rec.autos.simulators

I've just downloaded Codemasters demo of their new racing sim TOCA Touring
Car Championship from http://www.racesimcentral.net/'s stunning. It's
about time someone did a non-rally based European-style tin-top sim and
they've excelled themselves. The realism is exceptional, especially with
the animated driver's hands. The sound is ultra realistic and there is
great attention to detail eg. the demo is of Donnington Park and you can
see planes coming in to land at East Midlands Airport nearby, plus
reflections of the car's lights on the track when it's wet. Another nice
touch is the the way the other cars make errors and spin off (at least they
do in easy mode) - too many driving sims have perfect oppenents which isn't
realistic.

On the negative side though, the demo suffers quite a bit from poor frame
rate in high resolution mode, even with detail turned down (I run a
P200,32Mb,3DFX). Having said that, it still looks great in lo-res. Another
thing, I don't know if it's just my setup but I can't keep the ***y car
in a straight line - it seems that the joystick loses it's X-axis null-zone
and leaves you constantly correcting and weaving down the straights - I
have two (new) joysticks, both by Logitech and they both do it. I've never
had this problem before - does anyone else out there have the same
difficulty ? I'm contacting Codemasters for advice.

Based on the demo, I'd give it 8/10.

Phil

i get a great framerate ....  200pp 32m 3dfx....

I have the same problems with keeping the car straight and so do other
people I know using the demo and I promise its not the beer......

     <<I have the same problems with keeping the car straight and so do other
people I know using the demo and I promise its not the beer>>

     My problem has been similar, but possibly a little different. I can keep
the car straight, but can't turn. I have to turn my wheel a great deal to get
even a little response from, the car. When it does turn, it goes nuts. Using
the***pit view, I can follow the driver's hands when I turn the wheel and it
takes quite a while. It's like the car turns all at once. Gearshifts and
brake/throttle changes are near instantaneous, however. Is this similar to
what you all are seeing?
     Nick
_______________________________________________________________

#6, #99 & #94 in the quest for the Cup
Owner, 1994 Ford SVT Mustang Cobra #728
My home away from home... http://www.racesimcentral.net/
_______________________________________________________________

Joe

     <<Nope, turning is quite natural qwith my T2 wheel. If anything it's overly
sensitive - until I got used to it it was hard to keep the car on the road, because
it turned so quickly.>>

     I've gotcha' now. I realized my problem was that I said I had a digital wheel
instead of an analogue wheel. I assumed that my T2 was a digital wheel. I always
thought it was. As soon as I did, the steering responded... almost too much. It was
difficult to make steering corrections without them being too much. Donnington is a
fairly quick track and small steering input seemed over-boosted. Is there any
remedy for this in the full version of the game?
     Nick
_______________________________________________________________

#6, #99 & #94 in the quest for the Cup
Owner, 1994 Ford SVT Mustang Cobra #728
My home away from home... http://ntotoro.home.mindspring.com/
_______________________________________________________________

Bob

Seriously, they do have a solid physics/driving model in the game, so
the "practice" isn't as bad as you might think. The steering is tight,
but the car weight/movement and skid recovery do have a nice,
realistic feel to them. Play the demo for a couple nights, and you'll
by flying. Maybe even try driving in the rain - in some ways it's
easier to slide around some of the tight corners when it's wet. Maybe
try the behind-the-car view until you're comfortable with the
steering.

Joe

There doesn't seem to be steering help you get on some games (e.g. GP2) so
steering does seem very sensitive if you're used to playing these kind of
games - it's more realistic though.  Anyway, somewhere in the controller
setup of the TOCA demo you can change the sensitivity.

On 3 Dec 1997 19:10:31 GMT, "Phil"

Bryan

Joe

Bryan.

: I have the same problems with keeping the car straight and so do other
: people I know using the demo and I promise its not the beer......

I am using Sidewinder 3D Pro and can keep the car straight. It is because
it uses optical tracking. I think any other analog device will have the
same problem. It is just like the case in Sega Rally.
However, I still need to use the lowest sensitivity.

Bernard Shum