Negative Last Sunday

[SSP213]

It was quite an interesting afternoon to say the least.

A while after the Mosport Race, a couple of us had a practice session at Zandvoort, and everything was feeling good. I turned a 1:26.96, which is 0.500 from my PB, so I knew that I'd have a chance to do some damage today :D.

I decided to go back to the 'Ring a couple of times, as I've been practicing there all week, trying to get a sub-8:30. It just hasn't been happening yet. I tried to host for some friends, but for some reason they couldn't see my server (something to do with ringtrainer I think), so I had to practice alone. After two attempts in the Lotus, and one in the Eagle, I had crashed and almost given up hope for the day.

Then I took the Brabham to the 'Ring, as I remembered that my 8:32 in it was involving a spin. First attempt resulted in a T3 crash, but the next lap felt great.

I nailed just about every turn, and even sector 3 felt good. Sector 3 has always been my nemesis at the 'Ring, but today it felt superb.


http://www.mosportgp.com/gplpics/rank/ringbrab.jpg


All I was ultimately hoping for was an 8:29 or 8:28, as my PB was 8:31.36 in the Lotus, and my overall rank was +8.156. Wow, was I in for a surprise.

8:24.75 -- When I saw this on the screen I really thought I had mis-read and that it was an 8:34. However, I got back to the pit screen and it was indeed an 8:24. Then I remembered that all I needed was an 8:23 at the Ring to go negative overall, so this had obviously gotten me very close.

At this point I was +1.541, and looking for ways to knock off some tenths. I went to Watkins Glen in the Eagle and got a 1:06.311 which only knocked off 0.1, but every little bit helps :p. After that I went to Silverstone and knocked off another 0.1...

Now I was +1.3 and running out of ideas. I went to Monza but wasn't able to match my PB... I was in the 1:29s, but couldn't beat my 1:29.707 ...

Then I decided to go to Rouen, as I had a PB of 2:00.7xx, which was +1.4 from the benchmark. I took out the Lotus, in search of a 2:00.2xx, but things weren't going well. I crashed on the first 8 laps. Then on Lap 9 I turned a 2:00.80, which was only one tenth off of my PB. So I went for another lap, and absolutely nailed the Nouveau Monde hairpin. I don't think I could have gotten around that turn any faster than I did. The rest of the lap was good and even the last turn felt quicker than normal. I was in for the surprise of the day...


http://www.mosportgp.com/gplpics/rank/rouenlotus.jpg


1:58.659 -- I'd say the 8:24 at the 'Ring shocked me, but getting a 1:58 at Rouen was absolutely unreal. Still is, especially since I was only hoping for a 2:00.2xx... I didn't think I'd go negative at Rouen for a long time...

When I saw that time I knew I was negative overall, so I went to gplrank, submit, and was happy to see a -0.682 on the screen.

Now I've only got three tracks left... Monaco, the Ring, and Spa. But now they all feel attainable, and it shouldn't take too much time.

http://www.mosportgp.com/gplpics/rank/negativerank.jpg

It's been a wonderful ride this season. I started with a rank of +62, and now I'm negative with two races to go. It feels great, but at the same time it is very odd. I never thought I'd be able to do it, but I kept my hopes up and practiced a lot. Turning off throttle help was important too ;).

Thanks to everyone for all of their help. I couldn't have done it without the continued support and assistance from everyone by way of setup help, replays, driving lines, walkthroughs, practice sessions, talking, and all of the 'good luck' I've been wished. It really does help when someone encourages you to do better and letting you know that "you can do it." I know it certainly helped me.

Stu

[D_Man]

Congrats Stuart :) You are making giant strides into the darkness now :D

Dave

[DC_Tox]

Great news -^ -^ -^

Congratulation Stuart for the great achievement, that reminds me that I'm still +21.8 and that I could improve...maybe sometimes I'll switch to the dark side, too :jedi:

BTW, your screenshots look really great, what resolution and graphics settings are you running in GPL? Can you post a screenshot of your graphic settings menu and tell us which settings you have for the video board driver?

I know that I shouldn't care about the graphic quality so much and concentrate on racing lines...hehe...but I just love this game, how it drives and how it looks like, too!

[SSP213]

Thanks guys :) Today I went negative at the Nurburgring with an 8:21.17 in the Lotus, so I'm now sitting at -4.257, so I'm happy :).

I run GPL in 1280 x 1024, as that is as high as my monitor goes :(. If I get a monitor with 1600 x 1200 resolution, then the screenshots would be better, and sharper. I might try and pick up a new monitor sometime. This one is a 17", and only a year old, but I'd like a 19" with 1600 x 1200.

I have a GeForce 4 MX440, so that's not that good. When I take screenshots, I turn on 4-bit FSAA, texture sharpening, and even Anisotropic Filtering. Then once you have the shot you want, hit 'print screen' and paste it into the graphics program of your choice.

I use Adobe Photoshop 7. Once I have a new file with the picture in it, I crop it so that only the photo itself is left, and I then resize the photo to 800 x 600 pixels. Sometimes I sharpen photos, add layers, or even film grain to give the shot a bit more life...

Here is another example:

http://www.mosportgp.com/uklrs/rd8_spa/rlindbom.jpg

I do not use CCM, but I have it installed already, so I'll have to learn how to use it someday soon...

After you practice taking shots for a while, they'll get better and better :).

Stu

[D_Man]

Congrats on the Ring time Stuart -^

You have left me in the dust now :)

Dave

[Hank]

You'll get there Dave :))))))))))))

I can't remember how many times I've been on a sub-8:30 (in at least five of the cars) only to crash at the hedges or the barriers at the end.......

So I'm looking for 60- 80 seconds off my MonsterRank any time soon (as soon as I calm myself and take on the Ring as the beautiful drive that it surely is!!!)


funfunfun :))))))))))))))))))))

[Cheyenne]

Wow, Stuart, love your Ring time. I can only dream of that at this stage (haven't GPL'd in a while though, but that's a lame excuse :rolleyes: ). I'm just about to set in for some, got the flu though, and the cold medicines are affecting reactions, so it should be good comedy.

Loved the pic you posted. I'm still using the original graphics set myself, but one of these days (yeah sure) I hope to upgrade the stuff.

Congrats on the negativity, great work!

[Hank]

Yeah...
I had all the 'new' upgrades and stuff and then all went horribly wrong and I re-installed and was surprised how gorgeous the original game graphics are. I'm keeping it that way (for a while at least).... What a sim!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck with your efforts, Chey :))))

[D_Man]

Chey, the latest graphics updates are unbelievable :) Here is my McLaren update for the Eagle with Klas's new Kyalami update :D

Dave

[D_Man]

This is my GPLEA "Mike Parkes" car with Dede's update ;)

Dave

[DCMattius]

Way to go Stu! You are getting faster at an unbelievable pace. Congratulations! :beer:

DC_Mattu
Fair-Fun-Fast
Demolition Crew

[DC_Tox]

Originally posted by SSP213
I run GPL in 1280 x 1024, as that is as high as my monitor goes :(.

[...snip...]

I have a GeForce 4 MX440, so that's not that good. When I take screenshots, I turn on 4-bit FSAA, texture sharpening, and even Anisotropic Filtering. Then once you have the shot you want, hit 'print screen' and paste it into the graphics program of your choice.
Haha...and you're complaining ^_^

I'm running at GPL at 1024x768 because of my crappy 15" monitor and the video board is an "old" GeForce 3 Ti500 XP

I usually do just like you, increasing all the details in GPL to take screenshots, although I'm mostly too lazy to tune up also the video board driver's settings just for screenies ;)

Nice job on the Ring, too -^

[JeffR]

Congrats on going negative.

I just started up on GPL again. I try to knock off 1% at a time on each track, currently trying for sub 102%, yesterday got stuck on Rouen (barely under 2:02). What setup did you use for Rouen?