rec.autos.simulators

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

Ian Parke

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by Ian Parke » Wed, 28 Oct 1998 04:00:00

ROTFLMAO :-)

--
Ian Parker

ICQ# 21772592

Ian Parke

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by Ian Parke » Wed, 28 Oct 1998 04:00:00

PC Gamer magazine in the UK is a 3d *** mag, but gave GPL over 90%, so
did many other's. Why then, should online reviews have such a massive
difference?

--
Ian Parker

ICQ# 21772592

Daniel H Laurin

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by Daniel H Laurin » Wed, 28 Oct 1998 04:00:00


>dafney wrote
><Him saying that he can't win since the AI is too fast>

>Is it, probably you didn't know. The AI adjusts to your racing style, in a
>new AI way called the Global AI scaling, witch after about 1-2hours on each
>tracks adjust to your racing style. Still you have to remember that you
>can't set the AI to a % level like other racing simulations. This ain't a
>canned AI where you can say "race at 86% of your laptimes".  This is racing
>against realistic driver settings.

This "holier than thou" attitude is what is hurting this game's sales and
causing all the controversy.  Would it really have made the game worse for
the hard core simmer if Papy had programmed in easier settings for the AI?
By just adding a speed limiter to the AI that could be set with a gauge Papy
could have made a game that would have appealed to a lot more people.
Either Papy didn't have enough understanding of the market, or they rushed
the product out.  Papy needs the soft market in order to sell enough of
these boxes to continue to be a viable company.  We need to step down from
our high horses and lobby Papy to make the games more appealing to the
average Joe, while not sacrificing the good stuff for hard core simmers.
Lest we suceed in this endeavour we are likely to be left racing Motoracer3
or Screamer4.
Martin Urs

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by Martin Urs » Thu, 29 Oct 1998 04:00:00

On Tue, 27 Oct 1998 18:56:06 GMT,






>>> Avault, gagames and the rest are 3D *** sites first and foremost. These are
>>> NOT sim racing afficionados and are so coming from the "general" opinion. This
>>> is pretty consistent to magazines that have no "sim racing expert" on the
>>> staff to review the game.
>>I wonder how Jan's F-15 managed a 5star review?  That is mostcertainly a
>>sim, so why GPL wasn't treated the same way is beyond me.  

>Because flying a plane is a lot easier than driving one of these cars
>on the limit. Also most people think they could drive these cars
>because they've been driving since they were 17 etc etc and it looks
>easy.

        Personally speaking, I think I'll crack 1:05 at Watkins Glen
before I ever complete a successful inflight refuelling in Jane's
F-15!

Martin
Nigel Mansell RIP!

John Walla

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by John Walla » Thu, 29 Oct 1998 04:00:00



Both reviews sports games, both review driving games - where's the
gulf?

Granted the reviewer did mention that he felt the game could appeal to
the hard-core sim fan, but I still feel the review was slanted utterly
wrongly given the product being reviewed.

Cheers!
John

Zonk

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by Zonk » Thu, 29 Oct 1998 04:00:00


>PC Gamer magazine in the UK is a 3d *** mag, but gave GPL over 90%, so
>did many other's. Why then, should online reviews have such a massive
>difference?

Ian,

PC Gamer is most certainly not a 3D *** mag. It is a general *** title,
with that whack Future sarky twist.

Z.

Zonk

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by Zonk » Thu, 29 Oct 1998 04:00:00


>Path:


>>Excuse me, there is a huge difference about what that portion of the market
>>looks for in a game......

>Both reviews sports games, both review driving games - where's the
>gulf?

>Granted the reviewer did mention that he felt the game could appeal to
>the hard-core sim fan, but I still feel the review was slanted utterly
>wrongly given the product being reviewed.

>Cheers!
>John

John, i feel perhaps i've neglected to quite stress my point.

We've got a situation where a simulation is being reviewed by a site which
main caters for the mroe arcade oprientated market. The review is quite fair
in that respect.

However, iw ould point your attention to all the arcade racers out there which
are slammed by the simulation crowd.

We are simply having the reverse in this situation here.

While they both may be about driving cars, there really are quite seperate and
distinct markets, and the players of those i'd feel won't cross over.

Z.

Ford Prefe

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by Ford Prefe » Thu, 29 Oct 1998 04:00:00



>>The music "incident" as it is now being termed was an editing goof on my
>>part. It is text that was supposed to be in my other review of Red Baron
>>3D.

>BTW, the above statement is 100% proof positive that Craig Miller is a
>liar (and he's no better at lying than he is at reviewing). I quote
>from the review:

>"There is no music in the game so I didn't rate this section. Heck,
>the game is supposed to be set in the sixties -- they missed their
>chance to get some really good music in the game to provide a mood."

>The prosecution rests.

>Joe

???????? That's on the altered version.

All the same it's a strange goof. Does he have some pre-written
sentences for all circumstances in all categories he pastes together
for each game? Odd.

Jo

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by Jo » Fri, 30 Oct 1998 04:00:00


>>"There is no music in the game so I didn't rate this section. Heck,
>>the game is supposed to be set in the sixties -- they missed their
>>chance to get some really good music in the game to provide a mood."
>All the same it's a strange goof. Does he have some pre-written
>sentences for all circumstances in all categories he pastes together
>for each game? Odd.

I don't think so ... since the statement about the lack of music
refers SPECIFICALLY to the 60s, it really can't be talking about any
other game than GPL.

Joe

Trip

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by Trip » Fri, 30 Oct 1998 04:00:00



> >>"There is no music in the game so I didn't rate this section. Heck,
> >>the game is supposed to be set in the sixties -- they missed their
> >>chance to get some really good music in the game to provide a mood."

> >All the same it's a strange goof. Does he have some pre-written
> >sentences for all circumstances in all categories he pastes together
> >for each game? Odd.

> I don't think so ... since the statement about the lack of music
> refers SPECIFICALLY to the 60s, it really can't be talking about any
> other game than GPL.

> Joe

Joe,

The statement you're quoting is from the updated version of the review.
The original review mentioned music, but not music from the sixties.

Trips

Jo

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by Jo » Sat, 31 Oct 1998 04:00:00


>The statement you're quoting is from the updated version of the review.
>The original review mentioned music, but not music from the sixties.

So in other words, the first review APPEARED incompetent (but may have
just been mistaken) but we know for SURE the revision is incompetent.
Thanks for clearing that up! ;-)

Joe

plegr..

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by plegr.. » Tue, 03 Nov 1998 04:00:00

Blonde ***'s with nothing between their ears, big***and big lips
and great asses get great reviews and are liked by the majority of the
male population. Doesnt mean they are the best women...just the most
popular.

Sims should never be judged by how popular they are gonna be to the wide
market but instead how well they have achieved the goal of simulating
their particular subject. The judgement of how popular they are gonna be
is left to the market. The reviewers job is to be knowledgable enough to
rate how the developers have done in regards to the simulation of the
subject. Craig Miller is about as clueless as anyone I have ever had the
displeasure of reading in this regard. Craig should just stay the course
in reviewing action games and leave off judging simulations.

Its not an easy thing to do a review. You must be an expert in the field
or at the very least extremely well read, you must be a fan of the field
in that you are keeping up with developments, and you also must be a
good enough gamer to be able to play the game well. Rating simulations
is best left to grognards who love the stuff. Its far easier for the
grognard to state that the developer did not make the sim easy enough to
encourage entry level play than it is for the casual reviewer to attempt
to understand the nuances of a complex sim.

As a flight simmer Im lucky to have the likes of Rob Kim, Tom Chick, KC
Basham and others to depend on for reviews. Unfortunately car sims have
only just now reached the level of fidelity that demands a reviewer on
their level so there is a definite shortage of reviewers with brains as
evidenced by the Avault review. Grand Prix Legends is that in
spads....to me its the very best simulation I have ever had on my
PC....scary thought since Im primarily a Flight simmer. But the truth is
Sierra and Papy kicked some with this sim.

Also the argument that he is just expressing his opinion is just wrong.
Its bad journalism in the extreme. Not that I have any problem with his
article being published...but if Avault wants to retain some credibility
then the editors better start doing their jobs. There is nothing wrong
with them putting out bad reviews...but I would think they would take my
critique and instead of being offended be glad that someone has the time
to tell them they did wrong. Its not often in the world of business that
you get too many second chances and credibility is a hard thing to
regain.

PAPA DOC

Douglas Hillma

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by Douglas Hillma » Tue, 03 Nov 1998 04:00:00

+AD4-Because flying a plane is a lot easier than driving one of these cars
+AD4-on the limit. Also most people think they could drive these cars
+AD4-because they've been driving since they were 17 etc etc and it looks
+AD4-easy.

  Spoken like someone who's not played F-15.

  -dobe-

Nobod

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by Nobod » Wed, 04 Nov 1998 04:00:00

If you sneeze/blink/twitch in a fighter jet at 35,000 feet ---> you may lose
some altitude, turn to the left or right, or lose your target.

If you sneeze/blink/twitch in a 1967 Formula 1 car at 150mph trying to hold
a line in a decreasing radius turn ---> you skid off the track and die.

Any questions?




+ADw-3635c79c.1414810+AEA-news.demon.co.uk+AD4-...
papa..

GPL - Avault review = 2 1/2 stars - **1/2

by papa.. » Wed, 04 Nov 1998 04:00:00

Ah well now lets not get into comparing each. I think you might have
lots more to consider than you realize. While I will agree that when
flying alone in daylight, fine weather, everything is easy
enough...(though if you not a pilot you might have some problems) if
you add weather, night, others intent of making small pieces out of
you and your 15 million dollar jet....well lets just say that you
probably are paying real close attention to whats going on.

One of the biggest problems facing the fighter pilot was information
overload....he just cant concentrate hard enough on all items that
absolutely demand attention. Therefore he dies....

To me both are extremely similar in that they demand absolute
attention. Pilots who dont pay attention, die...simply put. I think
you would find that both types of individuals are extremely similar,
the pilot and the driver of the top of the line probably if it were
not a matter of learning the systems, step right into both vehicles
and do extremely well. Both have the uncannay knack for paying
attention to the things that count and not being distracted by the
things that dont.

PAPA DOC

>If you sneeze/blink/twitch in a fighter jet at 35,000 feet ---> you may lose
>some altitude, turn to the left or right, or lose your target.

>If you sneeze/blink/twitch in a 1967 Formula 1 car at 150mph trying to hold
>a line in a decreasing radius turn ---> you skid off the track and die.

>Any questions?



>+ADw-3635c79c.1414810+AEA-news.demon.co.uk+AD4-...

>>+AD4-Because flying a plane is a lot easier than driving one of these cars
>>+AD4-on the limit. Also most people think they could drive these cars
>>+AD4-because they've been driving since they were 17 etc etc and it looks
>>+AD4-easy.

>>  Spoken like someone who's not played F-15.

>>  -dobe-

Pierre PAPA DOC Legrand
Pink Flamingo Pilot...

http://home.earthlink.net/~plegrand/PINKFLAMINGO.htm

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