rec.autos.simulators

I really don't get this. I am not a guy that downloads warez (because I have
a slow connection to be honest), but I really don't understand why everybody
that plays the warez version complains about bad graphics while all I see
are gorgeous screenshots and movies???

Do I have bad taste? are those screenshots from another game? or is the
warez version not the final?

Please tell me whats going on here

Gr. Buzz

The screenshots are from the game.

you're right Patrick...

When the shots where released everybody seemed to be raving about the
screenshots and movies... My warez version of GP3 shows the exact same
graphics and detail like those shots did and now all of a sudden people are
shouting that the graphics are bad?? I really don't get... I like them, they
are not groundbreaking or anything but they're very good non te less...

-- Sjon

A few possibilities:
1. The screen shots were 'doctored'
2. The machine the shots from was one step below a Cray in computing power.
3. The people posting don't have a powerfull enough system to see the same
graphics.
4. Their systems aren't configured correctly.

Pick one(I'm sure I've left out one or two...<g>)

Eldred
--
Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
GPL hcp. +69.95

Never argue with an idiot.  He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

I believe what most people are complaining about is the lack of filtering
used in the Hardware 3D mode. Some objects are filtered (cars, signs,
etc...) and some aren't (tire barriers, shadows, etc...). Why Mr. Crammond
decided to use this approach, we'll never know. If you've played any current
3D game, almost all objects are filtered. As you approach an object, the 3D
card will make it look a little fuzzier to eliminate the blockiness inherent
with enlarging a smaller bitmap. (To try this, use a graphics program like
MS Paint and open any picture. Next, zoom into the picture at 400% or
greater. Notice the blockiness? ).

My biggest gripe with the graphics is the floating AI cars. GP3 now has
banking on most tracks. When following an AI car down a banking, only one
side of the AI car appears to be actually making contact with the track
surface. Sometimes,  (at the Loew's hairpin) the AI cars will vary quickly
between making contact with all four wheels to only two wheels. It almost
creates a strange animation-type effect with one side of the car lifting
itself up and down from the track. Other times, the shadows below the AI
cars make them look like they're floating in the air. Does this make the
graphics bad? Well, it depends on what you demand as an individual. I think
the game looks very nice. The backdrops at some of the tracks are gorgeous.
Austria, Spa, Monaco and a few others come to mind. And we won't even get
into the weather effects. : )

Michael M

Those out there who make add on tracks for GP2 have known this
for a while.    It seems that in the track file format, there
were some unused 'commands' such as the one to add banking.
Since GP2 doesnt really support it (in the exact same way you
describe for GP3), none of the GP2 tracks that came with the
game had any banking implimented.
Why on earth they chose to impliment it in GP3 when it was known
to not work properly is anyones guess.

What is happening of course is that there two ways to draw the
car: (ignoring the long distance sprites)
- the 'simple' way where the car is flat, or
- the complex way during a crash, or bumping over a kerb, or as
seen by the TV cameras, where the car is not neccesarily flat
on the ground, but all aspects of the physical environment
are also taken into account (such as the height of the kerb
or the banking on the track).

...and what is happening is that it isnt always drawing the
car in the same way when on the banked section of road.

Yeah, its dumb, but it makes the game go faster to draw
in simple mode.   I wish it was an option we could adjust.

I think this summarise most of the GP3 features.

--
-- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard>
-- May the Downforce be with you...
-- http://www.WeRace.net
-- People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise
how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.

Another explanation could be that the screenshots you see are reduced
in size, if you take a screenshot of a game running in 1024x768 and
then reduce the screenshot to 800x600 or 640x480 it tends to give the
picture a smoothed out look and makes the details in the game look
clearer than they are when playing because the reduction in size
reduces the jagged edges or anitaliasing that is visible when playing.
With movies it's even more extreme, since the movies are usually only
320x240 or smaller, try playing one of those movie at full screen and
see how blocky they look and that will give you a more realistic image
of what to expect when you see the game which does have very aged
looking graphics. The graphics in GP3 look blocky and pixelized and it
lacks the smooth surfaces and car reflections that most of the other
recent F1 sims have, and the textures on the road surfaces tend to
look really blocky too, especially if you slow down and look at them a
low speed, as do the trackside graphics, but the worst part of the
graphics in GP3 is the***pit itself, the steering wheel and inner
***pit has a very jagged look with really faded color that sticks out
like a sore thumb from the track graphics which are much smoother, so
the entire***pit tends to look like a cardboard cutout that's just
been slapped over the track graphics, the graphics overall would be
good for a sim from 1995, but not for todays standards.