I scanned the NG and didn't see it mentioned so I thought I'd mention
the racing simulators located at the Sahara in Las Vegas. I went out t
LV for the IRL LV 500K (and '***' of course! ;o) ) and got a chance
to try out the new sims.
The simulator is based on the military's tank sims. You have a large
panoramic screen that fills your field of vision. You sit in a full
sized race car (Basically an IRL type car.... insert your own joke here
if you are so inclined ;o) ). The canopy is raised so you can get in the
car from the side rather than sliding into the***pit. When the dash
gives you a signal you press two buttons and the canopy slowly drops
around you. The pedals and steering wheel are adjustable. You can choose
automatic or manual shifting and the shifter is on the wheel (button on
right is up, while left button is down).
The 'race' actually starts in the pits from a dead stop with all cars
lined side by side. I believe the sims were linked in groups of 8. You
are in your own 'cubicle' so the only view of competitors is their car
you see on the monitor. You ARE viewing the race from your***pit. You
hear the '...start your engines command' and then hit a 'start' button
to fire up your car. There are multiple speakers in the room and car
for the sounds.
The 'car' is on hydraulics and the steering also provides 'feedback'.
The motion all felt realistic with the view from of track. The wheel
felt a bit stiff, but I've never driven an Indy car at 200+ so maybe
that's accurate (I doubt it though!)
The graphics looked similar to what I saw from the IRL/ABC sim. The
track was the LV Speedway and they also will have a 'fantasy track'
where you can race down a street-course using the 'Strip' in Vegas.
There are approx 24 sim cars available. According to the Sahara people,
the sims ALL have to run either the oval or the street-course. They plan
on dividing the two in 1 hr shifts. 1 hr of oval and then 1 hr of street
course racing. You can buy your ticket in advance with your race time
scheduled for later.
They had some bugs to work out such as everyone is to get a printout of
the track showing their individual performance. This wasn't working on
day one. There were a couple of other probs (which wouldn't surprise me
to be more 'operator' related) such as an 8 minute race only lasting 2
minutes. They allowed the drivers to go another session which was a full
8 minutes. One thing that was working was their cash register! ;o)
The car was fun to drive and I'd say most would like it. A downer is the
fact that, as of now, there is no division between 'serious' drivers,
kids, and 'goofs'. I took it easy getting started letting the traffic
clear before I really got on it. I held my line and thought I was clear
until I was WALLOPED from behind before even getting on the track! I'm
not sure who but I would expect the 10 year old who was put in our group
:o/ Damage is 'on' and so you have to enter the pits where they fix your
car. It appears they totally fix your car and the stops seem to be of an
equal time (That may not be the case but I wasn't in the pits enough to
know).
You also have the ability to turn around and drive backwards as I
witnessed another 'idiot' proving (but not in our group). Personally, I
would have put in some rule where any participant (idiot) who does that
is immediately out of the race. There is a 'STOP' button in each car and
so the attendant could easily enforce the rule. At $8 a 'race' idiots
could run your fun REAL quick!
The 'race' is timed and so whoever drives the farthest is the winner.
Overall they are worth checking out if you are in Las Vegas. The 'bugs'
mostly were delays rather than problems once your race started. The
major flaw that needs to be addressed (IMHO) is the random grouping of
players. If you go to Vegas with a group of 8 you can eliminate that
problem (IF everyone in your group wants to race just get tickets for
the same 'linked' sims). Otherwise, be EXTRA careful at the start. I'd
even say being the last out of the pits is your best bet when racing
against unkown competitors. It seemed that most of the players were
expecting Daytona USA and quickly found the difference between a sim and
an arcade game! You get the feel of the car in a couple of laps and then
watch out for them spinning in the corners ;o)
I'll post this to my web page along with some race pix (and garage pix)
and a review of the POORLY attended 'real' race in a few days. I thought
everyone might be interested in the timely 'review'.
Alan
http://www.racesimcentral.net/~akh/simshop.html