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15 December 1997
The Setup Guide has been updated! It has been cleaned up a bit and now includes a new section on driver adjustments, such as weight jack and turbo boost.Good news for those looking for frame rate increases: the patch will include a flat-shading option for the graphics.
10 December 1997
Here is the latest list of changes and fixes included in the upcoming patch:
1) Improve AI
2) Boosting frame rate
3) Game controller null-zone (slider control added)
4) Pit lane auto-pilot (apparently removed)
5) Gamma for track brightness (slider control added)
6) Gamma for car brightness (slider control added)
7) Rain tires (no advantage in the dry)
8) Friction levels on the grass
9) More precise control over graphics settings
10) Assorted bugs
11) Steering ratio maximum increased in garage (probably to 18)
12) <Default> setups improved for beginners
13) Wing-type error fixedOne item not included is Glide (3Dfx) support. It seems that Terminal Reality found enough optimizations in Direct 3D that it matched the performance of the Glide port. The developers have seen frame rate increases of 25% to 50%. The patched version will be sent to beta testers shortly.
Here are two web sites with updated 1997 CART cars (including alcohol and tobacco advertising):
http://members.aol.com/DPruzin/cpr.html (compete car set)
http://www.radiantweb.com/redwolf30/ (individual cars)6 December 1997
The upcoming patch will include slider controls for gamma (color brightness) and for the controller "null zone," which is the area around the middle of the joystick or steering wheel range where the controller is considered to be centered. The null zone may be responsible for some of the car wandering that people are experiencing: with too large a null zone, subtle steering adjustments to the joystick or wheel go unnoticed by CPR, making the car seem like it is wandering.T1 and T2 steering wheel users: make sure that you follow the ReadMe.txt instructions exactly when setting up your wheel. A new Game Controllers control panel is part of DirectX 5 and needs to be set up properly. In addition, be sure that the "poll with interrupts" option under the "advanced" tab is unchecked.
Here is an old tip that some people may not know: if you want to substitute your name for the real-world driver's name, you can do so by editing the "drivers.txt" file in the "races" folder.
4 December 1997
The PaintKit program has been released! It is a utility which extracts the textures from a car and saves them as a tga file, allowing you to modify them with your favorite paint program. The utility then recompiles the modified tga file back into a new pod file called "usercar.pod", which is automatically used by CPR instead of the default "Racecar.pod". The PaintKit can be found in the Download section.Here is a tip: if you are looking for maximum speed (and who isn't?) make sure that the "race car performance" realism option is turned off . If this option is left on, your engine's performance will reflect its real-life counterpart, which almost always means performance will be something less than optimal. By turning race car performance off, all cars perform optimally, allowing you to choose the car/driver you like.
Similarly, when racing at the Zone, you may not be able to keep up with other racers if the host has the "race car performance" realism option turned on and you are using an engine which has a lower performance rating. I feel that race car performance should be turned off when racing on the Zone to give everybody an equal chance. However, to be on the safe side, a wise choice when Zone racing would be Alex Zanardi -- he probably has the best engine rating (which I hope to verify).
So why did Microsoft even include the "race car performance" option it is best to leave it off? The answer is that if you are looking for a realistic performance spread among the AI cars, then you would want to turn the option on. That way, the Toyotas will be at the back of the pack as they were during the 1997 season.
NOTE: Each program should have installation instructions included in the zip. Please do not email us with technical problems or installation questions on programs not written by us. In that file should be the original author's email... please contact them for any other problems. NEW USERS: You will need to get a zip utility to use these programs.
1997 CART Car Set v1.0 by Devin Pruzin. Complete car set with tobacco and alcohol advertising.
PaintKit by Terminal Reality. A utility which extracts the textures from a car and saves them as a tga file, allowing you to modify them with your favorite paint program. The utility then recompiles the modified tga file back into a new pod file called "usercar.pod", which is automatically used by CPR instead of the default "Racecar.pod".
Race Setups v1.05 by Jim Getzen. Setups for all 17 tracks. This setup package is updated regularly.
Need help in diagnosing a car handling problem? Would you like to learn more about the options in the CPR garage and how each of them affects the handling of the car? Then you need our CPR setup guide.
The tips are categorized into frame rate tips, helpful tips, and fun tips.
Frame Rate Tips
-- Set the "draw ahead" (clipping) to 15 or 18, using Cntrl-H to decrease it and Cntrl-F to increase it. This has a dramatic affect on the frame rate, and you may not even notice the graphical difference.-- Make sure "poll interrupts" is unchecked in your Game Controllers control panel (this option is under the "Advanced" tab.
-- Set the Sound Quality to "Normal 8-bit".
-- Turn off the map ("m"), the leader board ("o"), the sky (Ctrl-N), and the steering wheel (in the graphic options). Make sure your mirrors are set to "cars only." Turn off hills and buildings (Ctrl-B). While you lose some eye candy, if you are serious about racing, you won't notice it anyway.
-- If possible, get a 3Dfx card or a fast D3D card (such as the Diamond Viper 330).
Helpful Tips
-- If you are looking for maximum speed (and who isn't?) make sure that the "race car performance" realism option is turned off . If this option is left on, your engine's performance will reflect its real-life counterpart, which almost always means performance will be something less than optimal. By turning race car performance off, all cars perform optimally, allowing you to choose the car/driver you like.-- When racing at the Zone, you may not be able to keep up with other racers if the host has the "race car performance" realism option turned on and you are using a car which has an engine with a lower performance rating. I feel that race car performance should be turned off when racing on the Zone to give everybody an equal chance. However, to be on the safe side, a wise choice when Zone racing would be Alex Zanardi -- he was good at all tracks.
-- Here is a tip for Zone users: When Zone racing, your realism settings (pitting, crash damage, tire wear, etc.) are changed to match those of the Host. To keep your "solo" settings from being altered, create a new driver in the opening CPR screen, and then use that driver, instead of your "solo" driver, when you race on the Zone. When you create the new driver, make sure the other settings (controls and the like) are setup the way you like them.
-- Suffer from twitching handling? Here are three things that can help: (1) increase the non-linear steering setting in the Controls menu, (2) decrease the steering ratio in the Garage (under suspension - axle), and (3) reduce the front wing angle. Many people overlook that last one, and it makes a big difference.
-- When you are driving and have the map displayed, if you hit "R" the map will rotate so that it is always oriented to your position on the track. This can make it easier to determine where you and the other cars are on the course. Hit "MRM" to change the map view to a more enlarged version and "MRM" again to return to the original map view.
Fun Tips
-- If you want to substitute your name for the real-world driver's name, you can do so by editing the "drivers.txt" file in the "races" folder.-- Typing "CAR" while you are driving will turn your car into the pace car (you will need to switch views by hitting "v" to see the effect). It can be a strange experience -- when I tried it, I got into some sort of trouble and the front of the car raised up, doing a "fender ballet" for a minute or so. Wild.
-- If you are racing on the Gaming Zone and find yourself out of a race, consider pulling over (well out of the way of traffic) and hitting "K" to switch your view to the other cars in a race and "V" to switch the camera angle. It can just be fun to watch some racing, and it can be a great way to pick up some driving tips if there is a skilled driver in the race. Just make sure to return to your own car (press the "Home" key) when the winner crosses the finish line and drive across the line yourself. Otherwise the race will be waiting on you before it can some to an end.
Here are some other good CART Precision Racing sites:
Official Pages
Microsoft's Site
Terminal Reality's SiteFan Sites
Unofficial CART Precision Racing HQ - recommended! :-)
The Apex - good site, lots of information
The CART Precision Racing Playground
Rapid Performance Motorsports
CART Precision Racing Car Sets - complete 1997 car set
Red Wolf's Underground Garage - individual cars
The Racer's Edge
Questions or comments about this page? Contact Jim Getzen.
