Re: fun or frustration?

I've had GPL three years , I'm just about an ok driver , handicap +42 I've never had such good vfm from anything except I had to replace my entire computer to run the damn thing ! I still love it. Just read Jon Becketts post and see how much more fun a real challenge is compared to winning everything after a week of practising. When you finish a race - fantastic When you lead a race When you get your name in the "racing news" Your first win You are going to love it. Ps. You steer with the throttle so get some decent pedals ! Have fun , Bogster GUCCIPHILE <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > I've heard that GPL is very difficult to play and getting used to. Is itstill > an outstanding sim or just pure frustration if I don't have the patience? > Shall I put my money on the forthcoming GP3? Which sim is closer todriving > the real thing?

On Fri 21 Jul 2000 07:25:25am, GUCCIPHILE wrote: <snip> >What's the min spec that will run GPL with spectacular result? FYI, >I use Celeron 266 w/ 64Mb RAM and ATI Rage Pro 2Mb graphics card. Depends what you mean by "spectacular". If you mean to run it at 1600x1200 with every single detail on, and cars with 3D wheels (an unofficial addon from the GPLEA that's great to look at, but a *massive* hit on the framerate [8-10 fps!]), then a vastly expensive super-system (Athlon 1Ghz or some such). On the other hand, since graphics aren't GPL's most important point (this isn't really an "eye-candy" game), then you can have a great time with much less. I have a Celeron 400 (not overclocked) with 64 megs and a Voodoo 3, and the game runs fine at 800x600 with most of the options turned on. As for your system: the CPU is adequate for hotlapping, but probably not for racing (it's *so* much easier if you can get a steady 36fps, which is the maximum the game allows). The RAM is fine - GPL only really needs 32 megs, so the rest can be used for an extended replay buffer. The main problem is the graphics card. I doubt GPL will run at all on a card with less than 4 megs of RAM, so you'll need to upgrade that. You don't need a brand new V5 or GeForce, though - a V3 will give very noticeable results. -- David. (GPLRank handicap: +2.68) "After all, a mere thousand yards - such a harmless little knoll, really." (Raymond Mays on Shelsley Walsh)

>It's hard to put the GPL experience into words though. You've only got to >do a quick deja search to find many people who've only just discovered GPL >after years of being "scared off", so you don't have to believe us GPL >bores. Buy it, the worst that can happen is you hate it and spend all your >time driving GP3... which I'm sure we'll all buy anyway. What's the min spec that will run GPL with spectacular result? FYI, I use Celeron 266 w/ 64Mb RAM and ATI Rage Pro 2Mb graphics card.

I've heard that GPL is very difficult to play and getting used to. Is it still an outstanding sim or just pure frustration if I don't have the patience? Shall I put my money on the forthcoming GP3? Which sim is closer to driving the real thing?

> I've heard that GPL is very difficult to play and getting used to. First thing to realise about GPL is it's an acquired skill, not "just another driving game". But like anything really rewarding in life -- playing an instrument, learning how to please a woman (ie do the dishes properly), taking exams, etc -- the reward is proportional to the effort you put in. The learning isn't always enjoyable, but the sense of satisfaction at the end of it is -- for me -- absolutely amazing! I've just come offline after a great race at the Nurburgring. Not great because I had a close race with anyone, great because in trying to catch the leader I knocked nearly 4s off my personal best, taking me to 8:15.55 from 8:20.03... that's after a whole week of failing to get under 8:20 in offline practice. It's hard to put the GPL experience into words though. You've only got to do a quick deja search to find many people who've only just discovered GPL after years of being "scared off", so you don't have to believe us GPL bores. Buy it, the worst that can happen is you hate it and spend all your time driving GP3... which I'm sure we'll all buy anyway. Andrew McP

> I use Celeron 266 w/ 64Mb RAM and ATI Rage Pro 2Mb graphics card. I upgraded from a 48Mb P225mmx V1 to a 64Mb Cel266@450ish V2 when the GPL demo came out. If your motherboard has a 75, 83 or 100MHz bus, you ought to try overclocking that processor. That'd give you a great start running GPL. The vid card may be a real problem though :-( Not even sure whether it'll run on 2Mb? I'm now running a Piii550@683 with a V3... 1280x960, 36fps except for very slight dips at the start of a full field offline race. With a Cel300a@450 and the V3 it ran just as well at 1024x768, though I had the detail slider a bit further to the left (which makes a lot of difference). Andrew McP

LOL .. it's not the money at all. It's the time invested to gain the skill required :) How many games can you really get good at during the same timeframe? -grin- -GE GUCCIPHILE <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > I've heard that GPL is very difficult to play and getting used to. Is itstill > an outstanding sim or just pure frustration if I don't have the patience? > Shall I put my money on the forthcoming GP3? Which sim is closer todriving > the real thing?

GUCCIPHILE wrote:

Quoted text (9 lines)

> > >It's hard to put the GPL experience into words though. You've only got to > >do a quick deja search to find many people who've only just discovered GPL > >after years of being "scared off", so you don't have to believe us GPL > >bores. Buy it, the worst that can happen is you hate it and spend all your > >time driving GP3... which I'm sure we'll all buy anyway. > > What's the min spec that will run GPL with spectacular result? FYI, I use > Celeron 266 w/ 64Mb RAM and ATI Rage Pro 2Mb graphics card.

Sadly, it sure isn't that - to be able to play GPL in such a fashion where you won't kill yourself, you will need to upgrade your CPU and video card, and maybe motherboard as well. The Celery 266 is junk - has zero L2 cache and GPL does benefit from even the later a-model Celeron's 128K L2. And IMO you should be clocking along at least 400 to play it properly. I would look into a newer Celeron, depending on what your motherboard is. The ATI Rage Pro is also going to be junk in GPL - out of the box it supports only Glide (3dfx) and Rendition, and the recent Direct3d support is designed to work best on nice new shiny cards like GeForces... Kirk Lane [email hidden]

I think GPL is COMPLETE FRUSTRATION for the first few weeks you play it. However, after that initial VERTICAL learning curve it is very rewarding and is simply the best on-line game ever made (well offline too i suppose!). The people in VROC do help to make the whole GPL experience so much better....you will find they will help you much more than other online games. My advice is buy both and spend the time to get good at both, you will not regret it.....honest ;) Ash "GUCCIPHILE" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... | I've heard that GPL is very difficult to play and getting used to. Is itstill | an outstanding sim or just pure frustration if I don't have the patience? | Shall I put my money on the forthcoming GP3? Which sim is closer todriving | the real thing?

GPL is close to driving the real thing, as it was in 1967. Who knows how close GP3 will be to driving the real thing a la 1998? GPL can be nothing but frustration if you are not prepared to learn. If you simply want to dive straight in, without taking the time (and having the patience) to learn the ropes, then it is not for you. You can lessen the trauma by using one of the two Training levels....lower-powered cars, in other words. -- Regards, Bruce Kennewell, Canberra, Australia. --------------------------- GUCCIPHILE <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > I've heard that GPL is very difficult to play and getting used to. Is it still > an outstanding sim or just pure frustration if I don't have the patience? > Shall I put my money on the forthcoming GP3? Which sim is closer to driving > the real thing?

GUCCIPHILE wrote: > > I've heard that GPL is very difficult to play and getting used to. Is it still > an outstanding sim or just pure frustration if I don't have the patience? > Shall I put my money on the forthcoming GP3? Which sim is closer to driving > the real thing? Hmm, I'm surprised that I still don't have bite marks on my MSFF wheel, although I'm very often very close to ripping it off the desk after another bounce and crash at the Ring. Nevertheless, after 5 minutes of swearing (okay, 10 min.) it's very rewarding to try another lap... -- l8er ronny Your mouse has moved. Windows must be restarted for the change to take effect. Reboot now? |\ _,,,---,,_ I want to die like my Grandfather, ZZZzz /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ in his sleep. |,4- ) )-,_. ,\ ( `'-' Not like the people in his car, '---''(_/--' `-'\_) screaming their heads off!