rec.autos.simulators

Anyone else having a blast with GP3?  I played the daylights out of
GP2 way back, and then didn't play for a long, long time (years).  I
bought GP3 right when it came out, but didn't play much beyond Spa and
Sazuka (my favorites).  Lately though, I started a championship season
and I am continually amazed at how fun this sim really is!  Gettin'
the setup right, qualifying, race starts, backmarkers, pit
strategies... damn, it's too fun! (or maybe I just need a life LOL)

I collected some 2k1 carsets, but kept all the stock game performance
numbers (that physics editor bugs me on principle).  What a blast with
the standard weak grip... you have to get the setup good or you will
suffer!

I have always been a bit *** Crammond for his minimilist approach
to the sim (my perspective, it could be SO MUCH MORE!), but even in
it's bare'ish form, it's a fantastic way to blow off a couple of
hours!  Magnificent fun!

Anyone else loving it as much as I am?

Hammer

Well not to the same the degree I think, but it does grow on you.

Once I caught on I needed to rely on visual cues rather than FF to tell me
what the car is doing I started to get more immersed and have been able to
develop my setups to a point where I can have a satisfactory simming
experience (defaults were just as bad as GP2's).

I use the performance values for the TopGear Off-line League
(http://topgear.dhs.org) I compete in. They're slightly faster than
standard, making the similarity between the Ace AI times and real F1 erie
sometimes. Darren (the carset guy) has also managed to get the relative
performance nearly spot on, so the race isn't as "artificially close" as
when using the standard settings.

I agree Crammond could and should have been more ambitious with the game,
but in the end I'm enjoying my driving regardless. Monaco had me thinking
I'd have to leave modern F1 to a younger generation for a while (couldn't
keep up with the speed of the car), but I found some settings I could keep
out of the barriers for the required distance in the end. <g>

Jan.
=---
"Pay attention when I'm talking to you boy!" -Foghorn Leghorn.

It's alright. I was asked to run the Little Formula Racing Series (offline
series) with a team called Lusa by someone in my GPL League. I guess he
thought because I was 3rd fastest out of 20 in that league that I'd be fast
in GP3, but no :) I just did the Interlagos race and qualified with a 1:16
and almost everyone on my team beat me, lol. Oh well. Still fun being a part
of a team.

Thanks,
Alex

With all the carsets, addons and the huge 2001 Patch, with GPx and
GP3video..  what more do you need?   Loving it..

James

Get the GPX patch (allows you to hear other cars around you) and you'll
regret you ever put it away.

Spot on, Hammer.  For serious simming, run GPL.  It's rewarding when you get
it right, but you can (metaphorically) raise a sweat doing so.  But for
sheer fun, GP3 is hard to beat.

GMF

How much is the 2000 Add-On supposed to cost?  Apparently they are including
3D sound and improved graphics (I don't expect too much).  Although I would
be getting last years drivers, I'm thinking it might be a decent upgrade...

David

I dig running GP3 at like Silverstone then jumping into GPL and running the
same track.  You get a real historical feel for GPL that way.

David

Well of course I have GPL as well, but I have to admit I have not run
it much in the last year or so.  Maybe time to dust that off again.  I
do remember in the past I had a difficult time doing both, they are so
different... you have so much grip and downforce available to you in
modern F1... but how I do love a good GPL powerslide, and navigating
the Masta Kink at Spa in the Ferrari with a lift and a sqeeze...
classic stuff :)

In GP3, I'm wondering if they are actually modelling airflow over the
wings.  It seems to me, that unlike GP2, when I get close to the rear
of a car in GP3, I actually lose significant front end downforce, as
would occur IRL.  However, I'm not sure if this is a product of frame
rate/CPU occupancy, or an accurate physics modeling mechanism.... it's
difficult to know.

I have also noticed the AI can be dumb at spots... like at Hockenheim,
I am able to lap almost 2 seconds a lap faster than the McLarens
because they have a stupid setup and they lose 2 seconds to me in the
stadium complex every lap, which is a bit annoying.  Using stock
performance, Mika hits 216kph down the longest straight, to my 210kph,
but I outlap him by at least 2 seconds every lap unless I*** it up,
because he crawls through the stadium complex like he has a hamster on
a wheel in place of the Mercedes.  But at some of the other tracks,
the AI is damn fast and takes a very good setup to beat them.

Cheers... glad to hear others are enjoying GP3 as I am.  I mean ya, it
has it's quirks and weaknesses, and us sim'ers can be awful critical
at times, but ya sometimes it's just plain fun, if ya take it for what
it is.

Hammer

On Thu, 31 May 2001 08:41:45 -0400, "David L. Cook"

My local (UK) supplier has it priced tentatively at UKP 15 - but
no release date. I'll buy it for 2 reasons - firstly in the hope
that the hardware graphics mode has been improved to use modern
graphics cards properly and secondly because I want to run a
proper 17-race season rather than drop a race...

Martin D. Pay
Still trying to get round Monaco consistently without bouncing
off the armco...  ^_^

On Wed, 30 May 2001 21:03:54 -0700, "RegularRacer"

Damn right. It adds a whole new dimension to the sim - there's
nothing like hearing Schuey about to blow past you at Spa (and
knowing there's nothing you can do about it) to get the ***
going.  ^_^

Martin D. Pay
Who doesn't have time to race during the week. Work gets in the
way....  :(

Here's some info:

The official GP3 add-on is to be released in the near future and the
following features are included:

* Official FIA 2000 license including all teams and drivers
* Two new tracks: Indianapolis and Sepang
* Updated original tracks to match the 2000 season including new ad banners
* New track details: Catch fencing and camera crews on the track
* Debris collisions: Eg. hitting a wheel on the track will damage your front
wing
* Pit to car radio messages (only some useful messages)
* 3d audio: hear sounds also from the other cars. Uses EAX standard and you
can hear reverbs from tunnels and pits.
* Full replay mode: Use the function keys to rewinds, pause, etc the game.
Up to 1,5 hours are recorded.
* New game mode - Quicklap: Useful if you have two setups for one track and
you want to test them under the exact same condtions. Makes the game also
more fun if you just want to have a quick competition with your pals with
one computer. Basically the lap starts behind the S/F line with full speed
and ends when you have crossed it again.
* GPaedia: a GP3 encyclopaedia. Made in cooperation with Arrows F1 team to
show eg. how the setup up your car, what are bump ***s, etc.
* New startup video
* Hardware requirements are excatly the same than with the original Grand
Prix 3

The official GP3 add-on is almost ready and you can expect it to be released
at the end of this month or early June. Unfortunately Infogrames hasn't yet
given official statement of the release date, but you can expect them to
announce it soon.

Firstly, Amazing info David!! Now you are saying the GP3 addon will
be out before the F1RC upgrade? Things that make you say: Ahhhm?
Thanx for the informative post David.. No BS!!
Cheers Thom_j.

<reluctantly snipped>
| The official GP3 add-on is almost ready and you can expect it to be
released
| at the end of this month or early June. Unfortunately Infogrames hasn't
yet
| given official statement of the release date, but you can expect them to
| announce it soon.
<snipped again>

Same here :)
Since LFRS GP3 has started and I am "forced" to put time in GP3, I start to
like it better everytime I play. Especially the FF and the***pit movements
make this a very immersive sim for me. (For example watch the***pit when
shifting up ---- it shows there is no acceleration for a moment. In a way
the moving***pit is a camera move that mimics driver head movement).

Bart Westra

Why is Alpha F1 the first to get these sort of sneak peaks or whatever you
like the call 'em?

Seems like more of a waitlist than anything solid.