GP4 easy ???

Hi all,

quite often i read that GP4 is too easy. people claim to be competetive in ace-mode after a few hours, without even changing the default-setup...

I say: impossible ! with default-setups, i am struggling to keep up with the ai in semi-pro. with my own setups, i beat the ai-cars by 1-3 seconds in qualifying, but the race is another story. often enough its close wheel-to-wheel racing or a certain red car draws away from me, out of sight after a few laps.

maybe after a little more practicing and more setup-skills (getting better every day) i will start the next season in pro. but gp4 is not that easy.

whats the difference ? maybe my steering-options ? i drive with a ms sidewinder wheel, no aids, 0% steering assistance, 0% low sensitivity zone, but 100% reduction with speed.

greetings, jp

I don't remember anyone saying that it was easy because it is easy to win.
Actually at pro with keyboard winning is quite a challenge, more so if you use the "car power team dependant" option. Even with Ferrari.
Surely it is more easy to drive (staying on track), partly because the game is designed for keyboard gamers too.
Weird enough, I usually fare better in race than in qualifying. I've collected much more wins than poles.

quote from [www.gamefaction.com]

"But all these
things which they've been programmed to do is almost a complete waste of effort, because even on the highest
ACE level they are so easy to beat, on average I was able to lap 1/2 seconds a lap faster with no setup changes to
my own car. "

And ive read stuff like that before...

I agree that the starts are too easy, but thats another problem, if not a bug. we know this from gp1 to gp4.

greetings, jp

What can I say? Maybe he is a Senna reborn or it's just that I am a lousy driver.
Anyway if this shortcoming is real, it is also easy to have a remedy: just take the performance editor and raise the CCs rating or even just activate in GPXpatch the option of driving your car with the team's BHP.
Otherwise it seems a pretty fair review to me.

I can win consistantly on semi-pro with no aids and the default setups. However, I doubt it is the same story in pro, and I certainly cannot do it in ace mode. Whoever claims that they can do so in ace with no aids or setup changes whatsoever are either lying through their teeth, or have played the @!#$ out of the game series since gp2.

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

Its easier to drive in the sense that there is so much grip and quite a large margin of error. Almost arcady. But that is how F1 is now ( I presume) with most stuff done for the drivers, and the tyres giving obscene amounts of grip.
Compared to gp3 its easier to be competitive, but just as hard to win.



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She says brief things, her love’s a pony
My love’s subliminal

I'm reasonably quick on Ace mode. I fiddled with the car setup a little at Magny Cours, and still qualified fourth, with team power dependant, in a Benetton. That was my one and only qualifying lap, too. I didn't bother trying the race, but the last race I did I was pretty awful because it was in the wet.

"compared to gp3 its easier to be competitive, but just as hard to win."

Totally agree chris

I have to disagree, GP3 was easier (after a long time playing) but GP4 is another story, i dont know how you can say there is too much grip, i reckon there is too little, and the brakes are crap compared to the AI cars who seem to be able to outbrake me all the time unlike GP3. I can win at cirtain tracks, mostly by out-accelerating cars out of corners, but at others no matter what I try I have no-hope. Maybe its because I'm using a wheel (MS Sidewinder Non-FF) instead of a Joypad with GP3 and I need to practice more, but the brakes are either off or locked which send you straight on at corners, I could still brake and steer in GP3. Any set up advice re brakes is welcome.



STOP THE WORLD - I WANT TO GET OFF

I just won a 100% ace race at Imola with the default setup!! (and i'm not lying Morbid Its my first win at 100% on ace so i'm pretty chuffed after a really shite start to the season (1 point in 3 races) I was on a 2 stopper and managed to pull back 18 seconds from 1 stopping rubens in my last stint (with the help from some backmarkers) taking him on the 61st lap of 62
bit off topic but I thought i'd share it with you, anyway about Gp4 being too easy, comparing it to F1 2002 it is pretty easy to drive with loads of grip but at ace its still really tough and I think the AI pace usually gives good racing. In f1 2002 i'm usually either much faster or much slower then the AI, rarely get close racing but in Gp4 i've always been involved in great scraps which is loads of fun and thats whats important.

here's a pic of my win anyway

by the way it wasn't quite with all aids off, I used traction control (don;t shoot me but nothing else, this does help with pace but I just find it more fun with TC on (facing the wrong way in a gravel trap once every few laps isn't exactly thrilling) When I said there's loads of grip I obviously didn't mean under acceleration as I;m using TC but high speed corners are way too easy. even without TC there's still too much grip but I prefer having even more

The thing is, as long as the ratio of grip:c performance is reasonable it doesnt matter too much about level of grip. ie if low grip, as long as cc have equally low grip, the difficulty remains constant.

Having said that, I do feel GP4 is too grippy. But how would I know, never driven an F1 car.



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She says brief things, her love’s a pony
My love’s subliminal

I'd have to agree with qwerty. GP4 just feels too grippy. I can out-accelerate so many cars in most corners, and that's no fun.

I think the fact that you can go through eau rouge flat with no front wing in the rain proves it has too much grip, F1 2002 on the other hand has too little and i'd prefer too much as it makes it a lot easier to stay on the track

That is not just because of grip, remember your car has quite more bhp than CC.

Not if you use car power team dependant, which makes it much more challenging, and braking more important. Of course this has no effect in corners, where, as Zcott says, you can catch the CC cars easily. The Eau Rouge flat out thing was in gp3 2000 too, whatever you do setup wise, you can still take it flat out. In terms of realism, this is bad, but if the cc cars do, then you have to be able to; as eau rouge is vital for the speed you carry through into the following straight.



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She says brief things, her love’s a pony
My love’s subliminal

Indeed I always race that way: lot more fun for me, thou I fear I'm the only one.
As for Eau Rouge you are absolutely right.

matthew, what steering-device did you use for your 100%-ace victory (congrats, btw). and what steering options ? i have a feeling that they have a great influence.

i never tried it (will do tonight), but i doubt its possible to take eau rouge flat in my gp4 without putting some effort in the setup before.

greetings, jp

Sorry jp2, I flat out Eau Rouge almost everytime, and I never touch the setups. The revs dip slightly, but basically I've got my accelerator as far forward as it can go.

I like having Quickraces in ACE mode, I start 20 in let's say a Prost with Auto-Gears, Steering and Throttle help, because I'm weak, and see how well I do. I usually come about 11th-15th, unless I get tangled with someone else then my race is ruined...
I like the middle order, I usally plonk my self infront of both the Saubers by the first corner and since they're faster than a Prost, I spend the next 3-4 laps trying to keep them behind

Oh, has anyone noticed that at ACE level, it's much easier to damage cars? And no, not just because they're going quicker, really.
Or does everyone know this already....?
Some times I play ACE just for the more spectacular crashes I can cause ;D
I ripped my car in half, myself, several times now! :D

jp2, I use a Microsoft sidewinder wheel, in the Gp4 settings i've got steering help on 0, max lock at 18, reduce with car speed 70 and the other setting (?) about 50.