rec.autos.simulators

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

Greg Cisk

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by Greg Cisk » Sat, 20 Feb 1999 04:00:00


>That's enough of this. Nascar Revolution is pure and utter technical
>crap. They HAD to do it, or the returns for stutter on this HOG of
>a program would have been enormous. As we say down here in Tennessee,
>they have '10 pounds in a 5 pound sack'.

They didn't "have" to do it. They could have scrapped the project. The
end result would have been the same. Either way I am happy to say
that they don't have my $$$.

--

Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

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

Corey Wes

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by Corey Wes » Sat, 20 Feb 1999 04:00:00

excellent report.  You hit the nail right on the head and have convinced me
to take this back for NR 1999!

>Nascar Revolution - Heres what's wrong with it:

>First:
>My system: PII-333 overclocked 375 / Monster2 / 128MB.

>I REALLY wanted to like the game. I bought it one hour after the
>first copy hit town. I have been trying to make it run and drive
>well enough to keep it,

>BUT,I couldn't understand why Nascar Revolution was in slow
>motion while in the dashboard view, yet gave a good sense of
>speed in the external views.

>I also couldn't understand why adding more opponents would put
>the game into slow motion. It wouldn't stutter, just go into slo-mo.

>Also, the speed of the game would randomly *vary* from normal
>to slow. At one point I thought it must have a memory leak to
>behave as it does.

>I couldn't understand why replays would speed up and slow down
>randomly.

>*** THEN, I found out why. ***

>(Old timers hang on to your seats).

>Electronic Arts is slowing down / speeding up the game to
>give accurate lap times when the system is under a heavy load!

>NOTE: Old timers: Can you say Grand Prix II?

>I thought you could.. :)

>I ran a few tests with Nascar Revolution tonight:

>1) I turned the graphics to the absolute minimum, set the field of
>opponents to 10 or so, and ran laps in the external or bumper cam
>views. When I did that, 30 seconds on the lap timer displayed on
>the screen was equivalent to approx. 30 seconds on the sweep second
>hand of my clock.

>2) When I turned the graphics to maximum, the field to 43, 30 secs.
>on the lap time display  was equivalent to 50-80 seconds of real
>clock time.

>SLOW MOTION.

>When you are in dashboard view, the same thing occurs since it
>apparently is a graphics HOG, in that mode. A 30 second lap time
>on the screen, might take 45 secs. to 1 minute of wall clock time.

>SLOW MOTION.

>Also, the time varies *all over the place*. If you run laps with a
>full field and then watch a replay, you can see the cars speed up and
>slow down abnormally. What is happening is that the replay load is
>different from the load that the system was under when the lap was
>recorded and it has trouble synchronizing.

>It sucks..

>For those of you that don't understand this phenomenon, here is how
>it works:

>- Let us assume that I am a simulation programmer and I have a
>program that wants to display 2 seconds of a racecar traveling from
>the far left to the far right of the screen, and that the 2 seconds
>require 100 frames of animation. (50 frames per second.). Think of
>the 2 seconds as being recorded on a strip of movie film 100 frames
>long.

>In the corner of the imaginary screen will be a timer displayed by
>the program that displays how long the operation is taking. The timer
>should start at 0 seconds at frame 1 and when the car reaches the
>right side of the screen, frame 100, the timer should indicate 2 secs.
>In order to accomplish this at normal speed, my program and the
>computer running it will have to be capable of displaying
>50 FRAMES PER SECOND for 2 seconds.

>O.K.?

>- Now, let's assume that either my program is slow, or the computer
>I am wanting to display the 100 frames on, is slow. For example,
>let us assume that it can only display 25 FRAMES PER SECOND.

>- So, I have a choice:

>  I can let the program *skip every other frame* (STUTTER) and
>  complete the 2 second trip of the car in 2 seconds of real clock
>  time, and my timer in the corner of the screen will simply be a
>  real clock so it will show that it took 2 seconds. The car would
>  jerkily move from left side to right side in 2 seconds, since every
>  other frame was dropped.

>  OR

>  I can display ALL the 100 frames in 4 seconds of real time
>  (SLOW MOTION, NO STUTTER). My timer in the corner would
>  have to be a *fake* clock that showed that only 2 seconds had
>  passed, when actually it had required 4 seconds of real time.
>  The car would smoothly traverse the screen, but in (REALLY)
>  slow motion....

>Are you getting my drift here? If you watch the lap timer in a sim
>like Grand Prix Legends or N2/1999, you will notice it is just a
>simple clock ticking off your time. Nothing you do can alter its
>steady ticking.. :)  If your system is incapable of producing the
>speed necessary, it will simply skip frames and stutter, but the
>timer will keep on ticking normally. The good news is that your
>overall sense of speed won't suffer unless the stuttering
>becomes ridiculous.

>You may say that you don't like stutter, so why isn't the method
>used in GP2 and now, Nascar Revolution a good method? There are
>several reasons. One is that a game or sim that speeds up and slows
>down is extremely difficult to control. It is changing all the time.
>It has NO consistency. Also, there is the problem with replays.
>Nascar Revolution has the jerky replay problem in *spades*.
>Multiplay with Nascar Revolution ought to be VERY interesting as the
>systems try to get their facts (clocks) straight. LOL!!!

>Stutter sucks, but intermittently varying the *speed* of a game
>sucks MUCH, MUCH more.

>In Nascar Revolution and Grand Prix II, a second on the timer ain't
>necessarily a second in the real world since those programmers have
>chosen to eliminate stuttering by displaying each an every frame of
>animation, no matter how long it takes. They simply slow down and
>speed up the animation, but they *never* stutter. They feel like
>you are driving in JELLO when the load gets heavy.

>In the case of Grand Prix II, this technique was carried to an
>extreme with system load controls you could adjust to attempt to make
>1 second of game time equivalent to 1 second of real world time.

>Replays of GPII lap records had to be carefully scrutinized to be
>sure that the user had not loaded his system to the max, easily, and
>perfectly cruised around the track in slo-mo and recorded a replay
>which when  played back on a faster system would whiz around the
>track at a record pace, with a perfect line, etc..

>That's enough of this. Nascar Revolution is pure and utter technical
>crap. They HAD to do it, or the returns for stutter on this HOG of
>a program would have been enormous. As we say down here in Tennessee,
>they have '10 pounds in a 5 pound sack'.

>Maybe, like GP2, when faster systems arrive, there will be no
>problems with speed variations in Nascar Revolution, but until then,
>you are warned... :)

>--
>// rrevved posts from mindspring dot com

Jon and Stephanie Nybakk

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by Jon and Stephanie Nybakk » Sat, 20 Feb 1999 04:00:00

Hey Mr rrewed. I liked the game! So does this mean i'm a mordot? Who cares if
your clock doesnt stay in sync with the games clock. Big deal!! Just be
thankful you're not playing Atari 2600 right now. I find it hard to believe
that someone would actually sit down and figure this out. If its slow down your
so miffed about, run the game in D3D. Imho, it looks better/brighter when ran
in this mode. And I didn't experience any "slow motion" crud. Btw my pc is
PII300mhz 96mram Monster Fusion AGP. And it runs awsome in D3D mode. I enjoyed
the presentation(animated pit crews, National Anthem, etc.). If there is one
thing that I agree with is that the commentary is a bit annoying. But at least
it's there. EA didn't rip off anyone. If anyone is guilty of this, it's Sierra.
WHOA, WHAT?!? NR1999 is nothing more than NR2 with 3dfx support. And the
visuals are lacking anyway.

So there you have it. A different opinion than the majority. Why is it a
Majorty? Maybe it isn't. Maybe the rest of us are having too much fun w/Nascar
Rev and we're spending our time playing it. Rather than coming in here and
whining about how the game clock isn't in sync with the clock on my wall.

"If it bleeds, it can be fixed!"


> >Nascar Revolution - Heres what's wrong with it:

> >First:
> >My system: PII-333 overclocked 375 / Monster2 / 128MB.

> >I REALLY wanted to like the game. I bought it one hour after the
> >first copy hit town. I have been trying to make it run and drive
> >well enough to keep it,

> >BUT,I couldn't understand why Nascar Revolution was in slow
> >motion while in the dashboard view, yet gave a good sense of
> >speed in the external views.

> >I also couldn't understand why adding more opponents would put
> >the game into slow motion. It wouldn't stutter, just go into slo-mo.

> >Also, the speed of the game would randomly *vary* from normal
> >to slow. At one point I thought it must have a memory leak to
> >behave as it does.

> >I couldn't understand why replays would speed up and slow down
> >randomly.

> >*** THEN, I found out why. ***

> >(Old timers hang on to your seats).

> >Electronic Arts is slowing down / speeding up the game to
> >give accurate lap times when the system is under a heavy load!

> >NOTE: Old timers: Can you say Grand Prix II?

> >I thought you could.. :)

> >I ran a few tests with Nascar Revolution tonight:

> >1) I turned the graphics to the absolute minimum, set the field of
> >opponents to 10 or so, and ran laps in the external or bumper cam
> >views. When I did that, 30 seconds on the lap timer displayed on
> >the screen was equivalent to approx. 30 seconds on the sweep second
> >hand of my clock.

> >2) When I turned the graphics to maximum, the field to 43, 30 secs.
> >on the lap time display  was equivalent to 50-80 seconds of real
> >clock time.

> >SLOW MOTION.

> >When you are in dashboard view, the same thing occurs since it
> >apparently is a graphics HOG, in that mode. A 30 second lap time
> >on the screen, might take 45 secs. to 1 minute of wall clock time.

> >SLOW MOTION.

> >Also, the time varies *all over the place*. If you run laps with a
> >full field and then watch a replay, you can see the cars speed up and
> >slow down abnormally. What is happening is that the replay load is
> >different from the load that the system was under when the lap was
> >recorded and it has trouble synchronizing.

> >It sucks..

> >For those of you that don't understand this phenomenon, here is how
> >it works:

> >- Let us assume that I am a simulation programmer and I have a
> >program that wants to display 2 seconds of a racecar traveling from
> >the far left to the far right of the screen, and that the 2 seconds
> >require 100 frames of animation. (50 frames per second.). Think of
> >the 2 seconds as being recorded on a strip of movie film 100 frames
> >long.

> >In the corner of the imaginary screen will be a timer displayed by
> >the program that displays how long the operation is taking. The timer
> >should start at 0 seconds at frame 1 and when the car reaches the
> >right side of the screen, frame 100, the timer should indicate 2 secs.
> >In order to accomplish this at normal speed, my program and the
> >computer running it will have to be capable of displaying
> >50 FRAMES PER SECOND for 2 seconds.

> >O.K.?

> >- Now, let's assume that either my program is slow, or the computer
> >I am wanting to display the 100 frames on, is slow. For example,
> >let us assume that it can only display 25 FRAMES PER SECOND.

> >- So, I have a choice:

> >  I can let the program *skip every other frame* (STUTTER) and
> >  complete the 2 second trip of the car in 2 seconds of real clock
> >  time, and my timer in the corner of the screen will simply be a
> >  real clock so it will show that it took 2 seconds. The car would
> >  jerkily move from left side to right side in 2 seconds, since every
> >  other frame was dropped.

> >  OR

> >  I can display ALL the 100 frames in 4 seconds of real time
> >  (SLOW MOTION, NO STUTTER). My timer in the corner would
> >  have to be a *fake* clock that showed that only 2 seconds had
> >  passed, when actually it had required 4 seconds of real time.
> >  The car would smoothly traverse the screen, but in (REALLY)
> >  slow motion....

> >Are you getting my drift here? If you watch the lap timer in a sim
> >like Grand Prix Legends or N2/1999, you will notice it is just a
> >simple clock ticking off your time. Nothing you do can alter its
> >steady ticking.. :)  If your system is incapable of producing the
> >speed necessary, it will simply skip frames and stutter, but the
> >timer will keep on ticking normally. The good news is that your
> >overall sense of speed won't suffer unless the stuttering
> >becomes ridiculous.

> >You may say that you don't like stutter, so why isn't the method
> >used in GP2 and now, Nascar Revolution a good method? There are
> >several reasons. One is that a game or sim that speeds up and slows
> >down is extremely difficult to control. It is changing all the time.
> >It has NO consistency. Also, there is the problem with replays.
> >Nascar Revolution has the jerky replay problem in *spades*.
> >Multiplay with Nascar Revolution ought to be VERY interesting as the
> >systems try to get their facts (clocks) straight. LOL!!!

> >Stutter sucks, but intermittently varying the *speed* of a game
> >sucks MUCH, MUCH more.

> >In Nascar Revolution and Grand Prix II, a second on the timer ain't
> >necessarily a second in the real world since those programmers have
> >chosen to eliminate stuttering by displaying each an every frame of
> >animation, no matter how long it takes. They simply slow down and
> >speed up the animation, but they *never* stutter. They feel like
> >you are driving in JELLO when the load gets heavy.

> >In the case of Grand Prix II, this technique was carried to an
> >extreme with system load controls you could adjust to attempt to make
> >1 second of game time equivalent to 1 second of real world time.

> >Replays of GPII lap records had to be carefully scrutinized to be
> >sure that the user had not loaded his system to the max, easily, and
> >perfectly cruised around the track in slo-mo and recorded a replay
> >which when  played back on a faster system would whiz around the
> >track at a record pace, with a perfect line, etc..

> >That's enough of this. Nascar Revolution is pure and utter technical
> >crap. They HAD to do it, or the returns for stutter on this HOG of
> >a program would have been enormous. As we say down here in Tennessee,
> >they have '10 pounds in a 5 pound sack'.

> >Maybe, like GP2, when faster systems arrive, there will be no
> >problems with speed variations in Nascar Revolution, but until then,
> >you are warned... :)

> >--
> >// rrevved posts from mindspring dot com

Doug

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by Doug » Sat, 20 Feb 1999 04:00:00

Great report rrevved

This certainly adds clarity to all of the complaining posts here and
elsewhere.

BTW, what kind of a system do you think it would take to run it without
experiencing any slo-mo effects with all options on a full field of cars?

Doug


>Nascar Revolution - Heres what's wrong with it:

>First:
>My system: PII-333 overclocked 375 / Monster2 / 128MB.

>I REALLY wanted to like the game. I bought it one hour after the
>first copy hit town. I have been trying to make it run and drive
>well enough to keep it,

>BUT,I couldn't understand why Nascar Revolution was in slow
>motion while in the dashboard view, yet gave a good sense of
>speed in the external views.

>I also couldn't understand why adding more opponents would put
>the game into slow motion. It wouldn't stutter, just go into slo-mo.

>Also, the speed of the game would randomly *vary* from normal
>to slow. At one point I thought it must have a memory leak to
>behave as it does.

>I couldn't understand why replays would speed up and slow down
>randomly.

>*** THEN, I found out why. ***

>(Old timers hang on to your seats).

>Electronic Arts is slowing down / speeding up the game to
>give accurate lap times when the system is under a heavy load!

>NOTE: Old timers: Can you say Grand Prix II?

>I thought you could.. :)

>I ran a few tests with Nascar Revolution tonight:

>1) I turned the graphics to the absolute minimum, set the field of
>opponents to 10 or so, and ran laps in the external or bumper cam
>views. When I did that, 30 seconds on the lap timer displayed on
>the screen was equivalent to approx. 30 seconds on the sweep second
>hand of my clock.

>2) When I turned the graphics to maximum, the field to 43, 30 secs.
>on the lap time display  was equivalent to 50-80 seconds of real
>clock time.

>SLOW MOTION.

>When you are in dashboard view, the same thing occurs since it
>apparently is a graphics HOG, in that mode. A 30 second lap time
>on the screen, might take 45 secs. to 1 minute of wall clock time.

>SLOW MOTION.

>Also, the time varies *all over the place*. If you run laps with a
>full field and then watch a replay, you can see the cars speed up and
>slow down abnormally. What is happening is that the replay load is
>different from the load that the system was under when the lap was
>recorded and it has trouble synchronizing.

>It sucks..

>For those of you that don't understand this phenomenon, here is how
>it works:

>- Let us assume that I am a simulation programmer and I have a
>program that wants to display 2 seconds of a racecar traveling from
>the far left to the far right of the screen, and that the 2 seconds
>require 100 frames of animation. (50 frames per second.). Think of
>the 2 seconds as being recorded on a strip of movie film 100 frames
>long.

>In the corner of the imaginary screen will be a timer displayed by
>the program that displays how long the operation is taking. The timer
>should start at 0 seconds at frame 1 and when the car reaches the
>right side of the screen, frame 100, the timer should indicate 2 secs.
>In order to accomplish this at normal speed, my program and the
>computer running it will have to be capable of displaying
>50 FRAMES PER SECOND for 2 seconds.

>O.K.?

>- Now, let's assume that either my program is slow, or the computer
>I am wanting to display the 100 frames on, is slow. For example,
>let us assume that it can only display 25 FRAMES PER SECOND.

>- So, I have a choice:

>  I can let the program *skip every other frame* (STUTTER) and
>  complete the 2 second trip of the car in 2 seconds of real clock
>  time, and my timer in the corner of the screen will simply be a
>  real clock so it will show that it took 2 seconds. The car would
>  jerkily move from left side to right side in 2 seconds, since every
>  other frame was dropped.

>  OR

>  I can display ALL the 100 frames in 4 seconds of real time
>  (SLOW MOTION, NO STUTTER). My timer in the corner would
>  have to be a *fake* clock that showed that only 2 seconds had
>  passed, when actually it had required 4 seconds of real time.
>  The car would smoothly traverse the screen, but in (REALLY)
>  slow motion....

>Are you getting my drift here? If you watch the lap timer in a sim
>like Grand Prix Legends or N2/1999, you will notice it is just a
>simple clock ticking off your time. Nothing you do can alter its
>steady ticking.. :)  If your system is incapable of producing the
>speed necessary, it will simply skip frames and stutter, but the
>timer will keep on ticking normally. The good news is that your
>overall sense of speed won't suffer unless the stuttering
>becomes ridiculous.

>You may say that you don't like stutter, so why isn't the method
>used in GP2 and now, Nascar Revolution a good method? There are
>several reasons. One is that a game or sim that speeds up and slows
>down is extremely difficult to control. It is changing all the time.
>It has NO consistency. Also, there is the problem with replays.
>Nascar Revolution has the jerky replay problem in *spades*.
>Multiplay with Nascar Revolution ought to be VERY interesting as the
>systems try to get their facts (clocks) straight. LOL!!!

>Stutter sucks, but intermittently varying the *speed* of a game
>sucks MUCH, MUCH more.

>In Nascar Revolution and Grand Prix II, a second on the timer ain't
>necessarily a second in the real world since those programmers have
>chosen to eliminate stuttering by displaying each an every frame of
>animation, no matter how long it takes. They simply slow down and
>speed up the animation, but they *never* stutter. They feel like
>you are driving in JELLO when the load gets heavy.

>In the case of Grand Prix II, this technique was carried to an
>extreme with system load controls you could adjust to attempt to make
>1 second of game time equivalent to 1 second of real world time.

>Replays of GPII lap records had to be carefully scrutinized to be
>sure that the user had not loaded his system to the max, easily, and
>perfectly cruised around the track in slo-mo and recorded a replay
>which when  played back on a faster system would whiz around the
>track at a record pace, with a perfect line, etc..

>That's enough of this. Nascar Revolution is pure and utter technical
>crap. They HAD to do it, or the returns for stutter on this HOG of
>a program would have been enormous. As we say down here in Tennessee,
>they have '10 pounds in a 5 pound sack'.

>Maybe, like GP2, when faster systems arrive, there will be no
>problems with speed variations in Nascar Revolution, but until then,
>you are warned... :)

>--
>// rrevved posts from mindspring dot com

G. Patric

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by G. Patric » Sat, 20 Feb 1999 04:00:00


>:
>:Nascar Revolution - Heres what's wrong with it:
>:
>:First:
>:My system: PII-333 overclocked 375 / Monster2 / 128MB.
>:

snip what obviously took a LOT of time...

Rrevved -


without the slo-mo?

Thanks
Icer
G. Patricks

Jon and Stephanie Nybakk

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by Jon and Stephanie Nybakk » Sat, 20 Feb 1999 04:00:00

rrevved wrote:
> Hey Mr rrewed. I liked the game! So does this mean i'm a mordot? Who cares if
> your clock doesnt stay in sync with the games clock. Big deal!! Just be
> thankful you're not playing Atari 2600 right now. I find it hard to believe
> that someone would actually sit down and figure this out. If its slow down your
> so miffed about, run the game in D3D. Imho, it looks better/brighter when ran
> in this mode. And I didn't experience any "slow motion" crud. Btw my pc is
> PII300mhz 96mram Monster Fusion AGP. And it runs awsome in D3D mode. I enjoyed
> the presentation(animated pit crews, National Anthem, etc.). If there is one
> thing that I agree with is that the commentary is a bit annoying. But at least
> it's there. EA didn't rip off anyone. If anyone is guilty of this, it's Sierra.
> WHOA, WHAT?!? NR1999 is nothing more than NR2 with 3dfx support. And the
> visuals are lacking anyway.

> So there you have it. A different opinion than the majority. Why is it a
> Majorty? Maybe it isn't. Maybe the rest of us are having too much fun w/Nascar
> Rev and we're spending our time playing it. Rather than coming in here and
> whining about how the game clock isn't in sync with the clock on my wall.

> "If it bleeds, it can be fixed!"

> >rrevved wrote in message <36cd5de7.187...@news.mindspring.com>...

> >>Nascar Revolution - Heres what's wrong with it:

> >>First:
> >>My system: PII-333 overclocked 375 / Monster2 / 128MB.

> >>I REALLY wanted to like the game. I bought it one hour after the
> >>first copy hit town. I have been trying to make it run and drive
> >>well enough to keep it,

> >>BUT,I couldn't understand why Nascar Revolution was in slow
> >>motion while in the dashboard view, yet gave a good sense of
> >>speed in the external views.

> >>I also couldn't understand why adding more opponents would put
> >>the game into slow motion. It wouldn't stutter, just go into slo-mo.

> >>Also, the speed of the game would randomly *vary* from normal
> >>to slow. At one point I thought it must have a memory leak to
> >>behave as it does.

> >>I couldn't understand why replays would speed up and slow down
> >>randomly.

> >>*** THEN, I found out why. ***

> >>(Old timers hang on to your seats).

> >>Electronic Arts is slowing down / speeding up the game to
> >>give accurate lap times when the system is under a heavy load!

> >>NOTE: Old timers: Can you say Grand Prix II?

> >>I thought you could.. :)

> >>I ran a few tests with Nascar Revolution tonight:

> >>1) I turned the graphics to the absolute minimum, set the field of
> >>opponents to 10 or so, and ran laps in the external or bumper cam
> >>views. When I did that, 30 seconds on the lap timer displayed on
> >>the screen was equivalent to approx. 30 seconds on the sweep second
> >>hand of my clock.

> >>2) When I turned the graphics to maximum, the field to 43, 30 secs.
> >>on the lap time display  was equivalent to 50-80 seconds of real
> >>clock time.

> >>SLOW MOTION.

> >>When you are in dashboard view, the same thing occurs since it
> >>apparently is a graphics HOG, in that mode. A 30 second lap time
> >>on the screen, might take 45 secs. to 1 minute of wall clock time.

> >>SLOW MOTION.

> >>Also, the time varies *all over the place*. If you run laps with a
> >>full field and then watch a replay, you can see the cars speed up and
> >>slow down abnormally. What is happening is that the replay load is
> >>different from the load that the system was under when the lap was
> >>recorded and it has trouble synchronizing.

> >>It sucks..

> >>For those of you that don't understand this phenomenon, here is how
> >>it works:

> >>- Let us assume that I am a simulation programmer and I have a
> >>program that wants to display 2 seconds of a racecar traveling from
> >>the far left to the far right of the screen, and that the 2 seconds
> >>require 100 frames of animation. (50 frames per second.). Think of
> >>the 2 seconds as being recorded on a strip of movie film 100 frames
> >>long.

> >>In the corner of the imaginary screen will be a timer displayed by
> >>the program that displays how long the operation is taking. The timer
> >>should start at 0 seconds at frame 1 and when the car reaches the
> >>right side of the screen, frame 100, the timer should indicate 2 secs.
> >>In order to accomplish this at normal speed, my program and the
> >>computer running it will have to be capable of displaying
> >>50 FRAMES PER SECOND for 2 seconds.

> >>O.K.?

> >>- Now, let's assume that either my program is slow, or the computer
> >>I am wanting to display the 100 frames on, is slow. For example,
> >>let us assume that it can only display 25 FRAMES PER SECOND.

> >>- So, I have a choice:

> >>  I can let the program *skip every other frame* (STUTTER) and
> >>  complete the 2 second trip of the car in 2 seconds of real clock
> >>  time, and my timer in the corner of the screen will simply be a
> >>  real clock so it will show that it took 2 seconds. The car would
> >>  jerkily move from left side to right side in 2 seconds, since every
> >>  other frame was dropped.

> >>  OR

> >>  I can display ALL the 100 frames in 4 seconds of real time
> >>  (SLOW MOTION, NO STUTTER). My timer in the corner would
> >>  have to be a *fake* clock that showed that only 2 seconds had
> >>  passed, when actually it had required 4 seconds of real time.
> >>  The car would smoothly traverse the screen, but in (REALLY)
> >>  slow motion....

> >>Are you getting my drift here? If you watch the lap timer in a sim
> >>like Grand Prix Legends or N2/1999, you will notice it is just a
> >>simple clock ticking off your time. Nothing you do can alter its
> >>steady ticking.. :)  If your system is incapable of producing the
> >>speed necessary, it will simply skip frames and stutter, but the
> >>timer will keep on ticking normally. The good news is that your
> >>overall sense of speed won't suffer unless the stuttering
> >>becomes ridiculous.

> >>You may say that you don't like stutter, so why isn't the method
> >>used in GP2 and now, Nascar Revolution a good method? There are
> >>several reasons. One is that a game or sim that speeds up and slows
> >>down is extremely difficult to control. It is changing all the time.
> >>It has NO consistency. Also, there is the problem with replays.
> >>Nascar Revolution has the jerky replay problem in *spades*.
> >>Multiplay with Nascar Revolution ought to be VERY interesting as the
> >>systems try to get their facts (clocks) straight. LOL!!!

> >>Stutter sucks, but intermittently varying the *speed* of a game
> >>sucks MUCH, MUCH more.

> >>In Nascar Revolution and Grand Prix II, a second on the timer ain't
> >>necessarily a second in the real world since those programmers have
> >>chosen to eliminate stuttering by displaying each an every frame of
> >>animation, no matter how long it takes. They simply slow down and
> >>speed up the animation, but they *never* stutter. They feel like
> >>you are driving in JELLO when the load gets heavy.

> >>In the case of Grand Prix II, this technique was carried to an
> >>extreme with system load controls you could adjust to attempt to make
> >>1 second of game time equivalent to 1 second of real world time.

> >>Replays of GPII lap records had to be carefully scrutinized to be
> >>sure that the user had not loaded his system to the max, easily, and
> >>perfectly cruised around the track in slo-mo and recorded a replay
> >>which when  played back on a faster system would whiz around the
> >>track at a record pace, with a perfect line, etc..

> >>That's enough of this. Nascar Revolution is pure and utter technical
> >>crap. They HAD to do it, or the returns for stutter on this HOG of
> >>a program would have been enormous. As we say down here in Tennessee,
> >>they have '10 pounds in a 5 pound sack'.

> >>Maybe, like GP2, when faster systems arrive, there will be no
> >>problems with speed variations in Nascar Revolution, but until then,
> >>you are warned... :)

> >>--
> >>// rrevved posts from mindspring dot com

> --
> // rrevved posts from mindspring dot com

ymenar

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by ymenar » Sat, 20 Feb 1999 04:00:00

Jon and Stephanie Nybakke wrote

But this is rec.autos.simulators

You are in the minority here, but probably in the majority with the normal
arcade-style gamers.

But Nrevolution, from a rec.autos.simulators point of view, is one of the
most disappointing software in history (close to C:PR) and totally fails in
where the marketing ***Hype wanted us to think.

-= Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard/Nas-Frank>
-= NROS Nascar sanctioned Guide http://www.racesimcentral.net/
-= SimRacing Online http://www.racesimcentral.net/
-= Official mentally retarded guy of r.a.s.
-= May the Downforce be with you...

"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise
how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Jo

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by Jo » Sat, 20 Feb 1999 04:00:00


>Nascar Revolution - Heres what's wrong with it:

Thanks for the detailed report, that was interesting.

Joe

Jo

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by Jo » Sat, 20 Feb 1999 04:00:00


>You are in the minority here, but probably in the majority with the normal
>arcade-style gamers.

I don't know. I can't imagine arcade racers would much like the
"driving in Jello" slo-mo of Nascar Revoltion either.

Joe

Greg Cisk

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by Greg Cisk » Sat, 20 Feb 1999 04:00:00



Big deal? Hahaha!!! Whooo whooo... Boy that is a good one. I'll bet
it would be OK with you if a lap at Martinsville took 5 minutes.

your

After GP2 this is a common thing to check when a new racing product (which
boasts to be the end all of nascar games) runs like shit.

So... You are saying that the D3D incar***pit view had no slowdown
effect when compared to the fron bumper view?

Visuals lacking in Nr1999? Haha. Boy your sure have allot of good jokes.
And since Sierra offered a $49.99 trade in for Nr1999 how did they rip
people off? The only way I feel they ripped people off was by not making
it clear that you needed the DOS executable for multiplayer games. But
I Know that is not your angle so don't try to push that argument.

--

Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

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

Greg Cisk

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by Greg Cisk » Sat, 20 Feb 1999 04:00:00


>You have to understand though, that the dashboard view is a HOG. It will
>run slower in that mode under any circumstance and I suspect it would do
>so  even on a very fast 450-ish system. I am just guessing here. All this

If you had read any of my posts you would have known that it
still runs slower on at least on 450 (mine).

Hey. What the hell is this... I may have to go pick it up again and try it
out :-)

You should.

This is almost too funny. The only thing that would be funnier is
if I go out and get the game again and get it configured to run
good and (I hate to say it) like it... Oh boy that would be a real
scream

Also, you have not had any crashes at all? I had the game crash
when going into a race after I hit ENTER to bypass the festivities.
I also had the game crash simply by exiting and restarting the
game. I would get a black screen and the intro would not even play.

--

Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

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

Ed Kloskowsk

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by Ed Kloskowsk » Sat, 20 Feb 1999 04:00:00

SUPER research rrevved!  excellent prose, well explained and said.  I hope
this deters even the ARCADE guys from gettin gthe game adn supporting such a
bunch at EA.

e


>>That's enough of this. Nascar Revolution is pure and utter technical
>>crap. They HAD to do it, or the returns for stutter on this HOG of
>>a program would have been enormous. As we say down here in Tennessee,
>>they have '10 pounds in a 5 pound sack'.

>They didn't "have" to do it. They could have scrapped the project. The
>end result would have been the same. Either way I am happy to say
>that they don't have my $$$.

>--

>Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

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

Greg Cisk

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by Greg Cisk » Sat, 20 Feb 1999 04:00:00


>You're right on a further 2 hour examination this morning, I am now
>proclaiming this turkey to be DOA. I thought it felt pretty good at
>Bristol, last night, but I wuz dreaming... :)

Hey, how many beers was it last night when bristol was looking
good :-)

Thats right. Like I told that Dork (rodster/plonk ***), even if
you were an *** Nascar Revolution would still suck :-)

That acid test for me was running a race at Martinsville in Revolution
then doing the same in Nr1999. Any differences? Damn right there
are. Nr1999 is pretty darn good. What you call heavy in Revolution
I call lack of control (a disconnected feeling with regards to control).
For me Revolution just wasn't fun especially when compared to the
tittle I'm looking to replace. Namely N2/Nr1999.

Oh well...

This guy I work with is a Nascar fan but doesn't do computer racing.
He came up to me all e***d to ask if I know about revolution. I told
him "Forget about it. Just cause Dale Jr said it was good, only proves
that a real race car driver doesn't necessarily know jack shit about
computer racing simulations".

Hey and you can quote me on that :-)

--

Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

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

--

Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes.

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

Ronald Stoe

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by Ronald Stoe » Sun, 21 Feb 1999 04:00:00


Would you PLEASE stop reposting all of the post you're responding to!
Besides adding anything new in your post, that is...



snipped money-saving review ;^)

l8er
ronny

--
How to get rid of censorship in German game releases
<http://www.gamesmania.com/german/maniac/freedom/freedom.htm>

          |\      _,,,---,,_        I want to die like my Grandfather,
   ZZZzz /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_              in his sleep.
        |,4-  ) )-,_. ,\ (  `'-'     Not like the people in his car,
       '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)            screaming their heads off!

Ronald Stoe

Nascar Revolution - Here is what's wrong with it. [read inside]

by Ronald Stoe » Sun, 21 Feb 1999 04:00:00


Some people like to drive in realtime, really. Maybe you live in slow motion...

Huh?

As rrevved explained, it doesn't run awesome using Glide, how the hell would
it run awesome in D3D?

And you can even stand up during the anthem as you have no control of the car
for quite some time after the start. That's fun AND patriotic...

How long is a Nascar race? They run out of samples after 5 minutes. After half
an hour having heard the same comment 20 times I'd rip out the sound card...

If visuals were the most important, I would watch a race on TV. Of course,
most here want to DRIVE the car, not be a passenger enjoying the graphics.

"Adding man power to a late software project makes it later!"

l8er
ronny

--
How to get rid of censorship in German game releases
<http://www.gamesmania.com/german/maniac/freedom/freedom.htm>

          |\      _,,,---,,_        I want to die like my Grandfather,
   ZZZzz /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_              in his sleep.
        |,4-  ) )-,_. ,\ (  `'-'     Not like the people in his car,
       '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)            screaming their heads off!


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