I've been playing Viper Racing (intermediate and simulation modes) for several
months and NASCAR 99 for about a month (sim mode) as well as the demos for GPL,
Indy2, and SCGT. I understand the theory behind setting up the car. I've read
and re-read the manuals talking about tire pressure, spoiler and wing angles,
camber, toe-in, sway bars, etc... and how adjustments can make the car loose or
tight as well as, of course, slower or faster or just handle better in general.
Trouble is, after all this time I still can't tell the difference between one
setup and another. Either in Viper or N2 (I'm mostly playing N2 these days).
Mainly, I'm always hearing folks yabbing about their car is too loose or too
damned tight or whatever, yet I can never tell whether any of these problems
are present in my setup. I get into turn 1 (or 3) at Martinsville, I brake, the
car spins out coming out of turn 2 (or 4). Too loose? I don't know. Next time
around it handles fine. I go into turn three at Atlanta, I thought I let off
the gas correctly (I usually get good laps there), but the car's heading for
the wall even though the speed is only 165. Too tight or am I just trying to
get around it too fast? Duh... Hell if I know. I'm running a high line coming
off turn 2 at Bristol and the car hits the little dip where the banking changes
and starts wobbling and heading almost uncontrollably down to the apron. Too
loose? Next time around it's fine, next time after that I almost lose it again.
Hmmm...
Do I need a force-feedback wheel to detect these things? Do I need a different
wheel in general? (I'm using a Logitech Formula non-FF which, at least in N2,
always seems too sensitive) How do you folks detect the "feel" from just visual
representation or is there something else here I'm missing? Or am I just a nut?
--
-----------------------------------+---------------------------------
Morgan Vincent W. | morganvw at msn dot com
ICQ #: 18197225 | http://members.xoom.com/morganv/
-----------------------------------+---------------------------------
I think I know what you mean here, I've been there myself. I pissed around
randomly with N2 setups and generally came out of it with a car that was pretty
much undriveable. What I ended up doing was downloading a shitload of different
setups and trying them. After a LOT of hours of testing, I ended up with a few
that worked for me yet were different from each other in subtle ways. Then I
looked more closely at each setup to find out what made the differences. THEN I
started tweaking my favourite, a minscule bit at a time, and running about 30-40
laps after each change to see what difference the tweak made. It takes an
incredible amount of time to get a setup right. If you're not into spending lots
of hours on your favourite tracks, forget the whole thing and just keep downloading
setups until you find one you like.
As for the differences from one lap to the next, ie "next time around it handles
fine", it sounds to me like you need to be more consistant. A foot or so to either
side of the ideal racing line or a few miles an hour difference in entry speed can
make a huge difference to how well you take a corner. All I can say is stick with
one setup at first. When you can do 20 laps in a row that are all within one
second of each other, then maybe start playing with setup. Again, it takes a lot
of practice, but without basic consistancy no setup in the world will help you.
And as far as I know, EVERYONE has trouble with the bump at Bristol. Hope this is
of some use to you.
Zog
Quoted text (32 lines)
> I've been playing Viper Racing (intermediate and simulation modes) for several > months and NASCAR 99 for about a month (sim mode) as well as the demos for GPL, > Indy2, and SCGT. I understand the theory behind setting up the car. I've read > and re-read the manuals talking about tire pressure, spoiler and wing angles, > camber, toe-in, sway bars, etc... and how adjustments can make the car loose or > tight as well as, of course, slower or faster or just handle better in general. > Trouble is, after all this time I still can't tell the difference between one > setup and another. Either in Viper or N2 (I'm mostly playing N2 these days). > Mainly, I'm always hearing folks yabbing about their car is too loose or too > damned tight or whatever, yet I can never tell whether any of these problems > are present in my setup. I get into turn 1 (or 3) at Martinsville, I brake, the > car spins out coming out of turn 2 (or 4). Too loose? I don't know. Next time > around it handles fine. I go into turn three at Atlanta, I thought I let off > the gas correctly (I usually get good laps there), but the car's heading for > the wall even though the speed is only 165. Too tight or am I just trying to > get around it too fast? Duh... Hell if I know. I'm running a high line coming > off turn 2 at Bristol and the car hits the little dip where the banking changes > and starts wobbling and heading almost uncontrollably down to the apron. Too > loose? Next time around it's fine, next time after that I almost lose it again. > Hmmm... > Do I need a force-feedback wheel to detect these things? Do I need a different > wheel in general? (I'm using a Logitech Formula non-FF which, at least in N2, > always seems too sensitive) How do you folks detect the "feel" from just visual > representation or is there something else here I'm missing? Or am I just a nut? > -- > -----------------------------------+--------------------------------- > Morgan Vincent W. | morganvw at msn dot com > ICQ #: 18197225 | http://members.xoom.com/morganv/ > -----------------------------------+---------------------------------EXCELLENT advice! This seems to work for me -- get consistent first, then
make small changes and analyze the effects in terms of lap time and
difficulty. Some setups allow me to run flat-out, but I turn slow laps;
other setups I can run amazingly-fast laps, but they're so squirrelly that I
can't be consistent with them. I look for fast combinations that are
forgiving enough to give me enough control to race the AI consistently -- if
I can go fast, make passes, and avoid slow cars an accidents, then I've got
a good setup. I look for the same in GPL, Viper, etc.
It's a lot of work analyzing setups, but the good rule of thumb is to be
consistent, make changes, and analyze them for this criteria (speed versus
stability and ease of use), then find the balance that suits your driving
style.
My friends can't use my setups, and vice-versa, but we're pretty much all
equals given our own setups. It takes time to find what works for you, but
it's worth the effort in the end.
-- JB
>I think I know what you mean here, I've been there myself. I pissed around
>randomly with N2 setups and generally came out of it with a car that was pretty
>much undriveable. What I ended up doing was downloading a shitload of different
>setups and trying them. After a LOT of hours of testing, I ended up with a few
>that worked for me yet were different from each other in subtle ways. Then I
>looked more closely at each setup to find out what made the differences. THEN I
>started tweaking my favourite, a minscule bit at a time, and running about 30-40
>laps after each change to see what difference the tweak made. It takes an
>incredible amount of time to get a setup right. If you're not into spending lots
>of hours on your favourite tracks, forget the whole thing and just keep downloading
>setups until you find one you like.
>As for the differences from one lap to the next, ie "next time around it handles
>fine", it sounds to me like you need to be more consistant. A foot or so to either
>side of the ideal racing line or a few miles an hour difference in entry speed can
>make a huge difference to how well you take a corner. All I can say is stick with
>one setup at first. When you can do 20 laps in a row that are all within one
>second of each other, then maybe start playing with setup. Again, it takes a lot
>of practice, but without basic consistancy no setup in the world will help you.
>And as far as I know, EVERYONE has trouble with the bump at Bristol. Hope this is
several
>> months and NASCAR 99 for about a month (sim mode) as well as the demos for GPL,
>> Indy2, and SCGT. I understand the theory behind setting up the car. I've read
>> and re-read the manuals talking about tire pressure, spoiler and wing angles,
>> camber, toe-in, sway bars, etc... and how adjustments can make the car loose or
>> tight as well as, of course, slower or faster or just handle better in general.
>> Trouble is, after all this time I still can't tell the difference between one
>> setup and another. Either in Viper or N2 (I'm mostly playing N2 these days).
>> Mainly, I'm always hearing folks yabbing about their car is too loose or too
>> damned tight or whatever, yet I can never tell whether any of these problems
>> are present in my setup. I get into turn 1 (or 3) at Martinsville, I brake, the
>> car spins out coming out of turn 2 (or 4). Too loose? I don't know. Next time
>> around it handles fine. I go into turn three at Atlanta, I thought I let off
>> the gas correctly (I usually get good laps there), but the car's heading for
>> the wall even though the speed is only 165. Too tight or am I just trying to
>> get around it too fast? Duh... Hell if I know. I'm running a high line coming
>> off turn 2 at Bristol and the car hits the little dip where the banking changes
>> and starts wobbling and heading almost uncontrollably down to the apron. Too
>> loose? Next time around it's fine, next time after that I almost lose it again.
>> Hmmm...
>> Do I need a force-feedback wheel to detect these things? Do I need a different
>> wheel in general? (I'm using a Logitech Formula non-FF which, at least in N2,
>> always seems too sensitive) How do you folks detect the "feel" from just visual
>> representation or is there something else here I'm missing? Or am I just a nut?
>> --
>> -----------------------------------+---------------------------------
>> Morgan Vincent W. | morganvw at msn dot com
>> ICQ #: 18197225 | http://members.xoom.com/morganv/
>> -----------------------------------+---------------------------------
