rec.autos.simulators

Hi guys,

As promised, here's the Ubi Soft press release for F1...  =)

Cheers!

Marc J. Nelson
Sim Racing Online / Sim Racing News / The Sim Project
http://www.racesimcentral.net/

COMPANY CONTACT:              MEDIA CONTACTS:
Shawn Roberts                 S&S Public Relations, Inc.
415/547-4000, Ext. 231        Lauren Finkelman/Sophia Chee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UBI SOFT RACES AHEAD WITH EARLY LAUNCH OF
F1 RACING SIMULATION

Available Online For The Holiday Season, Expected to Hit Retail
Early 1998

SAN FRANCISCO (November 12,1997) - Rushing forward for the holidays,
Ubi Soft Entertainment today announced plans to launch F1 Racing
Simulation for PC CD-ROM months ahead of schedule.  F1 Racing
Simulation will be available for purchase exclusively from Ubi Soft
Entertainment's Online Store this holiday season and will then be
available at retail in early 1998.  Racing enthusiasts can order F1
Racing Simulation at Ubi Soft's web site at http://www.racesimcentral.net/
or through it's toll free phone number 1-800-UBISOFT.

"We are e***d to release this fantastic F1 game online for the
holidays.  The recent F1 season has generated incredible demand for
an accurate and true-to-life title like F1 Racing Simulation,"
commented Laurent Detoc, Vice President of Ubi Soft Entertainment.
"F1 Racing Simulation was developed to satisfy the most demanding
racing enthusiasts."

F1 Racing Simulation is a licensed product of the Formula One
Constructors Association (FOCA), allowing gamers to race as one of
the 22 actual F1 drivers from the 1996 season on 16 tracks precisely
rendered from the real-life race circuits. The superior artificial
intelligence ensures that racers will drive as they do in real life-
- emulating trademark driving styles!

Created by Ubi Soft Entertainment's development team in France in
collaboration with F1 Renault engineers, the game was crafted to
deliver ultra-realistic accuracy.  F1 Racing Simulation offers over
12 ways to customize the vehicles to achieve maximum performance.
Players can adjust the settings for car performance variables
including wing downforce, suspension, settings, brake balance,
wheel camber and gear ratios.  The game is further enhanced with
changing weather conditions and real life radio communications from
the pit.

F1 Racing Simulation requires a Pentium? 120 (Pentium? 166
recommended) with a 3D graphic accelerator card (optimized for 3Dfx
Voodoo - all other cards are supported via Direct 3D). The title
will be offered at Ubi Soft's Online Store for $44.95.

For more information, call Ubi Soft Entertainment at 415/547-4000
or visit the company Web site at http://www.racesimcentral.net/.

I called 1-800-UBISOFT, and the sale rep informed me that it will be
available in Europe December 10th and will have the 1996 F1
statistics.  Also that it will be available in Canada and the US in
March 98, with updated statistics of the 1997 season.

I personally dont understand their sales approach.  Why dont they just
ship the game with 1996 stats now EVERYWHERE?  They can sell an
upgrade at a later date with the 1997 stats, and any other
enhancement/additions they want.

They will be missing the Christmas season in Canada and the US.  There
wont be much competition for 3D enhanced racing simulations, and they
can really sell well (especially since Canada has rekindled their
interest in F1 racing since Jacque Vellenue won the title).

Oh well, I guess some companies dont like money.

I called too. The rep told me that the title *MAY* ship in the USA before
the end of the year. They are taking pre-release orders now. I personally
do not do the pre-release thing so I didn't order. He would certainly not give
a firm date, but said they would contact anyone who pre-ordered if it
was not going to ship this year.

--
Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

Frameratewise I agree. The AI in the demo is just horrid. If that is not
fixed in the game, a disaster could happen. If the AI is fixed, it may be the
driving sim of the year!

Also, just for yucks I ran GP2. Man is it terrible in comparison, graphics
and frameratewise. I have a P5-200MMX and I get 100% occupancy. But
after playing the UBI-F1 demo there is just no way I can deal with GP2.
So my copy of GP2 is for sale for $20. Any takers?
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Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

Jeff

l8er
ronny

--
          |\      _,,,---,,_        I want to die like my Grandfather,
   ZZZzz /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_              in his sleep.
        |,4-  ) )-,_. ,\ (  `'-'     Not like the people in his car,
       '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)            screaming their heads off!

A few cool items...

Due to licensing, there's no 'net play inside the game, but when I
asked about the 8-player IPX and Kali, they said "no comment."  =)

The sim should be available to the Euro-market on the 21st.

Ubi Soft is currently shipping copies to reviewers as I type, and I
should have a US version in my hot-little hands by Friday...I just
picked up a Monster 3D, and I can hardly wait for the fireworks to
begin!!  =)

Cheers!

Marc - SRN

On Thu, 13 Nov 1997 14:46:09 -0800, "Mike \"LongHorn\" Davis"

Exactly what the *&*& they're thinking, I haven't a clue.

Jeff

Any predictions when the in-depth online review will be available?

JoH
Please remove *anti-spam* from the email when replying.
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Nearly complete.  However, I'm hoping John Wallace will give
 some thoughts too, as he's the GP-guru of SRN.  ;)

Cheers!

Marc - SRN