ACP Nascar problem..

I recently bought the ACP steering wheel.. It works nice.. I am having a very bad Loose Problem at Darlington and Phoenix.. I am running the nascar program using a 486 66DX2 with 16 meg memory. When ever i use my Joystick the program works fine at these tracks.. But as soon as i use the ACP steering wheel, hand ling gets very loose.. Does anyone else have this problem or does anyone else have any suggestions.. Thanks.. Phil?

Are you remembering to switch from non-linear to linear steering when switching from the joystick to the ACP? That could be it.... Incidentally, my ACP seems to completely fall out of calibration after 20 laps or so. This makes it all but useless for race situations (especially in the 2-player mode, since if my controller quits I don't want to have to interrupt the other guy's game too....) I just got it last Friday, so am hoping that this is just a matter of the thing wearing in or something. Has anyone else had this problem, though? Brad Traweek

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>>But as soon as i use the ACP steering wheel, hand >>ling gets very loose.. >Are you remembering to switch from non-linear to linear steering >when switching from the joystick to the ACP? That could be it.... >Incidentally, my ACP seems to completely fall out of calibration >after 20 laps or so. This makes it all but useless for race >situations (especially in the 2-player mode, since if my controller >quits I don't want to have to interrupt the other guy's game too....) >I just got it last Friday, so am hoping that this is just a matter >of the thing wearing in or something. Has anyone else had this problem, >though?

First, I *think* you can calibrate by escaping back to the Replay/Garage/Resume menu, then typing control-J, which recalibrates. At least, I can do it from standard Season Race mode. I have often found that I am driving along, then do something stupid and end up in a wall and I can't reverse - IndyCar doesn't do reverse if there's any accelerator/brake/steering input. So if your calibration is off, you can't reverse! Bummer! So the quick answer is to escape back to the menu and recalibrate, then resume racing with the reverse gear enabled. It's NOT obvious, and it's NOT in the manual, but it works. Second, it may not be your ACP at all; in fact, I think it probably isn't. Usually what happens is that the board that has your game port is thermally sensitive. In my system, my sound board (which has the game port) is quite sensitive to thermal drift. It was really annoying, until I discovered what the problem was. Armed with that info, I opened up the system and took careful note of the fact that my sound board was located DIRECTLY ABOVE my CPU!!! I moved it across the system, away from the heat, and now I don't need to recalibrate anymore. (Unfortunately, I still need reverse gear all too often!) -- Brian Wong Product Marketing Engineering 415-336-0082 Palo Alto, CA 94303

Brian: I can't thank you enough for posting this... I just tried it and yep, that works! Now, I assume since it works for the single-player race that it will for the 2-player race as well - if it does, then my problem is basically solved! I just flipped through my Indycar manual to make sure I wasn't a total idiot, and found to my relief that indeed there is no mention of this *anywhere* in the manual - that's a shame, because I'm thinking back through all the months here that I've wanted to recalibrate but didn't know I could. The "reverse" problem has plagued me constantly since I got the game - in fact, even as recently as yesterday, I gained a lap on my brother at Detroit during a 2-player race. The reason: he sat still for nearly 30 seconds trying and trying to get his car to back up... He'll be happy to hear about the "Control-J" feature too... And I'm definitely stoked about it - I haven't even been using my ACP during my last few 2-player races, but now will be able to. Hmmm, I'm not sure if that is it or not. My SoundBlaster AWE32 (which has the game port) is a huge card, but it's definitely not above my CPU. I will give it a look next time I have my case off, though, and check to see if it's sitting near some other serious heat-producing component. That does sound like a reasonable thing to look out for. Thanks again for the advice, Brian. Thanks to you I'll be using my ACP, and not my joystick, when I race with my brother at New Hampshire tomorrow! Brad Traweek

>>Second, it may not be your ACP at all; in fact, I think it probably isn't. >>Usually what happens is that the board that has your game port is thermally >>sensitive. In my system, my sound board (which has the game port) is quite

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>>sensitive to thermal drift. >Hmmm, I'm not sure if that is it or not. My SoundBlaster AWE32 (which >has the game port) is a huge card, but it's definitely not above my >CPU. I will give it a look next time I have my case off, though, and >check to see if it's sitting near some other serious heat-producing >component. That does sound like a reasonable thing to look out for.

Run the machine with an open case and put a big fan on it. I have an AWE32 and have never had to recalibrate it after initial setup. I run it in a tower case in the lowest slot - all the heat is above it. If you get the same trouble with the fan/open case setup, then you'd be the first to verify that this is NOT a thrmal drift problem. Peter

Peter: I guess I never realized until yesterday that thermal drift had anything at all to do with calibration. I will definitely look into it - my AWE32 is not currently in the lowest slot, and I have not tried the fan/open case, so maybe between those two I can come up with a solution. Actually, since I found out the "Control-J" thing in Indycar it's not so much of a concern for that game; however, I just tried that with NASCAR and unfortunately "Control-J" doesn't seem to work - why would Papyrus leave that handy feature out of the game? Sigh, I will have to look into getting my AWE32 cooled down... Thanks for the hints. -Brad Traweek

: >But as soon as i use the ACP steering wheel, hand : >ling gets very loose.. If you mean handling loose, soften your suspension, if you mean overly sensitive steering you need to reduce your wheel lock. : Incidentally, my ACP seems to completely fall out of calibration : after 20 laps or so. This makes it all but useless for race This is not your ACP, it's your gamecard. -Darrel ------------------------------------------------------------------------- __&__ | Darrel Cherry / \ | San Jose State Math/Computer Science C ,---_) ------------------------------------------------------ | |,___| "I am Homer of Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance | \__/ is futile. Preparation is futi...MMMmmm...doughnut!" /_____\ /_____/ \ -------------------------------------------------------------------------