VROC: Virtual Racers' Online Connection

WinVROC Help

How to Host a Race
WinVROC Options
Common WinVROC Problems

Common WinVROC Problems

Certain problems have surfaced when running WinVROC 2.0. Here is a list of commonly encountered problems, and solutions or workarounds:

Chat Problems
No Race List
All Races are Red
Host and Join Buttons are Grayed Out
Race List Stall
Hosting Options Don't Take
Loss of Mouse Cursor Control in GPL
Partial Screen Mode Doesn't Work

Chat Problems

See the Chat Problems section of the Chats page for information regarding system hangs and other problems with the WinVROC Chat.

No Race List

After WinVROC was developed, WinVROC's race list server moved. The default location coded into WinVROC no longer works. You need to get the WinVROC Fix.

Symptoms:

  1. No races in the race list.

Fix:

  1. Get the WinVROC Fix and install it.

All Races are Red
Host and Join Buttons are Grayed Out

There is a bug in WinVROC's configuration routine. If you let WinVROC use its default path to GPL, it will not find the GPL executable. You won't be able to host or join races through WinVROC.

Symptoms:

  1. All races in the race list will show red squares.
  2. Host and Join buttons are grayed out
  3. The status area at the bottom right of the WinVROC window will show an invalid GPL version (GPL.0.0.0.x).

Fix:

  1. In WinVROC, go to the Options sheet and make sure that the path to GPL is actually pointing to your GPL installation. Even if you think it is, reselect it.
     
    This is necessary because WinVROC has a bug. It requires a backslash on the end of the path, like this: C:\SIERRA\GPL\ Unfortunately the default path WinVROC puts in this field lacks this required backslash, causing much confusion.

Workarounds:

  1. Uninstall WinVROC. Using Regedit, remove the WinVROC key from the registry. Reinstall WinVROC.
  2. Use JavaVROC to host or join races.

Race List Stall

WinVROC will occasionally stop updating the race list.

Symptoms:

  1. You may still see a race list, but the Races and Drivers counts in the lower right will show 0.
  2. The update time in the GPL tab will stop changing. {When WinVROC is operating normally, this tab will show a time within the last minute or so.)

Workarounds:

  1. Stop WinVROC and restart it.

Hosting Options Don't Take

When first hosting races after initial installation, WinVROC may not correctly use and remember some of the options on the Hosting popup.

Symptoms:

  1. When you host, the VROC race list does not display the options you selected.
  2. Even if you restricted the races to certain chassis or classes, some people may join with other chassis and/or classes.
  3. Users can't find their setups (because they joined with the wrong class).

Fix:

  1. Host a race using Dedicated Server mode. In WinVROC, click on Host, then Set Up a Dedicated Server. Once you do this and save a GPL Race Script file, WinVROC should correctly remember your options when you host in normal (non-Dedicated) mode also.

Loss of Mouse Cursor Control in GPL

The user can join a race through WinVROC, but once in the race, there is no mouse cursor control.

Symptoms:

  1. The cursor sits at the extreme upper left and won't move.

Workarounds:

Note: The 3Dfx driver and Control Panel workarounds were suggested by VROC users. One user reported that the new 3Dfx drivers worked for him, but later the problem resurfaced.

If we find a better workaround or a fix, we'll post it here.

  1. Download and install the latest drivers for the Voodoo3 3000 from 3Dfx.
  2. Use the GPL Direct3D Rasterizer (available free from Papyrus) instead of the 3Dfx rasterizer which comes with the GPL 1.2 patch.
  3. Joel Willstein says, "While the following procedure sounds like a lot of effort, it takes less then 1 minute. And unless you disconnect from WinVROC, your mouse will function perfectly the whole night."
     
    Perform the following steps:
  1. connect online
  2. start up WinVROC
  3. open My Computer
  4. open Control Panel
  5. click on Mouse
  6. select regular pointer and then apply, OK
  7. click on Mouse again
  8. select None, and then Enter
  1. Use the JavaVROC GPL 1.2 Race Room to join and host races.

Partial Screen Mode Doesn't Work

You've inserted the lines for partial screen mode into core.ini, but still get full screen mode in GPL.

Note: Partial Screen mode works only on Rendition cards! If you have any other type of video card (i.e. you're using the 3Dfx, OpenGL, Direct3D, or software rasterizers) you won't be able to use partial screen mode.

Fix:

  1. If you have a Rendition card, you must rename core.ini.sample to core.ini in order for GPL to find it. Go here for details.
  2. Place the following lines in core.ini: 
[ Rasterizer ]
fullScreen = 0