F1RS experience

How much memory does your computer have? If it is less than 64MB, upgrading to 64MB will help to smooth out the first corner. With your system and 64MB memory F1RS should run pretty smooth. Memory is cheap now, and it will help all your programs so it's a no lose purchase. Jeff P.S. You do mean that you have a Diamond Viper330 AND a 3dfx card right? (Viper330 is not 3dfx) I'm sure that's what you meant, but if not you are running the D3D version and not 3dfx and will see a performance hit here as well and would see better perfomance with an add-on 3dfx card (i.e. Diamond Monster 1 or 2, Creative Labs Voodoo 2, etc.)

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> Greetings everyone. > I have a 200mhxMMX Pentium system, purchased a Diamond Viper330 3DFX card > just for the occasion. > Am having problems with first lap, specifically first turn control. The > visual is jumpy as the systems is clearly busy moving all the objects and > me around. I have applied all the possible parametric changes suggested by > David Green especially the Min and Max file cache and swap file settings. > My startup folder is empty. I have turned off Replay, Mirrors and Sky > hoping to give F1RS less to do. > Thanks > Paul Bartell > San Mateo, CA, USA

Greetings everyone. I have a 200mhxMMX Pentium system, purchased a Diamond Viper330 3DFX card just for the occasion. Am having problems with first lap, specifically first turn control. The visual is jumpy as the systems is clearly busy moving all the objects and me around. I have applied all the possible parametric changes suggested by David Green especially the Min and Max file cache and swap file settings. My startup folder is empty. I have turned off Replay, Mirrors and Sky hoping to give F1RS less to do. All these did help some but is still far from smooth enough for me to get the visual feedback I need to be able to control the car. UBI Tech Support has been helpful but can help me no further. I suspect another 200 MHz in addition to what I now have might do the trick but before I fork out the cash I'd like to know if anyone has a GOOD experience in the first turn starting from mid-field with a similarly powered machine as mine. Thanks Paul Bartell San Mateo, CA, USA

Is this a RUSH card? Is the Viper 330 even a 3dfx card? I thought it was a Riva... BTW, your problem could be the card. -- Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

1) Have you set the min & max virtual memory to the *same* amount, eg:- a min of 128Mb? its no good setting the min to say 100 and the max to 130 as the computer will take up valuable time figuring out what the *actual* file size should be? if you set the min & max to the *same* the computer spends zero time as the file size is set!!! 2) Also, I have a K6 200 and F1RS rocks? is your pc set-up ok to run games generally? do you run other games and do they run ok? If not you might want to optimise your pc so that it is biased for games? 3) How much memery do you have? I started with F1RS and 32Mb SDram, and it ran ok, but with 64Mb it really flies? 4) Did you do a *full* install when you installed the game? if not, do it, as this will speed up the whole game in general. 5) You are running it in *3Dfx* mode aren't you? make sure that when you installed the game it recognised your 3Dfx card, and that when the game starts it runs the f1voo.exe file and no other file? Sometimes f1rs can move two important files, check your windows/system directory for Glide.dll & sst1init.dll. If they are there then fine, if they are not, copy them from your original f1rs cd to the windows/system directory and f1rs will now be able to see your 3Dfx card ok. 6) Patches, make sure you have installed the latest patches for the game as these do improve performance. I think the latest is v1.09 (get it from any of the many good f1rs sites, just search for ubisoft & f1rs on the net?) 7) Have you made the recommended changes to the sound files in the game, this improves the first corner slowdowns you mention? To alter the sound files do the following..... In the F1RS\CPA\dll directory you'll find a file called Snd_cpa.ini. You've got to change the following parameters: SXD_DIST_SATUR=5 SXD_DIST_FADE=75 The SXD_DIST_FADE option is the most important: this one determines the distance at which another car can be heard (or to be more precise: at which distance the other car's sound will fade in or out). The default setting is way too high: when you're on pole position, a number of 75 will let you hear all cars around, up to the one at the back of the grid (it seems)! No wonder you can't hear your own engine anymore. (And maybe, as I said before, the computer has a hard time producing the sound of 22 cars, hence the framerate drop at the beginning of the race?) Two cars in your neighbourhood is enough to make it impossible to hear your own engine. Lowering this to a very low number will do the trick, but then you may not be able to hear a car coming up behind you until he's beside you. SXD_DIST_SATUR seems to change the overall volume of the other cars. But lowering this from 5 to 1 isn't enough. Especially if you don't alter the FADE setting: being able to hear all 22 car engines will still make you deaf. Change the settings to..... SXD_DIST_SATUR=1 SXD_DIST_FADE=15 Just fiddle around a bit with these numbers, and you'll see your performance will get better. And you're fun with this great game will increase! I hope the above info helps..... 8-) *Peter* 8-) (NB: remove asterix to e-mail)

I've been pretty disappointed with F1RS myself. The graphics, AI, driving model, options, and tracks are all fine (though the UI sucks a bit). So what's the problem? With a T2 wheel the cars steer like ***y freight trains! I'm really not impressed with the steering input of this game at all. The cars just seem very unresponsive to the wheel. Joe

If its a cyrix chip change it , I just got a cheapo 450 pc with a cyrix 200mmx, added a voodoo card to play f1sim, it ran v,poor I had to drop it down to 5 or 6 oponants to get a good speed. I have now changed to a Intel 200mmx and it flys, all except the first lap while its filling the swap file this can be improved by adding ram. compared to gp2 it flys with a cyrix

>I agree about the poor steering feel and control in F1RS! >I loaded ICR2 back on my system after a long absence. I had gone through >all of the various 'sims' for about a year and had forgotten about this jewel. >Drive F1RS or CARTPR or darn near anything else, then crank up ICR2 and feel >the difference in the steering feel and control. >No comparison... Papy has always had the best device input code, IMO. For one example, they are the ONLY company that has recognized the inherently flawed device input code of Win95/DirectInput, and so have implemented their own native device-input code in GPL. I don't think it's possible to have great steering control without doing this. Even arcade games, like TOCA, have serious flaws with steering input because of DirectInput flaws/limitations. Hopefully other racing sim companies will begin to recognize this when they see how much better the input in GPL is. Either that or everyone will have to buy new [Microsoft] wheels with optical encoders, since these seem to be the only devices that work reliably and with good control under Win95. Even without the new physics model, I think Papy's input code alone will assure that GPL/N3 are the best *** driving sims of 1998. Everybody else is hamstrung by DirectInput. Joe

Take it back and buy a proper 3Dfx card. The Diamond Viper 330 is a good card for Direct 3D, but it's not a 3Dfx card. What size RAM do you have? Is it SDRAM or EDO? Do you run any background stuff at the same time? E.g. virus scanners and other assorted crap. I have a 200MMX, 64MB SDRAM, 128MB swapfile, 6mb Hercules Stingray (Voodoo RUSH), SB AWE64 Value, and the game is fine. I adjusted the sound settings, and almost all the jerkiness has gone. Only exists on some tracks like Monaco (which is hard enough without the jitters too!). I have all details on except for Replay. -- Nathan Wong http://www.nectar.com.au/~alfacors - Super Touring - Alfa Romeo - - V8Supercars - CART -

On 03 Jun 1998 08:40:30 EDT, "Greg Cisko"

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>>Greetings everyone. >>I have a 200mhxMMX Pentium system, purchased a Diamond Viper330 3DFX card >>just for the occasion. >Is this a RUSH card? Is the Viper 330 even a 3dfx card? I thought >it was a Riva... BTW, your problem could be the card.

The Diamond Viper is an nVidia RIVA 128. -- Nathan Wong http://www.nectar.com.au/~alfacors - Super Touring - Alfa Romeo - - V8Supercars - CART -

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> I don't think it's possible to have great steering control without > doing this. Even arcade games, like TOCA, have serious flaws with > steering input because of DirectInput flaws/limitations. Hopefully > other racing sim companies will begin to recognize this when they see > how much better the input in GPL is. Either that or everyone will have > to buy new [Microsoft] wheels with optical encoders, since these seem > to be the only devices that work reliably and with good control under > Win95.

Joe, I solved all my TOCA control problems by installing TM's ProPanel (v1.1) and reinstalling DX 5.2. No more pulling to the left...better lap times, more control, much more feeling of "being there". Agreed that Papy has the right idea, but I can't really complain about too many Win95 games being way off base either. -- Neil Yeatman Ajax, Ontario, CANADA

In that case I would venture to guess that you haven't adjusted the steering sensitivity in-game. > With a T2 wheel the cars steer like > ***y freight trains! I'm really not impressed with the steering > input of this game at all. The cars just seem very unresponsive to the > wheel. > Joe -- Regards, Bruce. ---------- The GP Legends Historic Motor Racing Club is located at:- http://www.netspeed.com.au/brucek/legends/

Jeff, The Diamond Viper V330 is a Direct3D card and not a true 3DFX card as you point out it uses the Riva 128 technology. Now I'm wondering if I should take my Viper back in favor of a Monster 1 or 2 instead. Or is it an additive thing, meaning do I have to have both a 3DFX card and a Direct3d card? Do I cable the monitor to the 3DFX card or does the 3DFX card offload 3D rendering on its own as a co-process enabling me to keep the monitor attached to the Viper. My system only has 32MB RAM. Do you think I would get more performance out of replacing/adding 3dfx or by jumping up the RAM to 64MB? Many thanks for helping out, Paul B. > How much memory does your computer have? If it is less than 64MB, upgrading to > 64MB will help to smooth out the first corner. With your system and 64MB > memory F1RS should run pretty smooth. Memory is cheap now, and it will help > all your programs so it's a no lose purchase. > Jeff > P.S. You do mean that you have a Diamond Viper330 AND a 3dfx card right? > (Viper330 is not 3dfx) I'm sure that's what you meant, but if not you are > running the D3D version and not 3dfx and will see a performance hit here as > well and would see better perfomance with an add-on 3dfx card (i.e. Diamond

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> Monster 1 or 2, Creative Labs Voodoo 2, etc.) > > Greetings everyone. > > I have a 200mhxMMX Pentium system, purchased a Diamond Viper330 3DFX

card > > just for the occasion. > > Am having problems with first lap, specifically first turn control. The > > visual is jumpy as the systems is clearly busy moving all the objects and > > me around. I have applied all the possible parametric changes suggested by > > David Green especially the Min and Max file cache and swap file settings.

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> > My startup folder is empty. I have turned off Replay, Mirrors and Sky > > hoping to give F1RS less to do. > > Thanks > > Paul Bartell > > San Mateo, CA, USA

Greg, Thanks for hitting the nail on the head. I have a very pronounced flat spot on my forehead just now. The Diamond Viper V330 is a Direct3D card and not a true 3DFX card as you point out it uses the Riva 128 technology. Now I'm wondering if I should take my Viper back in favor of a Monster 1 or 2 instead. Or is it an additive thing, meaning do I have to have both a 3DFX card and a Direct3d card? Do I cable the monitor to the 3DFX card or does the 3DFX card offload 3D rendering on its own as a co-process enabling me to keep the monitor attached to the Viper. My system only has 32MB RAM. Do you think I would get more performance out of replacing/adding 3dfx or by jumping up the RAM to 64MB? Thanks a lot! Paul Bartell > >Greetings everyone. > >I have a 200mhxMMX Pentium system, purchased a Diamond Viper330 3DFX card

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> >just for the occasion. > Is this a RUSH card? Is the Viper 330 even a 3dfx card? I thought > it was a Riva... BTW, your problem could be the card. > -- > Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes. > >Am having problems with first lap, specifically first turn control. The > >visual is jumpy as the systems is clearly busy moving all the objects

and > >me around. I have applied all the possible parametric changes suggested by > >David Green especially the Min and Max file cache and swap file settings. > >My startup folder is empty. I have turned off Replay, Mirrors and Sky > >hoping to give F1RS less to do. > >All these did help some but is still far from smooth enough for me to get > >the visual feedback I need to be able to control the car. UBI Tech Support > >has been helpful but can help me no further. > >I suspect another 200 MHz in addition to what I now have might do the trick

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> >but before I fork out the cash I'd like to know if anyone has a GOOD > >experience in the first turn starting from mid-field with a similarly > >powered machine as mine. > >Thanks > >Paul Bartell > >San Mateo, CA, USA

>The Diamond Viper V330 is a Direct3D card and not a true 3DFX card as you >point out it uses the Riva 128 technology. Now I'm wondering if I should >take my Viper back in favor of a Monster 1 or 2 instead. If you plan of playing games or driving in F1RS, I would suggest getting a Monter3D instead o f a Riva-based card. A Voodoo-chpset card (3dfx) DOES D3D. No need for a seperate card. With a 3dfx car, you will be able to do OpenGL, Glide and D3D. Simple, 32megs is very cheap these days. under 50bucks. If your on a tight budget, I would say go for a Monster 3d1 AND 32megs or RAM. If price doesn't matter, take the 32megs AND a Monster3d 2. - Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard> Good race at the Brickyard, (-o-) - Official Mentally retarded guy of r.a.s. - Member of the r.a.s. Ego-maniac club - Excuse me for my English (I'm French speaking) - Excuse me for being provocative (I'm dumb speaking) - "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--

No problem. We all get flat spots once in a while :-) Um yes... 3DFX is a must IMHO. Monster 1 or 2 depends one your CPU. If you have a 300+ or are going to upgrade soon, a Voodoo2 (monster II) is the best choice. If you have less CPU than a 300 then a Monster I Origional Voodoo is probably OK, which is what I have. My CPU is a 200MMX. I believe only one card can be setup within W95 for Direct 3D. So it isn't exactly and additive thing. I have heard that for true Direct3D the Riva was very good. But given a fast CPU the Voodoo2 should be best. For F1RS though, any Voodoo (3dfx ) chipset is what you want for the Glide support. I think it wouldn't hurt at all. When ram went for $49 for 32MB I upgraded from 32MB to 80MB. F1RS is great now. -- Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

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> >I agree about the poor steering feel and control in F1RS! > >I loaded ICR2 back on my system after a long absence. I had gone through > >all of the various 'sims' for about a year and had forgotten about this jewel. > >Drive F1RS or CARTPR or darn near anything else, then crank up ICR2 and feel > >the difference in the steering feel and control. > >No comparison... > Papy has always had the best device input code, IMO. For one example, > they are the ONLY company that has recognized the inherently flawed > device input code of Win95/DirectInput, and so have implemented their

Yeah, and it's THE *** platform according to Billy ;^) Don't forget the best control setup of any racing game (maybe F1RS comes close). You can use anything (button, joystick axis) for most functions in the sim. A sim should not make me use one axis for gas/brakes or make me use a button for shifting gears. Of course, there's improvement possible, e.g. let me use a joystick button for rev limiter, pit boards, etc. l8er ronny -- Toys'R'Us '99: "So, would you like a hand gun with that action figure, kiddo?" |\ _,,,---,,_ I want to die like my Grandfather, ZZZzz /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ in his sleep. |,4- ) )-,_. ,\ ( `'-' Not like the people in his car, '---''(_/--' `-'\_) screaming their heads off!

Get Both the Monster 3dfx card & More Ram ! I realized about a month ago, most all of the new sims will require at least a 3dfx card ( Voodoo chipset appears to be the standard) so last week I ordered and received a Monster 3d card that uses Voodoo 1 chipset from CompuPlus for $ 99.00 ( This is the best price in the USA per pricewatch) and I went to Office Depot and added another 16meg of ram. I should have bought 48 meg ! The FIRS demo is great and it's on my buy ASAP list. I fully understand that all of this will be obsolete in 1999................In the meantime I'm having fun with the new demo sims ! Tim >>My system only has 32MB RAM. Do you think I would get more performance out >>of replacing/adding 3dfx or by jumping up the RAM to 64MB?

>Joe, I solved all my TOCA control problems by installing TM's ProPanel >(v1.1) and reinstalling DX 5.2. No more pulling to the left...better >lap times, more control, much more feeling of "being there". That works for some people, not for others. I've tried those steps and every other one that's been discussed on this newsgroup. Some of them did improve the input in TOCA (and other ganmes) but it's still kind of flaky. Which is exactly what DirectInput is - flaky. Joe

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> >Jeff, > >The Diamond Viper V330 is a Direct3D card and not a true 3DFX card as you > >point out it uses the Riva 128 technology. Now I'm wondering if I should > >take my Viper back in favor of a Monster 1 or 2 instead. Or is it an > >additive thing, meaning do I have to have both a 3DFX card and a Direct3d > >card?

The Monster 1 and 2 (or any other Voodoo Graphics 1/2 card) is an add on card and you still need a 2D card for regular applications. However, the 3dfx card is a Direct3D card and your primary 2D card does not have to be D3D compatible because your 3dfx add-on card will handle that responsibility. As to if you should return your Viper330, it depends on how well did you like your old 2D card, because the 3dfx card is only used when you run 3D accelerated programs. The monitor connects to the 3dfx card, and then their is a cable that connects between the 3dfx card and the Viper (or whatever 2D card you decide to use). You will see a bigger jump in performance in F1RS and all 3dfx native programs by adding a 3dfx card. The jump to 64MB is small by comparison

Thanks to the many of you who have contributed advice on my problem dated 6/2. I am still overwhelmed with the fast, and rich information you guys have to offer! My problem is solved, for the most part, having done the following: Jumping my RAM up to 96MB (overkill yes, but at $39 per 32MB, what the heck) Coupled a Monster 3D II card to my Viper (Really easy install) Updated F1RS to 1.09 Updated drivers for both display cards So now I've spent nearly $500 on hardware that will run my $49 piece of software. Thanks again guys! Paul Bartell San Mateo, CA USA

It runs great. Almost like being there. I have all possible goodies turned on in F1RS, replay, mirrors, the works and it still churns out an impressive experience. It has me wondering now what it would be like tooling back a little on the options to see what the peak performance can possibly be. Unfortunately my Thrustmaster GP1 is acting strangely and I have a note outstanding to the Thrustmaster support guys on it. So I can't get back in and do any meaningful tweaking on the game or my system until that situation is resolved. Thanks for asking! I will post further information as I discover it as it may benefit others using F1RS Say --- I noticed in David Greens document on F1RS FAQ that "F1RS is still limited to 640x480 resolution even if you get a Voodoo2" and "It is recommended you have your windows desktop in 800x600x16bit before launching F1RS". I find neither of these statements to be true, at least for my system. I get a full, detailed 17" screen full of F1RS regardless of how I have the desktop set up, I tried the recommended settings and they produce no different results than when I use F1RS with my normal settings which are 1024x768x32bpp. Could David be wrong or is my naivete showing again? -- Paul Bartell San Mateo, CA, USA > >So now I've spent nearly $500 on hardware > >that will run my $49 piece of software. > How does it run? > ;) > -- > * rrevved at mindspring dot com > * unit.26 s.p.u.t.u.m. > * http://www.sputum.com

But now you can run so much more software, you'll have to outlay another $500! :) -- Nathan Wong http://www.nectar.com.au/~alfacors - Super Touring - Alfa Romeo - - V8Supercars - CART -

As some people know most/if not all DirectX games change the resolution at startup regardless of your current desktop setting. Several people have suggested they can run F1RS at a higher resolution. But others say its still 640x480. I'm still not convinced it runs higher than 640x480. Can the voodoo2 control applet force a glide app to run at higher resolution? I really expect F1RS to switch to a 640x480 res since it doesn't have an option menu to change resolutions. As for the 800x600x16bit recommendation that was because until the later patches many people had problems selecting menu options at other desktop resolutions. I shall reword that paragraph to a more accurate one.

>As for the 800x600x16bit recommendation that was because until the later patches >many people had problems selecting menu options at other desktop resolutions. Specificaly 640x480. All other resolutions were OK. -- Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

That did the trick! Made the change and it drives great now. Thanks a lot Paul

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> >Unfortunately my Thrustmaster GP1 is acting strangely and I have a note > >outstanding to the Thrustmaster support guys on it. > Be sure and UNCHECK 'Poll with Interrupts Enabled' in your: > Control Panel | Game Controllers | Advanced section... > -- > * rrevved at mindspring dot com > * unit.26 s.p.u.t.u.m. > * http://www.sputum.com