rec.autos.simulators

.. and all I can say is that there's nothing to see here. Move along.

I downloaded it because I was scared to buy it without trying it,
and I'm glad I downloaded it. No, I won't say where I got it.

I wouldn't mind having a less-than-simmish racer with accurate
tracks and so forth. Actually, I *really* love those types of racers.
BUT, when the word is out on TIR, the people here (and everywhere)
will say that there is NO fun in it at  any point.

It's a damned shame.

Tracks are pretty nice, but not in the same league as F1-2002, etc.
Cars? The F1-2001 mod cars are nicer, but my complaint isn't
with the cars. They look nice enough.

---> There's almost no sensation of driving an actual car.

Gran Turismo ONE did a much better job, in my opinion.

You have yer MAGICALLY POWERFUL BRAKES, yer TURN-IN
with almost NO semblance of body roll, PUSH, or any other
representation of  physics, traction loss etc.. When turning,
the car rotates around a point driven vertically thru the REAR axle.
No damage, nothing.

I have all aids OFF, and am driving with a PSX analog game pad,
analog throttle/brake and analog steering.

No need to use my ( or your) TSW2 or Force RS for this one.
I can't comment on FF, since the pad adapter doesn't support it.
Maybe it's good, I dunno.

I would have to say that the recent TD LeMans racer on PC and
the predecessors on DC and PS2 is a FAR more accurate
representation of driving an actual car. Not that I am overly
praising TD LeMans, but let's just say that the physics are
100% better (as pathetic as that sounds) and it is a HELLUVA
lot more fun, which to me is at least as important.

Get this. There are only TWO cars that are available from the
start. Yep. Only TWO. One's an Audi and the other is something
I have never heard of. No kidding. I can't be bothered to find
out what it is. *Everything* else must be unlocked in the most
INANE 'career mode' that has ever graced a racing game, and
I've probably played them all since 1980 or so. You're not
gonna believe this one. DTR/Sprint Car's career mode is a
zillion times better.

I have no problem or apologies in loving a good, (less than sim)
racer. I have always liked SCGT, TOCA2, TD LeMans, and now
Villeneuve racing (which is an *excellent* new arcadish racer).
Hell, I love GT/GT2 and they remain 2 of my favorite racers
of all time.

My complaint comes in whenever there is NO FUN in the game,
and that is exactly what you get with TIR.

ZERO ACCURATE PHYSICS, but more importantly .. NO FUN.

In the upcoming days TIR will be much talked about.
Don't buy it. Wait and listen to what others have to say.
Just trust me on this.

Empire has made a serious mistake in releasing this.
Simmers will hate it and it provides no fun or e***ment
for arcade fans.

TIR = DOA, IMO    :)

First, my system is a P4-2.4ghz, 512mb RDRam, GeF3-64mb
drivers-30.82 WHQL, DX8.1b, Win98SE, etc..

I'm using a standard PSX Dual-Shock gamepad via a $10 USB
adapter. Analog steering on left stick, analog throttle/brake
on right stick. As I said, I haven't used my TSW2 or Force RS
with this game.

TIR's performance is good on my system at full detail
1024x768. I haven't tried it at higher res yet.There's very
little mip-mapping in the game, so you get the sparkly scenery,
etc. This could be my setup, but I doubt it. It will most likely
be alleviated to some extent when the res is increased. So far,
I haven't gone back to play the game, so I haven't checked this.
The tracks I have seen are just O.K.. Nothing special.

Also, as far as I can see there are NO super-details in the
game. For example, I thought we might at least be able
to see the detailed engine, and suspension details on
the cars, like all the supposed 'screenshots' we've been
inundated with for a couple of years. So far, I haven't seen
anything different from what is available in any current
racer. The cars' appearance modelling is not as good as
F1-2001 GT Mod, but the cars' appearance is decent.

The***pit view is there and looks O.K. About like
F1-2001 GT Mod. Very similar. It has hands on the wheel
etc., but the***pits don't have a lot of detail. They look
just .. decent. I have only seen 2 cars'***pits though,
since that is all the game has allowed. Both are coupes,
so I have no idea how well the open cars are done.

Replays are done well, so if you are like me and enjoy
watching your racing, you won't be disappointed. The only
problem with the replays is they show off the *glaringly*
stupid turning antics. I venture a guess that many people
are going to laugh out loud when they notice that the cars
apparently have rear-wheel steering. I know I did.
It used to be one of the sins of a new sim when the
turning axis was through the center of the roof. Well,
folks, we have a new paradigm in physics idiocy.

I haven't tried weather or night (if it's available),
so I currently can't comment.

The AI is dumb as a box of rocks and twitches all over
the place. They certainly don't drive with the physics that
you do. I haven't noticed them cheating, other than what I
mentioned, and there is no 'catch-up' or 'slow-down' that
I have seen. I hate to say this, but if there were some of
this type of cheating, there would be more fun in the game.

Not realism, but fun.

As it is now, you take a choice from your 2 wimpy cars,
start a career and you head out to a race with 5 or 6
other wimpy cars, that you can easily beat, and a half
dozen PROTOTYPE cars that run off and hide from you.
That means that you race alone for the entire race,
with the 5 or 6 cars in your class a distant memory in
your mirror and the protoype cars are an uncatchable
flyspeck in the distance.

NOT FUN.

I've ranted enough. I'm glad I didn't buy the game.
Others may disagree with me in my criticism of it, but
I doubt it.

Caveat Emptor.

Todd

<snip>

That's a shame.  I was hoping for something in the vein of what Le
Mans 24 Hours should have been.  Porsche Unleashed type arcade
handling, passable graphics, but a fun racing experience and career
mode.  If it had met those minimal specs I'd be into it, but it looks
like I'll be saving my money.  Here's to hoping there's a demo.

Jason

I've driven a couple more races, and the AI may be slightly
faster and more convincing than I originally believed, but
not by much. I actually came 3rd in a race where I was only
getting 1st places before. But, hey, I'm 60 years old ..:)

Also, I have yet to be able to totally lock the brakes, even
setting it for digital control and mashing the button at high
speed. Only a slight skid. Same for throttle, it seems
impossible to light the tires on the 2 starting cars at least.
Again, I have all aids off. I have never truly spun in a race
and my only problems have been a couple of off-course
excursions into the glue-coated grass.

Don't take my word as law on this one. Others will give their
opinions I'm sure, but I am glad I didn't buy it. I will delete
it or buy it after hearing some other comments. Maybe
someone here can convince me that I'm actually having fun :)

Have a good one.

Crap.. I didn't expect that it would be a superb sim, but I did hope
it would at least be fun, some sort of Need for Speed clone with some
real tracks thrown in.. Stubborn as I am, I'm still downloading it at
this moment to see if it's really that bad.. :-/

Andre

Would like to know what you think, Andre.

Jan.
=---

I'm interested in other's comments.

Beers and cheers
(uncle) Goy

"The Pits"    http://www.theuspits.com/

"A man is only as old as the woman he feels"
--Groucho Marx--

I've got the game on pre-order (I know, I know) for the PS/2.
I'll have a look tonight as it's being delivered today, and post some kind
of review tomorrow.
In the meantime, their website looks OK, but the number of tracks seems a
little light...
http://www.totalimmersionracing.com/main.html

Regards,
Andy

THAT'S O L D   ..

Beers and cheers
(uncle) Goy

"The Pits"    http://www.theuspits.com/

"A man is only as old as the woman he feels"
--Groucho Marx--