Hi all!
I intend to post this in irregular intervals, adding new thoughts now and
then, so those of you who are new to GPL and VROC get the idea of how to
improve these events for the benefit of all others and for yourself. If this
gets annoying to you guys and gals, give me a note, if you find this
helpful, apply it.....I don't wanna look like a wise-crack, all I want is to
have fun playing GPL-Online:).......and plz excuse my rusty english, it's
been over 20 years that I've been in the states......
[NEW]
My experience concerning sync-setting in the core.ini: Set to 1 when joining
a "good server" (200ping or less) and set to 0 when joining a server with
higher ping.............any similar experiences?
[NEW]
My experiences until now using GPL1.1.0.3 and GSB2beta:
core.ini set to 84/3
clock set to 8, 10,12, 16, don't make a difference to me (not noticeable at
least)
sync set to 0
FF turned off
My specs:
P2 400 ,128 MB, Orchid Righteous 3D Voodoo1, SBLive, TSW Sport,
AVM-Fritz-Card PCI connected to ISDN 64k, DUN: disabled all modems except
for the one I need to dial in (PPP over ISDN), Sound quality in GPL: 1,
Grafix in GPL: detail-bias=25%, turned off Smoke, Dirt, Dust and
Driver-arms, only cars in mirrors, Glide-wrapper 1.0.0.5 set to Mirror
Frequency=2, 640x480
My results so far:
Very few disco's regarding the heavy traffic we have ATM, mostly I had my
host freeze or crash; Warping by others and myself same as ever; Casual
no-shows of laptimes and pitboard in qualifying; Didn't check that
laptime>>realtime issue due to lack of a stopwatch; No slomo's (due to sync
set to 0?); No weird laptimes due to clock-smashes on my behalf, although my
records screen for Spa shows a 0min58_12 done by T.Vreeland :))
...more to follow
...do I hear some1 call me a whiner again?
OLD]
Topic Disconnection-Theory: Some time ago I had 2 disco's from races on VROC
after a month of stable online-gaming. The joke is, that both these disco's
occured directly after I had typed a (short) chat-message while driving, and
as soon as I pressed the
"enter"-key, I was gone. I also noticed there was a *lot* of chatting going
on in both races, and having returned to SpyBoy, I snatched up the word
"flooding the chat-buffer". Was this just coincidence or an explainable
phenomenon? If latter is the case, can someone please explain the technical
aspect of this issue so I can update this topic in later Versions of this
Post by *facts* and not assumptions?
[updated]
Topic Comment-Clumn: To keep hooligans out of your race (as host), there is
a possibility to at least minimize their occurance: Host a passworded race
and post the password in the Comment-Column of GPL-Spy-Boy, e.g. state
"Password is: F3 Cars Only". This way ppl joining are *forced* to read the
comment and again *forced* to type the password and therefore *should* apply
to the host's rules!
This topic should die soon using GSB2 or GPaL.
[OLD]
Topic warping: To find out if you are a distraction to others, meaning you
are warping all over the place, making it hard for ppl behind you to keep
their concentration, just hop into the host's car during the qualifying
session (cockpit-view): If you receive a smooth picture, you're ok and
someone else is causing the trouble; if the picture is choppy, please
disconnect, the others will be thankful! (Thanx Ron, nice hint!) Also a
good indication of a bad connection on your side is a short flicker of the
screen followed by a reset of the red tach (?) of the rev-meter (?); at that
moment, you have most probably just warped, please disconnect in that case
also.
[OLD]
(with an assumed permission of requote by Michael Barlow)
Topic Start line accidents: I've been paying attention to the start line
accidents. More specifically, what causes these crashes.. what I have found
is that some drivers sincerely believe that they have to get up to speed as
quickly as possible. Even if it means running over the car directly in front
of them. I've started races where the driver in front of me doesn't push
the gas peddle when the green flag drops. making me sit there and wait for
what seems like an eternity as all the other drivers whizz by. I'll slap
the gas and throw the car into first gear only to have to slam on the breaks
because of this. If I didn't slam that brake peddle I would have ended up
like the guy just in front of him spinning and spinning from hitting the guy
in front of him. what usually happens next is the guy in front of me will
then start off and wind his way through the crashed drivers with me
following. we both end up making it through the carnage without a scratch.
Think of the start as a fast moving pace lap, don't pass anyone till the
field has a chance to get sorted out. Even if that means waiting till lap 10
of an 11 lap race. So, Rule of thumb: don't slap the gas down till the guy
in front of you has done so. And be ready to use the brakes.
Topic Turn one accidents: I've been involved in many accidents in the first
turn on the first lap. The ones that I've been involved in were from drivers
watching everything else but what's coming up. Coming up to turn one, I've
made it through with a guy in front of me, a guy beside me and a guy on my
tail. Because we ALL knew the turn was coming up, We each started to brake
early. Each driver broke(?) earlier then the one in front. By doing this we
all were able to keep that same distance between us and make it through the
turn quickly and evenly. (in fact, this happened through the entire lap) So,
Rule of thumb: Get on the brakes sooner then normal while following someone
into a corner. Slow down to a point where you think you're slow enough, then
slow down a bit more.
[OLD]
18 Steps to get a *clean* Windows for playing GPL online via VROC/SpyBoy 1:)
Get your Win95/Win98-CD and copy the folder "eru" (to be found under
E:\other\misc\eru) onto your hard-drive. Read the "eru.txt" for instructions
on how to use it (very easy!).
2.) Use erd.exe to backup your current system-config, selecting *all* of the
proposed system-files.
3.) Start regedit.exe (to be found in C:\win95).
4.) Goto "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion" and
check the entries "Run", "RunOnce", "RunServices" and "RunServicesOnce":
there should be *no* entries in the right window, if there are, remove them
all! Don't be afraid, you backed up everything before (you did, didn't
ya?!), thus you can do no harm.
5.) Repeat step 4 in
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion". 6.) Repeat
step 4 in
"HKEY_USERS\Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion". 7.) Start
sysedit.exe (to be found in C:\win95\system)
8.) Check "win.ini" for entries under "Run" and "Load" and remove them all!
9.) Open explorer.exe (to be found in C:\win95)
10.) Goto c:\win95\startmenu\programs\autostart
11.) Copy all files there to a new backup folder (for example "autostart
reserve") and delete the files in "Autostart".
12.) Remove all crap that makes your Desktop nicer (Backgrounds, sounds,
icons, screensavers, smooth-scrolling and so on), no1 needs this stuff. 13.)
Use erd.exe again to make a backup of your new config (name it like
c:\erd\gplconfg.......8 letters max!)
14.) Turn off your computer.
15.) Turn it on again (no ctrl+alt+del !!)
16.) Windows should now be running in a clean environment, *don't* start any
other programs as they flood your PC's memory again, just start your
Internet-Connection, start SpyBoy and......enjoy!
17.) To get back to your original-config, cold-boot again, when you see the
boot sequence, press Shift+F5 to get a DOS-Prompt.
18.) Goto the folder you saved the original-config to (C:\erd\original),
type "erd", select "restore all".....that's it.......and vice-versa if you
want to switch to your GPL-Config.
Troubleshooting:
It could be that you have deleted items in Registry, Autostart or Win.ini
that are essential for either your modem, your sound-card or your
graphics -card (*very* unlikely though) and you will get problems starting
Windows or your Internet-Connection. If so, no problem, restore your
original config, do steps 3 to 13 again, this time looking a bit closer at
the stuff you are removing, maybe leaving the one or the other entry where
it is and try again, narrowing on the crucial entry like that.
[OLD]
Topic Start of Races: When on very crowded grids, I switch view using F10
until I've passed the first one or two corners, then I switch back to normal
cockpit-view. This gives a better overview of what's going on around you,
there are no mirrors, though, but if you are able to start in a straight
line, this is less a disadvantage, than F10 is of advantage (any1 understood
this sentence?).
[OLD]
Topic Manuals: I know it's boring and you want to get to the real stuff as
fast as possible, but a lot of problems would not occur if ppl would read
the instructions (RTFM) of each new program they use. For VROC it's
essential to setup your Dial-Up-Network correctly, look at the frame-rates
you're receiving under heavy traffic, install VROC-Software,
Spy-Boy-Software, core.ini's etc etc; all this has to be read about in the
corresponding places, so take an hour and get informed, it's not *that*
hard!
[OLD]
Topic Qualification for a Race: Often I would like to slap ppl with a large
trout (whatever that means..) when I'm on a flying lap and they're pitting
out right in front of me.......lap is ruined even without a crash. Guys, we
have the possibility to use the "live"-button in GPL, where you can see
who's about to cross start/finish, so press it and pit-out right behind the
flyer and don't race him! When on your warm-up-lap, don't go creeping around
at 20mph, run at 90% of your normal racing speed because 1. When a flyer
runs up to a creeper, mostly the flying lap is ruined and 2. You can build
up the rythm (rhythm?) for your own flying lap better this way........
[OLD]
Topic Chatting in GPL: Many drivers find it disturbing when those who
crashed out or just quit a race keep filling the chat with useless stuff. On
the one hand, it's up to them to turn the chat off, on the other hand you
would like to stay informed about the ongoing race......difficult to find a
satisfying solution here, maybe we all should cut down a little to the real
important stuff, moreso as we now have this great toy called Spy-Boy.
[OLD]
My 2-year old daughter now uses the toilet instead of her pants! This had to
be said :-))
[OLD]
Topic Discipline: Some time ago I joined a GP-Race in Spa hosted by Rick
Sweeney and there were NO incidents on the start with 20
drivers.....incredible......why can't people discipline themselves and try
to equalize this "world-record"? Instead, mostly ppl try to get from last to
first in half a lap .....complete nonsense, just causes pileups and
frustration ;-((. To cool ppl down, host *Pro*-Races so if you hit
something,.....bye....there should be a lot more of that......
[OLD]
Topic competition: Next thing is we wanna have fun while racing, right? My
driving-policy is, when in the lead and see no1 behind me, I wait (drive
slowly in *safe* places, don't stop, you get kicked if idle too long) for
others to catch up and race them again....who cares if I win a race (except
championship-races of course).....Same applies, if you're in 6th, guy behind
you spins and recovers, why not wait for him?.....I want competition, if I
wanna hotlap I can do that alone offline......
[OLD]
Topic Chat-Keys: Regarding last thought, maybe we all could agree on some
fixed short-message-keys for the in-car-chat (I for myself can't type and
drive at the same time, I know there are some of you out there who can
*fallingonmykneesandworship*), for example "W"= I am waiting, "?"=How many
drivers left in the race, "G"=gaps between drivers, "!"= watch out, I'm
spinning and so on.....Answers should be given by ppl watching the
race.....These keys then should be posted where everyone can see them while
in VROC-Netscape as well as in Spy-Boy.
[update]
Topic Bad Connections: Next issue is that ppl join races ignoring bad
ping-showings in SpyBoy or
VROC-Netscape, getting disco'd, trying again, blocking ppl with good con's
from joining, causing warping, and later complaining, what a shitty host
Mr.xyz is....;-((.....Guys'n'Gals, look at the pings *before* joining!!
This topic may also be resolved by now as hosts can now reject ppl with bad
con's trying to join.
[OLD]
In China a bicycle has been stolen.
Hope to see some nice clean racing soon!
cya
Markus
