rec.autos.simulators

With all the e***ment and traffic regarding GP2, please bear a thought
for us poor souls with 486 processors, 4Mb RAM and ISA SVGA cards, we can
but dream of beautiful smooth scrolling SVGA graphics, the feeling of
speed and a real time lap that takes less than 5 minutes,....now if only I
could afford that Pentium Pro. :-)

In the meantime I thought I'd upgrade my ICR1 and go out and buy ICR2 ( if
I can get near the Microprose shelf this week).

Can you experienced ICR2' ers let me know what the main differences are
between the two versions? Is it just 'bells and whistles' or are the
driving model and graphics improved? My biggest gripe with ICR1 is the
white lines along the edge of the track breaking up, this makes it
difficult to pick a good line into the next corner.

Thanks

Mark.

: With all the e***ment and traffic regarding GP2, please bear a thought
: for us poor souls with 486 processors, 4Mb RAM and ISA SVGA cards, we can
: but dream of beautiful smooth scrolling SVGA graphics, the feeling of
: speed and a real time lap that takes less than 5 minutes,....now if only I
: could afford that Pentium Pro. :-)

: In the meantime I thought I'd upgrade my ICR1 and go out and buy ICR2 ( if
: I can get near the Microprose shelf this week).

: Can you experienced ICR2' ers let me know what the main differences are
: between the two versions? Is it just 'bells and whistles' or are the
: driving model and graphics improved? My biggest gripe with ICR1 is the
: white lines along the edge of the track breaking up, this makes it
: difficult to pick a good line into the next corner.

According to the minimum requirements you are 4meg short in memory.  The
box says 8meg.  I'm not positive, (and can some one help me out here,
please?), but I think the 8meg is because to run a couple of the tracks
you will need 8meg.  Don't hold me to it.  It just sound familiar, but
that could have been NASCAR.

I'm afraid that you may not be that happy with upgrading.  Not because
ICR2 isn't better than ICR1, but you may not get the performance you are
looking for on your machine.  But, there are some GOOD things in ICR2.

For your situation the #1 thing is the graphics performance (frames per
second) was much improved.  Provided you have a card that can support
vesa 2.0 via univbe (a version is included with the game).  Personally I
would not say that the graphic detail in VGA is a great improvement over
ICR1, but then I don't run it in VGA.  

With the 1.02 patch the AI is improved and handling feels much more like
the real thing.

For me, it was worth the upgrade.  Now that the traction bug has been
fixed with the 1.02 patch, it should be worth it to others also.
However, I'm running it on a P90 and in SVGA.  Albiet with hardly any
detail, but that's my preference.  I drive with paint/lines, dirt/smoke,
and car textures (now why would he care about car textures??? :->).
This gives me an average of 15-22 fps (depending on traffic or track).
Hopefully someone can give you some feedback on what kind of graphic
performance you should expect on your setup.

I've heard great raves about the VGA in ICR2.  I just can't deal with
it.  I need that detail you seem to be looking for and SVGA provides it.
One of the keys to racing in the real road is concentrating on where you
want the car to be.  It is far easier for me to do this in SVGA.

--
**************************** Michael E. Carver *************************
     Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./.  [-  < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

   The bottom line is: its enhanced over ICR1, but do you have the
machine to take advantage of it?  If you're planning to upgrade in
the not-too-distant future (6 months?), I'd say go ahead, buy it,
get used to it in VGA, drool over SVGA, and you can really enjoy it
once you upgrade.  I've had the game for 8 months and I think its a
worthwhile investment (and I do plan to upgrade in a few months ;).
The new DOS/Win95/Mac version is going for around $40 (cheaper than
DOS 1.0.0!), so you do have the extra versions in the box/on the CD
if you ever have the use for them.

   Also, one last thought -- this game has *completely* replaced
ICR1 for my racing enjoyment, even if I can't make full use of it.
So it must be pretty decent...  ;)

Pick one or more: Model Rockets (competition-NERCB) / PCs (even Atari!) /
Papyrus ICR-ICR2-NCR / Who needs a life when you have multiple non-lives?

U should really get more RAM it isn't that much and u would see a
major differance if u tried indy2.
Well the graphics really are a step above indy1 and the car handling
is better for sure. It has tons of minor improvements that add up to a
must buy i think

GAUNTLET

GP2=multiple ***s

________

Eldred Pickett

I am NOT paranoid.  And why are you always watching me?!?