rec.autos.simulators

Many Thanks

Peter Hooper

Edward

The tracks in Viper Racing don't offer the same "competitive" feeling
that you'll get from tracks like Sears Point, but I find that the VR
tracks have a great backroad/canyon kind of feeling that I like.  This
is what NFSIII tries for, but there it only works at the arcade level.
Viper Racing is a full-blown sim, and I think that GPL is the only
thing in the same class at this point in time.

Viper Racing has a REALLY great physics model, the upgrades REALLY
make a difference as you progress, you have to REALLY compete to earn
money for the upgrades, the competition REALLY gets more difficult as
you increase up the career ladder, and I've found it to be REALLY
rewarding to watch my times and skills improve as I've worked my way
up the career ladder.  

In short, Viper Racing is a REALLY great sim if you love to drive and
compete -- and if you're willing to put yourself in a single-class
racing environment (i.e., Vipers only), and then immerse yourself in
Viper Racing's excellent career mode.  

If you want to immerse yourself in a simulated racing environment,
complete with multiple car types and multiple classes, and you're
williing to settle for a physics model that tends to be at least a bit
more arcade-like, then SCGT may be more to your liking.

Again, I haven't sampled the full version of SCGT, but based on my
experiences with the SCGT demo and the full version of Viper Racing,
it's pretty obvious that I would REALLY recommend Viper Racing over
SCGT.  If you value lots of variety, though, and aren't inclined to
wring a sim out to the fullest, then you may not appreciate all that
Viper Racing has to offer.

-- JB

On Fri, 23 Apr 1999 23:29:31 +0100, "Peter Hooper"

I'll second that.  Viper's physics model is unsurpassed, and the track
designs are excellent.

--
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Peter Hooper

Viper is superior IF thats what your'e looking for.

Both good, just different. Viper is a lot of fun..

Sorry, imo and many others Viper isn't even close to GPL in sim terms. No way,
no how.

Very true.

They are both good, Viper for general driving fun in a race enviroment with
good physics. But somehow it doesn't feel like racing to me.

I like them both. Physics and ai are similar in the pretty good category and
both have career modes. SCGT has more cars obviously and is modeled more
closely to actual full scale racing. But, just like Viper, I'll play SCGT for a
while then go back and drive GPL.
JM.......can you say nascar3? icr3? keep em coming papy!

<SNIP THE UNIMPORTANT STUFF>

I equate Viper Racing to an SCCA club- or Trans Am-type racing
environment.  On those terms, Viper Racing is like taking the car I'd
drive every day, or a prepared race car, and racing against other
amateurs or semi-professionals on closed circuits courses that aren't
actually real professional race tracks.  In that frame of reference,
Viper Racing is just a slightly different racing experience, but I
agree that I don't get that Watkins Glen/Road America/Laguna Seca/Lime
Rock kind of feeling.

OTOH, I find that the switchback in the Sunset Mesa track in Viper
Racing kind of reminds me of the corkscrew at Laguna Seca, and
Castlegreen reminds me a bit of Mid Ohio or maybe Road America.
Dayton is something of a Daytona knock-off, too.  

The one thing I find really amusing about Viper Racing is how much the
Sunset Mesa course reminds me of a Roadrunner cartoon -- I find myself
humming the Roadrunner theme while racing there, and my wife looks
REALLY scared sometimes . . . <G>

-- JB

SCCA racing goes on at real professional racetrack like Heartland Park,
Road America, Mid Ohio, Road Atlanta and such.

-- JB

Pro Solo ll is a heads up type of Solo ll racing.  You are thinking of Solo
l.

Dave

Dave