rec.autos.simulators

Keyboard only, ARGHHH!  Not a good way to start.  There is no option
selection at all, just hit enter and race.  So off I went on a 15:00 stage
(which I butchered in just over 18:00).

The graphics were not great but very good.  Good variation of ground colors,
really looked like brown grass, green grass, gravel, dirt, sand, rocks, etc.
The ground was almost photorealistic instead of rendered.  Trees were also
nice, more 3 dimensional and full than most games.  Certainly had that
tunnel vision feel, not much room to wander off the path.  Some slight draw
in in the distance but not nearly as poor as SCGT.  Although annoying lens
flare was used (do we have glass corneas?), this sim also used real time
lighting very well.  When driving into the sun the glare was simulated with
a "white out" effect that I've never seen done in a game.  The screen became
extremely bright, it really was difficult to see and added to the realism.
It had me reaching for my sunglasses ;-).  Only major graphics issue is the
***pit art which wass poor.  The driver's hands looked unnatural, like he
dislocated his wrist when he turned full lock.  They also used an odd
combination of renedered***pit graphics blended with photo realistic dash
board shots.  End result was a mixed color palette of bright rendered art
and muted photo realistic art.  I did like the***pit views of center of
***pit or drivers side view.  I also liked the windshield with the cleared
wiper area and dirty border.  Overall, however, the***pit looked fake and
just plain ugly.

The physics was hard to judge without my wheel based on my keyboard driving
I was pleased.  The bouncy, slippery, understeer feel of rally cars was
achieved.  The***pit view really did a nice job of shimmering and bouncing
over every bump and hill.  You had the sensation that you were crossing
rough and varied terrain.  This really did feel right.  The car was loose
and slipped around quite a bit.  I could not get the car to push through any
turn so I'm a little concerned.  The sliding and spinning felt realistic and
certainly not canned.  The rolling feel wasn't right.  The car felt too
light and didn't seem to be modeled as a front engine car, thus having the
heavier front cause an unbalanced roll.  It seemed like the car had equally
distributed weight.  Only real negative was that the physics seemed fickle.
Hit a hillside and you launch your car into a jumping barrel roll.  Hit a
tree, however, and you just stop.  Hopefully damage modelling (not available
in demo) will improve this by showing more effects after impact.

Overall I rate the physics good and about what I'm looking for in a rally
sim.  I reserve full judgement until I have access to all game options and
wheel and pedal support.  I'm just not sure if realistic settings were used
across the board for the demo.  I would think they would want the demo to be
more accessible to the masses so it may have been more of the arcade physics
instead of full simulation.  The most notable positive physics component was
the fine job of modelling the different road surfaces - the bounce and the
slide.  I went from hard packed gravel to loose gravel and finally to dirt.
Each sounded and felt very different.  The dirt was the most slick while the
loose gravel was the most rough.  This was very well done and I only expect
snow/rain/mud/ice to add to the immersion and feel.

The sound was good.  This wasn't exactly a V-12 Ferrari so as small engines
go it sounded fine.  The road sounds, as I mentioned earlier, were very
good.  When moving from dirt to gravel, the sound clearly changed to reflect
the surface.  The shifting pops were very good as well.  The co-pilot
sounded pretty good, his directions were timely and correct.  Although he
sounded a little unnatural since you clearly heard the transitions between
phrases.

Overall I liked the demo.  While no one area of Rally Championship was
particularly impressive or remarkable taken by itself, when viewed as a
whole this is a very nice package and should be a fine representation of
rally racing.  It felt just as I expected a small rally car to feel and the
graphics and sound were more than enough to provide a realistic, immersive
experience.  Although I may grow tired of racing the clock, I look forward
to seeing the full product.

--
Joe Marques

Keyboard only, ARGHHH!  Not a good way to start.  There is no option
selection at all, just hit enter and race.  So off I went on a 15:00 stage
(which I butchered in just over 18:00).

The graphics were not great but very good.  Good variation of ground colors,
really looked like brown grass, green grass, gravel, dirt, sand, rocks, etc.
The ground was almost photorealistic instead of rendered.  Trees were also
nice, more 3 dimensional and full than most games.  Certainly had that
tunnel vision feel, not much room to wander off the path.  Some slight draw
in in the distance but not nearly as poor as SCGT.  Although annoying lens
flare was used (do we have glass corneas?), this sim also used real time
lighting very well.  When driving into the sun the glare was simulated with
a "white out" effect that I've never seen done in a game.  The screen became
extremely bright, it really was difficult to see and added to the realism.
It had me reaching for my sunglasses ;-).  Only major graphics issue is the
***pit art which wass poor.  The driver's hands looked unnatural, like he
dislocated his wrist when he turned full lock.  They also used an odd
combination of renedered***pit graphics blended with photo realistic dash
board shots.  End result was a mixed color palette of bright rendered art
and muted photo realistic art.  I did like the***pit views of center of
***pit or drivers side view.  I also liked the windshield with the cleared
wiper area and dirty border.  Overall, however, the***pit looked fake and
just plain ugly.

The physics was hard to judge without my wheel based on my keyboard driving
I was pleased.  The bouncy, slippery, understeer feel of rally cars was
achieved.  The***pit view really did a nice job of shimmering and bouncing
over every bump and hill.  You had the sensation that you were crossing
rough and varied terrain.  This really did feel right.  The car was loose
and slipped around quite a bit.  I could not get the car to push through any
turn so I'm a little concerned.  The sliding and spinning felt realistic and
certainly not canned.  The rolling feel wasn't right.  The car felt too
light and didn't seem to be modeled as a front engine car, thus having the
heavier front cause an unbalanced roll.  It seemed like the car had equally
distributed weight.  Only real negative was that the physics seemed fickle.
Hit a hillside and you launch your car into a jumping barrel roll.  Hit a
tree, however, and you just stop.  Hopefully damage modelling (not available
in demo) will improve this by showing more effects after impact.

Overall I rate the physics good and about what I'm looking for in a rally
sim.  I reserve full judgement until I have access to all game options and
wheel and pedal support.  I'm just not sure if realistic settings were used
across the board for the demo.  I would think they would want the demo to be
more accessible to the masses so it may have been more of the arcade physics
instead of full simulation.  The most notable positive physics component was
the fine job of modelling the different road surfaces - the bounce and the
slide.  I went from hard packed gravel to loose gravel and finally to dirt.
Each sounded and felt very different.  The dirt was the most slick while the
loose gravel was the most rough.  This was very well done and I only expect
snow/rain/mud/ice to add to the immersion and feel.

The sound was good.  This wasn't exactly a V-12 Ferrari so as small engines
go it sounded fine.  The road sounds, as I mentioned earlier, were very
good.  When moving from dirt to gravel, the sound clearly changed to reflect
the surface.  The shifting pops were very good as well.  The co-pilot
sounded pretty good, his directions were timely and correct.  Although he
sounded a little unnatural since you clearly heard the transitions between
phrases.

Overall I liked the demo.  While no one area of Rally Championship was
particularly impressive or remarkable taken by itself, when viewed as a
whole this is a very nice package and should be a fine representation of
rally racing.  It felt just as I expected a small rally car to feel and the
graphics and sound were more than enough to provide a realistic, immersive
experience.  Although I may grow tired of racing the clock, I look forward
to seeing the full product.

--
Joe Marques

I really like the sound of the "white out" effect when driving into the
sun -- sounds like a nice touch!  One question, though -- in the final
version, which key will be used to activate the sun visor? <G>

-- JB