Refering to what Roll Bar, its the one that is behind the drivers
head(I don't know if they really had them in the REAL Life GPL, but
its in the game if you look).
Tom Wardell
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/2171/
Quoted text (99 lines)
>I'm still having a lot of fun with the demo and spend more time with
>it than is good for me. Also, I still can't drive the car. But I'm
>getting better. Now, I have learned how to burn the car, at least. ;)
>Here is something nice I noticed in the meantime: the demo has an
>almost Linux-like approach to transparency regarding settings. Not
>only are many configuration files in plain ASCII, they are also
>commented in detail. You don't need a Hex editor to change some
>parameters, you don't even have to figure out what a cryptic setting
>(a la "blap") means! The settings have self-explanatory names and
>tagged-on descriptions. I expect a lot of fun stuff 3rd party
>enhancements coming soon. Thanks for taking this path, Papyrus!
>I know the demo is announced as pre-alpha (I only wish the "gold"
>versions of other games were as finished as this demo), but I have
>reason to believe that the folks at Papy want our feedback. Allow me
>to list a few things that aren't perfect with the demo:
>- Installation:
>The program installed just fine and worked instantly for me. The unzip
>and installation routine, however, left a lot of unnecessary files (37
>MB) lying around in my C:\windows\temp directory, wasting space on the
>harddisk.
>Furthermore, I'm a bit ***about the structure of my subdirectories.
>I have different hierarchies for games and application programs, and
>would have loved the demo to reside in c:\games\autosim\gpl. The GPL
>demo wants to insert "sierra" in the path. It would be nice if the
>installation program of the final version allowed to precisely specify
>a destination directory.
>- Graphics:
>Mike Lescault warned that the unaccelerated graphics aren't optimized
>yet. I see a strange flicker once or twice per lap (no, I don't mean
>when I'm somersaulting in a burning car, but during normal operations
>;) There's another graphics glitch which is a bit distracting in the
>replays. In TV camera view, the car changes its shape when coming
>closer. This sounds funny and looks funny, especially since one of the
>shapes seems to hover a few inches above the ground.
>The tires sometimes vanish in the guard rails. During replays using
>the rollbar camera (what roll bar, BTW?), the driver's arms don't
>change gears.
>- misc:
>Whenever I change graphics settings during a lap (i.e. go to replay,
>change settings, go back on track), the program records a lap time of
>1:36. I was puzzled at first when I couldn't remember driving that
>fast in the G3 car...
>O.k., now for a short wish list:
>- There is a problem with assigning functions to keyboard keys and
>non-English keyboards. 'Z' and 'X' are perfect for head panning on a
>US keyboard, but on the German layout, the 'Z' and 'Y' keys are
>exchanged. Not very ergonomical, I have to say. The problem becomes
>even worse when you use ';' as a key, for instance, since ';' is
>SHIFT+another key on some non-English keyboards. With a DOS game, one
>could simply leave out the german keyboard driver on the start disk,
>but with Win95 this can be troublesome. Maybe there is a way to read
>the keyboard directly instead of using the language specific Win95
>driver? I'm sure this problem occurs with other foreing language
>keyboards too. If one could freely assign game functions to keys, it
>would be less of a problem, but some keys are reserved for the
>multiplayer interface.
>- Thrustmaster, I want a clutch pedal for my T2. :) I found myself
>pushing the brake when changing gears. It took a while until I
>understood that I was unconsciously looking for a clutch. Blame this
>on the realism of the sim: if I have to ease off the throttle to
>change gears (just like in real life), my reflexes expect having to
>use the clutch too. BTW, did the real drivers back then use the clutch
>to change gears?
>- It would be nice to have a key that brings the gear lever into
>neutral instantly. And one for reverse. It makes no sense having to
>shift back through the gears all the time to finally reach reverse on
>an H-type gearbox. And don't you dare asking why I need the reverse
>gear so often. ;)
>- Likewise, it would be nice if the little guy in the car choose
>neutral by himself when the car has stopped for more than one or two
>seconds.
>- Another wish that could bring me into trouble, but could we have a
>top-ten list of best laps in the different categories. [I can hear the
>mob now: "Burn the arcadish heretic!" :) ]
>That's all I can think of right now. Please, RAS folks, don't crucify
>me for pointing out that some minor details of the demo or program
>could be improved! It *is* pre-alpha, that's why I'm offering
>constructive criticism.
>--
>Wolfgang Preiss \ E-mail copies of replies to this posting are welcome.
>Uni des Saarlands \ and U.S. law. You have been warned.
