> RE: Grand Prix II
> With so many people complaining that GPII is not released yet, has anyone stopped to consider that the release date is constantly
> pushed back because they refuse to release an inferior product. I myself would not want to go by a game to find that it needs 40
> patch files in order to be enjoyable. I love playing F1GP but I'm not willing to trade having the game now for something of less
> quality. Lets be patient folks ;-)
you will not eat, sleep, wash, etc. It will be worth the wait.
The very minute you have bought GP2, you'll decide that you do not want
to talk to anyone. You'll head straight home; through door, lock door,
unhook phone, let out the cat, grab a couple of beers, feel it,
computer on, install it, page through the manual and then finally you
are ready to type 'GP2' followed by return.
Say nothing of the intro but the fact that you will stare completely
mesmerized with a pulse comparable to that of Damon Hill when he
decided to pass Schumacher at Priory last year in the Bristish GP.
The first thing you do is to take a look at Monaco in SVGA. God, you
are so glad that you own a P166, 25 fps in traffic, no problem.
The track look dead gorgeous. In fact it looks so good, feels so good,
smells so good that you decide you just need to open a bottle of
beer immediatly.
Geez, when God decided to create simulation
designers/programmers/algorithm wizards he
probably had Geoff Crammond in mind.
He may be the simulation designer/programmer/algorithm-head epitomized.
Now you want to do a whole season in one night but you just can't get the
setup right for the season opener in Interlagos; the ride height doesn't
feel right and you are debating quit loudly with yourself if it would be
wise to use 12mm packers instead of the harder 8mm on the front wheels.
Well, using too soft packers will probably make the car wobble a little
too much under braking if you can't get the dampers sorted out.
And what about the dumps? You know that the track is very bumpy
so you should probably consider increasing the fast rebound damper
as well as the ride height. But you don't want have too much ride height
as there is some pretty fast turns on this track. And then there is the
question of using a low downforce setup instead of a medium downforce one.
Anyway that's how the real teams go about the Brazilian track.
Hmmm. It will make the car pretty edgy in the infield section but then
again it'll make passing easier on the main straight.
But by choosing a low downforce setup you'll have to pay extra attention
to the last turn before the main straight. It is of paramount importance
that you setup the car in such a way that you get very good exit speed
out of that turn. Doing so will probably make the infield section even
more painful. Another hmmm.
Should you make the car very stiff? Well, if you go along
with a low downforce setup you may prefer a little more roll than usual.
That would probably be good idea. Wonder how it will behave over the
dumps? And how about the tire wear? What am I going to do?
Well, you don't know until you get to try it! Patience.
[ Btw by the looks of things it seems that the setup process will be an
even longer and more undulating one than that commonly experienced in
ICR 2 or NASCAR. It seems that the depth in GP2 is staggering.
Making an almost perfect setup in ICR2 usually takes about 10 - 20 hours.
I'll bet that in GP2 we are talking at least twice that. ]
But this is what we want to do! In this respect it is good to know that
Crammond & Co. are working pedantically in order to make the experience
as real as possible and not interupted by bugs and uncanny oddities.
Prepare yourself by getting one of those gorgeous quality wheels.
I am talking about the TSW or ECC.
(The setup process above is hypthetical but it is based on what I have
seen of GP2 and know about the Interlagos track.)
Rock on!
--
--- Terje Wold Johansen
--- http://www.racesimcentral.net/~terjjo/
--- "I am your inferior superior." O.W.