rec.autos.simulators

Guys,

Finally I have settled down to get seriously stuck into playing F1C.

I've got the game running well, with a decent frame rate in the 70s, yet I'm
5 seconds off the pace, and I know my driving's not that bad! ;-)

I simply haven't got the grip of the AI cars, and as I'm starting with the
default setup, there must be something set so wrong in them that it's
masking the changes I'm making.

What are the things that have the biggest effect, and what ball park should
I set them to?

Thanks.
--
R.
GPLRank +79.699

I had the same problem 'til I finally found a couple of guides that
really helped me out a lot.
Now, I can get pole position every race (but tend to either never
finish or come in last because I always hit someone else and have to
pit too often).
Anyways, there are two excellent guides. One is called "F1 Challenge
Driving Guide" written by Craig Cookson.
Looks like there's an online version here:
http://w3.enternet.hu/iroland/html/F1C-DrivingGuide.htm
but you can find a pdf file here:
http://forum.racesimcentral.com/forumdisplay.php?s=260b2c5c71b835ba37...

Also, there's a guide called "Happy's Advanced F1 Setup Guide."
http://www.kiwisim.net.nz/filemgmt/singlefile.php?lid=15

Print both of 'me out - they make great bathroom reading.
I went through and hilighted the main points and sat down and tried
'em all out.
The biggest difference you might notice for cornering is the camber
settings for your wheels. Give them a more negative camber.
Look at the diagram below. Tilting your wheels IN at the top results
in negative camber. What this does is force your wheels back down onto
the track as you corner, resulting in better grip.

       0 CAMBER                 NEGATIVE CAMBER
+ |---| -   - |---| +           /---/     ---
  |   |       |   |            /   /      \   \
  |   |-------|   |           /   /--------\   \
  |   |-------|   |          /   /--------- \   \
  |___|       |___|         /___/            \___\

I usually set my camber at about -4, maybe -4.5 degrees for the front.
Not quite that much for the rear.
Hope this helps, but get those two guides and you'll be surprised by
how much they'll help.

I can send you a setup for the track you are working on now (if I have one
ready), and you can use it to compare to the default setup. Also, you need
to make sure your wheel is set up correctly. The x axis sensitivity setting
makes a big difference.

David G Fisher

Another thing that helps a lot, and is used by a lot of people, is to use
much lower spring rates than the defaults.  This gives you more grip during
transient handling.  A lot of setups I have downloaded are using rates from
70 to 120, almost never higher than that.

The key is to realize the physics are polygon based, and real life
values are going to be too stiff when you're dealing with tons of low
frequency bumps.  I always start with the rear bar/springs at the
minimum and adjust the front bar/springs to get the car balance I
want.

Jason