rec.autos.simulators

System:
Asus P2B Motherboard

64MB PC100 SDRAM
Matrox G200 8MB
3dFX Voodoo 2 1000 12MB PCI
Glide 2.53 in the GPL directory
Diamond Supramax 56k Winmodem (I know it sucks, but it's hard to find a
cheap realmodem)
IBM 8.4 GB Deskstar IDE HD
SoundBlaster AWE64 ISA
And of course... GPL 1.2

It works the 'best' (mostly solid 33 FPS) at 800x600, all details on, detail
slider full right, 8 sounds max.  Going to any other settings (from 512 x
384 with no detail whatsoever to 1024x768 with all detail) simply DECREASES
(even at the low ones!) or destabilizes the framerate.  What really bugs me
is that the following system pulls 34+ FPS online (35+ offline) (at 640x480,
most details on):

Abit BH6 Motherboard

64MB PC100 SDRAM
Diamond Stealth II S220 Rendition 4MB w/ Reference Drivers
Zoom Telephonics 33.6 Realmodem (old but good!)
Western Digital 6.4 GB IDE HD
SoundBlaster 16 CLONE
GPL 1.2

I don't expect the 450 to be good online (the winmodem brings pings 200 ms
higher than the other PC!) but it has a nicer setup...awesome speakers with
subwoofer, 17" monitor...compared to a old 15" monitor that blurs 800x600
and goes 100% unreadable at anything higher and a pair of ***speakers.  I
really want to see the BRM next to me smoothly and clearly - and hear both
its and my Eagle's roar going down the frontstraight at Monza booming off of
the walls!!!

--
Kirk Lane


ICQ: 28171652
BRT #187

"Yeah you won't find me
I'm going MIA
Tonight I'm leaving
Going MIA
Getting lost in you again
Is better than being known"
                     -Foo Fighters, "MIA"

Do you have the "Advanced Options Panel" (or something named like
that) of 3dFX? If so, check the "Don't sync with monitor" option, and
you'll have 36 fps.....

Remco

Abit BH6 Motherboard

 128MB PC100 SDRAM
 Voodoo3 3000 AGP
 Diamond SupraExpress 56i V90
 Seagate 2 gb SCSI drives (2)
 Soundblaster Live!
GPL 1.2

All graphics on, detail slider 3/4 to right, car sounds 4.

Hope this helps.

To get the best performance from your PC when racing GPL (on-line or
off-line), ideally, it should be the *only* program running. Turn off
all (or as many as possible) your other programs before starting GPL. To
check what programs are running in the background on your PC,
(especially if using Win95/98) press Ctrl and Alt and Delete together to
get the "Close program" box on your screen. This will tell you what
programs are still running. Ideally you only need systray and explorer
to be running (but this will depend on how you pc has been set-up?)
Turning off virus checkers, and programs such as MS FastFind or ICQ will
help to improve GPL's performance on your pc, as these programs use up
valueable cpu resources if left running in the background.

GPL runs better with faster PC systems, *FACT!* If you have an older or
slower PC system, do not expect GPL to run perfectly at its maximum
(36fps) frame rate, with all the graphics and sound options turned on.
Ideally, for on-line racing you want to try and run GPL at a constant
36fps. Unless you have a brand new fast Ninja PC, this means turning
down or off some of GPL's options, Including some or all of the
following:

Reduce the no' of sounds heard, Ideally to 3 or 4.
Turn off the effects in the GPL graphics screen (Smoke, Dust, etc).
Turn off the quality items (Dynamic lighting, etc).
Turn down the detail slider.
Reduce the screen resolution.
Reduce the mirror detail.
Reduce the number of trackside objects.
Reduce the number of textured items (Clouds, Horizon, etc)
Reduce the number of AI cars running.

If your PC set-up is optimised for games, this will also improve GPL's
performance. 64Mb of system RAM is an absolute minimum, 128Mb is far
better. The latest drivers for all your sound cards, graphics cards, and
modem will also help speed things up. PCI based cards are also prefered
to older ISA cards, as PCI cards appear to have a lower CPU load than
ISA cards, which frees up more CPU cycles to concentrate on the actual
game itself.

8-)

*Peter* -  http://www.cix.co.uk/~peterpc/home.html