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GPB unofficial guide

Started by HornetMaX, January 02, 2014, 12:19:40 AM

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HornetMaX

January 02, 2014, 04:25:28 PM #15 Last Edit: January 10, 2014, 12:03:53 PM by HornetMaX
4.1 Playing offline (Testing)

Testing (i.e. playing offline) allows you to play alone and does not need an internet connection nor the full version of GPB (demo is OK).

From GPB main menu, click on Testing to start a test session:

  • On the top of the screen you will be able to select a track from the ones you have installed (only Victoria Circuit is available in Demo mode).
  • On the left you have 2 tabs showing an image of the track (Image), the track layout, length and altitude (Track Info) and the weather parameters (Settings).
  • On the bottom of the screen you have buttons to go back to the main menu (Back), to select a Bike (Bike) and to go to the track (Start).
When selecting the Bike, you will be able to select:

  • The Bike model: basic ones are msm_125rr_07, msm_125rr_cup_07, varese_v594 and murasama_rc990_03. Other ones can be added, see 3.2 Add-ons: bikes.
  • The bike's Paint: to add paints see 3.3 Add-ons: paints.
  • The Helmet model: to add helmets see 3.4 Add-ons: helmets.
  • The Helmet paint: these come with the helmet model.
  • The Riding style: at the moment only 1 style is there (Blend).
IMPORTANT: in the Demo version of GPB, only the msm_125rr_07 bike (with default paint, default helmet, and default helmet paint) is allowed.

Once you click on Start, the track will load (it takes a few seconds) and you'll be on the Testing main screen. You have:

  • On the left: Event Info, Laps and Track info.
  • On the bottom: Back (exit to GPB main menu), Settings (same as GPB main menu settings), Replay (see ), Garage (see: ) and To Track (get on that bike !).

HornetMaX

January 02, 2014, 04:25:51 PM #16 Last Edit: January 19, 2014, 01:41:06 AM by HornetMaX
4.2 Playing online: connecting to servers

4.2.1 Servers list
To play online (which means with other players), you need to be connected to internet (you probably guessed it ;D).
From GPB main menu, click Race: typically you will see an empty list of servers, as GPB displays here the local servers. To access online servers, click on World (top right).

IMPORTANT: you can only see servers that are using a track that you have (identical version) and mod bikes that you have (again, identical versions).

Each line briefly describes a server :

  • Name : the server name. Often the necessary mods are part of the name (e.g. Hotlap + MOD 1.21).
  • Connected Players/ Total players capacity.
  • Track : notice that even if you have the right track, if the version is not identical you'll get a Data Mismatch error.
  • Category : It represents which types of bikes are allowed on track. Open means that every bike is allowed (in case of the bike is installed to server). It is possible to have restrictions, for example "GP1000". In this case, you'll be able to join the server only if you have a bike belonging to the category. If the server is Open, you can pick your bike before connecting to the server, clicking on Bike (bottom of the screen).
  • Lenght : Reprents in percentage length of the race. If a track has 25 laps by default, 20% means that race will be 5 laps.
  • Weather : It cans be S (Sunny), C (Cloudy), R (Rainy).
  • Status : Waiting means that the session is not started and will start once you're connected. Practice, Qualify and Race are the other options. Note that if the race is started, you will no tbe able to join the server.
  • Ping : ping between your computer and the server. Lower is better.

4.2.2 Connecting
To connect to a server just double click on the server line (or click once and then click on the Join button).

  • If the server has a password (or if you have admin rights on the server) you have to enter the password in the Password.
  • While connecting you normally see a message Connecting... for a brief time and then a message Connected... that lasts longer (sometimes much longer, depending on the server and on your computer speed).
When you see a riders list, you're online. Notice that the screen is very similar to the one for offline play, but it has an additional Chat button that allows to chat with the other riders.

Before going on track, take a look at online etiquette : 4.4 Playing online: etiquette.

4.2.3 Common issues

  • Stuck on Connected message : check your game hasn't crashed (do Alt+Tab to switch to desktop or other windows).
  • Data Mismatch : one of your mods (bikes or tracks) is not up to date, or you don't have every bikes installed on the server. For example if server has M1 and RCV installed and you just have RCV, you need to install the M1 to connect (even if you don't use it). Usually, bikes installed on server are indicated in server's name.
  • Bike Unknown to Server : you're using a bike that is not installed on the server.
  • Wrong password : you entered a wrong password or you didn't enter one whereas the server needs one. Bad.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

  • Playing online requires you to have everything up to date (version of the game, version of the track and version of bikes)
  • You can watch the server list without starting GP-Bikes. Just go in http://stats.gp-bikes.com/servers.php . It displays all servers, even if you don't have tracks installed. If during the installation of GPB you selected the Register URL protocol option, clicking Join in this server list will start GPB connecting to the server.

HornetMaX

January 02, 2014, 04:26:06 PM #17 Last Edit: January 20, 2014, 12:02:51 AM by HornetMaX
4.3 Playing online: Hosting a server

4.3.1 Hosting a server - the easy way
From GPB Main Menu, click on Race and then on Host Local (top left of the screen): you'll be asked to enter a server name (as it will appear in the Servers list), a password (will be necessary to connect to the server) and a max number of riders that can connect to it. Once this done, clicking on Continue will allow you to select the track (amongst the ones you have installed locally) and set a lot of parameters. Most are self-explanatory, others:

  • Category: Open means any bike can connect, if you sepcify a specific category (e.g. GP1000) only bikes in that category will be allowed on the server.
  • Sighting Lap: in a race, this is the lap that starts from the pits and takes the bike to the grid.
  • Warmup Lap: in a race, this is the lap from the grid to the grid, prior to the race start.
Once all set, clicking on Start will start the server and you will be able to play. Other players will normally be able to see your server and connect to it as described in 4.2 Playing online: connecting to servers. Notice that as soon as you exit the "race", the server shuts down.

IMPORTANT: GPB by default uses UDP ports 10500 and 10510 for network protocol. If you have a firewall (and, by the way, you should), you must open theses ports. How ? it depend son your firewall. Google is your friend.

4.3.2 Hosting a server - the PRO way
The proper way to host is to use a dedicated server. When doing this, you will have a process, the (in)famous core.exe, that will only run the server. To play on this server you will have to start GPB as usual (which starts another core.exe).

How it is done is explained here: Dedicated server. Notice only that in the .ini of the dedicated server you can change the UDP ports used: of course if you change them, you have to open them in your firewall.

HornetMaX

January 02, 2014, 04:26:33 PM #18 Last Edit: May 15, 2014, 11:40:26 PM by RiccoChicco
4.4 Playing online: etiquette
When you play online on public servers there's one golden rule to keep in mind: try not to annoy the other players. The golden rule (which by the way is valid in many other social contexts), can be further specialized as:

  • Never ever ever collide intentionally with another rider (unless he's OK with that). What for you is just a game may be a matter of life or death for another (OK, I'm exaggerating a bit here but you get the idea). If you want to do demolition derby, host your own server (and go see a psy about that, it may have implications).
  • If you collide unintentionally, use the chat and excuse yourself: the other rider will think you're only half-stupid.
  • Don't stop in the middle of the track and then go AFK, including (but not limited to):

    • to the toilet for a piss
    • to the kitchen for a sandwich
    • to your bedroom to "see" your sexual partner
    Go back to the pits and then do whatever you want, but don't stop on the track ! Actually, not even beside the track, it's distracting.
  • Riding a circuit in the wrong direction is ... wrong. Don't do it.
  • Exiting the pits in the wrong direction is ... guess what, wrong. Don't do it.
  • When leaving the pit, give way (precedence) to riders already on track (passing the start/finish) in such a manner that they are in no way obstructed in their lap time. Also, don't cut the exit pit lane.
  • There are test servers: going there and doing a poll for a race will eventually force the players that do not want to do a race to leave the server. Bad. Don't.
  • If your ping is terrible (let's say 200+) you are likely to be an annoyance to the other riders.

If you don't know how to react in front of flags (blue, yellow, etc...) please read this article

Server admins can ban players from the servers. You didn't know ? Well now you do.

And by the way, if you cheat, you're a sad human being. We're all sorry for you.

HornetMaX

January 10, 2014, 12:06:32 PM #19 Last Edit: January 22, 2014, 11:39:31 AM by HornetMaX
5.1 Replays: view/edit saved replays
From GPB main menu, clicking on Replay will allow you to load (and delete) an already existing replay. Notice that:

  • replays are saved under the GPB data folder (in the replays sub-folder).
  • one single replay file stores replays of all the riders that were on track when the replay was captured.
Once you are in the replay mode you will see:

  • Top of the screen: some timing/laps information and two pull-down menus allowing you to select which rider to follow and using which camera.
  • Bottom of the screen:

         
    • a time bar with a slider you can drag.
    • a set of vcr-like buttons (mouse-over it and wait will show you a description of each button's action).
    • a green and a red "cue" buttons, allowing to set start and end point (i.e. to select a subset of the time bar whole range).
    • a Save button, to save the currently selected time range to a new replay file (i.e. you can cut an existing replay).
    • a small ? (question mark) on the bottom left, showing the keyboard shortcuts during replays.
The cameras Free and Free-Roam can be moved while watching the replay: you will have to use the keyboard shortcuts.

HornetMaX

January 10, 2014, 12:06:38 PM #20 Last Edit: May 15, 2014, 11:45:37 PM by RiccoChicco
5.2 Replays: replays while playing offline/online
While playing offline you can access the replay:

  • while on the bike, pressing Esc and then clicking on Replay.
  • from the pits, clicking on Replay
When playing online, you can only access the replay from the pits.

The major difference concerning replays between offline and online is that in offline mode when you press Esc or you are in the pits, the time is "frozen". On the other hand, when online the time will go on. This means that when online and in replay mode:

  • if you put the slider of the time bar somewhere (except the rightmost point), you will see it move to the left (time flies !).
  • if you put the slider of the time bar to the rightmost point, you will be watching live: this way you can watch real time other riders.
That aside, you can watch/cut/save the replays as describes previously. Keep in mind that the replay file is limited by the size specified in your gpbikes.ini file (see gpbikes.ini).

Note : When viewing a replay you can press the "spacebar" to hide the replay control interface.

HornetMaX

January 10, 2014, 12:09:11 PM #21 Last Edit: May 15, 2014, 11:47:20 PM by RiccoChicco
6.1 Garage: common settings

You can access the garage from the event/testing screen, clicking on the Garage button in the lower part of the screen. Once in the garage the screen has 5 main areas:

  • Default setups: here you can define one of your setups as the default setup for the 4 different conditions (Dry Qualify/Race, Wet Qualify/Race). This means that, for example, when you are in an event and the race session starts in dry conditions, by default GPB will load the specified setup. Of course, you can then modify it, it's just handy.
  • Current setup: that's the setup is currently on the bike. If the name appear with a star (*) before it this means that you have loaded one setup, made some changes and not yet saved the changes. GPB will however keep this saved in a separate file (setup files are .stp, the single not-yet-saved setup has extension .stt).
  • Setup commands: here you can:

         
    • Save/Save as the current setup.
    • Add Notes to the current setup.
    • Copy a setup from another track's setups.
    • Delete a setup.
    • Undo the changes you have done (not yet saved changes).
    • Export the current setup to a .html file (located in the GPB data directory, under the folder exports).
    • Access the Shared setups: these are setups that other players have sent you while playing online.
  • Tire management: here you can see (top to bottom):

         
    • 2 controls to select a specific set of tires (front/rear).
    • 2 representations of the tire wear level (3 zones) + temperature (3 zones) and pressure info. Fuel level is in the middle.
    Notice that different set of tires of the same type (e.g. Hard 1 and Hard 2) are identical: they are just 2 separate sets. This is important in events with limited number of tire sets: if you wear out all your soft tires during practice and qualify, then in race you will have them worn as you left them. In the simulation options (see )1.6 Graphics, Misc and Simulation settings you can instruct GPB to always put a new set of tires (same type as psecified in your setup) every time you exit the pits (that's only for events without limited sets, of course).
    Note : this is only for viewing the conditions of the tyres, selecting another set there does not actually change the tyre set on the bike.
  • Bike settings panels: 2 tabs (General, Suspensions, Drivetrain and Others) showing bike-specific settings, discussed in the next chapters.

HornetMaX

January 10, 2014, 12:09:30 PM #22 Last Edit: January 27, 2014, 09:37:08 PM by HornetMaX
6.2 Garage: general tab

NOTE: the settings shown here are for the default 990 bike. Other bikes may have different settings (extra ones, missing ones, less choices etc).

From here you'll be able to change:

  • Fuel: quantity to put on the bike.
  • Tyres: type (e.g. Hard or Soft) and which set (e.g. Hard 1 or Hard 2). The sets are identical, except their wear level (counts only for events with limited number of tyre sets).
  • Brakes:

         
    • Front leverage: changes the feeling of the brake, typically shorter leverage means more pressure transmitted (for the same hand applied force) but with less precision.
    • Front disc: e.g. steel/carbon and diameter.
    • Rear Master Cylinder: diameter of the rear master cylinder, smaller means more pressure transmitted (for the same hand applied force).
    • Rear Disc: same as front.
  • Engine mapping: different engine maps (e.g. Wet, Race 1, Race 2, Qailify).

HornetMaX

January 10, 2014, 12:09:46 PM #23 Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 09:50:20 PM by HornetMaX
6.3 Garage: suspensions

NOTE: the settings shown here are for the default 990 bike. Other bikes may have different settings (extra ones, missing ones, less choices etc).

Here you will be able to tweak your front and rear suspensions:

  • Spring: this is the spring stiffness, i.e. how much force you have to put in order to change the suspension length by a given length. Units are Newton per millimeter (N/mm). In case somebody cares, for the front fork GPB considers that there are two springs (so the total stiffness is the double of the value you set).
  • Bump and Rebound: these are parameters of the damper, in charge of attenuating the oscillations due to the spring. There are no units (in practice), on a real bike you typically have a rotating dial and you count the number of clicks. Bump acts when the suspension is compressed while Rebound acts when the suspension is extended. A high Bump will make the suspension compress slower compared to a low Bump. A high Rebound will make the suspension extend slower compared to a low Rebound .
  • Preload: typically, the spring is compressed by a given amount even when the suspension is fully extended. The Preload allows you to change that amount and can be useful to avoid the suspension hitting its limits when riding (bottoming out, topping out), as the preload effectively changes the sag (i.e. the difference between the fully extended length of the suspension and the length compressed by the weight of the motorcycle and rider).
Front fork also allow to set the Oil level (in millimeters): in the fork you have some oil  and some air. The air is compressible and hence acts as a spring, but as a non-linear one: the more you compress it, the more its stiffness increases (in general, this is labelled as "progressive" behavior, while the opposite is "degressive"). This effect depends on the initial volume of air: more oil (so less air) and the effect will be greater (i.e. the stiffness will increase more when you compress the fork). Typically the impact of this is sensible only for large compression of the fork.

HornetMaX

January 10, 2014, 12:10:00 PM #24 Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 09:57:49 PM by HornetMaX
6.4 Garage: drivetrain

NOTE: the settings shown here are for the default 990 bike. Other bikes may have different settings (extra ones, missing ones, less choices etc).

Here you can change the gearbox ratios (one ratio for each gear) and the final transmission ratio (Front Sprocket and Rear Sprocket). Things to keep in mind:

  • At the right of each gear ratio GPB shows the theoretical max speed in that gear with that ratio (and with the current final transmission ratio). This is only a theoretical value as it does not take into account factors like the aerodynamic drag, the rear wheel longitudinal slip and the rear wheel diameter change (due to rotation). The real speed you can obtain is hence lower than the one shown.
  • Internally the engine has another transmission ratio, the primary one. So if you want translates engine RPMs into wheel RPMs, you have to multiply the 3 ratios (primary, gear and final). The primary ratio is a property of the bike, you cannot change it.

HornetMaX

January 10, 2014, 12:10:17 PM #25 Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 10:22:55 PM by HornetMaX
6.5 Garage: others tab

NOTE: the settings shown here are for the default 990 bike. Other bikes may have different settings (extra ones, missing ones, less choices etc).

Under the Geometry part, you'll have:

  • Rake: the rake is the angle between the steering axis and a line perpendicular to the ground (hence vertical if we assume the ground horizontal). In general, this angle depends on the angle you set between the front head assembly and the chassis, but also on the chassis pitch. The angle shown by GPB here is the angle between the steering axis and the chassis. As a general rule, a small rake gives a more reactive bike while a bigger one leads to more directional stability.
  • Swing Arm pivot: at the moment this has no impact in the game. In general, on some bikes you can slightly change the position of the swing arm joint in the chassis: this impacts essentially the squat behavior of the bike. If you accelerate in steady conditions (bike going straight at constant speed) the rear suspension can either compress (bike squatting) or extend:  for a bike with chain transmission this depends on the relative position of front and rear sprockets (and the rear one depends on the swing arm joint position).
  • Swing Arm Length: this determines the swing arm length and hence affects the wheelbase but also the squat behavior seen above. Typically, a long swing arm will provide more directional stability and a smaller willingness to wheelie, but also a bike that turns less easily.
Then you have front and rear tyre Pressures (not a lot to explain here) and finally the Electronics (for the bikes that have it):

  • TCS: Traction Control System, the higher the setting, the lesser chances to lose the rear when opening the throttle you have.
  • Engine Braking: how much the engine will brke (or try to) when you close the throttle and/or shift down. Surprisingly, here 0 means maximum engine braking, 3 is minimum.
  • Anti Wheeling: electronic system that cuts some power when the bike is wheeling. 0 = OFF, 3 = maximum.