rec.autos.simulators

The PC Release of Psygnosis F1 promises to be good, at least in the
graphics department.

As it will be similar to the Playstation release, at least in
gameplay, does anyone know of any major flaws we are likely to see.

A list of what we can hopefully be aware of before purchase, would be
good.

Please e-mail.

I got some email a while back from the lead programmer, Marc (I think) that
said that some of the bugs that were in the Playstation version would be
squashed. Some of these had to do with the computer AI.

Alex

I got to drive it at WinHec in San Francisco last week.  My time was very
limited.  I asked the person in charge to get it out of Arcade mode and in
to simulation mode.  I then tried a race at Estoril.  I'm not bad at
Estoril on GP2, but I got caught in a wreck on Turn 1 at the Start (Hmmmmm,
maybe it was Irvine....?) so I didn't get to check that portion out.  Later
on, I was able to use the Arcade mode <sigh>, but I did have fun.  The
graphics were great.  It was at the Rendition booth and the machine was a
Pentium 200.  Looked similar to GP2 excpet a different***pit view (wider
field of view).  Murray Walker was the announcer (smart move, Psygnosis).
The guy in the booth is an avid sim racer and he was not overly thrilled
with the physics model of car handling.  No specifics.  I'll buy it.

-Paul

F1 Bug List

contents:

        Intro

        BUG LIST

        good stuff

intro

Good day everyone.  This is a bug list I have compiled for the
Plastation version of F1 racing by Psygnosis.  The purpose of this
document is NOT  to flame Psygnosis, nor to incite a flame war on news
group  concerning which racing game/sim is best.  
There are three main reasons for this document.  First, to inform people
in RAS about this game.  A small number of posts have been made there on
this game, but people can always use more info.  This is especially true
because a PC version of this game will be available relativity soon.
Secondly, most people in RGVS havent ever played a PC sim.  Its
important that they understand what a sim should have, and also that
there are sims out there that dont have bugs.  Third, I know that the
Psy programmers know what they are doing, and I know most if not all of
these bugs have already been pointed out to them, but I thought they
should have a definitive list.
You may get the idea from reading this that I greatly dislike Psy and
will never buy another game from them again.  Nothing could be further
from the truth.  I applaud Psy for being bold, visionary, and creative
in the making of this game.  Psy could have churned out yet another
Ridge Racer clone, but they set there standards much higher.  They just
bit off more than they could chew.  Making a complex sim from scratch
takes years.  In fact, IMO considering the time constraints that Psy had
they did a great job.  I hope they get it perfect the second time
around.  To this point, I have listed the admirable qualities of this
game at the end of this writing.  
I have posted this document to rec.games.video.sony and also to
rec.autos.simulators.  Most people in RGVS are already familiar with F1
so I have the RAS people in mind most.  
I dont have the E-MAIL address for any of the Psy programmers and I
would like to have a copy of this sent to them.  I suppose it would be
best for someone to E-MAIL me with the Psy address, rather than just
forwarding this to Psy directly, because they might get more than one
copy if various people forward this to them.
        Ok, here goes . . .

BUG LIST

NO LAP COUNTER
the bottom of the screen briefly shows the lap that the leader is on
when he crosses the start/finish line, but that isnt good enough.  You
should be able to see what lap you are on at any time.

NO FUEL GAUGE
Its possible to estimate the fuel amount by looking at the
semi-sufficient lap counter that flashes at the bottom of the screen
occasionally, so long as you remember what lap you have to pit on
judging by the amount of fuel that you started with.  The bottom of the
screen informs you when your fuel is low, but is doesnt show until you
only have about ? a lap of fuel left, so you sometimes dont make it
around to the pits in time.  A fuel gauge that that is visible all the
time is a must.

PHYSICS WHEN FRONT WING IS LOST
your physics dont really become worse when your front wing is lost.
some people believe that the car physics improve when your front wing is
lost.  I once was qualifying at Monaco and I lost my front wing by
hitting three of the AI cars on the first lap.  I ran the pole on the
second lap without my front wing.  This shouldnt even be close to
possible.

SHORT-CUTS ON ALL BUT 6 TRACKS
The majority of the tracks have shortcuts.  Adelaide, for example, has
four shortcuts.  You can drive right over the corners.  The wheels dont
lose grip when you drive on the dirt/sand.  Of course, the AI cars dont
know to drive slightly off the road, so they lose about ? second to you
per shortcut.  This adds up to 2 seconds per lap, which makes the race
very easy to win.  On Monaco you almost dont have to slow down at all
for the chicane on the back straight, but the AI cars slow down to about
40 mph.  Hockenheim is the worst.  You can shortcut all three of the
chicanes on that track, making that course a joke.  You can drive across
the grass at over 150 mph and the AI cars have to slow to 50 mph or
less.  Gee, I wonder who is going to win?
There are only six tracks that arent completely ruined by shortcuts.  

NO 3 2 1 MARKERS
there should be markers before each turn that let the drivers know when
to break, as in real F1 racing

CAR GETS STUCK IN THE PITS
you dont control the car in the pits which is ok generally, but the
program is very conservative when pulling you out of the pit stall.  If
an AI car is as close as ten to fifteen pit stalls behind you then you
cant pull out.  This might not sound like a big problem, but it is.
Once I was driving a seven lap arcade race at Adelaide.  I had the tire
wear on, so I had to pit after 4 laps.  I pulled into the pits with a
lead of about 15 sec.  My crew took about 5 sec to change my tires and
then I had to sit in the pits for an additional 25 seconds waiting for
my car to pull out.  Of course, most of the AI cars passed me.  On the
instant replay I checked the rear view and found that my car wouldnt
pull out when the AI cars hadnt even appeared around the corner.
Thats 25 sec that the AI cars didnt lose.  Obviously, you just dont
have a chance when this happens.

AI CARS PITTING
some of the AI cars pit frequently, often on consecutive laps.  This
makes them quite easy to beat.  Some of the AI cars dont pit at all,
witch makes them next to impossible to beat, especially in a short
(arcade length) race.

NO SLIPSTREAMING (DRAFTING)
you can call it slipstreaming, drafting, towing or anything else.
Whatever you call it, it ant in there.  This is particularly noticeable
on courses like Hockenheim.

AI CARS DONT LEAVE RACING LINE
there is only racing line that the AI cars know.  If you are driving on
the edge of the track and the AI racing line moves out toward the edge
the AI cars will run you off the road.  The AI cars should know to back
off if you are slightly in front i.e. they should back off and give you
the line if there front tire will hit your back tire.  
        For a more through revision, the AI should know 3 racing lines.  One
for when there are no other cars around.  Then two more for 2 wide
racing.  I believe this is the way it is in the Papy games, although I
really wouldnt know.  The AIs in ICR2 and GP2  are well done, there
isnt a good reason that F1 cant manage the same.

AI CARS DONT DRIVE DIFFERENTLY ON EMPTY/FULL
Im not as sure on this one as the others, but I believe that the AI
cars drive the same throughout the race.  Of course, this means all
other things being equal you will be worse then the AI at the beginning
and better at the end.

AI CARS QUALIFY SLOOWWWWW
the AI cars drive at about 80% in qualifying.  I dont know why this
is.  The problem with this is that they slow you down, making a good
qualifying lap almost impossible.  Because they drive so slowly you are
bound to catch up to at least one each lap.  When .75 seconds is the
difference between a good qualifying lap and a bad one this makes
qualifying vary frustrating and almost impossible.

AI CARS DONT QUALIFY RANDOMLY
if driver X runs the pole at course Y with time Z, then he will always
do so.  X and Z should be variables but they are constants.  The pole
position shouldnt be completely random, but it shouldnt be ran by the
same driver with the same time every time.

CANT TURN TEXTURES ON/OFF
I know that this isnt a standard option, but those of us who would like
to exchange textures for fps should be able to do so.  This especially
should be an option for the PC version.

NO REARVIEW MIRRORS OR IN CAR VIEW
the closest thing to a in-car view is a view looking down on the front
wing and wheels.  The stuff like speed and gear that should be on a dash
is put in the upper corners of the screen giving the game an
unacceptable arcade look.  At least you can see the front wheels, a must
in my book and something that I believe is missing in GP2 if I remember
correctly.  But not having a real in-car view is a real minus to sim
fans.  What makes this problem even worse is that the dash on an in car
view would take 1/3 to ? of the screen, saving enough processor power to
put in real rearview  mirrors.  The substitute for the rear view mirrors
is a button that you can press to change the view to behind you
momentarily but this is lame.

BAD CLIPPING
there is lots of clipping on many of the tracks.  For example, the track
on the first turn at Interlagos is covered in blue clipping lines which
makes it very difficult to get the break point correct.

DAMAGE/COLLISION PHYSICS
This game is supposed to ...

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