rec.autos.simulators

  So soon, we are led to beleive, rFactor will be released.  A mod friendly
big advancement from prior ISI sims.  I am going to guess that even with
all the improvements from the multiplayer demo, that rF will not quite rise
to the level of previous Papyrus titles when examining online features.

   Now my question.  Even if rFactor is the 'next great sim', what will it
take for the faithful to go back to iRacing?  What feature?  What
advancement?  What are you looking for in a Next Gen Sim?  What will jump
out and MAKE you go running back home?

and Part 2..

   What could ISI do to allow you to never want to return to Papy-style
sims?   What do they need to complete your racing requirements?

dave henrie

As for ISI, they need to continue to build on and surpass everything
that Papy did with NR2003. NR2003 is <the> benchmark right now for sim
racing and it's 2.5 yrs. old. There is no other sim racing title right
now that I use more than NR2003. I have RBR, GPL, NSR(ugh), F1C. They
can use whatever form of racing they choose, but it simply needs to be
as good as NR2003 is right now, including the MP and especially the
interface. A solid PC version of a menu system is essential, no
forward/back screens, no awkward calibration systems, no need to spend
hours tweaking a .plr file to activate various options. The previous
generation gfx needs to be overhauled to be more photorealistic.

Aside from the brouhaha over getting the NR2003 code rights back under wrap,
the future for iRacing/rFactor isn't that much different from the past with
Sierra-Papyrus/EA-ISI.  Papy were always rather protective of their product,
while ISI, from SCGT on, were more mod-friendly.  I have no issue with
someone protecting the fruits of their labor and investment (& even making a
buck), so the First/iRacing fuss doesn't bother me one whit.   I do
sympathize with some of the guys who got caught out during the transition
phase though; DK & Co. could probably have handled that better as for this
group of folks.  But in the larger market sense, what our little community
of sim-heads thinks doesn't really matter much.

It's just two groups hitting the market from different angles, trying to
define the niche that will best work for them.  And only when they do will
we enjoy the benefits of a long pipeline of first-tier product.  And product
is what it comes down to in the end, as ever.  Whoever delivers the best
product, or at least the best product at the price level the market's
willing to pay, will dominate.  In the past it was Papy.  Future will tell.
IMHO, mods are not that big an issue; the biggest question is how pay to
play will be rolled out and whether that model will fly in the face of an
established free-online-racing precedent.

As to your questions about what's looked for in a racing sim; for me it's
realism in physics, graphics and sound; depth, polish and reliability in
game design, interface and function; quality multiplayer and replay
capability.  There are other sims out that do bits and pieces well, but no
one has yet put the total package together as well as Papy did.  All any sim
developer has to do to succeed is DELIVER.  Simple.  Just not easy.

SB

Cheers
Tony

    If the coders can sell the idea of quality product to the money people
(so far Papyrus are the only outfit to succeed) then we get a good product.
Probably more a matter of insisting on this rather than trying to sell it.

    Some ***wit in a suit, who knows *** all about anything, takes a quick
peek and thinks "oh man, that's ready for the shelves for sure", and then on
the shelves the alpha shit goes. No doubt some of the coders get money
anxious along the way too.

    I just hope that iRacing are so confident that their new stuff will be
so irresistible that the shit they're going on with presently won't matter.
I wonder when we will actually hear something about the release date of
something rather than the next chapter in the modder war saga?

<sitting still, staring blankly at the monotor, twiddling thumbs>