more GPL

I love it. Ferrari at the Ring is unreal. But the more I drive the more it irritates me that this sim requires first class computer power to run at full fps with all graphics and all ai cars. Don't reply " duh". I knew what I was getting but the reality is sinking in that the early hype was all hype. A 200mmx with a thriller 8 meg is a good combination and runs all graphics at full fps while driving alone in training but to "race" I have to drop almost all graphics, use 5-10 cars and then get only 15-20fps. You lose a lot of ability to drive well and you lose the sense of speed. I suppose if I had to complain that would be number two to the fact that it is ridiculous trying to race with ai cars because you must drive at the limit or finish way back. I do allright, I can run in the top 6-8 right now but it would be nice to drive some laps in traffic at a reasonable pace to learn the tracks and the how the ai responds to your moves. As it is now you have to look at shitty worse than vga graphics with choppy motion and drive 100+%, freaking bs, thats not fun at all. Papy screwed up those two simple things. We can't expect them to supply all of us a 450 but how about an ai adjustment like N2? Too freakin simple? What the hell were they thinking? Yes, I downloaded Alison's ai adjuster and I admire and respect her involvement in GPL and applaud her for trying to convince Papy to put in the speed % deal but to "patch" a three day old state of the art sim seems .... I love the complex physics and everything else but these two things. For now I'm going back to the ring in the Ferrari until next week when my 450 gets installed, yes, i ordered it two weeks ago.

You're going to love it! I got a new PII 400 with 128 RAM just for this sim and it rocks! With my old Pure 3D V1 card, I am getting 25 fps on a full grid and 36 fps on the track, even at Monaco. -don "To race is to live, everything else is just waiting." - Rudi Caracciola

Okay, I'll stand up and say I'm not afraid to admit I think I'll be buying a 450 and a VooDoo II, mainly for this game. Oh man, what has my life come to.... ha Joey

Hi John, About the hardware: You're absolutely right, but I prever it this way. About the AI: I think you're making a mistake. Don't compare GPL with previous racing sims. Papyrus obviously has choosen to make GPL so realistic as possible. Not only the physics, but also the AI. This implies that if you want to win a race, you better be good. No tradeoff, no "brake" on the AI. The only consession they did, was to slow down the backmarkers. Don't expect to win the second race you drive! (Like N2 with 80% opponents) BTW: I don't have GPL yet, all this concluded out of RAS postings and Alison's site. Remco

Quoted text (23 lines)

>I love it. Ferrari at the Ring is unreal. But the more I drive the more it >irritates me that this sim requires first class computer power to run at >full fps with all graphics and all ai cars. Don't reply " duh". I knew what >I was getting but the reality is sinking in that the early hype was all >hype. A 200mmx with a thriller 8 meg is a good combination and runs all >graphics at full fps while driving alone in training but to "race" I have >to drop almost all graphics, use 5-10 cars and then get only 15-20fps. You >lose a lot of ability to drive well and you lose the sense of speed. I >suppose if I had to complain that would be number two to the fact that it >is ridiculous trying to race with ai cars because you must drive at the >limit or finish way back. I do allright, I can run in the top 6-8 right >now but it would be nice to drive some laps in traffic at a reasonable pace >to learn the tracks and the how the ai responds to your moves. As it is now >you have to look at shitty worse than vga graphics with choppy motion and >drive 100+%, freaking bs, thats not fun at all. Papy screwed up those two >simple things. We can't expect them to supply all of us a 450 but how about >an ai adjustment like N2? Too freakin simple? What the hell were they >thinking? Yes, I downloaded Alison's ai adjuster and I admire and respect >her involvement in GPL and applaud her for trying to convince Papy to put >in the speed % deal but to "patch" a three day old state of the art sim >seems .... I love the complex physics and everything else but these two >things. For now I'm going back to the ring in the Ferrari until next week >when my 450 gets installed, yes, i ordered it two weeks ago.

% I love it. Ferrari at the Ring is unreal. But the more I drive the more it % irritates me that this sim requires first class computer power to run at % full fps with all graphics and all ai cars. Don't reply " duh". I knew what % I was getting but the reality is sinking in that the early hype was all % hype. A 200mmx with a thriller 8 meg is a good combination and runs all % graphics at full fps while driving alone in training but to "race" I have % to drop almost all graphics, use 5-10 cars and then get only 15-20fps. <snip> % As it is now % you have to look at shitty worse than vga graphics with choppy motion and % drive 100+%, freaking bs, thats not fun at all. Papy screwed up those two % simple things. We can't expect them to supply all of us a 450 but how about % an ai adjustment like N2? Too freakin simple? What the hell were they % thinking? <snip> You know, I hear you and I understand, but a 200mmx is old technology (at least you have fairly new technology with your video card). 512x384 is a far cry from VGA graphics! The AI in GPL is a whole 'nother kettle of fish. They have taken a completely different aspect to "tweaking" the AI. In their other products, it was simply make them run a certain % of the speeds, which in my book isn't very realistic. Usually straight speed should still be high, but it's the cornering that should be dropped if one is wanting to "dumb down" AI. Other things should be figured in as well. It may have been easy to implement in their older sims, but then again GPL is meant to raise the sim bar higher, not just put fancy wrapping on it. -- **************************** Michael E. Carver ************************* Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./. [- < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 16:19:46 GMT; The message..... No no no. You work for an ad agency and need a nicely powered system to run all those number crunching rendering programs. ;o)

"Antoine Renault" wrote <snip> Comment as-tu fait pour trouver GPL en magasin Antoine ?? J'ai cherch partout Montral (et partout dans la banlieue)... impossible de le trouver... Im going Postal... so please help me Im desperate ;-D Philippe Sergerie went to the US to get it... but I didn't had time this weekend for a trip South of the border... Maybe we could hook up someday and build a LAN server and have fun at GPL. It's a plot from the Canadian goverment against us, the French-Canadians ;-D (joking hehe) - Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard> Good race at the Brickyard! - Official Mentally retarded guy of r.a.s. - Excuse me for my English (I'm French speaking) - Sponsored by http://www.awpss.com/ on the NROS - "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--

On Sun, 04 Oct 1998 16:43:45 GMT, "Michael E. Carver"

Quoted text (8 lines)

>The AI in GPL is a whole 'nother kettle of fish. They have taken a >completely different aspect to "tweaking" the AI. In their other >products, it was simply make them run a certain % of the speeds, which >in my book isn't very realistic. Usually straight speed should still be >high, but it's the cornering that should be dropped if one is wanting to >"dumb down" AI. Other things should be figured in as well. It may have >been easy to implement in their older sims, but then again GPL is meant >to raise the sim bar higher, not just put fancy wrapping on it.

This explains a lot. At first I was wondering why they didn't do it but after reading this I must say it really makes sense. Not saying it couldn't have benn done, but then we wouldn't already be playing it, would we... But still there's one question in my mind : Why can't I select the exact number of AI opponents I want to race against, even if it's under 5? My "old technology" won't allow me to race against too many AI cars, and it even struggles with 5. Why can't I race against only 1 AI car? Wouldn't be as spectacular, but it would be a lot better than hotlapping alone... I don't see how this could be labeled as "technically impossible", so I guess they chose to do so. Why? I don't have the slightest idea... Any thoughts on this particular issue Michael? Or anyone else? A. Renault

% But still there's one question in my mind : Why can't I select the % exact number of AI opponents I want to race against, even if it's % under 5? My "old technology" won't allow me to race against too many % AI cars, and it even struggles with 5. Why can't I race against only % 1 AI car? Wouldn't be as spectacular, but it would be a lot better % than hotlapping alone... I don't see how this could be labeled as % "technically impossible", so I guess they chose to do so. Why? I % don't have the slightest idea... % Any thoughts on this particular issue Michael? Or anyone else? Good question? Could it have been laziness on Papyrus' part? Less coding to change something that was hardcoded during beta testing and the need to get it to the market. Doesn't sound that difficult of a thing to ask for. % A. Renault -- **************************** Michael E. Carver ************************* Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./. [- < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=