rec.autos.simulators

O.K. I've been sitting here playing the latest sims from Microprose
and Papyrus and all I can think of is how I wish I could drive on
DIRT!  Living in Central Pennsylvania, the heart of Sprint Car racing
with Dirt Meccas like Williams Grove, Selinsgrove, Lincoln and
Hagerstown, MD close by, I see a lot of dirt track racing.  The World
of Outlaws travel practically year round and are the 5th highest draw
in motor sports according to TNN's coverage last Saturday night.  So,
the question is, why isn't anyone working on a simulation of this
extremely exciting, lightning fast form of auto racing??!! Papyrus,
Microprose (HAH)?  Anybody else interested?  I am a programmer and
would love to try to replicate it.

Dave Long

I concur, we need a WoO sim.

The Rusty Wallace Miller Genuine Draft stock car, awsome when opened up!
GO#2!

        Mullins Motorsports Inc.
        http://www.***tron.com/~ddmj

Im not sure about the URL..But if you guys can find the Simulated Auto
Racing page for "Internet Grand National" They have a Dirt Modified
Series that uses the Papyrus sim Nascar Racing 1.. They have tweaked
the tracks and the Cars to look like Dirt Modifieds..They have also
tweaked the tracks to LOOK and DRIVE like your on dirt.. Check it out
!! Its the next best thing until someone puts out a sim especially
designed for Dirt Racing.. Hope this helps you guys out.
Later,
Mick

Uhm, actually Nascar 2 was delayed a week, has a few bugs, and they are
working on
patch right now. Also, I heard that there might be a second sim released
this year by
Papyrus, and that might be a drag racing or dirt sim. A drag sim would
probably
something more of a strategy game, since you'll be setting up the car for
the majority
of the time. There is also a demand for a sim that simulates classic F1.
The market
isn't limited to the United States, and there are lots of people out there
that would
like to see a sim like this.

It seems to me like Papyrus is suffering from the "Sierra Syndrome" at the
present time. Just like Dynamix a few years ago, Papyrus was putting out some
great stuff before Sierra bought them out and effectively ruined
them...delayed releases, lots of bugs in the programs when they do come out
then no patches to fix those bugs, etc.

Kevin

I'm sorry but I don't know what Papyrus sims you are talking about.
ICR1 and Nascar 1 were pre-sierra and had just as many bugs, etc as
their last two releases of ICR2 and Nascar2. I've noticed no
difference in quality since their association with Sierra. The last 3
products have had drop dead release dates for the Christmas selling
season regardless of quality or game features. Period.

Regarding the sprint car, drag racing sims, give me the real market
for those games.  Let's also consider that they are producing games
for a world market, not just insulated  USA.  The market for an
historical F1 sim is HUGE compared to sprint cars or drag racing when
considered in a world context.

If it was my money funding the game development, it would be on the F1
sim every time. I think the idea of creating a career game ala the
poorly done Mario Andretti racing game would be nice but would require
a huge amount of investment due to the different types of racing,
rules, AI, physics, etc.

There is nothing like the roar of a double-A fuel dragster but a sim
of that would leave me cold. Unless I could make the neighborhood
shake, I wouldn't be interested... ;)

Jeff