my gpbikes.ini has the following graphic settings in the [core] section::
[core]
replay = 128
bike_shadow = 512
bike_reflections = 1024
texture_quality = 1
if i have understood things correctly, the texture quality = 1 is the maximum graphical setting, so this is still set highest.
i turned down my replay from 256 to 128, and bike shadow from 1024 to 512.
this setting still keeps things looking pretty sharp, so i haven't made any further changes here.
with this setting, the first time i noticed a big hit was with this new Brands track.
following the advice given, i turned my ingame slider bar for textures from High to Medium, and that immediately made a huge difference for me.
Brands now well playable.
at least i can gather from this that it's definitely a system thing, as well, so when i do eventually upgrade to a 'bigger, better, faster, MORE!' machine, things should get proportionately easier to run at highest settings again.
