anyhow. When I said I had the Smoothvision all maxxed out on the highest
resolution my monitor could handle? I lied. It was late, I was drinking
Absolut while I was putting my new system together. I didn't even have
Smoothvision enabled. I would have sworn that I enabled it, but when
questioned on another forum that it was hard to believe that it ran that
good with 6x fsaa turned on, I began to doubt myself. Anyhow, I checked
last night and it was off. So, I maxxed it out.
Ouch. 6x with game detail on max and 21 opponents was playable, if
you're a ***. Framerates fluctuated between (I'm guessing) 3-8 fps
at the start. That was enough 6x testing for me. If it doesn't pull good
framerate at the start of a race when you really need it, it's time to
adjust. So I took it down a step.
Smoothvision slider set to 4x. Start another race. Better, but still not
something I want to start a race with. Prolly about 10 fps at the start.
Remember. Graphics maxxed with mirrors on. I'm sure it would have gone
over 20 fps after the 1st few turns, but that's not when I need the
framerates so much. One more step down...
Slider to 2x, and into a race. LOTS better. No noticeable stutter in the
engine note sitting at the light, and just the *slightest* hit on the
framerate. gotta be over 20 fps when the light goes out, and after the
first turn it's silky smooth again. And gorgeous. Still... I thought
after the first night that my computer was invincible, but alas, not
quite. :( For me though, it looks so goddamn good without Smoothvision
while racing at high resolution, I don't even notice it. You don't
really have time to notice microscopic "jaggies". IMHO, Smoothvision is
for screenshots.
Okay. Onto the peripherals. I got my speakers and my serial LWFF hooked
up last night. I know it's easy to set up a controller in GPL, but I
guess I don't see what all the crying was for when setting up a
wheel/pedals/control method in this game. Enter an action to turn left.
Enter an action to turn right. Enter an action for acceleration. For
braking. For shifting. Etc. Etc. Etc, until you've got all 12-15 options
accounted for. You can scroll thru different screens on your LED on the
wheel, call for a pitstop, etc. Pretty cool. Oh, separate brake and
accel was no problem either. You also have 10 different options for
deadzones and sensitivities as well. I didn't have any problem coming up
with something I was completely comfortable with.
The sound. It's pretty sweet. Almost identical to the in-car sound you
get while watching the race. A slightly muffled whine, with road,
gravel, rumblestrip, and contact sounds seeming very accurate. The tire
scrub sound is cool, but I'd like to have a bit of tire squeal as well.
I also miss the backfiring of CS 2000, but all in all, it's very
realistic. With the Klipsch 4.1's cranked up, it's outstanding! ;)
Physics. Not GPL like, but close. Obviously you can't compare these two
very different cars, but everything I learned in GPL transfers to F1
2001 very well. You can just tell what's going on at all times. You
don't lose control of your car for some reason and wonder, "Why the fock
did it do that?" You *know* why the fock it did that. I would think
there is a bit more torque at the very lowest rpms, but once you get
past the bottom 1500-2000 grand on the motor's bottom, look out! The
player's Car seems pretty tough as well. I was racing, banging wheels
with a Prost (hey, I'm just getting the feel of it! ;) for about a half
of a lap, and I noticed, with as much as I'm driving my front wheels
into his sidepods in the corners, I must have been in invulnerable mode.
However, once I finally got around him I took the following corner to
hot and stuffed it into the tires. Off popped my left side tires and
rear wing. I guess I wasn't invulnerable after all. Maybe the Prost's
sidepods just 'give' a little. Also, I was never able to get the car to
break in half or flip or even jump a little due to tire on tire contact
with another car ala GP3. But that 's the *only* thing GP3 has over this
game, IMO.
All in all, I'd recommend this game as a "must have" for anyone with a
modern, fast computer and a love for modern F1 racing. This game and GPL
are the only real racing games I have on my puter for now. Rally Trophy
will be on there soon. Porsche Unleashed is installed for the fun-factor
and beauty. Unreal Tournament will get some play, too. ;)
Warlock!