rec.autos.simulators

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Marc J. Nelson
The Sim Project - http://www.racesimcentral.net/
Extinct Track Archive - http://www.racesimcentral.net/

* Switch confused.net with concentric.net to reply...Confused-yet? *

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Pat Dotson
IMPACT Motorsports
http://www.impactmotorsports.com/pd.html

System requirements: Pentium 166 or better; 2x CD ROM - 28.8 or faster
modem for multiplayer play; high-speed (16550 UART) serial card - Windows
95/98 - 32 MB RAM - Joystick or Mouse, sterring wheel and pedals

Tested on: Pentium II 266 - 64 MB RAM - STB Velocity 128 and Diamond
Monster I 3D cards - 24X CD - SoundBlaster AWE 64 Thrustmaster Grand
Prix 1 Racing Wheel

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Papy, Papy, Papy, youve done it again. Papy, for those of you who are
not hardcore race sim fans, is short for Papyrus. The race sim gurus who
have brought us masterpieces such as Indy 500: The Simulation, Nascar,
Nascar 2, and Indy Car Racing. This just in, theyve struck gold once
again with Grand Prix Legends. The year is 1968. It will go down as an
historic year in auto racing. Wings were introduced for the first time to
aid in keeping cars on the track and a host of rule changes have been
implemented to cut down on driver fatalities.. Welcome to 1967.

Gameplay -  
Amazing, the physics model is nothing short of amazing. Your car will
catch air, tumble, spin out, slide on the grass, lock up etc It just has
that, well, feel about it. I really feel like Im driving one of these
deathtraps. Youll find yourself sitting about a foot in front of over
400bhp in a machine that weighs slightly over 1100lbs. Tip: dont floor
the gas unless your in 3rd gear or higher.

You can make things a little easier on yourself with braking and throttle
help and even let the computer do the shifting for you. Thats not the
point here. This is as close to a simulation of the Grand Prix driving
experience as your gonna find. Enjoy it.

Drivers will have all 11 tracks from the 1967 season to choose from as
well as most every car. Though youll find that the Honda and the
Maserati have been renamed. I can only assume for some type of licensing
reasons. Youll also find a majority of the drivers included although a
few have been left out, Jackie Stewart is a little missed.

Players have the option of stepping into these beasts at the Novice, Pro,
or Grand Prix levels. Each option provides a different race length,
opponent difficulty, and damage model. Feel free to bounce around at the
Novice level, your car is indestructible. At the Grand Prix level,
caution is a necessity, as a bump into the wall could throw your camber
out of whack. Rev the engine too hard and speedshift, and youll be
driving a car that is crippled. A lot of the intricacies of pit strategy
involved in modern F1 racing are out the window. Heck, it wasnt uncommon
for drivers to race on the same set of tires two weeks in a row back
then.

The driving world is slightly contained. Nail the fence at 100+ mph and
your car will go flying in an incredibly realistic manner, but will
always tumble along an invisible wall at the edges of the driving
universe. Otherwise, feel free to drive up hills, backwards, or just
about anywhere you want to go, within the environment. The world
constantly changes too. I was shocked to race and still find my rubber
burns in the exact same fashion many laps later. Many sims simply erase
these when your car is out of sight. Ive found this incredibly useful.
Racing a buddy at Rouen I was completely frustrated trying to reel him in
from 25 seconds back. Thats until I saw a pair of rubber streaks left by
him that led straight into the white tire barrier. I knew I was closer.

Budding engineers will find the typically in depth Papyrus car setup a
joy to use. Although I did catch myself a few times searching for the
wing options which I had become spoiled by. DOH! As in most racers,
making an adjustment to one element often means a non-wanted result to
another part of the car. Its a game of cat and mouse to get dialed in. I
found monitoring the tire temps and pressure to be the most effective way
to get feedback, outside of actual course performance.

Multiplay is a dream. Drivers can hookup with friends over the net, a
LAN, or modem to modem. Fortunately I have a good bud, who is a fellow
enthusiast, in town and we have found the modem connection to be
flawless. I have also read on message boards where other drivers have
found internet play to be surprisingly smooth and lacking a lot of the
warp effect which often pops up in online racers.

I could go on all day. Just a few more items before moving on. Tracks are
incredibly re-created. I also read on a message board a post from a
gentleman who attended the races at Rouen back in the early 70s. He was
blown away at how accurately it has been recreated. Drivers will also
find a faithful recreation of the 14 mile Nurburgring. Yep, 14 MILES! I
often drive this just to relax. Tires spit sand when spinning out on the
lip and put down varying shades of black when doing this on the track.
The suspension is incredible with the wheels and springs bobbing up and
down to the road and the car dropping out when drivers start going up
instead of straight. It aids in the driving. Finally, the car itself has
been incredibly modeled with appropriate pieces flying off on impact and
fuel cells catching fire in the real nasties.

AI/ Difficulty -  

Only one and I mean just one problem in this category. It may be a little
too hard for novices and has a very steep learning curve. I still have
trouble hanging with the competition on the novice setting. But hey,
lets not play wet nurse, this is a real sim and will take some real time
to master. It took me over 100 hours to win with Indy 500 back in 89.
Uh, I also almost dropped out of college that semester. How will Papyrus
ruin my life this time?

The AI is mind-blowing. Now, I cant be certain that this was programmed
in, but it sure seemed to me that different drivers reacted different. At
Monaco when coming out of a tight corner I noticed Jim Clark, regarded by
many to be maybe the finest of his era, dice it up and even use a little
curb to get around me. In the exact same situation I noticed that some of
the ham and eggers backed off or were much less aggressive. The drivers
also have their flaws, which is comforting. I couldnt help but laugh
when I witnessed McLaren lock up and hit the wall.

As I have mentioned, the game is difficult. If you cant appreciate
mastering the intricacies of the tracks and the cars, then go find your
daddys wallet and head to the arcade for a little Daytona USA. No soup
for you! This is for serious drivers. Pretenders need not apply. Look for
the online community to grow and really adopt this game. But it will be a
world populated by those who really appreciate what motorsports is all
about. I recently raced my buddy at Rouen. Bumped the tirewall, and had
to race the last lap with the steering wheel held all the way left just
to stay straight as my alignment went out of whack. Its that real.

Graphics -  
The game is gorgeous, of course most games are lately. But its the
extras that count. Smoke is translucent, the drivers are polygonal,
different tires can be seen locking up appropriately and even spinning at
different rates, springs expand and contract, and the cars are smoothly
rounded. Games can be played in resolutions up to 1024x768. But youll
need a bear of a machine for that. With my specs I found an 800x600
resolution worked best. Its pretty cool to watch a replay and see your
arms turning throughout the track.

There are a few minor and I mean very minor complaints here. The
backdrops are a little cartoonish. But in a strange way, that almost
lends itself to the 1967 feel. Also, I would like to have seen my
drivers head bob the way it did in F1RS. Lens flare is missing but
drivers wore goggles back then, so dont sweat it. It's a little
disturbing to watch a replay of my car going out of control and see that
silly grin still pasted to my driver who oddly resembles a weeble-wobble,
minus the weebling and wobbling. But again, in a very strange way, this
almost lends itself to the nostalgia.

Sound FX -  
Finally, this game does it right, this puppy rumbles. For the first time
sound improves the feeling of being there. Youll feel the horses, youll
also appreciate all the different sounds. It's so refreshing to head down
a straightaway and know that I have Bandini in his Ferrari to my left and
Hill to my right in his Lotus. Yep, each engine makes a distinct sound.
Ive found the Lotus suits my driving style but I generally drive the
Ferrari just to listen to its sweet music.

Its 1967, pretty much all your gonna hear is that beast turning out the
horsepower. But other sounds exist here as well. I cant be certain, but
I thought for a brief moment I could hear wind whistling when I let off
the gas coming down a straightaway. That may have been humming in my
headphones, but it sure as hell sounded like wind in my helmet. If so,
well done. Tires squeal to perfection. The crowd cheers, dont know why,
I can barely hear them with that V12 screaming. At the start of the race
youll hear the PA announcer, again sounding very much like hes straight
out of 1967. One complaint. Heading into the tunnel at Monaco it would
have been nice to hear sound bouncing off the wall.

Interface -  
Oh no. We came so close to just running the board here with stars. The
interface is a little awkward at first, but I soon found it to be very
intuitive. It's very easy to use and is especially a joy when setting up
the car. Keys and driving controls can be assigned and adjusted and a
wide range of graphical and sound options can be fine tuned. I am still
having a very difficult time with the replay portion. It wont do what I
want it to do!!! Oh well, most of that is probably my fault, but I am
gonna have ...

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