Re: unsuspecting newbie tries GPL demo, kills frame rate

Get a Rendition card You will have much better results with that slow cpu of yours

A few weeks ago, while I was boredly digging the net for info on the old N�rburgring circuit's history, I accidentally ran into Alison Hine's GPL page. I consider myself something of a racing sim fan, but I had totally forgotten this game; When it originally was released, the game looked very cool but I owned a 386 machine, a fact which prevented me from checking it out at that time. But this sudden rediscovery prompted me to download and install the demo. So, I set up a driver file, tweaked the controls for my creaky old Gravis Pro 'stick and apprehensively unselected every possible graphic detail; hop into a novice trainer Brabham and promptly drive into the nearest wall admiring the South Park style scenery and the 6.5 fps frame rate. :) Well, that's hardly surprising: what more could I expect from a 180mhz Pentium pro with 256k L2 and an archaic 2 megger Matrox card that doesn't even properly support 3D? .) Now, I would love to get some powerup to get the sim running because I sense I am really going to dig this game, so: is there any hope of getting a decent frame rate without major cpu upgrade? Would a half-decent 3D card suffice (I'll be having to buy one anyway soon)? Is the full version of the game faster? +Cinquo

Just go out and buy a P2 500 or better computer and a huge monitor now cause if you ever get this game to play you will want something better than what I've just suggested. Oh and when you start playing it,,,,,,,you will have no life, it will be forgotten about and the game will absorb whatever time you have. Vintook P.S. Yes the game is that good! "Ville V Sinkko" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8h3omi$oqf$[email hidden]...

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> A few weeks ago, while I was boredly digging the net for info on the > old N�rburgring circuit's history, I accidentally ran into Alison > Hine's GPL page. I consider myself something of a racing sim fan, but > I had totally forgotten this game; When it originally was released, > the game looked very cool but I owned a 386 machine, a fact which > prevented me from checking it out at that time. But this sudden > rediscovery prompted me to download and install the demo. > > So, I set up a driver file, tweaked the controls for my creaky old > Gravis Pro 'stick and apprehensively unselected every possible graphic > detail; hop into a novice trainer Brabham and promptly drive into the > nearest wall admiring the South Park style scenery and the 6.5 fps > frame rate. :) > > Well, that's hardly surprising: what more could I expect from a > 180mhz Pentium pro with 256k L2 and an archaic 2 megger Matrox card > that doesn't even properly support 3D? .) > > Now, I would love to get some powerup to get the sim running because > I sense I am really going to dig this game, so: is there any hope of > getting a decent frame rate without major cpu upgrade? Would a half-decent > 3D card suffice (I'll be having to buy one anyway soon)? Is the full > version of the game faster? > > +Cinquo

Hello: I was in almost the exact same situation as you. My current system: PPro 180 overclocked to 200 64Megs RAM Diamond Stealth II S220 video card Before I installed the Diamond card, I had a Matrox Millenium video card and experienced the same horrible frame rates as you, with all detail turned off. Now, in training mode with all the graphics options on and the detail bias set midway I get 30-36fps. In a race against 5 opponents I get around 25 or so frames a second at the start of the race and then it picks back up as the field spreads out. So, in short having a 3D card and being able to run GPL in Rendition or Glide mode will definitely help you. Also, as for the demo...if you're running Win98, make sure you are using the 1.0 version of the demo. An earlier version had problems with Win98 as I learned from experience, the older demo ran at a crawl under the same system as above. So, go for it. Get yourself a decent 3D card and a copy of GPL. It's definitely worth it. You'll then see what you've been missing and wonder how you did without it. :) Hope this helps. Tony. On 31 May 2000 19:20:50 GMT, Ville V Sinkko <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>snip< >So, I set up a driver file, tweaked the controls for my creaky old >Gravis Pro 'stick and apprehensively unselected every possible graphic >detail; hop into a novice trainer Brabham and promptly drive into the >nearest wall admiring the South Park style scenery and the 6.5 fps >frame rate. :) > >Well, that's hardly surprising: what more could I expect from a >180mhz Pentium pro with 256k L2 and an archaic 2 megger Matrox card >that doesn't even properly support 3D? .) > >Now, I would love to get some powerup to get the sim running because >I sense I am really going to dig this game, so: is there any hope of >getting a decent frame rate without major cpu upgrade? Would a half-decent >3D card suffice (I'll be having to buy one anyway soon)? Is the full >version of the game faster? > >+Cinquo

You really need to upgrade :) I tried the demo with my old P120 and got 0.5 fps a second (2 second a frame) :) Quite funny, I was using a V2. Now with a 667mhz P3 and GeForce card I get 32-26 fps with everything on no matter what (unless I have 15 computer cars on) what you can do is get a motherboard and a AMD K6-2 500mhz. It's about as good as a Celeron 300 or 250, but it's dirt cheap, about $60 at pricewatch.com, and you can get the motherboards for about $130. You'll get 22-25fps by just spending $200! Thanks, Alex Ville V Sinkko <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8h3omi$oqf$[email hidden]...

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> A few weeks ago, while I was boredly digging the net for info on the > old N�rburgring circuit's history, I accidentally ran into Alison > Hine's GPL page. I consider myself something of a racing sim fan, but > I had totally forgotten this game; When it originally was released, > the game looked very cool but I owned a 386 machine, a fact which > prevented me from checking it out at that time. But this sudden > rediscovery prompted me to download and install the demo. > > So, I set up a driver file, tweaked the controls for my creaky old > Gravis Pro 'stick and apprehensively unselected every possible graphic > detail; hop into a novice trainer Brabham and promptly drive into the > nearest wall admiring the South Park style scenery and the 6.5 fps > frame rate. :) > > Well, that's hardly surprising: what more could I expect from a > 180mhz Pentium pro with 256k L2 and an archaic 2 megger Matrox card > that doesn't even properly support 3D? .) > > Now, I would love to get some powerup to get the sim running because > I sense I am really going to dig this game, so: is there any hope of > getting a decent frame rate without major cpu upgrade? Would a half-decent > 3D card suffice (I'll be having to buy one anyway soon)? Is the full > version of the game faster? > > +Cinquo

Ville. You really need to upgrade to get the best out of this sim. You might try a Voodoo 2 or old rendition card (found pretty cheap these days) and as a Guess, it will probably give you a maximum of around 22-25 frames when running solo with some detail off. It will average somewhat lower than this figure. As to hardware upgrades, you really need to be looking to at least double your CPU horsepower. When GPL came out the standard rig as used by most was a celeron 300A overclocked to 450, V2 card and 64 Meg Ram. Most people have a far higher spec machine now. With your 180, don't bother to look beyond a V2 card for 3d. Your machine simply wouldn't justify it. In the mean-time, there are some things you can do to grab a few frames back. 1. Set mirrors to cars only. Mirrors are a big frame drain. 2. Set detail slider all the way to the left. 3 Get rid of all effects like smoke/ fire etc. 4 in your GPL/app.ini file, set sounds quality =0. This sets sound to mono and requires far less processing power. Hope this helps a little. Don't expect miracles. MS "Ville V Sinkko" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8h3omi$oqf$[email hidden]...

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> A few weeks ago, while I was boredly digging the net for info on the > old N�rburgring circuit's history, I accidentally ran into Alison > Hine's GPL page. I consider myself something of a racing sim fan, but > I had totally forgotten this game; When it originally was released, > the game looked very cool but I owned a 386 machine, a fact which > prevented me from checking it out at that time. But this sudden > rediscovery prompted me to download and install the demo. > > So, I set up a driver file, tweaked the controls for my creaky old > Gravis Pro 'stick and apprehensively unselected every possible graphic > detail; hop into a novice trainer Brabham and promptly drive into the > nearest wall admiring the South Park style scenery and the 6.5 fps > frame rate. :) > > Well, that's hardly surprising: what more could I expect from a > 180mhz Pentium pro with 256k L2 and an archaic 2 megger Matrox card > that doesn't even properly support 3D? .) > > Now, I would love to get some powerup to get the sim running because > I sense I am really going to dig this game, so: is there any hope of > getting a decent frame rate without major cpu upgrade? Would a half-decent > 3D card suffice (I'll be having to buy one anyway soon)? Is the full > version of the game faster? > > +Cinquo

Alex Kihurani <[email hidden]> wrote:

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> You really need to upgrade :) I tried the demo with my old P120 and got 0.5 > fps a second (2 second a frame) :) Quite funny, I was using a V2. Now with a > 667mhz P3 and GeForce card I get 32-26 fps with everything on no matter what > (unless I have 15 computer cars on) what you can do is get a motherboard and > a AMD K6-2 500mhz. It's about as good as a Celeron 300 or 250, but it's dirt > cheap, about $60 at pricewatch.com, and you can get the motherboards for > about $130. You'll get 22-25fps by just spending $200!

Note: 'Dirt cheap' has quite a special meaning when you're a poor tech student. .) Is an AGP slot (which I of course don't have) a big issue, if I were to try just getting a 3D card as a first aid kit? Do the Voodoo2/3 cards that I've been suggested require one? BTW, I'm actually getting 9fps now with track textures and some of the effects on, which already seems to be producing sufficient visual feedback to keep the trainer on the track. I have to say, driving that thing is sheer darn FUN even though I haven't even touched the intermed trainers yet. The physical model is miles beyond anything I've experienced before. (but I know you all knew that already) +Cinquo

> Note: 'Dirt cheap' has quite a special meaning when you're a poor tech > student. .)Uh-huh... > BTW, I'm actually getting 9fps now with track textures and some of the > effects on, which already seems to be producing sufficient visual > feedback to keep the trainer on the track. I have to say, driving thatthing > is sheer darn FUN even though I haven't even touched the intermed trainers > yet. The physical model is miles beyond anything I've experienced before. > (but I know you all knew that already)STOP NOW!!!! THIS PROGRAM MAY DAMAGE YOUR FINANCIAL HEALTH UNINSTALL IMMEDIATELY. FDISK. REFORMAT C: A:\WIN98\SETUP You know it makes sense... Tony Whitley (c. �700 and still upgrading)