rec.autos.simulators

next great sim.

Well, this ain't it. DTR is like powerslide with some very amateur
simulation aspects added on oval tracks.

1. The in car graphics suck, I'm talking about the car interior,
dashboard, etc. This is something I said months ago after seeing some
screenshots from the dashboard view. The best view for racing is the
front bumper cam, hood cam or whatever it's called.

2. The car graphics, especially the wheels and suspension look totally
unrealistic, I was hoping for a lot better looking cars.

3. The damage model is well, seems like an after thought

4. The collision physics also seem like some kind of major fudge. Real
cars cannot do that when the hit the wall, or get T-boned by another car

and roll.

5. The multilplayer code is pretty horrible.

6. Replays?

Despite having fairly good pings (150 -160) I notice speed up and slow
down of the graphics in the corners during internet play. This is
especially bad at Nocks Hill. I'm not sure if this is like clock zap or
what, but if it is clock zap, why does it happen in the exact same place

lap after lap for 25 laps? It definitely feels like the game goes into
slow motion at the entrance of the turns during internet play. Seems
like the physics engine, mutliplayer code, and graphics engine are doing

some very weird stuff together.

During an internet race at Shawano, I lead the entire race and lapped a
badly warping c-webster multiple times. At the end I took the checkered
flag, but before the race session was over it put me back to second
place and sure enough the results screen showed c-webster was the
winner. Despite other problems, I have yet to see a car multiple laps
down warp into 1st during TEN, N3, or NL internet play, especially after

giving the checkered flag to a different car.

Don Wilshe must be a investor in Ratbag or have some pretty major
personal financial gains at stake with DTR. All his hype is really
ridiculous.

What is Dirt Track Racing? A fair single player dirt racing game.
Definitely on the arcade side of the fence. The multiplayer code is so
bad, it's laughable. Get to coding ratboys, this ones gonna need some
big ole patches if it's ever to be a contender.

GPL zealots vs DTR zealots.

We haven't seen anything like this since Judaism vs Christianity.  GPL is old
testament, DTR is new testament.  Who's going to start the reformation?

I for one have had more fun playing DTR in the last few days then I've had with
any game in a long, long time.  And it's only the demo.  Can't wait for the
full game, and all those new cars and tracks.

What I love about DTR is that you can actually 'race'.  I mean, trade paint.
In GPL, you touch another car, you're both in the trees.  On a good server, you
can bump and grind with DTR.  You're not just hotlapping.  But of course, if
you have someone on there with a ping of 1700 there's going to be problems.
What do you expect?

glen

I've had about a thousand online races with a number of different sims/games
and so far the online races with the DTR demo have been nearly flawless.

David G Fisher

Sorry for the length of this in advance, please bear with me.
I'm not real big on the way you present your argument, but I think you
do make some valid points.

Basically the same as the first point, but agreed... sort of.
The cars are fairly low poly count, but it works here I think.
If you've seen an actual modified, they are basically just really thin
gauge sheet metal wrapped and folded around a roll cage.
Usually the only way you can identify what kind of car they are
supposed to be is by looking at the rear quarter window.

The rear and tires look kind of hokey.
I believe there is something in the README about the demo using low
quality textures to keep the download very small.

The upside of all of this is that the game flies on a fairly low spec
box. Not a bad thing if you truly believe the gameplay is the thing,
which I do.

You're right on with the wall comment. Online, I see lots of guys
driving clear around on the wall, bouncing 2 feet off the ground and
back down. The real clincher here is that it doesn't seem to hurt
their lap times a lot.
I try to drive clean, and sometimes I have to chase a guy doing that
for a whole lap before I can overtake (no, I'm not a super-fast
driver, but I don't run around is last place online either).

The T-Bone flips are accurate in dirt. What happens is that a car gets
pushed from the side, and the opposite side tires often plow into the
dirt instead of sliding.
Watch some real life Sprints, and you see it. You'll also see some
incredible 5 flip barrel rolls as the tires keep touching down,
hooking dirt, and making the car flip again and again.

I think it's good, but the host having a good ping is very important
in my experience.
One of the games I was in the other night was horrible. Cars flying
through the air, dropping out of the air, and repeatedly zipping
backwards down the straights at Knocks Hill.

As an experiment, the host backed out and rejoined, making someone
else the host. The game was improved 100%, and we raced that way for
another hour.

I haven't experienced either of these two things in about 25 hours
(total) of online play.

I have seen stuff like this. Often, the game will report you as
finishing 1st or 2nd, and then drop you back to 3rd as other guys
finish.

I think it straddles the sim fence perfectly. It's approachable, and
online play is absolutely ***ive.
I bet the full version will be much more sim-like since you'll be able
to adjust a lot of parameters.
The fact that you can bump around a little and not be immediately
knocked out of the race like GPL is a plus in my opinion.
It keeps more people in the race, and tempers cool.
I've screwed up and hit people, and even when you knock them out of a
race, they're usually cool when you apologize in chat since everyone
has done it, and it doesn't happen often.

DTR is the most refreshingly fun racing program of *any* type I've
played since Motocross Madness came out.

Tim

Also, multiplayer is great.  I was on a server in Australia, I'm in Canada, and
we had a lot of bumper to bumper races.  Traded a lot of paint with a lot of
different aussies last night.  Had a total blast.  

This is a great racing game/sim.

It's going to drive me crazy when people start getting the full game and I
still have to wait my typical extra week or two.

glen(sleestack)

    The high quality textures will improve the image quality slightly
and possibly makes things a little brighter. But they won't improve the
look of the wheels. That's a polygon thing.

    I agree.

    No this is entirely due to lag. The car may look like it's hitting
the wall and bouncing up and down but in reality it's not. Next time you
see that happening ask the guy/gal whether they were hitting the wall. I
bet he/she'll will say no.

    The server's connection is all important.

    I've had that happen to me once or twice. But usually it's quite
excellent.

Marko;

Go ahead and start writing code for "mracer's Perfect DTR", with all the
***es you have about DTR fixed and let us know when you are ready to let
us start evaluating IT....

Known bugs are one thing, but "waaaaa...  I don't like this" are
another.....

Cheers,

A Sim Racer That Lives With The Product As Released

really ?  well tell me another game that is playable with a ping of over 500
I think that the multiplayer code is the best of ANY racing simm out there..
(insert gpl comments here) I have played them all    actually this is the
first FREE multiplayer game interface that I have been able to play against
you american's in any style of game that includes 3d shooters and rts's
...  sure I could go and join Ten or some other pay for play network, but I
think for less than $50 bucks U.S.   it is definately worth the money
lets face it, this is just the demo and how long before a patch comes out
..... inevitably soonish as is the norm with ANY game.    I don't know about
what other people think about N3 (I luv it) but if you are trying to compare
the net code with dtr to n3 then I think you might want to rethink which is
better how many Australians are you playing in N3 multiplayer atm ?   my
guese is a big fat 0.   if you hop on any of the user made servers for dtr
chances are you will play an Aussie or a kiwi  and we are on the other side
of the world connected via our pissy local 56k networks.    you'r opinion
should be rebuffed in an appropriate way ...
so in summing up   "You are wrong, but hey what do i know?"
ps don't take it personaly ...  I may be wrong aswell

Phill  aka Carnrat
http://racers.qgl.org
ICQ # 2843454
Speiling mistakes, me never!