Hello all,
I've bought the German version today and tested it briefly on those two
machines.
486 DX2/66, 32 MB, SPEA V7 Mirage VLB
It runs in VGA with nearly all textures and details switched off. I could
play Magny-Cours with 18.2 fps rather well. But it doesn't look that
stunning with that few details. But the car feeling and the sound alone
makes it a worthwhile buy, so to anybody out there with such a computer:
If you liked F1GP, get it. The graphics is at least not worse than in
F1GP2...
Monaco: very flaky.
Just for fun I tried full SVGA in Hockenheim and Monaco. In Hockenheim, I
got one frame about each third of a second. In Monaco I concentrated on
the processor occupancy: peak value was 1000% (yes, that's one thousand
percent). Don't know how this is measured, but would a processor ten times
as fast as that 486 (supported by a fast graphics card like the
Millennium) mean that it would work? How much faster is a P200? Which
benchmark would you choose to decide this?
Anyway, that 1000% was at the start only. On average it was 400-500%.
P90, 32 MB, SPEA V7 Mercury P64 PCI
Not even full detail in VGA, if you want at least 16fps. Well, you *can*
use full detail, but it's not smooth enough (I'm talking about Monaco
here) to enjoy it.
SVGA can be played with most details off (Monaco again). Of course it's
nicer with all buildings, but the feeling of SVGA is so much better than
VGA that I would rather switch off details than stay with VGA.
From my impression on this machine I would say that even a P166 will not
be enough for smooth races with full SVGA at Monaco (and most other
circuits, too).
With some details switched off, it should work.
In general: VGA looks very "pixeled", SVGA is stunning, even with low
detail.
Now the good facts: The sound is... I don't have words for it. The effects
when you switch down the gears under braking are wonderful.
I've played F1GP since it was available for the Amiga. I may not the best
driver but I am surely not bad. But with GP2 I have to learn nearly
everything again. Okay, I managed to stay on the track after some corners
(all help turned off), but the feeling is really completely new. Nobody of
us may have driven a F1 car in reality, but I think you will also "feel"
that GP2 is damn realistic. With traction help off, you have to be very
careful with the throttle in 1st and 2nd gear. Wheel spin all over the
place, I can tell you. BTW, a really *cool* effect: When you start from
the back of the grid, after the start you drive through the wheel smoke of
some other cars that had their wheels spinning. It is like the rain effect
in F1GP, only better.
When accelerating out of corners, a little too much throttle and you'll
start to spin.
Braking: really much different in the beginning. Wheels lock up rather
fast and without warning. Takes much more practice than in F1GP. And the
CCs brake late, even on Rookie level.
Overtaking: More difficult since the CCs are better now.
Damage: WOW! I've managed to drive into a wall with 300kph, and the
monocoque stuck in the wall while the complete back of the car BROKE OFF
AND FLEW AWAY!
Which parts of your car come off during a crash is modelled rather
detailed. The parts don't just disappear but fly all over the place. You
may be overtaken by your own rear wing...
I've also hit a Sauber with my front spoiler under braking. Front spoiler
was damaged, so I drove to the pits. I got the message "Andrea de Cesaris
is out of the race", so I switched to replay to look at it. It turned out
that my spoiler had got the rear wheel of the Sauber off. The Sauber car
"dropped" towards the rear right side and hit a wall. When it had come to
a halt, the wheel rolled in from behind, fell over and lay there!
Going in the air: Not only that the car can now bounce over curbs, gravel
and grass, it is also possible to drive over wheels of another car and
have your car kicked up to 45 degrees sideways.
Sand traps: Urgh, ***. Very ***. Expect to lose much, much more time
when going off the track than in F1GP.
Other things: Two manuals. The main manual has about 150 pages and is in
full color on all pages. I am a little bit disappointed, though, as it is
not that well structured and some parts are just modified versions of the
old F1GP manual (monza rookie training). The track layout pictures are
*exactly* the same, and the track descriptions, too. So the layouts are
not correct, for example the esse chicane in Magny-Cours is different in
1994, but in the layout it looks like 1991. The track lengths given in the
manual are the same, which can't be right for all tracks (Wasn't
Silverstone changed, for example?).
The second manual is the technical manual (28 pages). GP2 has many
command-line options to address even the most *** problems.
The intro is a fast sequence of pictures. It is nice, but not as
impressive as the F1GP intro was back at that time. The background
pictures for the menus are very nice (all in SVGA).
Well, that are my first impressions. Hope you enjoyed them (although
you'll enjoy the game more :-)
Greetings,
Tjark Kalow