rec.autos.simulators

That's because (all together now) - IT'S NO GPL ;)...

On rsc forums they've beem throwing around Sept 18th because there are
some sites that let you pre-order showing that date.  My impression is
that it's pretty close to Gold - although the version shown at Spa was
0.95 or something Pretty meaningless - SBDT could be saving 1.0 for
the gold version, or RC1, or whatever - this one goes to 11 ;).  There
does seem to be some machinations going on regarding the Spa24hr
license (as separate from the FIA-GT license).

Either way I can't wait.  I wouldn't worry too much about your rig - I
setup the demo on a friend's AMD 1800+, 256mb RAM, on-board sound,
Geforce2MX rig and it ran surprisingly better than I expected.

HTH,
Kendt

   1 car....empty track...it SHOULd run fairly well.  :)

dave henrie

"Unfortunately, we had to change the design of GPL in order to ship it on
time, and instead of starting in the equivalent of a Formula Ford,
graduating to Formula 2, and only then to a Formula 1 car, we allowed people
to jump right in to the F1 car with no training time. It was like putting a
novice skier at the top of an iced-over double black diamond and saying,
"Have fun!" Needless to say, many people didn't. My regrets are that we
didn't postpone shipping until the 3D hardware market settled down a bit and
until we had finished the experience ladder design, but I'm pleased that we
made it possible to drive on those classic racetracks in some beautiful and
exciting racecars."

The article's quoted comments on the difficulty of driving a '67 F1, the
"like driving on ice" bit, was a period comment from GPL's release time that
was eventually superceded by the realization that shortcomings in the tire
model were to blame.  Heck, even the very first patch had changes to the
tire model that were publicly denied until some of the people on this forum
made it clear that there HAD been physics changes.  Just try driving an
unpatched, original install again for a refresher... ;-)

Anyway, DK's take was that GPL sales suffered primarily because the 3D
issues meant it ran like ***on most computers and because it didn't have
what would be in effect, almost a career mode - so that users could learn to
drive and race in the F3's and F2's before jumping in the F1's.  Nothing at
all wrong with the era, either in his mind or for that matter ANY
right-minded sort... ;-)

That was the big one for me. I had just bough an STB4400 card and when GPL
didn't support D3D into the bottom drawer it went.  It stayed there for a
couple of years until I found out about the d3d patch.

MadDAWG

Dayum your not a true sim'r then are ya?  <j/k>  You got to decide (less
nowadays then you used to BTW) which do I want, awesome GPL/NASCAR?  OR
awesome other games with mediocre nascar-gpl?

Hell, I bought what my favorite games wanted as far as hardware, instead of
letting the hardware dictate that game I would enjoy...  Hell the only time
I even wasted money on new computers was because the new Papy tittle was out
and need more than I had bought earlier...  I didnt do bleedin edge either,
not since NR2...  I bought the Rendition cards, because NR series and SODA
supported them the best, even though "supposedly not as good for other
mainstream games (voodoo was coming on) gamer cards" which in reality, what
was a frame or 2 even back then...  But I did at one time have the Hercules
Rendidtion2 as my main card, with 2 voodoo2's in there (remember they were
add on cards that added capabilites to the usally standard 2d cards) but in
this case I had awesome NASCAR & SODA, plus MTM and Duke Nukem was nice...
to me nothing left to whine about.

What I have always noticed lately though, is if I can build a machine that
will kick ass for running the papy sim I wanted, it kicked good enough for
other games (I remember MTM &MTM2 almost as popular as NR) & shootem ups and
stuff that I dont even buy anymore (yeah Im older now too)...

Point being - folks running out to drop top dollar on the latest X800
and 6800 cards would be well advised to take a breath and wait for the
game to come out.  They'll only be cheaper, and unless your current
rig is ***you'll be able to get some enjoyment out of GTR while you
wait for reports on what runs the game the best.
I certainly wish I'd done that when I got my 9700 Pro ;) - been eyeing
the 6800 GT lately, but gotta wait for HL2 and see how performance
shakes out.

Kendt

--
Swervo -
Do not remove TAG under penalty of law.   Unless you want to e-mail me.

Kendt

This game scares the ***out of me to the extent that I can't play it for
more than half an hour before having an attack of the vapours! :)

Get it....you'll love it.

Bruce.

GTR is a completely new product.  It is not a F1 2k2 mod or even a mod for
F1 C.  Simbin, the mod team behind GTR 2002 for F1 2k2 is building it.
It is based on a much newer version of the ISI code...beyond F1c and Nascar
Thunder 2004.  
  Simbin have added many features to the title that goes beyond any
previously released product.    It will be available for sale both online
via download and in commercial boxes.  I don't know of any plans to sell or
not to South Africa.  
   GTR is licensed by the FIA for 2003 or 2004 season of the FIA
Sportscars.(many of the same cars as in GTR 2002).
   It 'should' be a big step forward in sim realism...not just a rehash of
the old 2k2 mod.

dave henrie

That being said, Doom 3 is pretty much what id promised: A return to
Doom.   The storyline, no matter what the reviews say, isn't all that
great.   It's actually pretty dismal, but the voice acting is very good,
so that makes up for it a bit.   There's not a lot of varied tasks, most
of it is just running and gunning (and more running) through various
maps, finding PDA's and unlocking security systems, and blowing away
more demons.   It's back to an FPS on a base level, which, after getting
bored with the likes of Deus Ex and Far Cry, was EXACTLY what I was
looking for.   I just wanted to blast the heck out of some demons.

If you do get it, make sure you upgrade to the 4.9 Catalyst drivers for
your card, they definitely seem to work better with doom 3 (in fact, the
filename as "Doom3 Hotfix" in it).

But, like Bruce said, it's scary.   The first night I got it, I got home
at about 10:30, turned out all the lights, put on my headphones, and sat
down to play.   I had to stop a little while later to let my heart rate
go down.   It's reasonably eerie, especially at night, so they get you
all wound up, and then generally go for the cheap startle-scare, but
it's an effective tactic.   Finally, and I don't think this is a spoiler
because all the reviews mention it, Hell is probably the single most
impressive sight I've seen in a game, it's really something else.

--
Swervo -
Do not remove TAG under penalty of law.   Unless you want to e-mail me.