rec.autos.simulators

Instead of shoddy digital joystick control like everyone else was
using at this stage (about three years ago now), it allowed use of the
mouse for proper analog control. It felt a bit weird using the mouse
at first, but after a while it wasn't too bad. The main problem was
centering after a corner, and to this end a Grand-Prix mad friend and
I constructed a steering wheel and pedals to control it. The steering
wheel had a *** band to re-center it automatically, and provided a
much more precise feeling of control.

With this setup the game was very impressive indeed! The "feel" of the
car on the road was streets more convincing than other driving games,
particularly the effect when the car was sliding. Skills I'd learnt in
my Corolla applied directly to the game :-)

The sad part is that when I upgraded to AmigaDOS 1.3 the game stopped
working. Shoddy coding I guess. Also our home-hacked steering wheel
was always breaking when we got e***d - "Oh no! No steering!
Aaarrrgggghhh...!" *thump*. But hey, it was fun :-)

So who these days makes a simulator that feels like a real car when
you're controlling a slide?

+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------------+
|                                   | "A man with one watch knows the time;  |

+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------------+

Yes, Ferrari Formula One still is best when it comes to road racing on
the Amiga.  (Yes, F1GP is flashier, but doesn't use mouse control, and
the computer steers the car for you anyway.)

But it isn't "about three years old" -- it's about eight years old!
My, how time flies.

If you want the best driving experience on the Amiga, get Papyrus'
"Indianapolis 500: The Simulation" distributed by Electronic Arts.
It's four years old, but nothing compares to it.  The IBM version
didn't use mouse control (what driving sim on IBMs does?), but the
Amiga version does, and it's far, far more realistic than Ferrari
Formula One.

Get that program and you'll be digging out that wheel/pedal setup
you built, I promise you!  Pity it's just one oval track.  I always
said if the same people made a road racing simulation, it would be
the best.  Well, they have, for the IBM, and it is.  Now if only
they'd dispense with all the fancy, slow graphics that eat up memory
on the IBM version and refine it to the same sort of graphics that
I500 had, and put it on the Amiga, with the same excellent mouse
control...  My money is waiting to be spent.  I hope it isn't in vain.

37.00 seconds; 243.24 mph fastest lap
--

My physical mail address will change. Those who have had or are having dealings
with me through physical mail should email me requesting to know my new address.

World Circuit on a 486/66 machine and an analog joystick will give you
this in spades.  Frame rate of 25 and 256 colors and analog make this
a real nice piece.  I've played with Indycar a bit but I still much
prefer World Circuit's feel.

--
Brian Jackson


Account courtesy of Commodore. Words and thoughts my own.

                        The program is called 'Revs' (they even had a 'Revs+' I think with more
circuits), and it really tried to be a realistic simulation, not an arcade
game (Formula 3 simulator more exactly), it was in real 3D (i.e. surface
3D, no sprites or something else) and it did have the feel of a real car !
You had to accelerate to 'drop the clutch' in 1st gear otherwise you'd
stall.

                        Actually, a lot of people did not like the game because it really took
some time to learn how to drive the car, at first it was very difficult. If
you hit the curve at speed you'd be sent in the air and the tracks
(Silverstone and Brands Hatch) were represented very well (with up and
downhills).

                        And this was on a C64 in med-res mode (160-200), I would have really
loved to see the game just ported on the Amiga, but the author then wrote
'Sentinel' which got ported.

                        And I agree with everyone here: It is unbelievable that none of the
games on the Amiga supports analog joysticks (more precise than a mouse),
it's a joke. There's nothing more ridiculous than having to go
left-center-left-center-left... in alternance, just to try to get a line in
a curve (where you would need to be in between left and center).

                        It'd be so easy to make some kind of paddle joystick (yeah, like on pong
or on that first 'video-game' you ever saw) stick it on a plastic stand and
put a small steering wheel on it, just that would be a great improvement.

                        Oh well, all I have at home now is a Unix Workstation ... to log to work
!!! )-: !!

                        Now the question everyone wants to ask: who has ever heard of a driving
simulation for Unix ?! Damn, I've seen flight simulators, I know it's
possible (-:.

                        JNM

--
---

'88 Hawk / '62 MBZ 220S - Riding the 1st one, is not like driving the 2nd
one !

Revs was a wonderful game. Originally written for the Acorn BBC Micro.

Er Try Formula 1 Grand Prix, it was written by Geoff Crammond, the same guy
who wrote Revs. It is similar in many ways, but with better graphics and
less bugs. Oh, and more courses, more realism... I could go on.

Formula 1 Grand Prix allows the use of an analog joystick on the amiga.
You can even get analog steering wheels that work with it.

What we need is an amiga simulator for UNIX. Then you can run anything.
Maybe a BBC Micro simulator would be more practical, since there are
less custom chips, then you could play Revs. Anyone want to try.

Bov!
--
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| | / / | |  Project Manager     Vision Park      Tel  : +44 223 236555
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So then all you need is a way to plug in an analog joystick.  Fortunately,
there is a company out there that makes a analog joystick adapter
for the Amiga.  You just plug one end in an Amiga mouse/joystick
port, and plug your favorite PC-style analog joystick in the other --
it's even got a 3 position toggle switch to change the sensitivity,
so you can adjust it to best match your joystick and the game you're
playing.  I've had one for several months now, and it has made WC a
much, much more enjoyable game to play; you can actually feather the
throttle to a degree, and shifting and braking are noticeably easier
to control.  But the biggest thing for me is that the steering seems
far more responsive.

I don't have the name of the company that makes the adapter, but if
anyone is interested, I'll post it later on.

-chuck-

--

 Unix Systems Programmer          |  US Mail:   Box 7901, NCSU Campus
 Engineering Computer Operations  |             Raleigh, NC 27695 USA
 North Carolina State University  |  Phone:     +1 919 515 2458

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Unbelievable if it were true, but it isn't - F1GP/World Circuit on the Amiga
supports an analogue joystick. I wouldn't play it with anything else.
(Except the keyboard, but that's too easy :-)

Calum

+---------------------------------------+----------------------------+

|Logica Cambridge (User Interface Div.) | Tel:   (0223) 66343 x4825  |
|Betjeman House      +------------------+----------------------------|
|104 Hills Road      | " I just wouldn't know a single word to say   |
|Cambridge CB2 1LQ   |   If I flattened all my vowels and I threw    |
|UK                  |      the R away."   (The Proclaimers)         |
+--------------------+-----------------------------------------------+

Calum

+---------------------------------------+----------------------------+

|Logica Cambridge (User Interface Div.) | Tel:   (0223) 66343 x4825  |
|Betjeman House      +------------------+----------------------------|
|104 Hills Road      | " I just wouldn't know a single word to say   |
|Cambridge CB2 1LQ   |   If I flattened all my vowels and I threw    |
|UK                  |      the R away."   (The Proclaimers)         |
+--------------------+-----------------------------------------------+

The analog adapter I have is made by a company called DigiPrint.  
Here's there address:

        DigiPrint, Inc.
        P.O. Box 13016
        Richmond, VA 23225 USA

Their phone number is 804-560-1769.  I bought mine from a mail order
house that was selling them for $13 -- a very reasonable price.
Then I found a CH Mach 1 analog joystick at a local store for $24 --
With shipping charges, I paid a total of about $40, and given how
much better WC plays when using this setup, I have to say it was
well worth the money for me!

-chuck-

--

 Unix Systems Programmer          |  US Mail:   Box 7901, NCSU Campus
 Engineering Computer Operations  |             Raleigh, NC 27695 USA
 North Carolina State University  |  Phone:     +1 919 515 2458

Sorry, but that is nonsense. You can't turn the steering help off in the  
amiga version, so steering with the stick (even if it's an analog one) is  
exactly the same as steering by using the keyboard. I don't know IndyCar  
Racing yet, but at least till its release date Revs has been the best  
racing simulation.

--

== Andreas ==
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