26 replies to this topic

[David Fahrner]

Here are the files installed for Pebble Beach on my machine.  The original Pebble Beach download (Pebble_Beach_final_100.zip) contained the following 13 files:

pebble.dat  9701KB  4/6/2002
record.ini  1KB  4/6/2002
race.lp  23KB  3/10/2002
maxrace.lp  23KB  2/13/2002
minrace.lp  23KB  2/13/2002
pit.lp  23KB  2/10/2002
track.ini  5KB  2/18/2002
pass1.lp  23KB  12/4/2001
pass2.lp  23KB  12/4/2001

ReadMe.txt  5KB  9/25/2002
install.ini  1KB  2/10/2002
screenshot.bmp  157KB  2/10/2002
TrackInstall.exe  188KB  2/24/2001

All except the last four (installation files, presumably) are in Sierra\gpl\tracks\pebble after installation.

The upgrade has 62 files, almost all MIP or SRB type dated 2/2010.  After extracting the upgrade files to Sierra\gpl\tracks\pebble, there are 71 files (the first 9 above plus the 62 in the upgrade) for a total of 17MB (17,845,843 bytes).  I seem to be 1MB smaller than your installation, Burnsy - what am I missing?

I don't think the problem is in the upgrade files, anyway, because the failure to load is the same with or without the upgrade.  Maybe one of the original files is different - most likely pebble.dat?

df

[Frenchy]

David Fahrner, on Jun 06 2010 - 09:46 PM, said:

I installed GPL with the installation program that came on the Sold Out Software distribution CD.  Selecting a different car doesn't seem to make any difference.
The 1.2.0.2 update I found online, and it installed without any problems, and everything else seems to work as before.

The files you posted for your pebble beach track look good to me. I normally install the track from outside my GPL folder so I don't get the installation files in my track folder but I doubt that is your problem. Only guessing, but I don't think the Pebble Beach track folder is your problem. Even though you have a few tracks installed and running OK, I'd say it would be worthwhile to upgrade your GPL install. The GPLPS installer is great and brings you mostly up to date. If you didn't use that, I'd try starting again and follow the full install path including GEM and the latest 'Long track 1.3' patch.

Even if this is not your problem, it would be worth it to get GPL running and looking its best.

Cheers
DF

[Burnsy865]

David Fahrner, on Jun 07 2010 - 06:40 PM, said:

I don't think the problem is in the upgrade files, anyway, because the failure to load is the same with or without the upgrade.  Maybe one of the original files is different - most likely pebble.dat?

df

mmmmm, your dat file is a different size than mine, I will PM it to you and you can let us know if that was your problem.

[David Fahrner]

I thought we had found the problem, but no luck...FC.EXE says that the new pebble.dat file is the same as the old one (the file size difference was probably my mistake in stating the size in  kilobytes, bytes, and/or megabytes).  The only difference between the two track.ini files is that the new one deletes a couple of default sections, [ DEFAULT: GP ] and [DEFAULT: ai_track ], that are at the end of the old track.ini.  (In the old file, the values in these DEFAULT sections are the same as in the [ GP ] and [ ai_track ] sections, anyway.)

I might add that I'm using an old HP Pavilion machine running Win98, and that the version of GPL supplied by Sold Out Software is probably the UK version.  I'm surprised that there's nothing more about that peb_resized.zip fix, and that the only place to get it was on racesimcentral.com; I assume that everything there is long gone?

And I did get in touch with Jim Turley, who designed the track, but he didn't have any more info: he hasn't done anything with GPL in a long time, and after early problems were sorted out, he didn't do any more with it.

A full reinstall with GPLPS might be the next thing to do.

df

[Burnsy865]

If GPL works OK apart from this track I doubt a full reinstall would help, the only thing I can suggest is to delete the track from your tracks directory, download it again just to be sure and reinstall the track. Maybe also try to request the file peb_resized.zip fix in a different thread if all else fails, apart from that I can't really think of anything . Don't give up though, 90% of these problems are something simple, somebody will come along and fix it.

[Frenchy]

Burnsy865, on Jun 08 2010 - 12:33 AM, said:

If GPL works OK apart from this track I doubt a full reinstall would help, the only thing I can suggest is to delete the track from your tracks directory, download it again just to be sure and reinstall the track. Maybe also try to request the file peb_resized.zip fix in a different thread if all else fails, apart from that I can't really think of anything . Don't give up though, 90% of these problems are something simple, somebody will come along and fix it.

You are probably right Craig. But by the sounds of it, David's install is fairly basic and so much gets installed with the GPLPS (eg sound patch?), that I thought it would be good to get his install up to date first and then tackle the problem. If it fixes the problem along the way you've got a bonus. You could always install to a different location and keep your old install just for good luck.

[sky]

well i just did the basic install, got the 100% or whatever the file was called that was linked of the track db, installed it, ran gpl - works beautifully. it's just that i killed a bunch of my cars trying to go around just once lol. so the installer works as it should and the track itself seems to be fine, too.

i didn't install any other update, patch or whatnot, see below. that's what i got in my trackfolder after installing.


so i think the package as such is fine. btw what's your gfx card specs? you said you're running w98, so i'm thinking maybe your box is a little on the old side and maybe, just maybe, there's a texture/memory issue. like this track is using textures of a size to big for your box to handle. have you tried kenny's update linked somewhere above? he's done heaps of voodoo updates and maybe this is just what your box needs to run, as i doubt this track includes any type 7 mips that would require the v2 rasterizers.

if possible maybe try switching between ogl, d3d and software renderers (v2 too, if possible).

on a sidenote, i had a similar issue with brands hatch. i think i never had an update for it, but for some reason it wouldn't run with some mods, popping the same error you got, now i just renamed the folder that wouldn't load and re-ran the installer and voila brands loads in the mods - will check what was different between the 2 directories.

Attached Files

•  pebble_.jpg   84.52K   9 downloads

[David Fahrner]

The HP Pavilion is more than a little on the old side, it must be 10 years old or more...the graphics card is an ATI 264-VT4 with the driver MACXW4.DRV 4.10.2330 ...does this ring a bell with anyone?...I seem to remember seeing ATI cards mentioned in my GPL / Pebble Beach searches...Jim Turley thought that the original problems with the track were related to mismatched resolutions in graphics, so this is probably the avenue to pursue...I'll look for a new driver for the HP / ATI card, and try some of the mentioned software renderers / rasterizers (???)...

df

[Bernd Nowak]

I could not find a serious download for this card. Seems like it was known as mach64 VT4 too.
However I did find this for Windows 98/ME http://support.amd.c...egacy-98me.aspx
Or this for XP http://support.amd.c.../legacy-xp.aspx

I could find references that this card might be compatible with a Rage XL BUT ATI drivers from this time had been a nightmare for me which was the reason that I used NVidia for a long time. Just recently bought me a HD5770, my first real ATI card.

[jgf]

sky, on Jun 08 2010 - 12:37 PM, said:

... it's just that i killed a bunch of my cars trying to go around just once lol. ...

Then it's working fine!  I love this track but find it absolutely treacherous;  having destroyed more virtual machinery here over the years than anywhere but Nurburgring.

[sky]

yea absolutely, here's a top gear top tip. if you see the corner, it's too late already. bail out. lol


btw the mach64? i've got one of these. i didn't even know they could do 3d. although the name suggests either 64bit or 64mb neither of which the card has i think. so i'd say, yea drivers are probably an issue, but maybe also a voodoo-esque fix is needed. i have had games tell me to bugger off because my system didn't have enough memory, might be the case here where texture sizes may (haven't checked) exceed 256x256...

[David Fahrner]

Just to note that the solution to my Pebble Beach problem was to reinstall GPL on a newer machine, a 5-year-old Dell Celeron laptop running XP, and the Pebble Beach track works fine as downloaded...

df