rec.autos.simulators

The subject seems to be -- why do people think "paint kits" are an
important part of a racing or driving sim ??

The answer is ownership -- Customizing something makes it personal, when
it's personal you own it -- people don't get bored w/stuff that they
own.  See DOOM ...

Example:  Need For Speed was a GREAT game -- but you couldn't change the
cars -- they were static.  After much feedback to EA, they are including
the ability to modify the appearance of the cars in NFS2 (don't know how
extensive yet) ...

How could a game producer MISS this point ?  (HINT: PAPY/SODA)

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Trust me, it's not a point that we MISSED. Of course we considered it.
We also considered a couple hundred other things that we had to leave
out. We don't have unlimited resources. It all adds up. We can't just
work on the game until 2003 and then release it.

The game is very modular and uses separate data files wherever
possible. People will be able to grab the graphics files and alter
them in separate painting applications and then plug them back in if
they want to.

Steven Travers
Producer, SODA Off-Road Racing
Papyrus Design Group