First GPL online experience

I tried my first VROC race at the weekend. What a disaster :( I picked a novice race at Kyalami first. Not a track I like but I'm ok on it. I waited for a while to see what was happening and because there were lots of PO chat messages which I thought was 'piss off' at first :) .Anyway, there was only 2 mins left of qualifying so I headed out for a tentative out lap. I started my qualifying lap, came over the crest of the hill to be confronted by a car stopped in the middle of the track! At 150mph+ on a blind crest I did my best to avoid the Cooper but clipped the left rear, span into the fence on the right and quit back to the pits. Game over, no time to qualify now. Well, I don't particularly like Kyalami anyway so I quit back to VROC. Ah! Monza. Cool. I'm not bad there, and it's another novice race too. Goodo. I joined with plenty of practice time left. I did my out lap (having typed PO of course), did my flyer, went for a third lap and the pit board said my last lap was a 2.02. NEVER! No way, that was easily a mid 1.30's. Never mind, I'll carry on for another lap. On the way round, several cars appeared and disappeared (for maybe 1-2 secs each). Odd I thought but never mind. Race time. I go the grid and there's just me and 1 other car. No sign of the other 8 people. Off we go then. I did one lap and got dropped by the other car (he was a 1.28 man. I'm not even a sub 1.30...) so I was on my own, then the pit board comes up showing the next car 40 secs down on me. Where did he come from? I retired. Fed up. I expected a good race with 10+ cars of similar skill but the whole thing seemed a shambles. Maybe I just had a bad experience. I think I'll stick to races against my friend and 12 AI cars instead........ Kev

Odd, that is not my experience at all. It seems to me that there is something not quite OK with your connection. What is the speed of your connection? I had excellent results with a 33.6 modem. A WinModem might be causing trouble as it eats up more processor time. Also, strive to decrease the detail to get a consistent 36 fps, although on my old machine I was running in 25s and there was no warping or other problems. More importantly, did you check the Ping times/Loss for the race you were joining? The lower the Ping the better, but I found that anything unter half a second or thereabouts should gives good results. But since you are seeing cars appearing and disappearing, the lost packets are probably what is causing your problems. In my experience the online part of GPL is one of the best implementations. Just be sure to read all the tips to online racing that are found on the VROC site. Greetings, Gregor

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> I tried my first VROC race at the weekend. What a disaster :( > I picked a novice race at Kyalami first. Not a track I like but I'm ok > on it. I waited for a while to see what was happening and because there > were lots of PO chat messages which I thought was 'piss off' at first :) > .Anyway, there was only 2 mins left of qualifying so I headed out for a > tentative out lap. I started my qualifying lap, came over the crest of > the hill to be confronted by a car stopped in the middle of the track! > At 150mph+ on a blind crest I did my best to avoid the Cooper but > clipped the left rear, span into the fence on the right and quit back to > the pits. Game over, no time to qualify now. Well, I don't particularly > like Kyalami anyway so I quit back to VROC. > Ah! Monza. Cool. I'm not bad there, and it's another novice race too. Goodo. > I joined with plenty of practice time left. I did my out lap (having > typed PO of course), did my flyer, went for a third lap and the pit > board said my last lap was a 2.02. NEVER! No way, that was easily a mid > 1.30's. Never mind, I'll carry on for another lap. On the way round, > several cars appeared and disappeared (for maybe 1-2 secs each). Odd I > thought but never mind. > Race time. I go the grid and there's just me and 1 other car. No sign of > the other 8 people. Off we go then. I did one lap and got dropped by the > other car (he was a 1.28 man. I'm not even a sub 1.30...) so I was on my > own, then the pit board comes up showing the next car 40 secs down on > me. Where did he come from? I retired. Fed up. > I expected a good race with 10+ cars of similar skill but the whole > thing seemed a shambles. Maybe I just had a bad experience. I think I'll > stick to races against my friend and 12 AI cars instead........ > Kev

cars appearing and disappearing is a sign for a very bad connection, i.e. lots of lost packages. do you use a modem? ISDN? cable? try tweaking your connection (see alison's page or VROC for the GPL online FAQ) or try another ISP. I am using ISDN myself with 2 different providers and I must say: GPL online is a blast! honest! Lio

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> Odd, that is not my experience at all. It seems to me that there is > something not quite OK with your connection. > What is the speed of your connection? I had excellent results with a > 33.6 modem. A WinModem might be causing trouble as it eats up more > processor time. Also, strive to decrease the detail to get a consistent > 36 fps, although on my old machine I was running in 25s and there was no > warping or other problems.

56kmodem and I consistently get 36fps with my TNT2 ultra with everything on (pIII 600 +128Mb RAM) so that's not a problem. The ping was 250ms for both. I think I just had a bad first go. Like I said, I regularly race with a friend 400 miles away against AI cars with no problems but we decided to try a proper VROC race at the weekend. Never mind. I'll try again next weekend..... Kev

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>> Odd, that is not my experience at all. It seems to me that there is >> something not quite OK with your connection. >> What is the speed of your connection? I had excellent results with a >> 33.6 modem. A WinModem might be causing trouble as it eats up more >> processor time. Also, strive to decrease the detail to get a consistent >> 36 fps, although on my old machine I was running in 25s and there was no >> warping or other problems. >56kmodem and I consistently get 36fps with my TNT2 ultra with everything >on (pIII 600 +128Mb RAM) so that's not a problem.

You should set your modem for a V.34 connection (33.6K or less). V.34 tends to be more robust for GPL (fewer lost packets), and plenty quick to pass the required data. Turn off error correction and data compression as well. The easiest way is to set up a separate DUN for your online racing. The tips and more at the tech section of VROC. "But in a way, fear is a big part of racing, because if there was nothing to be frightened of, and no limit, any fool could get into a motor car and racing would not exist as a sport." -- Jim Clark

In article <[email hidden]>, Kev <[email hidden]> writes

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>I tried my first VROC race at the weekend. What a disaster :( >I picked a novice race at Kyalami first. Not a track I like but I'm ok >on it. I waited for a while to see what was happening and because there >were lots of PO chat messages which I thought was 'piss off' at first :) >.Anyway, there was only 2 mins left of qualifying so I headed out for a >tentative out lap. I started my qualifying lap, came over the crest of >the hill to be confronted by a car stopped in the middle of the track! >At 150mph+ on a blind crest I did my best to avoid the Cooper but >clipped the left rear, span into the fence on the right and quit back to >the pits. Game over, no time to qualify now. Well, I don't particularly >like Kyalami anyway so I quit back to VROC. >Ah! Monza. Cool. I'm not bad there, and it's another novice race too. Goodo. >I joined with plenty of practice time left. I did my out lap (having >typed PO of course), did my flyer, went for a third lap and the pit >board said my last lap was a 2.02. NEVER! No way, that was easily a mid >1.30's. Never mind, I'll carry on for another lap. On the way round, >several cars appeared and disappeared (for maybe 1-2 secs each). Odd I >thought but never mind. >Race time. I go the grid and there's just me and 1 other car. No sign of >the other 8 people. Off we go then. I did one lap and got dropped by the >other car (he was a 1.28 man. I'm not even a sub 1.30...) so I was on my >own, then the pit board comes up showing the next car 40 secs down on >me. Where did he come from? I retired. Fed up. >I expected a good race with 10+ cars of similar skill but the whole >thing seemed a shambles. Maybe I just had a bad experience. I think I'll >stick to races against my friend and 12 AI cars instead........

Here's an old post from James Pickard that I've held onto (hope he doesn't mind me reposting it). I used it to setup my 56k modem here in the UK and it has held me in good stead. Hopefully it will do the same for you. I've posted it in its entirety, though you shouldn't have to mess with the core.ini. Are you sick of those LPB (Low Ping Bastards :-) who keep braggin about getting less than 100 ping??? Well.. don't dispair... :-) I have been racing ONline since GPL came out.. and have found it pretty good up until now.. BUT.. I have just found a way to make it better.. for me I'm no ISP Trouble Shooter.. and don't know THAT much about networking and Dial connections.. but his is what i have learned and discovered from GPL online racing... (for all those who have found this.. plz excuse.. I have just discovered it.. and other need to know it too) PING / Latency DOESN'T necessarily make for warp free racing.. My understanding and experience is that you require a STABLE connection.. not a "FAST" connection.. Most connection seem to be "suped-up" for bandwidth.. and not stable throughput.. which is what GPL ( and probably other online games) require.... This seems to make them more prone to Errors and fluctuations in Flow... Sooooo.. by decreasing the connection speed.. you lessen the chance of such things.. and therefore make the connection more stable... A connection that is more stable. .can take full advantage of the "prediction" that is built into GPL Take note of the QUALITY in the ALT + L function.. PING is NOT THAT important... lower is better.. but QUALITY is the most important... With my 56k V90 US Robotics modem.. I was getting about 177 Lat /Ping (same thing) @ 967 Quality to the best server here in Australia (THANK YOU TROY!!!! :-). Connection seemed quite good... Then I took the advice of friends and tried different connection speeds.. It took a lot of mucking around with differnt strings.. but I eventually got the following 26,400 bps conecction and got 23j0-240 Lat @ 1.000 - 995 Quality The latency has gone up by about 50ping.. but the cars are now VERY smooth.. (not far off LAN speed) The main differnce is the Quality.... The following is a post that Ron Ayton put here a few weeks ago (Hope you don't mind Ron .. BTw.. thanx for your help..... it cover basically all this.. ========================================================== Firstly, the DUN you use for the Internet is NOT suitable for on-line gaming. It most likely would be using Data Compression, Error Correction, Maximum FIFO Buffers and probably going as hard as your poor little modem can peddle, or harder if i believe half of the tales i hear about.... All of the above is VERY bad news for on-line gaming. You should make up another DUN for on-line gaming, with Data Compression and Error Correction turned OFF. Also, turn down the maximum connect speed of your modem to 24000, 26400 or 28800 at a maximum. The quality of the lines in your area, will dictate the best speed for you. This can be done in the Modem Properties tab of your DUN for the designated Modem. Read the booklet that comes with your modem for the initialization strings you need. NOTE: Some people are under the mistaken belief that a slower connect speed will take longer to get to the host, resulting in higher latencys (pings) etc. This is totally false.!!! The connection speed of your modem, is a false analogy, as the connection speed only refers to how much bandwidth the modem is capable of sending at any given time, NOT how fast it can send it. Hence, the ammount of data that a GPL host requires from a client will get to the host at exactly the same time, whether the client is using 26400 baud or 56000 baud, and 99.9% of the time, the 26400 baud rate from the client will have a lot less errors and be more stable than the 56000 baud's best effort, unless you are lucky enough to live in a area where optical fibre abounds, all the way from you to the host, which is very unlikely. :) I only ever use a maximum of 26400 on-line with GPL, as the lines in my area, leave a bit to be desired, but with my normal internet dun, i use 33 to 56k baud, and let the error correction fix any problems i encounter, which is fine for surfing and general internet use etc. (error correction is a definite no-no for gPL) To make more than one DUN with different modem initialization strings, you will need to go to the MODEMS in the control panel and ADD another modem. This will not overwrite your present modem settings, but will add another modem to the modems you have listed in the modem list. As you add more modems to the list, Windows will simply add a #2 #3 #4 etc etc to the end of the modem name. That way you can set up as many DUN's as you have modem names, each one with different initialization strings. Once you have your on-line DUNS and modem set up correctly, you will actually find that disco's, error filled connections and high latency's will simply become a bad memory... NOTE: The FIFO buffers should be set no higher than the 2nd mark from the left, unfortunately these are global settings, so if you set them at the 2nd setting from the left, that is where they will remain regardless of which DUN you are using. I have not noticed any lesser performance in surfing or downloading with the buffers set there anyway, so i just leave them there all the time. Make sure you turn Error Correction off, also turn off the Data Compression and select Hardware Flow Control in you modem's properties tab for the On-Line gaming DUN. If you are a paranoid type, as i am, you could also add those commands to the extra settings in the modem initialization string, just in case you don't trust windows to carry out your wishes and let's face it, who trusts windows to do anything right when it comes to gaming anyway.. I have included the following line for my US Robotics modem in my On-Line Gaming DUN.. &F1&K0&M0&U10&N13 &F1 Resets modem to standard, in case windows messed it up. &K0 Disables Data Compression, in case windows forgot. &M0 Disables Error Correction, as per above scenario.. &U10 Sets the floor connect speed to 19200. &N13 Sets the ceiling connect speed to 26400. The above is an example for the US Robotics modem, different modems will vary slightly in the initialization strings, so read your manual for further details to achieve similiar results. Secondly.. Windows in it's infinite wisdom sets up the Port settings on the extra conservative side by default. This needs to be changed manually. To do this: Go to the Control Panel, go to System, go to Device Manager, go to Ports (com & lpt). Select Com1 , go to Port Settings, and adjust the following to read as follows: Bits per second 115200 Data 8 Parity none Stop Bits 1 Flow Control Hardware Go to Advanced and adjust the FIFO Buffers so they are 1 mark from the left side. Do the same for Com Port 2. The following topics, are relevant to the new CORE.INI file, that ships with GPL 1.1 NOTE: This file is called: COREINI.SAMPLE and must be re-named to: CORE.INI before GPL 1.1 can make use of it. It is located in the: SIERRA\GPL\ folder, after the GPL 1.1 patch has been installed... A couple of slight adjustments are needed to get the best out of the new CORE.INI file. Following, is a brief example of a couple of changes i made to my CORE.INI file, to suit on-line play on VROC. The parts you need to alter from the CORE.INI that ships with GPL1.1 are the two lines concerned with band width: net_mdm_client_send =2 & net_mdm_server_send_every =2 Change both of those to 3, like below in the pasted example. net_mdm_client_send_every = 3 ; Client packet freq on dialup net_mdm_client_send_size = 84 ; Client packet size on dialup net_mdm_server_send_every = 3 ; Server packet freq on dialup net_mdm_server_send_size = 84 ; Server packet size on dialup That is the standardized band settings that VROC uses, for clients and hosts, and everyone running on VROC, should alter the relevant lines to ... read more »

keep at it. a good race (ok, sometimes you get punted for no reason (ala paul tracy)) with real people is awesome. I was being pressured for 3-4 laps straight once at zandy (until I went off) - amazing.

>Here's an old post from James Pickard that I've held onto (hope he >doesn't mind me reposting it). I used it to setup my 56k modem here in >the UK and it has held me in good stead. Hopefully it will do the same >for you. I've posted it in its entirety, though you shouldn't have to >mess with the core.ini. It's funny, but when I originally tried Vroc, I mad those changes. After that, I couldn't connect to my ISP anymore... So, after not running online for several months, I tried the standard DUN again. I don't seem to have many problems, so I haven't tried Ron's suggestions with this setup. Eldred -- Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999 Own Grand Prix Legends? Goto http://gpl.gamestats.com/vroc Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

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>>Here's an old post from James Pickard that I've held onto (hope he >>doesn't mind me reposting it). I used it to setup my 56k modem here in >>the UK and it has held me in good stead. Hopefully it will do the same >>for you. I've posted it in its entirety, though you shouldn't have to >>mess with the core.ini. >It's funny, but when I originally tried Vroc, I mad those changes. After that, >I couldn't connect to my ISP anymore... >So, after not running online for several months, I tried the standard DUN >again. I don't seem to have many problems, so I haven't tried Ron's >suggestions with this setup.

You just have to be different, don't you! :-) -- Peter Ives - (AKA Ivington) No person's opinions can be said to be more correct than another's, because each is the sole judge of his or her own experience.

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>>>Here's an old post from James Pickard that I've held onto (hope he >>>doesn't mind me reposting it). I used it to setup my 56k modem here in >>>the UK and it has held me in good stead. Hopefully it will do the same >>>for you. I've posted it in its entirety, though you shouldn't have to >>>mess with the core.ini. >>It's funny, but when I originally tried Vroc, I mad those changes. After >that, >>I couldn't connect to my ISP anymore... >>So, after not running online for several months, I tried the standard DUN >>again. I don't seem to have many problems, so I haven't tried Ron's >>suggestions with this setup. >You just have to be different, don't you! :-)

Sure, why not? At least I'm good at *something*...<g> Eldred -- Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999 Own Grand Prix Legends? Goto http://gpl.gamestats.com/vroc Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.