Default car setup settings

Does someone know if/how/where can I find out the 'default car setup' values for each track? When I first open the 'edit user setup' screen, the initial settings seem to be always the same middle-range ones, and they're the same for all tracks.




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I have them typed in a word file. Or rather, I had them. I seem to have lost the file . However I read them from magic data that I extracted from the circuit files. You should know, btw, that it is only the wing settings and the gear ratios that change. There is a setting for dry qual, dry race, wet qual, wet race. Everything else stays as you see it in the setup screen.



Post Edited (02-06-03 23:56)

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

Thanks Morbid, you answered my 'if' and partially my 'how' and 'where'
What tool do you use to read these magic data? and, the circuit files you mention are the *.wad or the Circuits\*.dat ones?

Btw, I read your very thorough buglist post during my first browsings of this forum (a big thumbs up, you did an impressive job) and thought to ask you if the telemetry errors you reported were fixed at all in the 9.6 patch




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Wow, thanks for noticing. I am *blush* flattered, and I did get a lot help from an awesome group of people in the community. Btw Syrius, we absolutely love people who use the search button, as I can see you have done. It is by far the most powerful tool on this forum. I wouldn't be surprised if our local hero, Searchbutton-Man, will be here soon and shower you with praise!

Yes, the circuit files are the Circuits\*.dat files. The numbers increase in accordance with the progession of the season, so S1CT01.DAT is Melbourne and S1CT17.DAT is Suzuka.

I used CMagic-4 (for Grand Prix 4) by Marc Aarts to extract the data. You get it in a format that can be viewed by Notepad. I am pretty sure that the patch didn't change the structure of the circuit files, so I think CMagic-4 will still work, but someone might pop in and correct me on this. You can find CMagic-4 in the editors/utils section of the downloads on the main site. It takes a while to figure out which numbers means what, but I am sure you will get the hang of it pretty fast. In any case, we are still here to help if you get stuck.

Regarding the telemetry bugs... Nah, they were improved but they were not fixed. Since the patch was made by someone else than the origianl crew, I think that they didn't totally understand the problem. However, I have found a workaround of sorts, so it is still possible get somewhat reasonable settings.

Generally, just follow that usual doctrine, on ride height, packers and so forth. That is, keep about 20mm more ride height at the rear, and set the ride height so that the plank grounds the second you are sure you will not need good mechanical grip anymore. Usually, it is at the exit point of the fastest corner, that is not totally governed by your aerodynamical grip.

Lets take Melbourne as an example. I think that somewhere between the and the Marina and fast corner called Lauda (just before the Clark Chicane) is an excellent choice for having the car hitting the packers. Then you will be on the packers for the straights, the car will leave them when you stop breaking for slower corners and you undercar downforce is pretty good for the fast Whiteford and for the Waite combination.

Identify a point like this for each track, and this is where you want the car to hit the packers. After you have made sure that you plank actually hits at this point, you just set the packers to be -3mm the ride height at the front and -6mm the ride height at the rear. Then test and see if you are bashing your plank to much to complete a race (just test for the longest stinit you have in your race strategy, and if the plank is at 0,4 or so you will be fine). If you are burning to much plank, then add 1mm to ride height and packers allround, until you can complete a race without going into the red. If you need something specific, then of course you can experiment a bit and/or go unsymmetrical. Its not as precise as we could do it in GP3, but it works pretty well.

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

Morbid, you are a true genious of technical posts. That was a very interesting read... thanks a lot mate!!!

You know for the default car setups, you mentioned its only the wing angle and gear ratios that change. Are these changed for dry qual, wet qual, dry race and wet race or are the qual and race setups the same because I have to say I havent really noticed.

Oh, btw Morbid, maybe you should publish some of your setups? Just a thought.

Yes, search buttons are a blessing, on this forum and on the internet as a whole I think Bruno should make it a bigger, flashing button

Thanks for advice Morbid, I'll get CMagic-4 and see if I can figure it out, setting up the car is a big part of the fun. And please consider Glyn's suggestion and post your best setups, it would make a very interesting thread.




* S y r i u s *

Thanks guys. I aim to please.

I will consider your suggestion. Perhaps it will be cool to combine the setups discussion with the progression of the F1 season? I did something similar last year, and that resulted in this little thread. If you have not read it yet, then click the link and have a laugh. The setup process is, as you Syrius, a big part of the fun:

[www.grandprix3.com]

Yes Glyn, the are setup entries for dry qual, wet qual, dry race and wet race, even though the settings don't always change. For instance (I have a print of the lost document mentioned above), Melbourne is like this:

Dry Qual:

Wings f/r: 15-14
Gears: 29, 34, 39, 45, 51, 56

Wet Qual:

Wings f/r: 16-16
Gears: 27, 32, 37, 42, 48, 54

Dry race:

Wings f/r: 14-14
Gears: 29, 34, 39, 45, 51, 56

Wet Race:

Wings f/r: 14-16 (Wow, understeery)
Gears: 27, 32, 37, 42, 48, 54

There is 25% chance of rain, only topped by Sepang and Suzuka, and with the same chance for Interlagos and Spa. Everybody is on a 1 stop strategy at Melbourne, and the pit windows can also be read from the magic data.


Edited: Fixed the link.



Post Edited (02-09-03 19:47)

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

25% chance of rain at Melbourne? That cant be right!

Anyway, thanks a lot for these Morbid. I was going to start a season soon, and it takes me ages to work out what strategy to use. Driving laps on hard and soft tyres, light and heavy fuel loads, and in the end im usualy wrong too.

Ill have to dig out this program and complete the list.

surely just changing the wing angles and te gear ratios is insufficient for a good 'ace' level setup?
what about: ride height, dampers, packers, springs, etc, etc?




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Ride height may change. I have suspected as much, since I nuke the plank on Interlagos, Spa and Indy with the default setups in full length races. However, I have yet to find an entry and decipher it.

Dampers, packers and springs don't change. I don't think that the designers intended the player to use the default setups beyond semi-pro, but I can't say for sure.

Also, do not be fooled by the fact that these settings don't change for the AI. There are several entries that govern the performance of the AI, and that could, if abstracted, constitute what the player would perceive as setup changes for the AI, that cannot be felt by the player who uses the default setups. For instance, the AI does not nuke the plank at Interlagos, Spa and Indy, and is extremely good at taking tight high speed corners (much better than with medium or slow speed corners) like the last two at Catalunya, and corner 4 at Hungary.

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

Morbid, I think the ride height does change because I have the same kind of events where one one setup the rear of the car slides across the tarmac, and on another it doesn't.

I just personally wish the defaults setups were a bit faster, because they suit my driving style. I like to lean on the front of the car, so a bit of understeer is good, but you can't qualify quickly with them.

I have been having a look at the magic data with CMagic (btw, it needs the 1.00 exe to read the data before putting them into the track file). Ride height is there indeed (line 48 of the magic file) and it does change for different circuits.

I am now wondering where the settings for the AI cars are. As mentioned in the MorbidPaedia there are several 'performance factors' for computer cars in the track magic data, they are listed by Marc Aarts as 'cc grip factor', 'cc power factor' and so on, related to difficulty level. However, there are specific settings that are not the same for all AI cars, namely the gearbox. By running AI cars-only races, I have noticed that Ferrari, Jaguar and Sauber use a 7 gear box while the rest use 6. Also, the option to set team performances according to the real 2001 perfs means that there must be team-specific settings somewhere else than in the track magic data.

Being able to see a list of setup settings for the AI cars would be a good reference, since some of them still beat my best laptimes by several seconds (I'm doing 1'28'''xxx at Imola, semi-pro, no aids, default track setup (Don't laugh at me, I got GP4 only one month ago))




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Also, the option to set team performances according to the real 2001 perfs means that there must be team-specific settings somewhere else than in the track magic data.

Yes, there are BHP figures, reliability and drivers skill for each team/driver in the exe file. These values can be accessed with several of the editors, and did not change with the patch.

If I am not mistaken, then you can take the 6 gear ratios from the magic data, and enter them into you own setup. If you then switch the 7th gear on, then GP4 automatically converts these numbers for you.

Btw, if you have only 1 month of experience with the GPx series, then driving with no aids is in itself pretty friggin good, and so is 1.28.xxx at Imola.

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

Morbid wrote:
> Btw, if you have only 1 month of experience with the GPx
> series, then driving with no aids is in itself pretty friggin
> good, and so is 1.28.xxx at Imola.
>

Thanks, but I should have mentioned also that I skip wet weather most of the times when it comes up
Driving well on wet without TC is sooo frustratingly difficult...




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Yes, that can be pretty hard indeed. Personally I think the hardest part is the last 2-3 laps before the team calls you in to change to wets.

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

Normally when it starts raining, I make my own decision to switch to wets because its very easy to spin off. You can also make lots os positions up too.

I find the hardest part of a wet race the last few laps. Not trying to make a mistake when leading is so easy, and very annoying in a long race.

to make a mistake when leading is so easy

Leading...! so far leading is about 3 sec ahead of me in the dry, let alone in the wet

And besides, those AI drivers are a bunch of killer #~@¬ards !




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Try turning down the difficulity level

Glyn wrote:

> Try turning down the difficulity level
>


Actually, I think that semi-pro is adequate for me at this stage, I race in the middle of the pack and have to fight my position, which is more challenging

Anyway I run in practise most of the time so far, I am just learning the circuits and starting to fiddle with setting up the car. Btw, I've adjusted ride height following Morbid's indications and shaved 1 sec off my best laps, my lap record at Imola is now 1'27.472" Thanks Morbid ! Hitting the plank at the fastest points is such a thrill




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Morbid is a genious at setups

All too techy for me though, I just like to drive. Thats why I think Morbid should release a setups package.