GPL newbie fps problems

Gents: There's got to be some problems here. I've recently done a full install of GPL.1.0.0.0, and with all options turned off and only 5 other cars, I'm getting 13 fps. With everything on, it's roughly 4 fps. Minimum requirements -- My system: Pentium 166 -- Pentium 233 32 meg RAM -- 128 meg RAM 2MB video card -- 4MB Matrox Millenium II video card (MGA chip) 2X CD-ROM drive -- 24X CD-ROM drive Mouse -- Mouse In fact, I just upgraded from a Trident 9680 1MB video card to the 4MB Matrox, and there was no difference. Even tried uninstalling and reinstalling GPL with no effect. The only screen resolution options GPL gives me are 640x480, 512x384, and 320x240. And the option to display the track "line" is always grayed out. And, yes, I close all other programs before running GPL. To compare, I've run Official F1 Racing ('98 season) constantly for the last couple of years, and get great frame rates. Any solutions? Many thanks. Ed.

Those numbers are about right, thats exactly the results you should be getting. If you want to run with all the details turned on, you would need at least a 1 Ghz and a minimum 32MB modern video card. And go to www.papy.com and get all the updates, that way you can add direct3d support, as well as other things. -- Biz "Don't touch that please, your primitive intellect wouldn't understand alloys and compositions and,......things with molecular structures,....and the....." - Ash Edward of Pt. Lookout <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:9vioki$fosl9$[email hidden]... > Gents: > > There's got to be some problems here. I've recently > done a full install of GPL.1.0.0.0, and with all options > turned off and only 5 other cars, I'm getting 13 fps. > With everything on, it's roughly 4 fps. > > Minimum requirements -- My system: > Pentium 166 -- Pentium 233 > 32 meg RAM -- 128 meg RAM > 2MB video card -- 4MB Matrox Millenium II video card (MGA chip) > 2X CD-ROM drive -- 24X CD-ROM drive > Mouse -- Mouse > > In fact, I just upgraded from a Trident 9680 1MB video > card to the 4MB Matrox, and there was no difference. > Even tried uninstalling and reinstalling GPL with no > effect. > > The only screen resolution options GPL gives me are > 640x480, 512x384, and 320x240. And the option to > display the track "line" is always grayed out. And, yes, > I close all other programs before running GPL. > > To compare, I've run Official F1 Racing ('98 season) > constantly for the last couple of years, and get great > frame rates. > > Any solutions? > > Many thanks. > > Ed. > > > > > >

Go here -> http://www.papy.com/framesets/downframe.htm and download and apply the GPL version 1.2 patch, then apply the D3D patch (this will help with fps, make things look nicer, let you use much higher resolutions, and let you turn the dark-rubber racing line thingy on). Your computer is very old, and you would do well to invest money in a faster cpu and graphics card. Cheers Jim S "Edward of Pt. Lookout" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:9vioki$fosl9$[email hidden]...

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> Gents: > > There's got to be some problems here. I've recently > done a full install of GPL.1.0.0.0, and with all options > turned off and only 5 other cars, I'm getting 13 fps. > With everything on, it's roughly 4 fps. > > Minimum requirements -- My system: > Pentium 166 -- Pentium 233 > 32 meg RAM -- 128 meg RAM > 2MB video card -- 4MB Matrox Millenium II video card (MGA chip) > 2X CD-ROM drive -- 24X CD-ROM drive > Mouse -- Mouse > > In fact, I just upgraded from a Trident 9680 1MB video > card to the 4MB Matrox, and there was no difference. > Even tried uninstalling and reinstalling GPL with no > effect. > > The only screen resolution options GPL gives me are > 640x480, 512x384, and 320x240. And the option to > display the track "line" is always grayed out. And, yes, > I close all other programs before running GPL. > > To compare, I've run Official F1 Racing ('98 season) > constantly for the last couple of years, and get great > frame rates. > > Any solutions? > > Many thanks. > > Ed. > > > > > >

Edward of Pt. Lookout <[email hidden]> wrote on 16 Dec 2001: > Gents: > > There's got to be some problems here.<snip> Yep. Of which the main one is that you've taken the specs on the box at face value. My current system is as follows - Celeron 500, 128 megs RAM, Voodoo 3 - and I have to make compromises with that. On my previous machine (P200MMX, 64 megs RAM, Voodoo 1) I was really restricted to hotlapping. Let's get RAM out of the way first, as your 128 megs will be fine. GPL isn't particularly RAM-hungry, and even 32 meg machines should be OK (though the more you have, the longer your replay files can be). The CPU is a problem. I'm assuming that "P233" means an original Pentium, rather than a PII-233. You need a fair bit more speed, I'm afraid - a Celeron at minimum and more if you can afford it. The graphics problem is a common one. GPL is an old game, and doesn't support Direct3D as standard. It only has native support for ye olde Rendition cards and (of slightly more use) 3Dfx cards. With anything else, the game will only use software rendering, which is close to unplayable, as you've discovered. In fact, as Biz points out, there is a way of making GPL run with Direct3D, but you'll need the patches he mentions (which seems to work pretty well for most people). You should get the v1.2 patch even if you don't get the Direct3D patch, as it has a bundle of improvements, including Force Feedback support; and you'll also need it to play online (though you won't be able to do this successfully without a faster system). If money is tight (in which case you've bought the wrong game - GPL costs everyone a fortune in upgrades!) you might try getting hold of a second-hand Voodoo card - it'll make a very noticeable difference on its own, and will be a lot cheaper than a new CPU and motherboard. Lastly - in GPL, smoothness is everything; you shuld always be prepared to sacrifice grpahics for frame-rate. To play online you'll need to be able to keep the frame-rate (press ALT+F to see it) at 36fps most of the time. Good luck! -- "We are not very far from fascism. In fact, Mugabe has endorsed fascism in his rule" - Takura Zhangazha, Zimbabwean political scientist. The GPL Scrapyard returns (slowly): http://www.hillclimbfan.f2s.com

Your Matrox has a very good image quality, we used it on graphic systems for internet (some years ago) but it is too slow for any racing sim. I tested it just for fun with very bad results. Buy yourself a modern computer and have a look on: Take no on-board-video - buy a modern graphic card no on-board-sound - buy a creative labs live player (or how she is named today) (the on-board-chips are cheaper, but take you much performance) Most users of GPL are happy with Athlon systems. (As I am ;-))) You will need performance, because the GPL-community is creating many addons in high quality, that don't run on older systems. And you will never think negative of the money, you spend for a modern computer again! There are over 100 addon tracks and the very realistic cars and...and...and.. Have fun Rolf

Gents: Thanks for all your help and advice so far. I've successfully installed the 1.2 patch, but with no improvement in frame rate. The D3D patch didn't work. I installed it and created a core.ini file, although I'm not exactly sure what it should contain. The accelerator menu showed the new option 'Direct3d7', but when I selected it and re-started GPL, it wouldn't re-start. I guess this means my Matrox Millenium II video card isn't D3D compliant. Or is Direct3D something I need separately from everything else, like DirectX? So I'm still on square 1 (more like P20). Buying an old 3Dfx or Rendition card seems to be my next step, right? Again, many thanks. Ed.

Edward of Pt. Lookout <[email hidden]> schreef in berichtnieuws 9vioki$fosl9$[email hidden]... > 4MB Matrox Millenium II video card (MGA chip) It may be possible to run GPL on a P233 and (barely) get decent fps with all graphics turned off, but not with that card. Find a 2nd hand Voodoo II add-on videocard to run with the Matrox - 3Dfx is supported by GPL. Better yet, get a new system. Bye, Leo

"Edward of Pt. Lookout" wrote:

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> > Gents: > > Thanks for all your help and advice so far. I've successfully > installed the 1.2 patch, but with no improvement in frame rate. > The D3D patch didn't work. I installed it and created a core.ini > file, although I'm not exactly sure what it should contain. The > accelerator menu showed the new option 'Direct3d7', but when > I selected it and re-started GPL, it wouldn't re-start. I guess this > means my Matrox Millenium II video card isn't D3D compliant. > Or is Direct3D something I need separately from everything else, > like DirectX? > > So I'm still on square 1 (more like P20). > > Buying an old 3Dfx or Rendition card seems to be my next step, > right?

Yea, I'm pretty sure your M2 doesn't have enough memory or rendering power to do you any good. Look for a used 12Meg Voodoo2 (keep your M2's excellent 2D image quality) or Voodoo3 (slightly softer desktop image) on Ebay. When/if you get a faster CPU the V3's extra rendering power will be handy. A K6-3 is probably the best chip for your system, _if_ the MB supports it. With your older, slower memory, a K6-3 will run better than a substantially faster K6-2. -Greg ============ Anti-Spam measures have been taken! Remove duplicate letters to reply.

On Sun, 16 Dec 2001 16:32:08 -0800, Greg Campbell <[email hidden]> wrote: >Yea, I'm pretty sure your M2 doesn't have enough memory or rendering >power to do you any good. I am using an 8MB Matrox MGA-G200 (which I think is a similar card) on my PII-400 and it's fine at 800x600 if you use TossHighestMip=1 and AlphaThreshold=240. I would mess around with the settings in core.ini before throwing the system away. -- _____ . . <| Carl Warnell ' o/ FORE! . . | [email hidden] | . . . . | /| . . ...o

Gents: Hi, again. I can't get the D3D patch to work with my 4MB Matrox Millenium II, although what I've read says it should. I click on GPL icon, screen goes black for a few seconds, then back to desktop. I tried modifying several lines in the core.ini file with no luck. Could anyone with a similar system (old) send me their core.ini file to try? At least I'll get an idea of what one should contain. I've considered possble problems with the M2 itself, but no other programs seem to be affected. All the best, Ed. P.S. I believe your Matrox MGA-G200 and my MGA-M2 even use the same driver. Carl Warnell wrote in message ...

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>On Sun, 16 Dec 2001 16:32:08 -0800, Greg Campbell ><[email hidden]> wrote: > >>Yea, I'm pretty sure your M2 doesn't have enough memory or rendering >>power to do you any good. > >I am using an 8MB Matrox MGA-G200 (which I think is a similar card) on >my PII-400 and it's fine at 800x600 if you use TossHighestMip=1 and >AlphaThreshold=240. I would mess around with the settings in core.ini >before throwing the system away. > >-- > _____ . . <| >Carl Warnell ' o/ FORE! . . | >[email hidden] | . . . . | > /| . . ...o

Do you have at least DirectX7 installed? -- Peter H GPL sucks...you in "Leo Landman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:9vjcqg$44b$[email hidden]... > > Edward of Pt. Lookout <[email hidden]> schreef in berichtnieuws > 9vioki$fosl9$[email hidden]... > > > 4MB Matrox Millenium II video card (MGA chip) > > It may be possible to run GPL on a P233 and (barely) get decent fps with all > graphics turned off, but not with that card. Find a 2nd hand Voodoo II > add-on videocard to run with the Matrox - 3Dfx is supported by GPL. Better > yet, get a new system. > > Bye, > Leo > > >

Gents, Yes, I have DirectX 7.0. I ran the DirectX diagnostic, and its Direct3D Test ran flawlessly, both in software rendering and hardware-acceleration rendering. I'm now trying the DirectX diagnostic Troubleshooting section. I've tried various monitor/display settings-- AOC Spectrum 4V, Plug-and-Play monitor, 1024x768-True Color (32 bit), 640x480-16 color, etc. No luck. Possible clue? - When trying GPL using the Direct3D option, just before the screen turns black, a block appears in the Task bar at the bottom of the screen that says "Papyrus Window" (even though my core.ini file says fullScreen = 1). Then, as usual, it goes to black and then back to the desktop. Still at 13 fps, Ed. Peter H wrote in message ...

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>Do you have at least DirectX7 installed? > >-- >Peter H > >GPL sucks...you in > >"Leo Landman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >news:9vjcqg$44b$[email hidden]... >> >> Edward of Pt. Lookout <[email hidden]> schreef in berichtnieuws >> 9vioki$fosl9$[email hidden]... >> >> > 4MB Matrox Millenium II video card (MGA chip) >> >> It may be possible to run GPL on a P233 and (barely) get decent fps with >all >> graphics turned off, but not with that card. Find a 2nd hand Voodoo II >> add-on videocard to run with the Matrox - 3Dfx is supported by GPL. Better >> yet, get a new system. >> >> Bye, >> Leo >> >> >> > >

Full-screen or windowed the game's WindowName is 'Papyrus Window', so that's exactly what you're supposed to see. Unfortunately GPL's D3D patch isn't going work since the Matrox Millennium II has a hardware limitation of DX5, and GPL requires DX7 or later. With your system, 13fps is about all you reasonably can expect in software mode. - Eric "Edward of Pt. Lookout" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:9vqij4$h5b15$[email hidden]... > Possible clue? - When trying GPL using the Direct3D option, just beforethe screen > turns black, a block appears in the Task bar at the bottom of the screenthat says > "Papyrus Window" (even though my core.ini file says fullScreen = 1).Then, > as usual, it goes to black and then back to the desktop.

The Matrox Millennium II only has hardware support for DX5 or earlier, and the GPL D3D patch requires DX7 or later. - Eric "Edward of Pt. Lookout" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:9vo61o$gf6mk$[email hidden]... > I can't get the D3D patch to work with my 4MB Matrox Millenium II,although > what I've read says it should. I click on GPL icon, screen goes black fora > few seconds, then back to desktop. I tried modifying several lines in the > core.ini file with no luck. Could anyone with a similar system (old) sendme > their core.ini file to try? At least I'll get an idea of what one shouldcontain. > > I've considered possble problems with the M2 itself, but no other programs > seem to be affected.

Gents, That explains it, then. So, if I add-on, say, a 3Dfx-chip card with my M2, I could un-install the Direct3D patch-- no longer requiring DX7-- and select GPL's 3Dfx option, right? Again, many thanks for everyone's help and advice. Ed. Eric Busch wrote in message <9vqkni$ia0$[email hidden]>... >The Matrox Millennium II only has hardware support for DX5 or earlier, and >the GPL D3D patch requires DX7 or later. > >- Eric >

The only addon 3Dfx chipset is the Voodoo2. There should be one around someplace :) "Edward of Pt. Lookout" wrote:

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> > Gents, > > That explains it, then. So, if I add-on, say, a 3Dfx-chip card with my M2, I could > un-install the Direct3D patch-- no longer requiring DX7-- and select GPL's > 3Dfx option, right? > > Again, many thanks for everyone's help and advice. > > Ed. > > Eric Busch wrote in message <9vqkni$ia0$[email hidden]>... > >The Matrox Millennium II only has hardware support for DX5 or earlier, and > >the GPL D3D patch requires DX7 or later. > > > >- Eric > >

-- Jason Monds http://www.proracingclub.com - Pro Racing Club! (GPL) http://www.scprc.com - Stock Car Division of the PRC. (N4, Fun Run Sims) (Please remove 'no extra spork' when replying)

"Edward of Pt. Lookout" wrote > So, if I add-on, say, a 3Dfx-chip card with my M2, I could > un-install the Direct3D patch-- no longer requiring DX7-- and select GPL's > 3Dfx option, right? You got it .