16 replies to this topic

[Skywatcher]

Hey guys, I'm really about to plant myself firmly into GPL for the first time. Having some free time now I've been setting up a ton of games I'm familiar with and played in the past. Now that's done I want to really start having some fun with GPL and learning to drive the cars well.

I'm questioning how I want to approach GPL. I enjoy championships and I also enjoy learning a track and bringing down my times. If I race championships I don't look to really find a good setup quickly and will slowly continue to modify things over various championships.

If GPL Rank is still going strong, I think I would like to put more focus on my GPL Rank first and spend more time messing with driving/setups over running championships.

My question is if GPL Rank is still reliable and updating as it should be?

[Fat Rich]

I think so, I've been uploading times with no problems over the last year or so. Very occasionally the site goes down for a couple of days, but then very occasionally this site does too.

I think GPLRank is pretty up to date, it certainly has the latest Spa track that was released at Christmas, however it's not been included in any of the ranks yet. To compare your times at Spa you need to use "Multiple Choice Hell" and select the track and also the mod / car type if you wish. Had a quick look, it has Oliver's Mount which is also a recent track, however Pablo Fernandez has released a couple but I couldn't find them.

GPLRank is a great way of charting your progress, the really fast times are way out of my reach and a reminder that I'm a bit short on talent

Edited by Fat Rich, Jul 20 2015 - 06:14 AM.

[Pete Gaimari]

I never could get into GPL Rank. It's all qualifying, and no race. Sorry, but it should be called Ego Rank.

[fajanko]

Skywatcher,
You might also want to try Custom Rank.
More info here https://srmz.racesimcentral.net/inde...showtopic=10564


Pete,
For sure there are drivers who use this as Ego Rank - I know a few   but others simply compare their lap times to others and skip rank hunting. When I practice for a race I always check if I see any familar name with the given track+mod combo. I can easily get my barriers this way, and aim a lap time in the training.

Edited by fajanko, Jul 20 2015 - 09:13 AM.

[Cookie]

Pete Gaimari, on Jul 20 2015 - 08:12 AM, said:

I never could get into GPL Rank. It's all qualifying, and no race. Sorry, but it should be called Ego Rank.

No Pete, GPLRank can be very helpfull.

For an active online racer it is interesting to know where you are.
I am in a constant learning process for the last 4 years and it is good to have a database where you can find a comparison.
I never do hotlaps and my qualification setups are the same as my race setups!
Some fastest laps happened by making setups on tracks/cars I love. (GT Spa67 )

Of course there are some specialists but there are other guys doing such incredible times in real racing.

[Skywatcher]

fajanko, on Jul 20 2015 - 09:13 AM, said:

Skywatcher,
You might also want to try Custom Rank.
More info here https://srmz.racesimcentral.net/inde...showtopic=10564

Great! Thanks, I'll sign up!

Pete Gaimari, on Jul 20 2015 - 08:12 AM, said:

I never could get into GPL Rank. It's all qualifying, and no race. Sorry, but it should be called Ego Rank.

It's just great fun! Everything is about competing doesn't matter if you run qual laps or race, I enjoy both. Qual laps are fun because you have to drive the perfect lap and also find a great setup, it's technical. Without other times to compare against you don't know how well you have done or how far you have to go. I'm sure there are egos but I wouldn't let that stop you ever joining up, egos are everywhere. I'm sure you could search leaderboards for iPhone Bingo and there will be egos! haha

[Iestyn16]

Haha, true. I've found it as a great learning tool, and I've progressed all the way to getting some WR laps up on the replay page. Speed is speed - anything doable in training should be replicable in the races, except for speedshifting which can only be done when damage is turned off (Training). You can use a 'hotlap' setup, 1 psi higher tyre pressure for one lap/qualifying, but that's when you are really looking for that final tenth for a WR! Otherwise, setup is the same (plus fuel) for long runs/racing, maybe gears can change for the draft in certain mods.

Edited by Iestyn16, Jul 21 2015 - 05:34 PM.

[John Woods]

Decided to wait until going negative before registering on GPLRank, because of really sucking at driving...no idea what I or the car was doing. Even as sad as it is now at first it was very poor.

Without the Rank, or at least the challenge of going negative, would have had no idea how really bad a driver I was. Now, as with everything else sporty, I remain resigned and persevering at the 85th percentile.

Wish I had registered sooner because first, jmho, registering on GPLRank is kind of an unqualified affirmation of membership in the Grand Prix Legends ongoing/always changing "community" of entirely independent unaffiliated unobligated enthusiastic individuals, and that is a reason for celebration.

Second, uploading times to the Rank provides a personal history, it seems in my case, of plateaus of improvement, as technique and knowledge eventually coincide. Its not so much that its helpful...more like its re-assuring to look back and see its not all a flat line.

Driving a Lotus 49 pretty much exclusively kind of locks me out of any WR fantasies...as if!

By all means register and use GPLRank to have fun while learning/re-learning how to drive, and if good enough to set a record...wuhoohoo! Congrats and more.

Edited by John Woods, Jul 21 2015 - 10:22 PM.

[Skywatcher]

John Woods, on Jul 21 2015 - 10:17 PM, said:

Driving a Lotus 49 pretty much exclusively kind of locks me out of any WR fantasies...as if!

By all means register and use GPLRank to have fun while learning/re-learning how to drive, and if good enough to set a record...wuhoohoo! Congrats and more.

Well, I'm only driving the Lotus right now so judging by your comments, I'll adobt your mindset and worry about PB's over WR's! lol

Heck, the 11 stock tracks are all new to me so I'm simply sticking with one car, learning each track one at a time and sticking with one track till I think I have accomplished 'for me' a reasonable-ish time. Once I've done this across all 11 tracks I'll submit my times.

On Kyalami at the moment and I'm having so much fun just blasting around the track! It's such a great sim and I'm still literally mind blown by what this community has done over the years for GPL!

[maddog]

Rank is a great way of racing offline, without bumping into Ai.  And anyone who can put in a competitive laptime, should try a race Online sometime. IGOR makes it quite simple.  If anyone here has not tried, it's quite different from computer animated opposition.

I've found most practice races to have friendly drivers, who do not mind seeing a stranger, unless you misbehave, or cause a major problem.  Make sure chat is turned on.  Rank and Online racing go hand in hand, for those ready for competition.

Edited by maddog, Jul 22 2015 - 06:45 AM.

[Arturo Pereira]

Without GPLRank, we would never know how fast we can go when compared with other human drivers. Of course being fast is just part of the game. You must be consistent and relatively fast to win, but GPLRank is a great tool to know more about us and about other fellow drivers.
And watching replays of aliens is always amazing and lots of fun

And btw, I started racing GPL online thanks to GPLRank. Well, that happened almost 16 years ago... seems to have been yesterday

Edited by Arturo Pereira, Jul 22 2015 - 07:18 PM.

[Claudio Pablo Navonne]

I usually use the GPLRank to know how I am in a given circuit with respect to an average, medium or with respect to the record time.And thanks to it I began not only to run online, but I got to know personally as dear friends: Arturo Pereira, Bruce Boembeke, Ignacio Rodriguez Genta,Enrique Farina, the brothers Mac Mahon and several more.

[Skywatcher]

Here is what I have found so far:

I started with Kyalami/Lotus as mentioned and used default setup. Ran full tanks then empty tanks. From beginning as I started my times were in the 1:26's on full and went pretty much 1:25's, 1:24's, 1:23's, 1:22's and finally broke into the 1:21's on default setup with low fuel.

From here I thought I'm close-ish to the limit of a default setup regarding times. So I downloaded some setups and found to get fast times all driving realism is gone. This isn't my thing, I hate it, I want the car to act like a car! lol

So I've started messing with my own setups and it's only early but it looks to me to get below 1:20's you need to start getting unrealistic. I'm going to mess with setups for quite a while now with just Kyalami/Lotus and see if I can find the fastest realistic setup where the car acts like a car. I've downloaded some setups that are flagged as being realistic but I didn't find them this way. If anyone can recommend a Kyalami setup they think is fast and keeps the car feeling realistic would love to try it!

I'll still be submitting to GPL Rank but can see I won't be trying for any world records, PB's only. Grand Prix 3 worked in this way and I ran some ridiculous times in that sim but the car acted nothing like a real car would. I'm older now and just want to enjoy a racing simulation and to do this wish to keep the 'real feel' to the cars at the expense of times.

I'm going to keep working on the Kyalami/Lotus combo regarding setup because whatever I find here should then be applicable to other cars and circuits. Need to find the secret formula first! lol

As mentioned, if someone can recommend something they think is realistic and quicker than a default setup at kyalami with Lotus would love to try it! Would save a bunch of time!

[Pete Gaimari]

I'm glad you made that post. Now I can explain what I meant in my first post.

First off I have a GPL Rank. It was mandatory to have one to race in some leagues. It was the main reason I had one, and I could see the point of it all. Some leagues handicap the faster drivers by putting them in the slower cars. It sort of worked, but aliens will still beat you in the slow cars, but it helped some. Most of my fast time were set working on a setup for a track. Some were in qualifying for league races. A few in races. However, I never went on the track with the only goal of setting a new PB. It was always related to racing.

Racing is the heart of GPL. We have all the cars and tracks for a Championship Season. We can simulate what the real drivers did. I know that's not important to some, but I think it is for a lot of us.

So, all of the above is fine with me. What bothers me is those who never race. All they do is work on their rank. They use a very unrealistic setup, and use a very unrealistic driving style. A setup and abuse to the drive train and brakes the real cars could never handle. I'm sorry, but it rubs me the wrong way, and they're the ones who I describe as having a GPL Ego Rank.

Hate me if you will. I'm just being honest.

[Skywatcher]

Pete Gaimari, on Jul 23 2015 - 09:01 PM, said:

Racing is the heart of GPL.

I'm glad you made your post. Like to pull some quotes. I believe the above. I had a good read through the 'Ever finished a championship' thread and payed particular attention to your comments. That's what sim racing is all about imo. Fast laps are fun, to challenge others times are fun but not at the expense of losing the heart of what sim racing is all about. ie simulating real world driving and racing

Pete Gaimari, on Jul 23 2015 - 09:01 PM, said:

What bothers me is those who never race. All they do is work on their rank. They use a very unrealistic setup, and use a very unrealistic driving style.

I believe this the difference between gamers and simmers.

Pete Gaimari, on Jul 23 2015 - 09:01 PM, said:

Hate me if you will. I'm just being honest.

I'll always give a straight up opinion and I totally understand your point of view as I believe we think very much in the same way. A corner is about stomping on the brakes hard, accelerating out of a corner is about feathering the accelerator while trying to maintain traction and keeping back end in check, fast laps are about inertia and perfect lines. You take this stuff out of a sim car, you take the sim out of racing.