GPL: Four things I hate about it!

> 2. Why didn't they give us those extra external views like "far chase" and > "blimp" to be available AT LEAST during replay????? They are already in the > game and they work (although only in driving-mode and after tweaking the > 'player.ini' file), so WHAT THE F*?? A couple possibilities: Perhaps they don't work "well enough" to meet the designers desires in all cases. (Seeing further might impact frame rate excessively.) So rather than allow a (false) bad impression of the sim (through frame rate staggers) in a "demo" mode somewhere the capability is restricted. Similarly, seeing further (or just an overhead view) might allow a bad impression of the AI (depending on how it is coded). - Matt

1. Why on earth isn't there an option to downshift right into neutral by pressing ONE SINGLE KEY?? It takes about five seconds to downshift from fifth to first, and seconds are lightyears on a racetrack. 2. Why didn't they give us those extra external views like "far chase" and "blimp" to be available AT LEAST during replay????? They are already in the game and they work (although only in driving-mode and after tweaking the 'player.ini' file), so WHAT THE F*?? 3. Why is it that AI cars are not affected by cold tyres? 4. Why don't I loose grip after doing some 'slapstick' excursion outside the racetrack? Don't get me wrong as I really love this sim (apart from the above). Comments? Oh yeah, and download my GPL Soundpack. Easy to install, even easier to remove (just copy the sound.dat from the CD into the appropriate directory on your HD). You'll like it! [link lost in import: /***er/nixfx2.exe]

- >1. Why on earth isn't there an option to downshift right into neutral by >pressing ONE SINGLE KEY?? It takes about five seconds to downshift from >fifth to first, and seconds are lightyears on a racetrack. Sequential gearing, much like you see on motorcycles. Not sure about that one, maybe Papyrus will respond to that. I thought they were, and it was just my poor starts <g>. Hmm, seems like I do. Maybe not as much as I woud have thought though. - Don Burnette Palmetto Racing Dburn on Ten AOLL Iroc Administrator

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>On Tue, 03 Nov 1998 03:38:01 GMT, >>- >>>1. Why on earth isn't there an option to downshift right into neutral by >>>pressing ONE SINGLE KEY?? It takes about five seconds to downshift from >>>fifth to first, and seconds are lightyears on a racetrack. >>Sequential gearing, much like you see on motorcycles. >Not in '67. An old Hewland gearbox, which is what they used, for the most >part, has a shifter that is somewhat like a gated shifter. Not sequential.

That's what I thought as well. So, back to the original post: Why isn't there a button or something to set the gear on neutral? Nothing's more fustrating than (slowly) going thru gears from 5 to1 after you've spun and try to get going again. Hena

On Tue, 3 Nov 1998 13:20:09 +0200, "Hena H?kk?nen"

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>>On Tue, 03 Nov 1998 03:38:01 GMT, >>>- >>>>1. Why on earth isn't there an option to downshift right into neutral by >>>>pressing ONE SINGLE KEY?? It takes about five seconds to downshift from >>>>fifth to first, and seconds are lightyears on a racetrack. >>>Sequential gearing, much like you see on motorcycles. >>Not in '67. An old Hewland gearbox, which is what they used, for the most >>part, has a shifter that is somewhat like a gated shifter. Not sequential. >That's what I thought as well. So, back to the original post: Why isn't >there a button or something to set the gear on neutral? Nothing's more >fustrating than (slowly) going thru gears from 5 to1 after you've spun and >try to get going again. >Hena

A suggestion to get around this - once you see you're not going to save it, jump on the brakes hard and start down-shifting so that when you stop, you're in first gear. Peter Holt

>1. Why on earth isn't there an option to downshift right into neutral by >pressing ONE SINGLE KEY?? It takes about five seconds to downshift from >fifth to first, and seconds are lightyears on a racetrack. I agree. I was asking for this option when the original demo was released. Too bad it wasn't incorporated into the final version. In the old demo, you could shift-R to get back into neutral, since there wasn't a "full tank and cold tires" penalty. <Bruce Kennewell mode> Because that's what it was like in reality! They didn't have blimps or flying cameras in 1967! GPL is a realistic sim! You are an heretic! </Bruce Kennewell mode> I love watching replays from the blimp camera in ICR2. Besides being a great tool for determining the culprit after crashes, it helps to visualize the track layout. People who should know say they are affected. But the AI drivers apparently make less mistakes with cold tires than we do. ;) -- Wolfgang Preiss \ E-mail copies of replies to this posting are welcome.

>>1. Why on earth isn't there an option to downshift right into neutral by >>pressing ONE SINGLE KEY?? It takes about five seconds to downshift from >>fifth to first, and seconds are lightyears on a racetrack. It would be nice if the numeric keypad keys could be programmed for that, like the big '0' for neutral. In the 1966 movie "Grand Prix", there are fantastic pictures from a helicopter chasing th ecars at Spa, and AFAIK at Clermond-Ferrand also. In the 1930s, airplanes and Zeppelins were used to film the Silberpfeil cars on the Ring, plus shots from the Nuerburg tower. -- _____ /_______\ .\\ a t t h e a d I XT /~~~~ I 500\_____ 1977' Yamaha XT.Rex 500 Enduro \____/\__I_I http://matthead.home.pages.de/

> 1. Why on earth isn't there an option to downshift right into neutral by > pressing ONE SINGLE KEY?? It takes about five seconds to downshift from > fifth to first, and seconds are lightyears on a racetrack. I don't have a big problem with downshifting from 5th to 1st...but it's the downshifting to Reverse I have a problem with...regardless of what gear you were in when you wipe out, you have to shift down to first, then Neutral, and then into Reverse. Why? The shifter is gated, and should allow you direct access to Reverse..!! ICR2 had a configurable button/key to shift into Reverse. -- Neil Yeatman Ajax, Ontario, CANADA

> 3. Why is it that AI cars are not affected by cold tyres? Drive with Jim Clark for his first two practice laps - you'll notice that he goes a lot slower and more gently on the first lap than the second. I can only think that he's warming the tyres up. Paul