are you as disappointed as I am?
I was looking forward to this game after seeing screenshots in a PC ***
magazine. I'd liked the 1950s part of Monaco Grand Prix 2, and was hoping to
"drive" classic cars on real tracks. I wasn't expecting anything as
"realistic" as the GPL driving model and expected something similar to Toca2
in the balance between realism and arcade. I had played the demo (and was
dissapointed) but I often find the finished game to be better than the demo
(Toca2 is an example of this) - not so here.
The tracks are impressive. As far as I can tell, the tracks are realistic
and great attention has been put into the detail. The art design and tannoy
music evoke the 1930s atmosphere.
However, the game appears unfinished. There are bugs and annoying aspects
that seem to indicate a lack of thought. I just hope that a patch is
forthcoming and will rewrite a lot of the game. I was starting to wonder
whether I had a test version that had been accidentally shipped, but I doubt
that...
I am running the game on a PIII 600 with Voodoo 3 and Soundblaster Live. My
"issues" with the game are:
The menu system seems cumbersome and unfinished. For example, every time you
save a game you have to type in the name. Even clicking on the previous
saved file with the name you want does not automatically prevent the game
calling it Saved Game. You have to type in the file name each and every time
to avoid it being called Saved Game.
One of the cars (the Napier Railton) is missing from the championship
selection screen - you can drive it in a single race but cannot drive it for
a season.
Replaying a race more often than not hangs the game up and the only way out
is to Ctrl-Alt-Del.
When the replay does work, you only have one choice of camera (external) to
watch the race. Not good for reviewing what you did right and wrong on a
lap.You also cannot fast forward and rewind, etc.
The game also locks up for a second or two at certain points around a track.
I have often found myself on the grass verge due to this happening. It seems
to happen most often when driving under bridges. It happens a lot at
Donnington Park.
If you finish the race in a good position, a newspaper will display details.
However, you can still hear your car travelling on in the background and
hear it come off the track with a bang. This ruins the feeling of winning or
doing well.
Sometimes, the game will not register the fact that you have driven into the
marked pit "box" and does not display the tyre, gas, oil screen. I intially
thought that perhaps I was not lined up properly, and then spent the rest of
the race driving back and forth into the pit to get the display to show.
This has happened on different tracks.
When in the pits and with the tyre, gas, oil display showing, the computer
cars will often drive into or through your car. When the game has finished
replacing the tyres, there will be a bang and your car is catapulted away
from the pits - a delayed impact it would seem.
Out of the pits, the computer cars will not do much in the way of trying to
avoid hitting the player car. There is virtually no damage model. The engine
will blow up if you are in a spectacular crash or you change from a high
gear down into first, but thats about it. The driving model is unaffected by
crashes, bits do not come off the car and the whole effect is very toy-like.
The difficulty settings are a mystery to me. As far as I can tell, the
computer cars are unaffected by having the difficulty set to Easy, Medium or
Hard. Instead, the number of laps for the race is reduced! For example,
Tripoli on Easy is 10 laps, on Medium is 5 laps, and on Hard is 3 laps! If
you want to do a large number of laps on a track, you have to forego the
championship and play it as a single race.
Using a particular car in a championship season has with it a specific goal
or scenario. For example, driving the Alfa Romeo Bimotore (one of the
fastest) has the goal of winning the championship. Selecting a slower car,
for example, the ERA Remus, and you will be given a more modest target, for
example, 7th in the championship.
At the end of the season, you do not get details of the last race's
standings. It goes straight into a comment on how you did in relation to
that season's scenario and then the final standings.
An another annoying aspect of the game is the lack of basic statistics. It
only presents the fastest lap for each driver in the race. It does not do
the same for qualifying - it only gives your grid position. If you want to
keep a note of your best lap time you have to pause the game before it goes
back to the menu and jot it down on a piece of paper. The game does not have
a "high score" table of best laps or anything similar.
Some of the above are bugs, some are due to lack of functionality for want
of a better word. This is the first time I have been compelled to complain
online about a racing simulation... I was looking forward to the game, but
feel let down. The whole impression is of a game rushed out, and unfinished.
Any comments from those who have also bought the game would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Carl