Howdy to all you gamers who have eagerly awaited CART Precision Racing. I'm
part of the team at Microsoft that created the product and I'd like to
address some of your issues.
Having driven all the serious racing sims out there I can assure you that
CPR has the most realistic physics model going. It's the closest thing I've
experienced to driving a real racecar, something I do on weekends...
Certainly the physics model is not perfect (this is only V1!) but it's darn
close and extremely well developed. Let's take some for instances.
A common novice mistake in a race car is to enter a corner too fast and
then, seeing that he's about to run out of track, crank the wheel to full
lock to try to get the car around. I've seen this countless times in
beginners on autocross tracks, race tracks, and in CPR. What happens is
that the slip angle of the front tires becomes excessively high when the
wheel is cranked to full lock and the loses grip. As you probably know,
racing tire grip goes up quickly with increasing slip angles, but drops off
like a cliff once slip angle exceeds a relatively small amount. The result
is understeer; ie the car drives straight off the track.
The only time full lock can be used without a high risk of understeer is on
extremely slow speed sharp hairpins like you find at Vancouver or the
Festival Curve at Portland.
Another possibility is that, with ABS turned off, you are locking up the
front tires. At this point no steering inputs will have any effect. You can
tell if the front tires are locking up by watching them in the***pit
view.
A useful aid to determine if you are using excessive steering lock is to
look at the Pi analysis for your lap. Select steering angle from the drop
down and note the corner where you went off.
Another common pattern is to get slowed down enough for a tight turn, crank
the wheel to full lock, then apply too much throttle too soon. AGain, the
slip angle is extreme on the front tires and this time, with throttle
application, weight has been shifted from the front to the rear, thus
reducing grip. Understeer again results!
What race drivers learn to do, and what a REALISTIC sim should reward, is
to go in slow and out fast. Of course, really fast drivers go in fast and
out fast, but this takes tremendous skill and time to achieve. But you'll
find your lap times will drop remarkably if you get your braking done
early, turn in smoothly and slowly, then release the car as you get to the
apex. You'll find that you use a lot less steering angle, which is what you
want.
An advanced technique--which is *** both Indy cars and on CPR--is trail
braking. Trail braking can help transfer weight to the front end, providing
more grip to help get the car turned in quickly. You'll need to experiment
with your controller to find out where to position the brake pedal or
joystick to get the right amount; on my TM Nascar wheel controller I
typically get on the brakes fully, then smoothly release them until the
pedal is depressed only about 1/4" inch as I get the car turned in. Then
the brakes are fully off and I'm back on the gas.
All of the above refers to road (and street) courses. On ovals the problems
are different. There are no slow corners on an oval, and the aerodynamic
setup is the primary contributor to cornering behavior. Lifting as you
enter a corner can cause the car to get loose and spin. If you consistently
have this problem, try increasing rear wing and reducing front wing.
Turning in much earlier and getting on the gas to keep the rear end planted
is also effective. Ovals are tricky! But they're a blast to race on and
you'll find that being super smooth will really pay off in improved lap
times.
Donuts:
I cut them all the time. Earlier this week Alex Zanardi was cutting donuts
in CPR down at Laguna Seca and loving it. You'll find it easiest if you set
the steering ratio to 11 and traction control needs to be off. Try doing
them with an outside view; the smoke and tire tracks are cool...
I'll be on this list pretty regularly, so if you have questions about CART
I'll be happy to answer them.
Cheers,
Racing Car Sims Program Manager
> Cool, I envy you a great deal. Tell us, how does it FEEL? In
> comparison to the sims we already have played. Did MS really get the
feel
> right? Does it feel like a real racecar? Details, dude, we desire
> details...
> I'd like to answer that...but first a disclaimer: I own Gp2 and have
> never played N2 or ICR2, etc. Second, in my book the first and foremost
> thing that makes a sim a sim and not an arcade game is the physics model.
> That is, how realistic is it comared to actual driving. Does it make you
> feel like you are behind the wheel. This has nothing to do with eye candy
as
> owners of F1 by Psygnosis can atest.
> Given that I can say that I believe CART PR has failed in comparison
to
> GP2. It is not just a question of the two of them being different and one
> being a matter of taste vs. the other. I would challenge any GP2 person
to
> take CART PR out on a road course and tell me that they feel they have
the
> same degree of control of the car as GP2 with all drivers aids turned off
> gives you. Cornering is a good example. Try taking a corner a bit too
tight
> at more speed than you should and the game reacts very much like GP2 does
> when you have steering help on. That is my observation even when I have
the
> game set to professional and ALL driving aids turned off. I fear theat
> Terminal Reality has dummied the game down by not allowing COMPLETE
control
> of the car. Anyone who has drove GP2 for some time with steering help
knows
> how hard it is to make the adjustment to running without it. It takes
time
> because at first it feels like you are driving on ice. That is what
happens
> with complete control. But with CART, you never get that same feeling.
The
> physics model has taken some of the skill level needed to race at the top
> level out of the game, much to the games detriment. Here is another
> example...if you spin out and get turned around, the quickest way to turn
> back around is to punch it from a dead stop and do an Alex Zanardi
doughnut
> around into the right direction and go. You see real F1 racers do this
all
> the time. Try this in CART. It takes quite an effort to diliberately get
the
> car to spin around. CART has removed this degree of control. In a word,
this
> is UNrealistic.
> Another thing that makes a sim different from a arcade game is that
it
> incorporates as many of the features of the real event as possible. In
this
> regard, CART gets a mixed score.
> First of all, lets take yellow flags. At one point at Holmstead, I
hit
> the wall and lost a wheel. I came to a grinding halt at the center of the
> track. Did that bring out a yellow flag? No. I left the car out there for
> several minutes and no pace car, no yellow. I eventally was creamed by a
AI
> car.
> Next, lets try going into the pits. In GP2, when you come to your
> position in the pit lane, there is someone there and in qualifying, you
can
> watch the times of all of the other drivers on a simulated monitor and
> accelerate time if you wish to the end of the session to see all of the
> times. In CART, I have yet to find a way to just sit back in qualifying
or
> practice and watch the times of all of the comeditors from the pit lane
like
> real drivers do. There is no way to accelerate time to see the times you
> did in practice vs. the rest of the field without actually driving the
> entire practice to the end. The only option you have is to skip to the
next
> session. You never get to see how you did in THIS session without driving
to
> the end.
> I could go on and on and I will post more in a future post but for
now,
> my advise is to not rush out and buy CART at first opportunity but read a
> few more posts here and get a feel for the consensus regarding these
issues.
> This is my opinion only and others are certain to have theirs!
> If you agree with me that the physics model is the most important
aspect
> of a sim, you may want to try out the demo first before taking the
plunge.
> Frank
