rec.autos.simulators

I'm the dude who spent WAAYYY too long writing a practical book on Sports
Car GT.  So I would consider myself a bit of an expert.  I race GPL
extensively (Current Australian Champion..  but not for too long) and also
race in real life (Alfa Romeo - 97/98 and 98/99 Club Champion)...

So I would consider myself to be talking from experience  :-)

After MUCH (and I mean MUCH!!!) experimentation and testing, I have come to
the conclusion that the Advance Options Editor needs slight upgrading.

What I am referring to is the Physics Model.  IMEO (In My Expereinced
Opinion), the 'Pure Sim' model is very good, but goes a little too far.
Where??   In the cars lateral grip area.   I have had many a time when I
have got the car sideway, been spinning and practically not slowed down.

Also the tire 'slip angles' are a little too exagerated.  Locking tires will
BARELY slow the car down, where as in real life (I can tell you from bad
experiences  :-)   it slows you down pretty quick but not as much as normal
braking.

Driving a GTQ or GT3 car with AOE is very good, but take out a GT2 or GT1
car and they move around way too much.  Trust me, Ive raced against many
Porsche 911 GT2's and even GT3's as well as watching GT1 Lamborghini's and
Ferrari's and can safely say, they don't move THAT much...

So, what am I saying??  :-)  ask myself that a lot...

WHO Ever mode and designed the 'ADVANCED OPTIONS EDITOR' for Sports Car GT..
WELL DONE!!   It was a move in the right direction..  but I think we need to
bring it back a notch and put back in a small amount more grip (lateral and
more slip angle).

Please buzz me back,

James Pickard,
SCGT RACE GUIDE Author

(snip interesting suggestions and commentary re SCGT)

.  A lot of this could be fixed by getting a more
I'm curious to know if you had any particular publisher in mind when you
made this suggestion. It seems that just about every publisher I've heard of
has been condemned for non support or money  grubbing at one time or
another. I do admit this isn't a complete survey by any means but just a
general impression.

David

On this newsgroup it's a mortal sin for a publisher to (gasp) actually make
money on a sim unless they take the time to be all things to all people.  That
that's not possible is something they don't want to hear, so they continue to
live in some sort of denial.  There is no racing sim which hasn't gotten at the
same time rave reviews and the immortal "It sucks," yet the publishers are
supposed to anticipate everyone's need and attend to it with godlike
omniscience.  Go figure.

  Well lets go down the list shall we?  :)

Eidos, now there is a great company.  They will BUY the rights to SCGT
2.0 and release a Knight Rider game.(your black trans am talks!)
Sierra/Havas  They will license the SCGT property and let it languish
while other companies churn out sim after sim
EA Sports!  John Madden gives the play by play! ("Boom! that Poorsh
really took a hit there")
Interplay  Powerups!  If it is a racing game it has to have
powerups...and jumps...and ....no wheels-antigrav racers
UbiSoft  It will rain during the race.  What?  sometimes drivers save a
spin?
Microprose  They will release the most awe-inspiring true to life,
realistic product ever imagined.  Oops they already did and to PAY for
FALCON 4.0 they have to crank out a bunch of arcade losers.
Origin: a) if done by the skunkworks:  Fantastic realism excellant
multiplay, unfortunately cancelled just before release to concentrate on
b) Ultima Nascar where you have to buy your tires, buy your lug nuts,
pay the pit crew, round up sponsors, oh and you start off with no money,
no home, and no friends.
Mirosoft:  The absolutely most realistic tracks/cars/and physics...uh
for Monster trucks that is....
  Who's left??

dave henrie

As far as publishers go, you forgot GT Interactive and Wizard Works --
and you'll want to keep your eyes out for Dirt Track Racing, due in
stores on November 6th according to my sources.  From what I've seen of
DTR, GT and WW could turn out to be THE first publisher(s) who are
starting to understand sim racers across the spectrum.  Keep in mind
that Papy is a developer, not a publisher, and while understands sim
racers, they also understand the concept of making money hand over***
on multiple rehashed versions of the N2 game engine far too well.

-- JB

Sent via Deja.com http://www.racesimcentral.net/
Before you buy.

However, the developer and publisher need to pay attention to current trends
and what has come before in previous titles.  Small items like being able to
easily change to***pit view, or being able to save setups based on
car/class/track are items that should be there.  Those type of small things
aren't like asking for a fully realistic physics engine and they aren't
particularly hard to design or develop.