I seem to be getting booted randomly (after about 3 to 8 minutes) out of a race
when I connect via GPL SPYBOY.  While Racing or practicing or chatting
(basically once I've connected to the server) it throws me to a screen that says
"connection status Invalid" and then to the "finished" screen where it has the
screen that says so and so finishes 1st, except mine says %1 jibberish %2
finished first at such and such track.  This seems to be happening only when I
connect using GPOL spyboy.

I am using the following configuration:

P2 300A Celeron, 198MB 10ns ram, Creative RIVA TNT AGP, MS FFB Wheel, USROBO
external 56KB modem.  My latency has been as low as 200 when I've connected to a
xDSL host.  I am running the beta OPENGL patch for the RIVA TNT card and GPL.

Any ideas would be appreciated...thanks Deiter (AKA bmoody@...)

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The following is from C3 Systems' PPP Boost web site:
http://www.demonweb.co.uk/c3sys/ppp.htm

PPP-Boost (Win95 only)
(NOTE : This tweak is not required for Windows 98)

Numerous web sites concerned with system tuning carry details of a
registry tweak which can significantly speed up Internet transfers using
Win95 Dial Up Networking. It works by changing some of the network
protocol parameters. By default Win95 assumes that you are connected to
shared local area network and uses appropriate values for this
arrangement. Most home users, however, connect via a modem using the
Point-to-Point protocol (PPP). By using values more suited to this type
of connection it is possible to reduce the amount of time spent
splitting data files into packets and subsequently reassembling them.
For more information on this tweak check Mike Salisbury's MTU page.
PPP-Boost is a small freeware utility that allows you to try this
technique for yourself. Simply run PPP-Boost, select the recommended
settings and reboot your PC.

>
> Is this applicable only to Win95?  I'm running Win98 and have realllly not
> tweaked at all.  Just using the recommended core.ini.  I don't have a
tremendous
> problem with disco's, but I'm always looking to improve.  What's the best way
to
> go about it in Win98?
>
> Colin Taber
>
> Beelerrj@... wrote:
>
> >  I've been racing on VROC for a few months now with the help of this VERY
> > cool little program called PPP-Boost. What it does is let you change the Max
> > MTU, RWIN & TTL settings in your Win95 DUN. Use the settings that VROC
> > suggests, and you will get much better connections and a lot less disco's.
> > I've asked a lot of people while racing online and I'm surprised to find
that
> > not many have made these changes in their DUN. The thought of playing around
> > in the registry freaks a lot of people out including me. This program makes
> > it easy!! Maybe if more VROC racers used this little gem there wouldn't be
as
> > many problems with disco's & clock smashes and all that miserable stuff. It
> > made a huge difference for me! Best of all it's FREE!! Get it at:
> > www.demonweb.co.uk/c3sys/ppp.htm
> >
> >    Good Luck,
> >     Bob Beeler
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > eGroups eLerts!
> > Exclusive discounts from the hottest online bookstores
> > Join Now! http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/20
> >
> > eGroup home: http://www.eGroups.com/list/vroc-racing
> > Free Web-based e-mail groups by eGroups.com
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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--
**************************** Michael E. Carver *************************
      Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town.
          mcarver@...   http://www.teleport.com/~mcarver
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./.  [-  < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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Thanks for all of your hard work Larry !!!  Great program !!  GPL racing
online wouldn't be the same without it !!

Darin Gangi

At 02:10 PM 4/5/99 , Lawrence Holbert wrote:
>5 April 1999
>GPL Spy Boy Released (v1.0.0.90)
>
>Features Include
>----------------
>- Native Win32 VROC Client (including hosting and joining support).
>
>- Integrated support for GPL Address Book (including editor) and GPL
>NetAgent like functionality.
>
>- Route inspector to check your Internet route to the host.
>
>- Use of a tiny launcher program to launch GPL, completely removing GSB from
>memory while GPL is running and consuming almost no CPU cycles.
>
>- Integrated IRC client to provide race chat area ... extensive
>customization provided to include the transferring of setups, standings,
>url's, server info. Ability to provide separate league chat areas.
>
>- VROC Stamp of Approval ... fully coordinated effort with the VROC staff.
>
>Check it out at:  http://gpl.gamestats.com/gsb/
>
>Spread the word, its Dyngus Day and I'm outta here to partake in the
>festivities!
>


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I'm not sure if PPP Boost works with Win98. I'm using DUN1.3 so I don't see
why it wouldn't, but I would check the text file that comes with PPP Boost to
make sure. Anybody else?

         Bob B.

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Is this applicable only to Win95?  I'm running Win98 and have realllly not
tweaked at all.  Just using the recommended core.ini.  I don't have a tremendous
problem with disco's, but I'm always looking to improve.  What's the best way to
go about it in Win98?

Colin Taber

Beelerrj@... wrote:

>  I've been racing on VROC for a few months now with the help of this VERY
> cool little program called PPP-Boost. What it does is let you change the Max
> MTU, RWIN & TTL settings in your Win95 DUN. Use the settings that VROC
> suggests, and you will get much better connections and a lot less disco's.
> I've asked a lot of people while racing online and I'm surprised to find that
> not many have made these changes in their DUN. The thought of playing around
> in the registry freaks a lot of people out including me. This program makes
> it easy!! Maybe if more VROC racers used this little gem there wouldn't be as
> many problems with disco's & clock smashes and all that miserable stuff. It
> made a huge difference for me! Best of all it's FREE!! Get it at:
> www.demonweb.co.uk/c3sys/ppp.htm
>
>    Good Luck,
>     Bob Beeler
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> eGroups eLerts!
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> Join Now! http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/20
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VROC was malfunctioning for a while tonight.  I found and fixed the
problem, although I don't yet know how it got screwed up.  It doesn't
look like it was caused by GPL Spy Boy.  I'll investigate to see if I
can identify what happened.

Alison

On Tue, 06 Apr 1999 03:30:12 GMT, you wrote:

>Well, that wonderful program Spyboy seems to have killed VROC.
>All the masses using Spyboy hitting VROC's servers to check the status
>of races too much for VROC?
>Tired tonight to race via Spyboy and only once did any available races
>pop-op.
>When that happened I hosted a 11 lap Pro Short at Monza, then when I
>returned the VROC servers were down again.
>I would hate to see VROC close down from too much traffic, because it
>is a beautiful thing.


Alison

eaglewoman@...
http://eaglewoman.maximumspeed.com

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5 April 1999
GPL Spy Boy Released (v1.0.0.90)

Features Include
----------------
- Native Win32 VROC Client (including hosting and joining support).

- Integrated support for GPL Address Book (including editor) and GPL
NetAgent like functionality.

- Route inspector to check your Internet route to the host.

- Use of a tiny launcher program to launch GPL, completely removing GSB from
memory while GPL is running and consuming almost no CPU cycles.

- Integrated IRC client to provide race chat area ... extensive
customization provided to include the transferring of setups, standings,
url's, server info. Ability to provide separate league chat areas.

- VROC Stamp of Approval ... fully coordinated effort with the VROC staff.

Check it out at:  http://gpl.gamestats.com/gsb/

Spread the word, its Dyngus Day and I'm outta here to partake in the
festivities!


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Tried the core.ini mood....no help, or minor help only.  I am running
Windows 98 so the DUN thing doesn't apply as I undestand it.  I will try
33.6k connect speed next. Kind of sounds to me like Allison hit it on the
head...others problem, not mine, due to trying to "stuff" sessions with too
many racers.  I immagine the slowest pings get dropped in that case...maybe
even at 200 I am slower than some in the session.  This is really
frustrating because I love to race on-line instead of against AI.  Guess
I'll pick my races more carefully.

Some of these people should really stop the practice of trying to "stuff"
races though. It is very disheartining to try really hard in practice, get a
good starting position, ..only to get booted just before the race starts.

Thanks again
Andy

----- Original Message -----
From: Joel Willstein <jaw101@...>
To: <gpl-racing@egroups.com>
Cc: <vroc-racing@egroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 04, 1999 7:41 PM
Subject: [VROC] Re: [GPL] VROC disconnects....


>
> Andy,
>
>     I know the feeling. There have been many times that I qualified for a
> VROC race,then got booted. While the lower the ping number the better, you
> didn't mention what YOUR letency was. It could have been high.
>
>     What I've done to help reduce the disconnects but I still get them is:
> 1-setup a DUN just for online racing. Lower your connection speed to 38K
or
> lower. Follow the directions and suggestions in faqs,cool stuff,and the
tech
> section. The DUN is a lot more stable then your regular DUN only it's
> slower. In other words,it's not the greatest for surfing the net.
> 2- There are also directions for changing your Vcache and a few other
> settings in Netscape,do them all.
> 3-Add the following line to your core.ini file:
> [Communications]
> clock_adj_delay=10
> If you are still getting too many disconnects,change the value to 8.
>
>     Joel Willstein
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> eGroups eLerts!
> Exclusive discounts on the hottest electronics & Gadgets
> Join Now! http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/29
>
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These are all things that are worth trying.

OTOH, disconnects at the transition from practice to race are often a
result of a GPL server who has too many players for the server's upload
bandwidth and/or CPU power.  Each player requires a certain amount of
bandwidth (this depends on the values in your core.ini, and other
factors) and most connections to the Internet don't have enough
bandwidth to support 20 players.

Analog modems can support at most 4 players (including host) and then
only if everything on all 4 systems is just right.  ISDN can typically
host around 6 or 8, and ADSL and cable can usually host between 8 and
12.  Some ADSL, cable, or T1 hosts can support up to 20 players.

Look for hosts that seem to have set their max players to a reasonable
value, and once you get in, see if anyone else is having trouble staying
connected.  If a bunch of people are, chances are it's the host.

Other factors that can affect connection reliability include:

  - the host's machine doesn't have enough CPU power, so it's not getting
enough packets out the door to keep all the player machines happy.  If a
player machine doesn't hear from the host within what it considers a
reasonable length of time, it will disconnect.

One of the busiest times for the host is at the end of practice, when it
has to send a lot of status information to each of the players
(qualifying times, etc.) so this is when an overloaded host (i.e.,
deficient in either bandwidth or CPU power) will most likely fail to get
enough information to each player, and some of them will think the host
has gone away and will bail out.

  - intermittently busy routers along the route between you and the host.
If a router starts sitting on packets for a second or more before
forwarding, and this delay continues for more than a few seconds, GPL is
likely to disconnect.  If you note the IP address of your host while in
GPL, and then run a program like UOTrace on that IP address after
exiting GPL, this may help to pinpoint bad routers (at which point you
can send the trace output to the appropriate ISP).

Alison

On Sun, 4 Apr 1999 22:01:16 -0400, you wrote:

>Thanks for the help Joel. I will do this and see what it nets.  BTW..my
>latencies were generally below 200 today.
>
>Andy
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Joel Willstein <jaw101@...>
>To: <gpl-racing@egroups.com>
>Cc: <vroc-racing@egroups.com>
>Sent: Sunday, April 04, 1999 7:41 PM
>Subject: [VROC] Re: [GPL] VROC disconnects....
>
>
>> Andy,
>>
>>     I know the feeling. There have been many times that I qualified for a
>> VROC race,then got booted. While the lower the ping number the better, you
>> didn't mention what YOUR letency was. It could have been high.
>>
>>     What I've done to help reduce the disconnects but I still get them is:
>> 1-setup a DUN just for online racing. Lower your connection speed to 38K
>or
>> lower. Follow the directions and suggestions in faqs,cool stuff,and the
>tech
>> section. The DUN is a lot more stable then your regular DUN only it's
>> slower. In other words,it's not the greatest for surfing the net.
>> 2- There are also directions for changing your Vcache and a few other
>> settings in Netscape,do them all.
>> 3-Add the following line to your core.ini file:
>> [Communications]
>> clock_adj_delay=10
>> If you are still getting too many disconnects,change the value to 8.
>>
>>     Joel Willstein
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> eGroups eLerts!
>> Exclusive discounts on the hottest electronics & Gadgets
>> Join Now! http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/29
>>
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>>
>>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>
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>


Alison

eaglewoman@...
http://eaglewoman.maximumspeed.com

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Old subject, I know, but can anyone help me?
I have been on VROC all day today trying to figure out why as soon as the
practice session ends and the host goes to race start, I get booted 90% of
the time.  I tried entering only sessions showing me sub 200 ping times...no
difference.  I tried one session where my ping was 0.55 and STILL got the
boot when the race started...and that was a pole!   (REALLY pissed me off!!)
I have the core.ini file installed, but I understand that is for hosting,
really.  I have a AMD K6-2 400 with 64M and a 56k PCI modem (Maxtech voice
modem).  TONS of video hardware...riva TNT 16m and 12m Voodoo2.  Latest
video drivers for TNT (detonator drivers) and VooDoo2(Glide 2.5; 3.0)  and
Communicator 4.51.  There are no conflicts in my system that can be found.
Allison, especially,  if you are reading this....HELP

Andy



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Thanks for the help Joel. I will do this and see what it nets.  BTW..my
latencies were generally below 200 today.

Andy

----- Original Message -----
From: Joel Willstein <jaw101@...>
To: <gpl-racing@egroups.com>
Cc: <vroc-racing@egroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 04, 1999 7:41 PM
Subject: [VROC] Re: [GPL] VROC disconnects....


> Andy,
>
>     I know the feeling. There have been many times that I qualified for a
> VROC race,then got booted. While the lower the ping number the better, you
> didn't mention what YOUR letency was. It could have been high.
>
>     What I've done to help reduce the disconnects but I still get them is:
> 1-setup a DUN just for online racing. Lower your connection speed to 38K
or
> lower. Follow the directions and suggestions in faqs,cool stuff,and the
tech
> section. The DUN is a lot more stable then your regular DUN only it's
> slower. In other words,it's not the greatest for surfing the net.
> 2- There are also directions for changing your Vcache and a few other
> settings in Netscape,do them all.
> 3-Add the following line to your core.ini file:
> [Communications]
> clock_adj_delay=10
> If you are still getting too many disconnects,change the value to 8.
>
>     Joel Willstein
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> eGroups eLerts!
> Exclusive discounts on the hottest electronics & Gadgets
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>
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>
>


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-----Original Message-----
From: Butch Morris (Andy) <atmorris@...>
To: gpl-racing@egroups.com <gpl-racing@egroups.com>
Cc: vroc-racing@egroups.com <vroc-racing@egroups.com>
Date: Sunday, April 04, 1999 5:23 PM
Subject: [GPL] VROC disconnects....


>Old subject, I know, but can anyone help me?
>I have been on VROC all day today trying to figure out why as soon as the
>practice session ends and the host goes to race start, I get booted 90% of
>the time.  I tried entering only sessions showing me sub 200 ping
times...no
>difference.  I tried one session where my ping was 0.55 and STILL got the
>boot when the race started...and that was a pole!   (REALLY pissed me
off!!)
>I have the core.ini file installed, but I understand that is for hosting,
>really.  I have a AMD K6-2 400 with 64M and a 56k PCI modem (Maxtech voice
>modem).  TONS of video hardware...riva TNT 16m and 12m Voodoo2.  Latest
>video drivers for TNT (detonator drivers) and VooDoo2(Glide 2.5; 3.0)  and
>Communicator 4.51.  There are no conflicts in my system that can be found.
>Allison, especially,  if you are reading this....HELP
>
>Andy


Andy,

     I know the feeling. There have been many times that I qualified for a
VROC race,then got booted. While the lower the ping number the better, you
didn't mention what YOUR letency was. It could have been high.

     What I've done to help reduce the disconnects but I still get them is:
1-setup a DUN just for online racing. Lower your connection speed to 38K or
lower. Follow the directions and suggestions in faqs,cool stuff,and the tech
section. The DUN is a lot more stable then your regular DUN only it's
slower. In other words,it's not the greatest for surfing the net.
2- There are also directions for changing your Vcache and a few other
settings in Netscape,do them all.
3-Add the following line to your core.ini file:
[Communications]
clock_adj_delay=10
If you are still getting too many disconnects,change the value to 8.

     Joel Willstein


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Forgot...My ISP is Garden.net and is pretty good.  Never have a problem with
busy lines, bad connections, or anything else.  My log in speed with the 56k
is usually 50,660.  In case this helps.....

Andy


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Walk Walker wrote:

I have been playing with the Battlefield Communicator (http://www.battlecom.com) lately and wanted to share my findings with the rest of the group here. BattleCom is a real-time full-duplex voice application. It allows up to 64 clients to connect to each other and communicate while gaming online. It works very well with certain supported games and does work with some games not listed as 100% compatible. Motocross Madness, for example, supports BattleCom and it adds a whole lot to the experience. Back to the point here. I have been testing it all week with a bud from work. We are both using cable modem and on the same segment with each other. Battlecom really shines as a training tool in this scenario. My bud is brand new to GPL. As such, he is definitely taking care of the lawns at the most fantastic tracks of the 60s if you know what I mean. Anyway, we started a session last night and he hit the track and I stayed in the pits. I switched the replay screen to full-screen mode and selected his car and the in-car view. As he worked his way around Silverstone, I was able to watch his lines, entries, and exits. After 10-15 laps, he had dropped his time 8 seconds from his previous best. Regardless of the outcome of that particular session, it's a real blast and does add to the experience. I'm hoping some of you other folks will give this a try. The BattleCom client does support different compression modes that vary in terms of latency, bandwidth, and quality. We have found the "Echo" compression mode to do best. The sound quality does take a bit of a dive when one driver is on the track. When both drivers are on the track, it basically stops working. I'm hoping that we can continue to improve the quality and eventually get it so that maybe 4 drivers can communicate while racing. -/- Walk Walker
Official HAL Backmarker

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I've been racing on VROC for a few months now with the help of this VERY
cool little program called PPP-Boost. What it does is let you change the Max
MTU, RWIN & TTL settings in your Win95 DUN. Use the settings that VROC
suggests, and you will get much better connections and a lot less disco's.
I've asked a lot of people while racing online and I'm surprised to find that
not many have made these changes in their DUN. The thought of playing around
in the registry freaks a lot of people out including me. This program makes
it easy!! Maybe if more VROC racers used this little gem there wouldn't be as
many problems with disco's & clock smashes and all that miserable stuff. It
made a huge difference for me! Best of all it's FREE!! Get it at:
www.demonweb.co.uk/c3sys/ppp.htm

    Good Luck,
     Bob Beeler

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On Sun, 28 Mar 1999 02:09:24 GMT, Alison wrote:

>Here Marty makes some suggestions in response to problems David had on
>VROC.
>
>Alison
>
>Marty wrote:
>
>When I first started racing GPL online I too had constant disconnect
>problems. Even after following all the setup recommendations on VROC and
>on Alison's web site.

My experience may ring some bells with people.

I too suffered from regular disconnections - but of a different
nature.  When the disconnect occurred the phone line would actually be
disconnected (so when you exited from GPL netscape would start to
redial to refresh the room page).  A feature of these disconnects was
that often they would be accompanied by loss of sound in GPL which
could only be restored by clicking the mouse button.

I tried all the tips to no avail and even put on modem logging.  This
would show that the modem hung up from either end.

I have a USR 33.6K external modem on a COM port (I have tried both
ports).

The problem seems to be with the Modems at my ISP end.  I had a static
IP address and he was offering a dial in no for this which connects to
old V34 (33.6K) modems.  In addition he offers another number to
connect ot V90 modems (56KB) - but only if you are prepared to connect
using dynamic ip address assignment.

Due to some other problems I tried connecting to the v90 modems (still
with my v34 33.6K modem) and my disconnect problems disappeared.  I
have now used this method for a couple of weeks without any disconnect
problems (other than from individual hosts - my Internet connection
remains) or loss of sound at all.

Alan

alan@...
http://www.chandler.u-net.com

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Here Marty makes some suggestions in response to problems David had on
VROC.

Alison

Marty wrote:

When I first started racing GPL online I too had constant disconnect
problems. Even after following all the setup recommendations on VROC and
on Alison's web site.

Two things stand out as big improvements for online racing in GPL over
dialup modem.

1. Replace winmodem (controlerless), with non-winmodem, with onboard
seral port.

2. Slow 56k modem to 33.6 or disable V.90/56k.

The second change took me from 50% disconnects to LESS than 10%, rarely
really.

The online racing experience with GPL has become big fun.

Marty

>DAVID wrote:
>
>> > I hosted many races, all at Silverstone. Thats one track I like/know
>> well.
>> > Only one race went smooth.
>> > Mostly people join, practice, then disconnect.  One race I hosted this
>> > morning, 4 people practicing, 20 seconds to race start, two got
>> > disconnected, and I lost my green button, and the race started with out
>> me.
>> >
>> > Bummer.  All in all I am discouraged with VROC.
>> >
>> > Is there anything I am not aware of about VROC that would make my
>> experience
>> > more enjoyable.
>> > Are others unwilling or unable to stay connected to me?
>> > I am depressed about the whole thing.
>> > Any input is welcome.
>> >
>> I am not sure why the connections are not stable.  Having flown Air
Warrior
>> 3 and Cart Precision Racing, I was very suprised on how hard it is to
stay
>> connected.  It probly is not you, but a weak connection fot he other
racers
>> to your ip address.  I really wish there was a way to solve this problem
>> since it really is a bummer to be in the middle of a good race and get
>> disconnected.
>>
>> --
>> David Robinson


Alison

eaglewoman@...
http://eaglewoman.maximumspeed.com

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On Wed, 24 Feb 1999 18:04:08 -0500, Mike <mikexxx@...> wrote:

I bought the [Shark] modem off the web at http://www.buysoftware.com
(yeah, I know, strange place to find a modem, eh?)  and it cost $62
including shipping and handling.

Shark's site actually states that they aren't doing tech support right
now (!) which is one reason that despite good performance I can't
recommend it at the moment. Maybe that will change. I hope it does.

I just upgraded my pc, put in a FIC VA503+ motherboard with an AMD K62
400 processor.  I also upgraded my video card to a Matrox Mystique G200
AGP card with 8MB VidRam.  I had to disable AGP 2x in the mobo BIOS,
unfortunately, to get the two cards to play nice together.  My CPU stats
on WinTune get whacked by 1/3 when I am using the modem, which if
nothing else proves it is definitely a Winmodem! :)

I haven't done much 3D gaming of any type 'til now since my old board
and vid capabilities, well, sucked.  However, between the overall
performance boost and the fact that the Mystique has TV out (not to
mention the sound card is also plugged into my sound system) I have been
having a grand old time with Forsaken, which came with the video card.


Alison

eaglewoman@...
http://eaglewoman.maximumspeed.com

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Here's a trick from Achim Trensz:

On Wed, 3 Mar 1999 04:07:57 -0500, "Joachim F. Trensz" wrote:

I don't remember whether I've already told you this, but I've found an
amazing way of speeding up GPL. The trick is aligning it to 4 Kbyte
boundaries. Win98 comes with a tool - walign.exe - that does this,
although with a somehow limited usability.

There's an article on http://www.winmag.com/win98/winalign.htm, which
desribes it in detail, and gives you a batch file to use walign.exe on
any program on your hard disk.

There is a minor legal issue, because aligning modifies the code (so the
programmers might not want this to be done), but as the process does not
reveil anything about the code to the user, I thought maybe Papy would
not mind the GPL crowd doing this. So, I asked Dave, and he ok'ed it.

I aligned the gpl.exe and wow, got a 20% fps increase. It brought me
from 30fps in the Monza test (starting at the back of a full field of AI
cars without practice) straight to 36fps, i.e. gave me a 20% speed
increase.

I can't say for sure how significant its effect is for hotlapping
situations, because there I'm always at 36fps anyway, but in races, the
effect is a clear 20% in fps.

One last thing - don't use the batch file on several files. They say it
works, but on my system, a few eerie things happened when I did it - not
always, but sometimes.


Alison

eaglewoman@...
http://eaglewoman.maximumspeed.com

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On Thu, 4 Mar 1999 13:51:33 -0500 , Jeffrey Hunsberger
<Jeff@...> wrote:

Here is the latest post on those sound files from MC. (from R.A.S.)

Wait a minute..... It would appear that the first time I used Patrick's
sound waves (a few weeks ago), the "hiccup" (where GPL seemed to pause
and was silent while the sounds loaded), was an anomoly. I have just
tested the new sounds and GPL isn't pauses while the sounds loaded.

Sorry for the 'false alarm'!


Jeffrey Hunsberger


Alison

eaglewoman@...
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I didn't have much in the way of help to offer this fellow.  Anyone else
have any ideas?

Alison

On Sat, 13 Mar 1999 20:45:17 -0600, "Glenn" <glenn@...>
wrote:

Hi Alison, After reading your page on USB modems I wanted one BAD. So,
The next day one was delivered only to find slow connections and some
sound trouble while running GLP on VROC. BTW, thank you for everything
you've done to make the game so fun. Anyway, I purchased the filter from
Radio Shack as recommended to you by Multitech and no help. I live in a
rural area and I understand I'll never get a great connection. I
reinstalled my internal US Robotics and can get a 42-45 connection but
with the new USB I can only get about 33. Sorry to bother you but
thought maybe you had some suggestions.
Thank you again.

glenn scott
www.glennscott.com


Alison

eaglewoman@...
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Several AOL users have written me with problems connecting to VROC
hosts.  I tolde them that the problem was AOL and that they had to get a
real ISP if they wanted to race online.

Well, I was wrong.  Here's a series of emails, initiated by an AOL user
who had problems on VROC.  Right about the time I got his email, I came
across a thread on rec.autos.simulators which suggested that the problem
had a simple fix, sent it to him, and it worked.

Alison

On Wed, 17 Mar 1999 00:47:58 EST, RonnyXXX@... wrote:

THANK YOU!!
1.  It worked and I can enjoy VROC now.
2.  For the fast response!!   :)

Ron


In a message dated 3/16/99 1:06:06 AM Pacific Standard Time,
alison@... writes:

<< This is from a thread on rec.autos.simulators:

  I haven't tried VROC before due to my lousy internet connection, but I
  finally caved and figured I'd have a look.  No dice.  I read all the
  how-to's, made the suggested changes, installed Netscape 4.08 & the
VROC
  software, and did the VROC setup.  When I get on VROC and click to join
  a race, GPL starts fine and lists the correct address of the race to
  join, but under "connect via" it only lists Com1, when my internal 56K
  USR Sportster(not win) is on Com2.  Clicking the green button only
tries
  to connect through Com1, which is of course a no-go.  I can connect and
  race locally, modem to modem, in GPL without any big problems; GPL
  sees(& lists) my modem just fine then.  But once my internet
  connection's open, whether I let VROC start GPL  or start it myself,
the
  game doesn't seem to see the modem anymore......
  Maybe it's just another of those pesky brain clouds.  Anyone have a
  thought on
  this?

  >>Connect via TCP IP button. Not via your modem.
  >
  >I don't get that button, only Com1; so it looks like AOL's a no-go.
  >Back to ISP roulette for me. :-)  Hope this time's better.

  I had the same problem last week. GPL won't detect your TCP/IP
  connection if your IP adress is dynamicly assigned(ie diffrent IP adr.
  every time you connect to the net). You need to add this line to your
  core.ini file  (if you have one, else add a file named core.ini to your
  GPL folder).

  [ Communications ]
  alternate_ip_addr_lookup = 1


  Extract from the readme file:
  TCP/IP ISSUES

  If you connect to the Internet using a modem, and wish to play GPL over
  the Internet, connect to the Internet before starting GPL.  If you do
  not intend to play GPL over the Internet, there is no need to connect
  before playing the game.

  If you have a local area network, and your network card is dynamically
  assigned an IP address (using DHCP), you must tell GPL to use an
  alternate method of determining your machine's IP address.

  Using Notepad, create a file named core.ini in the same folder in which
  gpl.exe exists containing the following two lines:

  [Communications]
  alternate_ip_addr_lookup = 1

  Note, however, that if you use this alternate method, and your only
  TCP/IP connection is via a modem, and you have your Internet properties
  set to automatically connect to the Internet, and you're not connected
  to the Internet when you start GPL, Dial-Up Networking will start up
  when you launch GPL.  This may cause GPL to not function properly,
  and/or your machine may connect to the Internet.


  Thank you; that did the trick.  I had seen that bit in the readme, but
  was just predisposed to blaming AOL :-).  I signed onto a local ISP to
  try for a faster connection (and the reported connect-speed IS higher),
  but get better pings and download speeds through the dreaded AOL.  Go
  figure.

  -----end of material from r.a.s.-----

  I hope this helps!

  Alison

  On Sun, 14 Mar 1999 16:53:59 EST, you wrote:

  >I tried sending my first call for help to the guy below (but no
  >response)....do you have any advice??? Thanks, Ron
  >
  >
  >Subj: VROC and Linksys Lan: Can't Join or Host
  >Date: 3/1/99
  >To: rmxxx@...
  >
  >Help??
  >
  >I have a 450PII running windows 98, a 56K X2 USR modem and a Linksys
EtherPCI
  >LAN Card II network.  When I try to join a race I can get as far as
seeing
the
  >other person's address in my upper right address book, however, I
cannot
  >select it.  If I open my "CONNECT VIA" drop down button, I only have
one
  >choice, and it happens to be the same choice as when I race
head-to-head via
  >my network.  This is also true if I host a race.  I have to choose
CONNECT
VIA
  >my LAN network address (by the way, my LAN address is IPX Subnet
00000000
Node
  >0020781130A1).  I connect to your site first through AOL, then start
Netscape,
  >then use a bookmark to get to your site.
  >
  >Here's what I've tried (to no avail)...
  >
  >1.  Followed the instructions for to veryify dynamic IP changes...so I
only
  >start AOL then directly into Netscape (not getting out of Netscape at
all).
  >
  >2.  Tried DISABLING the LAN CARD....same results but a different IPX
address.
  >Still no other choices to connect to people I see in my adress book.
  >
  >3.  Tried REMOVING the LAN CARD from the CONTROL PANEL/SYSTEM/DEVICES
  >window....restart windows, but did not install the card...didn't work.
  >
  >Anyway, my friend that does race in VROC says the address book address
should
  >be one of my choices along with my modem and serial connection.
  >
  >In anycase, I can't join or host a race.  I hope I've provided enough
  >information for some assistance.  I'm out of ideas.  Its killing me
how much
  >fun I'm missing out on.
  >
  >Any help is greatly appreciated.
  >
  >Regards,
  >Ron



Alison

eaglewoman@...
http://eaglewoman.maximumspeed.com

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Here's some info from Paul Jones on hosting through a firewall:

Dear Alison,
I have just got ADSL from British Telecom, UK. The service is run
through a firewall with fixed local IP addresses for the BT ADSL LAN and
dynamically allocated external IP addresses. I have finally worked out
how to host over the internet through this type of firewall, so I
thought you may be interested in how I did it for your site.
I got hold of a little utility called TZO from www.tzo.com which allows
me to see my external ip address. I leave it running in my systray
during the whole time that I wish to host. Usually, I can only see my
local ip address but TZO tells me my external one and it is different
for each ADSL session due to the dynamic external ip addressing used by
my ISP. I minimise TZO and it runs in the systray. Then I go into VROC
setup and put either the actual TZO ip address or ukgpl.tzo.com in the
IP Address Override box. (ukgpl.tzo.com is what I set up as my TZO
address). Then I go back to the VROC Open Room and click "Host". When
GPL gets there I click my local ip address as the ip address to host on.
Interestingly if I ping ukgpl.tzo.com it returns my local ip address -
when others try to ping it is says host unreachable. But it works. Best
thing is to get someone else to test it with you.
Cheers,
Paul




Alison

eaglewoman@...
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Jan Kohl has published revised versions of the GPL track converters
which fix the starter problem.  These versions have a starter just like
all the original GPL tracks.

Be sure to download the new versions, especially if you are running on
VROC.  They are at:

   http://www.theuspits.com/1m/index.html

Alison

eaglewoman@...
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Thanks to David Noonan and The Pits, we now can use several tracks from Papyrus
CART and NASCAR sims.  GPL seems to handle these converted tracks gracefully
when racing in multiplayer mode; I've raced in a number of races on VROC at
Loudon, Homestead, and the modern-era Watkins Glen from NASCAR 1999 Edition.

The main problem is missing flagmen, so you don't get to see the green flag. 
Here's what I suggest for starting without a flag:

The first thing to remember is that the message "Press F1 for Help" appears
after the green flag drops. If you move before this message appears, you risk a
penalty for jumping the start.

One good way to start is to do a rolling pace lap, paced by the polesitter. The
polesitter should do this lap in 2nd gear, at about 80 mph. When the polesitter
has exited the last turn, he/she goes, and everyone else does too.

Another way to start is to do a standing start. Have the host type Go! in the
chat, a few seconds after the "Press F1 for Help" message appears.

The host should declare which type of start is to be used before everyone gets
to the grid.

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