following snippet from Richard Harrison, Ratbag's Technical Director,
regarding the development of the physics model for Powerslide back in 1997
(DTR will use a second-generation version of Powerslide's physics engine):
"We already had a full 6 degrees of freedom motion simulator. We also had
the code in place which calculated suspension movement at each wheel. Also
we had traction simulation code that calculated the traction at each wheel
based upon its slide magnitude and angle, surface type and the load upon the
tyre."
This sounds like the kind of stuff that caused us all to rave about GPL: 6
degrees of freedom, suspension movement at each wheel modeled independently,
traction at each wheel taken into account based on its slide magnitude,
angle, surface type, and tire load.
Considering that all this applies to Powerslide, and that DTR is using a 2nd
generation version of Powerslide's physics engine, I'd say that DTR is going
to be something special indeed -- perhaps something truly worthy of being
called a "sim."
It sounds good, it looks good, but until we hear something from the beta
testers (damn those NDAs!), all we can do is speculate and hope for the
best.
:-(
Come on, guys -- throw us a bone!
-- JB