I'm going to cheat a little - the following is my first **GPL-related** post
on RAS, dated March 10th, 1998:
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Asgeir,
I totally agree with everything you say..but - I think Papyrus' Grand Prix
Legends (July release) will be the answer to our
prayers.. To respond to your points:
1) > developers should listen to what we have to say!
- I have been monitoring various newsgroups such as this, and the forum at
the APEX GPL site at http://gpl.gamestats.com/ , and have been pleased to
see that one of the game's designers, Mike Lescault, participates in the
forum, answering questions and taking suggestions. Participants in the forum
have brought up points that they think Mike(and the other developers) should
know about (eg: someone questioned the accuracy of having six speed
gearboxes back in 1967/68. Mike checked into it, and told us that some of
the teams had them, some of them did not. Well, another participant
corrected him and told him for a fact that was incorrect. Mike wrote back to
say that although they could not correct this for the demo, the final
version will be corrected.) This is just of many points that have come up,
and that Mike has acknowledged. - Newsgroups are an excellent medium for
collecting gamer's views and ideas. (Now how about a game being developed
totally on the input of newsgroup members?!!)
2) > The end-users know what is required from a sim in order to have long
lasting fun (internet leagues , online/offline)
- GPL will have direct support for TCP/IP and IPX protocols. Furthermore,
multiplayer mode has been designed to virtually eliminate "warping", which
is a common problem with some games out there today.
3) > .. that Geoff(Crammond) and other writers have limited contact with the
internet community, at least it's not known that he has contact with us
- See above. Mike Lescault also wrote the following, on Mon Feb 16th:
"We read each and every suggestion that we receive, in addition to
monitoring r.a.s. and other newsgroups as well as other forums like this
one. Due to the amount of comments and suggestions we receive, we cannot
respond to each message. However, we definitely find the time to read
anything our customers take the time to write and send off to us."
- So they at least "claim" to be listening to us. I believe Mike because he
has taken the time to respond to numerous questions on the APEX forum. (But
just because they've read what we send them doesn't mean they're going to do
anything about it, does it?)
Like you said, Asgeir, the DEVELOPER has the wish for perfection, it is the
Publishing House that rushes the game out full of errors. Last year, Grand
Prix Legends was slated for a fall release (of '97), then got moved to
Christmas, then.. and now we are being told JULY. Of course, many of us
can't wait for the game to come out, but at the same time, everyone (to a
tee) has said "I would prefer to wait a couple of months to get a polished
game, than to go home today with a piece of crap." Of course, as the David
Kaemmer and Mike Lescault have both said many times, the game will never be
finished - there is always something extra that can be added, but is left
out due to time restraints.
To conclude, I think Grand Prix Legends will easily be the most realistic,
challenging, and fun simulation available. The physics model was started
from scratch, and the attention to detail that the guys at Papyrus have put
into the game is absolutely phenominal. This will be the answer to every sim
fan's dreams..
(Having said that, if you don't like classic F1, and you want to wait till
next winter, Nascar3 will use the same physics engine and will hopefully
include many of the ideas that were suggested to Papyrus but were too late
to include in GPL.) But I'm a real RACING fan(Nascar fans take that to mean
whatever you want!), and the glory days of Formula One is where it's at come
July.
Long Live Papyrus!!!
D.B.
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