GPL: Monza.dat question

I was just wondering, if I unpack Monza.dat (which I've done), does anybody know how I can change the setting for the tracks grip ? When it's unpacked, one of the files is "monza.trk". I'm guessing the value needed is in there, but is there a utility that can help me out somewhere on the net ? Any help much appreciated.

so you want to increase grip, there by giving you and advantage over the others racing as it is meant to be done.....hmm this to me is cheating, asurely not tolerated by GPLers. you want extra grip go get GP3, they got lotsa patches and wings to increase downforce. GPL is a sim, not an arcade game where you increase grip to go faster work harder like the rest of us have to get better laptimes, and dont look to cheat, its more satisfying to get a 1m28 monza lap without cheats than to get a 1m27 with a cheated lap....at least i think thats right, i dont cheat so cant tell you from first hand experience Happy New Year Incubus <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:fkK36.248$[email hidden]... > I was just wondering, if I unpack Monza.dat (which I've done), doesanybody > know how I can change the setting for the tracks grip ? > > When it's unpacked, one of the files is "monza.trk". I'm guessing thevalue > needed is in there, but is there a utility that can help me out somewhereon > the net ? > > Any help much appreciated. > >

While you "may" have a legitimate reason(i.e. a patch to convert gpl to say...a 67 sports car field) by increasing the track grip you are indeed crossing the line which supposedly separates the GPL community from sim racers in general. All speed increases should come from practice, not from hacking away at the track dats or game .exe. Now back to the cockpit withyou... dave henrie "Incubus" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:fkK36.248$[email hidden]... > I was just wondering, if I unpack Monza.dat (which I've done), doesanybody > know how I can change the setting for the tracks grip ? > > When it's unpacked, one of the files is "monza.trk". I'm guessing thevalue > needed is in there, but is there a utility that can help me out somewhereon > the net ? > > Any help much appreciated. > >

Groan... You know, if everyone wasn't willing to make any changes/mods/updates to GPL we would all be playing the game out of the box. Look, the fact is that the grip in GPL is NOT 100% realistic. Dave Kaemmer said so himself. Do you really think the cars in '67 were really as difficult to drive as the ones in GPL? HELL NO. GPL has amazingly realistic physics and the result is an excellent driving model. However this model is NOT perfect. If this guy wants to modify HIS copy of GPL so that it is more realistic then all power to him. If he could figure out how to make the grip level more realistic then each and every one of us would get down on our hands and knees and thank him. As for cheating, how do you know the guy even plays online? Can't we all just get along? ...Colin "Warren" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:_AK36.39666$[email hidden]... > so you want to increase grip, there by giving you and advantage over the > others racing as it is meant to be done.....hmm this to me is cheating, > asurely not tolerated by GPLers. > you want extra grip go get GP3, they got lotsa patches and wings toincrease > downforce. > GPL is a sim, not an arcade game where you increase grip to go faster > work harder like the rest of us have to get better laptimes, and dont look > to cheat, its more satisfying to get a 1m28 monza lap without cheats thanto > get a 1m27 with a cheated lap....at least i think thats right, i dontcheat > so cant tell you from first hand experience > Happy New Year >

You can't get more grip than it's current surface anyway, the highest level grip surface in the TRK file is 'tarmac' then concrete, then kerbs... all the way to grass, mud, banks (no not banking, mud banks like on the left out of eau rouge). The only advantage to be made would be to change the grass to tarmac and use that as extra track, but wouldn't people notice? "Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:gdL36.212202$[email hidden]...

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> While you "may" have a legitimate reason(i.e. a patch to convert gpl to > say...a 67 sports car field) by increasing the track grip you are indeed > crossing the line which supposedly separates the GPL community from sim > racers in general. > All speed increases should come from practice, not from hacking away at > the track dats or game .exe. Now back to the cockpit withyou... > dave henrie > "Incubus" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:fkK36.248$[email hidden]... > > I was just wondering, if I unpack Monza.dat (which I've done), does > anybody > > know how I can change the setting for the tracks grip ? > > > > When it's unpacked, one of the files is "monza.trk". I'm guessing the > value > > needed is in there, but is there a utility that can help me out

somewhere

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> on > > the net ? > > > > Any help much appreciated. > > > > >

On Mon, 1 Jan 2001 04:47:13 +1100, "Incubus" <[email hidden]> wrote: >I was just wondering, if I unpack Monza.dat (which I've done), does anybody >know how I can change the setting for the tracks grip ? I would be willing to wager that, unless someone responds privately, you are not going to get a single helpful answer to this inquiry. Why? Because if there is anyone who knows such things (and I suspect some do) they will not divulge that sort of information publicly. Consider the ramifications of such knowledge becoming common. If the GEM utility caused a great hue and cry, consider how quickly all the hotlap and ranking sites would be rendered useless. Don't take it personally if nobody helps you. It has nothing to do with you directly... <g> Regards, Brett C. Cammack brettDOTcammack@worldnetDOTattDOTnet (remove the DOTs from my return address to reply privately)

On Sun, 31 Dec 2000 13:52:03 -0500, "Colin" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>Groan... >You know, if everyone wasn't willing to make any changes/mods/updates to GPL >we would all be playing the game out of the box. >Look, the fact is that the grip in GPL is NOT 100% realistic. Dave Kaemmer >said so himself. Do you really think the cars in '67 were really as >difficult to drive as the ones in GPL? HELL NO. GPL has amazingly >realistic physics and the result is an excellent driving model. However >this model is NOT perfect. >If this guy wants to modify HIS copy of GPL so that it is more realistic >then all power to him. If he could figure out how to make the grip level >more realistic then each and every one of us would get down on our hands and >knees and thank him. >As for cheating, how do you know the guy even plays online? >Can't we all just get along? >...Colin >

This is what I don't get about hardcore GPL'ers. Sure, I love the game, and when i'm in a GPL phase (as opposed to an N3 phase or a GP3 phase or a...) I spend my time doing little else with my spare time. And for those for whom VROC is a religion, I guess I can see the "cheating" thing - but ya know what? Not all of us race on VROC, for various reasons. Primary among these being the internet is still a very unstable network, hardly capable of providing a satisfying racing experience for people as geographically far apart as Australia, North America, Europe and god knows where else. So, we race the AI. We try and work on our GPLRank Handicaps. We don't want to be best in the world, we want to have fun. So if some guy wants to make it easier to drive GPL, good luck to him. Have fun - just don't enter a race on VROC saying you're in an equal car and no one will care. Personally I wouldn't do it, but each to their own, eh? DG

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>"Warren" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >news:_AK36.39666$[email hidden]... >> so you want to increase grip, there by giving you and advantage over the >> others racing as it is meant to be done.....hmm this to me is cheating, >> asurely not tolerated by GPLers. >> you want extra grip go get GP3, they got lotsa patches and wings to >increase >> downforce. >> GPL is a sim, not an arcade game where you increase grip to go faster >> work harder like the rest of us have to get better laptimes, and dont look >> to cheat, its more satisfying to get a 1m28 monza lap without cheats than >to >> get a 1m27 with a cheated lap....at least i think thats right, i dont >cheat >> so cant tell you from first hand experience >> Happy New Year >> > > >

But, how would it be possible to keep such knowledge such that only those who do not compete for ranking internationally nor race on-line are privy to it and no one else is? My reply didn't place any value judgements upon his request, but simply explained why he probably wouldn't get an answer. The people who likely know the answer would not divulge it for all the reasons previously stated. Personally, I suspect that more than three quarters of the GPL enthusiasts race on-line regularly, so it's a valid concern for the majority. Regards, Brett C. Cammack brettDOTcammack@worldnetDOTattDOTnet (remove the DOTs from my return address to reply privately)

I personally feel that when GPL was released, there also were several utilities that enabled easier driving. Of course I never saw those and now I'm relegated to backmarker status. Those "gods" of gpl obviously have the utils but don't mention it to us. Yeah...dats it.....<wink, wink, nudge, nudge> dave henrie "Brett C. Cammack" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> But, how would it be possible to keep such knowledge such that only > those who do not compete for ranking internationally nor race on-line > are privy to it and no one else is? My reply didn't place any value > judgements upon his request, but simply explained why he probably > wouldn't get an answer. The people who likely know the answer would > not divulge it for all the reasons previously stated. > > Personally, I suspect that more than three quarters of the GPL > enthusiasts race on-line regularly, so it's a valid concern for the > majority. > > Regards, > Brett C. Cammack > brettDOTcammack@worldnetDOTattDOTnet > (remove the DOTs from my return address to reply privately)

Ok....I can see why some of you have "gone off" at me. The fact is, I can understand the concerns, obviously, but my time, at Monza at least, is 1:29.69. It's not great, but I think it's also not bad. So it's not that I'm asking, because of the fact that I'm "getting nowhere". The reason I was asking is because, with the N4 demo, in track.ini as you would all know, you can indeed adjust the track grip. I've also heard that this wont be available in the final release. I tried playing with it, and found it a much more fun game by increasing the value. I know that everyone is different...so therefore, everyone will have their own views....particualarly when it comes to online competitions. But perhaps if the online races would log lap times, as well as track grip variables, then having an adjustment for it wouldn't be such a problem. I'm not trying to make GPL feel like the car is lapping on "railroad tracks", I just feel, personally, that a little more grip would make it even more fun that it is now. If the adjustment was available, having less grip would have its merits too. "Incubus" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:fkK36.248$[email hidden]... > I was just wondering, if I unpack Monza.dat (which I've done), doesanybody > know how I can change the setting for the tracks grip ? > > When it's unpacked, one of the files is "monza.trk". I'm guessing thevalue > needed is in there, but is there a utility that can help me out somewhereon > the net ? > > Any help much appreciated. > > >

[email hidden] (Incubus) wrote in <U5346.1799$[email hidden]>: >I'm not trying to make GPL feel like the car is lapping on "railroad >tracks", I just feel, personally, that a little more grip would make it even more fun that it is now. I agree with you. I felt from the beginning that if gpl had more grip it would be more fun, and I have always wanted that extra grip. The irony is, that if that had become available, if grip and other parameters were adjustable to make the game more fun, the very best things about gpl would never have developed, and most of us probably wouldn't still be into now, two years later. Viper Racing for example is a great driving game that's easier, more accessible, more fun, than gpl. It's appeal lasted about two months for me. Once I mastered it, there was nothing else to hold my interest, like most games. Because gpl is so difficult it's mastered by very few, and because we can't change it, the playing field remains level for all of us, and there's great competition at EVERY level. It has lasted, nobody can wear it out, and that's allowed time for alot of great stuff to develop that wouldn't have otherwise. Like the quality and quantity of online league racing, VROC racing, all the new tracks, utilities and add ons, sites like Schubis and GPLRank. People wouldn't bother putting the effort into things like this if gpl didn't have the depth and history that it has. Someone new to gpl or who only does it casually offline may not appreciate this yet, but there is now a TON of great gpl stuff in addition to what came in the box, that these people will be able to take advantage of in the future. Being able to change grip, weight, engines, things that unlevel the playing field or make the game easier, may make it more fun, but it erodes the foundation of what has made gpl such a lasting game, and seriously threatens it's potential to keep developing in the future. The developers have shown us with numerous releases since gpl, that gpl cannot easily be topped or even equaled, so what we have going now with gpl is something special, and worth protecting, because if we screw it up, the next great game could be a LONG time coming. -- Don Scurlock Vancouver,B.C. GPLRank -5.29 Come see how you rank, at the GPLRank site http://gplrank.ringlord.com/

>"Incubus" <[email hidden]> wrote > I was just wondering, if I unpack Monza.dat (which I've done), doesanybody > know how I can change the setting for the tracks grip ? Asphalt is the highest grip you'll get. It's funny to see people in this thread who have absolutely no knowledge of track editing going "No you can't do that, cheater! If you change the grip in the .DAT file it's the end of GPL!". Hmmm it's just not possible to make the asphalt "grippier". Get some knowledge before arguing. Of course cheaters will always be stupid enough to change every other track surface polygon to asphalt grip. Who cares? It's as easy to see then somebody rail-riding at Monza. -- -- Fran�ois M�nard <ymenard> -- May the Downforce be with you... -- http://www.ymenard.com/ -- People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.

I was thinking along the lines of the "track grip" variable in the "track.ini" file of the N4 demo. But I guess, if it can't be done....well......whatever. "ymenard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:Jdd46.160726$[email hidden]...

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> >"Incubus" <[email hidden]> wrote > > I was just wondering, if I unpack Monza.dat (which I've done), does > anybody > > know how I can change the setting for the tracks grip ? > > Asphalt is the highest grip you'll get. > > It's funny to see people in this thread who have absolutely no knowledge

of > track editing going "No you can't do that, cheater! If you change the grip > in the .DAT file it's the end of GPL!". Hmmm it's just not possible tomake > the asphalt "grippier". Get some knowledge before arguing. > > Of course cheaters will always be stupid enough to change every othertrack

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> surface polygon to asphalt grip. Who cares? It's as easy to see then > somebody rail-riding at Monza. > > > > > -- > -- Fran�ois M�nard <ymenard> > -- May the Downforce be with you... > -- http://www.ymenard.com/ > -- People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't

realise > how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world. > > >