rec.autos.simulators

:)
     Bought this one just last week and ,with the exception of GPL, it has
idled all other racing games on my computer for the last week. I realize
that its far from *** but its an absolute hoot to hop in a 550 Spyder
and blast down some faux Corsican highway dodging the local peasantry in
their vans whilst pursueing some early 911's.
    Interestingly enough for a fairly arcadish title it actually does a
pretty good job of communicating the cars traction state to me; probably due
to the seperate modeling of each tires contact patch. I'm finding the middle
level cars to be the most fun since the earlyier models are bog slow while
the very latest models have an absolutely unbelievable abilty to stick to
the road that reduces the game to lining up on the corner entrance and
hammering on the throttle.
    Of the nine tracks included most are serious fun to drive  with three of
them making me want to learn how to program just so I could make them even
longer ( the sim world *needs* a Targa Florio sim :) ) Sure the air time
lasts longer than is proper and if a real car could stand as much damage and
still function as well as these we'd all pay $5.95/year for car insurance
BUT a bad move or ham handed input will still cost you the race against the
racier levels of the AI. Exercise a little restraint in the use of the
optional parts (*cough* power ups *cough*) and you can dial up an intense
couple of minutes hustling through the Roman ruins.
    There's a couple of different game modes such as Evolution where you
work your way through Porsches history right from the first "Ferdinand"  to
the latest rocketships  earning credits as you go and being granted
progressive levels of access to the showroom. In conjunction there is an
interesting used car market that allows you to buy and sell older models of
Porsches in various states of disrepair. Kudos to Porsche for actually
allowing their cars to appear damaged! At least one car company that hasn't
succumbed to the blandishments of corporate lawyers and PR flacks.  There is
also a mode called Factory driver that I haven't actually checked out yet
but it looks promising since you get to be an apprentice running missions
for the factory delivering cars (Wonder if Patrick Stewart will do the voice
over for this one :) )

    Anyway this is not a good purchase for those who take their simming
really seriously  but its got enough going for it to qualify for a good look
if you're looking for some sort of "sim lite"  to jump into quickly for a
few minutes R&R.

    Off to see if slicks are really all that bad in the Alpine snow!

--
David
Too much spam
Remove the obvious from address to email

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

You are right about the damage model, though.  As it stands, the
existing damage modeling would be great for the "arcade mode" damage,
but it would be nice if they had a more severe damage model for a full-
blown "sim" mode.  As much as I like finishing a race, it would add a
lot to the overall realism if it were actually possible to "DNF" if you
have a head-on with a wall (or otherwise take on enough damage to
prevent you from finishing).  In addition to the simulated market
economy, this would be further incentive to avoid damage.

The ONE thing I wish they had included is a "test track" type oval
(like the large oval in NFS2, for example).  That would have been
EXTREMELY easy to do, and even though the 5 Monte Carlo courses all
offer quite a bit of variety, I still find them so similar that they
are just redundantly boring (or boringly redundant).  <G>

Other than this, though, there's really very little that I would change
about the game.  Based on the amount of enjoyment I get out of it, I
now put NFSPU slightly ahead of GPL, DTR, and Viper Racing in my own
personal hall of fame.  Doesn't mean it's any better than these other
titles, it's just that I get more sheer, pure enjoyment out of it
overall.

-- JB

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

You too, eh?

I was getting my ass handed to me so badly that I stopped racing, on any
of the Carlo laps, I was down by around 30 seconds/lap. I assumed you're
put in a stock car, and off the start, the others just dissapear out of
sight in a matter of seconds!!

I was under the assumption that you couldn't modify your online vehicles?

Cheers,
Rod.

David

(snip)

While I agree this would be an interesting idea I suspect that ,given what
EA would see as the target market for PU, (ie not middle aged motorheads
like myself), such a setting would have to be a toggleable one. Also I not
sure that increased realism is playing to the strengths of PU since a large
part of its charm for me is being able to do some pretty silly things while
retaining some of that ever elusive "feel" that suspends my sense of
disbelief.

I recall running across a site  recently that had a utility that allowed you
to replace one of the ingame tracks with the skid pad from the factory
driver mode. It may have been one of the German sites but not sure where
(just checked ,think URL is http://www.nd4spd.de for the main page)

Certainly fun is what I'm here for and PU is definitly part of my stable of
regular sims/games

David
.

(snip)
others just dissapear out of

You can't modify your vehicles in the sense of buying new performance parts
while online BUT you can use a previously modified vehicle in an online
race. Why NFSPU has this rather strange restriction I don't know. Online ,in
addition to changing suspension settings, you can also swap parts that you
have previously purchased offline i.e. switching to rain tires prior to an
Autobahn race.  You'll notice that in the online drop down menu for
switching cars are two sections, one for the cars you've previously
purchased and another ( labelled "Factory") for showroom stockers that you
can use to compete in online . The stockers have no asterix next to them
when displayed in the race list and are definitly not competative against
the modified stuff.

I'd suspect also that the basic NFS file formats have been hacked long ago
and that ,ahem, some cars are more equal than others :)

David