Hi Neil, There's only a small number of hotlaps, crashes & setups on the September edition of PC Format, on sale 15th August because only two people ever sent me stuff! There's a couple of hotlaps and car setups which I did, a load of nice crashes (thanks Neil!) and another couple of HL's and setups from a nice chap called Alex. Hopefully we'll get more for the followingby TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Yeah, I think that will do the trick, I'm running the game on an Athlon 1Ghz with a 64Mb AGP GeForce 2 GTS Ultra and I'm getting 25 fps with all detail settings at Medium at 1024x768 @ 32Bit colour. The game simply looks and runs perfectly for me..by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Athlon 1Ghz 64Mb GeForce 2 GTS Ultra (29.42 WHQL Nvidia driver) 192Mb RAM 40Gb HD Windows Me Obviously be sensible with the overclocking and make sure the PC fans on your system have plenty of ventilation, I think the particular problem was with older detonator drivers. Also, I wouldn't keep the card overclocked all the time, only when you want the extra performance..by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Yeah, it's a good app, but worth getting the full download with the help file..by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
I take it you have tried running the game at 640x480 with low detail settings to see if that fixes it?by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Err, I don't think the official patch will improve matters much, it's a fundamental problem with texture memory on those Intel cards so I doubt the patch will address that. The minimum requirement is for a 16Mb 3D Card, and that's dedicated memory, not shared system RAM. The first patch will likely address compatibility issues, bugs and stability, I don't think lowering the miby TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
I heard it from someone in the know that BMW may have a Saturday qualifying engine pushing 900bhp b4 the end of the season. Oh, and Renault tested their new spec engine at Valencia yesterday which apparently gives a few extra horses..by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
The hotlap file format is basically raw data for the GP4 graphics engine, so you can't convert the saved files to an avi or mpeg. Basically you'd have to run them from within the game while outputting your video signal to an external device and then resample it back onto the PC. There are software programs that can capture video while a game is running but I don't think the frameraby TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Damn, just what I was going to say! Yeah, it's a texture memory problem for sure and not a driver issue. Commandguy you should really consider getting a dedicated graphics accelerator as the Intel on-board device is really only suitable for running Windows and application software..by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Most people with dedicated Sound Blaster cards seem to benefit from turning the audio hardware acceleration off, might be worth a try, I'd also recommend using "EndItall" before running the game, even with 756Mb RAM, you don't want any TSR's running that could affect performance/stability.. Cheers, Trev.by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
I think most people are having a problem with the video clips in one way or another, on my system for instance, the video runs dead smooth but the sound cuts out every couple of seconds. And while the sound cuts out the video speeds up! Weird, again it might be something to with sound hardware acceleration or the read ahead buffer for the drive.. Cheers, Trev.by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Neil is right, you need to make sure you have over 1Gb of uncompressed HD space available before commencing the installation, if you're using disk compression, then this could be the problem. Also, I've known installers to have problems if the Windows\Temp directory is cluttered, so try clearing that out. Other than that, it's likely it's a dodgy disc, you could try cleaning iby TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Hi there, It's always going to be hard for any of us to know just how accurate the physics model is because none of us (I'm assuming) are professional, single-seater racing drivers. Even though I've driven several single-seaters I've never experience the power and grip of an F1 or an F3000 car for that matter. The way I approach it is to draw on my knowledge of the sport, theby TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
I had a quick practice run in Austalia this evening and managed a 1:27.842, my setup still needs some work but you're welcome to try it, if you want, let me know and I'll email it to you.. Cheers, Trev.by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Just thought I'd comment on this point, F1 2002 does not use GPS data, I've been told this by the game's producer..by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
I think I have a fair idea who "spotlamp" is, but sure, when I find some time to do some serious lap running (I'm moving house any day, so life is hectic enough at the mo) I'll certainly be happy to post some times/hotlap files. If Spotlamp is who I think it is though, I think most of us could be in for a pasting... But we'll see, this isn't Gran Turismo 3 you know.by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Paul, I did get your email over the w/e, and I see that you've posted it here too, I'm not ignoring the thread but I'm in a very difficult position on this matter. All I can say in a public forum is that, like everyone else, I'm hoping for an early patch release that will cure alot of the initial problems with the game. I do stand by my review though, I think it's an excby TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Er, not sure what you're agreeing with, L.S.'s comment that putting this stuff on the PCF cover disc will improve sales of the magazine? I guess that may be true, but in a very limited way, these items will be 'filler' material for the discs and of interest to a small minority of readers so they probably won't even be mentioned on the front of the disc case/cover. Therefoby TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
This is a great start from everyone, cheers. BTW, when you've done a lap/replay/setup that you're happy with don't forget to email it to me at trevor.witt@futurenet.co.uk , as I don't have a great deal of time to trawl through these long threads andby TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Er, that's weird, that's completely the opposite to what should happen, the hardware acceleration should, in theory, take some of the load off the cpu and therefore allow it to do other things, like drawing the screen, for instance. Very strange, but worth a try...by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Yeah, probably, I wouldn't recommend you get a GeForce 4 Ti with your current processor anyway, as it will struggle to feed it data at a descent rate. What OS are you using btw?by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Yeah, I haven't really had time to play around with the settings yet, do you think I should be getting a better rate then?by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Could be worth checking that the hardware acceleration for the sound card is switched on, if not, this causes a big performance overhead for the cpu. There's something else you could do to improve the framerate but it's not something I can condone in my position so someone else will have to advise you of it. You should also be closing all memory resident apps b4 launching the game, tryby TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Just pushing this to the top of the list again!by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
There's a good article on bump mapping here- Essentially you're right it does make things 'look better' and more realistic than simply applying a texture to a polygon surface, but at the expence of more processor clock time..by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
With the car in neutral on the grid press the accelerator to full, now engage first gear but don't release the button, your revs should now hover in the mid-range. When the lights go out release the button.. I normally use the keyboard and this system and it produces a great start everytime..by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
All entries can be emailed to me at trevor.witt@futurenet.co.uk and please include a brief description of what you're sending me please! Cheers, Trev.by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
All entries can be emailed to me at trevor.witt@futurenet.co.uk and please include a brief description of what you're sending me please! Cheers, Trev.by TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4
Hi all, I'm now working full time for PC Format magazine producing the cover discs and want to get a collection together of GP4 hot laps, replays (crashes, funny incidents etc.) & decent car setups for a future issue. If you find a sweet setup, save an amusing crash or simply do a blinding lap then can you email them to me please, a name credit for any sumbmissions we use is your prizeby TrevorWitt - Grand Prix 4