rec.autos.simulators

Hi.  How does a 486dx2/66 with local bus VGA run NASCAR?  What sort
of frame rate can be attained?  From the demo, I know one can turn off
over half a dozen graphics complexities to speed up the game.  So
what do NASCAR owners recommend?  Are you happy with the frame rates and
the speed sensation?  

ie.  486/66 with VLB, full texture mapping, etc

Is it playable on my 486/33 with VLB VGA?  or do I need to upgrade my
CPU?  Motherboard?  

Thanks for any comments.

-David-

I run it with car textures on, 38 cars on the course, course objects on,
drawing 6 cars in front, 2 behind, 2 cars heard, and the paint/lines turned
on, everything else is off.  With this and a 486dx2-66/VLB it runs
acceptable *most* of the time -- ie when there aren't any crashes, etc.

I would not run it on anything less than a 66, but that is just my preference.
 I know others that are satisfied with less.

You are welcome.

+=================================================================+

| Robert Berryhill                   - Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz|
| Plano, Tx                          or was that Congress?        |
+=================================================================+

I run it on a 486dx/33 with only 30 opponents, 4 seen front and 2 seen
behind and only car detail turned on. With this, it runs at an acceptable
speed under most conditions. I have noticed tho that if I'm in a pack of cars,
it tends to bog down in the turns at some of the longer tracks.

The problem is that some of us have to choice but to run it at 33, so we have
to put up with what I feel was a major***up my Papyrus -- they made the
game too complex for any computers on the market today (Not even a Pentium
90 and run SVGA with full detail). I believe the over-complex graphics detract
from what is otherwise the best simulator I have ever seen.

   -- Rich

Rich Williams -- CWRU Department of Chemical Engineering

Well, I play  it on a P90, my bro' plays it on a dx2/66.  The P90
manages about 14 FPS with everything but grass texture on, 7 opponents
drawn in front, 3 behind, and 7 heard via FM sound.  The DX2/66 manages
about 13 FPS with track and car textures off (slight digression here; why
oh why does it turn track texture off and leave grass texture on?  wouldn't
doing it the opposite way round make more sense?  duh).

Of course, this is all rather subjective.

Another thing to note is that playing from the***pit view rather than
the outside views speeds things up a lot (but you don't get to see as
well, which I suppose is more realistic).

BTW, even a Pentium 90 with PCI SVGA struggles in SVGA mode!  Lovely
pictures (especially the car textures) but soooo slooooowww!  If only
it could run on a symmetric multiprocessor.... *sigh*

--
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Launchpad is an experimental internet BBS. The views of its users do not
necessarily represent those of UNC-Chapel Hill, OIT, or the SysOps.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

I don't believe SVGA should have been included at all; it was a nice
idea, but really it's just a gimmick.  However, one of the things that
makes the game so good is the mostly excellent AI, and it's that that
sucks the CPU time up as much as the GFX.  A P90 _will_ run in VGA with
all the detail and opponents at a decent speed, and IMHO that's about
as good as we can expect.  Those with lesser machines (who are, of
course, in a minority... not!) will just have to make do with less detail
and/or fewer opponents (easy for me to say, I don't have to use a 2/66!).

This argument comes up every time someone releases a game which needs
state-of-the art hardware (if any PC can ever be described that way :).
The two push each other forward, but sadly users get left behind.  (I
had to make do wioth a 386DX/33 until a few weeks ago; imagine NASCAR
on that...)

-- Gizmo

--
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Launchpad is an experimental internet BBS. The views of its users do not
necessarily represent those of UNC-Chapel Hill, OIT, or the SysOps.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

I have a 386DX/40 with only 4MB or RAM and I'm very happy with the game.  Of
course I have to turn all of the detail off but I can run 19 cars 5 ahead 2
behind and everything is relatively smooth.  When I get some more RAM then I'll
be able to turn the car detail on.  As long as you've got a 486 and you are a
race fan then Nascar is definitely worth the investment.  Go ahead splurge!!

KC

Yuck =)

I had to run ICR on a 386DX/25 for a while and that sucked, but it ran ok on
my 486DX/33. Now i get NASCAR, which I feel is the best sim ever (it makes me
want to get the T1 just to make it more realistic), and I have to turn stuff
off. Well, at least I can leave the car detail on. If I had to turn that off,
I don't think I'd play it.

  -- Rich

Rich Williams  -- CWRU Department of Chemical Engineering
"It is a far better thing I do than I have ever done before.
 It is a far better resting place I come to than I have ever known."
                      -- Sydney Carton

makes the game so good is the mostly excellent AI, and it's that that
sucks the CPU time up as much as the GFX.

The digital sound is a big resource hog also. I was a final beta tester
and was told by the team that it runs (can run) up to 20% of the overhead.

Jeff

: Hi.  How does a 486dx2/66 with local bus VGA run NASCAR?  What sort
: of frame rate can be attained?  From the demo, I know one can turn off
: over half a dozen graphics complexities to speed up the game.  So
: what do NASCAR owners recommend?  Are you happy with the frame rates and
: the speed sensation?  

: ie.  486/66 with VLB, full texture mapping, etc

: Is it playable on my 486/33 with VLB VGA?  or do I need to upgrade my
: CPU?  Motherboard?  

: Thanks for any comments.

: -David-
I play Nascar on my 486 sx 33 with all detail off apart from the car textures.
The frame rate is quite good with 8 cars ahead and 1 behind, and ive also found
that if i start the game with a -f flag i get poorer engine noises (more like
icr), but the frame rate is faster!  Does anyone know why this is????

Dunk

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Duncan Frazer        | All opinions expressed above are mine. Some I may
Uni of Kent at Canterbury  | agree with wholeheartedly, and others may be lies!
                           |  Please note: I reserve the right to be wrong ...

Just for reference, I've tried FM sound via SB16, digital sound via
SB16, and digital sound via GUS; FM and GUS both effectively take sound
out of the speed equation.  Over the weekend I've settled for no grass
or asphalt texture, most other texture on, 38 cars drawn ahead and 7
behind, 7 heard, 15 FPS minimum (18 max), and on my P90 this runs silky
smooth all the time. (VGA, obviously! SVGA still sucks!)  On a DX2/66
you probably need to reduce the number of oponents to get the same
effect, but I've found that after SB digital sound, asphalt texture is
a big CPU hog.  Turn it off, just leave the paint/skids on.

-- Gizmo

--
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Launchpad is an experimental internet BBS. The views of its users do not
necessarily represent those of UNC-Chapel Hill, OIT, or the SysOps.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --