Ok, so you install the demo, don't bother with the calibration etc, and
just see what works & what doesn't. Out on the track the feel and graphics
suck you in, the drive feels pretty good, and... well, ok, you're not
fast, but then you never were, so why worry? Are you having fun?
Yes :-)
Roll the calendar forward a day.
<fx:page torn from old fashioned calendar; it flutters out of shot>
http://www.rfactor.net/downloads.shtml has some setups from Achim(T, I
presume). You trust his setups to get you into big trouble very quickly,
but that "being slow" thing really bugs you underneath the born to be a
backmarker bravado. So you pick the medium setup, fiddle with the brake
bias to put it back into the realm of mere mortals, and take it for a
spin.
Mmm... interesting, but I'm still swapping ends too often in tight
corners, and regularly failing to turn right at the end of the first
straight.
<fx: lightbulb over head>
I know, let's check that calibration and axis sensitivity stuff which is
like, well, you know, a minor detail in 99.99% of all known sims.
<fx: wanders off through menus getting lost>
Ah, there it is.
Mmm... ok, so with no pedal's pressed, the brake is showing full
deflection. I wonder if that's a problem?
<fx: presses throttle>
Brake deflection minimises and throttle eventually goes to full
deflection.
<fx: releases throttle>
Brake goes back to full deflection.
"Aaaarrrgggghhhhhhhhhh!"
What do you know, set things up properly and all of a sudden the end
swapping stops. Heck, I can even brake properly! First lap time comes in
under my previous best of 1.09 and after another five or so I've got it
down to 1.06.4, which puts me back into my natural "three seconds off the
pace" position in life.
Consider this a cautionary tale.
Andrew McP
