Re: Moving up to GPL

"Joe Heiman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Should I be thinking force > feedback or just a quality non-force feedback wheel? If it's not going > to help my driving I'm not going to miss the feedback. FF, definitely. You can drive OK without it, but you'll never go back once you've tried it. Some tracks have strong vertical elements; Zandy, Mosport, and the Ring come to mind. They're extremely difficult to drive well without unambiguous feedback when the fronts get light. Also, holding the fronts for optimum slip is a matter of guesswork without FF. Hairpins show this most strongly, since they are probably the longest steadystate turns. I wonder now how I ever drove one without FF. With FF, they're a simple matter of holding the proper steering angle and juggling the gas for the right feel. In short, you need enough info to respond to transients -- whether dips in the road, or the car simply taking its set entering a corner. My ability to judge this without FF, such as they were if they ever were, have atrophied significantly since getting the MSFF. Everyone else swears by the Logitech junk; MSFF works on my dual processor Win2K system, and works well enough for me to not look any further. Who knows what I'm missing, though. > Second, since I'm new to GPL and this newsgroup, how much time should I > invest offline before I try to race online? I can't wait to race > against human opponents but I realize I need a fair amount of skill on > the tracks before I venture out to online racing. First, learn to drive the full race distance competitively without wrecking. That'll keep you busy for a while! and probably earn you a win or two right off. :-) Michael.

I've finally decided to make the move to REAL racing and picked up a copy of GPL and I'm looking for a little advice. I've progressed from NFS to Gran Tursimo to Colin McRae (my wife ties up the PC a lot playing RTS stuff so I bought a lot of console racing games) but when the Direct 3D patch for GPL came out I thought I would give it a shot. Well, now I'm hooked. First of all, I need some recommendation on a racing wheel. I am currently driving with my neGcon through a USB adapter that I ordered but it's not precise enough for GPL. Should I be thinking force feedback or just a quality non-force feedback wheel? If it's not going to help my driving I'm not going to miss the feedback. Second, since I'm new to GPL and this newsgroup, how much time should I invest offline before I try to race online? I can't wait to race against human opponents but I realize I need a fair amount of skill on the tracks before I venture out to online racing. Any other suggestions or advice would be appreciated. Regards, Joe Heiman (mixdj1)

A lot of the people you'll race with online can't race worth a damn anyway so you got nothing to lose. Just do it and don't worry about not being fast. Just be courteous and try not to crash and you'll do fine. -- ----------------------------------- Morgan Vincent Wooten GPLRank: +31.07 mailto:[email hidden] http://members.tripod.com/~morganv/ ----------------------------------- Joe Heiman <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > I've finally decided to make the move to REAL racing and picked up a > copy of GPL and I'm looking for a little advice. I've progressed from > NFS to Gran Tursimo to Colin McRae (my wife ties up the PC a lot playing > RTS stuff so I bought a lot of console racing games) but when the Direct > 3D patch for GPL came out I thought I would give it a shot. Well, now > I'm hooked. > > First of all, I need some recommendation on a racing wheel. I am > currently driving with my neGcon through a USB adapter that I ordered > but it's not precise enough for GPL. Should I be thinking force > feedback or just a quality non-force feedback wheel? If it's not going > to help my driving I'm not going to miss the feedback. > > Second, since I'm new to GPL and this newsgroup, how much time should I > invest offline before I try to race online? I can't wait to race > against human opponents but I realize I need a fair amount of skill on > the tracks before I venture out to online racing. > > Any other suggestions or advice would be appreciated. > > Regards, > > Joe Heiman (mixdj1) > > > >

Stiction is not and never was a problem on my MSFF. Alison recanted much of her earlier negative comments, probably the original source of the worries about stiction, after trying a different unit. To each their own... I did not actually recommend MSFF, since I've never tried the others, and therefore have no basis for comparision. They work as well as I expected, and have the benefit of working in Win2K, which I believe the LW still does not. On the negative side, I initially becried the flimsy looking pedals, preferring my old (but by then broken) CH pedals. They required only a 2� length of 2x2 to prop up the back of the base, so the pedal action was downward and stabilizing, instead of forward and pushing away. It took a full weekend to finally decide they were OK enough to keep. I actually like the pedals now. Also, the clamping arrangement conflicts with the center drawer on my computer desk. It was an easy decision to ditch the drawer, but I really do miss the convenience, especially for quick access to small screws, connectors, adapters, bubble gum, and all the other junk I keep there. Michael. "jackdog" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8lo7dj$l58$[email hidden]...

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> I'm surprised to see a recommendation for the MSFF. Everywhere I've > looked they have said that the MS wheel has too much "stiction" (what > an odd word) for the subtle corrections needed in GPL. How did you > overcome this, or was it ever a problem for you? > > Regards, > > Joe Heiman (mixdj1) > > In article <[email hidden]>, > "Michael Young" <[email hidden]> wrote: > >. Everyone else swears by the Logitech > > junk; MSFF works on my dual processor Win2K system, and works well > enough > > for me to not look any further. Who knows what I'm missing, though. > > > > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ > Before you buy.

In article <8lnq55$or8$[email hidden]>, "Bendito" <[email hidden]> writes:

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> I'm a newbie like you, and I haven't raced online yet. My philosophy is >that if you can't race offline against the AI without causing a crash every >few races then you shouldn't be racing online. I wouldn't want to piss >people off, so I'm waiting till I can race cleanly and consistently, and am >able to overtake other people or let other people overtake me without >incident. But that's just my philosophy. >

The AI often *help* you crash, so that may not be a good yardstick. Eldred -- Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPL hcp. +69.95 Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

I'll share my experience for whatever it's worth. When I got gpl, I bought a thrustmaster nascar pro wheel/pedals. It was fine but broke after 3 months. I had trouble getting parts from tmaster so bought a ch set. Pedals were crap and it broke after 2 months. Fixed the tmaster and it broke after 3 months. Got a tsw 14 months ago-luv it. www.thomas-superwheel.com. I waited way to long to try online. When you can drive without running over others, go for it. 1.30 laps at monza will even let you finish well occasionally. If you can run 1.30 laps at monza and can aIn article <[email hidden]>, "Joe Heiman" <[email hidden]> wrote: > I've finally decided to make the move to REAL racing and picked up a > copy of GPL and I'm looking for a little advice. I've progressed from > NFS to Gran Tursimo to Colin McRae (my wife ties up the PC a lotplaying > RTS stuff so I bought a lot of console racing games) but when theDirect

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> 3D patch for GPL came out I thought I would give it a shot. Well, now > I'm hooked. > > First of all, I need some recommendation on a racing wheel. I am > currently driving with my neGcon through a USB adapter that I ordered > but it's not precise enough for GPL. Should I be thinking force > feedback or just a quality non-force feedback wheel? If it's not

going > to help my driving I'm not going to miss the feedback. > > Second, since I'm new to GPL and this newsgroup, how much time shouldI

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> invest offline before I try to race online? I can't wait to race > against human opponents but I realize I need a fair amount of skill on > the tracks before I venture out to online racing. > > Any other suggestions or advice would be appreciated. > > Regards, > > Joe Heiman (mixdj1) > >

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

I'm surprised to see a recommendation for the MSFF. Everywhere I've looked they have said that the MS wheel has too much "stiction" (what an odd word) for the subtle corrections needed in GPL. How did you overcome this, or was it ever a problem for you? Regards, Joe Heiman (mixdj1) In article <[email hidden]>, "Michael Young" <[email hidden]> wrote: >. Everyone else swears by the Logitech > junk; MSFF works on my dual processor Win2K system, and works wellenough > for me to not look any further. Who knows what I'm missing, though. > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

Joe Heiman wrote in message ... >First of all, I need some recommendation on a racing wheel. I use the Logitech Wingman Force Feedback (LWFF) wheel. This is an excellent wheel but the pedals are lame. Solutions to this include the $50 CH Pedals, or modifying the LWFF wheel (with a squash ball!). You'll need to play around with the core.ini file and DXTweak to get the right FF settings, but there are sites which guide you on all this. Go here for some advice on wheels: http://simracing.com/alison/gpl/controls.htm >Second, since I'm new to GPL and this newsgroup, how much time should I >invest offline before I try to race online I'm a newbie like you, and I haven't raced online yet. My philosophy is that if you can't race offline against the AI without causing a crash every few races then you shouldn't be racing online. I wouldn't want to piss people off, so I'm waiting till I can race cleanly and consistently, and am able to overtake other people or let other people overtake me without incident. But that's just my philosophy. Bendito;

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I've got a while to go before I can go several races in a row without incident. :) But I am determined to keep at it until I'm consistent. I think a quality wheel will help considerably. Regards, Joe Heiman (mixdj1) In article <8lnq55$or8$[email hidden]>, "Bendito" <[email hidden]> wrote: > > I'm a newbie like you, and I haven't raced online yet. Myphilosophy is > that if you can't race offline against the AI without causing a crashevery > few races then you shouldn't be racing online. I wouldn't want to piss > people off, so I'm waiting till I can race cleanly and consistently,and am > able to overtake other people or let other people overtake me without > incident. But that's just my philosophy. > > Bendito; > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

"Morgan V. Wooten�" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:atJf5.11884$[email hidden]... > A lot of the people you'll race with online can't race worth a damn anywayso > you got nothing to lose. Just do it and don't worry about not being fast.Just > be courteous and try not to crash and you'll do fine. And remember not to go upsetting InDiGo on lap 63 of a GP distance race <G> MS