rec.autos.simulators

I have not yet purchased N2 and am kind of on the fence as to whether I
should go out and get it or just hang on a bit.

I have the demo and must admit the graphics are great, but there are
features I don't like as well.  Of course after seeing all the problems
on the newsgroup - well IT JUST CONFUSES ME MORE !!!!!!

Any thoughts on this are appreciated.

A contented fence sitter (for now) enjoying the past (N1) <g>

chasman

Chasman:

Of course, you will likely get replies refuting that N2 is worthwhile.
As for my opinion, I say an unqualified yes to getting it.  I find it
improved in almost every way.  The car handling is much better (read -
believably realistic), the tracks are much more representative of the
real thing, the setup process is easier (both the setup screen and the
ability to sense minor adjustments in car handling have improved), the
computer car AI is better (not perfect though), the spotter is a
godsend, and the attention to detail is better in many places.  Although
I am biased because I run the Rendition 3D accelerated version, the
graphics and frame rates are both improved considerably even running the
normal, non 3D accelerated version.

If you encounter some of the bugs, you may resent my recommendation.
There is no save race feature yet.  This was axed from the new game, but
may be added in a patch....  

Nonetheless, Nascar2 is much more engrossing than Nascar1 ever was for
me.

P.S.  If you have the money, get a Rendition card.

Matt Lewis

: I have not yet purchased N2 and am kind of on the fence as to whether I
: should go out and get it or just hang on a bit.

: I have the demo and must admit the graphics are great, but there are
: features I don't like as well.  Of course after seeing all the problems
: on the newsgroup - well IT JUST CONFUSES ME MORE !!!!!!

: Any thoughts on this are appreciated.

: A contented fence sitter (for now) enjoying the past (N1) <g>

The "bugs" are minor and Papyrus is working on fixing them.  Overall N2
is more realistic than N1.  I can't even imagine wanting to go back to
N1 after racing N2.  It's just not the graphics.  The physics of the car
and tracks are much improved along with the AI.  The biggest bugs seem
to do with multi-player, rest assured that Papyrus will fix the
multi-player part since that is the kernel of NRO.  The only other thing
that could be a draw back is the save-game is lacking.  This was a
conscious design, therefore not a bug.  Papryus is hard at work on a
means to give us a decent save-game feature (they've listened to their
customers).  In the meantime, I'm running a season at 33% length which
is just about right for at least 1 pit stop at most tracks.  This is
enough to keep me happy for the moment.  (Note to Papy:  I'm almost done
with the 33-1/3 season, so I'll be needing my save-game soon! <G>)

--
**************************** Michael E. Carver *************************
     Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./.  [-  < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

P.S. installing is a pain...especially the new way you set up the sound
card.....

If you enjoy racing sims then get it. Plain and simple. Same goes for all
the top sims.

There may be a few bugs but none of them are such that it means that you
won't enjoy the racing (OK before the whiners jump in here, at one or two
tracks things may be a little bad but workarounds are already being
posted and an official patch should appear before too long).

I find that N2 is a vast improvement over N1. It is also a _lot_ better
than the demo. I nearly didn't buy N2 as I thought the demo was
appalling, but I'm glad to say that a lot of work was done before getting
the real thing out.

Cheers,
Richard

Yes, it's worth it. I had no problems with the installation and the sim
runs great. Everything runs very smooth and I havn't had it lock up on me
yet. Going through the menus gets a bit slow at times if you have minimal
install. Other than that it's great. Yes, no save race feature, but I
think that Adam said that Papyrus is working on one.

I would recommend it if you have the horses to run it.  The graphics
are fantastic and I have not experienced any of the problems discussed
in the group.

RJ

The statement that iit is very smooth except for menus makes me believe
that you have a Rendition video adapter.  The sim is very smooth with a
Rendition adapter running in DMA mode (not all motherboard support this
correctly) and/or a fast Pentium processor.  The sim will probably not
provide exceptable frame rates on < P133 unless you have a Rendition video
adapter.

REPLY:

Well I have 1 system without a Verite and once you go verite then going
straight is tough. Last night I did my final adjustments on the
non-accelerated version to get it to run as smooth as the Verite version.

On a P133 I'm set at 20 fps turns of auto detail and 24 turns on auto detail.
I have walls and car textures always on everything else is auto. Obviously I
take a graphics hit but the smoothness is a neccessity if your used to the
verite version. When competeing against others you need the control equal.

For the record the P133 without a verite would have a verite if it could. If
the verite version of N2 was as smooth as ICR 2 verite I'm not sure what I
would have to do with the non-accelerated version.

  I bought N2 when it went on sale for $29.99 locally. I've played N1 at
least once every week since it came out and looked forward to N2. Aside
from the improved look on the track I'm disappointed. I have removed it
from my computer.
  Admitedly I did not spend a great deal of time with the game but the
"features" that made the decision for me are the lack of a SAVE GAME
option and screwing around with getting the mouse cursor just right on the
spot in the various menus.
  If N1 came with only Talladega I'd be happy. N2 is great eye and ear
candy but IMHO not an easy thing to work with compared to N1. I will put
it back on the computer at some date - I do like that crew chief dialogue
feature.
  The 2 main reasons why my serious racing will be on N1are; I prefer to
race lengths 50-100% but cannot set aside that kind of time always so the
SAVE GAME feature is a must. I also enjoy working with the replay feature
and to have to fiddle with the mouse  in this program is a royal pain
compared to the "old" way.
  At least I didn't pay TOO much for it and it came with a free copy of
IndyCar 1. And that made a great Christamas gift for someone I know who's
been tempted to try a driving sim but does not have the latest in computer
technology. The two of them are getting along just fine.  believe the
Holiday shopping season did have an impact on SIERRA's decision to put it
on the shelf when they did. Too bad. I think in this case newer is better
looking but not necessarily "better." Know what I mean?

[snip]

The "old" way still works. Pressing V and Shift-V changes the car in focus,
C and Shift-C changes the camera view, space-bar starts and stops and the
angle brackets change rewind and fast forward. Also, L and Shift-L will
skip ahead or behind a lap for the car in focus, but I suspect this may
only work with race replays.

The Save Game may be addressed in a patch. There are also a number of other
small bugs that are being addressed.

Dave Sparks
IWCCCARS Project: http://www.theuspits.com/iwcccars/index.html
Late Night League: http://www.sequoia-dev.com/Hawaii/latenite.html
Hawaii Handle: davids

That's yourside let me tell my POV on the biggest reason why N2 blows away N1.

First I can't argue and will not the save game feature.

It seems a lot of people are brainwashed with Talladega. I can understand
since N1 that was the only track you could really race due to performance
issues on N1. But N2 with Verite is outstanding because you can race the other
tracks. And ya know what? you find out that only "Pussies" (friends words) run
at Talladega. All it is is a big straightaway. The beauty of N2 is you can run
all 16 tracks nicely and each track is unique all to it's self.

Plus add the fact you can IPX 8 players!!

Q.B.M.

We've been round and round about save game in rec.auto.sim, so I'll
not cover that ground again, but the replay still has (I'm pretty
sure) the same keyboard accelerators as before...

<    rewind
c       next camera
C       previous camera
v       next vehicle
V       previous vehicle
SPACE   pause/unpause

Additionally, there are some new ones (l,L for next/previous lap)

---Jim Sokoloff, Papyrus

By the way, DO NOT hit ESC when you are in qualifying, like you
forgot too late to change the QUAL setup selection, because
this is over on another screen, that you have to mouse over to, then
mouse back, etc, because if you DO hit EXC, you just blew your
qualifying, and you are stuck in the back of the pack. So, to recover,
you have to mouse over to the track screen and reselect the same
track, go thru the same BS to get to where you were. The amount of
needless mousing back and forth between screens without simple
keyboard control is borderline absurd.

BTW, I may have not stated exactly the steps in the above examples,
I only drew from memory some of the silly things I have experienced.
I seriously question if anyone actually tested the sim for usability.
Nascar2 has taken a serious step backward on flow and ease of use, in
my opinion. N1 was slick and easy to use, N2 is irritating.

Also, please notice (other than this factoid), I did not mention the
missing savegame feature, a pretty basic feature of almost any game,
much less than a Simulation.