Yes, we are going about this in the wrong way. Depending on one firm
(Sierra/Papy) isn't going to get the sim racing community what it
wants. Yes, they have developed some very exciting and revolutionary
products to be sure, and in some ways have created this market niche,
but they should not be seen as the only game in town.
Other developers, like the West Bros., are hungry and agressive in
seeking the "King of Sims" crown, and although Papy is top of the heap
right now, they, and others, will get much closer soon.
From what I have read of WSC, it should be quite possible to create a
CART carset for it. The real-world physics between a WSC and Indy Car
aren't that terribly different, so it ought to be fairly believable.
Designing and editing tracks will hopefully be easier (ala Sports Car
GT) than the Papy sims.
Who knows? If the Wests are successful with WSC and can be persuaded
that a CART sim would have a market, we might just get our CART sim.
I am however, skeptical that Sierra/Papy can be persuaded to divert
resources from the extremely sucessful and profitable Nascar series
into a less appealing venture.
This should be sufficient motivation for all of us to support the
efforts of promising developers as fully as we can., and to encourage
the purchase of their products.
-V
-waiting for the day when Juan Montoya can drive his own car in a sim.
> I think we are going about this in the wrong way. All the begging and
>pleading with Havas/Sierra/Papyrus just hasn't worked. Perhaps it is
>time to approach this from another direction.
> CART needs ratings, tickets sold, sponsors satisfied. Why not have
>CART pay PAPYRUS to make a sim? CART could view it as advertising, the
>sponsors could all kick in and get tons of ingame mentions. Heck they
>could clutter up the menu screens with Kmart, Havoline, Hollywood all
>they want.
> If CART put up the cash for a GPL/N4 quality CART sim they would have
>a product that could reach tons of computer users. They could GIVE the
>thing away at the tracks...they could use it not as a profit making
>venture in itself, but as a draw for new fans, for re-igniteing the old
>fans who have fallen away. They could tie it in with current races and
>have special lan events at the tracks. The possiblities for expanding
>CARTs customer base would be certainly be enticing.
> ESPN or ABC or TNT or whomever gets the CART broadcasts could be tied
>in also, include an option that takes you right to the ESPN website, etc
>etc.
> Somebody get me Andrew Craig's phone #! Are ya listening Eric?
>dave henrie
>> Papy may, in the next few years, be working on the next level for their
>> simulation engines. Sierra might not want to put their bread and butter
>> NASCAR games into an untested engine.
>> So they may decide to do a CART game to be the basis for a news system, get
>> the bugs out, (Release a couple N4 rehashes yearly), get a modest profit
>> from the sim open wheelers out there. And then when everything is ready to
>> go, they'll unleash the new engine on the Nascar series.
>> That's not THAT far fetched, and I'm not really a CART fan anyways, so I'm
>> not being delusional.
>> And Besides, papy has ALWAYS released a open wheel sim between their NASCAR
>> major titles (99 and 3 aren't). Times have changed, we'll see.
