rec.autos.simulators

>So... GP3... my two penneth :

>Good Things
>- Excellent new physics model
>- Excellent AI (diving for corners, blocking)
>- Lovely graphics
>- Fantastic rain

>Bad things
>- Some strange design quirks
>- Slow
>- bad***pit display

>Right... a bit more detail. I took all the help off straight away and
>spent about fif*** minutes going from silverstone to the setup menus
>to get my control device working as I liked.

>The physics is wonderful - really gives a good impression of a modern
>F1 car - at high speeds it sticks to the ground like glue (even in the
>rain) - at low speeds it's a twitchy pig. Once you start taking
>downforce off the car's a handful all the time :-)

>Braking is much more as you would expect of an F1 car - very late, and
>very hard, then get off them damn quick before you lock up. All very
>precise too - satisfying to get right though - same goes for power out
>of slow corners. More than about 2 degrees slide, and you've lost it.

>The lifetime of the tyres is simulated very well too - you get a
>couple of great laps out of them, then they stabilise. The first quick
>lap is good fun - how late can you brake? hehe

>The AI of the computer cars is outstanding - they fight! It's somewhat
>disconcerting to think you've defended the inside, only to find a
>certain man's Ferrari squeeze into the gap that's not there... and
>blocking maneouvers too!

>I don't agree with people over the graphics. They are not anti-aliased
>- and this makes them look REAL at high resolutions. It helps disguise
>the "computer drawn" look...

>The rain really is something else. You get lulled into a false sense
>of security by the amount of grip you have - until you hit standing
>water... Monaco becomes a deathtrap (the hill up to *** in
>particular).

>The only really weird thing I've found so far is when you are low on
>fuel, as you pass the pit, it slows you ON THE TRACK... I don't like
>being told what to do like that.

>Also, I can't say I like the virtual steering wheel on-screen at all.
>It's tremendously off-putting - mainly because it's not "live" - there
>is a delay (unlike the front wheels of the car, which ARE live.

>Summary....
>Overall I like it a lot. I expect many hours will be spent with it
>over the coming months. Championships to be fought... races to be
>won... arrogant German Ferrari drivers to push off the track...

>Warning - you need a monster of a computer to run it. I've got a
>750Mhz Athlon, 100Mhz motherboard, 128Mb RAM, 32Mb Matrox G400 Max
>graphics card, and races come out at about 100% occupancy doing 25fps
>with everything on... the start goes to about 150% for a few seconds.

>Jonathan Beckett

> So... GP3... my two penneth :

> Good Things
> - Excellent new physics model
> - Excellent AI (diving for corners, blocking)
> - Lovely graphics
> - Fantastic rain

> Bad things
> - Some strange design quirks
> - Slow
> - bad***pit display

> Right... a bit more detail. I took all the help off straight away and
> spent about fif*** minutes going from silverstone to the setup menus
> to get my control device working as I liked.

> The physics is wonderful - really gives a good impression of a modern
> F1 car - at high speeds it sticks to the ground like glue (even in the
> rain) - at low speeds it's a twitchy pig. Once you start taking
> downforce off the car's a handful all the time :-)

> Braking is much more as you would expect of an F1 car - very late, and
> very hard, then get off them damn quick before you lock up. All very
> precise too - satisfying to get right though - same goes for power out
> of slow corners. More than about 2 degrees slide, and you've lost it.

> The lifetime of the tyres is simulated very well too - you get a
> couple of great laps out of them, then they stabilise. The first quick
> lap is good fun - how late can you brake? hehe

> The AI of the computer cars is outstanding - they fight! It's somewhat
> disconcerting to think you've defended the inside, only to find a
> certain man's Ferrari squeeze into the gap that's not there... and
> blocking maneouvers too!

> I don't agree with people over the graphics. They are not anti-aliased
> - and this makes them look REAL at high resolutions. It helps disguise
> the "computer drawn" look...

> The rain really is something else. You get lulled into a false sense
> of security by the amount of grip you have - until you hit standing
> water... Monaco becomes a deathtrap (the hill up to *** in
> particular).

> The only really weird thing I've found so far is when you are low on
> fuel, as you pass the pit, it slows you ON THE TRACK... I don't like
> being told what to do like that.

> Also, I can't say I like the virtual steering wheel on-screen at all.
> It's tremendously off-putting - mainly because it's not "live" - there
> is a delay (unlike the front wheels of the car, which ARE live.

> Summary....
> Overall I like it a lot. I expect many hours will be spent with it
> over the coming months. Championships to be fought... races to be
> won... arrogant German Ferrari drivers to push off the track...

> Warning - you need a monster of a computer to run it. I've got a
> 750Mhz Athlon, 100Mhz motherboard, 128Mb RAM, 32Mb Matrox G400 Max
> graphics card, and races come out at about 100% occupancy doing 25fps
> with everything on... the start goes to about 150% for a few seconds.

> Jonathan Beckett

>> >I have two computers and linking them over a lan was a doddle.

>He means it was *EASY*. Doddle is slang for easily achieved.