rec.autos.simulators

I'd like to see a training style sim, where you drive under
various conditions, test reaction time, descion making skills
and so on.

Bill Gillam

I too would like to see a game that was more related to real life, one
where you could drive around on simulated city streets, backroads, and
highways.  In fact, I'm so eager to see a game like this I am planning on
starting writing one at the beginning of the summer.  I am a fully competent
programmer who has written projects before in the past, and will have at least three other people working on the game with me. However, I don't think that
what we are all seeking can be done on today's computers -- to the greatness
that we want it.

A city street atmostphere, where the roads are mostly flat, would be very easy
to simulate.  Even little hills could still be rendered in a very high quality
very quickly, allowing 386 users to play the game.  Problems arise, however, when one wants to see a game where they can drive over hills and through a
rolling terrain.  Either an unbelievably fast computer which can calculate the
terrain, or one with vast memory storage to save a bunch of precalculated values, would be required to use it.  

If somebody, though, would like to offer input, I'd be glad to take it.  With
my current plans, I will probably have at least a demo of a driving simulation
on city streets (When I say city streets I really mean an environment with a lot of flat roads) featuring a very realistic environment and automotive characteristics by summer's end.  Feel free to drop me a line if you'd like to talk about it.

-Adrian Dorsman
Student, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

  Well I think what we need is a Microsoft Driving Sim 5.0...Basically a
generic driving simulator that can have whatever kind or roads or trcks
you want as well as the ability to add/make more vehicles and terrain/tracks
I really don't think this would be too hard but nobody has done it.

                                                Soren Barr

Several years ago, such a simulation was made but never released.
I believe it was written by the same man who programmed Falcon.
It involved driving a Corvette ZR1 in the hilly streets of San
Francisco.  This was programmed for the Amiga, as I recall.

As for why it wasn't released... Either it was deemed not gamey
enough (just driving around, dealing with traffic, no points to
score, no point at all in fact) or it was decided by the company
not to publish anything else for Amiga.  Both have equal possibility
of being true.

--

No, it's not that hard to do it like Microsoft did their flight simulator...

You just have to remember that when you're in a plane you are high off the
ground, and so you don't need to have a whole lot of detail.  However, in
a driving simulator, everybody expects asphault texture on the roads, nice
pretty buildings with very realistic texturing, and a whole slew of detail
that really can bog down a computer.  Like I said, It'd take one hell of a
machine to really execute a program of this magnitude.  If you are really
interested, write me back and I can look into writing the game for DX-4's and
Pentiums.  If I make those the requirements, I can write one hell of a simulator.

-Adrian Dorsman
Student, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

--
Guanyao Cheng


http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~gcheng/guanyao.html

 Well that wouldn't do me any good, I don't have a dx4 or pentium. As was metioned by somebody else Vette was similar to my description but it only has San
Fransisco and only parts or it, etc... I think it would be cool if you had a
generic simulator evan if it didn't have super grapics (or you could turn them
off or down to suit slower computers) but one that was "universal"...Like I
sadi vette was close, although the driving is antiquated now ( made in 1989).
I would love a game/simulator where you could drive through a city, run red
lights, get chased by police, race head to head with friends, and so on...
Anyway thats just my thoughts...

                                                        Soren Barr

was metioned by somebody else Vette was similar to my description but it
only has San
"universal"...Like I

        That does sound cool. Just adriving sim with some special
features like 2-player mode, cop chases, and some normal, everyday cars.
Driving down alleys, on the sidewalks or just plain fooling around.
Man..what an idea!

l8r.

-------------------------------------------------------------

" Religion is the opiate of the Masses", Karl Marx
All beware of the GLoorrriiiooosss Revolution.
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Actually, there was a program called Vette! a number of years ago for the
IBM, doing just that.  Primitive by our standards, but it may still be
available.
-David

This could be interesting: Add strategy by having it a car chase
game, where you're driving a police car in pursuit of someone, and
you have to help deploy others in an effort to catch the fugitive.
Higher levels would make for more difficult cities and roads as
well as better crook drivers.

--

It may sound boring, but a simple "drive to the shopping mall" sim would have
some appeal for me. Hmmm... San Diego has major freeways wired for live
traffic counts and avg speed statistics. Maybe a sim could tap into live,
or a statistical average, data to give a feel for what this morning's drive
was like :).

It's value would most certainly be almost entirely educational. I think any PC
based sim of this nature will fail because of the non-existent tactile
feedback and the very narrow field of view. Situation awareness is about the
most important thing you can teach an unexperienced driver. The potential on
PC's is decidedly limited.

The alternative that this discussion is evolving to is an arcade game. A chase
game has only two possible outcomes: you catch the bad guy, or someone dies in
the process. Well, maybe three---he ducks into an alley and evades capture.
The most likely outcome, though, is "tragedy," probably involving pedestrians
or innocent cross-traffic.

There can be little redeeming value for such a game. It can't possibly capture
the depth of emotion involved in the most likely of outcomes. I like to think
that police departments are more interested in preserving life than force
capture at any cost. "Colateral damage" has got to be one of the most
devastating things they have to live with.

I'm happy with Nascar in this regard. The object is to run fastest, without
the concerns for safety that would need to be central in a city chase game.

Mike.

Thanks,
--
Bolko Rawicz | "I build them to go, not to stop." - Ettore Bugatti replies
at Simon     | to criticism of brakes in Bugatti cars.  "if you can afford
Fraser Univ. | a Type 55 Bugatti, surely you can afford a heated garage!"
in CANADA    | - Ettore Bugatti on starting problems in cold weather.

                        Patrick\:

'Need for Speed' for the 3DO lets you drive as fast as you want
through traffic, on mountain roads, etc. with other cars, cops,
etc.  It's like a vastly improved version of the old Test Drive
from Accolade.  I wish 3DO would come out with a wheel/pedal
combo for the 3DO - that would make it a truly incredible game.