rec.autos.simulators

here we
go............................................................................................

Craig,
Well, for several years now I've been pretty consistently steered in
the right direction by the Adrenaline Vault. You guys are for the most
part right on the money when it comes to reviews. That's why your
review of Grand Prix Legends surprised me so much. 2 and a half stars?
Oh man, it took quite a bit of self control to finish your review and
not just email immediately with my attack! But, that's the nature of
email is'nt it? People tend to write things without giving it some
thought first. I've thought about it a little,,,, (I'll try to keep
this short)
To pan what could be the greatest racing sim ever made seems like a
darn shame.After playing this game for a while it occurred to me that
the design team at some point must have made a
decision: either to cater that game to the general public and load it
with graphic sweeteners and an arcade mode, like you suggested, or go
with what must've seemed to them like their strong point, the physics
model. If you've played any other racing simulations on the market you
can't help but notice the huge leap in realism that this game offers.
Suddenly, our cars can flip, lock up one tire at a time, not to
mention controlling four wheel drifts with the throttle. Compared to
the other greats in the genre, these are
incredible improvements.

You also can't help but notice the overwhelming amount of 'fluff'
racing games out there that showcase fancy graphics and fun to drive
tracks. Console games are famous for this style as well. I love some
arcade racing games, there is a time and place for each, but to
assume that by not appealing to this crowd Grand Prix Legends is less
of a quality game is really somewhat a limiting view.
I would'nt pick up a Jane's combat flight sim and get angry that
there are too many controls to figure out. There is a whole flight
simulation crowd and it's just understood by all that they are
'simulations' and if you're not willing to get into it you probably
won't enjoy yourself too much.
The same goes for race car sims.
You mention ,"I want to see the whole screen filled up with
graphics..."  Well, in a sim the focus is on the driving model, and
not so much what is flying by in your peripheral vision, or whether
or not you can run over the spectators.
The letterbox framing of the game is reminiscent of Grand Prix, the
movie that seems to have inspired the game. I personally like this
"squashed up " display.
There have been many discussions in rec.autos.simulators on the
difficulty and challenge in driving these cars and the general
consensus is that they are very difficult, at first, to get a handle
on, but that it is very rewarding when you do. I thought that this
only applied to *** sim fans until my brother and his girlfriend
came by and did a few laps at Spa and loved it. I'm certain that it
will appeal to a larger audience than you've suggested, although that
is definitely not the point, as I've been saying.

The hardware requirements are daunting, and I'll agree that sucks.
But, your "pretty fast machine", a P300 with 64mb in the late end of
1998 unfortunately is'nt top of the line any more. The well know bane
of PC*** is that each year the previous top system is suddenly not
quite enough.... I hate this as much as anybody, I'm not wealthy
enough to keep up...but I'd grudgingly rather have design teams have
the future in mind than make a game that would appeal to the largest
possible middle of the road crowd in order to make more money.
Most of the sitcoms on tv are a great example of what happens when
this pattern is followed.
I'm sure you're not too happy about Unreal being such a CPU hog,, but
hey, it's still pretty damn fun.
In a GPL race, the game is calculating the AI and incredibly
complicated physics model of each car. It's a wonder it runs at all.
When Grand Prix 2 came out it was almost impossible to get decent
frame rates, but nevertheless it remains one of the most realistic
and most fun.
It's a lot different from Nascar 2. Driving an accurate (as far as I
know) track from '67 through twists and turns in the German
countryside is going to be quite different from following Earnhardt
around in a circle.
I'd say that Sierra should be congratulated for reproducing the cars,
tracks and 'feel' of a long gone era, even if there are shortcomings.
Not to mention the fact that finally there is some imagination and
originality behind a new game.
I have'nt had this much fun playing a game in a long time, and I've
played plenty. I hope you pass along to your boss that there are some
of us out here that completely disagree with your assessment of GPL.

Thanks for your time Craig,

Rae Ralphs

Now for a few corrections:

-Your PII 300 with voodoo2 is "not" expected to play everything in highest
resolution. That is one of the silliest things I read. It's a damn fine PC but
just because a game offers you (it's actually your video card that makes this
available)1024x768 resolution, doesn't mean that is your "optimal" setting.
Most games are still played in 640x480 and I don't know about you, I'm quiete
happy with that resolution (especially on a smaller monitor). Anyway, if you
swith GPL to 800x600 (and maybe switch of "spectacular lighting"), you will
get 30+ framerate will all the cars and all the detail. At most you drop down
to 22 or so fps at the very start, but as soon as you start moving it should
jump to about 30. By the way, I too, have a P2 300 with 3dfx (voodoo 1) as
well as a Hercules Thriller 3D  8Mb (Rendition chipset card). I run it though
the Thriller 3D and this card gives me 30 -36 fps 99% of the time with
everything switched on including anti-alising (smoothing of edges) in 800x600.
Then you probably didn't know that Herculas Thriller 3D gives you about 30-40%
framerate increase over Voodoo2...especially in GPL. You would know this if
you "peeked" into rec.auto.simulators newsgroup. Anyway, I don't see how you
can complain about the framerate especially on your PC.

- Next thing, the "letterbox" effect you mentioned is not a "letterbox", you
still get the full width, you just "loose" of top and bottom 10% of the
screen. I know that's about 20% of the screen, but it is NOT "letterbox". It
would be nice if you explained this even though it bothers you.... me, I have
no problem with it and don't even notice it 'cos I'm looking down the road.

- Another point - Sound. You say it's OK?! It's totally unbelievable and
incredibelly imersive. To my knowledge, the unanimous opinion is that this is
the best sound in any racing game... then I guess you dissagree. Have you
heard the Ferrari engine sound in GPL... There is nothing like it (it shends
shivers down your spine). Also, you say there are practically no other
sounds... how about this, dowsnshift sound, wind noise as the speed
increrases, each tyre produces each own "squeel" as they struggle for
friction, as well as scrape/crash noises. Also, each car has a unique engine
sound and hence you can tell what car is in front, behind and next to you.
Also, you can hear the crowd "cheering" if you listen hard enough. I don't
know what other sounds you might want in the racing game? Why not point out
something that it is really missing... like the fact that there is no "echo"
in the tunnels.

-Another thing that you keep on mentioning is that there are no instruction on
how to set the car up. I don't know how you came up this 'cos GPL comes with a
manual as well as a little book called "Four Wheel Drift" - this particular
book is concerned with nothing else but all the tracks and how to set the car
up for them...in inticate detail. I guess you didn't notice.

-This is just a small point, you keep on refering to "car physics". Car
physics is how the car floats through the air and gets thrown about by
bumps/jumps as well as the way it tumbles though the air when you crash. The
"physics" part just implies momentum and gravity. On the other hand, what you
were probably trying to refer to is "car dynamics" that is what makes a car
feel like a car. ie, traction, slippidge of wheels, undesteer/oversteer and
the effect of feeding in power through the wheels.... that is all "car
dynamics". Carmageddon has excellent "car physics" though very basic car
dynamics. GPL has unparallel "car physics" as well as "car dynamics".

Last of all, I respect your fondness of "arcadish" racing games (I like some
myself) but that doesn't make anythign that is an all out "simulator" bad. You
should stand back a bit and and say that "this is not your cup of tea but you
can see how anyone who likes racing simulators would LOVE GPL". It's like me
saying that just because I don't like chess it is a shit game and should be
made more like "drafts/checkers".... Yyu wouldn't take me sosiously, would
you.

Regards,
David Mocnay (age 28, and played games wince the days of Atari 2600)
Datatask Pty. Ltd.

phone: 03 95581989
http://www.datatask.com.au

It

Last time I checked, the video industry considered that "letterbox".  Heck,
my copy of the "Grand Prix" film says "letterbox" right on it.

I hope you ran your note through a spell-checker before you sent it.  I
usually don't pay much attention to grammar in newsgroup articles, because
that is the nature of newsgroups, but a letter of complaint sent to a
company is going to be taken a lot more seriously if it is well written.
Sad, but true.

no offence intended
Stephen

But then, maybe it is a UFO coverup.

Oh- but I think there was a resolution where I couldn't see the
shifter- that was a bit annoying. Not that I really need to look ;-)

Racing at Spa last night... by far the best racing simulation
experience I've ever had. And for no particular reason- just
beautiful. What an incredible course and simulator. The first
simulator I've every used where I actually flinch if I am going in to
a wall.

Regards (no offence taken),
David Mocnay