rec.autos.simulators

Eagerly bought the game today after pre-order 2 weeks ago...
"...buckle up for a sensational..."    -    no!
"power sliding"                                 - er...no!
"*** burning"                               - er...well it smells of
SOMETHING!
"ride of a lifetime"                            - yeh, sadly MY lifetime!
"Grand Tourings unique AI system pits you against REAL THINKING
opponents..."     -    yeh, probably thinking they WISH they'd been involved
with Need For Speed III instead!
"...boasts the fastest most beautiful PC graphics technology on the
planet..."        - so WHICH planet...coz they obviously don't have NFSIII,
GPL, Screamer Rally, F1RS & of course Motorhead there!!!!!

Trust me Ok...with over 15 years of *** experience ...this is CRAP! You
can't tell the difference in handling from one car to another....Sure, it
looks pretty....but so did MEGARACE - and it handles similarly!!! Don't
waste your money - even SEGA RALLY is better than THIS dross!!!!

Yeah, Paul, totally agree, although luckily I didn't waste my money, got to
try out a demo copy, and it was the worst piece of junk since...well, can't think
of another one as bad...

Car dynamics totally suck, in 'simulation' mode (I guess this means they
are simulating a racing simulation) the car was totally uncontrollable, and had
about as much 'road feel' as a log wagon in mud.  The wheel (even after being recalibrated
multiple times) would go very slightly, then at full lock veer into the fence.  Given all
my racing experience with simulators, I was unable after about 10 tries to even make
it to the first checkpoint.  This with a fairly wide track, one slight bend, and another
straight stretch.  I could have got out of the car and ran down to the first checkpoint
faster than driving it...

The sound was so bad (running AWE64 w/DirectX 6) that it sounded remenicent of
the old Amiga sound with the original car and driver game (forgot what that was called).
It was aweful.  As bad as F1RS sound is, it had no comparison with this one...

The framerate was akin to driving down the road with someone waving a newspaper
in front of your face...totally aweful.  Granted, I had to run in software mode (Stealth II
S220), but I've had no problems with other 3dfx sims, but this one was completely
horrible.  Probably also had something to do with my 'delayed' wheel lock.  I can do
better animated gifs than that game.

Recommendation?  If you see it, run for the hills.  Don't stop, just keep running...

Funny, I was able to win by about my 4th try and basically keep the pedal
mashed (well, joystick fully forward) all the way.  I agree it is not a sim.  
But I definitely experienced different control than you.  I found it fun for a
few go rounds, but nothing I would ever purchase.

It was bad, especially the crashes.

completely horrible.

No problem here (200mmx oc/250, V1).  Sounds like your other probs were
possibly due to insufficient framerate.

running...

I won't argue with you there.  There are just too many good sims and racing
games to bother with this one (note, I'm judging from the demo).

Okay, I *will* argue.  You ran the game in software mode.  Found the graphics,
framerate, and control poor.  Really all that one can fairly glean from your
comments is that it is a dog in software mode.  Many games out there now share
this.  Some don't even run in software mode.  

Running as most any gamer will, the visuals were good, the framerate fine.  
The control, even in sim mode, is very unrealistic.  I saw no evidence of good
AI in the demo.  Your Celica wips Vipers to all-out racers.  It has a full
screen 1st-person view, but no***pit.  Fake track (at least in demo).  Looks
more like a PSX title ported to the PC.

Is this really Grand Tourismo ported from PSX to the PC? I didn't think
it was. Grand Toursimo is pretty cool and does have a front view (right
off of your front bumper) which I seem to use as effectively as an incar
***pit view.

Grand Touring does seem to try to rip off Grand Tourismo by having
similar names...

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

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

NO!

You were correct :-)

So, you have tried it!

Well, it is a type of car/racing.

There are similarities in looks.  Then again, that holds for an awful lot of
titles, like the Psygnosis ones.  But anyway, that's as far as it goes.

Yes, I'd like to see GT come to the PC, so it can be done right :-)