rec.autos.simulators

> > Have you been successful at getting Viper to work properly on a LAN?

> Yes, works flawlessly for me.

> Wow, I forgot what an incredible job Dave Broske, Troy Harder and all the
rest
> of the guys did over at MGI.  Awesome car physics......on a near-level
with
> GPL......great graphics (especially the cars)......the best....bar
> none.....in-game car painting program of all time......excellent engine
sounds
> and effect sounds totally tweakable to the max for 3D (SB Live and MX300
> users)......excellent tracks from a racing standpoint (even though they
are
> "fantasy" tracks)........the ability to load up a four-wheel drive
vehicles and
> go "off-track" desert racing......or just touring the landscape (through
the
> city streets of some of the tracks too!)........excellent
online-multiplayer
> play with modem-to-modem and TCP/IP play with the AI or without and with
very
> little connection and warping issues (be sure to load the "patch" put out
by MGI
> for Viper....it deals primarily with cleaning up the multiplayer issues of
the
> original program).....easy on the computer cpu resources......runs just as
well
> with D3D as it does any 3dfx card......has a built in bench-test demo to
tweak
> your system with..........man.....has there been anything even relatively
close
> to this released in the last year?  I don't think so!

> And how about this:  It even has an "airplane" which you can fly around
the
> country side of the track's "world"....buzz the AI cars....fly in-between
the
> buildings of the trackside cities....fly off the "edge of the virtual
world" if
> you want.....fly under the tracks.....all of which is really the "vehicle"
> locator-track editor that the MGI guys used to build the tracks...but
mocked up
> like an airplane so you can have some fun with it!  And, you get to learn
a
> great deal about how a racing sim is "assembled" by the computer!

> My "friend" last night was:  An instructor at the Jim Russell Racing
School at
> Sears Point......a very accomplished pro racer and instructor (he won the
> Russell Pro Champ series a couple years back).  We ran NASCAR 3 (at Sears,
IMS,
> Martinsville and Talladega), GPL (at Sears, Brands, Monaco and
Spa)......all
> online together at my house....with 20 or so AI cars in each race.  After
about
> 5 hours....he said, "Hey....what's this Viper Racing icon on your
desktop?"  I
> showed him......put him on Dayton and Silverdale......then ran a few laps
with
> him in modem-to-modem......we raced Viper until about 3:30 am.....he
didn't want
> to go back to N3 or GPL.  He's coming back over Saturday with a couple
more
> instructors......all they want to do is run Viper.   lol.......  He said,
> "Tom....why didn't you show me this racing sim first?  It's got everything
N3
> and GPL has....but better....and the car is a blast to race and tweak the
> suspension.....wow!"

> I said, "Dave....I don't know.....I guess I forgot how good Viper really
is."  I
> really did forget how good Viper is.

> And........guys....this "sim" was produced over a year ago.  In fact, the
> Portland area EB stores got Viper Racing and GPL shipped to them on
opening
> day.....in the same box from Sierra!

> Ok............I'm typing this post to you....... and just got a phone call
from
> Dave (Russell instructor)....he ask me if we could paint up a fleet of
Vipers
> like the Russell School sedan school cars......and use the infield area of
> Bemidji as a skid pad.....they want to include this in their sim training
> program at Russell.  Hmmm?  I think I'm going to ring up Broske and see if
they
> will release their track editor....now that its been so long and Viper is
> selling on the Costco discount bins for $8.99.......!!!!

> How cool would it be if we could create some more race-like tracks for
Viper?
> Oh heck...who cares....that's just eye candy anyway.  But?

> Guess sometimes it takes an "outsider" to square our thinking up a little,
huh?

> Tom Pabst
> "A born-again Viper Racing fan"

> P.S.  Next time you see a Viper Racing box sitting in a discount bin at
some
> software store or warehouse.......you better buy it.  I called a few of
the big
> discount houses in the SFO area....not one single copy of Viper Racing was
> available.  If you don't agree with everything I said above.....I promise
you,
> on my word of honor.........send me the Viper CD in the mail....I will
send you
> the $8 or $9 bucks you paid for it instantly.

> P.S.S.  Anybody want to start up a Viper Racing League for this Winter
> off-season?  I'll run it....and so will several of the Russell School
> instructors!  Send me an email...!!!!

> Hmmm??  I think a Viper Racing engine SoundPak is in order for posting on
the
> High Gear website along with my GPL SoundPak.....and my N3 engine
SoundPak.

> --
> Tom Pabst

> J Black

> > The problem I have with Viper Racing is apparently the server  and
client
> > machines
> > can't find the race.  If I create a race on the server machine, I can do
it
> > either under TCP/IP or IPX.  On the client machine, under TCP/IP it says
"no
> > protocol available" and under IPX the "join" icon disappears.  Does the
same
> > thing if I create the game on the client machine, then the server can't
find
> > it.  Now you might
> > think I don't have TCP/IP or IPX enabled on the server or client side,
but I
> > do.  Matter
> > of fact, most games play just fine over the LAN.  It only seems to
racing
> > games that don't like my LAN.  I'm using a 10baseT network and a hub.

>That one was on my buy-list, but they lost my when they canceled the
>3dfx patch.

> > I hate to race on fake tracks for one, they are made for the racer in
mind,
> > not for realism so when driving on them, they feel too fake.  Second I
don't
> > like racing ONLY a viper.  Gets kinda boring.  I never really liked the
> > viper that much.  Seemed a little overrated.  If a selection of cars was
> > available, I would like it better.  The game feels kinda like a demo to
me,
> > one car, tracks you never heard of.  It feels like it was never
finished.

> > J Black