rec.autos.simulators

GTL :  Great cars on washed out neutered tracks.  Still the old ISI game
engine filled up with bugs.  3 months of fun then we move on to whatever's
next as developpers don't support it per low sales of it.

NR2003/GPL : still pumping out the races, but how long with the Sierra
servers be kept alive?

GTR :  Read what I wrote in GTL but start with "Great modern cars".

LfS : :-|

So hmm what's next?  iRacing?  GTR2?  Some miraculous other sim?  People
actually start RACING rFactor?  Or we just die like the flightsim community?

My pick : the last one.

--
-- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard>
-- This announcement is brought to you by the Shimago-Dominguez
Corporation - helping America into the New World...

Andre

Bruce

Having come from "way back"(first post in '93), I actually enjoy LFS.  It's
the only sim left on my hard drive now.  It fits my limited time schedule,
which is important as my talents peaked about a year after GPL then started
to slide as my available time dropped.  The pick-up races are surprisingly
good (less and less idiots on the public servers) and you can usually find
someone at your level to race, the driving model is convincing for all but
the fastest cars, and the newest tracks have some interesting corner
combinations.  It's also quite friendly on my "not quite bleeding edge"
equipment.  Some of the best fun I've had recently was a pick-up race with a
pack of "Minis", where everyone raced clean, fair and hard.

Stephen

I can't believe you've played GTL and actually have that opinion, there is
nothing old ISI engine about it.

Chad

Another issue is that as racing sims get more accurate, there will
be little difference in the "feel" of the various games. The differences
will be which cars and tracks are available, and the extra features
like graphics, sounds, AI behavior, replays, career mode, ... .

For example, by the time LFS S3 is released, it probably won't seem
significantly different than other racing sims released by that time.

The last issue I can think of right now is that the newness of
online *** in general is gone, so there is just less interest.

NR2003 online 300 (weekdays) to 500 (weekends) players online, 90% of
them racing super speedways, the no skill required tracks, which is
why they are probably so popular. (OK, so you do need to learn how
to avoid wrecks and pit well).

GTP mod for NR2003 - a few Eurpoean leagues for this one, but I'm
in the USA (wrong time zone).

GPL - I never saw that many players on VROC, but I probably discovered
out about GPL too late.

GTR / GTL - I expect these games like most others, to be popular
for a few months after release, and then for interest to wane.

LFS - an unusually loyal fan base. Haven't played online in quite a while
so I can't state how many players are actively online.

F1C99-02 - Another game I like, but rarely played online, so I don't
know how popular it was. Just like the real thing, I would imagine
passing would be difficult.

Rally sims - I've never seen or played RBR. I do have Collin McRae
Rally 2005, but only played it a few times. Just can't get motivated
with rally style driving.

Non-sim racing games, for example, NFS Underground 2. 1000 players on
the first night of the demo, but the released game split up US and
EU servers, and not there's maybe 50 players at most on the US server.

Like many players, I spend most of my *** time offline as opposed
to online. I think most GPL players probably fit into this category,
hot lapping for a GPL rank as opposed to online racing. My guess
is that most active NR2003 players are online. With the rest of
the racing sims, it's somewhere between the GPL and NR2003 extremes.

  EU servers, and now there's maybe 50 players at most on the US server.

RIP

I never thought much about consoles too, untill two years ago I bought
the PS2, mostly because of the Final Fantasy games, and because
pc-*** was dying rapidly. After that I discovered the fun of not
having to tweak for hours to get a game running smoothly, and sitting
on the couch instead of behind a desk.
Also imho games on consoles have much more quality too, cleary much
more time and money goes into the making of console-games.

I think the sim-racing world would be in awe if something like
Enthusia or GT4 would be released for the PC, unfortunately consoles
still have the name of being for kids only, hence a lot if people are
missing out on some superb sims.

Have you ever tried Enthusia by the way? Rent it, hook up your Momo to
your PS2 and you'll experience what I'm talking about :)

Andre

It is a crying shame, when Papy-sierra servers go poof, that is going to be
the end of an era.  Next gen consoles, will finnish off PC games, I'm bettin
you.  Sickening as I get older to realize (more than I did) that my lower
end (cheaper) video-card cost about double what the goddam consoles sell
for...

ymenard enlightened us with:

RSC is an inbred (I'M NOT CALLING THEM INBRED REDNECKS) fed community.
Actual discussion of the merits and flaws of opposing sims seems to be
discouraged (by each sub-forums community - not the moderators as such.)

My hat is in with LFS. I *like* the totally closed-off-locked-up system.
I'm not comfortable with Joe Blow, that has driven his aunts Corsica
around Walmart parking lot at 4am on a Sunday, messing with ini
'values' because he 'knows how a car should handle' (slight exaggeration
:) ). I like that the 3 programmers keep a tight rein on their 'baby'
and seem to be trying to produce the most accurate physics that they
can. Sure, it isn't there yet but it seem like it will get there sooner
than later.

LFS has some very nice tracks too. Aston and Westhill are a joy to
drive. A lot of very nice corners and corner combinations.

MRSisson
--
LOAD "GPL",8

SEARCHING FOR GPL
LOADING
READY.
RUN

I would like to edit this to say :

Web forums/subforums or newsgroups centered on one game/sim are inbred
fed communities. RSC should not be singled out. Sorry.

MRSisson
--
LOAD "GPL",8

SEARCHING FOR GPL
LOADING
READY.
RUN