18 replies to this topic

[f1seb]

Okay so I was hanging around here and noticed alot of people here recommended this particular game. I bought it on ebay from some dude in Singapore so the game didn't come with any instructions. I have a Logitech MOMO Force that I race with and found some decent mods to the game here: http://www.racesimulations.com

Now my problem is that Im a complete F1 Sim virgin, I dont know brake bias from rear wing front wing adjustments or tire pressures, oh boy my head is hurting right after I wrote all that and that's not even half of the tweaks you can do in that game. Is there an online guide where it teaches newbies like me to setup a car and learn what each term and dohickey means? Plus if you guys have some favorite things about this game and like to share with me do so.

[100cc]

Just play GPL instead. You won't have to worry about setting up the front and rear wings.

There's a bunch of online tutorials for setup on gpl at least, just do a google search and you'll find some general setup info for sure.

[Gemini]

http://dynamic2.game...pic.php?t=64959

this is a good place to start on F1C

enjoy!

[Umpire]

Read this thread on the racesimulations.com forums. It has just about everything, from driving guides to setup guides.

The first tip of all - since you have a wheel, I suggest you drive with as less aids as possible. Definitely turn off all the stability/opposite lock etc aids....the only things you may want to keep (depending on what you want out of the game) are TC and auto gears.

First driving tip - don't slam the brake pedal at 200 mph/320 kph and just hope to make the corner. Deceleration must be degressive - you start braking hard and then gradually release .

F1C models F1 braking better than any other sim. If you do it wrong, you either spin or go too deep into the corner. In other sims you might block wheels but you will 90% make the corner and never spin.

And here's another useful site.

http://www.hallo.ism.....=77086#Set up

[ScottL]

Originally posted by Umpire


The first tip of all - since you have a wheel, I suggest you drive with as less aids as possible. Definitely turn off all the stability/opposite lock etc aids....the only things you may want to keep (depending on what you want out of the game) are TC and auto gears.

Agree. I've been driving this sim for years and almost went berserk trying to drive competitively without TC. Lately I've been turning it on and having more fun. But leave the other stuff off - it just becomes an arcade game otherwise. Invulnerability, especially: it allows you to crash around like a maniac and not suffer the consequences.

You learn humility when you bump a wall and lose a wing after qualifying P1.

Also, you may want to reduce the strength and aggressiveness of the other drivers when starting out (or even as a veteran). It's fun to get the occasional top time - or even a win!

One other tip: when starting a session, go the the saved setups page (the folder icon at the bottom of the car setup screen) and select the setup that has the same name as the track you're running on. The default is "Grip", which never seems to work well for me.

[f1seb]

Hey guys, I have been playing with it and I do have everything off except TC and I have brake assistance on Low but I think I'll switch it to off since id rather have more control of the car. What I'd like to ask you guys with the wheels is how do you have the buttons setup and what do they do. I have 6 buttons on my wheel and I use them for rev limiter, pit request, and Im having trouble to figure what should I map the other buttons to, like whats important to have on the fly during a race where you cant just have the keyboard next to you.

[MCH]

A 'look behind' button on the wheel is handy during races

[Exar Kun]

I have two of my buttons as look left/look right and when you press both at once they perform "look behind" so that's all good.

[Umpire]

You surely will want to have brake assistance off. Especially when it's set high, it makes your car a lot slower and I'm willing to assume it's the same with it at low.

I don't have any look around buttons assigned on my wheel, I find the mirrors sufficient.

I also have 6 buttons (3 on either side) plus the gear shift ones.....

on the left I have:

LC
TC override (I use this only when I'm trying to spin the car to get back on road lol)
Rev limiter

right I have:

clutch
neutral
pit request

You don't need the clutch button when you are using LC for starts, have clutch assistance enabled or have automatic gears. Otherwise you need to keep it pressed yourself whenever you are into a spin to avoid stalling the engine (alternatively, you can press neutral). You also need the clutch to get the car going if you have manual gears.

You need neutral to avoid stalling and to be able to shift from reverse gear to 1st and vice versa.

That's the one way to go. Another way suggests that you should put LC and TC override on the keyboard, since they are rarely used (just once in the case of LC and probably never in the case of TC override), and try to map LCD functions in your wheel....but it would take a good five buttons to map ALL of them - so you're probably better off leaving them to the keyboard. However, you might want to at least map the 'swap screens' LCD function in the wheel, so that you can easily check tyre temps/wear, brake and engine temps etc without taking your hands off the wheel.

Your call.

[MrSlow]

I use buttons for look left/right (and both=behind) and I think that is a good thing to use online.
Then I use two buttons for the brake bias. That is particualrly good when you look for a setup and while you search for your particular style. Having brake bias to the front makes it stable under braking, but you can not brae while turning. If you have it a lot to the rear you will need to stabilize the car with the throttle while braking hard. If you can adjust the bias on the wheel you will feel the differences and adjust until you find your setting, saves a lot of time.

When you have found your brake bias, maybe you will not adjust it so often during the race (altough the general balance will change as the tyres wear off) and you can use the buttons to something else.

[ScottL]

(Why use look-behind when you have rear-view mirrors?)

I map to look-left, look-right, rev limit, LCD mode, clutch, and... hm, I think I have one left over!

[AndreasNystrom]

if you press "Look left" and "look right" at the same time, you get "look behind" in F1C99-02

[f1seb]

This game is hard as hell, Its like driving on ice. I dont think I did one lap in Australia without spinning off, and thats about 1 hour of testing.

[MrSlow]

Well, yes, it is.
It is simulating real driving quite well, and driving very fast is not very easy.

But one thing it does not simulate very well is the sense of speed. It is very difficult to feel how fast you can drive in a particular corner based on any real life experience. Furthermore it is difficult to feel traction, decelaration and acceleration.

Net result is that you will drive to fast in slow sections, and propably too slow in the fast sections (altough a bad line might send you into the gravel anyway). It takes quite a while to get the feeling for speed in a racing simuilator, and it is always best done by going slow. One hour is nothing, you will not even remember the track after one hour (if you keep going off). That is another thing - learning the tracks. No use trying to go fast unless you know every corner.

I recommend driving at second gear (don't even shift at the straights) until you can comfortably drive some laps without going off. Second gear is still faster than most people can drive in a normal car and it will give you time to think about other things, like lines and braking.

Go slow, concentrate on The Line. It all goes automatically from that.

[SeanValen]

Originally posted by MrSlow

Well, yes, it is.
It is simulating real driving quite well, and driving very fast is not very easy.

But one thing it does not simulate very well is the sense of speed. It is very difficult to feel how fast you can drive in a particular corner based on any real life experience. Furthermore it is difficult to feel traction, decelaration and acceleration.

I think to feel real acceleration and decelartion, you need a simulator with wind and stuff, to feel the g forces, it's too hard to simulate that speed without it, f1 sims have reached a certain peak now with graphical awareness of that stuff.


Some of us do play online, I was playing with forumer Kanec, it's pretty cool playing with 2 or more, thats the real fun.


Playing at Silverstone right now, 2000 season, server atlas f1, password: slowpoke

[Umpire]

F1seb, make sure you have brake pressure set to 100% so that you can utilise the full braking potential.

At least in the beginning, I suggest that you are done with braking when you start turning the wheel

[Sandeep Banerjee]

If I were you, I'd take it one step at a time. Don't try to understand all the lingo now. For the moment, get some good setups and just drive around the track and clock up atleast 1000 laps of practise. After that, you'll see that you'll automatically be telling yourself, "Hmm...I could sure use a little more turn-in after I finish braking at the corners" and other such things that you will automatically get to feel that were previously oblivious to you because you had no idea what good or bad was. Now, what you must do is look up one of the guides and see what particular component adjustment refers to the characteristic of the car's current behaviour you currently dilike the most. Read up on it and adjust that component a little bit, like moving the brake-bias to the rear by 2-3% will help the car's arse turn a bit more easily when you ease off the brakes as you approach the apex. Increasing the differntial lock percentage will lock up your outside rear wheel in relation to your inside rear wheel more violently. A good driver usually uses whatever setting he's comfortable with rather than just going with the 'norm'.

And regarding TC, auto gears and other aids...well...to truly immerse yourself in your chosen era of the sport, use period-specific aids. Like, for eg. among the 4 default seasons in F1C, when I'm in any pre-Spain 2001 session, I have all aids such as TC and auto gears disabled but post-Spain 2001, I use the TC and auto-gears aid, although in most tracks, I have the auto-downshift disabled as its a royal pain, keeps on downshifting at the wrong moments, in the middle of the bloody corners spinning the car around, etc. Although when I am running a Ferrari, regardless of it being pre- or post- Spain 2001, I keep a little bit of TC on, its for realism, y'see. LOL!

[polendo]

Practice, patience, practice, patience.

good luck

[RacerMAD]

Originally posted by polendo
Practice, patience, practice, patience.

good luck

yes..

u must :
- practice with slow speed.
- learning the track. thats so important. u can
- learing racingline.
- learning the car.
- learning setup car.

its all about feelling.

if u using steeringwheel u must turn off the feedback first and turn off doing well with the car and track.