rec.autos.simulators

I also an a huge video game player and a sim fan as well.

I played the demos and after them all thought:
        "Well hell, at least they look nice, but not even CLOSE
        to the _real_ feeling."

So for the hell of it, I ordered and started played
Rc2k.  I loved the first game, but HATED I.R.C.
Control is MUCH better than the demos.  I thought FF was flaky,
but I think after about 12 hours of this I may have killed
the wheel, and now I'll be stuck on keyboard!
(anyone have a cheap unused logitech FF laying about?)

I've been playing primarily in "bonnet" mode (hood for
us Yanks) so that I don't lose any frames to the interior
animations.  I like the angle a bit more than the bumper.
I'm on a Celeron running close to 1Ghz (don't ask it's a
LONG story) with a dual V2-12 setup.   Even the Matrox
G200 primary looks amazing.  Going to test it out on a
TNT here Real Soon Now.

Beautiful scenery, (take in the light filtering through the
overhanging trees on the Pirelli rally!)  but WAY too much
lens flare!!  The control no longer stinks, but I still think it
needs some physics work.  I've been zipping down a straight and the
car flipped SIDEWAYS a few times, back onto its wheels in
the BRC champ in sim mode.  I thought maybe it was the road,
so I re-drove that segment a bit.  Nope.  Most likely a ***
bug somewhere.  I'm just patching now, so we'll see if that
fixes the first rev patch...

Automatic *** sucks in the game. Try to learn to shift.
First gear spins far too much for real life, especially
in the smaller cars.  The fwd cars need some roll bar
settings to "get the push out" as some of the Special
Stages make the car feel like its grown wings still, like
in the demo and you can "float" around corners and hills.

I was amused at how damage works, but I think some of the
effects/causes are not QUITE right.   Worn tires(tyres?)
seem too troublesome on the longer stages especially if
you have a little "off" at some point.  This causes the
steering to fail eventually, yet smacking the front/sides
do not.  (but that does cause other problems)

 Losing your light pod/front clip doesn't make the light
pattern any less bright, it just causes an intermittant
flicker???  Whats that all about??  

Losing your cooling system is VERY amusing with the
smoke/steam coming off the hood, yet the engine sounds
are the same as it overheats and eventually dies.

The Music, while not bad,  is rather annoying after a
while.  I would highly recommend not playing a stage with
it on, especially a longer stage.

Sound is a touch dissapointing, but I've yanked the crappy
EAX SB128 and put my MX300 back.  We'll see if that helps.

The downshift'ed "bang" of the backfire SUCKS. bang.wave needs
to go!   Mixed engine sounds disapoint me as well, with no
straight-cut gear whine that changes with rpms. Ah well
maybe some day.

Co-driver voices are OK.  I noticed a double (or triple)L1 or R1
causes the second instruction NOT to be said.  Wonder
if this is fixed by the new patch?

I also wonder, has anyone replaced all the co-driver sounds with
ones from Colin McRae or some other source?  What about the car
sounds?  They are easily edited and modified.

So what's my final word?  If you love SIMs only, skip
it, its NOT Grand Prix Legends.  If you love rally,
spend the money, its a BLAST.  If you are in love
with the tuning of say, Gran Turismo, this is not
quite that tunable.   However this is NOT a simple
or a short game.  Some of the Pirelli stages are GRUELLINGLY
long in the A6/7 cars.  God help Group-N.   Have a
loud-mouthed racing friend?  Sit em' down in front
of the "pundershaw" stage in Time trial or single race
mode. 26+ miles of gravel. 20+ minutes of fun
corners.  Arcade mode adds an amusing element to the game.

 I haven't taken time to eval. multiplayer as of yet.   Overall I've
enjoyed it though.  No weird crashes to desktop, no oddness at all.
Only the whole English keyboard mapping nonsense
caused me any grief, when trying to map the keyboard.
(use "front slash" for install dirs, US folks!)  

Here's to a much better finished than demo'ed product!
Hope they wise up and re-release a demo with this
physics engine (and keep working on it!) for the masses.

Here's to hoping for hidden cars as well!  Audi! AUDI!

Now I must sleep. 12 hours straight have burned me out.
Finished 1st on every stage in Scotland only to not pass
inspection on last start by one notch!!!   ARGH!

Anyone poked around the directories?  Noticed the
slides, and the "editor" images?  Hmmmm.....

More tomorrow as I test other options, read the manual,
and play with my friends!  But I leave you all with 2
simple questions.  Why the HELL do all these recent
games have "replay" options?  Does anyone actually
USE them?  And has anyone else noticed that Actualize
hasn't had a web page in months?

Ed
--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Trying to explain computers to a layman is like trying to
 explain sex to a ***" R. Heinlein

Regards Mike

The cat is in serious trouble after I finish a rally (*if* I finish).  The
random number generator aspect of the damage modelling is probably the
most frustrating thing I have experienced in a recent sim.  Without a
sense of cause and effect for the damage, I just give up after my gearbox
turns to mush despite driving like a grandmother.

Stephen

Regards Mike