into the N3.ini file for FF stuff.
--
Michael Lentz
--
Michael Lentz
First things first. I'm going to avoid the topic of "It doesn't have the
GPL Engine". It doesn't, we all know it doesn't, and we all know _why_ it
doesn't. Time to give that one a rest.
The machine used is a home-built based on:
ASUS P3B-F Main Board
Pentium III 450Mhz running at it's native speed and fsb. I'm not a fan of
over-clocking.
256MB RAM
ASUS V3800TVR TNT2 AGP Video Card w/32MB. Non-Ultra, again running at it's
intended 125/150 speed settings.
Diamond Monster II 12MB, but who cares. The TNT2 card was used as the
graphics controller.
Microsoft Force-Feedback Wheel.
With that said, the first thing I _have_ to say is...... WOW!!!
IMHO, Nascar Racing 3 is the _first_ upgraded release of the series since
the first N2 that can truly be called an upgrade. This is no whimpy Nascar
1999. This is an honest-to-goodness upgrade that improves nearly every
facet of the simulation.
Graphics
---------
I simply have to start here. This version brings Nascar Revolution
Eye-Candy, without the down-side. There simply is NO down-side.
I have every single option turned on and set to it's highest setting.
1024X768. 16 Bit Color. Full 40 car field, with all cars visible front and
back. All sounds set to their best quality. All textures on. Full track
visibility. Absolutely everything turned on at it's highest setting.
I had absolutely no frame-rate problems at all. Most amazing, I had NO
popup's at all. Not at any track I tested, including Talladega and Bristol,
the two worst tracks for this sort of thing.
The translucent smoke and persistant skid-marks are really cool. Even more
important, I had no frame-rate 'clogs' during periods of heavy smoke.
The realism of the smoke and skids is really something. If you get behind
someone with a smoking tire or engine, it actually hinders your visibility
just like it should. If there is a big pile-up, you drive into a blinding
floating cloud of smoke, just like you should.
I cannot overstate how impressed I am with the quality, realism, and
performance of the graphics. Papy has done what is seemingly impossible
here.
Personally, I think this is the simulation that future games will be
measured against when it comes to graphics quality, realism and most
importantly performance.
I can deal with the 2D***pit. It is such a huge improvement over N2/99
that I don't care there aren't shadows on the gauges from the needles. Even
the mirrors work right now! Finally :)
Mental note - I'm a registered NRHQ user... Must check the web site for an
update that works with N3.
Physics
-------
No bones about it. There is a huge improvement here as well. While it is
the N2 engine, it is not the _same_ N2 engine. The handling of the car is
much more realistic to me. Changes in setup work like you think they will
(finally).
A couple of things I notice that I've never seen before. First, if you tap
a car in the rear quarter, you aren't automatically spun out like you tended
to be in N2. N2 would snap-spin you in a heartbeat. N3 will make your car
react much like you would expect it to. Anything from a mild bobble, to a
full spin.
Speaking of bobble's, the car's do it now. Instead of just 'wiggling' when
you tap them, you can see realistic body roll along with the wiggle.
Secondly, it's interesting to watch the relationship of the cars compared to
the painted lines on the track. If a car is loose, you can actually _see_
that it is loose. The rear of the car will visibly be drifted out further
from the line than the front of the car. The little whif of smoke you see
from tires is a good indication as well :) In N2/99, the cars were always
square to the line as they went around the track, whether they were loose or
not.
There was more attention to detail here than I expected, and I think most
will be very happy with the improvements in the physics.
Oh, the realistic 'tire hop' when accellerating from a stand-still and
spinning the tires is pretty cool too :)
AI
--
Wow!
For the first time, it feels like you are actually racing skilled drivers
instead of brain-dead robots! It's funny, but Dale Earnhardt did a
tap-and-pass on me at Bristol in one race. LOL :)
The drivers draft properly. They will take advantage of _any_ mis-step you
have. They don't come down on you in the corners like they did in NR1999.
This was actually quite horrible in NR1999. Even worse than N2, IMHO. This
has been nearly completely corrected in N3.
I actually did some FOUR wide racing at Talladega. As long as _you_ are up
to it, _they_ are up to it. These guys really race with some good old
fashioned common sense now. Well, most of the time. I did have one
bone-head at Dega come from the outer lane and swerve down in front of me to
enter the pits. It happens in real racing, so I guess it's part of the deal
:)
I could swear I got bump-drafted once at Dega...
Sound
------
I don't have 3D sound, but the sounds in N3 are much, much improved. It
actually sounds like a race car now. Tire squeel, impacts, etc... all sound
much like the real thing now. You can actually hear squeel's leading up to
impacts :)
Installation, etc...
-----------------
No issues here.
It plays without the CD!!!
Interface
---------
Plenty familiar, but improved. I like it.
Force-Feedback
-----------------
It feels a little weak to me. However, I suspect there is a setting buried
somewhere that will eventually be uncovered to tweak this.
Why don't game manufacturer's supply customized profile files for the most
popular wheels/joysticks, such as the MSFFW and others?
Other than the somewhat-weak Force-Feedback, I find it hard to complain
about this game. It is the _first_ Nxxx upgrade since the original N2 that
I feel good about paying for.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it :)
-Larry
buzard
> Ok, folks. After about 4 hours with Nascar Racing 3, I thought I'd share my
> thoughts.
> First things first. I'm going to avoid the topic of "It doesn't have the
> GPL Engine". It doesn't, we all know it doesn't, and we all know _why_ it
> doesn't. Time to give that one a rest.
> The machine used is a home-built based on:
> ASUS P3B-F Main Board
> Pentium III 450Mhz running at it's native speed and fsb. I'm not a fan of
> over-clocking.
> 256MB RAM
> ASUS V3800TVR TNT2 AGP Video Card w/32MB. Non-Ultra, again running at it's
> intended 125/150 speed settings.
> Diamond Monster II 12MB, but who cares. The TNT2 card was used as the
> graphics controller.
> Microsoft Force-Feedback Wheel.
> With that said, the first thing I _have_ to say is...... WOW!!!
> IMHO, Nascar Racing 3 is the _first_ upgraded release of the series since
> the first N2 that can truly be called an upgrade. This is no whimpy Nascar
> 1999. This is an honest-to-goodness upgrade that improves nearly every
> facet of the simulation.
> Graphics
> ---------
> I simply have to start here. This version brings Nascar Revolution
> Eye-Candy, without the down-side. There simply is NO down-side.
> I have every single option turned on and set to it's highest setting.
> 1024X768. 16 Bit Color. Full 40 car field, with all cars visible front and
> back. All sounds set to their best quality. All textures on. Full track
> visibility. Absolutely everything turned on at it's highest setting.
> I had absolutely no frame-rate problems at all. Most amazing, I had NO
> popup's at all. Not at any track I tested, including Talladega and Bristol,
> the two worst tracks for this sort of thing.
> The translucent smoke and persistant skid-marks are really cool. Even more
> important, I had no frame-rate 'clogs' during periods of heavy smoke.
> The realism of the smoke and skids is really something. If you get behind
> someone with a smoking tire or engine, it actually hinders your visibility
> just like it should. If there is a big pile-up, you drive into a blinding
> floating cloud of smoke, just like you should.
> I cannot overstate how impressed I am with the quality, realism, and
> performance of the graphics. Papy has done what is seemingly impossible
> here.
> Personally, I think this is the simulation that future games will be
> measured against when it comes to graphics quality, realism and most
> importantly performance.
> I can deal with the 2D***pit. It is such a huge improvement over N2/99
> that I don't care there aren't shadows on the gauges from the needles. Even
> the mirrors work right now! Finally :)
> Mental note - I'm a registered NRHQ user... Must check the web site for an
> update that works with N3.
> Physics
> -------
> No bones about it. There is a huge improvement here as well. While it is
> the N2 engine, it is not the _same_ N2 engine. The handling of the car is
> much more realistic to me. Changes in setup work like you think they will
> (finally).
> A couple of things I notice that I've never seen before. First, if you tap
> a car in the rear quarter, you aren't automatically spun out like you tended
> to be in N2. N2 would snap-spin you in a heartbeat. N3 will make your car
> react much like you would expect it to. Anything from a mild bobble, to a
> full spin.
> Speaking of bobble's, the car's do it now. Instead of just 'wiggling' when
> you tap them, you can see realistic body roll along with the wiggle.
> Secondly, it's interesting to watch the relationship of the cars compared to
> the painted lines on the track. If a car is loose, you can actually _see_
> that it is loose. The rear of the car will visibly be drifted out further
> from the line than the front of the car. The little whif of smoke you see
> from tires is a good indication as well :) In N2/99, the cars were always
> square to the line as they went around the track, whether they were loose or
> not.
> There was more attention to detail here than I expected, and I think most
> will be very happy with the improvements in the physics.
> Oh, the realistic 'tire hop' when accellerating from a stand-still and
> spinning the tires is pretty cool too :)
> AI
> --
> Wow!
> For the first time, it feels like you are actually racing skilled drivers
> instead of brain-dead robots! It's funny, but Dale Earnhardt did a
> tap-and-pass on me at Bristol in one race. LOL :)
> The drivers draft properly. They will take advantage of _any_ mis-step you
> have. They don't come down on you in the corners like they did in NR1999.
> This was actually quite horrible in NR1999. Even worse than N2, IMHO. This
> has been nearly completely corrected in N3.
> I actually did some FOUR wide racing at Talladega. As long as _you_ are up
> to it, _they_ are up to it. These guys really race with some good old
> fashioned common sense now. Well, most of the time. I did have one
> bone-head at Dega come from the outer lane and swerve down in front of me to
> enter the pits. It happens in real racing, so I guess it's part of the deal
> :)
> I could swear I got bump-drafted once at Dega...
> Sound
> ------
> I don't have 3D sound, but the sounds in N3 are much, much improved. It
> actually sounds like a race car now. Tire squeel, impacts, etc... all sound
> much like the real thing now. You can actually hear squeel's leading up to
> impacts :)
> Installation, etc...
> -----------------
> No issues here.
> It plays without the CD!!!
> Interface
> ---------
> Plenty familiar, but improved. I like it.
> Force-Feedback
> -----------------
> It feels a little weak to me. However, I suspect there is a setting buried
> somewhere that will eventually be uncovered to tweak this.
> Why don't game manufacturer's supply customized profile files for the most
> popular wheels/joysticks, such as the MSFFW and others?
> Other than the somewhat-weak Force-Feedback, I find it hard to complain
> about this game. It is the _first_ Nxxx upgrade since the original N2 that
> I feel good about paying for.
> That's my story, and I'm sticking to it :)
> -Larry
Eric
needles.
>buzard
>> Ok, folks. After about 4 hours with Nascar Racing 3, I thought I'd share my
>> thoughts.
>> First things first. I'm going to avoid the topic of "It doesn't have the
>> GPL Engine". It doesn't, we all know it doesn't, and we all know _why_ it
>> doesn't. Time to give that one a rest.
>> The machine used is a home-built based on:
>> ASUS P3B-F Main Board
>> Pentium III 450Mhz running at it's native speed and fsb. I'm not a fan of
>> over-clocking.
>> 256MB RAM
>> ASUS V3800TVR TNT2 AGP Video Card w/32MB. Non-Ultra, again running at it's
>> intended 125/150 speed settings.
>> Diamond Monster II 12MB, but who cares. The TNT2 card was used as the
>> graphics controller.
>> Microsoft Force-Feedback Wheel.
DOUBLE CUDOs for Multi improvments
I am a little uncertain if I should buy this one. I have a Thriller 3D
running RRedline, D3D and Opengl, and I don't think it's up to it...
Otherwise I have a Celery overclocked to 450...
---Asgeir---
> Eric
> > I can deal with the 2D***pit. It is such a huge improvement over
> N2/99
> > that I don't care there aren't shadows on the gauges from the
> needles.
Glide graphics are way better than d3d regardless of game
Personally I find D3D much more realistic and GLide too washed out IMO.
Running a 450 PII and 384 MB RAM
Jerry Morelock
Jerry Morelock
> How does the D3D graphics version look in comparison to the Glide
> version? I don't have a glide card, and there are bunches of people with
> OpenGL cards out here... How is performance hit with D3D?
> I am a little uncertain if I should buy this one. I have a Thriller 3D
> running RRedline, D3D and Opengl, and I don't think it's up to it...
> Otherwise I have a Celery overclocked to 450...
To have someone say that this is better then that still doesn't tell me
anything. I need to see screen shots to make up my own mind.
Mike
--
=========================================
Mike Barlow of Barlow Racing?
=========================================
Racing online with the help of......
Race Communications Association
http://members.xoom.com/RCA/toc.html
Holodyne Engineering
Mystic Music
(have Your !!Name/Address!! placed here)
-Larry
> I am a little uncertain if I should buy this one. I have a Thriller 3D
> running RRedline, D3D and Opengl, and I don't think it's up to it...
> Otherwise I have a Celery overclocked to 450...
> ---Asgeir---
> > The needles do have shadows, they just aren't as noticeable in D3D as
> > they are when anti-aliased in the Glide version.
> > Eric
> > > I can deal with the 2D***pit. It is such a huge improvement over
> > N2/99
> > > that I don't care there aren't shadows on the gauges from the
> > needles.
-Larry