UKGPL Season 17 (2009) - 60fps Test Race - 65 Mod - Monza - Feb 25

[Geoff65]

Monza 10k has notorious fps problems, which are probably not a factor if you've got a modern machine, but that's not the case with all of us.

Me neither......P4 2.4Ghz, 1gig Ram, Nvidia FX5600, 17" CRT monitor.....just done 2 69 races there with ADC and it was fine, even swapped places with Skingley for the lead, til he spun and took me out....
Just a thought, we can always trial it.....

[Hristo Itchov]

Monza 10k has notorious fps problems, which are probably not a factor if you've got a modern machine, but that's not the case with all of us.

Me neither......P4 2.4Ghz, 1gig Ram, Nvidia FX5600, 17" CRT monitor.....just done 2 69 races there with ADC and it was fine, even swapped places with Skingley for the lead, til he spun and took me out....
Just a thought, we can always trial it.....

Good to hear, perhaps it was fixed since last time I tried it. We could try it indeed, up to the managment though. 

[FullMetalGasket]

I'm all for Monza 10k should it happen 

As for last nights race - I'm with the majority here. Utterly fantastic race. 
Got a fairly good start, found myself in 4th or 5th. Then Sam and Jethro did some disco dancing on the front straight giving me 3rd..
1 lap later and I've realed Nicky and John in, another 2 laps and I've claimed 1st, then had it stolen by John, then regained it, then been punted down to 3rd by Nicky being unkind enough to follow John past me on the approach to Parabolica 
It was a lap so so after that that I clipped the curb at Lesmos 2 - this was mainly due to an unexpected FPS drop of some 20+fps which distracted me - then as Jethro described we did some hedge trimming together.....
The next battle was with Jethro as Hristo started catching us. Then, acting on Her orders comunicated via pitboard he Kamikazi'd Mr. Walters into Lesmo 1 in order to allow me a clean get away 

From there I just had to concentrate on the best lines I could in order to catch Sam and try to reclaim 3rd, took ages to make up the 4-5 seconds to his slip stream and then a mere lap before I could start counting the bolts in his gearbox. Crosed the line 0.05 seconds behind him according to the race results - I say behind, in reality my radiator was about level with the driver's seat in the BRM 
It seems English shire horses may have been used to compensate for my larger collection of Japenese mountain ponies as I just couldn't out drag Sam despite a better exit from Para.. 

As for 60FPS patch, it's brilliant off line when practicing/hot lapping, and to be honest I even had a solid 60FPS while waiting for the green flag at the start.
But in the race my problem wasn't so much low frame rates as inconsistent frame rates, like Hristo I was getting about a 20fps drop everytime I started braking for Para and also the Lesmo's complex which added to the difficulty of my various battles.
If I can find the fix for my sound issues on my gaming pc I may try that if we do another test race at any point, I suspect that will be solid 60fps no matter what - however most GPL'ers probably don't run big dual core machines so I'd have to agree that the patch is best not used in Leagues and large races 

Bring on Spa! 

[vosblod]

I've posted the results - server replay available here;
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AOZAW96E

Maybe I could run a Monza10k fun race next time we have an available slot...

[Geoff65]

I've posted the results - server replay available here;
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AOZAW96E

Maybe I could run a Monza10k fun race next time we have an available slot...

Sounds like a plan....we HAVE to trial it sometime now we have the goods.....

[EvilClive]

I had no probs with the frame rate, other than one instance going into Lesmo 1, when I froze and jumped forward 50 mtrs. It was a solid 59-60fps whenevr I looked at the readout..have to confess that I did not look at the start, but later I was in  4 car train with Hristo Nicky and Tim (I think) and it was very smooth.
I'm running a dual core 2.4ghz with 2 gb ram and twin 256 graphic cards...not sure if that equates to good...bad...or indifferent in the hardware stakes.

It seems my earlier moans about lack of slipstream might be down to my setup, (although I remain to be convinced! ) I thought that following Hristo in another Honda would be bound to show me some gain. But, as with all other cars he seemd able to just drive away from me on the straights. BRM's and Feraris were taking a whole second out of me on the run to Parabolica and again on the s/f straight. Which meant I had to be very quick through Lesmo's and Parabolica the only places I was not flat in 6th gear pulling just under 13k revs to stay in touch.

Although the racing is fun when you are close, I do find it boring when you are flat to the floor from Parabolica to Lesmo 1 ...two quick corners and then flat to Parabolica again...almost like oval racing and all alone!! lol.

[Will Tway]

As for the 60fps, my old computer handled it pretty well. Frames were never at 60 but never below 50. Only problem I noticed was when looking at the tree tops....the frames look choppy or seem to slide instead of blending together.

The race was fantastic. The new 65patch is amazing. So glad the tow was added as it makes for much more exciting racing. If you spin, you still have a chance to catch up. Before, forget about it...

Thanks Geoff for hosting this test race. Grats to the winners.

Will

[FullMetalGasket]

But, as with all other cars he seemd able to just drive away from me on the straights. BRM's and Feraris were taking a whole second out of me on the run to Parabolica and again on the s/f straight. Which meant I had to be very quick through Lesmo's and Parabolica the only places I was not flat in 6th gear pulling just under 13k revs to stay in touch.

If you want I'll send you a setup for Spa so you can compare that with what you're doing Clive 
As I said in chat, you simply shouldn't be more than a couple of hundred RPM above 12,000 in the Honda - especially in the high gears, sounds like you were limited by a self imposed lack of power rather than any lacking on the Honda's part.
You'll have to give me a little while if you want a slipstream friendly setup mind, as I have yet to re-hash last seasons 
I'll PM you further tactical Waza stuff when I get home tonight

[john roberts]

It seems my earlier moans about lack of slipstream might be down to my setup, (although I remain to be convinced! )

i just had a little look at the server replay ... and it looks like you gearbox was very "short" , was it your normal 65 monza setup ?

when you were involved in slipstreaming battles , both times you blew up !!!

i noticed that when you were on your own you red lined just before Para , i'm using gears that are close to standard (pre patch) Spa gearing to allow for the extra tow.

john

[Turkey Machine]

I've posted the results - server replay available here;
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AOZAW96E

Maybe I could run a Monza10k fun race next time we have an available slot...

Cheers for the replay, perhaps with "normal" (no 60fps) GPL this time, as I reckon that'd be the perfect line between compatibility and excitement!

[il_lupo_mannaro]

I was driving on the server with Evilclive yesterday evening (very fun race indeed! BTW
I also set my new PB ).

FPS was quite OK, except Lesmo2 and Parabolica when it dropped at ~46.

Offline on same track no problem, steady 60 FPS.

Usually I have a steady 36 FPS and better performance online with a full grid than offline with 19 AI.

PIV @ 2.8 GHz
2gb RAM
GeForce4 Ti 4600 128 Mb
D3Dv2 @ 1280x1024 99% details on a CRT 15" monitor
I left Vsync off.

Yesterday the situation was very bad, comparing with a.m. trial last week.

Before joining the server I did some offline tests with Vsync on, on Monza, Montjuic and at Monaco: at Monza 60 FPS everywhere, while at Montjuic and Monaco there was several place where FPS dropped around 45 FPS.

As soon as joined the server I was experiencing 30 FPS all round the track, except from curva Grande to the next bend, when suddenly it rised to 60 FPS.

I disconnected to take Vsync off but, back online, it was still the same.

Then I tried lowering to 74 the detail bias but, again, it was still the same.

Finally, I changed from the full carset to the light one.

It was slightly better: 45 FPS on front straight and 60 FPS from Curva Grande to first Lesmo but, from second Lesmo to Parabolica, again at 30 FPS.

At race start, in the middle of the grid, again 30 FPS.

I really don't understand: was it maybe a connection issue?!?

The race itself was pure fun: this new 65 mod is really awesome.

[FullMetalGasket]

i think the problem is purely due to load on the processor, Hence the problems many of us had when reaching the braking zones to Para/Lesmos.
Graphics only added to that, people with powerfull or dual core CPU's seem to have been less affected than those of us on small to medium single core machines.
GPL makes very little use of GFX cards I seem to remember so nearly everything is done by the CPU, think John can clarify for me 
Connection quality shouldn't really affect frame rate as far as I can tell 


PS. Clive and Hristo, Have either of you recieved a PM from me? I wrote a massive one and sent it but it doesn't show in my sent items and I'm dreading typing the bloody thing out again!

[Hristo Itchov]

i think the problem is purely due to load on the processor, Hence the problems many of us had when reaching the braking zones to Para/Lesmos.
Graphics only added to that, people with powerfull or dual core CPU's seem to have been less affected than those of us on small to medium single core machines.
GPL makes very little use of GFX cards I seem to remember so nearly everything is done by the CPU, think John can clarify for me 
Connection quality shouldn't really affect frame rate as far as I can tell 


PS. Clive and Hristo, Have either of you recieved a PM from me? I wrote a massive one and sent it but it doesn't show in my sent items and I'm dreading typing the bloody thing out again!

Yep, got it, not sure about Clive though. And there's no way to attach files in SROU or it's been disabled. Nor we can post our own topics. Wish this could be changed for the future, i.e. have a less controlled sub-forum for sharing setups/small replays/screenshots and posting anything related to league/racing.

[EvilClive]

Just caught up with messages thanks Tim.... it makes sense to me.

[NickyIckx]

 

bloody brilliant .. 65mod with its 2 new updates...it really is.

The Times Thes Are a Changin

simply ask Will Tway how to
or run for upgrading `re PCs , nothing more then a 3 times `get lost in a pub `.