rec.autos.simulators

PII300
128meg ram
i740 8meg AGP card
CL VooDoo2 12 meg
Some sort of generic Yamaha sound card
USRobotics 56K modem

I always make sure to ctrl-alt-del & close everything non-essential before
firing up GPL and most of the time I'm around 36 fps when running with 5-8
cars and minimum sound - except at the start (18-24fps) and when i smack a
wall or do something else stupid (i don't know the exact fps at that stage
'cause i'm usually too busy swearing to note the framerate).

Anyway, I'm frustrated cause I think I'm fast enough at Monza (1:30 flat
consistant, a smidge lower if I'm feeling lucky) and at the Glen to play
online.  Any guidence as to what I should do would be most appreciated....

Thanks.

Mark

Trips
D. Bell on VROC

Sounds like you've got plenty of equipment to race online, as some of the
fastest guys out there make do with less.  Nobody gets 36FPS on the grid
offline unless they're on the front row, and without having to control the AI,
there's less stress on your CPU in online races.  Just be sure to use the
recommended core.ini and DUN settings, and pay close attention to your pings
and FPS once you're online.  If your pings are much over .400, you should
probably join another race, as your warping will make you a hazard for the
other racers.  But don't worry; you'll be able to find plenty of hosts with
good connections with GPL Spyboy; watch for DSL or cable hookups and low pings.

See you online :-)

Steve B.

remove "edy" from address for email

% PII300
% 128meg ram
% i740 8meg AGP card
% CL VooDoo2 12 meg
% Some sort of generic Yamaha sound card
% USRobotics 56K modem

I have a similar setup (except I have ADSL instead of using a modem).  I
run online in 640x480 and use the glidewrapper to set mirror refresh to
every other frame.  I have most of the details on (except driver's arms,
driver's texture, mirrors are set to cars only), detail bias is set to
the left (just about under the "s" in bias, which is equal to about
33%).  At some tracks the frame rate may dip to 33 at some corners.
While the grid may drop to the high 20's the frame rate is a pretty good
solid 36fps.  Don't judge your online frame rate by the frame rate you
see while offline with the AI.  The CPU overhead for the AI will greatly
reduce your frame rate (of course this does not apply to online play).

Try the above settings, go online and see how your frame rate runs.  I
think you should have no trouble keeping a high enough frame rate to run
online.

The glidewrapper can be found at
http://www.grandprix2.com/gpl/patches/glide2x.zip

% I always make sure to ctrl-alt-del & close everything non-essential before
% firing up GPL and most of the time I'm around 36 fps when running with 5-8
% cars and minimum sound - except at the start (18-24fps) and when i smack a
% wall or do something else stupid (i don't know the exact fps at that stage
% 'cause i'm usually too busy swearing to note the framerate).

% Anyway, I'm frustrated cause I think I'm fast enough at Monza (1:30 flat
% consistant, a smidge lower if I'm feeling lucky) and at the Glen to play
% online.  Any guidence as to what I should do would be most appreciated....

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

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

I have a P2/333 64MB ram with a V2 12mb card.  I get 36fps at the start
and it only slows down at some turns - like the hairpin at Rouen.

To get the best performance online, here is my setup in GPL:

* All textures in forward view
* No textures in mirrors
* Turn off spectacular highlights and dynamic lighting.
* Turn off dirt, dust and skids.
* Move the detail bias to the left -- 0% details.
* Set the resolution to 800x600
* Set the mirrors to cars only

In replays you can turn ALL details back on to get great screen shots.

Don't worry about testing FPS with the AI.  The AI take up *a lot* of
CPU resources.  Get the FPS to be 36fps in training mode.  You'll find
that driving against people online does not impact your FPS like 10 AI
drivers would.

Jason.

I get 36fps online, dropping to 34 now and again for a fraction of a
second...
I had to turn off quite a lot to get this performance...

the only forward view items i have checked are..

racing line
wall textures
car textures
trees
wheel textures

detail bias to left....
mirrors... cars only
trackside objects... many

I use the glide wrapper to set my mirrors to every 4th refresh...

but the best performance boost came from setting
soundquality=0

I get smooth online racing at the cost of nice graphics bit it don't look
too bad...
resolution 640x480

From Lol SpeedFreek.... (underpowered!)

If you need this to get solid fps, go with it.  However, this can be
a hazard when driving in a heated battle.  This setting seems to switch
from stereo to mono.  I use the stereo placement of cars to judge
where/when cars are when they are along side and out of range of the
mirrors.  Setting the sound to mono reduces the only cue (except look
left/right -- which I don't have much time when attempting to defend or
pass in turns) we have when we lose sight of the cars we are doing
battle with.

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

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