It is genuinely sad that someone from the CPR team seems to have now had
his fill of ras comments and has packed up his bag and gone home. I really
do believe though that the CPR people have brought the large amount of ill
reviews upon themselves to a very large extent. Or, it is probably more
accurate to say, that Microsoft has brought in upon themselves.
I can't believe that they didn't realise how bad their offering is. Surly
they are not stupid. They have set out, in their own words, to make the
best racing simulator available. Simple logic insists that to make this
claim you must be familiar with what the current state of the art is. To
make this kind of claim without being knowledgable about the competition
really would be stupid.
What about their beta testers ? Who did they use for heavens sake ? Its
very hard to accept that beta testers who are in any way familiar with the
genre would have returned a thumbs up with this program. Did they use the
same folks how last week tested a new spreadsheet system, and the week
before that a word processor feature ? Did they use the same people who
test Flight Sim, who may or may not have any interest or expertise in
testing a racing sim ? If they used testers of any insight and perception
then they must have been aware of this programs shortcomings. It they used
inappropriate testers then that's a very bad mistake on their part in any
case. ( They could do lot worse than getting some of the folks from ras to
test for them if they're serious ).
Because I find it hard to believe that they could be that silly I have to
conclude that they were fully aware about how far short of the mark they
were. That they still released CPR makes me strongly assume that they had
orders from MS that it must be in the shops for Christmas. In this case
there is nothing Dean or any of the team could do about it except resign.
When the big boss pulls a string you jump.
Dean & Co. then have the impossible task to try to justify the programs
numerous obvious problems when the only real excuse is economic impatience,
greed, and a considerable amount of end user disregard on the part of MS.
The CART team would not be allowed to say in public that they knew it was a
lemon but MS, their boss, forced the early release. Instead they are left
in a indefensible position of trying to convince everyone that it really
is good. I suggest that, just as I can't accept they are as stupid as
their current predicament would tend to imply, we are not so stupid as to
be palmed off with thin excuses that ultimately hold no water. MSs greed
and disregard for their clients are the bogy here square and sure.
For a number of reasons, many which have been stated more than once on ras,
Cart Precision Racing does not even approach the upper rugs upon which
several other sims already stand. It not only hasn't pushed the art form
but has not even made it into the ballpark of what's already around.
There is a patch coming out which may or may not go a long way to remedy
the situation. Its notable though that some of the items that the patch
addresses are so basic and are so obviously wrong in the original program
one has to again wonder about the integrity and competence of the beta
testers. I even have to wonder if in fact it really was beta tested by
anyone who is used to racing sims at all. Maybe the Christmas rush deadline
excluded all but the most rudimentary inappropriate outside scrutiny if
any.
Frankly I feel sympathy for Dean and the CPR team because there are the
meat in the sandwich. On one side MS tells them to get it out regardless
without respect or regard to either the end users or to the better
conscience of the programmers themselves. On the other side is a very well
educated and experienced group of sim racers who are well familiar with
where the state of the art is at and what is and isn't acceptable in a
racing simulator. The CART people really can't put the blame where is
rightly belongs, at MSs' door, unless they all want to get fired. They have
to cop it sweet and adopt an alls well that ends well approach.
So now at least one CPR person is fed up with trying to justify themselves
and have quite ras. That's a pity to be sure. But are we expected to be a
bunch of little puppies that'll accept a pat on the head and a old soup
bone and wag our tails ? Please don't expect us to act like we are totally
ignorant of which way is up within this genre. I dare say that more than a
few of the people on ras have put in thousands of hours gaining expertise,
not only through gameplay, but by reading and researching the subject
matter. I for one, am I'm nothing special, have read numerous books and
articles about car design and racing car engineering etc. Its been my hobby
for a long time.
I look forward to the patch. I hope that is does a lot to improve the very
obvious problems. I hope the track editor is good. I hope that further
enhancements and patches make us all forget out initial disappointments. I,
like many here, really do want new offerings to be good and worthwhile.
Best Regards to the CPR team and all. Phooey on MS yet again.
Phillip McNelley