rec.autos.simulators

This game has really grown on me. And I really do think it is in the
same league as Rally Masters which has been my no.1 Rally Sim since it
was released all the way up until now that I have finished Rallisport
Challenge.

If the bugs and stuff are fixed, I beleive Rallisport Challenge is the
new no.1 rally sim for the PC, replacing Rally Masters.

/Linus

  I didn't think Colin McRae Rally was a real *** sim.  The
physics may have been good (but not as tricky and Rally Masters), but
look at the courses, one big powerslide after another.  The tracks
seem to all melt together, whereas Rally Masters tracks all seem to
have more personality.  And the roads are wider than most near where I
live (in the US- there are a few smaller highways and dirt roads
'round here).  Still, if I could ever find it in a bargain bin, I'd
definitely pick it up.

  I wish I could get hold of Rally Trophy.  I ordered it half a month
ago, and its status has changed to back-order.  I have played the demo
to death.  Getting Rally games in the US is hard, nobody seems to sell
them at stores.  Maybe they should try remarketting them as "off road
sims" or somesuch, because most of the off-road games we get; "4X4
Evo" are mediocre arcade games (Motocross Madness and Monster Truck
Madness seem to be the only halfway decent ones).  In Master Rallye,
it even has a few recognizeable SUVS (Chevy Blazer, Nissan, for
instance).

  Actually, it reminds me (in the handling) alot like Colin McRae 2.
The graphics just "0wnZ" CMR2, though, and the handling just doesn't
seem that much different.  And Colin McRae just didn't seem that sim
like to me, more like "Gran Turismo" realism- good but not exacting.
For the life of me I couldn't get a car to spin in CMR2.  They are
both easier than Rally Masters, you can toss them about more, less
twitchy, and the roads are wider and you seem to get up to speed much
faster.  If anything the courses in Rallisport seem a bit less "into
the next powerslide", and it seems to have longer stretches of road.

  Now the only downside- this game stammers like crazy with my Radeon
9700.  Must be that "Powered by NVidia" stuff.  Agghhhh....

I dunno, I'm happy with the hood cam in RSC, and I've been bouncing
back and forth a lot between it and GPL without having to readjust
much between either.  With RSC I just tend to view the monitor as the
windshield and the dashes as a compromise since they can't be mounted
behind my wheel where they should be.  Yes, a***pit view would be
great, particularly without an on-screen steering wheel, but what can
you do...  Still waiting for a rally game with a***pit I can use.

Jason

I agree.  Part of the problem I had with the early cars was that they
all seem prone to incredible understeer, especially on sand and mud.
I thought I was going to rip the wheel off my desk on the mud stages.
Thankfully my favorite easy car is the Peugot 206 which handles like a
champ. =)

I think it's by far better than CMR2 and its "pivot around a central
axis" physics.  CMR3 looks like more of the same based on the preview
videos.  Rally Masters and Rallisport Challenge are the only rally
sims that seem to attempt to differentiate between different surfaces
in ways not simply involving grip (most games seem to use the same
type of surface with lower grip, without accounting for the
differences in drag).  The sand and especially the mud stages are
really fun and a great challenge with the way the car tends to dig in
and not want to turn.  I'm not going to argue that it's realistic, and
the cars should probably be slightly heavier (then again, they feel
plenty heavy on the Pacific stages), but it's certainly a lot of fun.
The hill climb stages are amazingly fun and I can't think of anything
like them in any other rally game.  I've killed my virtual self many a
time on those summit courses. =)

I can't speak for the FFB, and it really sucks if it's bad enough to
ruin the game for everyone.  It's great with a non-FFB wheel so I hope
the FFB effects are patched.

I'm holding final judgement on RT until I get to try the user-made
physics patch, but right now I'd say that none of them are
particularly realistic.  I'd definitely give nods to RSC and Mobil 1
RC for the fun factor, however.

Jason

--

Ian P
<email invalid due to spam>

Jason

I think most***pit cams are designed with the idea that what you see
on the screen is what a driver sees from a typical head position.
Since no one drives with their face pressed against the screen, it
might actually give a better driving feel if you could adjust the view
in the game to match how far you have the monitor from your head when
driving.  The downside is that you're going to have limited visibility
unless you use a ridiculously wide FOV or have 3 monitors.  A***pit
cam calibration tool that used 0 as the reference for the sim driver's
head and let you move the cam forward/backward based on where you sit
in relation to your monitor could be cool.  I may have to try this out
in F1 2002 now to see if I can get a decent result.

Jason

What we need is a pair of 3D-goggles and a headtracker, so that the view
would shift when you turn your head or look up/down !
Imaging beeing able to look into a corner or at the mirrors through the side
windows !

Would be fantastic for at WW1 dogfigt also :-)

/JS