So far a disappointment

I bought GP4 at half price. Anybody surprised why they are being sold at 50% discount? I realised pretty quickly. First a short history:
GP3 was a revelation. I became an addict. It was like a religion, and I did not want to see anything better. F1rc was a disappointment full of bugs and never a patch. Gp3 got patched eventually...but what a wait! Then came season 2000..I was overjoyed. Then I finally did something awful.... I bought EA's F12001. Zap!!! Never touched Gp3 again. F12002 is unbelieveable.

Now I wanted to see if GC had come up with something wonderful. But oh dear...Car Graphics are dreadful (R.Hummerich has improved these, but still). Still the same stupid one-only generic wheel. Still only 6 gears. "Nothing gets closer..eh?". The thing crashes continually. The track graphics are nice, but not that much better. My Logitech Momo wheel can only be driven at a 45 degree angle and even then I can drive round these tracks far faster than in f12002...But it too easy!. F12002 is the closest thing to real so far as I know. It feels so believable...I only drive karts in rael life but I don't doubt that F12002 is the king of this genre.

Ok, to be fair I have to give GP4 a chance. Can anyone tell me how to stop the game either crashing to desktop or locking on a black screen? Can anyone tell me how to get the wheel calibrated? I might get converted.... but I doubt it. GP3 never gave me the sensation I get from F12002. Trust me (Mark Webber has never driven either of these).



Larry
AMD 3000+,Epox EP-8RDA,Ram 1536mb 333 DDr, Rad 9800 pro omega 2.4.96, dx9b, Audigy, MOMO FF,winxp

Err, there are 7 gears, you have to enable them in the set-up menu.

I hope I fully understand what you mean when you say "The track graphics are nice, but not that much better". If I don't I'm soory for what I'm about to say, but if I do, you're having a laugh, yeah! Please, tell me you're having a laugh. There's no way that these tracks are 'just' better than any other game (apart from F1RC, but I haven't got that, so can't tell). They are phenonomal. F1 2002 looks like an unlicensed fictional game compared to these tracks. Have you tried Monaco, Brazil, Hockenheim or Monza to name the best ones (IMHO)? You ought to try again! Try watching some TV coverage of those tracks, and say again whether the track gfx are just better. Whether they are realistic or not, they still look incredible. The graphics themselves are good, but the PERFORMANCE on some specs isn't. Even so, the Gfx still look F*****g amazing on my lowly PIII 733.

Anyway, the crash issue. Try deleting the f1gstate.bak and f1gstate.sav files from your GP4 directory, and run the game again. You'll need to set it all up again, but it has worked for others and that's what the official help people say.

I agree that the physics aren't great though. There's not enough response. But F1 2002 is like driving on ice. This is preference though, and some people, like you prefer the F1 2002 physics.

If it's too easy, try downloading GPxPatch and set the car power to team dependant. That'll make it much harder in the lower cars (esp. Minardi). Also, try using a 'dodgy' set-up that'll slow you down, because the AI are a joy to drive against.

This is MHO though

also set all references to sensibility to "0%" in your steering wheel advanced setup. My Momo works great with GP4.

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REHAB IS FOR QUITTERS

How stop the game from crashing and behaving weirdly? Install the patch that is due this week...

It would be a sad thing if Larry the Elder abandoned our ship now... I remember you from Yo Olde Phorum. But if you must, and you feel EA have done a better job, I won't tell you otherwise. Rather, I will wish you Bon Voyage (not in the usual sense, but as in the literal translation from french). But do try the game again after the patch...

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

I currently play both - GP4 and F1 2002 - and I like both. As I said before, I wish we could have a game that offers the best of the two worlds. Btw, even though F1 2002 handling is quite different from GP4, I somehow manage to get decent times in both games. I couldn't say which one is easier or not. Both have their advantages and both have their drawbacks. I will wait for the patch before I come to a verdict (which will never be a final one, since taste does change)

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REHAB IS FOR QUITTERS

even though F1 2002 handling is quite different from GP4, I somehow manage to get decent times in both games

I would say as a rule of thumb GP4 is easy to drive with the default setups, and with them its easier to drive 'race' laps. F1 2002 is more challenging in that getting a perfect lap is a lot harder. I personally think though GP4 is more challenging trying to get the perfect setup and getting every last tenth out of the car.

OK - I'm really confused.
When I bought GP4 I was really excited but unfortunately I could not get it to run until a month or so ago when i bought a nvidea graphics card.
In the months between I bought F1 2002 and was extremely disapointed. I felt the graphics are a toss up (depending what you're looking at) but the physics? There's no comparrison - GP3 and GP4 are far more realistic than F1 2002 (GP4 is also a subtle improvement over GP3).
Having raced Karts, FFord and F200, GP3 and 4 have no peer.
I hope the patch does a good job - but even without it (once I got it running) I'd prefer GP4 over any sim on the market.
TG



twgavin

Btw, according to the CIA you are currrently based in Finland, Larry. Have you always been based there?

Also, the official faq in the pop-up window an the official gp4 site contains a walktrough for setting up controllers. Perhaps that might help?

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

Yep Morbid, I live here in Espoo, Finland. I was born elsewhere, Belfast, N.Ireland yo be precise. I've been here for a hundred years more or less. The things we do for love!
I'll check out the site on wheel set-up. The FAQ didn't help me though.

As for all of the rest, I am willing to put my prejudice on hold. If somebody has driven real racing cars and feels gp4 is right, I'll give it a try. Where's that patch?
Nice to be pack here. This is a great community.



Larry
AMD 3000+,Epox EP-8RDA,Ram 1536mb 333 DDr, Rad 9800 pro omega 2.4.96, dx9b, Audigy, MOMO FF,winxp

AMD 2200+, Ram 512 333 DDr, Aopen gf4 ti4200, Logitech Momo ´FF wheel.

we might get the same performance, mate!

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REHAB IS FOR QUITTERS

You should get better because you have the better graphics card...

Hi Vader,
good to hear from you. Well, we might get the same.....if I upgrade my graphics card. The main upgrade (main board, processor, Ram) is causing me problems (no longer reach 1600x1200- max 1600x1024, lost multilink on my ISDN and can't get it back). I might need to reinstall OS (W98)..or should I upgrade to XP?



Larry
AMD 3000+,Epox EP-8RDA,Ram 1536mb 333 DDr, Rad 9800 pro omega 2.4.96, dx9b, Audigy, MOMO FF,winxp

Thanks for the advice Vader. Wheel seems to work better now. Roll on that patch!



Larry
AMD 3000+,Epox EP-8RDA,Ram 1536mb 333 DDr, Rad 9800 pro omega 2.4.96, dx9b, Audigy, MOMO FF,winxp

How old are you? I want to know if you really out-qualify me as the elder.
I'm 42.

Hi Go Alesi,
F12002 can at first feel like driving on ice. This is a question of getting used to it. Remember the first time you ever tried a f1 sim? The car just spun around? The really nice thing about F12002 physics is the speed of the reaction. GO4 is sluggish, the gears are sluggish too, especially downwards. The use of the accelerator in F12002 is very very fine..when you are used to it.. you feel almost attched to the car.

As for set up: there is much more in F12002: Bump (slow and fast) rebound (slow and fast), Tyre pressures etc. etc.

Having said that, I had a go with GP4 this morning after reducing sensitivity to 0 on the wheel (thanks Vader for the advice). Yes it's sluggish, but there is something about the game that appeals.

The tracks look good (The trees, mountains etc around are pretty sloppy) and I do not doubt the accuracy. Actually F12002 is not that bad for tracks (the worst in accuracy seems to be Hungary) but otherwise they are pretty close. More details in GP4. I really like the helmet visor view..cool.

The car graphics are awful. F12002 even pre Ralf Hummerich were really nice. RH and Bobi have doen a fantastic job on patching 2002. You get tobacco, non tobacco, carshape and livery changes for every race. These guys are artists!. SO ..What editors do I need for GP4?

(F12002 is soooo easy to edit- just dropping files here and there)

In questions of faith and religion there is no sense in arguing. I am open to be convinced on GP4... especially with so great a forum as this to participate in.



Larry
AMD 3000+,Epox EP-8RDA,Ram 1536mb 333 DDr, Rad 9800 pro omega 2.4.96, dx9b, Audigy, MOMO FF,winxp

I agree with you,but please wait 1 or 2 weeks to see if the upcoming patch will be able to reduce a lot one of the main bugs still present,CTD.

Give it a chance

Boomy

Hi there Larry. At first I was sure everybody here were kids 8max 25). That's not so. In any case sonny, I beat you by 7 tears. I'm 49.



Larry
AMD 3000+,Epox EP-8RDA,Ram 1536mb 333 DDr, Rad 9800 pro omega 2.4.96, dx9b, Audigy, MOMO FF,winxp

Don' t you find that when you go into a skid, for example, you have basically lost it in GP3 and GP4? No accelerator or steering seems to help. I's almost like it's programmed to show no mercy, whereas in real life (and F12002) you can adjust and recover (sometimes) by careful use of the controls. Anyway you know best, since you have driven something closer to the real thing.



Larry
AMD 3000+,Epox EP-8RDA,Ram 1536mb 333 DDr, Rad 9800 pro omega 2.4.96, dx9b, Audigy, MOMO FF,winxp

Welcome back Larry, stick with gp4, it's worth the effort, even though some of the editing can be rather frustrating, and Larry M, I beat you by 1 remember I have the skull ring.......

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