Fair enough ... gee, I have not played my GPL for ages. It is a great game and yes I do take it seriously when I play ... but it is very difficult with the little ones running around as they want to play too Has anybody actually won a race on GPL ... I have and I have a few pole positions too Also somebody mentioned doing a 12 hour endurance race!!! ... er, sorry but that is crazy!!!, I would have aches everywhere after that long. It is a pity it does not rain in the game ... disappointing. Also would love to race online with you guys but I am in Australia over a phone line ... The feeling of leading a race in GPL is very similar to leading a real race I have found ... as is the disappointment when an engine lets go 2 laps before the finish BTW: I race the Lotus ... did race the Ferrari (which has a very strong and reliable motor) but it is not as quick as the Lotus, though close. The Lotus is far moderner in it's handling, etc. Pete
I was wondering, as I was lapping Monza just a few mins ago, what is everyone's best lap time there? I was in the Ferrari with 17 laps of fuel and ran a best of 1:30:06. Is that any good for someone who's been playing for a few days? I can only get 1:25ish on the African track, forgot the name.
Unfortunately my computers powerpack has died so I cannot get to my Excel spreadsheet of my best lap times (and setups used, etc.). And the African track (Kyalami) is one of my favourites. I have lead that race only to have my Lotus's Cosworth engine fail . I am sure there are many that are faster than me but I'm having fun and I like the fact that I have to work hard to beat the computer drivers. Nothing worse than beating them easily ... no fun in that! Pete
That's damn good for someone who's only been playing for a few days (provided you weren't "riding the rails").
Santini, thanks for the advice. I'll follow it. You mentioned Gregor Hutu's setups. I know from GP4, that setups really depend on your driving style. The way I see it there are basically two major difference: People who brake late for a corner and then let go of the brakes and turn in and people who brake and turn at the same time (me). With setups of the late brakes I normally go off the track immediately, too much oversteer. So do you know whether there setups that suit my driving style? Steeda, don't remember from what airplane the seat is, but it is a real one (sans explosives). Even has its own emergency set under the seat. PSK, 12 hour games would just about kill me. One hour in the seat is about all I can take and a fifteen minutes race is about as long as my attention can stay focused. Another thing I admire real drivers for, doing it for two hours. If I continue after 15 minutes a blunder like a misplaced wheel is guaranteed.
Tifosi-I normally brake hard and then turn in and then hang on for dear life. Hutu's setups seem to be much more prone to oversteer, which I guess is how he likes it. It's taken me a long time to get used to his brake bias settings too; I almost always have to adjust that because the rear end comes around much quicker than I can react. The oversteer is nice though if you can adjust your style to it. "Most" of his setups have helped my lap times but not all of them. Kyalami is one of them that I just can't drive though using his setups; the car rolls too much. So in a nutshell, if you like oversteer you'll like his setups. On the other hand, I may not know what the heck I'm talking about. I just practice a lot and try to hit that apex!
PSk, I've won a couple times in the past, usually at Silverstone, Monza and Spa. I've never done a full race, and these wins have all been either short or medium distances. I've never found the time to sit down and race that long! Steeda, if you can lap Monza in the mid/upper 1:20s, you can be competitive against the AI drivers. What I like to do is skip qualifying and start from the rear (after getting a setup, of course). Then you get to have fun drafting and passing. Just watch out for Scarfiotti and the BRMs. I don't think their cars have mirrors.
Alright, I'm starting to get a little pissed off. I went back to play GPL, and each time it would say it was unable to load track. I had added Hockenheim, Avus and a new Lotus upgrade, but I had already raced the Lotus and Hockenheim. Now, none of them would work no matter what I did. So, I deleted the entire game and reloaded it. Reran the patch, and I was back in action. Curiously, the Lotus upgrade remained throughout the entire re-load. Hmmm. Anyway, now I'm starting to have problems with the game kicking out back to my desktop in mid play. I've turned down some of the graphics, but even so, my computer should handle this game no problem. WTF is going on!
Gilles27: I'd suggest posting this at Race Sim Central. Those guys know GPL inside-out. tifosi: were you racing on-line at VROC last night? I was racing at Zandvoort in a Lotus (until I wrecked on the 10th of 12 laps...) and another driver named "A. Tifosi" was racing too; was wondering if that was you? BTW, I knocked 2 seconds of my personal best there during last night's race-1:29.
Santini, was A. Tifosi successful? In that case it was me... Nah, I'm a slow starter: First I had to "order" a new copy of GPL on ebay as I must have tossed mine in the past years (sometimes I get these cleaning up frenzies). Yesterday I bought the Momo wheel to get that external sequential shifter. Installing the Momo in my sim will probably take me a few more weeks (have to take the whole car apart, find a new way of attaching this securely and adjust the pedals). So I'm not in this for the short run anyway. And then of course weeks and months of practice are on the horizon before I even want to get near any of you guys. On an almost related note: Started the installation process of Funny GP3, the GP3 version with ALL the GP seasons. Also not quite trivial, but making progress. Maybe driving it is in the stars for December? As I said, we take our sims seriously around here.
I don't know if you guys have checked out any of the videos that are being made by some very creative GPL'ers but you should do yourself a HUGE favor and download this one, at least: http://forum.racesimcentral.com/showthread.php?t=114952 It'll take your breath away. If any of your friends or relatives want to know what all the hype is about GPL, show them this. I wish everyone on this forum would watch this video so they can see how awesome this sim is.
My friend and I have, we drive Thurs, Fri, Sat nights usually for a few hrs. Been working on Watkins Glen and Monza. Best at Monza now is 1:29:64 and Watkins Glen is a 1:06:68.
What are you driving? I haven't revisited the Glen yet. That was a frustrating track for me. It seemed every time I started kicking ass, all of a sudden I'd fall apart. My current best at Monza is a low 1:26, but I used to run low 24s in my earlier days. If you want a good cheater lap, ride the outside guardrails through the lesmos.
I just made the transition from the MS (Microsoft, not Schumacher) wheel to the Momo wheel and I'm a bit disappointed: The thing feels great, but there is barely any feedback coming from GP4. It all works fine in Control Panel, but in GP 4 with the Forcefeedback enabled and set to 150% (!!!) I can barely feel any over or understeer. Sucks! Now I'm trying to get GPL up and running on my XP box.
Just managed to get GPL installed (Yahoo!!!) and it even works with the wheel and gives a lot better feedback than GP4. Anyway GPL still selects the gears for me (although I can do it myself). What do I need to do to get out of this embarrassing auto-shift mode? PS: The clutch is a button on my wheel. How stupid is that! But I haven't gotten another pedal for it.
Wow! I never really looked at the Racing section on Ferrarichat. Ive been a GPL fanatic since it came out. I remember getting it the first day it was out and driving it fanatically for weeks. Its been a bit since I played alot, but I do know a good bunch of guys who race in an online league. I actually won 2 championships in the league... but its been awhile and everyone in this league is a definete amateur. The league is called GROWL.... GPL Racing Online Warbirds League. I used to fly the online Sim Warbirds over 150 hours a month. For a while it was an obsession. A bunch of us old time warbirds players formed this league for GPL. I have not raced in a couple of seasons, but the league is still running. If you guys are interested, Im sure everyone would be welcome. I also played Aces High a bit, still play Warbirds every now and then and really enjoy World War II Online. Terry
tifosi12: you should be able to deselect autoshift mode from the options menu. I don't use the clutch, just back off the throttle between shifts...especially in the Lotus which will blow up without hesitation if you over-rev it.
Thanks Santini. Got it. Works like a charm. What do the different levels (Novice, Pro, etc) change? In GP4 they make the cc cars go faster and take off some of the electronic aids. What do the levels do in GPL?
In a nutshell, Novice: much slower cars, no damage; Pro: faster than Novice but not as fast as Grand Prix; more realistic damage; Grand Prix: realistic speed and damage. Note that you can also disable braking and throttle help from the "Driving Aids" menu (in the options menus), regardless of which level you're driving (if I'm not mistaken).
Thanks. So in my case I'll use realistic damage model, turn off the aids, but pick the Novice level. Just like GP4 I want the car to behave realistically, but the competition to be slow. Until I know my ropes.
That's a good way (maybe the only way?) to start out in GPL. The main reason GPL probably wasn't much of a success when it was first released is because people tried running flat out the first time they got behind the wheel. As a result, they spent a good deal of time in the fences and upside down in the ditches...myself included. It was frustrating to say the least. Simply accelerating from a dead start is difficult enough; the cars have so much power that you'll just sit there and throw the rear end around in circles if you stand on the throttle. Definitely a steep learning curve initially but the rewards are great if you stick to it and learn how to drive these cars. I know it took me a long time to get the hang of it, just to be able to make consistent lap times. The game is still challenging and I'm still learning to drive it, which makes the sim so addictive. It's like learning to play guitar; if it was easy everyone would be good at it.
I know what you mean. It took me a good year to get the hang of GP3/4. Driving without aids that is (except for traction control). I once found a great book, that came with some CART racing game. Published many years ago. It was very interesting as it was written by a guy, who was super on sims and also raced real cars. Basically the missing link and he compared the two, showed the similarities and the differences. In there he taught you how to learn the hard sims. He begins with a standing start and just trying to make it off the grid without spinning. Once you got it, do it 100 times over again and you're getting there. In my first GP3 year, I tried every start at least about ten times until I got it. Was driving the Ferrari through Monaco last night and noticed how tail happy the car is. Sometimes a bit of throttle application does the better job than steering. For example in the tight hair pin turn down the hill. Also I noticed that the sound is very different: Assuming the red stripe indicates where I have to shift, the engine doesn't roar as high pitched as today's engines do. GP3 I can drive without the LEDs, just listening to the engine sound. Have to develop that for GPL I guess.
Andreas, did your copy of GPL come with the manual? Let me know if it didn't, since car setups are much more important here than in any other "modern" racing game.
Jack, it didn't. It wasn't illegal software, just didn't have it. Is called "Sold out software". Anyway, would be happy copy your manual. Would be even happier to get copies of your preferred setups. BTW: The wrong setup in GP3 or GP4 basically ruins your day. The right setup and you're on pole.
