Changing from GP2 to F1RS

It is becoming apparent to me that experience of GP2 may be a disadvantage when changing to F1RS. I have been playing GP2 since the first day it was released, and have therefore become familiar with the tracks. However, now that I have switched to F1RS, I am finding it difficult to get round the track. I keep trying to drive the car like it was GP2. I'm not going to speculate which one is more realistic, but driving on F1RS seems much more difficult. A good example is Monaco. In GP2, the first corner can be taken in a fast 3rd gear. I then made the mistake of trying this in F1RS, and ended up upside down. In F1RS this is a low 2nd gear corner. I don't know which one is more realistic, but what I do know is that it's going to take me some time to adjust my driving style to suit F1RS. Another point is that I've always thought that Automatic gears were easier. However, in F1RS I can't stand automatic gears. It's probably the fact that I now use a wheel to drive, but I like find that at times you need to be able to accelerate but stay in gear. This never seemed to matter in GP2. I loved GP2, and still do, but I'm looking forward to learning F1RS. It seems to have a much steeper learning curve, and is much less forgiving if you don't have your car setup right. I don't really like comparing the two games, GP2 was excellent but I personally believe it has been surpassed by F1RS. Only if I ever get to drive a real F1 car will I know which one was more realistic. Regards Andrew

This has been my impression also. Strangely others have said the opposite. So to a certain point it is best to go with what *YOU* think not others. IMHO. There are many parts of the F1RS tracks that are different from GP2. At least with the stock setups this is true. The 2 fast righthand turns before the back straight at Monze is one such an example. In GP2 you could be in 4th for the first right hand corner and shift up to 5th for the second right hand corner. Not true for me in F1RS. I have to down shift into 3rd for both corners or I will understeer right into the gravel. I thought the autogears in GP2 shifted way to early. But I have found that as you say you have much more control of your powerband with manual shifting. Agreed :-) -- Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

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> It is becoming apparent to me that experience of GP2 may be a > disadvantage when changing to F1RS. I have been playing GP2 since the > first day it was released, and have therefore become familiar with the > tracks. > However, now that I have switched to F1RS, I am finding it difficult to > get round the track. I keep trying to drive the car like it was GP2. > I'm not going to speculate which one is more realistic, but driving on > F1RS seems much more difficult.

<Snip> After a couple of stabs at Monaco and Spa, I went to Melbourne and started a season in an Arrows. I heard that, unlike GP2, different cars gave different performance, so I decided to do my first season with a lesser team. I have loved GP2, the cars are *** and fun. But unlike any driving experience I've ever known. If GP2 is accurate, I would have a hard time driving an F1 car at moderate speed. But like everyone else, I have learned to drive it. I realize that F1RS used a different driving model. "Looser" for sure. After many frustrating laps I tried something that has never worked for me with GP2. I just drove the sim, like a real car. I drive the car by "feel". That worked for me. F1RS drives like it's a distant relative of cars I have driven on the twisty mountain roads around Portland. I feel like GP2's cars are on rails, which I can fall off of with the characteristic 180 spin. When driving F1RS I keep thinking "Slip Angle" when driving through corners. The model is looser, and if you get a little sideways, you can correct it. On GP2, I often brake with the pedal to the floor. F1RS will lock up and slide off the track if I try that. Like everybody else, I'm not claiming F1RS is more accurate than GP2. But it has a familiar feeling, like cars I've driven. Perhaps this is totally inaccurate. I don't feel F1RS is easier than GP2. I have only played F1RS with my new ECCI wheel, I've only played GP2 with my T1. So that might also influence my impression. I've never understood the attraction of driving aids. But I do leave the "Ideal line" on with F1RS because it looks kind of like "the line" in a real race. In reality, the marks are visible in most corners, but not on every part of the track. I think Ubi should arrange that anyone with proof of purchase have an afternoon at their favorite track in a Ferrari 310B. Larry

(snip) (snip) I've found for my setup that I can take the first of these right handers in low third, accelerate up to fourth in the short straight and shift back down to mid to low second for the second righter...not at all like blowing through 'em in GP2. Last night at Monza the weather was high thin overcast with drizzling rain!!! I could just make out the sun behind the clouds... On the grid, I'm debating "W" tires, but stayed on slicks. While bumping across the gravel pit at the end of the long back straight (after the above mentioned right hand turns), I noted the track was a bit slicker than if totally sunny and that I would have to adjust by brakepoints if and when I was able to get back into the race. Ahhhh, realism - or a closer simulation of it...love this game. Russ

Uhm, I hate to tell you guys, but F1RS is different in the Lesmo bends (the two fast rights before the back straight at Monza) because REALITY IS DIFFERENT. Monza was altered, either in '94 or '95, because it wasn't possible to create enough runoff for the faster second corner to meet new safety regs without cutting down too many trees in the public park the track is located in. The solution, regrettably, was to tighten up the second bend. Rick

>Uhm, I hate to tell you guys, but F1RS is different in the Lesmo bends (the two >fast rights before the back straight at Monza) because REALITY IS DIFFERENT. >Monza was altered, either in '94 or '95, because it wasn't possible to create >enough runoff for the faster second corner to meet new safety regs without Probably one of the many safety regs which are the result of the Senna crash. Thanks for clearing that up! Thats the kind of info I have been looking for. Also another good reason to *NOT* compare F1RS with GP2. -- Header intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

On Thu, 29 Jan 1998 09:44:56 -0800, Andrew Carroll >A good example is Monaco. In GP2, the first corner can be taken in a >fast 3rd gear. I then made the mistake of trying this in F1RS, and >ended up upside down. In F1RS this is a low 2nd gear corner. I don't >know which one is more realistic, but what I do know is that it's going >to take me some time to adjust my driving style to suit F1RS. F1RS models the interactions on the front axle better than GP2, GP2 models the rear axle better. This results in it being necessary to drive in a somewhat different manner. In particular, in GP2 it was often better to go into the corners a little hot, modulating the brakes and then taking it quite careful on the exit. With F1RS you need to try and get all the braking done before you get to the corner, time your entry well and then floor the throttle as much as you possibly can without overly spinning the rear wheels. Another thing to watch out for is that F1RS models the reduced grip available if the steering wheels are turned too far from the direction of travel. If this happens the car starts understeering and the natural reponse is to turn the wheel further which only makes the problem worse :( Since a very high wheel lock is required at Monaco (only really for Lowes, but you can't avoid it <g>) you need to be very careful with how far you turn the wheel and try and setup the car so that the rear end is a little loose. You can really hustle the car round Monaco once you get used to it - and yes, St Devote is a 3rd gear corner in F1RS as well <g> If you like understeering cars, F1RS isn't too hard to pick up ;-) But most people seemed to go for rather horrible (IMHO) oversteering setups in GP2. Trying to recreate that in F1RS may be difficult if not impossible. Remember the key points of driving a race car (smooth, exit speed more important than entry speed, etc) but forget the GP2 specific bits and the learning curve shouldn't be too bad <g> Cheers, Richard