Explanation...

How has written a good explanation of what the values on these 3 lines do.. Don Wilshe BLAP 49800 RELS 104 TIRES 60000 4500 40000000 60000 4500 40000000 0

Quoted text (8 lines)

> How has written a good explanation of what the values on these 3 lines > do.. > Don Wilshe > BLAP 49800 > RELS 104 > TIRES 60000 4500 40000000 60000 4500 40000000 0

That's nice, but one question.. Who is "How"? -- Dave Otterness

: BLAP (Best Lap) : ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- : This keyword has one parameter, which is the time (in seconds) it takes the : fastest computer cars to make a lap during qualifying. Three decimal places : are assumed so '23849' would mean 23.849 seconds. This is true, but you can drop the "during qualifying" part. This number not only controls the Best Lap of Qualifying, but also the race. I think people are confused with the fact that after adjusting this number the cars don't seem to go better in the Race. Keep in mind that the car has more gas in it during the race than in Q and will thus make slower lap times. Traffic also makes a difference (especially in Nascar). Of course, you will say N2 Q's with 22 gals and races with 22 gals. True, but I can assure you that after 1 year of tweaking the AI numbers that I know that BLAP also controls race laps. I have written other posts to describe this situation. The key is that the numbers in the .LP files, the AI strength (in Options Menu), the numbers in Drivers2.txt, BLAP and RELS all make up a formula that creates the AI driving ability. A simple change to one number DOES effect the formula, but not as much when used by itself. The other numbers mean just as much to creating the AI formula. Also, with the abilities of this formula and ALL of those numbers, the term "Best" lap is a misnomer (sp). It is very possible to make the AI cars run faster than what is BLAP by adjusting other numbers in the formula. For example, keeping all the same and just bumping up the Traction numbers would possibly cause the AI to run better laps than what is set in BLAP. For example, I have ICR2 and have the Drivers2.txt beefed up pretty good. I then have the BLAP for Toronto set to 59s, but they will Q at 56s and run race laps of 56s. So BLAP is just a variable in the formula, it's not the end-all-be-all lap time. If I set BLAP to 57s, then they will run laps of 54s, etc. I'm not trying to start an argument, but thought I'd clear up the misconception.

Controls the speed (in seconds) of the AI cars in Qualifing. The relative strength of the AI cars' race speeds in relation to the % used in the Opponents strength option. You can use this to tune the AI speeds to better fit your skills, while keeping the Opponents Strength at a set value. Man, I used to know this but it's slipped my mind. I know the numbers control grip and wear for the left and right side tires, but I can't remember any more details than that, sorry. -- http://ebusch.akorn.net

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BLAP (Best Lap) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This keyword has one parameter, which is the time (in seconds) it takes the fastest computer cars to make a lap during qualifying. Three decimal places are assumed so '23849' would mean 23.849 seconds. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- RELS (Relative Strength) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This keyword has one parameter, which is the percent of the speeds defined in the LP files that the cars will attempt to achieve. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- TIRES ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This keyword has seven parameters. This keyword is used to define the characteristics of Goodyear tires. The first parameter defines the grip for the left side tires. The second parameter describes the heat generated by the left side tires. The third parameter specifies the tread life of the left side tires. The fourth parameter defines the grip for the right side tires. The fifth parameter specifies the heat generated by the right side tires. The sixth parameter specifies the tread life of the right side tires. I have no idea what the seventh parameter is for. Increasing the grip values increases the grip of the tires. Increasing the heat values increases the heat generated by the tires. Increasing the the tread life values increases the life of the tires. Increasing grip increases heat and decreases tread life and decreasing grip decreases heat and increases tread life. I had editted the above, but I believe most of it comes from Corey's original track editor project page, with very few changes. I've found a few other things in the track.txt files as well that I am not sure are common knowledge, so sometime when I put a web page back up I will try and consolidate it all into one readme file... come to think of it I suppose I could write the file and post it here :). Hope this helps some. ST

<lots of good stuff snipped!!> I belive the BLAP format in N2 is different from ICR2.... I N2 (whilch i presume don is asking about) the BLAP values IS in seconds... i.e 144344 at Sears point equals a lap of 1 min 43,344 secs. Hope this helps. -- Ed_ - Norway Cheek Junior Team http//:home.sol.no/solhmrek "Early on, the cars were getting faster and faster. And with good reason: everybody was cheating." - Richard Petty

Also, the value expressed in BLAP is the *average* time the AI will qual - basically, the middle of the pack (some of the qual-times higher, some lower). Cheers! Marc Marc J. Nelson Sim Racing Online / Sim Racing News / The Sim Project http://members.aol.com/simracing

: >I belive the BLAP format in N2 is different from ICR2.... I N2 (whilch i : >presume don is asking about) the BLAP values IS in seconds... i.e 144344 at : >Sears point equals a lap of 1 min 43,344 secs. Oh. He just wanted to know what it stood for? Sorry for rambling then. Yes, it is in secs for all Papy sims as stated many times here 23456 means 23.456s. Except that in your example, 144344 would be 2m24.344s and not 1m44.344s. It would mean 144s, not 1m44s. Likewise, 73834 would be 1m13.834s. : Also, the value expressed in BLAP is the *average* time the AI : will qual - basically, the middle of the pack (some of the qual-times : higher, some lower). Again, this depends on how you have the Driver's abilities set for min and max. If you set all drivers min and max settings to 500/501 and set RELS to 100% and the AI Strength to 100% then the AI will turn times EXACTLY what is BLAP. If I set ALL drivers the same as above, then they will ALL drive the exact BLAP; not splitting it half above and half below. Think of this as the baseline. Then as you can tell, if I set some settings above 500/501 and some below 500/501, then yes, they will make a split on the BLAP. But again, that depends on by how much and which ones are changed. Oops, there I go rambling again. ;)

Ooops!! Sorry my mistake...! See.. we all do - sometimes... :) -- Ed_ - Norway Cheek Junior Team http//:home.sol.no/solhmrek "Early on, the cars were getting faster and faster. And with good reason: everybody was cheating." - Richard Petty

% I have written other posts to describe this situation. And indeed he has. Here is repost of one his excellent insight into this AI mix: Date: 19 Aug 1997 03:17:31 -0500 Here is what I know about the traction, drag and power settings. Sim = IndyCar Racing II Track = Michigan AI Settings = 100% Strength BLAP=30166 RELS=100 With all numbers set to 500 for min and 501 for max the AI Lap Times were equal to 234.045 MPH. This is the "baseline" setup. This means that with these settings the AI will run the EXACT lap speed of the value in BLAP. Every time, 100% of the time. Even if I set ALL drivers the same then they will ALL run EXACTLY what is in BLAP. This is how the numbers effected the lap times (all settings = 500/501 unless noted): Setting Value Lap Speed --------------------------------------------------- Aggression 998/999 234.045 MPH Traction 998/999 248.464 MPH Drag 998/999 221.195 MPH Traction & Drag 998/999 234.045 MPH Power 998/999 248.464 MPH Traction & Power 998/999 264.804 MPH Traction, Drag & Power 998/999 248.464 MPH Look carefully at the overall lap speeds. Some are equal with huge changes in the numbers for each setting when combining changes. This is because the numbers make up a formula based on these settings along with AI Strength (in the options menu) and the BLAP and RELS numbers in the track.txt file as well as the values in the .LP files in each directory. A summary: Aggression: Higher = more tendency to block and hog line Lower = more tendency to give up line and not block Either way it has absolutely no effect on the lap times Power: Higher = better acceleration out of corners and higher top speed Lower = poorer acceleration and not as high of a top speed Traction: Higher = better cornering ability and more grip for late braking Lower = slow in the corners and WAY early on the brakes (wimps) Drag: Higher = lower top speed and poorer acceleration Lower = higher top speed and better acceleration Each of the above is based on an adjustment of just that setting. When changed together it is combining a formula that has many variables that will make the same lap times. However, even with the same lap times, the AI will still drive differently depending on what has changed and by how much. The best thing to do is start from a baseline of 500/501 and use the BLAP and RELS numbers to get the AI to turn laps that you can run as well. Then, based on your driving, either add or subtract the settings to tune the AI to your abilities, such as a lower straight speed, but better in the corners based on the charts above. Experimentation is the best you can do. As you improve, make the adjustments to the AI as well. It will make you a better racer when you are going 100% full out and you are stuck 0.4s behind the car just in front of you lap after lap. All you can do is pray for traffic and hope for the best. It is possible to get most of the tracks equal with just one DRIVERS2.TXT file, but it is almost impossible to get them all equal. That is due to the way the .LP files come into the equation. Sometimes they just go too slow in one corner, but are ok for the remainder of the track. That is ok, but then when you turn them up for that one slow corner they will smoke you over the rest of the track. Sometimes it is best to leave them slow in a few corners so you can get the overall laps better adjusted. -- **************************** Michael E. Carver ************************* Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./. [- < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Any-way you slice it, it's still an *average*...While setting the driver's ability so close "narrows" the margin of the BLAP value, its reflection of a mean is no less deminished. In your example, you've pretty much zeroed any random values handed down by the EXE (aggression in the turns, power of the car, etc), but not changed the characteristics of the BLAP. Again, if you have 10-drivers all rated at "10", then they'll all drive as "10", no matter how you slice it. However, it's still an average, and if in doubt, ask a statistics professor. =) Cheers! Marc

Wow, great thread guys -- very interesting... not too surprising, but nice to see someone's spent more time on this than I have! Colin Taber CICC97 Snake Racing