GPL...day one

Hey all, Ok, call me slow, but I finally got GPL this morning. :-) I must say this sim has really brought the old "Yee-haw!" attitude back that I've been missing in racing sims. After being spoiled by sims like Cart Racing from Papyrus, I must say getting the hang of driving these beasts is a real challenge! I've been reading the new group for a while and saw where there's patch due to be released in the future, what exactly will this patch address if anyone knows. The only problem I've had is the area behind my cursor flashes all the time. Well, that, and the GPL SpyBoy seems to be very unstable on my machine. :-( But that's probably a good thing since I need lots of practice to even think about racing online. I am, however, setting a tenative first online race trial sometime around Xmas. :-) Now if we could only get Papyrus to develop Cart Racing 3 <sigh>.

You have the latest Glide drivers and they aren't compatible with GPL -- install 2.53 (I think that's the one) instead of the new one and there's no problem.

rather than install the new drivers...place them in your gpl folder. That way your sim will use the 2.53 drivers and the rest of your system can use the newer ones.. Is that correct of 3dfx guru's?? dave henrie ->

Download the "Glide2x.Dll v2.53" and put it in your GPL folder. http://www.grandprix2.com/gpl/patches.htm

> >The only problem I've had is the area > >behind my cursor flashes all the time > You have the latest Glide drivers and they aren't compatible with GPL > -- install 2.53 (I think that's the one) instead of the new one and > there's no problem. Thanks guys, I'll give it a try as soon as I can find the 2.53 drivers. :-)

Welcome aboard. If you get consistant at doing 1:30's at Monza, you will be very able to race online. Monza is a good track to start. Make sure you have as close as possible to 36fps. (dissable a few graphics to reach that goal if you have to) My best at Monza is 1:28:97, very far from being the fastest, and I've won a few there. The thing is to be civilized in order not to spoil the fun of others. Robert =:-D

Robert, Yeah, I know what you mean about the online courtesy thing. When I play other games online (like Quake2 or Half Life) I always seem to get into games where people insist on ridiculing each other and other garbage. I did spend a good amount of time playing GPL today, and I'm making progress slowly. I must admit I am enjoying sliding the Lotus around. :-) I figure another week or so and I should be ready to at least try an online game. The real problem I have is that I have gpl, mgprs2, cart racing, and scgt to play. There's just not enough hours in a day to do all that! :-) But then again I'm really starting to question whether or not I need a job anyway! :-) Thanks for the advice, I'll keep working on my Monza times. :-)

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> Welcome aboard. > If you get consistant at doing 1:30's at Monza, you will be very able to > race online. Monza is a good track to start. > Make sure you have as close as possible to 36fps. (dissable a few graphics > to reach that goal if you have to) > My best at Monza is 1:28:97, very far from being the fastest, and I've won a > few there. The thing is to be civilized in order not to spoil the fun of > others. > Robert > =:-D

Yeah tell me about it, I love GPL but I also don't want to give up on MGPRS2, N99, N2, SCGT et al.... I'd reconsider on the giving up the job though... you're gonna need all the money you can get for upgrades for N3, GPL2, etc ;O) Peter H

>If you get consistant at doing 1:30's at Monza, you will be very able to >race online. Monza is a good track to start. CONSISTENT?!? I have to GET there first! :-) Eldred __ Put your message in a modem, and throw it in the ***-sea... remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

> >If you get consistant at doing 1:30's at Monza, you will be very able to > >race online. Monza is a good track to start. > CONSISTENT?!? I have to GET there first! :-) > Eldred Just practice!!! I just raced a personal best this weekend of 1:31.08 at Monza and I can do high 1:31 / low 1:32 relatively consistent (in the Lotus). Yesterday, when searching for something else I found a note with laptimes of a race that I drove about 3 months ago (again Monza in Lotus) By that time, I mainly did 1:34s and 1:35s with a fastest lap of 1:33 low. The only difference between now and three months ago is a lot of practicing. Just sit down and do 25 laps in practice mode. Maybe not as exciting as racing on- or offline, but certainly the best way to learn. Another tip: get GPLdump 6 and compare your laps with the replays provided on the CD on on the internet. You'll see exactly where you lose time. I wish you good luck in getting your laptimes down! Han Monsees

And I though I was the only one. I get a consistent 1:31.5 at Monza, but have yet to better it. One thing that did improve my times was to download Alison Hine's Coventry setup's convert them to Eagle's (but keep the default eagle setup gearing's). I went down about 1.5 to 2 seconds with these setups. About the most forgiving I could find for the Eagle. I can't wait for her Eagle setups. I'm no expert on setups but Alison's feel quite neutral (whick is what I like). David Radecki

writes: It's not helping...I've run 57 laps at a time at Watkins, and about 40 laps at Monza, with no decline in lap times. I seem to do almost the same things every lap, with the result that most of my laps are within .5 sec of each other. If I try to push somewhere, I usually end up off the track. It's like an 'all or nothing' situation...there's no in-between(which I assume would lower my times). Don't get me wrong, it's a great game. I just can't drive it worth a damn... :( Eldred __ Put your message in a modem, and throw it in the ***-sea... remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

I think you need to keep pushing the envelope of your abilities. Lapping consistently is great but only if your fast too :) If you keep pushing the envelope, and stay in dangerous territory, you'll eventually learn how to handle it and what was once dangerous or unthinkable for you will be the types of things you do routinely.

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> writes: > >> >If you get consistant at doing 1:30's at Monza, you will be very able to > >> >race online. Monza is a good track to start. > >> CONSISTENT?!? I have to GET there first! :-) > >> Eldred > >Just practice!!! > >I just raced a personal best this weekend of 1:31.08 at Monza and I can do > >high 1:31 / low 1:32 relatively consistent (in the Lotus). Yesterday, when > >searching for something else I found a note with laptimes of a race that I > >drove about 3 months ago (again Monza in Lotus) By that time, I mainly did > >1:34s and 1:35s with a fastest lap of 1:33 low. > >The only difference between now and three months ago is a lot of practicing. > >Just sit down and do 25 laps in practice mode. Maybe not as exciting as > >racing on- or offline, but certainly the best way to learn. > >Another tip: get GPLdump 6 and compare your laps with the replays provided > >on the CD on on the internet. You'll see exactly where you lose time. > >I wish you good luck in getting your laptimes down! > >Han Monsees > It's not helping...I've run 57 laps at a time at Watkins, and about 40 laps at > Monza, with no decline in lap times. I seem to do almost the same things every > lap, with the result that most of my laps are within .5 sec of each other. If > I try to push somewhere, I usually end up off the track. It's like an 'all or > nothing' situation...there's no in-between(which I assume would lower my > times). > Don't get me wrong, it's a great game. I just can't drive it worth a damn... > :( > Eldred > __ > Put your message in a modem, and throw it in the ***-sea... > remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

Fine. If I could push *without* crashing... :) That's routine, anyway.<g> __ Put your message in a modem, and throw it in the ***-sea... remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

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> > I think you need to keep pushing the envelope of your abilities. > >Lapping consistently is great but only if your fast too :) If you keep > >pushing the envelope, and stay in dangerous territory, you'll eventually > >learn how to handle it and what was once dangerous or unthinkable for > >you will be the types of things you do routinely. > Fine. If I could push *without* crashing... :) That's routine, anyway.<g>

It is also hard to improve if you don't know where to improve. Reading books and articles on race line and car control will point you in the right direction for improvement so that when you do all that practice, you actually have some idea of what you are trying to get better at. I've wasted hours at a time of practice just because I wasn't thinking about where I needed to improve. One book I can recommend off the top of my head is "Going Faster!" which contains all the wisdom and experience of the Skip Barber racing school. See if your local library has it. Also you can download replays of the fast people out there and just watch those and try to figure out what they are doing regarding their line and car control that makes them faster. Grant.

Sounds like it might be time to dive into your setups...if you're lapping consistently, and aren't aware of any areas where your line or braking points are slowing you down, then a few tweaks under the hood might be in order. Nothing too radical (and make sure you save your CURRENT setup before mucking about with it), just a click here and there. I found that my time at Monza dropped - without any change to my driving - just by making the gear ratios a little more appropriate to the way I was driving the circuit. Make sure you're almost -- but not quite -- redlining 5th gear on the long straights. If not, you're not squeezing all the straight-line speed out of your car, which is important at a fast track like Monza. Also make sure that you're not lugging the engine in the Lesmos and Parabolica. If the revs are dropping too much in the slow turns, give G2 (well, that's the one I use for those turns!) as few clicks to the left (ie 'easier' ratio), and see if it helps. Of course, that change will also mean that your shift points for G3-5 will have been altered as well, so it might take a bit of fiddling to get everything just right. Good luck! Doug :) >writes: >>> >If you get consistant at doing 1:30's at Monza, you will be very able to

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>>> >race online. Monza is a good track to start. >>> CONSISTENT?!? I have to GET there first! :-) >>> Eldred >>Just practice!!! >>I just raced a personal best this weekend of 1:31.08 at Monza and I can do >>high 1:31 / low 1:32 relatively consistent (in the Lotus). Yesterday, when >>searching for something else I found a note with laptimes of a race that I >>drove about 3 months ago (again Monza in Lotus) By that time, I mainly did >>1:34s and 1:35s with a fastest lap of 1:33 low. >>The only difference between now and three months ago is a lot of

practicing.

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>>Just sit down and do 25 laps in practice mode. Maybe not as exciting as >>racing on- or offline, but certainly the best way to learn. >>Another tip: get GPLdump 6 and compare your laps with the replays provided >>on the CD on on the internet. You'll see exactly where you lose time. >>I wish you good luck in getting your laptimes down! >>Han Monsees >It's not helping...I've run 57 laps at a time at Watkins, and about 40 laps

at >Monza, with no decline in lap times. I seem to do almost the same things every >lap, with the result that most of my laps are within .5 sec of each other. If >I try to push somewhere, I usually end up off the track. It's like an 'all or >nothing' situation...there's no in-between(which I assume would lower my >times). >Don't get me wrong, it's a great game. I just can't drive it worth a damn...

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>:( >Eldred >__ >Put your message in a modem, and throw it in the ***-sea... >remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

You might also consider moving on to a new track for day or two. I've found that I've been able to make breakthroughs on some tracks simply by AVOIDING them for a while -- eg practice like crazy at Monza, hit a lap-time plateau, switch to Spa (which is a blast, BTW!) or wherever for a few days, then fire up Monza again. It's weird, but it seems to work more often than not! Doug :)

The real problem is this: It isnt a "game" :o) Its the most difficult and most realistic auotmobile simulation ever to see the light of day. Cheers Ross EldredP a crit dans le message >writes: >>> >If you get consistant at doing 1:30's at Monza, you will be very able to

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>>> >race online. Monza is a good track to start. >>> CONSISTENT?!? I have to GET there first! :-) >>> Eldred >>Just practice!!! >>I just raced a personal best this weekend of 1:31.08 at Monza and I can do >>high 1:31 / low 1:32 relatively consistent (in the Lotus). Yesterday, when >>searching for something else I found a note with laptimes of a race that I >>drove about 3 months ago (again Monza in Lotus) By that time, I mainly did >>1:34s and 1:35s with a fastest lap of 1:33 low. >>The only difference between now and three months ago is a lot of

practicing.

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>>Just sit down and do 25 laps in practice mode. Maybe not as exciting as >>racing on- or offline, but certainly the best way to learn. >>Another tip: get GPLdump 6 and compare your laps with the replays provided >>on the CD on on the internet. You'll see exactly where you lose time. >>I wish you good luck in getting your laptimes down! >>Han Monsees >It's not helping...I've run 57 laps at a time at Watkins, and about 40 laps

at >Monza, with no decline in lap times. I seem to do almost the same things every >lap, with the result that most of my laps are within .5 sec of each other. If >I try to push somewhere, I usually end up off the track. It's like an 'all or >nothing' situation...there's no in-between(which I assume would lower my >times). >Don't get me wrong, it's a great game. I just can't drive it worth a damn...

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>:( >Eldred >__ >Put your message in a modem, and throw it in the ***-sea... >remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

OK, here's my two bits worth, hope I don't bore you to death. Zonkie is probably yawning already. This is all assuming you're driving the Lotus. 40 laps at Monza is honestly just the tip of the iceberg. If I had been able to do 1.31s after 40 laps I would have been overjoyed. After 3 or 4 hundred laps it should start to become apparent to you where you are losing time. If not, as stated in previous posts, GPLdump is an invaluable utility, as it will point this out for you. First off, I wouldn't worry too much about braking at the last possible moment and risking loss of control on every lap. That's only important when you're trying to shave off the last few tenths of a second, not when you're trying to get from 1.31 to 1.29. It's risky and won't gain you nearly as much as simply learning the track and knowing how fast you can go on any given area. Work on carrying as much speed as you can THROUGH the turns. Smooth is important, you can duplicate smooth lap after lap, but running on the ragged edge all the time will bite you in the ass in short order. Speaking from my own experience, using a calibrated foot on the brake pedal helps a lot. You will find that you don't need to floor the brakes before every corner, you can maybe put the pedal halfway down and all of a sudden find out you can drift through a particular turn at a much higher rate of speed than you would have believed possible. If you're locking up the wheels braking before every turn you're headed in the wrong direction, it shouldn't be necessary. Anticipation is key, every turn leads to another turn or a straight, so concentrate on making the last turn before that straight a good one so you're *** the gas as soon as you hit the straight, not fighting the wheel to regain control while you're wasting valuable straight-line speed. As difficult as it is to believe, very often slowing down well before a turn allows you to get back on the gas much sooner and carry much more speed through the turn. Fighting the wheel all the way through a corner because you came in too fast is counter-productive. As many old racers are prone to say, you have to slow down to go fast, and it's true. Finally, consistency is key. If you can't duplicate your times, lap after lap, you simply haven't had enough pracitice. In my experience, at Monza, in the Lotus, if you can't lap between 1.29 and 1.30 for every single lap of an entire 21 lap race (except the first one of course), I would be surprised if you would have any chance of winning. Unless, of course, you saved some practice session from two months ago when you just got the game and the AI wasn't up to full potential yet. Hope this was in any way useful. LOL. Zog

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> I think you need to keep pushing the envelope of your abilities. > Lapping consistently is great but only if your fast too :) If you keep > pushing the envelope, and stay in dangerous territory, you'll eventually > learn how to handle it and what was once dangerous or unthinkable for > you will be the types of things you do routinely. > > writes: > > >> >If you get consistant at doing 1:30's at Monza, you will be very able to > > >> >race online. Monza is a good track to start. > > >> CONSISTENT?!? I have to GET there first! :-) > > >> Eldred > > >Just practice!!! > > >I just raced a personal best this weekend of 1:31.08 at Monza and I can do > > >high 1:31 / low 1:32 relatively consistent (in the Lotus). Yesterday, when > > >searching for something else I found a note with laptimes of a race that I > > >drove about 3 months ago (again Monza in Lotus) By that time, I mainly did > > >1:34s and 1:35s with a fastest lap of 1:33 low. > > >The only difference between now and three months ago is a lot of practicing. > > >Just sit down and do 25 laps in practice mode. Maybe not as exciting as > > >racing on- or offline, but certainly the best way to learn. > > >Another tip: get GPLdump 6 and compare your laps with the replays provided > > >on the CD on on the internet. You'll see exactly where you lose time. > > >I wish you good luck in getting your laptimes down! > > >Han Monsees > > It's not helping...I've run 57 laps at a time at Watkins, and about 40 laps at > > Monza, with no decline in lap times. I seem to do almost the same things every > > lap, with the result that most of my laps are within .5 sec of each other. If > > I try to push somewhere, I usually end up off the track. It's like an 'all or > > nothing' situation...there's no in-between(which I assume would lower my > > times). > > Don't get me wrong, it's a great game. I just can't drive it worth a damn... > > :( > > Eldred > > __ > > Put your message in a modem, and throw it in the ***-sea... > > remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

-- Don't let the bastards grind you down. Doug Schneider Bedford, Nova Scotia Canada

>And I though I was the only one. I get a consistent 1:31.5 at Monza, but >have yet to better it. One thing that did improve my times was to download >Alison Hine's Coventry setup's convert them to Eagle's (but keep the default >eagle setup gearing's). I went down about 1.5 to 2 seconds with these >setups. About the most forgiving I could find for the Eagle. I can't wait >for her Eagle setups. I'm no expert on setups but Alison's feel quite >neutral (whick is what I like). >David Radecki David, I use Alison Hines Brabham setups slightly modified for my Lotus with different gearing. They tamed the beast from being just about undrivable,to a fairly predictable car. Tonight I downloaded and tried out Alisons' new setups for the Ferrari. Treat yourself to the best drive in gpl,and check it out. Joel Willstein

OOP! Never mind my previous post regarding Alison's web site and the Ferrari setups--found'em both with the help of her post below. Thanks all the same, --david

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>And I though I was the only one. I get a consistent 1:31.5 at Monza, but >have yet to better it. One thing that did improve my times was to download >Alison Hine's Coventry setup's convert them to Eagle's (but keep the default >eagle setup gearing's). I went down about 1.5 to 2 seconds with these >setups. About the most forgiving I could find for the Eagle. I can't wait >for her Eagle setups. I'm no expert on setups but Alison's feel quite >neutral (whick is what I like). >David Radecki

Thanks, Dave. I'll have to try that... __ Put your message in a modem, and throw it in the ***-sea... remove SPAM-OFF to reply.