GP2 track placement question

Hi all, I've been d/ling new tracks and I'm thinking of rearranging the track order in GP2. Like Australia to be put as the first race, not the last etc. But some of the authors said it's better to stick to the original slot. Like I d/led the monaco track and the author said better to put it in slot4 (the original slot). Have you guys tried moving them? Any problems or weird behaviour? Any comments appreciated. Regards, Shellfer.

Shellfer <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Hi all, > > I've been d/ling new tracks and I'm thinking of rearranging the trackorder in > GP2. Like Australia to be put as the first race, not the last etc. > > But some of the authors said it's better to stick to the original slot.Like I > d/led the monaco track and the author said better to put it in slot4 (the > original slot). > > Have you guys tried moving them? Any problems or weird behaviour? There are 2 main problems associated with putting GP2 tracks in the "wrong" slot. 1) Lap times. Each original GP2 track had a different amount of "time compression" - ie one minute of "real time" = slightly more "track time" - this was because once the tracks were completed, the lap times were unrealistic. So rather than modify the tracks or the cars, Crammond built in time compression to make the laptimes more realistic. The problem is, these compressions are hard-coded into the GP2.exe program for each slot, rather than in the track .dat files. So if you put (say) Adelaide in (say) slot 6, there would be the "wrong" time compression factor and you would get unrealistic lap times. 2) AI Pit behaviour. Some aspects of the AI's behaviour when pitting, such as how early to move off the racing line, and also which side of the track to be on, are again hard-coded into the GP2.exe file rather than the track .dat files. This means that in extreme circumstances, the AI's will be unable to pit altogether. eg I have a Melbourne track, if I put it in slot 1 then the AI's are unable to pit, they end up crashing into the wall, and if they survive that then they run out of fuel. HTH regards -- Ian Hill, Cambridge, UK Email: [email hidden] http://ianhill.tripod.com Please visit www.thehungersite.com today!

> I've been d/ling new tracks and I'm thinking of rearranging the trackorder in > GP2. Like Australia to be put as the first race, not the last etc. > > But some of the authors said it's better to stick to the original slot.Like I > d/led the monaco track and the author said better to put it in slot4 (the > original slot). > Have you guys tried moving them? Any problems or weird behaviour? Most tracks work fine in most of the "slots". Still there is some difference between each slot (hardcoded in gp2.exe) in terms of: nominal length of the track, as used to calculate average speeds the number of laps to race in a full-grandprix AI-pitentry/exit behaviour (when they brake, and choose another line) laptime-corrector-factor For these reasons, the creator usually advises one slot or another. "Problems" or "weird behaviour" can be absent, or hard to spot (sometimes AI crash into the pitwall or slow down way too early... but you will only see that if you do a long race) Apart from the "normal" tracks and slots, there are a few other strange things. If you place any track in slot-16, you will see the AI is three seconds slower than anywhere else. If you place the add-on Zandvoort-2000 track in slot 2, you will see the road disappear temporarily before s/f, while this doesnt happen in slot 1. In conclusion: Most tracks you can move around wherever you want, although there may be slight differences in every slot. A few tracks are really picky about the slot. Best bet is to try. As to Monaco, that one is likely to be picky. I wouldnt advice to move a monaco-based track to anything but slot 4. But you can always try :-) �artijn

On Thu, 11 May 2000 14:58:34 +0800, Shellfer <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>Hi all, > >I've been d/ling new tracks and I'm thinking of rearranging the track order in >GP2. Like Australia to be put as the first race, not the last etc. > >But some of the authors said it's better to stick to the original slot. Like I >d/led the monaco track and the author said better to put it in slot4 (the >original slot). > >Have you guys tried moving them? Any problems or weird behaviour? > >Any comments appreciated. > >Regards, >Shellfer.

One thing that is for sure is that the *displayed* laptimes will change from slot to slot. Note that the *driving* will be and feel exactly the same, it's only the *displayed* laptime. I also heard about computer cars showing different *performance* (easier/harder to beat). Then there are possible problems with computer cars entering the pits when the track is in a different slot compared to the track that it was based on. This is because there are still unknown variables in the track design, so it's not 100% under control. But all in all it certainly typically doesn't render things unplayable. Have fun JoH

Yes, like a few members of the group I was involved in the track editing a whale back. The game itself has programmed the AI's to behave in certain ways at different tracks. Especially with regards to entering the pitlane. I think the original no.1 spot was for Interlagos. This has a fast pit entrance off the straight. No if you want to put Melbourne on the first spot it causes problems. Melbourne has a slow pit entrance before the last corner. However the game will not compensate for this and the AI cars try to enter to pit lane at a high speed. You won't notice much really until your first qual session and all of a sudden there is a massive pile-up at the pit entrance. This is the biggest problems. I've heard of various graphics and AI-lines problem too but these only happen rarely. Theres no definitive guide to fixing this, the idea is to just compare the new track to the original in that spot. Fast with fast, slow with slow, i.e. Don't put Monza in Slot 4. Shellfer <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Hi all, > > I've been d/ling new tracks and I'm thinking of rearranging the trackorder in > GP2. Like Australia to be put as the first race, not the last etc. > > But some of the authors said it's better to stick to the original slot.Like I

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> d/led the monaco track and the author said better to put it in slot4 (the > original slot). > > Have you guys tried moving them? Any problems or weird behaviour? > > Any comments appreciated. > > Regards, > Shellfer.