WOW! While the beta testers discuss AI, I thought I would give my rookie
(1st year) thoughts about the demo that came yesterday.
This demo smokes! Looks great and runs flawlessly with a 200MMX/M3D combo.
All details and effects on.
Realism? I never really felt like I needed a steering wheel / pedal set with
GP2 or ICR2. It seems like a must now. With the MS Sidewinder 3D, something
now seems to be missing. Liner control will be a must! You really get a much
better sense of speed in CART PR and the joystick has to go!
Four wheel driving model is everything MS promised it would be. You don't
feel like your turning on a stick at all. You can achieve a much better feel
for "setting" the chassis up for a turn.
I didn't know if I would like the "head-panning" feature, but I do! Combine
that with the vibration effect and CART PR is really more than the great
eye-candy. What is a nice touch with the track vibration, you see it greaten
in the areas where the track is rougher and as speed increases. Very nice.
Since the demo has no damage model I can't comment on that. Although I was
able to get something dragging from my chassis after a bump or two (okay
5-6) into the wall. Nice sound effect!
Speaking of sound. The downshifting is awesome. Since it is late at night,
haven't fired up the sub-woofer yet. But sound should be very good.
The only quirks I noticed were that the pedestrian bridges look like they
are floating over the track. They have no ends coming back to the ground.
Couple of Wishes:
1.) Would like CART PR to pause when you access on-screen help instead of
going into auto-pilot.
2.) Full user control in and out of the pits.
That's it for now. Glad this sim is coming out soon! It will then be time to
take GP2 and ICR2 off the drive, I don't think I'll be spending much time
with them anymore.
John