade in or out). The
default setting is way too high: when you're on pole position, a
number of 75 will let you hear all cars around, up to the one at the
back of the grid (it seems)! No wonder you can't hear your own engine
anymore. (And maybe, as I said before, the computer has a hard time
producing the sound of 22 cars, hence the framerate drop at the
beginning of the race?) Two cars in your neighbourhood is enough to
make it impossible to hear your own engine. Lowering this to a very
low number will do the trick, but then you may not be able to hear a
car coming up behind you until he's beside you.
SXD_DIST_SATUR seems to change the overall volume of the other cars.
But lowering this from 5 to 1 isn't enough. Especially if you don't
alter the FADE setting: being able to hear all 22 car engines will
still make you deaf.

Change the settings to.....

SXD_DIST_SATUR=1
SXD_DIST_FADE=15

Just fiddle around a bit with these
numbers, and you'll see your performance will get better. And you're
fun with this great game will increase!

8) Generally *less* wheel lock is preferred to more, only increase the
lock if you cannot get around the slow corners (hairpin at
Monaco?)Also remember the default set-ups understeer badly, so
tweaking the set-ups is essential to getting the most from the cars
(or download some set-ups from the net).

9)  Make sure the UBI.INI file in your
\windows\ubisoft directory is set to "3dfx=1" to get the 3Dfx version
running.

I hope the above info helps.....

*Peter*    8-)
(NB: remove asterix to e-mail)

L> Steering - Even when I set the sensitivity to maximum I need to give
L> loads of input before the car begins to turn. There doesn't appear to be
L> any option to recalibrate the wheel and it's completely un-drivable ATM.
L> I've tried reducing the null zone in DINPUT.DLL but this didn't seem to
L> make any difference.

I never had this problem with my T2 !?

L> The Sound - Utterly pathetic

Go to http://www.f1racingsim.com - there are great sounds, check em
out. The original is miles away.
L>
L> The Physics Model - Pitiful

Well, I don't think so actually. Why ?

L> I can't understand how this game has received so many positive comments
L> - I must be missing something?

Yep, scroll down ;-)

L> A little info. on my system (inviting abuse I know):
L>
L> Cyrix 166+ (with CPUIDEN turned off)

NEVER touch games with a Cyrix. F1RS needs at least a 200mhz
iPentium or AMD K6 to perform well.

L> Matrox Millennium 2MB with Matrox M3d

That should be the problem. I think you'll hear that quite often
in replies, but it's the truth: get yourself a 3dfx-card and you
will see why everyone is rather enthusiastic about F1RS. It's
well known, that the Direct-3D-version is quite buggy and ugly...

Also, man mailt sich...

.\\atze        [ FmMW2109 - FmMB2139 ]

*home* : http://www.powerteam.de/ph/buesing/

Nope, not under Win95 or 98

The Full install makes the menus a lot faster. But yes, they do suck

I wouldn't go that far.

With standard suspension settings yes, but when you get into the game,
and get it all starting to happen, the physics are great.

Big problems here, you really need a P200 to get the game moving, or a
heap of ram, preferably both.

The M3D doesn't help much either.

The best advice is o visit www.f1racingsim.com
and chek out the FAQ and the Forum for help on problems specific to
the game. Oh, and get a genuine Intel processor and 3Dfx card when you
want to play the game at its best.

--
Nathan Wong          http://www.nectar.com.au/~alfacors
                        - Super Touring - Alfa Romeo -

                            - V8Supercars - CART -

The M3D is similar to the Monster 3D and other 3Dfx add-on cards, its
4MB, but based on the NEC/Videologic Power VR chip.

--
Nathan Wong          http://www.nectar.com.au/~alfacors
                        - Super Touring - Alfa Romeo -

                            - V8Supercars - CART -

Ian P

I adjust the steering in the pits, usually 20-23 degrees and there is plenty
of response, sometimes too twitchy, though.

Never had this happen.

I

Never had this happen.

If you did a full install, as I have, then they shouldn't be that bad.

I'll give you this one. CPR has the best sound to me.

Don't think so......it's equal if not better than GP2.

Yes, you must be......

AHAH!!!!! Here is the culprit!! Crappy Cyrix processor, with Matrox M3d
card, so you must be running direct3d version, right? Well, get an Intel
processor, preferably 233MMX or higher, but 166mmx or 200mmx will do, and
get a 3DFX video card and run it in Glide mode. I've tried both direct3d and
Glide and honestly, the Glide version is MUCH better looking, and smoother
to me. You may also want to add 32 more mb of ram, it's so damn cheap these
days. While you have a system that can run F1RS, you don't have a system
that you can ENJOY F1RS on.......

Craig Marcho

Perhaps I didnt word that correctly, or you didnt read it close
enough.
I didn't say the Monster 3D is a Power VR card, I said the M3D (by
MATROX) is the Power VR card.

--
Nathan Wong          http://www.nectar.com.au/~alfacors
                        - Super Touring - Alfa Romeo -

                            - V8Supercars - CART -