I was on an ancient computer for so long that it was sinful. I
couldn't run GPL, or N3/N4/N2k2, etc. I could read all about the fun
you guys were having... but no way on my old machine. So I waited for
Upgrade Day.
During that wait however, (over a year ago) I did stockpile a copy of
GPL I picked up from a bargain bin for when the day arrived that I was
able to upgrade.
Upgrade Day came a couple months ago, and I bought a
bottom-of-the-line eMachine. It's not the lateste/greatest... but it
does have enough HP to run GPL with a full field plus much eye candy
"as is". (I'm shopping for an older vid card to replace the onboard
vid.)
Needless to say, I've been merrily immersed into the wonderful world
of GP circa 1967 and thoroughly enjoying racing among my childhood
heroes. Indeed, GPL is worthy of all the hype, praise, and fanaticism
concering it that I've read here on r.a.s.
Yup, compared to these lovely cars (GPL's)... of a truth the
recollections of my Nascar sims were growing dim. Some here have
refered to Nascar autos as "pigs". (LOL!) How true, how true.
Bear in mind that it has been almost a couple years since I've raced
any kind of Nascar sim... my last one being the buggy N99.
Then I saw and picked up N3 for $3. Why not, right?
Well, I received the sim in the mail yesterday, and last evening I had
it installed and running. Which brings up something I'd like to kick
around...
Fella's... we're always going on about "which is better - F1's or
roundy-round?"
After spending time with both (again), I'm now convinced that there's
simply no way to compare any of the F1 type sims to Nascar at all.
There are two entirely different "feels" and "experiences".
To me, GPL, GP2 (and likely the new breed of F1 sims) appeal to that
part of us that (hopes) were are a Surgeon with a Steering Wheel. A
Master of Faster around a technical track with a tempermental and
ultra performance vehicle that only a handful of highly skilled race
drivers can handle. For that side of us, it's the cutting of the
perfect turn that e***s our senses... making that perfect pass...
driving a race that was almost error free... even if we did only place
4th. That's the sort of thing that gratifies that side of the racing
personality. Though my moments of frustration are many with GPL, there
ARE those rewards to be found within the sim. It's definitely a
"drivers" sim and appeals to that side of one's simming personality.
Then there's the Nascar "pig". Maligned as a rolling antiquity, and
with drivers that perhaps many feel must be a brick shy of a load
because of the way they can drone on and on around a boring oval in an
overweight and ill-handling "racing" car.
And so I fired up N3 to see what improvements, if any, that it offered
over N99. Hey... I only gave $3 for it... so what if I'm now "above"
such racing crudeness? I can simply delete it and resume my study of
becoming a Surgeon with a Stearing Wheel.
I loaded up Rockingham and hit the button to enter the car.
Hmm. The graphics sure are an improvement over my "old" Nascar sim...
and the car sounds pretty good idling. I eased into the throttle and
headed for the track. Up onto the banking and into the throttle...
hey, those engine revs sound great! But lands me! This thing feels so
ponderous!
After a lap or two, I was settling in with it.
Boy, talk about heavy feeling. No wonder someone termed these things
"pigs". Compared to the GPL cars, it was like trying to manuever a
tank.
"Car High" crackled my speakers. Oh yeah... a spotter! I had forgotten
about spotters!
Soon I was able to start posting practice lap times that were among
the top times of the AI driven cars at about 98%.
Hm. Wonder if they've improved Talladega? (The car physics, the
"groove", the AI, etc.)
Off to Tally I went. Soon I was out on the track and getting up to
speed.
Oh my goodness! My engine sound is echoing off the wall!! I was almost
able to tell how close I was to the wall by the engine sound! Soon I
was moving in on a pack of cars that were also getting up to speed. I
joined them and began to get the feel of their behavior.
Wow! The outside line is fast too! Cool! The AI cars will run side by
side with me, even when they're on the high side! Listen to those
snarling engines surrounding my car!
Before long, I was running amid packs of drafting cars... separated by
mere inches... and loving every second of it.
I had to try the racing AI...
Needless to say, it was like no Talladega AI racing experience I've
had with any previous version of Papy's Nascar... these boys came to
race.
I went back to Rockingham to give them a try. Though the driving
technique required to move smartly around Rockingham differ from
Tally, I found the same decent AI at Rockingham: They were there to
win a race... not provide obstacles for me to drive among.
Next came Indy... boy, what an improvement they've made to the look
and driving experience of Indy!! And the AI? It was the same thing:
Good, close racing with determined AI drivers. Why, I would see dirt
dust being kicked up ahead of me (and I drove through it at blinding
speed) caused by an AI driver that was trying to cut as low as
possible to get under another AI driver! Hey, this is GOOD stuff,
Maynard!
So it's dawned on me: This is apples to oranges. The experiences that
I get in GPL (or from my only semi-modern F1 sim) are DIFFERENT than
this. Not BETTER, but DIFFERENT.
Yes, I feel good having made a smooth entry into Le Source hairpin in
a tempermental and twitchy Ferarri 312... but I also feel good
stuffing a pig into Turn One at Indy doing 195 MPH with my left tire
just inches away from grass, and my right front fender a few inches
away from Tony Stewart's driver's side door... he REALLY wants to
pinch me down... but I'm gonna' hold my ground!
Yup... GPL appeals to my hope of being a great driver... trying for
the perfect turn, the flawless race... and so forth. And N3 appeals
to my desire to stuff cars into turns, trade some paint... race inches
apart... and such.
For me, there is no comparison: Apples to oranges. Neither is better,
both offer different experiences.
But N3 is my new kid on the block, so...
Today I installed Daytona, and upgraded all the sounds with a second
party sound pack. My, oh my... it was so neat to race on a genuine,
shor'nuf "Daytona" (not a "patched" Tally) for the first time ever. It
was an experience that was so overwhelming that I felt obliged to
instigate The Biggie. A feat that I summarily accomplished in short
order.
(I hope Dale Earnhardt Jr. will forgive me for the boot in the rear
that started it all.)
Yup... pigs can fly.
Andre "Happy Simmer" Ming