rec.autos.simulators

it's a good thing Geoff decided to do it this way, Grand Prix 3 is really
focussed on beeing playable on average machines... Even slow machines (300
mhz') can run this game. Now everybody is whinning that the graphics look so
bad. I am sure Geoff could have inserted kick ass graphics etc. but that
would probably mean that we once again had to wait for 4 years or so for the
hardware to catch up, like it did with Grand Prix 2.

One of the most heard complaints about Grand Prix 2 was the fact that it was
so hardware intense... How many of you could run Grand Prix 2 in SVGA mode
when it was just released? Not many if not none, I am sure of that, it took
years and years before hardware finally catched up so we could play Grand
Prix 2 with all options on and decent framerate. With Grand Prix 3 Geoff
decided to make the graphics engine less intense so everybody could enjoy
the game. Now people are complaining that the graphics of Grand Prix 3 are
outdated etc. just like people where complaining about Grand Prix 2 beeing
to much of a stress on the hardware.

If Geoff had included kick-ass graphics in Grand Prix 3, which I am sure of
he could have done then nobody would be able to run this game in full
resolution or even play it on a slow machine (with slow I mean computers in
the 300 mhz range). You al would be ***ing about it needing a Athlon or
Pentium 1500 mhz and a GeForce6 or a Voodoo10....

Personally I like the graphics in Grand Prix 3 ... I play it in 1280x1024
with all options on (p3-800 + GeForce2 GTS), to bad it doesn't support
higher resolutions as I am sure my pc could handle them....

For the record: In am not attacking you Revved... I know in your post that
you said nothing bad about the Grand Prix 3 graphics, just that it uses
sprites, but I just had to say this to all the criticasters...

-- Sjon Stigter

WHen i got it, i had a pretty fast computer for those times.  I ran
GP2 in vga mode with no sky, no verges, grass,  and it ran at 16fps.
Even then i thought what great graphics, how quick this is.  I had
F1GP on the amiga 500 and the framerate was about 5-6 frames per
second, and i loved it.  So 16 was smooth as silk.   About a  year
later i upgraded the computer a lot, then i could run it in svga with
not much on for 20.  Now on my computer it runs at about 40fps.  
___________________
Macca
"I'd kill myself for you...Id kill you for myself"
Pantera - This Love

Then again, the algorithm used for this "feature" might be very
similar to the GP2 algorithm, so a hack might be on its way.

JoH

BTW: someone on the Alpha forum apparently has found a way to remove
the 25.6fps limit (something with changing the f1stat.sav file or
something)and was running it at 42fps!!!!!!!!

I suspect that this may***up the 'game clock' the same way that
greater than 100% processor occupancy does.

Cheers,
Rod.

JoH

--
Arne Martin

Borut

--

**********************************
 I ain't s'posed to be just fun
**********************************

Borut

--

**********************************
 I ain't s'posed to be just fun
**********************************

JoH

Thomas

Eldred
--
Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
GPL hcp. +69.95

Never argue with an idiot.  He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

Back to the topic again, yesterday I watched the AI cars from the
outside view, and those cars that are further away turning into 2d
sprites really, really, REALLY looks crappy!
I can't point my finger what causes the problem, but watching other
cars drive looks really strange in GP3. They don't look like they're
driving on the road. Even when a car is close to the cam and is in 3d,
it looks as if the car is drawn onto the track instead of blending
into the screen as a whole. Hard to explain, but it really looks
strange.

Andre

Sort of like the old cartoons where the character moves across a solid
background?

Eldred
--
Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
GPL hcp. +69.95

Never argue with an idiot.  He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

Since people are discussing the sprites and bugs, heres one that was
in GP2, and maybe someone could look for it in GP3 (although it
may not be possible yet for reasons you'll see below).

There are a few different sized sprites for showing the distant AI
cars at various distances.
One of them (the 'closest' one) had the textures reversed... in that
the left side of the car was mapped to the right, and the right
mapped to the left.
Of course, since your average F1 car has the same texture on both
sides of the car, it is only visible in custom made skins for the
AI cars, such as last year's BAR.
It could be seen when follwing it, that as your distance to him
changes, the 'blue' and 'white' sides of the car would flip from
one side to the other as the game switched from fully-drawn to
sprite mode.

As I say, I suspect you wont be able to spot the bug without
a custom car set.

cheers...