> *NHRA Drag Racing 2 - The worst offender, my inspiration (I'm a
> gearhead and a former owner of some groovy muscle cars). Never
> outlasted my interest. Although it would be nice to see a real
> sim-drag racing title.
Have you tried any of the ones put out by Bethesda? IHRA looked
interesting but I didn't want to waste money on another racing game I
wouldn't play.
F1 2001 is much better looking and runs much better than F1 2000 or F1
2000 CS. Currently it's collecting dust on my shelf until they fix
the deadzone with split axis controllers, and it may stay there anyway
since there are so many annoying quirks in the physics engine, like
being unable to lockup the brakes without downshifting, being able to
literally slide sideways around most corners without much danger of
losing the car, and the need for a 'Speed Sensitivity' setting to slow
the steering at higher speeds, which makes absolutely no sense when
that sort of thing should be a component of the physics engine, not a
controller option. In a nutshell F1 2001 is SCGT with more wheelspin
and less grip.
The list of racing stuff currently on my shelf includes:
Dirt Track Racing/DTRSC - Probably the best games that I don't have
installed. Really can't think of anything in particular I don't like
about them, I just tend to prefer driving ovals in N4. Current NVIDIA
drivers cause stuttering in these also.
Rally Masters - Another great game, but the incredibly short (sub 2
minute) stages and awful control scheme kill it for me. If this had a
more detailed damage model and 20 minute stages I'd never leave my
house. There are few things more challenging in the sim world than
trying to effectively drive a Saab S1 over the Indonesian stages in
this game. Also, I hate sims that don't feature proper gauges on the
dash, especially when they show a 2nd wheel in front of your for some
reason.
Leadfoot - The Ratbag engine is really solid at modelling cars with 4
wheels on the ground. Get them in the air tho and it falls apart
fast. Also, and this applies to DTRSC as well, I hate open wheeled
sims that don't let you see your front wheels.
Colin Mcrae 2.0 - Simply awful. Short, slow, boring stages mixed with
a physics engine that makes NFS:PU look advanced. The damage
modelling is also silly and really doesn't make a difference in the
game. No gauges and a moving wheel that you can't disable add to the
suckiness.
Super 1 Karting - Engine braking anyone? And don't even get me
started on the controls, even with the control fix.
Viper Racing/Nascar Heat - Both very solid sims with great
suspension/damage modelling and amazing AI (the best I've seen in a
racing game). My major complaints with Viper are the poor***pit
view, inability to damage the engine, and small number of tracks.
Heat features Supergrip(tm) tires and a damage model that is very
nicely detailed but even less sensitive than Nascar 4's. That being
said, if I were to recommend a sim to a newbie it would be NHeat since
I've found that it's ease of driving let's you concentrate on
effective pedal techniques and holding a line which has helped my
driving in N4 and GPL.
Rally Championship 2000 - Most frustrating sim ever. Gorgeous
representation of the BRC track/event wise, amazing selection of cars,
and a damage model that can be tweaked to create the only realistic
damage sensitivity available in a racing sim. The***pit view
features realistic gauges, but also a steering wheel (grr). On the
downside, the vehicle dynamics are done so poorly everything else is
rendered meaningless. If everything in this sim stayed exactly the
same but the vehicle modelling was changed to properly represent
weight transfer I'd never leave my house.
NF:PU - Pretty game, too much grip (altho at least the grip is
consistent, see my F1 2001 bit below). Great sounds, too, and the
test driver mode is really neat.
F1 2000 CS - Stuttering graphics, cartoony graphics, poor control
scheme. I actually prefer the physics modelling in it to F1 2001,
altho the poor control setup makes it difficult to really feel the car
out. Definitely models brake lockups better than F1 2001. Also, you
can turn off the moving steering wheel (yay).
F1 2001 - Bought this because people were referring to it as a GPL
killer. Well, GPL is still living large on my hd. Tons of major
physics issues relating to braking and inconsistent grip levels (I
love spinning the rear wheels to provoke a spin and then letting off
which causes the tires to immediately and magically grip again). I
also enjoy the bumper car aspects of car-to-car contact. Didn't
realize I could bump wheels with someone without incurring any sort of
'flying through the air ***ly' type penalty. I would likely still
play this despite the niggles but it seems that split axis pedals are
stricken with a 50% deadzone, making it unplayable. That and the
'speed sensitivity' ***held over from SCGT is ridiculous. If the
pedals worked correctly and ISI would adopt the 'big assed
linear/non-linear steering adjuster' instead of a million useless and
confusing config menus, this would still be installed. Whenever the
split-axis stuff is fixed, I'll give it a second chance.
SCGT - Too much grip, can't overrev the engine, poor brake modelling,
awful control scheme. Nice cars and courses and the user community
rocks.
Grand Prix 3 - Still not sure how I feel about the realism of this
one. The cars feel too grippy but that's what I expect from an F1
car. The weather model is fantastic, as is the telemetry. Strong AI.
I can't get GP3 2000 in the US or I'd likely give this another go.
Also, I have to question people who say the physics modelling in this
is weaker than F1 2001, since the wheelspin models are nearly
identical and GP3 models brake lockups infinitely better. Haven't
played it in forever so I forget what the suspension/weight modelling
is like. Collision modelling is laughable.
Same here. Thankfully Civilization 3, IL-2, and Op Flashpoint came
out to hold me over until Nascar 5/GPL 2/Rally Tropy US/WSC are out.
I've also been obsessed with Tennis Masters Series the last few weeks
- some reviews have bashed it because it realistically portrays the
most important aspects of tennis (managing momentum and anticipating
your opponent's next shot - for some reason people seem to thing the
realistic portrayal of agility = unresponsive controls...well, my
gamepad seems to work just fine) but it's really top notch.
I've also been playing Mig Alley and the Looking Glass Studios FPS
games a lot (Thief/Thief 2/System Shock 2/Deus Ex). Pretty much
everything else is sitting on my bookshelf.
I've been a Papy fan since the ICR days, and I have to say I've never
been let down by any of their products thusfar. They've been leading
the way since Indy 500, and most other companies aren't even close to
catching up. Their 2D games are still more realistic than most other
companies' 6dof stuff (ICR2 is still the best modern day open wheeled
sim).
Based on the demo, I'm picking up Rally Trophy. I've seen some
unfavorable comparisons between it and Colin McRae 2.0 but I don't see
any similarities at all based on the demo. If the high-powered rear
wheel drive cars are modeled as well as the mini, I don't think it
would be far fetched to call it the GPL of rally sims. The engine
seems to model grip and weight transfer to a level of detail that you
only find in GPL/N4. It's nice playing a rally game that models the
difficulty of catching a slide well and features realistic wheelspin
and brake locking...just crossing my fingers that the RWD cars are
modeled well.
Other than Rally Trophy, looks like the next good release will be
whatever Papy puts out next. I'd guess N5 (or maybe an F1/Cart/IRL
game?) early next year then GPL72 in late 2002/early 2003. My
absolute dream at this point would be a collaboration between Papy and
Bugbear to create a new Rally Championship game that properly modeled
the BRC to the level of detail of RC2000 but with a realistic
suspension/tire model. Not to be redundant, but if such a sim existed
I would never leave the house.
Jason
