News Archive 2000

Part A - January through May

2001 | 2000 Part A | 2000 Part B | 1999 | 1998
Features | What's New | Current News | News Archive

Features

MotorSport Calls GPL "Brilliant, Thrilling"

5/1/00 - One of the oldest and most respected mainstream British motor racing magazines recently applauded GPL. In the February 2000 issue, MotorSport editor Andrew Frankel said:

"Following my mention of the Grand Prix Legends computer game, we have been swamped by letters about it. Now I know the depth of feeling, I feel it was remiss of me not to mention it sooner...

Properly equipped ... [GPL] is the most thoroughly researched, brilliantly conceived and thrilling PC game I have ever played."

This issue is well worth getting because of the detailed reports of live on-track evaluations of a Lotus 49 and a totally original '67 Eagle-Weslake T1G. GPL enthusiasts may find the handling comparison to be rather eerily familiar:

"Both cars are simple, and unending joys; the Lotus remains considerably faster and yet more responsive, the Eagle more indulging of its driver and, in the end, perhaps just as rewarding.

This issue also features an excellent track test of the magnificent North Circuit at the Nurburgring - the circuit so brilliantly re-created in GPL.

Read all of Andrew's comments and more extracts from the Lotus and Eagle test reports on my Press page. I've included information on where to acquire a copy of the magazine.

The GPL Ten Commandments

5/1/00 - A recent thread in rec.autos.simulators produced the Ten Commandments for GPL enthusiasts, devotees of The One True Faith.

GPL Weekly; Today's Legends; GPL 2hot

4/30/00 - Chris Cosby has begun publishing a weekly electronic newspaper called GPL Weekly. This site is notable for its League Box Scores pages, which currently cover over 30 active racing series for GPL!

GPL Weekly currently works best with Microsoft Internet Explorer, though Chris hopes to adapt it to Netscape soon. Chris says, "Please, if you know of anything news worthy, let me know."

Head on over to the Todays Legends site, a GPL Drivers Registry, and sign up. You can also use the registry to find other GPL enthusiasts near you.

Todd Norbury has started a hotlaps Web site called GPL 2hot. Todd says, "It is a bit different in that you have to do two consecutive quick laps. I find that most people can pull one really fast lap out of the blue, but putting two in a row together is a better indication of a driver's ability."

PBFVue

4/30/00 - Eric Kundl has developed a handy utility called PBFVue for viewing, cropping, and converting GPL's PBF files (such as screen shots) to other graphic file formats such as jpg, bmp, pcx, etc. It's available on my Downloads page.

Still More on CART Availability

4/30/00 - I've received two reports from people who ordered CART Racing from Dragon.ca that they got the AllAmerican Sports version (which is not Rendition Ready) instead of the original Sierra Sports version (which is Rendition Ready). Like Sierra, they may have sold out of the original version.

This suggests that the retail supply of new Rendition Ready versions of CART has probably pretty much dried up. However, there are several good sources for used copies. See Buying a Copy of CART for details.

The X-Files: Latest Setups from Eagle Woman

4/11/00 - If you've been floundering without setups for the new conversion tracks, this may be your lucky day. I'm making available all of my most recent development setups!

My new X-Files contain at least one setup for every available track, including Brands Hatch, the Osterreichring, Snetterton, and all of the CART and NASCAR conversion tracks.

I don't have setups for all cars at all tracks. The X-Files contain my most recent setup for any GP or F2 car that I've ever run at a given circuit.

GRE Help's Quick Reference section contains extensive advice about adapting a setup between cars, tracks, and chassis. Use GPL Race Engineer and GRE Help to quickly adapt my latest setups to other tracks or cars.

Get The X-Files now!

Juan Montoya's Favorite Racing Sims

4/11/00 - An email interview with 1999 CART Fedex champion and Rookie of the Year Juan Montoya was posted recently on r.a.s.

Juan said:

My favorite games right now are old ones, GP 2 (Grand Prix 2) and GP Legends--they are awesome!

See the full text of the interview here, and read more about Juan and racing simulators here.

More on CART Availability

4/4/00 - Good news and bad news on the availability of Rendition versions of CART.

The bad news is that one person has reported that when he ordered the Rendition version from Sierra, he got a CART package containing an old CD with only non-Rendition ICR2. Several other people got the correct Rendition versions of CART. We don't know yet if the ICR2 CD was shipped by mistake or if Sierra has run out of copies of the Rendition version.

One piece of good news is that readers have reported finding two Sierra bundles which contain Rendition versions of CART. Details in Version Summary and Packages.

I've also found that Dragon.ca's online catalog lists Rendition versions of CART. Their overseas shipping costs (from Canada) are much lower than Sierra's. Details in Buying a Copy of CART.

GRE Help Online

3/30/00 - GRE Help is now available in HTML form on this Web site.

If you haven't yet installed GRE, and you're not sure you want to download the entire 1 MB GRE Help file, or you can't get Windows Help to work properly, you can simply access GRE Help from your browser.

The Web-based menu structure is not as deep and sophisticated as that generated by Windows Help, and the Windows Help Index and Search features are not available, but you can access every page and illustration from the Help file distributed with GRE.

Rendition Ready CART Still Available!

3/28/00 - A reader ordered CART Racing from the Sierra online store and received it yesterday. He reports that it is the original Rendition Ready version!

There are two versions of CART Racing being sold from the Sierra Web site, but only one of them is Rendition Ready. Make sure you order the right one!

See Buying a Copy of CART for details.

GRE Update

3/27/00 - Nate has fixed some bugs in GPL Race Engineer v0.9.1.

Nate says:

I'd like to encourage everyone who is using GRE v0.9.0 or v 0.9.1 to upgrade to v0.9.2. The reason for this is that the earlier versions had a problem with exporting to text files which could cause people to lose a setup. Here's what happened:

If you were editing "MY SETUP.BB1" and chose the option "Export to text file" and directed it to save the text export as "MY SETUP.CSV", the text export would in fact be saved as "MY SETUP.BB1." Then, when you later tried to open "MY SETUP.BB1," GRE would tell you it's an invalid setup file.

For files affected in this way, the information can be recovered by changing the extension to "CSV" and then using the "Import from Text File" option in GRE to import the setup again.

I'm very sorry for any inconvenience or loss this bug may have caused.

If you've already installed GRE, get the v0.9.2 update here.

We also believe we've addressed the problem some people had extracting the full installer from the zip archive. Download the full GRE installer here.

David Noonan's GPL Track Converter!

3/23/00 - Arguably the most significant event in GPL history since the release of the GPL 1.2 patch last fall is the release today of David Noonan's GPL Track Converter.

Under development for over a year, and crafted with loving care and attention to detail, David's converter is an incredible achievement. I worked with David throughout most of the development period, and I have some idea of the sweat and tears that went into this fantastic product. David's ingenuity and commitment to quality are monumental.

Also noteworthy are the efforts of David's small but very dedicated team of beta testers, who tested new versions of the converter - and numerous tracks - many times, especially throughout the final development during the last few days. Bravo, guys!

The converter converts 21 tracks from other Papyrus sims to GPL. Here are some of the exciting tracks now available for GPL:

CART/
ICR2
NASCAR 2
/NROS
NASCAR
1999/
BGN
NASCAR 3
NASCAR
Legends
Elkhart Lake
Mid-Ohio
Laguna Seca
Portland
Cleveland
Detroit
Long Beach
Toronto
Vancouver
Sears Point
Pocono
Heartland Park
Fontana
Gateway
Milwaukee
Indianapolis
Fontana
Gateway
Milwaukee
Sears Point 98
Riverside
Ontario

Go here for a full list of tracks.

If you don't already have them, I recommend that you purchase CART Racing, NASCAR 1999 (which contains the NROS version of N2, with the original Sears Point and Pocono), NASCAR 3, and NASCAR Legends. All of these are available from the Sierra Web site. The earlier versions are very inexpensive now, and even the latest versions are well worth the money considering the quality of the circuits they add to GPL.

Indianapolis and Riverside alone are worth the cost of the latest NASCAR sims. Riverside is one of the crown jewels of this collection, a beautiful, seductive, challenging road course of the first order. Indianapolis is unique and wonderful, as glorious a circuit as can be imagined, a fantastic experience in GPL.

Heartland Park is delightful, one of my favorites. Gateway is a great track, unique and very challenging. Milwaukee is the perfect short oval: subtly banked, smooth, exquisitely proportioned, a joy to drive. Ontario is a rough, demanding, brute of a circuit, the perfect counterpoint to the refined Indianapolis.

Sears Point, Laguna Seca, and Elkhart Lake are among the great road courses of the world, and the Papyrus versions, though they are several years old, are challenging, exciting, and surprisingly accurate. And there is nothing like the madness of Detroit or the graceful precision required between the walls of Long Beach, Vancouver, and Toronto.

Get the converter now. I promise you'll be glad you did!

By the way, if you're still not convinced, download the new version of the Demo Track Converter from The Pits, and convert Watkins Glen from NASCAR 3. I think you'll be impressed.

Mo Funn: GPL Race Engineer

3/23/00 - With the introduction of the Noonan GPL Track Converter, the number of circuits available for GPL approaches 50. With seven different chassis and three classes, the number of setups required to cover all possibilities is over a thousand! There is no way that I or anyone else can conceivably publish setup collections that are anywhere near complete or comprehensive and also consistent, at least at any time in the near future.

Aware of this prospect, my brother Nate Hine has developed a new program called GPL Race Engineer. This program is designed to assist you in developing new setups and adapting existing setups to new tracks and/or new chassis or classes. With an extensive array of features, GRE makes developing setups faster, easier, and more fun than ever before.

While Nate was developing GRE, I was writing a very comprehensive document called GRE Help. This weighty electronic tome contains an introduction to race car dynamics, a primer on setting up cars for GPL, and extensive reference material.

Together, GRE and GRE Help - putting a large body of knowledge and experience at your fingertips - present you with a unique new opportunity to enhance your own understanding of race car behavior in both GPL's virtual world and the real world.

Your days of poking around on the Internet for setups and begging people to send you their setups are over.

Go here to read more about GRE, or download it now!

Enhancing your CART Tracks for GPL

3/23/00 - As noted above, the GPL Track Converter converts most of the circuits from Papyrus CART Racing or IndyCar Racing 2 into GPL.

The original DOS and Windows versions of CART Racing and IndyCar Racing 2 were great sims in their day, but the tracks appear rather plain by today's standards, especially in comparison with the other tracks available for GPL. Fortunately, Papyrus upgraded five of the original tracks with enhaced graphics for the Rendition Ready versions of ICR2.

After the Rendition Ready ICR2 was released, I participated in an effort by The Sim Project to enhance the remaining ten tracks. The resulting 3D Kits are still available at The Sim Project, and can be used to enhance any Rendition Ready version of CART or ICR2 prior to conversion into GPL. The resulting conversions are much more visually exciting than the unenhanced original tracks.

However, the Rendition Ready version of CART is no longer generally available in stores. The version currently being sold in most retail outlets has the Rendition Ready logo but is not actually Rendition Ready.

However, as of March 2000, a reader reports that the Rendition Ready version of CART is still available from Sierra via mail order on the Web! If you need to buy CART, go here.

In anticipation of renewed interest in CART/ICR2 for conversion to GPL, I've reworked the original 3D kits and developed new versions which can be applied to DOS and Windows versions of ICR2 or CART, including the All American Sports version of CART currently being sold by retail outlets and also by Sierra.

The new kits plus the GPL Track Converter allow owners of any version of CART or ICR2 to have visually exciting versions of most of the CART tracks in GPL.

Go here for information about downloading and installing the 3D Kits. If you're not sure if your version of CART or ICR2 is Rendition Ready, go here.

Superb Snetterton from the GPLEA!

3/20/00 - The GPLEA has released their first new track, Snetterton. This is an excellent track, very different from the other tracks currently available for GPL, with very nice graphics. It seems like a simple circuit when you look at the map, but going quickly there is very challenging.

If the circuit is modeled accurately, it must have been very dangerous in real life. There are at least two places where an out of control car would be lethal, including a bridge with unprotected abutments which spans a pair of corners with a very fast approach, and a marshall's stand made of cinder blocks at the outside of the exit of a very fast kink. This track really makes me respect the drivers who drove there in real cars!

The AI is not yet complete, and the authors admit they haven't been able to get the groove to go where they'd like, but otherwise I can see very little to criticise about this track's appearance and configuration. It's a worthy addition to the growing collection of circuits for GPL.

Snetterton installation is a bit tricky. Make sure you read the entire installation instructions. Download both track zips and also the updated track.ini so you'll get proper grid positioning; if you don't use the updated track.ini, the front rows of the grid won't be able to see the flagman.

Make sure you use a 32 bit version of WinZip! 16 bit WinZip or PkUnzip will truncate long filenames, and the track won't load into GPL.

You'll need to update both of your seasons ini files too. Make sure you get both brackets around the [Event##]!

GPL LAN Parties at Stefan Johansson Karting Center

2/23/00 - Lou Magyar and Pat Dotson are organizing a series of LAN parties at Stefan Johansson's Karting Center in Indianapolis. The first one is scheduled for March 12, 2000. If you're in the area, check out Lou Magyar's LAN Party page for details.

I am excited this effort because it is helping to bring the sim racing world and the real-world racing community together. I believe that both communities will benefit from increased interaction.

If you're not near Indianapolis but are interested in joining a LAN party, bookmark Lou's LAN Party page and check back to see if a LAN party will be in your area. If you're interested in organizing a LAN party of your own, notify Lou and he will put your event on his page.

LAN/Internet Gateways

2/23/00 - Hardware solutions to the problem of sharing a single Internet connection are beginning to show up as more and more people have multiple computers in their home. This benefits sim racers because it gives us access to technically superior but relatively inexpensive methods for connecting to the Internet.

If you have more than one computer at home, all of your computers can connect to the Internet through the same Internet connection. They can even connect all at once if you like - although you wouldn't want to have people surfing or downloading big files while you're racing.

If you're currently using an analog modem, you may find that the use of an Internet gateway may also help improve your frame rate and reduce warping when you're racign online.

56k and ISDN LAN Modems

My brother Nate Hine has been using a 3COM OfficeConnect 56k LAN Modem to connect the computers on his home LAN to the Internet. He says this is working out to be a very satisfactory solution.

One advantage of this approach when racing GPL on the Interent is that it completely eliminates the serial port (or the USB port) from your computer's Internet connection. Your computer only needs to have an Ethernet card in it. The LAN modem handles all the serial communications, which is likely to yield smoother frame flow and less warping than racing with a conventional analog modem.

The 3COM LAN modem is available at Buy.com for under $250. Go here.

A Netgear LAN modem, the RM356, is available at Buy.com for under $200. Go here.

Both 3COM and Netgear make ISDN LAN modems as well.

See my Online FAQ for more details.

Internet Gateway for DSL, Cable Modem

Tore Hansen is using a Netgear Internet Gateway Router to share his DSL connection among several computers in his home. This is a very simple hardware alternative to a Linux-based router or a Windows machine running Sygate, Windows ICS, or some other gateway software. Tore is delighted with the results.

The Netgear router is available from Buy.com for just over $200. Go here.

Read what Tore has to say about his Netgear router in my Reader FAQ.

GPL Replay Analyser

2/22/00 - GPL Replay Analyser, a superb new tool for examining and comparing GPL replays, is now available.

GPL RA can extract laps from one or more replays (including replays of online races) and do plots and graphs on up to five selected laps. It has a number of terrific features, including:

GPL RA is a powerful and extremely useful tool. I use it after many online races to help me understand where I'm losing time to faster drivers, and to evaluate my performance over the course of the race. It's also useful for keeping track of fastest laps for add-on tracks.

Update: I've discovered that GPL RA chokes on two-car replays generated by GPL Spy Girl. GPL RA will hang when it encounters such a replay, and it has to be killed with Ctl-Alt-Delete. This is a headache when using GPL RA's Lap Finder to scan a folder containing GSG-generated replays, because GPL RA will hang whenever you try to scan replays for a given track if there's a two-car GSG-generated replay for that track present in the GPL replay folder. It's best to move all two-car GSG-generated replays to another folder before using Lap Finder.

Sim Racer Shines in the Real World

2/22/00 - GPL racer Vail Riches has set the fastest ever lap at Peter Finlay's International Racing Drivers' School. Go here for a complete account of Vail's accomplishment.

Pressure-Sensitive Brake Pedal

2/22/00 - A page by Jens Schumi explains how to modify your Logitech brake pedals to make them pressure sensitive like real brake pedals. Jens also explains the wiring involved in replacing the pedals with different pedals if you prefer to do this. Thanks to Gary Johnson, who pointed me to this page.

Racing Psychology

2/22/00 - Eric Cote has compiled an article about the Psychological Aspects/Factors of Racing. Eric has collected the thoughts of a number of well-known sim racers, including some of the fastest in the world. This article is available at Sim Racing Mag.

New Voodoo 3 Drivers

2/22/00 - Steve Smith reports, "There's a new set of drivers for the Voodoo3 2000 and 3000 that is supposed to make all your games run faster, better, with fewer problems. However, these only work in conjunction with DirectX 7 or 7a."

Details and download at 3Dfx Gamers. I haven't tried these drivers with GPL because I have a Voodoo3 3500, so I can't say how they work with GPL.

Chris Moses' Eagle Setups

2/7/00 - Chris Moses has sent me a collection of his latest Eagle setups for all tracks, including the Österreichring and other new conversion tracks. Get it here! (9 kb).

Updates for the Österreichring and Talladega

2/6/00 - Bart Westra has released a revised version of his grids for online racing. The new version includes grids for Talladega and the Österreichring. Download the grids and check out Bart's excellent GPL Garage.

Also, Edwin Solheim has posted GPL track maps and program covers for the Österreichring at The Paddock. These can be placed in GPL to replace the default covers and maps.

Alison's New Favorite Engine Sounds

2/4/00 - I've prepared a new collection of my favorite sounds for GPL. Since I posted my last collection, I've applied Nigel Pattinson's Carsound utility, which patches GPL to permit a different engine sound for each of GPL's seven different GP engines. As a result of this new capability, I've added new sounds and refined some existing sounds.

My new collection contains a different sound for all seven engines. You can also enjoy some new sounds even without applying Nigel's patch.

Download Alison's Favorite Sounds v 1.1, a 1.38 mb Zip archive. More details are here.

David Noonan Releases Stunning Osterreichring!

2/1/00 - David Noonan has released his magnificent Osterreichring for GPL. A favorite of the drivers, this majestic circuit is one of the greatest circuits ever used in Grand Prix racing. David has modeled the original version, with its fast sweeping turns, breathtaking swoops and climbs, and its spectacular scenery.

David has put in an enormous amount of work on this track, and it really, really shows. His rendition of this wonderful circuit is a technical tour de force and a stunning work of art.

David Noonan's Osterreichring is a spectacular achievement. It is gorgeous, exciting, challenging, and a great place for racing. Everyone in the GPL community is deeply indebted to him.

You can download the Osterreichring installer for free from The Pits. Go to the GPL News section. I've also added a map of the Osterreichring.

Problems with Voodoo3 3500, LAN, and Cable Modem Resolved

1/30/00 - I got a cable modem in May of 1999, and immediately began to have a great time hosting many excellent races on VROC. I got a reputation as having one of the best servers on the Net.

However, over time the quality of my server gradually declined, and people got disconnected more and more frequently. Also, sometimes GPL would exit spontaneously to the desktop while I was driving. Sometimes the server would exit, even when running in Dedicated mode. I had trouble joining my own races, especially using IPX. Recently I found myself getting disconnected from other peoples' races with disturbing frequency as well.

Over the last few weeks I made a concerted effort to find the problems, and I think I've succeeded. I've hosted several excellent races today. I found at least three different problems:

1. Poor-quality LAN hardware, including NICs (Ethernet cards) and hub were apparently causing the spontaneous exits to the desktop.

2. My cable modem needed to be rebooted.

3. A Voodoo3 installation set some values in the registry which caused problems with TCP/IP applications.

Details are in a new LAN Fix section in my Online FAQ and a new Voodoo3 3500 section in my Hardware FAQ. If you have a Voodoo3 3500, please read the new section!

Update: The TCP/IP problem I encountered can affect any computer that has Microsoft WebTV installed, whether it has a Voodoo3 card in it or not! If you have WebTV installed, be sure to read the Voodoo3 3500 section.

US Robotics Internet Gaming Modem

1/26/00 - Dave Ciemny had severe disconnect problems racing GPL online with a USB modem. He got a US Robotics Gaming Modem, which is an internal modem designed specifically for Internet gaming.

Dave reports that with the gaming modem, "Pings [were] between 180 and 275. Even races that looked risky were OK once I was in. It was nice to always see the cars around me. No disconnects either."

Details on my USB Readers page and in David's complete article on his Internet Gaming Modem experience.

Digital Sportspage on GPL: More than a game - it's a way of life!

John Cauthen, managing editor of Digital Sportspage, has published a superb new review called Grand Prix Legends Revisited.

John admits he's been a racing dilettante, and his initial experience of GPL on inadequate hardware left him underwhelmed. John recently acquired appropriate hardware. He says:

"You could have knocked me over with a feather when I experienced the difference that 250 MHz of additional processing power made in this game! [And] what a difference a steering wheel makes to a true racing simulation! What really blew me away was the handling and feel of the car at 550 MHz. This couldn't be the same Grand Prix Legends that I had played half a year earlier...

"Grand Prix Legends is a lost treasure, hitting the market at a time when the hardware of much of its potential market wasn't really capable of doing it justice.

He's no longer a racing dilettante. Like so many of us, John Cauthen is hooked!

"The fire that I now have for this game is unprecedented in my 19 years of computer and video gaming. I'm ... consumed with the game ... I'm learning the nuances of real racing and car handling, day by day.

"No matter what track I'm at, nor what position I'm in, Grand Prix Legends has me on the edge of my seat."

Read more quotes on my Press page, or read the entire article here.

The Maniac: Runaway GPL Humor

1/26/00 - Richey Manic's GPL Maniac pages are back up, with a new issue. This is semi-raunchy, roll on the floor laughing GPL humor. There are lots of inside jokes you'll only get if you participate in the GPL online racing community, but it's fun anyway. Be sure to check out the six-mirror Ferrari and other abominations on the Grand Prix Legends Sabotage Society pages.

Logitech FF Wheel for Cheap!

1/10/00 - The Logitech Force Feedback wheel is available for $120.95 from Buy.com. What a deal! Thanks to Chris Genn for this tip.

Chris Moses Oval Setups for the Eagle

1/3/2000 - For the NASCAR 3 ovals (converted by David Noonan's new Oval Converter; see below), Chris Moses has kindly sent me his oval setups for the Eagle. Also included is a readme with some tips by Chris on driving these ovals.

Download the setups and tips here!

What's New

5/27/00

I've added links to my Force Feedback page on where to get a ball bearing conversion kit for Logitech FF wheels, and also a link to a low cost source for these wheels. There is also a new eGroups mailing list for the Logitech FF wheels called LogiCorner.

Also, GPL Weekly has a new URL, and I've added a link to Zero Gee News, which has a very detailed discussion of vehicle dynamics.

4/30/00

I've added links to the Todays Legends site, which is a GPL Drivers Registry. Also linked to GPL Weekly, a GPL news site notable for its League Box Scores pages covering over 30 active racing series for GPL, and to a hotlaps Web site called GPL 2hot.

4/22/00

I've added a GPL Survival Guide for people who are just getting into GPL and want to know what software and equipment they need.

3/26/00

I added a link on the Tracks page to Magnus Thome's superb GPL Track Overview. This is a chart of all tracks available for GPL, including those converted by David Noonan's new GPL Track Converter and his previous free converters.

This chart also shows which Papyrus tracks are not converted by any of Dave's three GPL converters.

3/23/00

I've reorganized the Add-Ons section, splitting it into several pages and structuring things so it's easy to find the latest and best of the many enhancements now available for GPL. The Add-On section is now so large that I've given it its own place on the Nav menu at left.

I've also added some new links to my Links page, including:

2/22/00

I've added new FAQ sections on configuring a server for hosting over a high speed connection, saving larger replays, and an explanation of why some cars have no numbers on them when racing online.

I've also noted that the problem I encountered with the V3 3500 driver installation can affect any computer that has Microsoft WebTV installed, whether it has a Voodoo3 card in it or not. If you have WebTV installed, be sure to read the Voodoo3 3500 section.

1/30/00

Internet Gaming Modem

David Ciemny has written a complete article on his Internet Gaming Modem experience.