Handy idea for racing sims (let the flames commence)

Hi all, In my infinite ignorance, I�ve had this great idea for racing sims regarding setups - here goes: I am a die-hard GPL fan of the worst sort, right down to the level of starting to buy coffee table books on classic racing, something that wouldn�t have bothered me before GPL. However, I am still (2 years on) slightly stumped by all the setup options, and I must admit that I just can�t be bothered to fiddle with my own setups - I download them from the people who actually know what they are doing. Now, for somebody like me (and I assume I�m not the only one) who loves the racing and the detail of something like GPL, but doesn�t want to fiddle around too much with setups, wouldn�t it be great to have sort of a "racing engineer" function in a game? What I am thinking of, is something like a wizard, that would allow you to dial in a basic setup by moving sliders (or something...) that would regulate the car�s behaviour. I�ve come up with a few examples: A slider to regulate whether the setup predominantly understeers or oversteers A facility to dial in the right gearbox settings for track conditions, e.g. high gearing for Spa, low for Monaco etc. There�s more, but I can�t think of them ATM. Anyway, a sort of friendly setup interface that would make car setup less intimidating in the beginning. Of course, all the setting should still be available for further fine tuning, the facility shoud just be there to get you started. Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what y�all think! Regards, Soren Sarstrup Birmingham UK

I must admit, I've been thinking the exact same thing. It would be really handy to have a race engineer facility. You would take the existing setup and say that you are getting oversteer on the exit to corners - the race engineer could make adjustments for you, or based on the setup you are using, he could advise that you don't just boot the throttle etc. It's the sort of things that somebody with an excellent knowledge of setups could put together as a utility. However, one problem with this is that, ideally, this should be available within the sim so you don't have to keep exiting it to change your setup. The thing that strikes me is that it could improve the popularity of a sim for the masses, as undriveability is normally a setup issue, but a lot of people are daunted by the setup options in most sims. Let's hope somebody is listening. Cheers, Steve.

"Soren Sarstrup" <[email hidden]> writes:

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> Hi all, > > In my infinite ignorance, I�ve had this great idea for racing sims regarding > setups - here goes: > > I am a die-hard GPL fan of the worst sort, right down to the level of > starting to buy coffee table books on classic racing, something that > wouldn�t have bothered me before GPL. However, I am still (2 years on) > slightly stumped by all the setup options, and I must admit that I just > can�t be bothered to fiddle with my own setups - I download them from the > people who actually know what they are doing. > > Now, for somebody like me (and I assume I�m not the only one) who loves the > racing and the detail of something like GPL, but doesn�t want to fiddle > around too much with setups, wouldn�t it be great to have sort of a "racing > engineer" function in a game? What I am thinking of, is something like a > wizard, that would allow you to dial in a basic setup by moving sliders (or > something...) that would regulate the car�s behaviour. I�ve come up with a > few examples: > > A slider to regulate whether the setup predominantly understeers or > oversteers > A facility to dial in the right gearbox settings for track conditions, e.g. > high gearing for Spa, low for Monaco etc. > > There�s more, but I can�t think of them ATM. Anyway, a sort of friendly > setup interface that would make car setup less intimidating in the > beginning. Of course, all the setting should still be available for further > fine tuning, the facility shoud just be there to get you started. > > Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what y�all think!

No, it's not at all ridiculous. CART Precision Racing has a engineer that asked five questions, and you had five alternatives for each answer. Depending on your answer the engineer suggested changes and you had to aprove those changes. I found out that it helped to improve the car too, so even in it's infacy it worked ok. How many drivers change their setups anyway, they give feedback. I guess, although i don't know, that the pro's don't tell their engineer that they want to stiff the third spring with 1 lbs/inch. :) I would even strech your idea further. I don't only want a engineer that would set up the car according to my feedback, but also a team manager that tells me the strategy. I find it most unrealistic that when I enter the pits I have to decide what kind of tires to put on and how much fuel. Let some other guy take car of when to get into the pits and what to put on and in the car. Is it possible to make a engineer for GPL ? It could be a nice in the next version of GRE :) It must be able to analyse replays though, so it knows what to do with the car. -- Olav K. Malmin remove spam when replying

maybe another coffee-table book, one on setting up race-cars might be in order... Soren Sarstrup wrote in message <8bshiv$pll$[email hidden]>... >Hi all, > >In my infinite ignorance, I�ve had this great idea for racing simsregarding

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>setups - here goes: > >I am a die-hard GPL fan of the worst sort, right down to the level of >starting to buy coffee table books on classic racing, something that >wouldn�t have bothered me before GPL. However, I am still (2 years on) >slightly stumped by all the setup options, and I must admit that I just >can�t be bothered to fiddle with my own setups - I download them from the >people who actually know what they are doing. > >Now, for somebody like me (and I assume I�m not the only one) who loves the >racing and the detail of something like GPL, but doesn�t want to fiddle >around too much with setups, wouldn�t it be great to have sort of a "racing >engineer" function in a game? What I am thinking of, is something like a >wizard, that would allow you to dial in a basic setup by moving sliders (or >something...) that would regulate the car�s behaviour. I�ve come up with a >few examples: > >A slider to regulate whether the setup predominantly understeers or >oversteers >A facility to dial in the right gearbox settings for track conditions, e.g. >high gearing for Spa, low for Monaco etc. > >There�s more, but I can�t think of them ATM. Anyway, a sort of friendly >setup interface that would make car setup less intimidating in the >beginning. Of course, all the setting should still be available for further >fine tuning, the facility shoud just be there to get you started. > >Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what y�all think! > >Regards, > >Soren Sarstrup >Birmingham UK > > > > >

I think "Mo Funn" aka GPL Racing Engineer (GRE) might go a long way to answering your needs. While its not exactly a wizard in the sense that Microsofts CART Precision Racings had it is still a big help in making a workable setup. Particularly useful is the way help is implemented with a right click over any subject bringing up explainations of the function and effect of the part involved. It won't do your final setups for you (mostly becuase it is an external to GPL utility) but it will get you a decent baseline setup. Available at Alison Hines Eaglewoman site at http://simracing.com/alison/gpl/ David "Soren Sarstrup" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8bshiv$pll$[email hidden]... > Hi all, > > In my infinite ignorance, I�ve had this great idea for racing simsregarding

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> setups - here goes: > > I am a die-hard GPL fan of the worst sort, right down to the level of > starting to buy coffee table books on classic racing, something that > wouldn�t have bothered me before GPL. However, I am still (2 years on) > slightly stumped by all the setup options, and I must admit that I just > can�t be bothered to fiddle with my own setups - I download them from the > people who actually know what they are doing. > > Now, for somebody like me (and I assume I�m not the only one) who loves

the > racing and the detail of something like GPL, but doesn�t want to fiddle > around too much with setups, wouldn�t it be great to have sort of a"racing > engineer" function in a game? What I am thinking of, is something like a > wizard, that would allow you to dial in a basic setup by moving sliders(or > something...) that would regulate the car�s behaviour. I�ve come up with a > few examples: > > A slider to regulate whether the setup predominantly understeers or > oversteers > A facility to dial in the right gearbox settings for track conditions,e.g. > high gearing for Spa, low for Monaco etc. > > There�s more, but I can�t think of them ATM. Anyway, a sort of friendly > setup interface that would make car setup less intimidating in the > beginning. Of course, all the setting should still be available forfurther

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> fine tuning, the facility shoud just be there to get you started. > > Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what y�all think! > > Regards, > > Soren Sarstrup > Birmingham UK > > > > >

Right on Brother Jcharm

Right on Brother Jcharm

I'm not alone! And I thought *everybody* f**ked with the setups except me! Hell, I'm still using the "Doug" setups for the Eagle I DL'ed from Allison's site a year & a half ago! Warlock! Soren Sarstrup wrote:

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> Hi all, > > In my infinite ignorance, I�ve had this great idea for racing sims regarding > setups - here goes: > > I am a die-hard GPL fan of the worst sort, right down to the level of > starting to buy coffee table books on classic racing, something that > wouldn�t have bothered me before GPL. However, I am still (2 years on) > slightly stumped by all the setup options, and I must admit that I just > can�t be bothered to fiddle with my own setups - I download them from the > people who actually know what they are doing. > > Now, for somebody like me (and I assume I�m not the only one) who loves the > racing and the detail of something like GPL, but doesn�t want to fiddle > around too much with setups, wouldn�t it be great to have sort of a "racing > engineer" function in a game? What I am thinking of, is something like a > wizard, that would allow you to dial in a basic setup by moving sliders (or > something...) that would regulate the car�s behaviour. I�ve come up with a > few examples: > > A slider to regulate whether the setup predominantly understeers or > oversteers > A facility to dial in the right gearbox settings for track conditions, e.g. > high gearing for Spa, low for Monaco etc. > > There�s more, but I can�t think of them ATM. Anyway, a sort of friendly > setup interface that would make car setup less intimidating in the > beginning. Of course, all the setting should still be available for further > fine tuning, the facility shoud just be there to get you started. > > Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what y�all think! > > Regards, > > Soren Sarstrup > Birmingham UK

[email hidden] (Ace) wrote in <8bsjno$8r5$[email hidden]>: >maybe another coffee-table book, one on setting up race-cars might >be in order... For gpl, the help files in GRE are about as good as anything you'll find. But I really like the idea of a race engineer in the game. It's been suggested many times. -- Don Scurlock Vancouver,B.C.

There are a lot of setup options in GPL that are interrelated and personal preference also plays a part in it, so you probably still wouldn't get quality of setup that the hotlappers give. Still it would be fun. Or Papy could just send a guy out to do our setups on race day. That would be realistic ;) Better default setups might also help. For slot car endurance races, we often had a pit crew to lube the car, clean the braids, put on tire bite and stuff like that. Slot Soren Sarstrup <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8bshiv$pll$[email hidden]... > Hi all, > > In my infinite ignorance, I�ve had this great idea for racing simsregarding

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> setups - here goes: > > I am a die-hard GPL fan of the worst sort, right down to the level of > starting to buy coffee table books on classic racing, something that > wouldn�t have bothered me before GPL. However, I am still (2 years on) > slightly stumped by all the setup options, and I must admit that I just > can�t be bothered to fiddle with my own setups - I download them from the > people who actually know what they are doing. > > Now, for somebody like me (and I assume I�m not the only one) who loves

the > racing and the detail of something like GPL, but doesn�t want to fiddle > around too much with setups, wouldn�t it be great to have sort of a"racing > engineer" function in a game? What I am thinking of, is something like a > wizard, that would allow you to dial in a basic setup by moving sliders(or > something...) that would regulate the car�s behaviour. I�ve come up with a > few examples: > > A slider to regulate whether the setup predominantly understeers or > oversteers > A facility to dial in the right gearbox settings for track conditions,e.g. > high gearing for Spa, low for Monaco etc. > > There�s more, but I can�t think of them ATM. Anyway, a sort of friendly > setup interface that would make car setup less intimidating in the > beginning. Of course, all the setting should still be available forfurther

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> fine tuning, the facility shoud just be there to get you started. > > Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what y�all think! > > Regards, > > Soren Sarstrup > Birmingham UK > > > > >

Not ridiculous at all, and actually MORE realistic in many games. Maybe in GPL and NASCAR Legends, you'd have the driver more active in telling them exactly what to change on the chassis, but in more modern times the majority of the drivers are going to give the crew chief info on what the car will and won't do, and he'll determine the appropriate changes to make - then the driver can tell him if they're working or not. Way back when in the Commodore 64 days, there was a sim for it - Ferrari Formula One. It had very detailed setups for the day, and had a crew chief, Mauro, that would suggest changes. It also had the test track with the multiple time traps where you could analyze the performance in various corners and sections of the track. I think in many sims this would be a great feature - I think many folks may run in the "arcade" mode of many games due to not having the setup knowledge to get the car working well in the sim mode. A "crew chief" function where you "tell" him the car is understeering and slow on the straights would prove to make sims much more accessible I'd think. -- Ken's Sig 3.01 "Who is the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him?" - Obi-Wan Kenobi Go #43 and #44! volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com Soren Sarstrup <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8bshiv$pll$[email hidden]... > Hi all, > > In my infinite ignorance, I�ve had this great idea for racing sims regarding > setups - here goes: > > I am a die-hard GPL fan of the worst sort, right down to the level of > starting to buy coffee table books on classic racing, something that > wouldn�t have bothered me before GPL. However, I am still (2 years on) > slightly stumped by all the setup options, and I must admit that I just > can�t be bothered to fiddle with my own setups - I download them from the > people who actually know what they are doing. > > Now, for somebody like me (and I assume I�m not the only one) who loves the > racing and the detail of something like GPL, but doesn�t want to fiddle > around too much with setups, wouldn�t it be great to have sort of a "racing > engineer" function in a game? What I am thinking of, is something like a > wizard, that would allow you to dial in a basic setup by moving sliders (or > something...) that would regulate the car�s behaviour. I�ve come up with a > few examples: > > A slider to regulate whether the setup predominantly understeers or > oversteers > A facility to dial in the right gearbox settings for track conditions, e.g. > high gearing for Spa, low for Monaco etc. > > There�s more, but I can�t think of them ATM. Anyway, a sort of friendly > setup interface that would make car setup less intimidating in the > beginning. Of course, all the setting should still be available for further > fine tuning, the facility shoud just be there to get you started. > > Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what y�all think! > > Regards, > > Soren Sarstrup > Birmingham UK > > > > >

I think Mauro is retired now. Slot ;) Ken Beard <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:ivqE4.8021$[email hidden]... > Not ridiculous at all, and actually MORE realistic in many games. Maybein > GPL and NASCAR Legends, you'd have the driver more active in telling them > exactly what to change on the chassis, but in more modern times themajority > of the drivers are going to give the crew chief info on what the car will > and won't do, and he'll determine the appropriate changes to make - thenthe > driver can tell him if they're working or not. > > Way back when in the Commodore 64 days, there was a sim for it - Ferrari > Formula One. It had very detailed setups for the day, and had a crewchief, > Mauro, that would suggest changes. It also had the test track with the > multiple time traps where you could analyze the performance in various > corners and sections of the track. > > I think in many sims this would be a great feature - I think many folksmay > run in the "arcade" mode of many games due to not having the setupknowledge > to get the car working well in the sim mode. A "crew chief" functionwhere

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> you "tell" him the car is understeering and slow on the straights would > prove to make sims much more accessible I'd think. > > > -- > Ken's Sig 3.01 > > "Who is the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him?" - > Obi-Wan Kenobi > > Go #43 and #44! > > volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com > > > > Soren Sarstrup <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:8bshiv$pll$[email hidden]... > > Hi all, > > > > In my infinite ignorance, I�ve had this great idea for racing sims > regarding > > setups - here goes: > > > > I am a die-hard GPL fan of the worst sort, right down to the level of > > starting to buy coffee table books on classic racing, something that > > wouldn�t have bothered me before GPL. However, I am still (2 years on) > > slightly stumped by all the setup options, and I must admit that I just > > can�t be bothered to fiddle with my own setups - I download them from

the

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> > people who actually know what they are doing. > > > > Now, for somebody like me (and I assume I�m not the only one) who loves > the > > racing and the detail of something like GPL, but doesn�t want to fiddle > > around too much with setups, wouldn�t it be great to have sort of a > "racing > > engineer" function in a game? What I am thinking of, is something like a > > wizard, that would allow you to dial in a basic setup by moving sliders > (or > > something...) that would regulate the car�s behaviour. I�ve come up with

a

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> > few examples: > > > > A slider to regulate whether the setup predominantly understeers or > > oversteers > > A facility to dial in the right gearbox settings for track conditions, > e.g. > > high gearing for Spa, low for Monaco etc. > > > > There�s more, but I can�t think of them ATM. Anyway, a sort of friendly > > setup interface that would make car setup less intimidating in the > > beginning. Of course, all the setting should still be available for > further > > fine tuning, the facility shoud just be there to get you started. > > > > Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what y�all think! > > > > Regards, > > > > Soren Sarstrup > > Birmingham UK > > > > > > > > > > > >

I don't think it's a ridiculous idea at all - it's been suggested before. Some of the initial announcements about GRE led me to believe that it would do something of the sort so I was a little disappointed when I downloaded it and found out that it does not. It's still an excellent utility though and I appreciate the efforts of the Hines'. But, for those who are less familiar with the intricacies of race set-ups (I number myself in this group) it offers an even more bewildering number of options, fine controls, etc. Alison's help file seems to offer some clear advice on each of the options and I am starting to work my way through the explanations. Who knows, maybe I'll learn something. "Soren Sarstrup" wrote: > Does this sound ridiculous? Lemme know what y�all think!

I would personally love a wizard feature incorperated into the sim. Now granted I know a descent bit about the setups and have developed quite a few (mostly for the Eagle and BRM). But still to have a utility I can ask questions of when I get stumped would be a godsend. I tend to get tripped up with the bump/rebound settings...I often dont know which way to go with them (then proceed to get fed up and tell myself its just I cant drive and keep trying with the [maybe] faulty setup) Besides...driving is the fun part anyways...so what if im driving the car like Steve Kinser :-) >For slot car endurance races, we often >had a pit crew to lube the car, clean >the braids, put on tire bite and stuff like >that. Ahh the famous slotcar enduros :) I remember running one a year or so ago where all that was left of the body was the center section where it mounted to the chassis...the rest had been crashed off (it was afterall a 12 hour race we ran in conjunction with Sebring). Chris

At one time I had Brands Hatch installed, but have since re-installed GPL. Now during the install of either Brands or Dubai, it fails midway thru. (brands.exe error) Does anybody know how to fix this? Its not the file, I downloaded it again to make sure. I originally had installed it using the nocd version of GPL, but it does the same when using the cd version. I can't find anything in the registry that might correspond to GPL.