N4 questions

I just got N4, and while I really like it I am having a couple of problems. First, the performance at times is just horrible. On an empty track I can get upwards of 60 fps, but in some situations it drops down to less than 10. I have all the detail settings at minimum, and I am running it on a 900 MHz machine with 256 meg of RAM and a 32 meg Radeon. Even Tribes 2 performs better than this! The weird thing too is that the slowdowns are not necessarily just when there are a lot of cars on screen. Sometimes I get these slowdowns just running down the back straightaway with only a few cars in sight. Anyone have any tips on how to improve performance? Is Papyrus addressing this? Secondly, the AI seems screwy at times. I've seen cars jump right into the pits as soon as we go green. I'm also constantly getting cut off and pushed around by the AI drivers. I might be wrong here, but I was under the impression that real NASCAR drivers observed a certain amount of courtesy in passing situations. The AI drivers on the other hand will blindly follow their line even when you are trying to pass them. I guess I could just learn to anticipate that, but it seems somewhat unrealistic. Anyway, I hate to sound like I'm complaining, because overall I really do like the game. I'm just wondering if other people are having these problems and if they are being addressed. Regards, Hal

Hi, Sounds like you haven't patched the game yet. Get it from Papy's website. As far as I know, N4 doesn't like Radeons that much. It works much better with a Geforce2+ using OpenGL. The patch fixes the AI somewhat, but here's a tip - get nasty! The AI will move out of your way if you bump it, also known as a 'contact pass' lol. If you need to put the AI into the wall, do it. Just don't use this strategy online or you won't make any friends. good luck! -Phasor "Haqsau" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:MZQP6.30411$[email hidden]...

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> I just got N4, and while I really like it I am having a couple of > problems. First, the performance at times is just horrible. On an > empty track I can get upwards of 60 fps, but in some situations it drops > down to less than 10. I have all the detail settings at minimum, and I > am running it on a 900 MHz machine with 256 meg of RAM and a 32 meg > Radeon. Even Tribes 2 performs better than this! The weird thing too > is that the slowdowns are not necessarily just when there are a lot of > cars on screen. Sometimes I get these slowdowns just running down the > back straightaway with only a few cars in sight. Anyone have any tips > on how to improve performance? Is Papyrus addressing this? > > Secondly, the AI seems screwy at times. I've seen cars jump right into > the pits as soon as we go green. I'm also constantly getting cut off > and pushed around by the AI drivers. I might be wrong here, but I was > under the impression that real NASCAR drivers observed a certain amount > of courtesy in passing situations. The AI drivers on the other hand > will blindly follow their line even when you are trying to pass them. I > guess I could just learn to anticipate that, but it seems somewhat > unrealistic. > > Anyway, I hate to sound like I'm complaining, because overall I really > do like the game. I'm just wondering if other people are having these > problems and if they are being addressed. > > Regards, > Hal >

I do have the 1.1 patch. As far as I can tell that is the latest. The AI is still a problem. Just today, I was in the back of the pack on a yellow flag, and an AI car came up and shoved me into the wall. The weird thing is, it almost always seems to be the #5 car. So I have taken him out of the opponent roster, but I haven't had a chance yet to see whether that makes a difference. I don't know if there is some AI quirk associated with that driver, or whether it is just because that car is normally in last place, and the AI gets weird when it is in last place. Also, as far as the passing goes, I think I've got that figured out. The AI drivers almost always go from inside to outside coming out of a turn, and vice versa going into a turn. If I'm actually next to them before they do that, they see me and avoid me. But if I happen to be overtaking at that time, but not quite up to them yet, they don't seem to be able to account for that. So I can sort of work around it, but unfortunately that makes it more difficult to employ late braking into a corner or high exit speed out of a corner as a passing technique. I'm not a racer but I used to work with racers a lot and I'm told those are legitimate and frequently used techniques. It would be nice if the AI could predict forward a little and recognize when someone is about to pass them. "Phasor" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:2sUP6.19935$[email hidden]... > Hi, > > Sounds like you haven't patched the game yet. Get it from Papy'swebsite. > > As far as I know, N4 doesn't like Radeons that much. It works muchbetter > with a Geforce2+ using OpenGL. > > The patch fixes the AI somewhat, but here's a tip - get nasty! The AIwill > move out of your way if you bump it, also known as a 'contact pass'lol. If > you need to put the AI into the wall, do it. Just don't use thisstrategy

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> online or you won't make any friends. > > good luck! > > -Phasor > > "Haqsau" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:MZQP6.30411$[email hidden]... > > I just got N4, and while I really like it I am having a couple of > > problems. First, the performance at times is just horrible. On an > > empty track I can get upwards of 60 fps, but in some situations it

drops > > down to less than 10. I have all the detail settings at minimum,and I > > am running it on a 900 MHz machine with 256 meg of RAM and a 32 meg > > Radeon. Even Tribes 2 performs better than this! The weird thingtoo > > is that the slowdowns are not necessarily just when there are a lotof > > cars on screen. Sometimes I get these slowdowns just running downthe > > back straightaway with only a few cars in sight. Anyone have anytips > > on how to improve performance? Is Papyrus addressing this? > > > > Secondly, the AI seems screwy at times. I've seen cars jump rightinto > > the pits as soon as we go green. I'm also constantly getting cutoff > > and pushed around by the AI drivers. I might be wrong here, but Iwas > > under the impression that real NASCAR drivers observed a certainamount > > of courtesy in passing situations. The AI drivers on the other hand > > will blindly follow their line even when you are trying to passthem. I > > guess I could just learn to anticipate that, but it seems somewhat > > unrealistic. > > > > Anyway, I hate to sound like I'm complaining, because overall Ireally > > do like the game. I'm just wondering if other people are havingthese

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> > problems and if they are being addressed. > > > > Regards, > > Hal > > > >

If you're going that slow with a 900mhz machine...You need to check your settings. People are getting better frame rates than you with 600mhz machines. "Haqsau" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:MZQP6.30411$[email hidden]...

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> I just got N4, and while I really like it I am having a couple of > problems. First, the performance at times is just horrible. On an > empty track I can get upwards of 60 fps, but in some situations it drops > down to less than 10. I have all the detail settings at minimum, and I > am running it on a 900 MHz machine with 256 meg of RAM and a 32 meg > Radeon. Even Tribes 2 performs better than this! The weird thing too > is that the slowdowns are not necessarily just when there are a lot of > cars on screen. Sometimes I get these slowdowns just running down the > back straightaway with only a few cars in sight. Anyone have any tips > on how to improve performance? Is Papyrus addressing this? > > Secondly, the AI seems screwy at times. I've seen cars jump right into > the pits as soon as we go green. I'm also constantly getting cut off > and pushed around by the AI drivers. I might be wrong here, but I was > under the impression that real NASCAR drivers observed a certain amount > of courtesy in passing situations. The AI drivers on the other hand > will blindly follow their line even when you are trying to pass them. I > guess I could just learn to anticipate that, but it seems somewhat > unrealistic. > > Anyway, I hate to sound like I'm complaining, because overall I really > do like the game. I'm just wondering if other people are having these > problems and if they are being addressed. > > Regards, > Hal >

Are you running open gl or d3d? try both, many find N4 running faster in open gl. Also, do you have Vsynch turned off? This is found at Control Panel/Display/Settings/Geforce/Additional Settings/Open GL And turn Vertical Sync to always off. Michael Loos Gasoline Alley...The Fastest Show In Radio! Nationwide Saturdays at 10:00 pm Eastern - 7:00 pm Pacific Find your local affiliate at www.GasolineAlleyOnline.net

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>Subject: N4 questions >From: "Haqsau" [email hidden] >Date: 05/26/2001 12:38 PM Eastern Daylight Time >Message-id: <MZQP6.30411$[email hidden]> > >I just got N4, and while I really like it I am having a couple of >problems. First, the performance at times is just horrible. On an >empty track I can get upwards of 60 fps, but in some situations it drops >down to less than 10. I have all the detail settings at minimum, and I >am running it on a 900 MHz machine with 256 meg of RAM and a 32 meg >Radeon. Even Tribes 2 performs better than this! The weird thing too >is that the slowdowns are not necessarily just when there are a lot of >cars on screen. Sometimes I get these slowdowns just running down the >back straightaway with only a few cars in sight. Anyone have any tips >on how to improve performance? Is Papyrus addressing this?

D3D (normal or Tnl HAL?) or OpenGL? I had better luck in D3D with the Tnl HAL configuration and am just now tinkering with OpenGL fairly successfully. I was having what many Radeon owners were experiencing in OGL with screen lockups....go to http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=15590 for a really great tip on OpenGL for Radeons. Also you might try adding the following line to your C:\windows\system.ini file under the [386Enh] section: ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 It seems to have helped my Win98 system. I think that windows tries to access the swapfile too often...this setting reduces the swapfile activity which can cause the game run slow intermittently (sp?) and since you have 256 MB RAM you shouldn't need the swapfile very often.

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> >Secondly, the AI seems screwy at times. I've seen cars jump right into >the pits as soon as we go green. I'm also constantly getting cut off >and pushed around by the AI drivers. I might be wrong here, but I was >under the impression that real NASCAR drivers observed a certain amount >of courtesy in passing situations. The AI drivers on the other hand >will blindly follow their line even when you are trying to pass them. I >guess I could just learn to anticipate that, but it seems somewhat >unrealistic. >

not sure which patch you said (in a later post) that you had but the first patch was 4.1.0.0.1 which addressed some multiplayer issues. The latest patch is 4.1.1.0.0 (US) which addressed lots of issues including a seriously flawed AI. Most people have reported a vast improvement in the patched AI although some still beef about it. >Anyway, I hate to sound like I'm complaining, because overall I really >do like the game. I'm just wondering if other people are having these >problems and if they are being addressed. > >Regards, >Hal I'm running a PIII 600 w/256MB PC100 RAM Radeon All-in-wonder AGP 32MB (mother board has only 1x AGP) N4 Graphics: all Quality and effects ON Cars drawn 10 ahead 3 behind Car detail HIGH world view setting lowest Drawing distance: Ahead 30% (this seemed to make a big difference) Mirror 15% Bottom line is you have a significantly faster machine than mine. and I don't recall seeing FPS down to 10 ever. You sholdn't have to turn "everything" down. Good luck Doug B. (Don't gimme NOCRAP in E-mail)

"Race1530" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Are you running open gl or d3d? try both, many find N4 running fasterin open > gl. Also, do you have Vsynch turned off? This is found at > Control Panel/Display/Settings/Geforce/Additional Settings/Open GL > And turn Vertical Sync to always off. OpenGL, Vsynch off. > Michael Loos > Gasoline Alley...The Fastest Show In Radio! > Nationwide Saturdays at 10:00 pm Eastern - 7:00 pm Pacific > Find your local affiliate at > www.GasolineAlleyOnline.net

"PHYDEAUX99" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > > D3D (normal or Tnl HAL?) or OpenGL? I had better luck in D3D with theTnl HAL > configuration and am just now tinkering with OpenGL fairlysuccessfully. OpenGL. I will try D3D and see if that is an improvement, but from what I've seen on message boards so far it seems like most people are having better luck with OpenGL. > I was having what many Radeon owners were experiencing in OGL withscreen > lockups....go tohttp://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=15590 > for a really great tip on OpenGL for Radeons. Umm, yes, I was the one who posted that tip here. :o) > Also you might try adding the following line to yourC:\windows\system.ini file > > under the [386Enh] section: > > ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 Already done that too. :o) > not sure which patch you said (in a later post) that you had but thefirst > patch was 4.1.0.0.1 which addressed some multiplayer issues. Thelatest > patch is 4.1.1.0.0 (US) which addressed lots of issues including aseriously > flawed AI. Most people have reported a vast improvement in thepatched AI > although some still beef about it. Played a couple more races today, still seeing the same AI problems. The AI acts screwy for the last few cars, no matter who they are. I even checked a couple of replays to see if I was imagining things. They are definitely bumping players out of the way.

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> I'm running a PIII 600 w/256MB PC100 RAM > Radeon All-in-wonder AGP 32MB (mother board has only 1x AGP) > > N4 Graphics: > all Quality and effects ON > Cars drawn 10 ahead 3 behind > Car detail HIGH > world view setting lowest > > Drawing distance: > > Ahead 30% (this seemed to make a big difference) > Mirror 15% > > Bottom line is you have a significantly faster machine than mine. and

I don't > recall seeing FPS down to 10 ever. You sholdn't have to turn"everything" > down. > > Good luck > > Doug B. Thanks. I'll try turning the draw distance down, that's one thing I hadn't tried yet. Regards, Hal

Well I tried reducing draw distance, and that seemed to help in some situations. However I don't really think this is a graphics issue. The two worst slow downs that I have experienced were in situations where no other cars were on screen. These happened while racing at Daytona, playing against my son on a LAN, with 18 AI opponents to fill out the field. The first time was coming out of the pits under a yellow flag. Frame rate dropped to 8, even though there were no other cars on screen. The second time came again under yellow, when I was racing down the back straight to catch up to the pacing line, which was all the way on the other side of the track. Here I saw about 12 fps. Normally I get frame rates in the 20 - 30 range when racing, and 30 - 60 when qualifying. Is there an issue with either the AI or the network layer slowing things down? At this point I don't think graphics has much to do with it.

I had similar problem. I solved it by turning off 3d-sound. TS "Haqsau" <[email hidden]> skrev i melding news:AvaQ6.35732$[email hidden]...

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> Well I tried reducing draw distance, and that seemed to help in some > situations. However I don't really think this is a graphics issue. The > two worst slow downs that I have experienced were in situations where no > other cars were on screen. These happened while racing at Daytona, > playing against my son on a LAN, with 18 AI opponents to fill out the > field. The first time was coming out of the pits under a yellow flag. > Frame rate dropped to 8, even though there were no other cars on screen. > The second time came again under yellow, when I was racing down the back > straight to catch up to the pacing line, which was all the way on the > other side of the track. Here I saw about 12 fps. Normally I get frame > rates in the 20 - 30 range when racing, and 30 - 60 when qualifying. Is > there an issue with either the AI or the network layer slowing things > down? At this point I don't think graphics has much to do with it. > >

Thanks, but that didn't help either. "T S" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:1pbQ6.4488$[email hidden]...

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> I had similar problem. I solved it by turning off 3d-sound. > TS > > > "Haqsau" <[email hidden]> skrev i melding > news:AvaQ6.35732$[email hidden]... > > Well I tried reducing draw distance, and that seemed to help in some > > situations. However I don't really think this is a graphics issue.

The > > two worst slow downs that I have experienced were in situationswhere no > > other cars were on screen. These happened while racing at Daytona, > > playing against my son on a LAN, with 18 AI opponents to fill outthe > > field. The first time was coming out of the pits under a yellowflag. > > Frame rate dropped to 8, even though there were no other cars onscreen. > > The second time came again under yellow, when I was racing down theback > > straight to catch up to the pacing line, which was all the way onthe > > other side of the track. Here I saw about 12 fps. Normally I getframe > > rates in the 20 - 30 range when racing, and 30 - 60 when qualifying.Is > > there an issue with either the AI or the network layer slowingthings > > down? At this point I don't think graphics has much to do with it. > > > > > >