One more negative GPLRank (a story of a new GPL convert)

The story began two years ago and was full of ups and downs. After trying the demo of GPL I have found out it <blaspheme> slow and ugly looking </blaspheme> and decided to pass out the game, as that era didn't attract me either. That's how I got two more years of social life. However, after being somewhat disappointed by GP3 this fall, I have started to look for some other racing sim. Trusting the voice of community I've decided to buy GPL even though I didn't like the demo. It was not particularly easy [to find the game], but folks helped me pointing where I can buy one. So 6 weeks ago I've got a copy and the unforgetful period of my life began... After first days at Monza I was utterly disappointed being nowhere near the benchmark. Something must have been wrong (not my driving, of course:>). I have upgraded video card and steering wheel. It helped, but not much. The next one to blame was the car, then setup. After getting the fastest car and good setup I still was off the pace. That was a hard blow :< In complete despair I was putting more and more laps at Monza. The good was that the people in the newsgroup were cheering me up, telling that it's a normal state of GPL beginner. I have started to look at the net and found out a lot of resources dedicated to GPL. Reading helped and finally after a week of struggle I have beaten benchmark at Monza. The big grin stayed on my face for a couple of days. Then it became even bigger as I went below benchmark at Watkins Glen just after couple of evenings. Then I concluded, that I have learned how to drive and things will go easier further. So, according to the guide, I went to Spa. One more hard blow awaited me there: after a week of efforts I was 7 seconds off the pace. All my hopes were shattered and I gave up and full of despair went to other tracks. In the next week I bested benchmark at Mexico and at Silverstone and it raised my morale enough to go at Spa again. This time I was sure that now I knew how to drive :> Yes, I knew, now I was only 5 seconds off the benchmark. After few more days I was mad at myself, the track, the car and whatever else. I moved to other tracks and relatively quicky put fast times at Mosport, Kyalami and Zandvoort. This really puzzled me - why I can do well on one tracks and badly on others? I went to Spa again and after full committment during the few days I've finally beaten the benchmark ... barely :> This time the big grin lasted longer:> Christmas holidays were coming and I have decided to go 'The Ring'. I have finished the first two days with 9:00 and was full of optimism. Though on the third day times went up: 9:10,9:15,9:30,10:50. Once again I felt that all my hopes are shattered. But as usual reading the newsgroup cheered me up - it is always good to know that you are not the only one who can't drive properly :> Finally, I have managed 8:24 after the Christmas and just went to make some relaxed laps. Yes, relaxed laps in low 8:20's with best at 8:18. That was a triumph! Now the road to the negative GPLRank was open. Though I had no idea why I could make better laps when I wasn't trying to. The big grin is still here. Today I've made quick lap at the last remaining track -- Monaco and I've got what I've deserved: -13.13 from all thousands of other possible ranks (damned bad luck!) Thanks for reading, and thanks to all who helped me, Alex (alexti) P.S. I have heard some talks about replicas of Lotus... :>

There's hope for me yet! sounds just like my experience. dusted off GPL after 2 years because of the new d3d drivers (thank you papy1) and started the same road you went down. It sounds so familiar, all that is, except the negative gpl rank ;) beat the benchmarks in monza and glen, some new setups didn't hurt much. though I have leveled off here the past few weeks. Almost got down to 128xx at monza and 105xx at glen.this past week. SPA is fun, still working on the kink though. the other Im learning still, and forget about the ring. Im still trying to complete a lap ;) Waiting for my celeron 500 in the mail, just upgraded the soundcard, definitely helps with online play. this game has me hooked......thanks for the history! gpl rank (+190 or thereabouts....the ring adds about 170 of that...) KC "Alex" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted text (79 lines)

> The story began two years ago and was full of ups and downs. > After trying the demo of GPL I have found out it > <blaspheme> slow and ugly looking </blaspheme> and > decided to pass out the game, as that era didn't attract > me either. That's how I got two more years of social life. > > However, after being somewhat disappointed by GP3 this fall, > I have started to look for some other racing sim. Trusting > the voice of community I've decided to buy GPL even though > I didn't like the demo. It was not particularly easy > [to find the game], but folks helped me pointing where > I can buy one. > > So 6 weeks ago I've got a copy and the unforgetful period > of my life began... > > After first days at Monza I was utterly disappointed > being nowhere near the benchmark. Something must have been > wrong (not my driving, of course:>). I have upgraded > video card and steering wheel. It helped, but not much. > The next one to blame was the car, then setup. After > getting the fastest car and good setup I still was off > the pace. That was a hard blow :< > > In complete despair I was putting more and more laps at > Monza. The good was that the people in the newsgroup > were cheering me up, telling that it's a normal state > of GPL beginner. I have started to look at the net > and found out a lot of resources dedicated to GPL. > Reading helped and finally after a week of struggle > I have beaten benchmark at Monza. The big grin stayed > on my face for a couple of days. Then it became even > bigger as I went below benchmark at Watkins Glen just > after couple of evenings. Then I concluded, that I have > learned how to drive and things will go easier further. > > So, according to the guide, I went to Spa. One more > hard blow awaited me there: after a week of efforts I was > 7 seconds off the pace. All my hopes were shattered and > I gave up and full of despair went to other tracks. > In the next week I bested benchmark at Mexico and at > Silverstone and it raised my morale enough to go at Spa > again. This time I was sure that now I knew how to drive :> > Yes, I knew, now I was only 5 seconds off the benchmark. > After few more days I was mad at myself, the track, the car > and whatever else. > > I moved to other tracks and relatively quicky put fast times > at Mosport, Kyalami and Zandvoort. This really puzzled > me - why I can do well on one tracks and badly on others? > I went to Spa again and after full committment during the > few days I've finally beaten the benchmark ... barely :> > This time the big grin lasted longer:> > > Christmas holidays were coming and I have decided to go 'The Ring'. > I have finished the first two days with 9:00 and was full of optimism. > Though on the third day times went up: 9:10,9:15,9:30,10:50. > Once again I felt that all my hopes are shattered. But as usual > reading the newsgroup cheered me up - it is always good to > know that you are not the only one who can't drive properly :> > Finally, I have managed 8:24 after the Christmas and just went > to make some relaxed laps. Yes, relaxed laps in low 8:20's with > best at 8:18. That was a triumph! Now the road to the negative > GPLRank was open. Though I had no idea why I could make better > laps when I wasn't trying to. > > The big grin is still here. Today I've made quick lap at > the last remaining track -- Monaco and I've got what I've > deserved: -13.13 from all thousands of other possible ranks > (damned bad luck!) > > > Thanks for reading, and thanks to all who helped me, > Alex > (alexti) > > P.S. I have heard some talks about replicas of Lotus... :> > >

[email hidden] (Alex) wrote in <[email hidden]>: >So 6 weeks ago I've got a copy and the unforgetful period >of my life began... > Today I've made quick lap at >the last remaining track -- Monaco and I've got what I've >deserved: -13.13 You got the game 6wks ago, and your at -13.13? Why you little bastar.....uh, I mean...congratulations Alex, quite an acomplishment. Btw, have you been having a recurring dream of being taken up into an alien spacecraft? >P.S. I have heard some talks about replicas of Lotus... :> Sounds like a growing idea. Here's what we've come up with. Anyone achieving a subzero GPLRank will be sent a FREE LOTUS 49*, AND, a PLAYBOY PLAYMATE^ !!! upon receipt of registration**. * 1/64 scale. ^ we reserve the right to leave the staples in her navel. **please include $100.00 U.S. handling fee with your registration. Don Scurlock Vancouver,B.C. GPLRank -5.29 Come see how you rank, at the GPLRank site http://gplrank.ringlord.com/

On Fri, 29 Dec 2000 01:17:09 GMT, [email hidden] (Alex) wrote: <snip> >So 6 weeks ago I've got a copy and the unforgetful period >of my life began...<snip> >The big grin is still here. Today I've made quick lap at >the last remaining track -- Monaco and I've got what I've >deserved: -13.13 from all thousands of other possible ranks >(damned bad luck!) In 6 weeks time you drive 8:18 at the Ring and have a handicap of -13.13.. thanks, you just depressed me for a whole week. Well, congrats anyway. Andre

"Andre Warringa" <[email hidden]> wrote ...

Quoted text (17 lines)

> On Fri, 29 Dec 2000 01:17:09 GMT, [email hidden] > (Alex) wrote: > > <snip> > >So 6 weeks ago I've got a copy and the unforgetful period > >of my life began... > <snip> > >The big grin is still here. Today I've made quick lap at > >the last remaining track -- Monaco and I've got what I've > >deserved: -13.13 from all thousands of other possible ranks > >(damned bad luck!) > > In 6 weeks time you drive 8:18 at the Ring and have a handicap of > -13.13.. thanks, you just depressed me for a whole week. > Well, congrats anyway. > > Andre

You'll be depressed for one week? I've just gone into a terminal decline and will be found in an alley in a couple of weeks, covered in lice and clutching a bottle of meths... Yeah, congrats Alex. I guess we'll never hear from Eldred again. -- Tony Whitley (Final!) GPLRank +12.8

6 Weeks!!! Unbelievable!! How long till I reach the negative ranks? Probably another 6 months? More like 12 months at the rate I am going!! Bugger! Chris -- www.geocities.com/simbokza

I just bought GPL from amazon.com recently (took them 2 weeks to deliver!). In the 3 weeks that I've been learning the game (GPL came in the mail on Dec. 8) my GPLRank has gone from 943.81 (I submitted as soon as I had been able to complete a lap at each track in a trainer without crashing) to 302.87 (in F1 cars). My goal for the end of the year is to break 300, which I expect to break by the time many of you read this. I also tend to make goals of passing other people's ranks. So far, I've picked four, and passed 3 of them. The fourth I hope to beat by sometime in January (but not knowing how fast he is improving, I don't know how feasible that will be). It would be nice if you could see everyone elses GPLRank Handicap History. I expect that at some point my progress will slow as I hit a plateau (although it would be nice if that would happen at about -60 or so...). As I started much later than most, I'd like to see if I can beat the learning curve that others have gone through. I've posted my handicap history at http://gpb.seanet.com/grand-prix-legends/handihist.html for everyone to see (and I'll most likely update it every once in awhile, unless the GPLRank site is modified to allow the viewing of everyones history) G.P.B. [spam is not part of a vegetarian diet] In article <92ijfc$lk4$[email hidden]>, "Chris Bloom" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted text (13 lines)

> 6 Weeks!!! > > Unbelievable!! > > How long till I reach the negative ranks? > > Probably another 6 months? > > More like 12 months at the rate I am going!! > > Bugger! > > Chris

Tony Whitley <t o n y . w h i t l e y @ nStPlAwMorld.com> wrote in message news:UKY26.20166$ca6.382170@news6- > Yeah, congrats Alex. I guess we'll never hear from Eldred again. I just had the very same thought.... somebody keep Eldred busy enought to miss this tread ;) I must admit that i got a bit depressed myself.... 6 weeks and he just flies by the negative mark that took me 6 months to reach. Well congrats anyway Alex ;) Mikkel

In article <UKY26.20166$[email hidden]>, "Tony Whitley" <t o n y . w h i t l e y @ nStPlAwMorld.com> writes: >Yeah, congrats Alex. I guess we'll never hear from Eldred again. Who's he? BTW, anybody want my copy of GPL? I don't think I'll be needing it anymore... :( -- Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPL F1 hcp. +28.80...F2 +151.26...F3 hcp. +373.73 Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Alex) writes: >The big grin is still here. Today I've made quick lap at >the last remaining track -- Monaco and I've got what I've >deserved: -13.13 from all thousands of other possible ranks >(damned bad luck!) What?!? All that in *6 weeks*??? Why you little sonofa...<ahem> Er, I mean...Well done, lad.... Six weeks, he says. The NERVE of some people... Grrr... Dammit, where's that cat? :-) Eldred -- Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPL F1 hcp. +28.80...F2 +151.26...F3 hcp. +373.73 Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

[email hidden] (Mikkel Gram-Hansen) wrote in <92ioh9$4u8$[email hidden]>:

Quoted text (7 lines)

>Tony Whitley <t o n y . w h i t l e y @ nStPlAwMorld.com> wrote in >message news:UKY26.20166$ca6.382170@news6- > >> Yeah, congrats Alex. I guess we'll never hear from Eldred again. > >I just had the very same thought.... somebody keep Eldred busy enought >to miss this tread ;)

I am trying to keep him busy myself. Hopefully he will make 8:20 at The Ring before he will read this thread:) Alex

[email hidden] (Don Scurlock) wrote in <9018D5D3Ddscurlock@news>:

Quoted text (14 lines)

>[email hidden] (Alex) wrote in ><[email hidden]>: > >>So 6 weeks ago I've got a copy and the unforgetful period >>of my life began... > >> Today I've made quick lap at >>the last remaining track -- Monaco and I've got what I've >>deserved: -13.13 > >You got the game 6wks ago, and your at -13.13? Why you little >bastar.....uh, I mean...congratulations Alex, quite an acomplishment. >Btw, have you been having a recurring dream of being taken up into an >alien spacecraft?

No, but I have had recurring dream about crashing at Mosport after that crest (because I do it all the time) and about crashing in the last corner at Nurburgring (though I've never done it) :> Alex (alexti)

I think that your original rank of 943.81 really reflects anything (as well as 302.87 I suppose). Most of people (excluding those superhuman drivers :>) need to spend at least 3-4 hours to learn the track, before they can make laps that can be considered as indication of driving ability. After you will practice on each track, you will most likely see your rank somewhere between -50 and +50 (depending on your driver skills :>). Only then you can consider your progress as a result of improvements of your driving. That said I also imply that my rank in 6 weeks doesn't mean that I've improved my driving skill greatly, but that it took me 6 weeks to adjust myself to GPL and learn 11 tracks. That was the reason I wanted to get GPLRank that would reflect my skills at the beginning of racing in GPL, so I can compare my future results to it. Alex (alexti) [email hidden] (gpb) wrote in <[email hidden]>:

Quoted text (23 lines)

>I just bought GPL from amazon.com recently (took them 2 weeks to >deliver!). In the 3 weeks that I've been learning the game (GPL came in >the mail on Dec. 8) my GPLRank has gone from 943.81 (I submitted as soon >as I had been able to complete a lap at each track in a trainer without >crashing) to 302.87 (in F1 cars). > >My goal for the end of the year is to break 300, which I expect to >break by the time many of you read this. I also tend to make goals of >passing other people's ranks. So far, I've picked four, and passed 3 of >them. The fourth I hope to beat by sometime in January (but not knowing >how fast he is improving, I don't know how feasible that will be). > >It would be nice if you could see everyone elses GPLRank Handicap >History. I expect that at some point my progress will slow as I hit a >plateau (although it would be nice if that would happen at about -60 or >so...). As I started much later than most, I'd like to see if I can >beat the learning curve that others have gone through. > >I've posted my handicap history at >http://gpb.seanet.com/grand-prix-legends/handihist.html >for everyone to see (and I'll most likely update it every once in >awhile, unless the GPLRank site is modified to allow the viewing of >everyones history)

I assume by now the poor thing goes into hiding as soon as it sees you load up RAS or GPLRank. <g> Jan. =--- EldredP wrote...

Quoted text (9 lines)

> What?!? All that in *6 weeks*??? > Why you little sonofa...<ahem> > Er, I mean...Well done, lad.... > > Six weeks, he says. The NERVE of some people... > Grrr... Dammit, where's that cat? :-) > > Eldred > --

On Fri, 29 Dec 2000 20:26:44 +0100, "Mikkel Gram-Hansen" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted text (9 lines)

>Tony Whitley <t o n y . w h i t l e y @ nStPlAwMorld.com> wrote in message >news:UKY26.20166$ca6.382170@news6- > >> Yeah, congrats Alex. I guess we'll never hear from Eldred again. > >I just had the very same thought.... somebody keep Eldred busy enought to >miss this tread ;) >I must admit that i got a bit depressed myself.... 6 weeks and he just flies >by the negative mark that took me 6 months to reach.

6 months? Hello, 2 years here.. :( Andre >Well congrats anyway Alex ;) > >Mikkel > >

[email hidden] (EldredP) wrote in <[email hidden]>:

Quoted text (14 lines)

>In article <[email hidden]>, >[email hidden] (Alex) writes: > >>The big grin is still here. Today I've made quick lap at >>the last remaining track -- Monaco and I've got what I've >>deserved: -13.13 from all thousands of other possible ranks >>(damned bad luck!) > >What?!? All that in *6 weeks*??? >Why you little sonofa...<ahem> >Er, I mean...Well done, lad.... > >Six weeks, he says. The NERVE of some people... Grrr... Dammit, >where's that cat? :-)

That's a good clue. I had similar problem while playing bridge online. ...Until I've borrowed neighbour's cat and let him play instead of myself. Then I started to beat most of people. Tomorrow I will try to check if that cat can put faster laps than Greger Huttu. Alex (alexti)

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Alex) writes:

Quoted text (9 lines)

>>Six weeks, he says. The NERVE of some people... Grrr... Dammit, >>where's that cat? :-) > >That's a good clue. I had similar problem while playing bridge >online. ...Until I've borrowed neighbour's cat and let him >play instead of myself. Then I started to beat most of people. >Tomorrow I will try to check if that cat can put faster laps >than Greger Huttu. >

It's an old joke, Alex... Ask Goy about it... <g> Eldred -- Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPL F1 hcp. +28.80...F2 +151.26...F3 hcp. +373.73 Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

EldredP wrote:

Quoted text (15 lines)

> > In article <[email hidden]>, > [email hidden] (Alex) writes: > > >>Six weeks, he says. The NERVE of some people... Grrr... Dammit, > >>where's that cat? :-) > > > >That's a good clue. I had similar problem while playing bridge > >online. ...Until I've borrowed neighbour's cat and let him > >play instead of myself. Then I started to beat most of people. > >Tomorrow I will try to check if that cat can put faster laps > >than Greger Huttu. > > > > It's an old joke, Alex... Ask Goy about it... <g>

I'm older and wiser now, although not nearly as old as Bruce K :-) Beers and cheers (uncle) Goy http://www.theuspits.com http://www.teammirage.com "Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others." --Groucho Marx--

In article <[email hidden]>, Alex <[email hidden]> wrote: >GPLRank was open. Though I had no idea why I could make better >laps when I wasn't trying to. > hi Alex, thanks for the nice report. The same thing happened to me trying to clamber up the ranks of my buddy list / league listing: I tried and tried lowering my time at the ring (slightly over 107% of the WR back then), to no avail. I got within a couple of secs / tenths of my previous PB, but nothing of the sort I�d need to beat good old Don Scurlock who was leading me in the buddy listing. So, at some point I managed a new PB at Rouen, beating don�s handicap by some 0.2 seconds which was fine for the evening. I went to upload my new player.ini, got a nice big grin out of seeing my name above his in "League Central", and that was that. As I had 20 mins to go until a date with friends on a Sunday night I thought "Heck, let�s just give the ring another lap for the fun of it." Guess what happened: Without the pressure of having to go faster I did a "cruise-like" lap, and being in a strange state of mind others have come to call "the zone" but which I prefer to call "the tao of racing" I asked myself one, and only one question at every turn that I was approaching: "how would a good driver approach this turn?" Here�s a couple of answers I told myself from those I can remember: - "Obviously not by braking too late for Suedkehre and messing a good lap at the start". - "Obviously not by overdoing it over "Doettinger Hoehe" and losing it into Flugplatz". - "Obviously not by lingering around the center of the track going up into Adenauerforst, hitting the ground under braking" and so on, just to give you an idea. I managed a nice lap, not too great I thought compared to my previous best of 8m24s, but ok. Well, my jaw dropped to the floor when the pitboard showed an 8:14. Yep, ten *seconds* off my previous best, without even pushing. Just by *thinking* I managed to get a good lap, maybe it just helped me keep the concentration up. Cheers, Uwe -- Uwe Schuerkamp http://www.schuerkamp.de/ GnuPG Fingerprint: 2093 20B8 B861 9358 A356 B01A E145 9249 5D27 33EA PGP Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

Uwe Schuerkamp wrote:

Quoted text (13 lines)

> In article <[email hidden]>, > Alex <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >GPLRank was open. Though I had no idea why I could make better > >laps when I wasn't trying to. > > > <SNIP> > I managed a nice lap, not too great I thought compared to my > previous best of 8m24s, but ok. Well, my jaw dropped to the > floor when the pitboard showed an 8:14. Yep, ten *seconds* off > my previous best, without even pushing. Just by *thinking* I > managed to get a good lap, maybe it just helped me keep the > concentration up.

I still have to find 'the Zone' (or The Force as I like to call it :) ) at the 'ring. Although I finally managed to go negative by bringing my 'ring time from an 8:42 to an 8:26, I *knew* I had not driven with a relaxed, concentrated and balanced mind. Did you find the 10 seconds in a few particular places, or were they spread out over the entire track? I keep saying to myself that a .1 second gain in every corner can mount up to a massive 17.4 seconds overall... :) -- Imar de Vries - [email hidden] - ICQ 6972439

[email hidden] (Uwe Schuerkamp) wrote in <[email hidden]>: >In article <[email hidden]>, >Alex <[email hidden]> wrote: > <snip> >I managed a nice lap, not too great I thought compared to my >previous best of 8m24s, but ok. Well, my jaw dropped to the >floor when the pitboard showed an 8:14. Yep, ten *seconds* off >my previous best, without even pushing. Just by *thinking* I >managed to get a good lap, maybe it just helped me keep the >concentration up. I don't believe I was thinking about anything, but my jaw has also dropped when I have seen 8:18. I clearly remembered that I took a break to mow some grass in a few places;> This place has immense resources for rank improvements. Alex (alexti)

[email hidden] (Uwe Schuerkamp) wrote in <[email hidden]>: >Guess what happened: Without the pressure of having to go >faster I did a "cruise-like" lap, and being in a strange state >of mind others have come to call "the zone" The zone for me is kind of like the rodent that lives in my backyard. Every one in a while I see him, but not very often, and when he's not around, I don't have a clue where to go find him ;-( -- Don Scurlock Vancouver,B.C. GPLRank -5.29 Come see how you rank, at the GPLRank site http://gplrank.ringlord.com/