Newsgroup: it.comp.giochi.simulatori
Titolo: [GPL] Intervista a Doug Arnao LUNGO!!!!!

Intervista a Doug Arnao, consulente e beta tester dei Papy (chi ha
letto il manuale di Gpl sa chi e').
Tutta l'intervista e'  molto, molto interessante.
Uno dei passi piu' curiosi e'  questo:
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15-Papyrus blessed us with Gpl and N4, what is the next simulation
planned? will it be N5,  modern single seaters or a gpl2?
Papyrus would like to do a modern F1 sim, but Sierra wants N5 first.
Papy is trying to sell them on the F1 idea last I heard :)
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Uno dei miei prefetiri e'  questo :
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3-Most of us regard Gpl as THE reference in term of racing Simulation
games, do you share that opinion?
 Absolutely. It was a quantum leap ahead of anything else ever done to
simulate a real racecar. I remember my first reaction when I took my
first laps in an early GPL alpha. I said "My god, they've actually
done it - this is right"
--------------------------------
Eccovi l'intervista completa (mi scuso con chi non sa l'inglese ma e'
troppo lunga per tradurla).
===========================================
--Xavier 1-You are associated with Racing simulation games from
Papyrus, you are mentionned several times in the French Gpl manual and
you are a reference point in Nascar4, apart from that what you could
tell us about yourself to feed our curiosity?
--Doug Born in New York and grew up in New Jersey during the 60''s and
70's - I am 45 years old. No college education - just high school. I
was too impatient to get on with my life to keep going to school.
 I started racing VW's when I was a teenager at local dragstrips. I
graduated to roadrace type cars after someone offered me a ride in a
modified Porsche 914/6 to try to impress me - and he did :). Never
drag-raced again. Sold everything and when out and bought my first
Porsche, a 914/6. In 1979, I joined the local Porsche club to be able
to get to the tracks to feed my need to go fast. I was way too
aggressive and crashed a few times in the first year, I then started
to realize I really needed to "figure" this stuff out because I would
only settle for being the fastest out there...that was my goal. By
1982 I was a PCA driving instructor, by 1983 I had become the "fast
guy" in our club.
I went to work for a European car parts distributor around that time,
and in 1984 I bought it with some borrowed money. That was Vehicle
Craft Inc. (VCI). I made it a dual purpose shop with parts and "racing
Porsche services" I self taught myself everything I needed to know
about building reliable fast Porsche racecars through reading
everything I could get my hands on and then applying it to my own
914/6, then going to the track practically every weekend :). Their
were allot of "events" held in the area by the various PCA clubs that
you could go to, so you could drive on one the northeast tracks
practically every weekend. By the time I decided to go racing for
real, I had thousands of laps on the tracks that we would be racing on
. In 1984-85 I did some IMSA GTU events in a highly modified 914/6
with  a team of friends that we put together. I co-drove and did allot
of the work on the car. We were way over our heads.........not nearly
experienced enough yet. 
In 1987, I was allot smarter <g>, and I decided to go SCCA racing in
the GT-2 class. I built a tube-framed Porsche 914/6 of my own design.
I did all the fabrication drawings myself, and based it on optimizing
everything I had learned over the last 8 years of trying to make a
stock tub based 914/6 go fast. Got the car ready for a few races in
late 88' then ran a serious effort in the 89 season. The car was an
immediate success winning 12 straight races and a championship 3 years
in a row........I won over 30 races with that car. I stopped racing
full time in 1994 after getting married and having a few children. I
still had the racecar business which I do full time today. My main
specialty is suspensions and setups :)
 
2-Just to go back to Gpl, what has been your task in the game
development?
Just reality check feedback. I was asked to give real world feedback -
specially when something didn't "look" right. I eventually became
Keammers "thorn in his side" as I picked apart everything he did -
lol.....really, though, we respect each other tremendously. He's one
of my hero's :)
3-Most of us regard Gpl as THE reference in term of racing Simulation
games, do you share that opinion?
 Absolutely. It was a quantum leap ahead of anything else ever done to
simulate a real racecar. I remember my first reaction when I took my
first laps in an early GPL alpha. I said "My god, they've actually
done it - this is right" even though it was near impossible to drive
at the time (yes much harder than the release) the realistic 3D
physics were shining through. Part of the beta teams job was to help
polish that model and let Dave Keammer know in a collective voice when
it was right. Keammer at the time had never driven  a real racecar, so
he was going slightly blind. He since is very accomplished at the real
thing in Barber/Dodge formula series.
 
4-N4 and Gpl share the same "engine"  to simulate the reality but how
do
they fare when compared to real cars? 
 
Not perfect, but it's really amazing how close they are. Every nuance
I use in driving a real racecar transfers over pretty much unchanged
in driving the GPL/N4 sims. There are still "driving the game"
elements to each that is the nature of a computer-based sim, but for
the large part it is very accurate. For me the "suspension of
dis-belief" is very high and it gives me a sense of accomplishment and
satisfaction that no other activity ,outside of real racing and
raising a family, has ever given me. The NEED to keep going back to it
is what makes these sims so great, they beg to be constantly mastered,
which of course you can never totally do.......
And Are Gpl and N4 a truer simulation to car racing than, let's say,
Flight Simulator is to flying?
Quantum leap of even the best flight sim, IMHO. 
 
5-We recently and happily noticed that you joined the TLS team, what
is your
task with them?
 Doing what I have done from the beginning. Giving back to the sim
community with setup help. A real race car is a daunting task to setup
comfortably AND fast at the same time. Because of the accuracy of N4,
there was a serious need for help. When I first started reading the
TLS forums I saw allot of mis-information and confusion about setups
going on, so I thought I would answer a few of the questions. The
reactions were overwhelming and next thing I know I was the "guru" LOL
:)
 6-To talk about "setups" there are countless examples where you help
other sim-drivers on the TLS Forum and I must add your replies are
really impressive.
 Thanks, I don't try to make them impressive, just easy to understand.
That's not simple to do without talking "down" to fellow simmers, so I
try to keep that it mind when I reply
Where did you learn the science or the art of setups and why do you
share
that advantage so graciously?
 BOOKS - read them all. Then I tried everything on my own racecar and
tested it. Then came up with my own tweaks / theories.  Then even
decided some of the "books" were not very good. For instance, I am not
a fan of Paul Van Valkenburgh anymore but am a HUGE  fan of Caroll
Smith and The Millikens.
7-Could you tell us more about you curriculum as a driver or within
Motorsport? 
Covered most of it in question #1, but currently I don't race
actively, but DO drive Porsche racecars allot. I have done some on and
off guest driving at PCA races. I am always driving and testing
Porsches as part of my business. I will go to a PCA driving events and
drive customer cars, or potential customer cars, to evaluate
suspension changes. I might drive up to 5 or 6 different cars in a
weekend :).
 
8-We notice no difference whatsoever between chassis in N4 but is it
so in
the real Nascar?
Is it a  lazy shortcut from Papyrus or is it so very close out there?
 Both, It is so very, very close out there in real Nascar, and Papy
saved huge amounts of time in the delivery date to not model the tiny
differences........
 
9-Nascar is not very popular in Europe nor it is truly appreciated, no
doubt
they think than driving on an oval is boring and requires less skills
than
racing on a proper circuit.
What you say to those  European "doubters"? 
There's not much to say. Either you like to watch CLOSE racing or you
don't. The technical end if it gets boring to me after awhile and
clouds the picture as to why we are all in love with this sport.
Nascar has come a long ways from the 60's. 70's, and even the 80's
technically. But what hasn't changed is the racing. Does it require
less skills? Maybe a smaller "set" of skills, but the skills they have
are as highly developed as any F1 drivers.
 The speeds these guys drive at for 500 miles is beyond comprehension
for most of us. Truly extraordinary. The concentration level and
precision with which they have to negotiate at these constant speeds
is equally daunting. I had my first dose of respect for these men when
we were allowed to run Pocono's full Nascar tri-oval at one of our PCA
events way back when I first started. It was a real eye-opener how
SLOW we were in our fancy modified Porsche's compared to the Nascar
boys. And how SCARED we all were at those slow speeds - I immediately
became a fan :) 
 
10-According to you who and where are the best drivers? F1, champ
cars, Nascar?
 The best drivers are probably in F1.  However, the best of all-time
are the ones who could drive ANYTHING and be great in ANY
series....like a Mario Andretti - Schumacher has yet to prove that,
and I'm guessing he never will :)
 
11-Juan pablo Montoya, the 2000 Indy500 winner has gone to F1, Florent
Lambert
(my friend who is translating my questions to you) believes that he is
a
future all time Great.
What is your opinion?
I think Montoya has the stuff to be world champion, yes. However, I
don't think Mr. Lambert does - lol
 
12-In modern racing and in F1 especially we learn that following a car
too
close creates a few problems such as engine overheating, loss of
downforce...
Are they subject to same problems in Nascar despite long snakes of
cars
bumper to bumper?
 Yes they have the same problems, and it is one major thing that can
separate the good teams from the bad teams. The handle on
aerodynamics is critical to Nascar teams. It's one of the few "unfair
advantages" they can have in such a tight series. Getting their car to
work better than others in the draft is definite advantage AND
possible .....in N4 too :)
 
13-Via the Papyrus Nascar series, we discover lots of fabulous US
tracks, what
are your favorites
 
In real life - Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta.
In N4 - Indy, Rockingham, Texas - The Glen and Sears, too. There is
really no tracks I  don't like....
 
14-Have you ever driven a Nascar...car and if yes we want to know
everything :)
LOL - yes. At Charlotte (Lowes). I did about 80 laps in a Winston cup
car. It pulls left and steer itself into the corners, you can
practically let go of the steering wheel. It's a smaller feeling car
than I expected and fairly easy to drive at the level I was driving it
at. Tons of torque and the setup gave me lots of feedback. One of the
things that the instructors pounded into us was how SMOOTH you had to
be on the throttle - on and off. Anyone ever heard me say that? ;) My
fastest lap was 164 mph avg and the real guys go high 170's - which
doesn't sound like much, but it's really about 10 levels above what I
was doing.......... I also got a ride in the passenger seat of Jeff
Gordon car piloted by a test driver for Darell Walltrip. That OPENED
my eyes once again as we went for 3 a 175 MPH laps. I knew it was
going to be a good ride when he got all 4 gears in pit lane. As we
approached pit exit at maximum velocity, he never lifted flying up
into turn 1 :)
15-Papyrus blessed us with Gpl and N4, what is the next simulation
planned? will it be N5,  modern single seaters or a gpl2?
Papyrus would like to do a modern F1 sim, but Sierra wants N5 first.
Papy is trying to sell them on the F1 idea last I heard :)
16-How do you see the trend of Racing car simulation? and what would
be your
ultimum racing car simulation of your dreams?
 
 The trend for realistic sims is led by Papyrus. They truly love and
are passionate about what they do. They are always striving for more
realistic and more exciting ways of bringing us the racing experience.
We all need to support these guys, they are not perfect, and have to
bow to "corporate" pressures occasionally (ie compromises), but these
guys are the simmers future. A customizable sim, where you can "build"
you own car / series would be a great thing  - we will have to see
what WSC offers up if it ever gets released, but its been dragging on
for too long and get the feeling it might get crippled or die :(
17-What are your projects and objectives in the future?
 Retire at an early age and work for a sim company, or do my own :) 
18-What advice(s) would you give to a beginner in gpl or N4 regarding
setups?
Don't go after the "fast guys" setups . They are almost always
undrivable for most and in the real world a setup like that will only
get you killed. I base my setups on real world numbers and experience.
The result gets me comfortable, reasonably fast setups that almost
anyone can drive. That's the kind of setup you want to get started
with, or have mine as a second level after getting used to the setups
supplied with the game. So take baby steps before you run. 
 And PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE - absorb everything you can, and
learn by doing....don't be afraid to ask questions, but take it with a
grain of salt if you are not sure of the integrity of the source...
--Doug Arnao
Tanks Doug —  Xavier.
=============================================
--
Ciao
M.2fast4u Giorgio
Le FAQ di - it.comp.giochi.simulatori.volo - le trovi su:
http://users.iol.it/ulisse31/
GPLrank handicap: -13.xx - 
http://gplrank.ringlord.com/
ICQ 28779230


WOW

 wrote:

Sono concorde.
Carlo

Flight Simulator is to flying?
La fiera dei luoghi comuni... come se FS della Microsoft fosse un
"simulatore"... mah...
Meno male che Arnao poi dice che cmq GPL come sim di guida da la paga
a FS come sim di volo, ehe!
Ciaů!
Carlo
"Noi prendiamo una manciata di sabbia dal panorama 
infinito delle percezioni e lo chiamiamo mondo"
Robert Pirsing

grain of salt if you are not sure of the integrity of the source...
...bello bello bello...


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E se fosse gia' da qualche tempo che sono al lavoro per questo sim di
F1?!  ;-)
           bye
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 Nascar Racing 4 inside   
http://www.nascarracing.it
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Carlo
Eh, eh... sei proprio un fottuto con la memoria lunga :-))

F1?!  ;-)
Dico solo una cosa... wow!!!
:-)
Ciaů!
