It is absolutely grounded in fact. This newsgroup is severely dysfunctional
with a very select few setting the tone of opinion and a majority of sheeple
following blindly. I would assume there is no small number of them that
follow simply in an effort to be part of the group. Whatever, the problem
remains that any newbie coming in and asking a question is going to get a
huge majority of like answers when it comes to the subjective interpretation
of realism in a driving simulation. If the newbie asks the wrong question
the newbie will be flooded with biased and often hateful information that
will lead said newbie to exactly incorrect conclusions. Hell, even people
who come around as much as I do can be terribly confused by what is stated
and fanatically reinforced here. I almost didn't buy my favorite game
because of what I read here.
I too spend a lot of time on different sims, although, a fair chance comes
in around the 40 hour mark.... at least in my book. And here's where we get
into the subjective bit, that statement about Papy is very tricky. Sure,
nothing does, but a few do it better, many do it worse.
Your opinions are very interesting. Well stated. A boon in this group.
Wrong. It is subjective. I find several titles to be every bit as real and
more realistic as anything Papy has been able to produce. One of them came
out at the same time GPL did. Maybe it's a problem of a title being called a
'simulation', a term that's pretty popular here. Maybe that's were I get
confused. But if we are talking about software driving simulators, Papy has
consistently flawed products. The perspective they insist upon using leads
to poor perceptions of speed, sense of placement on the track, and available
grip. If those things are apparent to a higher degree in any other simulator
then Papy cannot hold the title that you and so many other agree to. In my
subjective opinion, almost all other titles beat Papy in those respects and
a few have physics models that are as accurate and/or are more detailed than
the Papy offerings.
Why is my opinion worthwhile? Because I think about what I am saying. Unlike
many around here who comment on things they've never even tried. (Remember,
a newbie isn't going to "know" when someone incorrectly describes a menu
page or characteristic of a certain software title.) In the end, my opinion
is no more worthwhile than yours, or a newbie's, or Arnao's. The fact of the
matter is, that even though there are titles that we probably all call
arcades, like PU or RT. There are titles that are going to be much harder to
classify.
Again, the subjectivity of this whole thing comes through. I find F12002 so
far removed from reality that I would call it an arcade without hesitation.
(I haven't tried it with FF.) Now, I have no problem with being wrong. I
practice being wrong daily. But I can quantify and demonstrate my opinions o
n F12002 and if anyone of you were sitting here with me and had graduated
MJ's School of Comparative High Performance Driving Analysis - Focusing on
the Relationships Between Reality and Sims (which is a 4 day course with 2
days in a sedan and racing kart and 2 days on all the sims on my machine.),
and no one from r.a.s. would ever find out what you had experienced or said
here, I bet 90% of you would agree with 90% of my ideas concerning all the
sims we tried. But it still would not mean "it's pure and simple fact". It
would only mean that the way my computer is set up on my desk, with my wheel
and GFX card creates certain environments in our imaginations that would
lead us to a more believable driving experience from one title to the next.
It's not that I don't try, or that I have no experience, or poor analytical
skills... it's just that the whole thing really is very subjective. Unless
we are talking about real simulation, not driving simulation, in which case
I would think that very few of us are privy to the actual simulation level
that goes into any title. In any case, that doesn't matter because it either
feels real on the track or it doesn't and that's the whole reason we use
graphics cards an wheels instead of spreadsheets.
Jason, you are obviously not a Papy Loony, but there are those who are and
the group has a real problem. I have caught certain people lying about
whether they'd tried certain games... who's gonna call you out if you agree
with the majority, right? Lotta bandwagon jumping around here. If I felt the
Papy games were more realistic I may be ignorant to the problem, but because
I genuinely feel there are better titles out there, I have a perspective of
what goes on around here that is different from the majority.
There is definitely a problem.
--
"Nothing gets closer!" - Crammond
mark
