rec.autos.simulators

- Is the framerate in the retail version as bad as in the demo? I have
a machine that runs GPL at steady 36 fps (with the few usual
exceptions), but MM runs with an apparently pretty bad framerate, even
if I turn off a lot of detail and use a low resolution. (K6-2 400, V3
2000 AGP).

- The usable map in the full version is a lot bigger, right? I
sincerely hope so. Is the lower wacker drive included?

- Are the AI opponents a bit faster than in the demo? My personal best
for the "race" is 38:80 in the Mustang - the opposition takes about
twice as long...

Other than that, I find the demo is fun. When GPL made me miss a
clutch pedal, MM makes me search for a turn signal stick on my wheel.
:) The physics are *VERY* relaxed, but driving is fun anyway. I wish
the damage model was a bit more sophisticated.

BTW, I found a hidden shortcut: in the last block on the right of the
main street, there is a shopping mall with a glass front. You can go
through there. Are there other goodies like that in the demo / the
full game?

And is it possible to speed up the AI cars in the demo? My 3-year old
nephew beat them in the race...

--
Wolfgang Preiss   \ E-mail copies of replies to this posting are welcome.

It runs the same as the full version, which is glass smooth (+40 FPS would
be a estimate) on my machine with all details to the max on 1024x768 on a
TNT, PII 400, 128 MB RAM.

Yes, the ENTIRE map of Chicago is loaded when you play any of the modes in
the full version. The white barriers are exclusive to the demo only, and no
part of the map is grayed out on the full version. You can go anywhere at
anytime, no matter what the race is, you'll just lose if you stray off of
course.

It's the first race in the full game. Of course it's easy. It gets a lot
harder later on when the courses requires more skill to maneuver.

Yes, there is more. Whatever you find within the restricted perimeter of
Chicago that is provided in the demo applies to the full version as well,
when you get unlimited access to the entire city.

There's Amateur and Proffesional difficulty setting. But don't worry, the
races are quite difficult even on Amatuer when you're in the later races
with snow/rain/fog, denser traffic, and driving at night/evening. Again, the
races provided in the demo are quite elementary and the course is almost a
simple straight line (i.e. dead simple), you don't have to backtrack or
travel loooooong distances to the next checkpoint.

First of all, thanks for the comprehensive answer. Further comments
below.

That's great. Do I get to drive an old police car to the Cook county
tax office? Pretty please? :)

This sounds good. Now I only have to wait until the game is released
here. Actually, I went out to buy it this afternoon, only to find that
it's not yet available... Always the same problem with reading
international newsgroups and living in old Europe - feels like living
three months in the past. Phantom Menace opens three weeks from now,
could you believe it? ;)

PS, ere I forget it: is there a replay option? I just managed to lose
all the Panoz' wheels at once in mid air and would have loved to see
this from different camera angles.

--
Wolfgang Preiss   \ E-mail copies of replies to this posting are welcome.

Well, you can drive a police car (a souped up Mustang I think) in the full
game and elude police chases (they won't chase you), but nope, there is no
tax office in this game.

No replay options. The system is bogged down enough already just running the
game as is and you want to eat up CPU cycles to track 100 different entities
at any moment (traafic car movement, prop movement, pedestrian movements,
traffic light signals, etc.) for an exact replay? The repaly files would be
HUGE!

Not so, in my experience. The wide screen mode is the choppiest of
them all. Actually, I get the best results in chase mode without
mirrors.

That was an obscure reference to the old movie Blues Brothers. They
never managed to elude the chase, though. :)

I can see that MM uses up a lot of resouces. Anyway, a limited replay
including maybe six cars in the direct vicinity of the player's car
might have been feasible.

--
Wolfgang Preiss   \ E-mail copies of replies to this posting are welcome.

As for the graphics, i've got pII333 64MB and 2xV2's and mine runs great at
high detail.

--
Wolfgang Preiss   \ E-mail copies of replies to this posting are welcome.

Cause they remember you driving on the sidewalk the last pass you made at
them ;)

"Its the Blue Bus of Death again! Run!"

--
"The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by accident. That's where we come in; we're computer professionals. We cause accidents." -- Nathaniel Borenstein