rec.autos.simulators

--
Doug Gordon
(Remove "nospam." from e-mail address)

I couldn't get the download to work ( I got a black screen when I got to the
track)
Last week,  I saw a PC*** World magazine ( A UK magazine) at Hastings
which had two CD's,  one of which had the Castrol Honda Superbike demo on

reviews, etc..
It works, its fun but I too want REAL tracks !

As an ex-motorcycle racer, its fun to pitch it in the turn, even though I'm
using TM GP1 wheel...

In the mag, there is  a review of SBK Superbike Championship published by
*** which is due to be released in September which they consider more of
a sim.
Does anyone know about this sim? Is it a UK only sim ?

Tim

I bought it, and I like it, but.....

IMHO it is *not* a true sim, as there are not enough set-up options,
and the damage model isn't up to much? Also you can *only* ride the
Honda, no other bikes.

First impressions (after driving it for about a week now) are as
follows......

Graphics: (3dfx enhanced) are ok, not earth shattering by any means.
Scenery is nice and detailed, sense of speed is ok, mainly due to the
behind fairing view (which can be changed while riding, but is the
best view, so why change it?).
Replays have various camera angles which can be viewed. Has the option
of a nice *fogging* effect. Other nice touches are the rider sitting
up when braking and getting his head down when blasting along the
straights, and putting his foot down when you come to a stop (I
wonder if the bike would fall over if he didn't do that?)

8-)

Sound: Again its ok, but nothing really exciting, nice engine notes,
and background music.

Gameplay: You can practice alone, or with a *trainer* riding in front
to get you used to the circuits, similar to F1RS, or have a full race
weekend (practice, qualify and race) or a full championship season.
You can choose the number of opponents from 16 downwards. There are
various difficulty levels (5 I think?) AI seemed ok, but on the higher
levels I couldn't keep up, and on the lower levels they are too easy
to pass, so its difficult to really tell at this stage?

Multiplay: you have either split screen two player mode on one pc, or
a six player ipx network mode (not sure if internet or modem play is
available?)

Options: Quite a few, you can select the screen size, various
graphics options, difficulty level, circuit to race on (they are
*all* available from the start, no codes or cheats required) you can
also choose to have various helper modes on or off such as braking or
steering help, damage options, tyre wear, and even whether the bike
can wheelie or not (now who is gonna turn * that* one off!) then
there are the usual options such as the type of tyre (for front and
rear) the gear ratios, manual or auto box, jump start penalties on or
off, etc. You cannot, however, change such simple things as your bike
riders name, or colours of the bikes?

Handling: Pretty good, the bike view while racing is pretty good,
when overtaking it makes the action seem very close. Steers well
(using keyboard and wheel) Acceleration feels accurate and braking is
pretty hair raising! When you go off the track it slows you down very
quickly and you lose a lot of time. If you actually hit something or
you push the bike too far it falls over on its side (but carries on
going in the direction you were travelling) and gives you a nice
sideways view of the track!
Power out of the fast corners and the front end comes up nicely, and
come out of a corner too fast and the back out steps out and quick
reactions are needed to keep the bike upright. I also found out that
some nice doughnuts are available if you throttle up and turn from a
standing start.    8-)

The circuits are pretty good, especially Allerton, but there are ten
circuits in all, including a short oval track. You must keep away from
the kerbs on the road circuits and out of the dirty stuff at all times
on all the tracks.

Overall: Probably the best bike sim out there (but how many others
are there?) Not much of a *sim* really, you can *only* change tyres
and gear ratios? but not suspension, steering, fuel load, etc (I'm
not too much of a bike fan, but there must be other things that are
changed in real racing?) and theres no telemetry? Although having
said that, the actual handling of the bike and the in-depth features
take it way above an arcade game.

Glad I bought it, I'm sure it will keep me happy for a while, or at
least until either GP3 or GPL come along......

8-)

*Peter*    8-)
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