Something that troubles me, but I haven't seen anyone else mention is that
the fronts of the cars in F12000 are often 'bent' as if the car has been in
a front-end shunt. On some cars (eg Saubers), when you cycle round the
cameras, you can even see that the front wing is not attached to the front
of the car!
Has anyone else experienced this? Any fixes?
Not too many jokes about the standard of my driving please! I don't know if
it affects the aerodynamics of the car, as I'm not really that good - I am
still struggling to get sub 1:34 on F12000 at Monza. (I only get this with
the brake assistance off - the best is 1:37 with it on). My best lap in GP3
is around 1:29, with all assistance on and a fastest lap nearly 2secs faster
than the next car. With brakes off, I can't beat 1:38 yet!
It is this factor that keeps me coming back to F12000, despite less
eye-candy. I just find F12000 more of a challenge, which encourages me to
improve!
Steve
On Wed, 06 Sep 2000 10:41:02 GMT, "Steve Marsh"
<[email hidden]> wrote:
Hmm, the drive-by (TV-like views) look okay. The "camera views", I
see what you mean. Camera-2 and Camera-8 look like the nose is bent. I
never bother with these views, but wonder why the nose looks bent.
The front wing is pretty well done (IMO). The wing is attached by 2
"fin-like" arms, (two vertical wings, either straight, or angled/arced
a bit) and very thin. Obviously it won't look nearly as nice as a real
F1 car, but they modeled it nicely. I can't find any game camera-pics
that show them as not attached (not much there anyway; 2 fins).
Look at your car-selection before racing (it's rotating, a better
rendering), and then in TV-view while driving slowly. Compare it with
the pics below, and you can see the front wing-mounting is fairly
accurate.
Sauber:
http://www.itv-f1.com/photos/hires_photo.php3?mediaid=1620
Williams:
http://www.itv-f1.com/images/go_button.gif
Minardi:
http://www.itv-f1.com/photos/hires_photo.php3?mediaid=190
Not the best (real) F1 pics, but they show how small the
wing-mounting braces are.
>Not too many jokes about the standard of my driving please! I don't know if
>it affects the aerodynamics of the car, as I'm not really that good - I am
>still struggling to get sub 1:34 on F12000 at Monza. (I only get this with
>the brake assistance off - the best is 1:37 with it on). My best lap in GP3
>is around 1:29, with all assistance on and a fastest lap nearly 2secs faster
>than the next car. With brakes off, I can't beat 1:38 yet.
There are 10 driving aids in F12k. The only aid I use is
Shifting-Assistance, because I don't have the right gear to shift
properly (just a cheap joystick), and I cannot shift as fast as the
computer can. Some aids can -really- slow the car down, and others
will "eventually" keep times down, in the long run.
I don't drive Monza much, but have managed a +1m27s time, and +1m28s
is not "too" hard. Yet others have reached +1m20s times, so I'm very
slow too...<g>.
>It is this factor that keeps me coming back to F12000, despite less
>eye-candy. I just find F12000 more of a challenge, which encourages me to
>improve!
There's "loads" of eye-candy if you have the CPU to run it all. Turn
on all details, set all to "Max", then head to EA's Unsupported
Features, and check that the (percentage) detail-levels are at 150%.
A good "practice-track" (and fun too!) is Austria's A-1 Ring. 3
-nasty- chicanes, all entering from very high speeds. Try to practice
braking past the "100-marks". Then go even deeper, braking just before
the "50-mark". With those chicanes, and that "-hellish-" downhill-turn
(2 turns before the main straight), and some worn tires thrown-in for
fun, it's good practice =:-)
Try Austria Ring for a while, then head back to Monza, and work on
deep, late-braking there. I bet your times will drop.
Matt (who must someday leave the A-1 Ring...).
P.S. Another tip, get some good setups. Here is a place for hot-lap
cars. Get them, then add some rear-wing down force (maybe front too)
if too tough to drive, at:
http://www.sander-adams.myweb.nl/
Quoted text (7 lines)
>Something that troubles me, but I haven't seen anyone else mention is that >the fronts of the cars in F12000 are often 'bent' as if the car has been in >a front-end shunt. On some cars (eg Saubers), when you cycle round the >cameras, you can even see that the front wing is not attached to the front >of the car! > >Has anyone else experienced this? Any fixes?On Thu, 07 Sep 2000 11:19:01 GMT, "Steve Marsh"
<[email hidden]> wrote:
>I don't think you have the same problem I am seeing. The problem is in the
>cockpit view as well as the on-board cams. They all look as if something has
>'pinched' the nose on the left side of the car, so that even in the cockpit
>view, the nose slopes to the left. On the Sauber, the nose is dented so
>badly that it goes down and then turns up, hence the 'detached wing'. To
>scale, it looks a fist sized gap!
Tried the lower resolutions too (down to 384x512) and all details to
"low", and I can't get the nose of the cars to distort. Everything
looks straight and the front-wing is attached at any setting(s).
I have a Voodoo-3; maybe someone with your video card notices this
problem, or perhaps a different video driver might fix this
distortion(?).
I'm sure you meant you need to brake "later" than the other cars
(leave 'em behind at the corners).
Yikes, that's not much wing. I just downloaded a Monza hot-lap car
that had a front-wing setting of 8, and a rear setting of 5 (a 1m20.8s
hot-lap setup). It's "perfectly drivable", as long as I don't
blink..<g>.
Most hot-lap cars are too jumpy for me. For regular racing, I always
add more rear wing (maybe a balanced "8 & 8" for the setup above), and
back-off on the front-brake bias (shift a bit more percentage of
braking power to the rear. And bit more ride-height and springs,
etc.). The hot-lap cars -do- stop faster with a higher front-brake
bias, but are usually very touchy to drive.
Quoted text (8 lines)
>I'll try your hints. I certainly need to brake earlier than the opposition, >but then I am running with 2.5 degree wings front and back to get the >straight line speed. I suppose this explains the bad cornering! I work, and >have little time for play, so I like to get on and just blast. GP3 is either >too easy (ie I win) or too hard (I end up 22). With F1200, starting from 6th >on the quickrace, I can just about hold on to 2nd or 3rd with no brakes, as >long as I keep concentrating. If I miss a braking point by overshooting, I >lose at least 6 places for each slip!Nope, I meant earlier.
To keep up with them on the straight, I need less wing. That means when I
get to the corner, if I brake at the same time as I do, I get big understeer
and run off the track! Hence I need to brake earlier with my current setup.
I'm still very much a novice when it comes to car setup, as you can tell!
Steve
> >I'll try your hints. I certainly need to brake earlier than theopposition,
> >but then I am running with 2.5 degree wings front and back to get the
> >straight line speed. I suppose this explains the bad cornering! I work,and
> >have little time for play, so I like to get on and just blast. GP3 iseither
> >too easy (ie I win) or too hard (I end up 22). With F1200, starting from6th
> >on the quickrace, I can just about hold on to 2nd or 3rd with no brakes,as
> >long as I keep concentrating. If I miss a braking point by overshooting,I
> >lose at least 6 places for each slip!
>
> I'm sure you meant you need to brake "later" than the other cars
> (leave 'em behind at the corners).
>
On Fri, 08 Sep 2000 23:25:35 GMT, "Steve Marsh"
<[email hidden]> wrote:
Ok, I misunderstood what you meant (keeping up with the A/I cars,
less wing, breaking earlier because of less down-force/speed).
With F12K (and GP2), the top A/I drivers have a (relatively) higher
top-end speed than the human driver.
For me, I find it easier to catch the A/I cars in corners (late
braking) rather than trying to keep up with them on the straights, so
I use more wing, which can help with deeper-braking, and faster
through turns/chicanes.
Also, drafting helps a lot to keep up with faster cars. Just need to
leave some extra revs (for 7th gear) built into the car-setup. I
don't want to be at "red-line" (top speed) when the draft occurs..<g>.
I -still- think Monza one of the "trickiest" circuits to drive. Four
high-speed straights, two tough chicanes (maybe three depending on how
you look at it), and several slower corners. The circuit -demands- a
light wing setup (for speed), yet just enough wing to handle the
chicanes/corners.
The easiest way for new car setups; download/watch hot-lap
cars/replays, then adjust hot-lap car-settings to a controllable
level. I only have several hot-lap files for Monza, the lightest
wing-setup I found was 8 for front, 5 for rear (hard to drive!). I
think Monza can easily handle more wing (maybe 14/13, or 12/11,
something like that).
Matt
