rec.autos.simulators

I've just purchased ICR2 and have found the car's handling
characteristics very different from ICR1.  At Louden with the stock
setup I can go full throttle around the track with ICR1.  With ICR2
the car understeers into the wall on every corner unless I throttle
back significantly.  Is this difference normal, or am I doing
something wrong?

Thanks for any help you can give!

It is normal. Think of it as a NEW car. So you need a NEW setup
just like real racing teams :-)

--
Header address intentionaly scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

Hi!

Yeah, I found the same thing when I first bought ICR2.  Between 1993 and
1995 the aerodynamic rules changed, significantly reducing downforce.
As a result it's no longer possible (as far as I know) to run flat out
at many of the circuits you could in ICR1.  I remember the first time
the new aero setups were run at Milwaukee, in '95 I think it was,
several of the drivers commented on T.V. how they now had to brake into
turns one and three, though I think their top speeds on the straights
increased slightly due to less drag, so yes, I'm afraid it is normal!

 Mark 'Damon' Gill      "Only rock can save us now!"

 http://gillcomp.demon.co.uk/damon.htm        O==-O\

Neil
--

Neil Yeatman          
Ajax, Ontario, CANADA

My REAL email address is:

Regards

Once again, thanks for an excellent explanation!

Regards,      

Hi again, Bobbo!

Yeah, I fully agree with you about the easy setting.  Using those
settings produces lap times on most of the circuits which are no where
near the pace, and as you say the understeer is terrible!  I have to
admit, when I first bought ICR2 back in late '95 I spent ages trying to
get used to the new handling characteristics and at one point virtually
abandoned the game.  At the time I much preferred ICR1's feel, which is
much more forgiving and easier for the novice to control.  However,
after MUCH practice, I now think ICR2 is the most rewarding sim out
there, and going back to ICR1 feels quite strange.

I think one problem ICR2 has had as a result of this is that it has
restricted it's audience a fair bit.  For example, I have a friend who
started out on F1GP about the same time as myself (right back in 1991
when it was on the Atari ST), and who progressed onto ICR1 and GP2 (and
now Sony F1 on the Playstation).  However, the times I have persuaded
him to try ICR2 he has disliked it's handling and difficulty.  Part of
the success of Geoff Crammond's sims has been the ease in which anyone
can get driving and racing, due to the easier handling (certainly in
F1GP, and I believe in GP2), however, the steering help makes the car
feel likes it's on rails at times (turn the help off and you need a
wheel to get the most out of it, which most people don't have).  ICR2 is
much harder to get into, and if a big Indycar fan like myself almost
gave up on it, I think lots of more casual race sim fans might easily
avoid it.

The interesting point about all this is that the initial difficulty
influenced some of the sim's reviews, as well as perhaps many people who
tried the demo, so accordingly, the sales probably suffered.  As a
result, two years on, Papyrus and Sierra have dropped Indycar from their
future developments and this series of sims has ground to a halt
(interesting that Papyrus' founder, David Kaemmer, commented in the
original Indy 500 manual how much he loved Indycar racing, and yet most
of the current Papyrus workforce don't seem to particularly enjoy
Indycar racing, which Jim Sokoloff I think cited as one of the reasons
they weren't keen on bidding for the new rights).

I'm probably digressing a fair bit here, but perhaps it's possible to
say that while ICR2's demanding yet rewarding (eventually!) handling and
difficulty endears it to the '***' sim fan, it may ultimately have
been a factor in the demise of the series of sims - which seems a bit
ironic to me.

Am I over-analysing here?

 Mark 'Damon' Gill      "Only rock can save us now!"

 http://www.racesimcentral.net/;      O==-O\