GPL - some dumb questions

Ok.. in a month, I shall have a new system at my disposal. PII-350, 64 megs of SDRAM, 8 megs video RAM, but no 3d card. With this system, is GPL worth buying? I mean, would it at least be playable without any AI cars? (I'm used to lousy frame-rates) And: I don't know a damn thing about 3d cards. Do they replace your video card or do they run alongside them? And: I take it you need something more than a 10 dollar joystick to put in decent lap-times, eh? :( Super Pants

You'll need a 3d card to get good frame rates. PII-350 plus 3d acceleration will allow the game to run at or near max framerate with full field and full graphics (except maybe mirrors). You have a couple of choices for 3d cards: A Rendition-based card. Hercules Thriller 8Mb seems to be the card of choice for Rendition support. It's a 2d/3d combo card and will replace your current card. Not sure what the price on this card is - about $149? Other option is Diamond Stealth II S220, I believe. Any Voodoo2 card (available from Diamond, Creative Labs, Guillemot, Canopus, etc.). I'd recommend a 12Mb card over an 8Mb card. Prices have dropped to ~$169 for the 12MB cards. Voodoo2 cards work in addition to your current video card. If your system has 2 free PCI slots, you can get a pair of Voodoo2 cards for about $229 - it'll increase performance on a lot of games, but it may be overkill for just GPL. Conventional Wisdom is that the Thriller will give better or equal framerate performance and better image quality.

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> Ok.. in a month, I shall have a new system at my disposal. PII-350, 64 > megs of SDRAM, 8 megs video RAM, but no 3d card. With this system, is > GPL worth buying? I mean, would it at least be playable without any AI > cars? (I'm used to lousy frame-rates) > And: > I don't know a damn thing about 3d cards. Do they replace your video > card or do they run alongside them? > And: > I take it you need something more than a 10 dollar joystick to put in > decent lap-times, eh? :( > Super Pants

Yeah, so the conventional wisdom has it, but the good news is that you can pick up some pretty reasonable wheel / pedal combos for around $100, and, if you've a mind to, you can even get the Thrustmaster Grand Prix 1 wheel that has throttle and brake paddles attached to the wheel for around $30. I'm being cheap and using it now and it works quite well. There are people out there using just joysticks, but they're probably a pretty special breed. Joe

I'd send this e-mail, but I'm pretty sure that reply-to addy wouldn't work.

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> Ok.. in a month, I shall have a new system at my disposal. PII-350, 64 > megs of SDRAM, 8 megs video RAM, but no 3d card. With this system, is > GPL worth buying? I mean, would it at least be playable without any AI > cars? (I'm used to lousy frame-rates) > And: > I don't know a damn thing about 3d cards. Do they replace your video > card or do they run alongside them?

Depends on the card. Rendition cards are 2d/3d they replace your existing video card. Some manufacturers computers have a video adapter hardwired to the motherboard. My old Aptiva was that way, but installing a Rendition card automatically disabled the old adapter. 3dfx cards, which use the Voodoo chipset, are 3d only. They go in in addition to your existing 2d card. You can have both, my 2d is a Rendition Screamin' 3d card. I also have a Diamond Voodoo II 3dfx card. Beware of VoodooRush cards. They are 3dfx 2d/3d cards, but they don't do a particularly good job. Your specs are similar to mine. I haven't tried software only (not using the video card to process graphics), nor do I want to. You can find decent 3dfx cards for uner $150. Apparently some can do quite well with a joystick, but again, I wouldn't want to try it. I like my TSW2.

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> You'll need a 3d card to get good frame rates. PII-350 plus 3d > acceleration will allow the game to run at or near max framerate with > full field and full graphics (except maybe mirrors). > You have a couple of choices for 3d cards: > A Rendition-based card. Hercules Thriller 8Mb seems to be the card of > choice for Rendition support. It's a 2d/3d combo card and will replace > your current card. Not sure what the price on this card is - about $149? > Other option is Diamond Stealth II S220, I believe. > Any Voodoo2 card (available from Diamond, Creative Labs, Guillemot, > Canopus, etc.). I'd recommend a 12Mb card over an 8Mb card. Prices have > dropped to ~$169 for the 12MB cards. Voodoo2 cards work in addition to > your current video card. If your system has 2 free PCI slots, you can > get a pair of Voodoo2 cards for about $229 - it'll increase performance > on a lot of games, but it may be overkill for just GPL.

Ah.. thanx. Think I'll go***the Voodoo2. What are the advantages of a 12mb card over a 8mb? And does it make a difference if the original video card and the Voodoo are of the same make? (Current video card: Diamond Speedstar 8m AGP) Super Pants Siegfried & Roy's secret love child

On Tue, 13 Oct 1998 16:23:53 -0700, Super Pants >Ok.. in a month, I shall have a new system at my disposal. PII-350, 64 >megs of SDRAM, 8 megs video RAM, but no 3d card. With this system, is >GPL worth buying? I mean, would it at least be playable without any AI >cars? (I'm used to lousy frame-rates) Well my system is a P233MMX (not PII), 98Mb of EDO RAM and 2Mb of Video ram and with my cheap 35 3DFX Voodoo 1 chipset card, I get a solid 36fps on all tracks without any AI, with the AI, its around 18fps. So looking at your spec I'd say you'd have no problem but it it is worth getting a 3D card as it will improved the graphics quality and framerate no end. Well there are two types as far as I know and I'm happy to be corrected. You can get 2D/3D combined cards and 3D pass thru cards. The 2D/3D combo's replace your existing card completely but I've heard of a lot of people having problems with them and getting poor 2D performance. As for the pass thru cards (the type I have) you simply put it in a spare PCI slot and use the provided cable to couple it to your existing card. This takes output from your existing card into the 3DFX card and then you connect your monitor to the output of the 3DFX card. I believe some use and internal connecter. Anyhew.... There are a lot of arguments about whether to go for 3DFX, Voodoo 1 or 2 or the Rendition version. I wont argue the case but I'll give you my opinions. Voodoo 2 is great and has many more features and speed but at a cost. As this has now replaced the Vooodo 1, these cards are cheaper and you can pick them up for pennies (see www.3dfx.com) Memory is an issue - like standard video cards, the more ram you have the higer the resolutions/colour depth you can run your games in, but at the cost of processing. Renditions cards have been out for a while and quite a few Papyrus games support them, but of all the games I have, its ONLY Papyrus games that seem to support them (others must, but I dont have them) and of the 26 or so games I have 3DFX is supported in all. So in my opinion, if you have *** all budget, get a pukka 3DFX Voodoo 1 chipset clone for about 35 for now until you can get a better Voodoo 2. The power of your PC should compensate for the slower 3DFX card to some degree and make it playable. Again, these are only my opinions based on personal experience. Not really. I played N2 and ICR2 with a $10 two buttoned stick from Tandys for years and was pretty damn quick. As long as the contacts are kept clean and it gives you a good ammount of controlled input then you dont have to rush out and buy a $150 Force Feedback stick. I have a FF stick and without Auto centering off, I cant drive GPL with it. I've got a very old and beat up T2 at home and apart from a dodgy pot on it, it works fine. - Jed, The Pits

Seems very fast for me. Did you switch of the details? Jens >Well my system is a P233MMX (not PII), 98Mb of EDO RAM and 2Mb of >Video ram and with my cheap 35 3DFX Voodoo 1 chipset card, I get >a solid 36fps on all tracks without any AI, with the AI, its around >18fps. --------------------------------------------- Remove "NOSPAM" before using my email-address

>Seems very fast for me. >Did you switch of the details? >Jens Nope, not a thing. I played it a lot last night and decided that to keep the frame rate up with the AI on I switched to 512 mode and turned off the mirrors to just show the cars. The starts are slow, but I still get 30fps when I'm pootling round and about 15-18fps if I'm 'in the mix'. - Jed, The Pits

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> On Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:27:00 -0700, > >> You'll need a 3d card to get good frame rates. PII-350 plus 3d > >> acceleration will allow the game to run at or near max framerate with > >> full field and full graphics (except maybe mirrors). > >> You have a couple of choices for 3d cards: > >> A Rendition-based card. Hercules Thriller 8Mb seems to be the card of > >> choice for Rendition support. It's a 2d/3d combo card and will replace > >> your current card. Not sure what the price on this card is - about $149? > >> Other option is Diamond Stealth II S220, I believe.

I've been reading the postings in this group about how the Hercules Thriller 8mb Rendition card (V2200 chip) is probably the best card for GPL. A few people have canned the Diamond Stealth II220 4mb (V2100 chip) which I have. However, I've got to say I'm getting absoultly fantastic frame rates with my II220, mostly around 30fps with 19 cars. Drops to between 23-28 in the pits. The worst result I've had is 20fps on the grid at Monaco with 19 cars and once you start racing it jumps up to 25-30 no worries. Best result I've had is 38fps (for those of you who think it maxes out at 36 well I've seen a few 37's and 38's on my system.) Don't think I'd be quick enough to get a screen shot though as they've only flashed up quickly. Graphics I have turned off are clouds only. In mirror I have everything on except Terrain, track texture and racing grove. So, those of you considering a cheaper card think about buying the Diamond. For the record my system is a PII-233 o/c to 333mhz. 64mb of RAM. Directx6. I don't know what effect it has but I'm using Magnaram 97 (Memory compression software) that's tricks Windows into thinking I've currently got 99mb of RAM. Rob Yates.