I noticed something that I do while racing GPL and I think some others might
share the habit.
When I begin a corner, I have a certain picture perfect line in my head. Of
course. We all do. But I also have a picture perfect driving style in my
head. In most corners it goes something like this - At turn in I want to
pitch the car over the nose, immediately apply opposite lock, straighten the
wheel by the apex and be at full throttle soon after. I want a single,
smooth, unfaltering wheel movement. Minimal and pretty. Like a peach.
Big mistake.
In real life we don't think about opposite lock on the race track. We simply
visualize the racing line, know the racing pace and enter the corner at that
pace. Many laps of practice and discussion lead us to the technique we use
on entry, and when things go horribly awry we "fix it". "Fixing it" usually
consists of a multitude of techniques including such classics as feathering
the throttle, down braking, (That's trail braking for you kids from the
90's.) and the ever popular opposite lock. (Or "correction" as we called it
in the 60's and 70's.) The secondary senses, sight and sound, help us find
the racing line and avoid collisions but don't go a long way towards fixing
a goofed racing line. The primary sense does all the monitoring, degree of
adjustment, and final analysis/correction.
This primary sense is, of course, the ass. Our "private place that is behind
us" as Hans Stuck refers to it, is the number one gauge of what is happening
on the track. Without this sense, racing careers would not last long. We all
know this from racing video games. How many times have you died because you
never saw it coming? The better these simulations get at replicating real
life physics though, the harder it is to really "feel" what's going on.
Maybe not harder, but with more detail in the game engine, that's more
detail that we are missing through our CRT's. The detail is in the ass my
friends. And it aint hooked up to the computer.
When I'm getting on the gas exiting a turn in GPL, sometimes I consciously
anticipate where the car is going to go and apply opposite lock in correct
proportion to the throttle. This only works up to a certain speed before it
becomes unstable due to "confidence veering" (if you know what I mean), so
the method is slow. If, on the other hand, I exit with a goal in mind, such
as when I am chasing a faster driver, and "fix it" as I go, I can sometimes
drive with true anticipation. How this is achieved without the primary sense
I could not tell you. But I'm gonna bet seat time has a lot to do with it.
Fixing it involves a lot of sawing at the wheel, throttle manipulation, and
basic "seat of the pants" type heroics. It is not pretty, like a peach. It's
busy, frayed around the edges, and makes you look like an amateur. But it
will get you home to the wife and kids.
So, what's the exercise? I wish I could state it "just like that". I think
what I am trying to do is let go more. I'm reaching for a higher immersion
level and fortunately Kaemmer has created a game in which that can be
achieved. (Above 26 FPS, that is.) The goal is to let go more. Let the car
drive it's own natural line and nudge it here and there to follow the track.
Extend myself into the screen. Be ahead of the line. Stay loose and tight
like a whip. Drive instinctually...
Free my arms from the picture perfect driving technique in my head.
--
mark - 3:23:95 at Spa
GTS Race Works
>I noticed something that I do while racing GPL and I think some others might
>share the habit.
<SNIP>
>Free my arms from the picture perfect driving technique in my head.
Really nice post. I agree, in large part, with what you said.
One of the main complaints that I have heard from people I know who have
tried GPL and also raced cars (or karts) is that you can't "feel" it break
away on you, so you can't react as quickly. It all is down to sound cues,
and visual acuity and reaction. I think it helps if you have played driving
sims for a while too. You are used to seeing that version of "reality".
I know of one person for whom this is their first driving sim. He is
getting faster and faster and it adjusting to GPL's on-screen physics
display very well. He has no formal racing experience either. Maybe GPL
_is_ a good starter sim, because you actually get more visual feedback
regarding what the car is doing (ex, how the suspension is working, how the
car squats under acceleration, how you use the brake and throttle to affect
the car's attitude throughout the entire corner).
Good post and good job Papyrus.
-J.
Smoke 'em if you got 'em!
<snip>
