Seems like there's something wrong with Steam, atleast I can't even launch it. Can't get past "Updating Steam..." right after install. I've double-checked firewall and router settings, but in logs there's no sign of any connection attempts by Steam.

For graphics card I would recommend looking into Radeon HD4850 or HD4870 as they seem to be offering a damn decent performance for the price.

Also check if Adobe updater is running while you're playing.

Track seems way too small for big dragsters and lack of any runoff zone makes me wonder why are these drivers even willing to race there.

Speaking of his driving style, pay attention to tirewear compared to his teammate. "Lockbrake Lewis" has a bad habit of wearing out tires way too fast, good example is Canada where Kovalainen was told through radio to pace down after team noticed that Hamilton's tires were totally finished. On pictures his (Kovalainen) tires seemed just fine.

Last edited by Crommi, Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:36.

And by the way, if you're using programs like this, make sure to block it's internet access or just don't use them at all if you're using comp for paying bills, shopping or anything else that involves accessing your bank account / inserting credit card details.

Quote from The Radness :

In the Formula BMX you have to lift off the throttle to change gears, every gear, otherwise you WILL burn your clutch.

This is incorrect, lifting the throttle is required to change up as AndroidXP explained. Clutchkick can be used aswell but it can be slower and will cause your clutch to heat up. On some tracks you can also use bumps to switch gears without having to lift throttle, for an example those tram tracks on SO6 main straight.

You cannot burn your clutch if you try to shift without lifting the throttle or using clutch, but you're not going to get on next gear either.

Last edited by Crommi, Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:00.

Quote from JCTK :

show any emotion~? no
show off his d**k~? certainly he did at a pub when he was drunk...

When Kimi is not drunk, he's in hibernation mode.
Besides, who hasn't done something like that

Quote from Shotglass :

youre thinking too far ahead... what about the pizza?

Next morning he'd be sitting on a toilet giving birth to a car.

Problem with those powersupply ratings is that some manufacturer's come up with the numbers based on tests that do not apply in real life such as running it on 20'C temperature or measuring maximum output power based on when it breaks down.

Example:
"DiscountChina Purepower 600W" has been rated to handle up to 600W in 20'C temperature. Now put it inside a computer case where temps are usually ~40'C and see if it still can reach 600W output before blowing up. Actual performance is close to 350W powersupply.

Now, let's bring out "Geekfest K6 600W" powersupply. It's twice as expensive but it's been tested and proven to handle it's maximum capacity for long period and components are rated for much higher ampers to give enough safe margin. Considering that PSU usually lasts with you for a very long time, going for something durable is obviously better choise.

Disclaimer: brands are from top of my head as I haven't paid attention to what are the good brands at the moment.

Last edited by Crommi, Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:54.

Quote from Origamiboy :

If you were careful and did some research you could build a rig yourself that would blow that one out of the water, for the same price (or just under).. Depending on what bits you already have, of course.

A while back I upgraded to a Q6600, 4gb RAM, 8800gt oc 512mb, 500W quiet PSU for just under £400 from these guys...

The thing is, not everyone knows how to build a computer and do so without breaking something. It's much easier when you're given one component and said "This is graphics card, now look inside and replace that one with this." compared to situation where you have craploads of pieces and no idea which one goes where.

I managed to destroy integrated soundchip in first motherboard I installed by not realizing to adjust those screwmounts according to holes on new mobo.

Quote from drift01010 :

it honestly depends there are some good Nissans. i just want to learn to drift.

In that case you would want to go for something with low price, RWD and cheap to repair.

Who needs monsters when you got motorbike!

Quote from serioussam909 :

GT 4 was flying saucer simulator:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoaqAjbYwHA
Nothing has changed in GT5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k06rbmYZSWE

That is caused by the fact that it's not possible to roll over and it's prevented by not allowing car rotation to go over certain degree. This and lack of damage hasn't never really bothered me since the idea is to not crash into walls and it's much more rewarding to drive smoothly.

Came across another bug in 9.5 with these forums... topics that I visit are not marked as "read" unless I click the "Mark forum as read" which applies it to all topics...

Edit: Classic Opera 8/9.2x skin can be found here

Last edited by Crommi, Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:25.

Couple here, just select your card from the list and click search.

Or alot more over here if limited selection of drivers from Nvidia's list was not enough.

Quote from mrfell :

As already stated, its probably emissions at a given speed / revs. Not sure if noise is taken into consideration. AFAIK most new engines are in a state of detune because of strict emissions. Once sold however, you can release the extra power and make them breathe properly.

I suppose that depends on country, I don't think chip tuned car would pass the annual check here due to increased emissions unless you de-tune it everytime you bring your car in or re-register it with new specs. I believe maximum legal power increase is ~20% or so, could be wrong.

My last car managed to fail the check due to different color numberplate lights (bright and yellow'ish) but got OK with busted brake disks and broken handbrake.

Don't really like new looks, new default reminds me of IE or FF and it's not really easy for the eyes with heavy contrast. Old style layout ain't much better but atleast it more neutral. However they should have stick to old backround gradient because this one looks afwul on left once it starts to fade into beige.

Edit: Pages are definately rendered faster than before.
Edit2: Apparently it's 9.50 is kinda buggy. Fixes should be released within week or two as 9.51

Last edited by Crommi, Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:35.

Anyone thinks that pricing horse has been beaten to death already, maybe we could discuss about the physics or tire model? I mean, does anyone actually care if person A thinks price is fine or person B thinks it's outrageous?

I've already made my decision about the pricing and would like to know how the physics and overall driving feeling is compared to other racing sims we have on the market right now (LFS, rFactor, GTR2). Also other stuff like do tirewalls deform, what kind of damage model suspension has, is aero damage implemented and so on...

Considering the size of your scene compared to object, there might not even be any noticable difference with higher resolution texture.

This might help: ZBrush To Maya Displacement Guide
I'm still practising the modeling part and totally suck at texturing, so haven't really looked much into making displacement maps

Speaking of, your stuff looks really nice apart from the texture on "Barry" that seems so low res compared to displacement map.

In Maya, can you edit the UVW map by moving/rotating/scaling faces. I mean that if you could just select all faces and apply UVW map on that. Then when you go edit it, flatten it and scale up so that only the 9x2 faces on the beginning fit on it. If you shape doesn't bend up and down this should work as well since tiling will repeat the texture on rest of the object. Basically you don't have to align every single face on UVW map, just use few in the beginning to get size right.

Kinda hard to explain, especially when I don't know the program.

Quote from dawesdust_12 :

I just whipped up a quick scene in 3dsmax, (not very complex, simple box that is edited to go in a /--\ shape) and for it to work I needed to use box mapping with the UVW Mapping modifier.

Box mapping doesn't work in this case because object is rather long with bends back and forth. In 3dsmax you would simply just use Unwrap UVW modifier and choose "Face" for mapping option. But then again, he's looking for help regarding Maya and I don't know if there is similiar way to do it.

Haven't really used Maya but to me it seems like the problem here is caused by projectin textures from camera's direction with planar mapping. It won't work because the faces you want to texture are in different angles. For solution, I'm not familiar with options you have in Maya but see if there's an option to align texture according to face/surface direction.

Quote from Becky Rose :

Oh here's an interesting side note if your looking at modelling... My artists tell me that Maya is generally better for organic modelling such as people, and Max is better at non-organics like vehicles, buildings, and so on

Basically, both work just fine no matter what kind of objects you're doing. From what I've read, Maya has an edge when it comes to NURBS modeling but 3DS Max has better tools for polymodeling. The method doesn't necessarily decide what you can do, for an example Rhinoceros is really good program for industrial design and accurate modeling by using NURBS but it's tools are designed for non-organic objects.

Zbrush on the otherhand is slightly different as it's emphasis is on "sculpting", not great for accuracy but fantastic for organic shapes if you have tablet and pen.

Quote from th84 :

I just try not to drop my cigarette. Maybe thats why Im so slow.

Exactly why I drink coffee when driving. Have to finish races fast as possible so it won't get cold or so I can run to the bathroom.