rec.autos.simulators

I played the Monza demo and thought the graphics were fairly awful (dodgy
flat trees for starters) and was wondering, with all the praise for the
graphics, whether they are any different in the full game. Also does the
full version support force feedback, as the demo doesn't and even uses its
own calibration instead of windows.

Any info appreciated.

Dean

JM

    I think most of us praise for the graphics accuracy and track
architecture.  Most of those tracks don't exist anymore or are different in
their form, so actually being able to re-create those tracks is spectacular.
GPL in 1024x768 with all graphics on beats anything in the industry in terms
of graphics.  Just take a peek at the TV replay at Monaco.  Leaves
everything in the dust.  Nobody is near them in the industry, probably 1 and
even 2years behind.  Just have a trip at the Nurburgring with the full
version.  It has better graphics than anything you ever saw. F1RS and MGP
have "good" graphics, but way too flashy and innacurate.  Very innacurate.
Most of us hard-core simracers dont care about "good looking" graphics, but
we want graphic accuracy and track architecture.

Ubisoft doesn't model banking and camber in their titles. No way they could
do something like the Off-Road Zandvoort.  Their canned game engine would be
too weak for that hehe. Oh and another thing, bumps on the track dont exist
in F1RS and MGP.  The track is always flat except of vertical elevations.
Bumps are coordinated with an XYZ point on the screen, that the track data
loads.

Papyrus models perfectly the 3d-world.

It doesn't support FF presently.  That doesnt mean it wont in the future ;)
Oh and btw, the calibration routines of Papyrus are 100times better than the
***MS Game controller Direct Input one ;-)

- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard> Good race at the Brickyard!
- Official Mentally retarded guy of r.a.s.
- Excuse me for my English (I'm French speaking)
- Sponsored by http://www.racesimcentral.net/
- "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise
how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--

I always seem to hit a bump on the exit of *** in F1RS...otherwise I agree
with you :-)
-don

"To race is to live, everything else is just waiting." - Rudi Caracciola

rob.

Not that different. But I think  they're fine for the task. Once you
can stay on the road and keep some distance between yourself and the
roadside objects they look fine from a short distance. In some cases
the scenery, while sparse, looks magnificent - ie while driving around
the 'Ring one can forget about races or hot laps and quite easily be
emotionally  transported to a drive in the country. In fact I dare say
that the 'Ring is the most beautiful depiction of a circuit in sim
racing to date.

Also I  think  once you're in a race your focus tends to be much more
concentrated on the very narrow strip of road and less concerned if
the crowd looks flat from close up.

The scenery is just a bunch of textured polygons. I'm sure that if
Papyrus wanted to make it detailed in every 3D aspect of reality they
could have. But I suppose that  that's not the objective here. The
objective is probably a case of using the least possible number of
simultaneously rendered textured polygons while still maintaining an
acceptable appearance - thus leaving the maximum CPU etc resources for
road, car, and AI modelling.

I think the mix of off road scenery quality and on road action has
been balanced pretty well, IMHO.

No, there's no FF support in GPL. The stated position was that during
the period of code writing the state of the art in force feedback
devices left a lot to be desired. I for one am not a fan of current FF
devices and can see why they were left out.

Personally I can't help but think it'll be some time before FF is
sophisticated and subtle enough for the nuances of driving sims. The
ones I've tried have a long way to go. I see in some online reviews of
such these things aren't well regarded by at least a few others. In
the words of one reviewer, you'd be better off taking the extra money
you'd spend to get FF and use it to buy a higher quality non FF wheel
than you might otherwise have bought. A high quality wheel system will
probably give you more joy in  the long run  than will a gimmicky FF
device.

FWIW. ( More "shinning wit " for our dear friend Mr Walker. )

Cheers

Phillip McNelley

Flat trees are nothing new!

Cheers :-)

--
Graeme Nash

You know what to do with "don't_spam_me"...
http://www.karisma1.demon.co.uk/
ICQ# 11257824

"Useless quote"

No, no, no! Zandvoort is scary when you're learning it, but once you know it... it's bl**dy
amazing :-) My least favourite track's Monaco, but MoSport came a close second... until
today. It's weeks since I drove on Mosport, and I always fell off badly whenever I
pushed for a halfway decent lap. But I must've improved, because today I was not only
able to stay on the track, but race successfully... for at least a couple of laps ;-)

Mosport and Zandvoort have quite a lot in common, I think I could get to like it a lot.

Andrew McP

Eldred

Me too - I can't get past the chicane at all. I wish someone would
post how they manage it.  I am pretty sure you have to go on to the
pavement at the bottom of the hill - but I normally find that throws
me sideways into the hay bales on one side or the other.

Magpie

http://www.chandler.u-net.com

I am just getting to the point where I can now keep up for several
laps with one or two of the slower AI drivers and actually race with
them.  Eventually of course I can't keep up with their super precision
and I loose it.

Magpie

http://www.chandler.u-net.com

Bart Westra