GPL race - problem

I ran in a Spa int-long race earlier tonight, where my pit-board didn't work at all. Looking at the replay I won the race, more by attrition than anything ;-), but none of my laptimes show, and the final result showed me as -9laps. Is there any way to 'extract' the lap times, other than timing it with a stop-watch? Ta, Malc.

"Malc" wrote...

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> I ran in a Spa int-long race earlier tonight, where my pit-board > didn't work at all. > > Looking at the replay I won the race, more by attrition than > anything ;-), but none of my laptimes show, and the final > result showed me as -9laps. > > Is there any way to 'extract' the lap times, other than timing > it with a stop-watch? >

I'm assuming you mean an online race... if so, you experienced a phenomenon related to the no-disco patch. If you momentarily lose connection to the server as you cross s/f the game loses track of you and you don't get scored from that point onwards. Nor the server, nor your personal replay will contain laptime info if this occurs. So if you want to view your times you'll have to break out the old stopwatch and time yourself by hand, sorry. Without the patch though, you would have been disco'd then and there regardless of whether your game was able to reastablishd contact with the server with regard to your position on the track. So now at least you got a race out of it. Jan. =---

"Jan Verschueren" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> "Malc" wrote... > > I ran in a Spa int-long race earlier tonight, where my pit-board > > didn't work at all. > > > > Looking at the replay I won the race, more by attrition than > > anything ;-), but none of my laptimes show, and the final > > result showed me as -9laps. > > > > Is there any way to 'extract' the lap times, other than timing > > it with a stop-watch? > > > > I'm assuming you mean an online race... if so, you experienced a

phenomenon > related to the no-disco patch. If you momentarily lose connection to the > server as you cross s/f the game loses track of you and you don't getscored > from that point onwards. Nor the server, nor your personal replay will > contain laptime info if this occurs. > > So if you want to view your times you'll have to break out the oldstopwatch > and time yourself by hand, sorry. Without the patch though, you would have > been disco'd then and there regardless of whether your game was able to > reastablishd contact with the server with regard to your position on the > track. So now at least you got a race out of it. > > Jan. Thanks for that. It was a race on vroc. Stopwatch time I guess! How do you know if you're disconnected & re-connected like this? The latency bar was okay (almost nil at the start) and only crept up a couple of times during the race. Cheers, Malc.

"Malc" wrote... > <snip> > Thanks for that. It was a race on vroc. Stopwatch time I > guess! > > How do you know if you're disconnected & re-connected like > this? If it doesn't happen at the start, as in this case, your pitboard will start to show you dropping laps behind the field. > The latency bar was okay (almost nil at the start) and > only crept up a couple of times during the race. 2nd guess of the evening... are you on cable? -This type of connection often exhibits "hiccups" shorter than a second (the sample interval of the meters and the time the GPL prediction code keeps working in the absense of position updates). I.e. they can remain undetected unless you run a packett trace on your own machine. It's very unlucky to have one of these occuring right at s/f, but it can and does happen. This is one of the reasons some people, although they use broadband for general internet use prefer modem or ISDN access for racing. It's one of the things which happen when internet traffic is high (holidays) and IMO you shouldn't worry about it. As long as you don't start to see all other drivers disappearing for seconds on end, chances of not being scored, discoing or, more importantly, causing accidents due to poor quality of your connection are minimal. Have fun racing, Jan. =---

Hiccups on cable are usually caused by exceeding the bandwidth on your line. This can be caused just as easily by sending small packets too frequently as by sending packets that are too large. That's why the better multiplayer FPS games allow you to limit both the packet rate and the data rate, in both the upstream and the downstream direction. Does GPL allow you to control the data and packet rate of the client? If it does you might be able to solve it this way. "Jan Verschueren" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> "Malc" wrote... > > <snip> > > Thanks for that. It was a race on vroc. Stopwatch time I > > guess! > > > > How do you know if you're disconnected & re-connected like > > this? > > If it doesn't happen at the start, as in this case, your pitboard will

start > to show you dropping laps behind the field. > > > The latency bar was okay (almost nil at the start) and > > only crept up a couple of times during the race. > > 2nd guess of the evening... are you on cable? -This type of connectionoften > exhibits "hiccups" shorter than a second (the sample interval of themeters > and the time the GPL prediction code keeps working in the absense of > position updates). I.e. they can remain undetected unless you run apackett > trace on your own machine. It's very unlucky to have one of theseoccuring > right at s/f, but it can and does happen. This is one of the reasonssome > people, although they use broadband for general internet use prefermodem or > ISDN access for racing. > > It's one of the things which happen when internet traffic is high(holidays) > and IMO you shouldn't worry about it. As long as you don't start tosee all > other drivers disappearing for seconds on end, chances of not beingscored, > discoing or, more importantly, causing accidents due to poor qualityof your

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> connection are minimal. > > Have fun racing, > > Jan. > =--- > >

"Jan Verschueren" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > "Malc" wrote... > > How do you know if you're disconnected & re-connected like > > this? > 2nd guess of the evening... are you on cable? -This type of connectionoften > exhibits "hiccups" shorter than a second (the sample interval of themeters > and the time the GPL prediction code keeps working in the absense of > position updates). I.e. they can remain undetected unless you run apackett > trace on your own machine. It's very unlucky to have one of these occuring > right at s/f, but it can and does happen. This is one of the reasons some > people, although they use broadband for general internet use prefer modemor > ISDN access for racing. > > It's one of the things which happen when internet traffic is high(holidays) > and IMO you shouldn't worry about it. As long as you don't start to seeall > other drivers disappearing for seconds on end, chances of not beingscored, > discoing or, more importantly, causing accidents due to poor quality ofyour > connection are minimal. > > Have fun racing, > > Jan. I'm not on cable, just a normal phone line, but I'm using a software modem (ESS). The result could possibly be the same, since I did see cars disappearing for several seconds at a time in that race (and others). I've got an old 33.6 USR external modem hat I'd been thinking about using just for online racing, since I have to run at 800x600 to get a good framerate online where 1152x864 is fine offline. Might help with this problem too. Cheers, Malc.

"Haqsau" wrote...

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> Hiccups on cable are usually caused by exceeding the bandwidth on > your line. This can be caused just as easily by sending small > packets too frequently as by sending packets that are too large. > That's why the better multiplayer FPS games allow you to limit both > the packet rate and the data rate, in both the upstream and the > downstream direction. Does GPL allow you to control the data and > packet rate of the client? If it does you might be able to solve it > this way.

Yes, there is, via the core.ini parameters, but both server and client must carry the same setting for the game to synchronise to the server and connect. Online GPL requires 19.6kbps as a client, so that's hardly taxing a cable connection. I think the delay is predominantly situated at the provider as their network sections are usually oversubscribed. Not a problem when usuage is normal, but when most subscribers do get online delays can get substancial. I only get "latency spikes" on school holidays (last week of summer hols is terrible for this phenomenon, e.g.). Jan. =---

"Malc" wrote...

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> <snip> > I'm not on cable, just a normal phone line, but I'm using a > software modem (ESS). > The result could possibly be the same, since I did see cars > disappearing for several seconds at a time in that race (and > others). > > I've got an old 33.6 USR external modem hat I'd been thinking > about using just for online racing, since I have to run at > 800x600 to get a good framerate online where 1152x864 is fine > offline. Might help with this problem too. >

Bingo... software modems are pure evil when it comes to online racing. Junk it. Force the USR to connect at 28k8 and turn all error correction off for a more stable connection and latency. See the modem FAQ at vroc.net Jan. =---

"Jan Verschueren" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> "Malc" wrote... > > <snip> > > I'm not on cable, just a normal phone line, but I'm using a > > software modem (ESS). > > The result could possibly be the same, since I did see cars > > disappearing for several seconds at a time in that race (and > > others). > > > > I've got an old 33.6 USR external modem hat I'd been thinking > > about using just for online racing, since I have to run at > > 800x600 to get a good framerate online where 1152x864 is fine > > offline. Might help with this problem too. > > > > Bingo... software modems are pure evil when it comes to online racing.

Junk > it. > > Force the USR to connect at 28k8 and turn all error correction off for a > more stable connection and latency. See the modem FAQ at vroc.net > > Jan. Excellent! I'll give it a go tonight! Cheers, Malc.

If you want, I've got a USR pci 56k modem you can have cheap. It's what I was using before DSL came along, worked great. -John "Malc" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:Dhdv8.16168$OP.594022@stones...

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> "Jan Verschueren" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:[email hidden]... > > "Malc" wrote... > > > <snip> > > > I'm not on cable, just a normal phone line, but I'm using a > > > software modem (ESS). > > > The result could possibly be the same, since I did see cars > > > disappearing for several seconds at a time in that race (and > > > others). > > > > > > I've got an old 33.6 USR external modem hat I'd been thinking > > > about using just for online racing, since I have to run at > > > 800x600 to get a good framerate online where 1152x864 is fine > > > offline. Might help with this problem too. > > > > > > > Bingo... software modems are pure evil when it comes to online racing. > Junk > > it. > > > > Force the USR to connect at 28k8 and turn all error correction off for a > > more stable connection and latency. See the modem FAQ at vroc.net > > > > Jan. > > Excellent! I'll give it a go tonight! > > Cheers, Malc. > >

"John Pancoast" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > If you want, I've got a USR pci 56k modem you can have cheap. It's whatI > was using before DSL came along, worked great. > > -John > Thanks, John, but I've tried the 33.6k sportster this evening & it made no difference. Could be just old & dusty, but I doubt it. I've got a few 33.6 & 56k pci modems lying about, and an isa 56k lucent winmodem. The sportster's the only external (ie definitely hardware) modem I've got though. I'll experiment a little more, but it could be just a bad BT line. I live in the sticks! I'm hoping to get ADSL in a few months time, so I'd rather run 800x600 for a short while rather than get yet another modem. I appreciate the offer, though. Anyone recommend a good router for online racing? I have no idea what I'm going to get yet! Cheers, Malc.

Ok, does sound like you're set in the modem department :) Hang in there, hope to see you online asap. -John "Malc" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:Wilv8.13925$51.473032@wards...

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> " > > Thanks, John, but I've tried the 33.6k sportster this evening & it made no > difference. > > Could be just old & dusty, but I doubt it. I've got a few 33.6 & 56k pci > modems lying about, and an isa 56k lucent winmodem. The sportster's the

only > external (ie definitely hardware) modem I've got though. > > I'll experiment a little more, but it could be just a bad BT line. I livein > the sticks! > > I'm hoping to get ADSL in a few months time, so I'd rather run 800x600 fora

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> short while rather than get yet another modem. I appreciate the offer, > though. > > Anyone recommend a good router for online racing? I have no idea what I'm > going to get yet! > > Cheers, Malc. > >

Try contacting BT and ask them to do a line check for you. Maybe they could increase the gain on your line. That should help. -- Ian P <email invalid due to spam> > I'll experiment a little more, but it could be just a bad BT line. I live in > the sticks! > > > Cheers, Malc. > >

"Ian P" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:a9kq8t$p2j$[email hidden]... > > Try contacting BT and ask them to do a line check for you. > Maybe they could increase the gain on your line. That should help. > -- Done and done again. The quality of service on the line just isn't the same out of towns. I can't even get a cable phone instead. Stuck with BT. I hardly use the landline for voice calls, it's just there for the modem really, but there seems to be little they can do to speed up the connection. I've only just started racing online a few days ago, so 'ping rate' was never really an issue before. That's why I'm hoping to get broadband. Can't really be worse I guess. Having said that, I've done 20-odd races with no major problems, so I'll just take it as it comes ;-) Malc.

"John Pancoast" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Ok, does sound like you're set in the modem department :) Hang inthere, > hope to see you online asap. > > -John Hey, I'm already there! Just can't guarantee for how long at a time! ;-) Malc.