Well, it's been about six weeks since I got GPL and
now I can actually finish races quite consistently
at Spa. Sometimes in the top 6, sometimes not,
but my aim at the moment is still to finish ahead
of where I started, anything else is a bonus.
Now, I've read about some people's bad first
online experiences so I'm wondering where to
go to try out my first online race.
I've been racing F2 up until today because of
sheer terror of the F1 beasts, but now I've finished
a few 5 lap F1 races at Spa and I'm loving it!
Are there any online races going, where I can race
with other who are not upset by newbie drivers
who may or may not do a great job?
BTW, my best lap so far at Spa is 3:32 in the Ferrari.
I just did my first flying lap in a Lotus and got a
3:32 so I know there's quite a way to go.
Forza!!
-Nick
You need to go to VROC at http://www.vroc.net/. Download WinVROC from
there. When you run WinVROC you will get a list of the available servers
with races and you take it from there.
Check out Alison Hine's guide to online racing and FAQ section at
http://simracing.com/alison/gpl/
You should also make sure that you have version 1.2 of GPL along with the
new disco fix, both of which can be got here
http://www.papy.com/gpl/gpl.download.index.html
You also need to check what kind of modem you have as you may need to tweak
its' settings. This was posted here about 5 months ago. I printed and saved
the thread and have found the recommendations to help my connection no end.
Obviously if you have ADSL or cable this does not apply so much.
Finally you should ensure that you have a steady 36 fps to give optimal
online performance.
Cheers
Phil
> Posted by Peter Ives on 17/1/2000 who reposted the post byJames Pickard:
Here's an old post from James Pickard that I've held onto (hope he doesn't
mind me reposting it). I used it to setup my 56k modem here in the UK and
it has held me in good stead. Hopefully it will do the same for you. I've
posted it in its entirety, though you shouldn't have to mess with the
core.ini.
Are you sick of those LPB (Low Ping Bastards :-) who keep braggin about
getting less than 100 ping???
Well.. don't dispair... :-)
I have been racing ONline since GPL came out.. and have found it pretty good
up until now.. BUT.. I have just found a way to make it better.. for me
I'm no ISP Trouble Shooter.. and don't know THAT much about networking and
Dial connections.. but his is what i have learned and discovered from GPL
online racing...
(for all those who have found this.. plz excuse.. I have just
discovered
it.. and other need to know it too)
PING / Latency DOESN'T necessarily make for warp free racing.. My
understanding and experience is that you require a STABLE connection.. not
a "FAST" connection..
Most connection seem to be "suped-up" for bandwidth.. and not stable
throughput.. which is what GPL ( and probably other online games)
require.... This seems to make them more prone to Errors and
fluctuations
in Flow...
Sooooo.. by decreasing the connection speed.. you lessen the chance of
such things.. and therefore make the connection more stable... A
connection that is more stable. .can take full advantage of the
"prediction"
that is built into GPL
Take note of the QUALITY in the ALT + L function.. PING is NOT THAT
important... lower is better.. but QUALITY is the most important...
With my 56k V90 US Robotics modem.. I was getting about 177 Lat /Ping (same
thing) @ 967 Quality to the best server here in Australia (THANK YOU
TROY!!!! :-). Connection seemed quite good...
Then I took the advice of friends and tried different connection speeds..
It took a lot of mucking around with differnt strings.. but I
eventually
got the following
26,400 bps conecction and got 23j0-240 Lat @ 1.000 - 995 Quality
The latency has gone up by about 50ping.. but the cars are now VERY
smooth.. (not far off LAN speed) The main differnce is the
Quality....
The following is a post that Ron Ayton put here a few weeks ago (Hope you
don't mind Ron .. BTw.. thanx for your help..... it cover basically all
this..
==========================================================
Firstly, the DUN you use for the Internet is NOT suitable for on-line
gaming. It most likely would be using Data Compression, Error
Correction, Maximum FIFO Buffers and probably going as hard as your poor
little modem can peddle, or harder if i believe half of the tales i hear
about....
All of the above is VERY bad news for on-line gaming.
You should make up another DUN for on-line gaming, with Data
Compression and Error Correction turned OFF. Also, turn down the maximum
connect speed of your modem to 24000, 26400 or 28800 at a maximum.
The quality of the lines in your area, will dictate the best speed for you.
This can be done in the Modem Properties tab of your DUN for the designated
Modem. Read the booklet that comes with your modem for the initialization
strings you need.
NOTE:
Some people are under the mistaken belief that a slower connect speed will
take longer to get to the host, resulting in higher latencys (pings) etc.
This is totally false.!!!
The connection speed of your modem, is a false analogy, as the
connection speed only refers to how much bandwidth the modem is capable of
sending at any given time, NOT how fast it can send it.
Hence, the ammount of data that a GPL host requires from a client will get
to the host at exactly the same time, whether the client is using 26400 baud
or 56000 baud, and 99.9% of the time, the 26400 baud rate from the client
will have a lot less errors and be more stable than the 56000 baud's best
effort, unless you are lucky enough to live in a area where optical fibre
abounds, all the way from you to the host, which is very unlikely. :)
I only ever use a maximum of 26400 on-line with GPL, as the lines in my
area, leave a bit to be desired, but with my normal internet dun, i use 33
to 56k baud, and let the error correction fix any problems i
encounter, which is fine for surfing and general internet use etc. (error
correction is a definite no-no for gPL)
To make more than one DUN with different modem initialization strings, you
will need to go to the MODEMS in the control panel and ADD another modem.
This will not overwrite your present modem settings, but will add another
modem to the modems you have listed in the modem list. As you add more
modems to the list, Windows will simply add a #2 #3 #4 etc etc to the end
of the modem name. That way you can set up as many DUN's as you have modem
names, each one with different initialization strings.
Once you have your on-line DUNS and modem set up correctly, you will
actually find that disco's, error filled connections and high latency's will
simply become a bad memory...
NOTE:
The FIFO buffers should be set no higher than the 2nd mark from
the left, unfortunately these are global settings, so if you set them at the
2nd setting from the left, that is where they will remain regardless of
which DUN you are using. I have not noticed any lesser performance in
surfing or downloading with the buffers set there anyway, so i just leave
them there all the time.
Make sure you turn Error Correction off, also turn off the Data
Compression and select Hardware Flow Control in you modem's properties tab
for the On-Line gaming DUN. If you are a paranoid type, as i am, you could
also add those commands to the extra settings in the modem initialization
string, just in case you don't trust windows to carry out your wishes and
let's face it, who trusts windows to do anything right when it comes to
gaming anyway..
I have included the following line for my US Robotics modem in my On-Line
Gaming DUN..
&F1&K0&M0&U10&N13
&F1 Resets modem to standard, in case windows messed it up. &K0 Disables
Data Compression, in case windows forgot.
&M0 Disables Error Correction, as per above scenario..
&U10 Sets the floor connect speed to 19200.
&N13 Sets the ceiling connect speed to 26400.
The above is an example for the US Robotics modem, different modems will
vary slightly in the initialization strings, so read your manual for further
details to achieve similiar results.
Secondly.. Windows in it's infinite wisdom sets up the Port settings on the
extra conservative side by default.
This needs to be changed manually.
To do this:
Go to the Control Panel, go to System, go to Device Manager, go to Ports
(com & lpt).
Select Com1 , go to Port Settings, and adjust the following to read as
follows:
Bits per second 115200
Data 8
Parity none
Stop Bits 1
Flow Control Hardware
Go to Advanced and adjust the FIFO Buffers so they are 1 mark from the left
side.
Do the same for Com Port 2.
The following topics, are relevant to the new CORE.INI file, that ships with
GPL 1.1
NOTE:
This file is called: COREINI.SAMPLE and must be re-named to: CORE.INI
before GPL 1.1 can make use of it.
It is located in the: SIERRA\GPL\ folder, after the GPL 1.1 patch has been
installed...
A couple of slight adjustments are needed to get the best out of the new
CORE.INI file.
Following, is a brief example of a couple of changes i made to my CORE.INI
file, to suit on-line play on VROC.
The parts you need to alter from the CORE.INI that ships with GPL1.1 are the
two lines concerned with band width:
net_mdm_client_send =2 & net_mdm_server_send_every =2
Change both of those to 3, like below in the pasted example.
net_mdm_client_send_every = 3 ; Client packet freq on dialup
net_mdm_client_send_size = 84 ; Client packet size on dialup
net_mdm_server_send_every = 3 ; Server packet freq on dialup
net_mdm_server_send_size = 84 ; Server packet size on dialup
That is the standardized band settings that VROC uses, for clients and
hosts, and everyone running on VROC, should alter the relevant lines to
match the above criteria.
Also, for me, the new Synch method does not work well...
The best way to tell if the new synch method is working for you, is to race
on-line, and if you are noticing a lot of slow motion & speed-up effects,
then the new synch method is not working well for you.
The new synch method does not use the: clock_adj_delay = 4
line either, as that is disabled when the synch_method is set to 1.
I have changed the line:
synch_method =1 to synch_method = 0
(which re-enables the old version of synchronization)
By altering that line back to 0, GPL 1.1, uses the following line:
clock_adj_delay = 4 ; How often may client adjust clock?
The number of 4, did not work for me at all, so after much
experimenting with different values, both locally here in Australia, and to
overseas hosts, i settled for a value of: 16
eg: clock_adj_delay = 16 ; How often may client adjust clock?
That cured all my slow-mo problems, and 99 % of my warping problems.
Anything under 14, began to give me frame stuttering, so i left it at 16,
which seems strange, as before with version 1.000 of GPL, the default delay
setting of 12, and even 10 seemd to work best.
However, with the new GPL 1.1, a clock setting of 16 seems to be much more
stable and stutter/warp free.
You may need to experiment with this line, to suit your own local and
overseas conditions, but generally, if you have good low pings to your
regular hosts, a value of 8 to 10, seems to work well.
If latency is an issue, then a higher value of 12 14 or 16, seems to do a
better job of keeping the client's computer in synchronization with the
hosting computer.
NOTE:
This line does not affect the hosting computer, or the other clients, it is
simply a localized client based instruction set.
The only way this line could affect the other clients and host, is if you
alter this value to some ridiculous ammount, which causes your own computer
to fall out of synchronization with the hosting computer at a much larger
rate, and then, the other clients would notice your car disappearing
(warping) around more than usual, however, this does not affect the other
clients in any other way.
NOTE:
Things may change for the better, when the patch for the patch is released,
in regards to what synch method we will end up using, but for the moment,
the older (original) version of: snych_method = 0 seems to work best for
the majority of us.
Hopefully when the patch for the patch is released, we can go back to the
new method: synch_method = 1 which should allow for a more
seamless adjustment of the timing, between the hosting and client's
computer.
NOTE:
GSB2 & VROC2, allows the setting up and use of the old synchronization
method in the joining screen, if you would rather do it from there, than
make the designated changes in your CORE.INI file...
Another line you may want to change is the line that says:
disable_modem = 0 ; Don't look for/use modems
If you change that line to:
disable_modem = 1 ; Don't look for/use modems
By disabling modem lookup, GPL 1.1, will start up a lot quicker.. This only
affects the modem to modem dial-up playing between two players, and will not
affect GPL's Internet play....
The only other line you might need to alter, is the line:
alternate_ip_addr_lookup = 0 ; Find IP addresses another way
If GPL cannot find your ip address, to enable you to join on-line races,
change that line to 1..
eg:
alternate_ip_addr_lookup = 1 ; Find IP addresses another way
Finally, why do people insist on having to run at 1024x768 with all the eye
candy on for on-line racing. Frame rates DO matter as far as warping and
good on-line play go.
If you are not seeing 36fps in on-line play, then your CPU is being taxed.
Give your CPU a rest and turn down the resolution a bit, turn off some eye
candy untill you are seeing 36 fps or as close to it as you can. You might
be surprised at the difference it makes.
Amother thing to keep in mind as well is to not have back ground programs
running when you intend to play on-line.
Just to finish this novel off, Windows 98 is superior to Windows 95 when it
comes to Networking, Serial Control, Internet functionability DUN protocols
and on-line gaming, so if all else fails, consider that much dreaded
upgrade. It may just make that final difference to having a good connection
or a so so connection..
If anyone who is having problems, would like any help in setting up their
duns, or modems etc for on-line play in GPL, then drop me a line and i will
try to offer assistance.
Cheers,
Ron
===================================================
Like I said.. this is common knowledge for some.. but for others this could
be a "Heaven sent" :-)
The Initialisation string I am using ATM is:
AT&F1&U10&N13&K0s32=98
It is for a US Robotics Sportster Flash (V90 upgraded) Modem.. I can't
garantee it will work with anything else. but has made my racnig much
better.
Also cars dissapearing has become a thing of the past.. every car is now
ROCK stable..
FANTASTIC!!!! :-)
WOW.. tha is long. if your interested.. print it out.. and try it.. it is
worth it...
Good luck.. and c u on the track :-)
James Pickard,
Melbourne,
AUSTRALIA
DUN racing is ALIVE And well!!!!!! (now :-)
Virtual Racer's Online Connection (vroc.net) is GPL racing central.
They have a wonderful on-line racing connection program called WinVroc
you'll want to download.
As others stated, you need the 1.20 update patch and the new
disconnect-fix beta patch from Papyrus to have an optimal enjoyment
experience.
A word about on-line, though. No matter how you comport yourself, you
may very well run afoul of some trash-talking in the chats or during a
race. The open, "pickup" races are completely unstructured, so
anybody can wander in and act like an ass. The are some social
miscreants that think it's great fun to drive around the track
backwards and try and take everyone out, but thankfully this is a
fairly rare occurance. My point is that it's not an exclusive club
and there's no bouncer at the door keeping out the riff-raff, so you
have to keep a level head and thick skin from time-to-time. Don't
ever take anything personal, it's not worth it and pointless to boot.
You sound like you're ready and you'll definitely enjoy the heck out
of it! Also, on the VROC web page, there's a pointer to the VROC F2
club area. We race the Advance Trainers (F2) twice a week in a quite
civilized, no pressure environment. There's usually two servers and
the fast guys race on one while the rest of us (me) race on the other.
<g> A great bunch. We'll be at Monza Tuesday evening at 6:00PM EST
and you are certainly welcome to participate. Get to VROC and follow
that link. You'll find info on the format and how to add our chat
room to WinVroc.
Regards,
Brett C. Cammack
That's Racing! Motorsports
Pompano Beach, FL
Hi Nick,
Warning, the following information may have a detrimental effect on your
life as you know it..............
There are a few Aussies playing GPL online via VROC.
Here are a couple of pages that will probably interest you.......just stay
away from the N3 stuff ;)
http://www.powerup.com.au/~philmak/GPLAC.htm Our racing league, 4
divisions. Have a look at the Behaviour page for a guide to online racing
ettiquette.
http://www.powerup.com.au/~philmak/ASRG.htm The main page for our group
http://underworld.fortunecity.com//spaceinvader/115/frames.html Big Al's
GPL page for Australian GPL related stuff
E-mail me if you want anymore information.
Regards,
Ian
