GPL question

Hi.Is there anyone out there who-like me-finds the driving model of GPL much too 'swimmy'?By swimmy I mean it floats around all over the track,and is damn little precise.I can't imagine being able to race closely on this sim.Bought the sim,loathed it,sold it.Tried some more at a friend just to make certain that I gave it a fair shot,but no:Couldn't get myself immersed. Was the cars like that,or is the driving model not up to scratch.I was not expecting razor sharp handling,but for me this is uncontrollable,or to be more precicely:I'm more worried about the car going straight,and not spinning round than actually watching ahead,and getting on with the job of racing.I like the cornering of GPL,but straight forward I have my hands full just keeping the car on the track. One last thing:I find that the traction between track and grass to be too little.One should slide more dramatically when hitting grass as compared to asphalt.Just my opinion. Anybody with an opinion? -- Homepage: http://home.c2i.net/trjensen/

Since you dind't mention it specifically, I would suggest purchasing a wheel/pedal setup. That would improved control significantly. The default setups can surprise you if you have driven other sims to any extent. Camber, toe, and tire pressure are the biggest reasons your car tends to hunt (what you call "swimming") as it proceeds down the track. I've found that equalizing the camber (making both front wheels the same amount of negative camber, and then making the rear camber the same for both rear wheels, but more positive than the fronts). You might also try increasing the steering ratio to improve your control. Consider that you've got a 1000 pound car, usually travelling in excess of 100 mph. Grass is slippery. I've driven a race car across grass, or more accurately, hung on and enjoyed the scenery while it was sliding through the grass. It's modelled fairly accurately. The problem I have is that the sand/gravel pits seem to be more slippery than they should be. The best example I can think of is Monza - if you're sliding sideways through the gravel, it should stop you much sooner than it does. Boy, that's a loaded question... :-) -- ========================================================= John Simmons - Redneck Techno-Biker (Zerex12) http://www.members.home.net/jms1/index.html John Simmons - Barbarian Diecast Collector http://members.home.net/jsimm/diecast_index.html IGPS Director http://members.home.net/jms1/igps.html If you want to send me email, go to either of the URL's shown above & click "Send Me Mail" in the contents frame. =========================================================

I think that adjusting your steering linearity will cure you of the problem.

Sounds like you didn't really give yourself enough time with GPL. It does take longer to get used to than any other sim I've used. After awhile however you'll find you can control it pretty well even on cold tires. With enough time behind the wheel some of the default setups will even start to seem way to tight and you'll be looking for ways to loosen the car up. :) As for traction on grass/dirt vs asphalt, apparently you've never nipped the grass while under power even on a straight ;) Dan > Hi.Is there anyone out there who-like me-finds the driving model of >-- >Homepage: http://home.c2i.net/trjensen/

If you're using a joystick... I feel for you. Without the ability to feather the throttle, it is extremely difficult to drive. I have a wheel and pedals, and it makes all the difference (I've also spent enough time behind GPL to almost cost my marriage and my job). Just imagine having a car with 400 horsepower and pushing the pedal to the floor in first gear each time you start the car rolling. That's what the joystick simulates. A tip for you... Manually shift the car, and keep the RPM's low. The car really "Swim's" at high RPM's.

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> Hi.Is there anyone out there who-like me-finds the driving model of >GPL much too 'swimmy'?By swimmy I mean it floats around all over the >track,and is damn little precise.I can't imagine being able to race >closely on this sim.Bought the sim,loathed it,sold it.Tried some more at >a friend just to make certain that I gave it a fair shot,but no:Couldn't >get myself immersed. > Was the cars like that,or is the driving model not up to scratch.I >was not expecting razor sharp handling,but for me this is >uncontrollable,or to be more precicely:I'm more worried about the car >going straight,and not spinning round than actually watching ahead,and >getting on with the job of racing.I like the cornering of GPL,but >straight forward I have my hands full just keeping the car on the track. > One last thing:I find that the traction between track and grass to >be too little.One should slide more dramatically when hitting grass as >compared to asphalt.Just my opinion. > Anybody with an opinion? >-- >Homepage: http://home.c2i.net/trjensen/

If you hit the gas too hard the weight transfers to the back of the car and the front tires have no traction. You will float back and forth. Also each time you hit "shift-r" the tires are new and cold

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> Hi.Is there anyone out there who-like me-finds the driving model of >GPL much too 'swimmy'?By swimmy I mean it floats around all over the >track,and is damn little precise.I can't imagine being able to race >closely on this sim.Bought the sim,loathed it,sold it.Tried some more at >a friend just to make certain that I gave it a fair shot,but no:Couldn't >get myself immersed. > Was the cars like that,or is the driving model not up to scratch.I >was not expecting razor sharp handling,but for me this is >uncontrollable,or to be more precicely:I'm more worried about the car >going straight,and not spinning round than actually watching ahead,and >getting on with the job of racing.I like the cornering of GPL,but >straight forward I have my hands full just keeping the car on the track. > One last thing:I find that the traction between track and grass to >be too little.One should slide more dramatically when hitting grass as >compared to asphalt.Just my opinion. > Anybody with an opinion? >-- >Homepage: http://home.c2i.net/trjensen/

actually it is swimmier than a pool full of greased olympians but if you drive a few hundred laps it will magically become rock solid natural, amazing.

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> Hi.Is there anyone out there who-like me-finds the driving model of > GPL much too 'swimmy'?By swimmy I mean it floats around all over the > track,and is damn little precise.I can't imagine being able to race > closely on this sim.Bought the sim,loathed it,sold it.Tried some more at > a friend just to make certain that I gave it a fair shot,but no:Couldn't > get myself immersed. > Was the cars like that,or is the driving model not up to scratch.I > was not expecting razor sharp handling,but for me this is > uncontrollable,or to be more precicely:I'm more worried about the car > going straight,and not spinning round than actually watching ahead,and > getting on with the job of racing.I like the cornering of GPL,but > straight forward I have my hands full just keeping the car on the track. > One last thing:I find that the traction between track and grass to > be too little.One should slide more dramatically when hitting grass as > compared to asphalt.Just my opinion. > Anybody with an opinion? > -- > Homepage: http://home.c2i.net/trjensen/

Brian, Actaully its the wheel spin that unloads the chassis and makes car behave differently. When a wheel starts to spin it unloads the suspension and all weight transfer is lost in exessive cases. This also lets car dart and weave about and seem to hang in if caught whith steering wheel movement. Dave

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>actually it is swimmier than a pool full of greased olympians but if you >drive a few hundred laps it will magically become rock solid natural, >amazing. >> Hi.Is there anyone out there who-like me-finds the driving model of >> GPL much too 'swimmy'?By swimmy I mean it floats around all over the >> track,and is damn little precise.I can't imagine being able to race >> closely on this sim.Bought the sim,loathed it,sold it.Tried some more at >> a friend just to make certain that I gave it a fair shot,but no:Couldn't >> get myself immersed.

John, I totally agree. I bought GPL the day it was released after driving hundreds of laps with the demo, and found it to be very difficult and frustrating. However, last weekend, after weeks of practice, and trying the excellent setup advice of Allison Hines and Steve Smith, I finally got the "feel". It was like turning on a switch in my brain that allowed me to drive these cars at their fullest potential. What a blast! I even got my first pole position this weekend! Now if I could just figure out how to start a race without losing 5 places<g>. As the man said, Practice, practice, practice.... -don

I guess, everybody started like that. A few hours training, get a good setup from the WWW, and I'm sure you'll enjoy like hell. Jens --------------------------------------------- Remove "NOSPAM" before using my email-address

Hi, I'm running Pentium II 450 Mhz, 128 Mb ram, Matrox G-200 video card (8 mb). I have a recurring and sporadic problem with GPL kicking me back to Windows 98. This appears to happen after maybe 20-30 min of gameplay, but sometimes sooner other times later. Has anyone else experienced this and what is the fix (if any)? Thanks. Gary

On Wed, 30 Dec 1998 17:51:34 -0500, Gary Saucier

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>Hi, >I'm running Pentium II 450 Mhz, 128 Mb ram, Matrox G-200 video card (8 >mb). I have a recurring and sporadic problem with GPL kicking me back >to Windows 98. This appears to happen after maybe 20-30 min of >gameplay, but sometimes sooner other times later. Has anyone else >experienced this and what is the fix (if any)? Thanks. >Gary

If I recall correctly from other posts in other places... get rid of your desktop wallpaper and/or run the desktop in 16-bit color... if I don't recall correctly it can't hurt <g>.

i had the same problem on demo then i found that it did not turn off my screen saver and the saver booted me every 10 mintes like clockwork.

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>Subject: GPL question >Date: 31/12/98 9:51 AM AUS Eastern Daylight Time >Hi, >I'm running Pentium II 450 Mhz, 128 Mb ram, Matrox G-200 video card (8 >mb). I have a recurring and sporadic problem with GPL kicking me back >to Windows 98. This appears to happen after maybe 20-30 min of >gameplay, but sometimes sooner other times later. Has anyone else >experienced this and what is the fix (if any)? Thanks. >Gary

On Thu Dec 17, Jan Lammers wrote -------------------------------- installed it on my brandnew Intel Mendocino 300a, (Asus P2L97 LX motherboard) 64 Mb Ram (100Mhz), with Diamond Stealth II G460 8Mb videocard, Soundblaster 16 soundcard and 2.1 Gb U-DMA harddisk. I haven't really seen my wife and daughter since, because this is really a great game! It's even better than the old Hard Driving Console (personal best: over 1.3 million points - 45 minutes of racing on a single coin) Especially Zandvoort, since I remember visiting the last F1-races out there in the early seventies with my father. However, I'm getting increasingly frustrated, because the game seems to shutdown randomly during play. It doesn't just freeze: it shuts down back to the Windows98-desktop. There seems to be no connection to high or low frame rates or excessive on-screen action. I also can't get the racing groove, although I don't now if these two problems are connected. Please help: I'll buy an even faster computer if necessary to run this sim. A lot of people are having the same problem, me included, and there is a number of ways of fixing. GPL is very FPU intensive and thus very sensitive to minor voltage changes so when you have very slight "noise" or voltage changes it kicks you back to the desktop. Solutions: If you have AbitBX or BH motherboard you can bump the CPU core voltage from default 2.0v to 2.05v and it will fix the problem. I did this and GPL never crashed back to desktop again. Since you have Asus Mobo and raising the core voltage is a little bit more tricky i would suggest another alternative which i found just the other day. You can download Waterfall 2.01 which is a software program that prevents your cpu from overheating and thus drawing too much voltage and thus crashing back to Windows. Use the CPU throttling feature and set it at 99% and 5 seconds. Download here cpu.simplenet.com/leading_wintech Again not a single kick back to Windows since i tried this little proggy. Another solution is to get a voltage and power regulator filter which is bit more expensive than above solutions. If you have any further probs let me know. I run GPL on AbitBX C300A 4.5 x 112 504 Mhz 128 Meg PC 100 Ram. Cheers Chatham