MXS races great; rides poor

[DannyBoy]

wow i never knew about the hidden menu feature o.O i gotta check that out when i get home

[JETZcorp]

Holy crap, now there's a fix. I had no idea that little menu was there, so much possibility. Sale guaranteed JLV, the mud will be flying Christmas day. Now I'm just intimidated by all the selection, is there any detailed explanation of what each thing means? I mean, I'm sure it's perfectly straightforward to many, but I see the word "dampening" and I hear the sound of ricochet as the idea bounces off my cranium.

Also, I'm a little confused about the system, when I monkey around with stuff and then go back, everything looks like it's been reset. Is there some voodoo method to getting around this, or is it a demo bug or... what's the story on 'dat?

[jlv]

I made that menu so I wouldn't have to recompile to test new settings. I figured it was too complicated for end users so I wrapped all the settings up into one "stability" control. That's why it doesn't save them - they would confict with the stability setting (the stability setting sets all the sliders in the hidden menu). It looks like I'm going to have to give "slow damping factor" a separate control since some people seem to like it turned up even at low stabilty settings.

Here's what each control does:

Leveling - How much the bike wants to roll towards vertical.
Roll Damping - How quickly the bike leans over.
Roll Limit Angle - The angle when extra roll damping kicks in.
Roll Limit Factor - How much extra roll damping you get past roll limit angle.
Steering Damping - How quickly the bars turn.
Steering Strength - The force used to turn the bars.
Max Steering Force - The maximum forced applied to the bars.
Direct Steering - At 0, the steering control sets the target lean angle. At 1, the steering directly applies force to the handlebars.
Slow Damping Speed - Speed in feet per second below which you get extra roll damping.
Slow Damping Factor - Amount of extra roll damping you get below slow damping speed.

[JETZcorp]

Great, thanks for everything JLV.
One last thing though. I've been noting with increasing regularity (as I get better and start riding faster) that the front end doesn't like gripping on corners. I seem to recall someone mentioning increased grip being added sometime along the line, and I've seen dudes putting serious g force on that tire in various videos without problem. So, was grip actually improved, or do I just need more practice. Okay, obviously I need more practice, who doesn't, but my point here is to get to the root of the wheel thing.

This is the last question on this topic, I swear!

Best Regards,
JETZcorp

[jlv]

The front does grip a lot better with the new rider. It's kind of puzzling really since the friction hasn't been increased. My best guess is the rider moving more freely lets the front keep more consistent pressure on the ground.

Also, some of the people in those videos are freaks! I don't know how they go so fast.

[JETZcorp]

Lol. I was watching some of the battles between Bubba Stewart and Charmichael, and it's absolutely unfathomable!
I mean, Stewart went around this one berm which was little more than a curvy dirt clod six inches high, but he had the bike practically scooping dirt into the radiator at fifty. Crazy. Then there's the old footage of the good ol' days with Ake Jonsson and Roger DeCoster and the rest, taking those '74 bikes through things you wouldn't think would be possible with 5" of travel. *sigh* If only MX was still like that, but I digress. Thanks a lot for the help, if you could make that hidden sub-menu save your settings, it'd be great. When I set everything to some magical setting (which is now forgotten) I really started hauling.

Best Regards!
JETZcorp

[Mumhra]

This was a very interesting read JETZcorp. You exactly stated how i feel about this game yet my english is not good enough in order to type it like that lol.
That extra menu will deffinately be a big help. The rider does lack a lot of stability at low speeds. I wonder why the stability of the rider does not go up automatically when riding slower. After all, it's lifelike and i thought the goal of a sim was to make a game as lifelike as possible.

But 2 things i disagree with JETZcorp
1. What is your problem with Honda's ?
2. Why haven't you bought the game yet ? I know it has its flaws but JLV is doing everything to keep everyone happy. A game like this is a lot better then the games in the store where you buy a cd and that's it. If there is something you don't like you just have to live with it. Here you can always ask JLV. What more do you want ? I know i bought the game a few days after its release. And so far it has only gotten better

[DJD]

Thanks a lot for the help, if you could make that hidden sub-menu save your settings, it'd be great.

For Sure!!!

[JETZcorp]

There's a couple reasons I haven't bought the game yet. Reason number one is that I only learned of its existence two weeks ago. The second reason is that I'm 17 and don't exactly control my finances 100%, particularly when it comes to online purchases - that means Christmas. And of course the third reason was the handling problems that this thread was about, which are now, for all practical purposes, fixed!

Regarding Hondas, I've never liked them. There are a few reasons for this as well. A lot of it comes from simply being in my family, any Honda my dad or uncle has ever ridden was a POS, and a long-term anti-honda feud sorta came up (for example, most people ate Turkey on thanksgiving, we called it, "eating Honda.") Honda is also one of the makes I haven't owned. I had a Suzuki minibike, an 80cc Yamaha, my 120 Kawi, my 250 Husky, and my dad owns a fleet of Maicos, but never have I found a Honda worth riding. Of course, all this is somewhat irrational in the context of modern bikes. After all, Honda bought and plagarized the 1981 Maico 490 right along with the other factories so they should be pretty good, and I'm sure their modern efforts are right up there with the others. The final stake in the heart of Honda, in my eyes, actually occured yesterday when I visited their website and found zero two-stroke models advertized, screw that! If it makes you guys feel any better, I really hate the modern bikes pretty evenly, I prefer a modern bike based mostly on color!

So, there's my rant, in which I've probably made an enemy out of every single person on here, particularly guys who ride red. If MXS ever gets some late 70's or early 80's Maico or Husqvarna bikes, I'll never bet anything else done with my life!

[Wilson]

Haha just get someone to model you some old bikes.

[DannyBoy]

dude ur entitled to your opinion we wont hate u(most of us) for not liking a certain bike or style
so what if ur oldschool o.O

[gordy]

Haha just get someone to model you some old bikes.

omg, that would be so awesome that i cant express it in words, we could have like a VMX championship, theyd be uncontextually fast and well handling old bikes, but old bikes none the less

[Phathry25]

What if we could mod the physics, or supply jlv w/ the info so he could and then have us do the bikes..now we're talkin!.

[JETZcorp]

Don't underestimate old bikes. I have no doubt that someone on a 1981 Maico could easily compete with the modern bikes. It would be interesting to see some independent development group(s) making sim Maicos and Huskies (and Hondas, I guess) from the good olde days. I mean, who needs liquid cooling and reed valves anyway?

Oh, and I just had a cool thought... getting to ride my tricked-out 120 in MXS! Wouldn't be very effective on a jumpy track, though.

[Mumhra]

The second reason is that I'm 17 and don't exactly control my finances 100%, particularly when it comes to online purchases - that means Christmas.

Well, then i must congratulate you. After reading your post i thought you were a lot older since it was a very mature post. I never gave you 17

Regarding Hondas, I've never liked them. There are a few reasons for this as well. A lot of it comes from simply being in my family, any Honda my dad or uncle has ever ridden was a POS, and a long-term anti-honda feud sorta came up (for example, most people ate Turkey on thanksgiving, we called it, "eating Honda.") Honda is also one of the makes I haven't owned. I had a Suzuki minibike, an 80cc Yamaha, my 120 Kawi, my 250 Husky, and my dad owns a fleet of Maicos, but never have I found a Honda worth riding. Of course, all this is somewhat irrational in the context of modern bikes. After all, Honda bought and plagarized the 1981 Maico 490 right along with the other factories so they should be pretty good, and I'm sure their modern efforts are right up there with the others. The final stake in the heart of Honda, in my eyes, actually occured yesterday when I visited their website and found zero two-stroke models advertized, screw that! If it makes you guys feel any better, I really hate the modern bikes pretty evenly, I prefer a modern bike based mostly on color!

So, there's my rant, in which I've probably made an enemy out of every single person on here, particularly guys who ride red. If MXS ever gets some late 70's or early 80's Maico or Husqvarna bikes, I'll never bet anything else done with my life!

Why should you be my enemy because you hate Honda's ? Everybody is entitled to have an opinion. You hate Honda's, i love 'm. So why should we hate eachother ? You do have a point about the 2 stroke thing tho. I hate Honda for dropping 2 strokes all together. 2 strokes are the real mx bikes. 4 strokes are for mowing the lawn.

I'm 36 but i have only raced mx in competition when i was a child. After i went to the army i did not have the finances to buy myself a new dirtbike every year so i sticked with having fun on older bikes. Every other week i go to a track, pay the fee and ride on it together with several mates. Just having some fun. I maybe miss the adrenaline rush from being at the startgate but everything else is just great. Occasionaly i still do a race tho it usually is an oldtimer race.
Since i'm 36 you can understand that i have owned several bikes. I have owned 4 Suzuki's, 3 Honda's and 2 Kawasaki's. I never had a problem with any of the zooks, nor with the Honda's. I did have a lot of problems with the 2 Kawi's tho. According to me the green things are the POS bikes lol. They are the most pretty bikes to see but i will never again buy a Kawasaki.
(edit : Only now I see you own a Kawasaki and you love it. So i gather your Kawasaki is a good bike. Good for you. I have had nothing but problems with mine. That just shows what i wanted to say. All Honda's i have owned were great bikes. Yours were worthless. You have a good Kawasaki and mine were worthless. So are there good and bad brands of bikes ? To be honoust i doubt it. You just have to be lucky.)

I never owned a Yamaha because i have ridden a few times on a Yamaha and they handling feel strange compared to the other 3. I did not like 'm. I'm not saying they are no good but they just did not suit me. The bike that suits me most is... yep, the Honda. I still have 2 of the 3 i owned. And that's all. The Kawi's are gone, the Suzuki's are gone and 1 Honda is gone. I still have a Honda CR 125 R from 1985 and a Honda CR 125 R from 1998. I just love those 2 bikes.