Problem launching GPL...

[ShiftR]

Hi everybody!
This is a great site. I'll refrain from sying how great GPL is, especially in this venue. It's just rock-solid. Launch the game, and bang, your ready to go to work. No splash movies, No fiddling required just to get the game to work right. Having broadband, VROC integrated smoothly too.
The PROBLEM, however, (my punishment for being naughty?) occured after installing EA's sports car GT. After a few days I uninstalled it. But ever since having SCGT on my system, the "Sierra Sports" screen stays on 30 to 40 seconds before the main screen starts. GPL used to start so fast you barely saw that first screen. Once at the track, all graphics look normal, but your car has that "car waving on the end of a stick" effect that those *&@@#@$! SCGT cars have, and it seems like overall traction has been affected.
I wanted to find out if anyone has heard of this or knows what causes it. I think we all like to put off formatting the drive, it takes so long to get your programs back the way they were.
Reinstalled so far: GPL, D3D rasterizer, directX, drivers for ATI radeon VE, Logitech momo. DXTeak is removing deadband.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts. I had started racing on VROC as ShiftR. I hope to "run into you" folks sometime.

[D_Man]

I'm not exactly sure what you are describing, but I have had SCGT and GPL working perfectly on my system.

I am wondering if it isn't a controller related problem as I can't imagine how the two games would interfere with each other :confused:

[DC_Spd]

First I've heard of that, and I doubt anyone around here plays more scgt than me, and like Dave I also have gpl with both games working very well.

Sounds to me like you might have things awry in the wingman profiler.

[ShiftR]

I am embarrassed to remember that I updated the logitech software and forgotten that I had to change the settings for the steering axis in the profiler... this memory was violently snatched from the trash can of my brain after reading this help file from Logitech's Wingman team... http://www.wingmanteam.com/files/documents/wmgmhelp.zip
(thanks, GPL Foolishness)
It has a long GPL page in the "game related issues" section. I recommend those who have not, to read it. (especially if you do have a Momo, or Logitech wheel.
Control is now very "solid", I know whatever I see or feel is either the car setup or me. Using Kyalami to setup just the wheel, I was able to turn 4 laps in a row in the 1:23's.
Imagine trying to drive a real car with broken steering.
Thanks to all for the ideas,

"let's be careful out there"

[D_Man]

Glad to hear that you got it sorted out :)

Now go and beat those damn Papy benchmarks :D

I agree that the MOMO can really help if you have it set up right. The feedback in invaluable in sensing what the car is doing -^

[ShiftR]

I meant to post this much earlier. The only thing left that could cause the problem is the potentiometer, which is 100 year old technology. Since the momo is so hard to take apart on a regular basis, and being good with tools, I cut the top off of the momo's case and mounted brackets that let me put the top back on, held with thumbscrews. It looks pretty good, and allows you to use a good contact cleaner on the pot. There is a small slot in the pot that a spray tubr gets into just fine. After a couple short squirts and excersizing the pot over it's full travel a few times, the thing works like new.
I would have been willing to pay a few more dollars for this wheel if they would have used an encoder of some type instead of the pot.

[D_Man]

Sounds like a nice modification -^ I am so used to taking mine apart I think I could do it in my sleep now :rolleyes:

[DC_Tox]

I was wondering if you ever had the same experience that I had....

I got my Logitech wingman yellow from my brother as a present last year, when he bought a MOMO. This wheel is quite easy to dismount and it needed a good cleaning of the potentiometers, since they were "spiking" a lot, to the point that you were unable to have full gas or clean turns, so I opened the round metal potentiometers and accessed the contacts.

Well, the strange thing is that they were full of "gelly" material, spreaded on the thin metal brushes and on the graphite (?) potentiometer surface. The gelly was full of dust and such, too. I cleaned the gelly away completely, using alcohol and cotton, and I never had to clean the wheel again (almost 10 months now).

I wonder why they put such thing in the potentiometer, if removing it the wheel works better...

[ShiftR]

D_Man, you were on track right from your first reply. It finally got bad enough for even me to figure out. It was quite a coincidence, though, to start noticing it after installing SCGT. I agree, after installing some extras, SCGT is quite a sim too. But I still haven't done anything about the "flashing dash" at certain times.

[DC_Tox]

Originally posted by ShiftR
SCGT is quite a sim too. But I still haven't done anything about the "flashing dash" at certain times.
press "2" to go to chase view and then "1" to go back to dash view and the flashing disappears.

Same as flashing menus or flashing figures in chase view of GPL.

Some ppl solved it updating the video drivers, I actually FOUND those problems the last time I updated to detonators 30.82...&(