rec.autos.simulators

by **Chris Wrigh** » Mon, 24 May 1999 04:00:00

Following some initial concerns, I'm warming to this game big time.

It does have some *** little faults, most especially the fact that you
can't change settings in the middle of a qualifying or practice session and
that you are limited to three qualifying laps - yuk. Funnily enough, the
concerns I had over the cornering animation have subsided - it doesn't look
nearly as bad when you are used to it. Baffled? - well you'll have to play
the game for a while to see what I mean.

The saving grace of OF1R is the tremendous car handling, which is among the
best of any sim and absolutely walks all over MGPRS2. Believe me, the more
you play this the more convincing it becomes. It's quirky, but it still
conveys the feeling you are driving an F1 monster very well.

The replay facility is completely brilliant, except that it can only be
accessed after a race and not during qualifying etc. Without doubt this has
set new standards.

Save game could be better as this can only be accessed in championship mode.

Some people have commented on the accuracy of tracks. Well we've yet to see
the perfect sim in this respect and, on balance, I feel OF1R is as good as
any other, although perhaps not significantly better. Topography, in
particular, sometimes appears at odds with reality. The trees are not
exactly great works of art either.

In the eye candy stakes, the helicopter view is one of the more original
additions to a racing sim and I think it works really well, particularly in
terms of building the atmosphere of the game. I'd trade it for 12 qualifying
laps and more flexible set-up options though, but it is a terrific
innovation.

Like Nascar Revolution, although far better out of the box, this game wants
to be a sim when it grows up, but Eidos will have to put some large changes
into future patches to achieve this ambition.

I would urge anyone to buy OF1R, because its strengths certainly outweigh
the obvious weaknesses.

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention the awful crashes and lack of visible damage,
but I believe significant car damage in games is outlawed by Uncle Bernie,
so maybe this is understandable.

Well done Eidos, this is an excellent, if slightly flawed, game.

by **David Mocn** » Mon, 24 May 1999 04:00:00

Are you serious? Unless the full game is nothing like the demo, I would say
that this is the wost racing game I've ever layed my eyes on. F1'97 is a
"star simulator" compared to this. My imression from the demo were like this:
- Handling so unrealistic that you can't bear to watch it ... even the
movement of the cars is flawed ... which most arcade games get right. The way
the car "attempts' to do wheelspin and slides is a total joke .... it just all
looks so wrong.
- Graphic's have absolutelly no detail ... everything just looks so flat and
empty.
-The***pit view looks like a "prototype" for something that someone made in
5 minutes. So unfinished.

Anyway, I have not seen a game/demo that looks os unfinished and moves so
urealistic.

Is the full game any different?

Regards,
David

>Following some initial concerns, I'm warming to this game big time.

>It does have some *** little faults, most especially the fact that you
>can't change settings in the middle of a qualifying or practice session and
>that you are limited to three qualifying laps - yuk. Funnily enough, the
>concerns I had over the cornering animation have subsided - it doesn't look
>nearly as bad when you are used to it. Baffled? - well you'll have to play
>the game for a while to see what I mean.

>The saving grace of OF1R is the tremendous car handling, which is among the
>best of any sim and absolutely walks all over MGPRS2. Believe me, the more
>you play this the more convincing it becomes. It's quirky, but it still
>conveys the feeling you are driving an F1 monster very well.

>The replay facility is completely brilliant, except that it can only be
>accessed after a race and not during qualifying etc. Without doubt this has
>set new standards.

>Save game could be better as this can only be accessed in championship mode.

>Some people have commented on the accuracy of tracks. Well we've yet to see
>the perfect sim in this respect and, on balance, I feel OF1R is as good as
>any other, although perhaps not significantly better. Topography, in
>particular, sometimes appears at odds with reality. The trees are not
>exactly great works of art either.

>In the eye candy stakes, the helicopter view is one of the more original
>additions to a racing sim and I think it works really well, particularly in
>terms of building the atmosphere of the game. I'd trade it for 12 qualifying
>laps and more flexible set-up options though, but it is a terrific
>innovation.

>Like Nascar Revolution, although far better out of the box, this game wants
>to be a sim when it grows up, but Eidos will have to put some large changes
>into future patches to achieve this ambition.

>I would urge anyone to buy OF1R, because its strengths certainly outweigh
>the obvious weaknesses.

>Oh, I nearly forgot to mention the awful crashes and lack of visible damage,
>but I believe significant car damage in games is outlawed by Uncle Bernie,
>so maybe this is understandable.

>Well done Eidos, this is an excellent, if slightly flawed, game.

by **Adam** » Mon, 24 May 1999 04:00:00

I pretty much agree. I think this is one of the best modern F1 sims
available. I've been playing it non-stop since I got it. Nothing like the
demo so far.

by **Greg Cisk** » Mon, 24 May 1999 04:00:00

>I have had wheels askew and*** from the control arms, and front
>wings dangling and striking the track as I attempted to return to
>the pits. Also, if the front suspension is bent far enough, the tire
>will eventually leave the rim. All of this changes the way the car drives
>and sometimes it is totally uncontrollable, throwing smoke, sparks, etc..

This does sound cool.

seemed

Why? Does the car suddenly not turn about it's center axis and start
turning with it's front tires the longer you play the game? I thought that
turning on it's center axis was total BS. It felt to me like a cheesy ***
flightsim. I thought you said you drove race cars or something. How can
you possibly think this is OK?

TSW??? I thought you had an ACT Labs Force RS? Or are you one of
those fellas that has to have on of everything (games included)?

--

Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

cisko [AT] ix [DOT] netcom [DOT] com

by **Aubrey Wind** » Mon, 24 May 1999 04:00:00

Chris, is this one of those games where the demo plays completely
differently from the final packaged game? Because I tried the demo, and I
thought the physics were just pathetic. The car won't even go into a spin
unless you're on the grass.

**** Posted from RemarQ - http://www.remarq.com - Discussions Start Here (tm) ****

by **Joe Marque** » Tue, 25 May 1999 04:00:00

We didn't drive the same game, unless the demo was a pre-alpha version made
for the old Atari 2600 and the PC demo has never been released. This "sim"
does not remotely simulating anything done currently in the physical world,
let alone driving. It sucks with a gigantic "S". Oh wait, the sound is
pretty good. Seriously, have you ever driven a car? I'm honestly not
flaming you, maybe you have never driven a car. If you have then you would
know that this game doesn't come close to driving any car, let alone a F1
car. It more closely simulates white water rafting. Rafts rotate around
their center of gravity, cars turn by the front wheels.

by **Mike Blackmo** » Tue, 25 May 1999 04:00:00

I pretty much agree It has it's faults and initially I was
disappointed but then I drove it some and began to really like the
feeling of speed and movement. the dynamic driver head movement really
work well when you are used to them and i love the way the drivers
head wobbles about in the outside views.

My one gripe is the car textures are patchy, some like the Jordan are
absolutely brilliant but the Ferrari and the Mclaren are terrible.

for a quick summary comparing like with like Of1R to MGPRS2 where it
counts ie. driving Of1R seems alive and dynamic and MGPRS2 seems flat
and dead and I thing we are all spoiled by GPL !

Regards Mike

I'll be posting some more in the next couple of days
On Sun, 23 May 1999 21:43:19 +0100,"Chris Wright"