rec.autos.simulators

Race Driver 2 Online Demo?

Uwe Schürkam

Race Driver 2 Online Demo?

by Uwe Schürkam » Sat, 24 Apr 2004 03:29:29

Hi folks,

I tried the race driver online demo today and found the steering
rather sluggish in Pro-sim mode during an online session. Also, the
car seems to rotate about a single axis, and there's no real***pit
view or am I missing something?

On a lighter side, this happens to be the *first* Codemasters title
that works out of the box with my gameport connected TSW2. ;-)

Cheers,

uwe

--
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Damien Evan

Race Driver 2 Online Demo?

by Damien Evan » Sat, 24 Apr 2004 10:05:48

The game has magnificent graphics and a passable (sort of) driving model.
You're not missing anything.
I can't believe how some of the sim sites are going on about the amazing
physics - it's simply not true.
Uwe Schürkam

Race Driver 2 Online Demo?

by Uwe Schürkam » Sat, 24 Apr 2004 20:42:01


> I can't believe how some of the sim sites are going on about the amazing
> physics - it's simply not true.

bought by banner ads? ;->

Cheers,
uwe

--
mail replies to Uwe at schuerkamp dot de ( yahoo address is spambox)
Uwe Schuerkamp //////////////////////////// http://www.schuerkamp.de/
Herford, Germany \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (52.0N/8.5E)
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Mitch_

Race Driver 2 Online Demo?

by Mitch_ » Sun, 25 Apr 2004 01:39:33

I agree.   Feels like a center pivot arcade game to me.  It is pretty
though.

I guess the bar is just so low that when Codemasters comes out with
something even vaguely sim-like people are happy.   No howls of derision for
this junk yet Thunder (which is much more sim-like) gets people's ***
boiling.  Go figure...

Mitch



> > I can't believe how some of the sim sites are going on about the amazing
> > physics - it's simply not true.

> bought by banner ads? ;->

> Cheers,
> uwe

> --
> mail replies to Uwe at schuerkamp dot de ( yahoo address is spambox)
> Uwe Schuerkamp //////////////////////////// http://www.racesimcentral.net/
> Herford, Germany \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (52.0N/8.5E)
> GPG Fingerprint:  2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F  67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

Haqsa

Race Driver 2 Online Demo?

by Haqsa » Sun, 25 Apr 2004 08:04:55

I don't see what you guys are refering to.  I agree it's a bit arcadey, but
the center pivot thing is what I don't understand.  I can get the front end
to mush out under braking and I can get the rear loose pretty easily.  To me
that means it's not pivoting around the center, but maybe I don't understand
your comment.  Could you give me some examples of what you are talking
about?  Also, are you just talking about the demo?  The demo did not have
the final tire model.

I am playing the Xbox game, with the default arcade physics.  The tire model
is very arcadey, designed to make it easy to control a drift.  And the speed
sensitive steering has the same effect that it did in SCGT, i.e. you can
dive into a corner and save it with the brakes because the steering
sensitivity will increase as the speed drops.  Other than those two things
it doesn't feel that bad.  I can lock or spin tires.  I can spin the car
around at will or hold it at a certain angle (i.e. it doesn't feel canned).
Weight transfer and friction circle effects appear to be in the model.
Suspension changes do what I would expect them to do.  A sim it's not, but
it seems to be quite a good arcade game, in the same way as SCGT or NFS:PU.


jbod

Race Driver 2 Online Demo?

by jbod » Mon, 26 Apr 2004 03:10:36

I'm with you on this -- I have the PC version, and using the
"Pro-Simulation" settings, the physics feel very good, IMO.  I can
hang the tail out with the Formula Fords and achieve a decent
four-wheel drift -- it feels like a miniature version of GPL, with a
more progressive and possibly more forgiving tyre model.  Compared to
what I experience in GPL, I think the Formula Fords feel about
"right," actually.

If you're using a wheel, I recommend you try setting the controller
selection to "Pad" -- "Wheel" is a fully-linear setting, while the
"Pad" setting is somewhat non-linear and speed sensitive . . . I keep
the linearity slider set to the halfway point in GPL, so I'm used to a
more non-linear setting, and the "Pad" setting feels better with my
TSW2 wheel.  Or, if you want to try tweaking the steering settings
even further, check out this thread for more tips:

http://forum.rscnet.org/showthread.php?t=149462

IMO, some parts of RD2 feel spot-on (the vintage Jags and the Formula
Ford, to name a couple), but other parts DO feel awfully arcade-like,
even using the Pro-Simulation physics (the Ford F-150 Lightning trucks
on the Texas and Pikes Peak ovals are IMPOSSIBLE to handle in
"Pro-Sim" mode, and the rally, ice racing, and rallycross portions
lean towards arcade-like experiences for me).  Overall, though, this
is a VERY solid attempt by Codemasters, and it goes a long way towards
making up for RD1 and their despicable IndyCar Series 2002 release.

Hope this helps a bit!

-- JB


> I don't see what you guys are refering to.  I agree it's a bit arcadey, but
> the center pivot thing is what I don't understand.  I can get the front end
> to mush out under braking and I can get the rear loose pretty easily.  To me
> that means it's not pivoting around the center, but maybe I don't understand
> your comment.  Could you give me some examples of what you are talking
> about?  Also, are you just talking about the demo?  The demo did not have
> the final tire model.

> I am playing the Xbox game, with the default arcade physics.  The tire model
> is very arcadey, designed to make it easy to control a drift.  And the speed
> sensitive steering has the same effect that it did in SCGT, i.e. you can
> dive into a corner and save it with the brakes because the steering
> sensitivity will increase as the speed drops.  Other than those two things
> it doesn't feel that bad.  I can lock or spin tires.  I can spin the car
> around at will or hold it at a certain angle (i.e. it doesn't feel canned).
> Weight transfer and friction circle effects appear to be in the model.
> Suspension changes do what I would expect them to do.  A sim it's not, but
> it seems to be quite a good arcade game, in the same way as SCGT or NFS:PU.



> > I agree.   Feels like a center pivot arcade game to me.  It is pretty
> > though.

Damien Evan

Race Driver 2 Online Demo?

by Damien Evan » Mon, 26 Apr 2004 10:07:06

Fair point but I think I'll stick to the likes of ETCC or even LFS which
give a far more realistic feeling of driving a car.
Mitch_

Race Driver 2 Online Demo?

by Mitch_ » Mon, 26 Apr 2004 10:27:52

ETCC evolution should be on the shelves soon eh?  In fact this week looks
promising for mod releases.  To bad its so dang hard to find a place to d/l
em from...

Mitch


Haqsa

Race Driver 2 Online Demo?

by Haqsa » Mon, 26 Apr 2004 10:46:33

I completely agree about the Formula Fords, they really feel great.  Too bad
there are only a few tracks on which you can race them.  The previous game
had the ability to race any car on any track, but I have not yet found how
to do that in this game.

The rally stages, while not especially realistic, are still a treat for
anybody who doesn't mind arcade style physics.  Being able to flick the car
from side to side with full control is really fun.  Not for realism buffs
perhaps, but still fun.


jbod

Race Driver 2 Online Demo?

by jbod » Mon, 26 Apr 2004 15:27:21

Don't worry -- once I unlock all the tracks and cars myself, I will
concentrate on figuring out how to enable different track selections
with different cars . . . specifically, MORE tracks for the Formula
Fords, in particular (similar to the Track Selector Utility that I did
for the first demo).

;-)

-- JB


> I completely agree about the Formula Fords, they really feel great.  Too bad
> there are only a few tracks on which you can race them.  The previous game
> had the ability to race any car on any track, but I have not yet found how
> to do that in this game.

> The rally stages, while not especially realistic, are still a treat for
> anybody who doesn't mind arcade style physics.  Being able to flick the car
> from side to side with full control is really fun.  Not for realism buffs
> perhaps, but still fun.



> > I'm with you on this -- I have the PC version, and using the
> > "Pro-Simulation" settings, the physics feel very good, IMO.  I can
> > hang the tail out with the Formula Fords and achieve a decent
> > four-wheel drift -- it feels like a miniature version of GPL, with a
> > more progressive and possibly more forgiving tyre model.  Compared to
> > what I experience in GPL, I think the Formula Fords feel about
> > "right," actually.

> > If you're using a wheel, I recommend you try setting the controller
> > selection to "Pad" -- "Wheel" is a fully-linear setting, while the
> > "Pad" setting is somewhat non-linear and speed sensitive . . . I keep
> > the linearity slider set to the halfway point in GPL, so I'm used to a
> > more non-linear setting, and the "Pad" setting feels better with my
> > TSW2 wheel.  Or, if you want to try tweaking the steering settings
> > even further, check out this thread for more tips:

> > http://forum.rscnet.org/showthread.php?t=149462

> > IMO, some parts of RD2 feel spot-on (the vintage Jags and the Formula
> > Ford, to name a couple), but other parts DO feel awfully arcade-like,
> > even using the Pro-Simulation physics (the Ford F-150 Lightning trucks
> > on the Texas and Pikes Peak ovals are IMPOSSIBLE to handle in
> > "Pro-Sim" mode, and the rally, ice racing, and rallycross portions
> > lean towards arcade-like experiences for me).  Overall, though, this
> > is a VERY solid attempt by Codemasters, and it goes a long way towards
> > making up for RD1 and their despicable IndyCar Series 2002 release.

> > Hope this helps a bit!

> > -- JB

eppy

Race Driver 2 Online Demo?

by eppy » Tue, 27 Apr 2004 07:56:50

This is one sim that really needs a FF wheel. Most cars have a lot of roll
oversteer, causing the car to flick back very quickly, making it easy to
spin out on correction. With FF on and set quite powerfully (Momo Force
wheel in my case), you really feel what's happening with the car through the
wheel, and it becomes natural to catch quickly.

I've done a lot of driving with LFS, and whilst LFS tends to have a
"sharper" sense of realism with the physics, I think that TRD2 has a better
sense of size and weight of the car, especially with the V8 supercars. These
cars are big and heavy, and I feel that TRD2 really shows this.

Many years ago I qualified for my general competition racing licence in a
commodore in Melbourne (Sandown, not Philip Island), and it did really feel
quite like the racing car in TRD2. However, the racing car shouldn't roll so
much with its racing suspension. IMHO, the V8 cars have as much roll as the
e-type jag should, and the e-type is way overdone, even for an old car on
skinny tyres.

crossbon

Race Driver 2 Online Demo?

by crossbon » Tue, 27 Apr 2004 12:45:07



>Don't worry -- once I unlock all the tracks and cars myself, I will
>concentrate on figuring out how to enable different track selections
>with different cars . . . specifically, MORE tracks for the Formula
>Fords, in particular (similar to the Track Selector Utility that I did
>for the first demo).

Note, the first patch will give more car and track combinations....
Damien Evan

Race Driver 2 Online Demo?

by Damien Evan » Tue, 27 Apr 2004 14:17:37

So real V8 supercars can do 1:48s at Bathurst....?  .....riiiight...

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