Is it me - or is GP2 slow?

When I play GP2, the actual time (on my clock) seems as if it is twice as long as the lap times posted by the game. For example - a lap of 1:20 at Monaco takes almost 3 minutes of real time to occur. Is this normal? My frame rates are fine, but there is little correlation between computer timing and real world timing. A second is not a second. Is it me - or is GP2 slow? BTW, I am running a 200MMX with 64Mb, so I don't imagine it to be a CPU horsepower thing...

If you are trying to run it in SVGA with full, or anywhere near full graphics, especially clouds, *especially* Monaco, it is a CPU horsepower thing. Press "O" and see what the "processor occupancy" (PO) reads. If it is substantially above 100%, then the game no longer runs realtime. Basically GP2 runs at a fixed "framerate" which you set. This framerate is based on frames per virtual second. If the CPU can't keep up with real-time, the virtual second is longer than a real one. Also, if the PO is too low, a virtual second may be a little shorter than a real one! I consider this the single worst thing about GP2 and an increadibly stupid design choice for a sim where timing is so critical. So, if the PO is higher than 100 for an appreciable part of the track, start disabling some of the graphics options.

>When I play GP2, the actual time (on my clock) seems as if it is twice >as long as the lap times posted by the game. >For example - a lap of 1:20 at Monaco takes almost 3 minutes of real >time to occur. It sounds like you're playing in slow motion. It's never quite accurate, particularly as there's a clock multiplier to get realistic laptimes, but three minutes is silly! Check your occupancy (hold 'O' while you're driving) and play with the graphics settings to get it around 90%. Anything over 100%, and the game hits slow-mo mode. Just 'cos you've got monster horsepower doesn't mean you can run hi-res with all graphics (remember it doesn't use 3DFX) and just 'cos you've told it to run at 25 fps doesn't mean it isn't actually achieving 12 - with 25 frames to each *game* second, which is where the funny timing's coming from. Remember also to leave some spare horsepower to cope with traffic, smoke, dust and the like - my system (AMD 5k86 100) runs under 50% on some tracks, solo, just to ensure it stays below about 150% in a big shunt at Monaco! HTH, Jonny

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>If you are trying to run it in SVGA with full, or anywhere near full graphics, >especially clouds, *especially* Monaco, it is a CPU horsepower thing. >Press "O" and see what the "processor occupancy" (PO) reads. If it is >substantially above 100%, then the game no longer runs realtime. Basically >GP2 runs at a fixed "framerate" which you set. This framerate is based on >frames per virtual second. If the CPU can't keep up with real-time, the >virtual second is longer than a real one.

So far so good. This is not quite correct. It only *seems* this way on certain tracks. If you stay under 100% PO all the time, you'll be running in exact realtime. The fact that it _seems_ faster on some tracks is caused by this other strange timing-thing in GP2: the time-multiplier. General assumption is that Crammond implemented somekind of multiplier to make the laptimes (of the CC?) as close to real as possible. This factor is different on each track. You can see it for yourself if you copy the same trackfile to different slots, and drive more-or-less identical laps. If you measure the time in reality, your laps WILL be almost identical, but still GP2 shows significantly different times. Sometimes the multiplier makes the apparent laptime faster, sometimes slower. But the actual action will be realtime as long as you stay under 100% PO. JoH PS: slowmo has long proven to be an advantage, but now it can be detected by using the GP2LAP tool. Please remove *anti-spam* from the email when replying. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= When everything else failed, we can still become im- mortal by making an enormous blunder.... John Kenneth Galbraith =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=