GP2

I purchased GP2 but find it so slow, it's almost unplayable. I have a P133 with 32 MB ram. Maybe thats not enough.....but if it isn't....why don't they tell you that when you buy it?? Can anyone help with suggestions on how I could speed it up? Turning off graphic options will help some, but that also cuts down on overall enjoyment of any sim. Please help.

> I purchased GP2 but find it so slow, it's almost unplayable. I have a P133 > with 32 MB ram. Maybe thats not enough.....but if it isn't....why don't they > tell you that when you buy it?? Can anyone help with suggestions on how I > could speed it up? Turning off graphic options will help some, but that also > cuts down on overall enjoyment of any sim. Please help. 'Fraid it is slow. The 2d graphics take some getting used to after 3d sims. But try switching the sky off first, that usually slows down the game a huge amount.

% I purchased GP2 but find it so slow, it's almost unplayable. I have a P133 % with 32 MB ram. Maybe thats not enough.....but if it isn't....why don't they % tell you that when you buy it?? Can anyone help with suggestions on how I % could speed it up? Turning off graphic options will help some, but that also % cuts down on overall enjoyment of any sim. Please help. GP2 is one of the most "un-optimized" simulation programs to be relased in the last few years. I first loaded GP2 (many moons ago) on my P5-90 system. I had to run with the bare minimum of graphics and detail in the mirrors to achieve a "drivable" frame rate. When I upgraded to a p5-166, I was able to turn on a couple more details and up the frame rate a couple of notches. Even running GP2 on a PII-300, one can't get full frame rate and detail. That's what I mean about un-optimized. You will have to set your "eye-candy" sights a little lower and turn of some detail. Then set the frame rate to about 2 fps less than the estimated frame rate with the graphical settings you choose. Your ideal frame rate should give you a CPU occupancy of around 80-90% on the starting grid. This way you won't encounter too many major slow-ups as the graphical engine clogs the CPU. Of course there are a couple of tracks where you won't even be able to pull this off with your P133. -- **************************** Michael E. Carver ************************* Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./. [- < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

> I purchased GP2 but find it so slow, it's almost unplayable. I have > a P133 > > with 32 MB ram. Maybe thats not enough.....but if it isn't....why > don't they > > tell you that when you buy it?? The box states it will run on a 486 dx66, and I used to run it on a 486 dx4 100, in vag (not svga) with most graphics on, and a fps of around 20 and it ran ok (But I didn't know any better back then?) I now run it on a k6 200 (clocked to 225) and it runs great in svga with most graphics on (not sky) at 25ps. I should imagine on a p133 with 32Mb you should compromise between fps and graphics options? turn off sky, and some of the mirror textures in svga mode, and also try running it at 23 or even 21fps instead of 25fps. This should improve things somewhat? As always a faster pc will give better results. 8?) *Peter* 8-) (NB: remove asterix to e-mail)

> I purchased GP2 but find it so slow, it's almost unplayable. I have a P133 > with 32 MB ram. Maybe thats not enough.....but if it isn't....why don't they > tell you that when you buy it?? Can anyone help with suggestions on how I > could speed it up? Turning off graphic options will help some, but that also > cuts down on overall enjoyment of any sim. Please help. You aren't trying to run it in SVGA are you? If so, you'll need to kill almost *all* the other options... OTOH, I run it over 20fps on a K5-100 in VGA with most of the graphics on and <100% occupancy nearly all the time - even in race situations. Sky and mirror textures are a definite 'no'. Jonny --------------------------------------------------------------------- | Jonathan Hodgson | TTech Predator | | than win by two laps | LSU Archery Club and Orchestra | ---------------------------------------------------------------------

The only thing that will really help is to decrease your framerate. I know, it sounds strange but if you want to have a framerate of let's say 25, your system simply can't handle that and by some reason the result is that you won't get more than about 6 fps. So if you decrease the framerate to about 15 I'm sure you will be able to run GP2 very good. You can find this option in the graphics menu. If you have more questions you can always mail me. Good luck with it! Greetings John.

The problem is that GP2 tries to give you the number of frames per second that you ask. It doesn't DROP frames if your CPU isn't powerful enough. Instead, it starts to "stretch out" gametime. When you push the "O" key during driving, you will see a %-value that indicates how bussy your processor is. If this figure goes over 100%, it means that you're not running in realtime anymore. A value of 200% means that every "game"-second takes 2 real seconds to be calculated and displayed. Hence a slowdown of the game. Some tips to get better performance: - A good rule of thumb is to set the framerate about 2fps lower than the "recommended" to get a fluid game(the 'recommended' settings are too optimistic) . - Running in DOS makes another slight improvement (I "feel" the difference as 1-2 fps compared with running from Win95). - You could also replace the***pit graphic by one of the many available on the Net. Some have a bigger "display", leaving a smaller area of the screen to be updated. This can also make you gain some fps. (as smaller mirrors would do?) - AND you could overclock your processor. I've been running my P166 at 200Mhz for the last year without trouble. You should know what you're doing though, and visit [link lost in import] for more info (hope the URL is correct?) As you can see, lots of possibilities to get better performance! But don't let frustration for missing 2-3fps spoil the game for you. It's excellent stuff anyway! JoH Please remove *anti-spam* from the email when replying. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= When everything else failed, we can still become im- mortal by making an enormous blunder.... John Kenneth Galbraith =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Try DirectX 5? Or even better, get a Monster 3D card. You'll notice a tremendous improvment if GP2 supports 3Dfx. >>> I purchased GP2 but find it so slow, it's almost unplayable. I have a P133 >>> with 32 MB ram. Maybe thats not enough.....but if it isn't....why don't they >>> tell you that when you buy it?? Can anyone help with suggestions on how I >>> could speed it up? Turning off graphic options will help some, but that also

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>>> cuts down on overall enjoyment of any sim. Please help. >>You aren't trying to run it in SVGA are you? If so, you'll need to kill >>almost *all* the other options... OTOH, I run it over 20fps on a K5-100 >>in VGA with most of the graphics on and <100% occupancy nearly all the >>time - even in race situations. Sky and mirror textures are a definite >>'no'. >I was running it in SVGA on a P133/32MB. As the above poster wrote, you do >have to kill a lot of the detail. I ran with track, hills (grandstand), >objects textured, only curb and track in mirrors (no textures). I set >framerate to 16 fps (don't believe the auto framerate: too optimistic). I >would often then lower the detail in-race to the second lowest setting

(alt-D) >to ensure no "processor occupancy" over 100% (go above, and the game slows >down). But racing alone you should be able to go to full detail.

GP2 does not support 3Dfx. You will not see a speed increase cause the card is only active when it recognizes Glide or the OpenGL API. GP2 does not use Glide or OpenGL. The best frame rates I have ever seen were 17 FPS with all details ON including sky. I was using a P300 II with a Nvidia AGP card. BTW i've given up on GP2. Try F1RS instead. In 3Dfx it's beautiful. -The Rodster

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>Try DirectX 5? >Or even better, get a Monster 3D card. >You'll notice a tremendous improvment if GP2 supports 3Dfx. >>>> I purchased GP2 but find it so slow, it's almost unplayable. I have a >P133 >>>> with 32 MB ram. Maybe thats not enough.....but if it isn't....why don't >they >>>> tell you that when you buy it?? Can anyone help with suggestions on

how

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>I >>>> could speed it up? Turning off graphic options will help some, but that >also >>>> cuts down on overall enjoyment of any sim. Please help. >>>You aren't trying to run it in SVGA are you? If so, you'll need to kill >>>almost *all* the other options... OTOH, I run it over 20fps on a K5-100 >>>in VGA with most of the graphics on and <100% occupancy nearly all the >>>time - even in race situations. Sky and mirror textures are a definite >>>'no'. >>I was running it in SVGA on a P133/32MB. As the above poster wrote, you

do

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>>have to kill a lot of the detail. I ran with track, hills (grandstand), >>objects textured, only curb and track in mirrors (no textures). I set >>framerate to 16 fps (don't believe the auto framerate: too optimistic). I >>would often then lower the detail in-race to the second lowest setting >(alt-D) >>to ensure no "processor occupancy" over 100% (go above, and the game slows >>down). But racing alone you should be able to go to full detail.

When I had my p120, I would run it in vga, with very little detail at all anywhere. I will suffer graphic detail anyday for a smooth framerate. Don't use the automatic frame rate, shut off all options necessary to get it to show greater than 25 frames per second, the when you run the game, make sure that your occupancy never goes above 90% ever. This is the only way to drive the game and really enjoy it. I'm sorry, but the pretty view is just not worth it. By the way, there is a patch for S3 virge cards that increases performance by 10%.

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>Try DirectX 5? >Or even better, get a Monster 3D card. >You'll notice a tremendous improvment if GP2 supports 3Dfx. >>>> I purchased GP2 but find it so slow, it's almost unplayable. I have a >P133 >>>> with 32 MB ram. Maybe thats not enough.....but if it isn't....why don't >they >>>> tell you that when you buy it?? Can anyone help with suggestions on

how

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>I >>>> could speed it up? Turning off graphic options will help some, but that >also >>>> cuts down on overall enjoyment of any sim. Please help. >>>You aren't trying to run it in SVGA are you? If so, you'll need to kill >>>almost *all* the other options... OTOH, I run it over 20fps on a K5-100 >>>in VGA with most of the graphics on and <100% occupancy nearly all the >>>time - even in race situations. Sky and mirror textures are a definite >>>'no'. >>I was running it in SVGA on a P133/32MB. As the above poster wrote, you

do

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>>have to kill a lot of the detail. I ran with track, hills (grandstand), >>objects textured, only curb and track in mirrors (no textures). I set >>framerate to 16 fps (don't believe the auto framerate: too optimistic). I >>would often then lower the detail in-race to the second lowest setting >(alt-D) >>to ensure no "processor occupancy" over 100% (go above, and the game slows >>down). But racing alone you should be able to go to full detail.

Try to put full details with 9.6 fps frame rate. Excuse me for my bad english but im spanish. David Masten escribi en mensaje >>> I purchased GP2 but find it so slow, it's almost unplayable. I have a P133 >>> with 32 MB ram. Maybe thats not enough.....but if it isn't....why don't they >>> tell you that when you buy it?? Can anyone help with suggestions on how I >>> could speed it up?

...which it doesn't, I'm afraid..... JoH Please remove *anti-spam* from the email when replying. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= When everything else failed, we can still become im- mortal by making an enormous blunder.... John Kenneth Galbraith =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=