First, I'm a 10 year F1 fan with alot of interest in the 65-68 period and I
thought I would love GPL regardless, well It's better than I thought.
I was at Spa for the GP a few weeks ago, and although the track has changed
much since 1967 many features of the Papyrus track are 100% accurate ( the
strange concrete poles for power, the buildings, hills etc.) I walked and
drove (in a rental car) the current track but you can see where the old
track was too. So take these words of advice from someoen who has acutally
driven Eau Rouge (well, yes at 40 MPH but I didn't crash like Jacques and
Mika Salo!).
Point of this message - if you are having trouble driving in GPL and are
getting frustrated before you get totally frustrated try here are a few
things I learned:
1) Cold tires DO NOT GRIP. If you crash and do SHIFT-R you get COLD TIRES.
You need at least a lap to warm them up.
2) Lower the fuel in the car setup to about 5-8 gallons. Makes it easier to
drive when you learn the track.
3) I use a CH Products Pedals and Thrustmaster T2, I changed "Steering
Linearity" the slider so it is about 20% to the left of center. Made the car
easier to control.
4) Think about when you use the brake! The brake is a steering device! if
you jump on it reall hard middle of the corner it will also make you
crash!!! Use finesse! Slow the car down on entry and use the throttle
through the corner... you can use the brake more as you enter the corner
(trail braking) the more comfortable you get. I use left foot braking and
you get so used to just nailing the brakes in games like GP2 it is a
difficult lesson to learn.
Also check out Alison Hines EXCELLENT FAQ at
http://webhome.idirect.com/~drbryan/gpl/faq/eaglefaq.htm [address restored]
One excellent tip is to race in the trainer cras you can do the following
(from Alison's FAQ):
5.3 Why can't I race against the AI while driving a Trainer?
Actually, you can. You have to change one small item in your player.ini
file. I recommend you create a new player just for racing in each of the
Trainers. For example, I have three drivers: Alison Hine (for the GP car),
Ali-F2 Hine (for the Advanced Trainer), and Ali-F3 (for the Basic Trainer).
Once you've created the extra player or two, open the GPL players folder (by
default, C:\SIERRA\gpl\players) and then open the folder for one of the
training players. For example, I would open
C:\SIERRA\gpl\players\Hine__Ali-F2. Now, using a text editor, edit the file
called player.ini.
Look for a parameter called driverRating. It's in the [ Personal
Information ] stanza. Change the value of driverRating to 2 for the Advanced
Trainer, or 1 for the Basic Trainer.
Now, when you race as one of these new drivers, the AI will go slower.
CHEERS
Joe (5 year Miata Autocrosser and Dan Gurney Fan)
