> First and most obvious: The pull to the left is gone pretty much completely,
> at least in the default fast setup for both tracks. Seems like the car is
> more stable also. I think a lot of folks are going to be very pleased with
> this. Myself, I had gotten used to the pull, but it didn't take any getting
> used to go back to not having a pull.
Were you using the easy setup? The fast/qual setups for both tracks
pull to the left just as much as you would expect from N4. The pull
isn't some magic effect built in to the game, it's the result of
running uneven camber on the front wheels.
Again, check the setup you're using. With the fast setups I don't
notice a difference in the handling at all compared to N4. Initially
my laptimes at both tracks were exactly the same as I would have
expected. I did drop a few tenths/lap but I'll explain that below.
It seems impossible to flip the cars over now when getting t-boned.
While this is nice and everything, it seems like the same sort of code
they used to induce barrel rolls in N4. It just feels forced when a
car doing 150mph hits you while you're sitting sideways and the wheels
don't even lift off of the ground.
I can't see much of a difference between the AI in the final patched
version of N4 and this demo. I find running in N4 now I can push the
cars around pretty well. It does seem that they made the AI a touch
more aggressive by default and made them a little bit better at
bumping and rubbing but I see the same retarded stuff the AI does in
N4. I spun coming off of 2 at Richmond, ending up sideways down by
the wall about halfway down the backstraight. Suddenly I get t-boned
by a car doing about 100mph. Odd, I thought, wonder what the AI is
doing way out of the racing line. Then POW POW POW POW 4-5 more cars
in quick succession. Ok, this is weird. POW POW POW POW 4-5 more.
Um. I go look at the replay. Apparently my spin caused the AI's
"dive into the infield to avoid the wreck" instincts to kick in and
they were all driving directly into the infield wall and then into the
pileup. That had to be the funniest thing I've ever seen Papy AI do.
This wreck did a good job of demonstrating the new "glued to the
track" physics cheat that kicks in when cars are hit sideways.
I'm running 1280x960x32 and it looks exactly like N4 but with 512x512
textures. The objects and lighting are exactly the same as N4 from
what I can tell, as well as the tracks themselves. Don't get me wrong
tho, as long as you stay in TV1/TV2 camera modes it looks absolutely
beautiful. Switching over to Spectator, my personal camera of choice,
reveals the GPL heritage plain as day.
The backfire effects are nice, if a bit overdone.
The engine/shifting sounds are really nice. The best part tho, is the
separation of tire scrubbing/tire squealing into 2 separate sounds.
This is fantastic. I was actually able to knock a few tenths off of
my laps at both tracks because I was picking up mistakes in my grip
management that I didn't notice in N4 because the "tires near limit"
sound was the same as the "tires being mutilated" sound. Now there's
a nice low-pitched rumble as the tires reach the edge of the traction
circle, and the high-pitched squeal doesn't kick in until you're
pushing it too hard. Really nice.
I did notice somthing buggy with the sound the first time I checked
out the brakelocking sound. I came off of 2 at Atlanta and put the
brake pedal all the way down and I could hear the loop points in the
squeal sound, it was really odd (sounded like I was letting off the
brakes and hammering them again, over and over). I tried it again and
it worked fine, so who knows.
These are the only substantial differences I'm seeing between N4 and
N2002. I think the clips of DW that are in the demo are great. He
discusses the history of each track briefly as a field of cars drives
by and a speed limit board with the pit speed is displayed in the
upper left hand corner. Then using slow-motion and periodic pausing
he explains the line around the track, showing braking points, lifting
points, and throttle application points. Well done imho. Then
there's a full lap at speed, after which he does a brief summary and
gives some more tips, explaining how your line changes at Atlanta
after there's some wear in the tires and warning you to watch the
wheelspin coming out of 4 at Richmond and to be careful braking for 3
and 4 so that you don't flatspot a tire. Really really well done I
thought. On the other hand, I tried running for awhile with the
racing line displayed, and I found that it was more distracting than
anything. This is probably just a personal preference, though, since
the line is the same as in F1 2001's training school.
I'm probably going to buy it for the driving school, replay theater
(haven't gotten to play with it yet, tho), and improved sound. The AI
seems a tad bit better but still stupid enough that I wouldn't buy it
based on the improvements here. I can't see a difference at all in
the physics modelling except for the side-impact cheat. If enough
people pick it up when it comes out and there's a decent community
racing it online I'll pick it up for sure. Otherwise I'm still iffy,
although I'll likely get it just to support Papyrus (it's not their
fault Sierra is trying to milk their licenses).
The demo just leaves me wanting to rub wheels with Emo in GPL 72, to
be honest.
Jason
