rec.autos.simulators

Backgroud - I have GPL, and played in for 10 - 12 months loving it - but
got bored after that time because it's not as fun as I used to find it -
the physics model is all well and good - infact it's very good - but I'm
sick of loosing races because of locking up wheels going into
Parabolica.  I also have TOCA 2 - which I love - it's quality
entertainment. I know people claim the FWD Physics is questionable - who
cares, it's damned close, entertaining racing on circuits that I've been
too, and know well - I love it.

Surely the point is entertainment. All these titles, along with SCGT,
Viper Racing, Grand Touring (is Grand Touring any good - saw it for 10
- might buy!) and so on - THEY'RE GAMES...forget Sim / Arcade - they're
GAMES...written to SELL. They sell because they're ENTERTAINING for the
common man / woman.  

Hence, games like CMR, TOCA / TOCA 2, GP2, sold like hotcakes (very
well) because they're entertaining titles with accesable racing
performance.  GPL missed out because it's too damned difficult for most
people. I've introduced GPL to many people, given them a go on my
respectable machine (P3-500, 128 Mb Ram, 16Mb Voodoo Banshee, MSFF) but
most of them can't get half way around Spa without spinning off,
screaming, and then saying "F**K it - let's play TOCA 2"

GPL isn't fun to the average person. It's a pseudo-*** that some
people desire that lets them enjoy GPL.

So - in search of something different - I took the plunge with Rally
Championship. That was 2 days ago, and I've slept a total of 2 hours
since!

YES - it's not ultra-real physics...nothing is. It's a game. It looks
amazing - stage two on the Welsh rally has the best lighting effects I
have EVER seen, be it in-game or front end graphics. It's a GAME. The
damage model is fine for me. Frankly, when I'm stonking toward a gate at
120 mph in my Megane, and a bump in the road pushes me straigh into the
right hand gate post - I don't want to be kicked out the rally
classified dead. Anyone here who's completed the Welsh Rally with all 6
(or 7 in the Megane, my fav. car) gears stil working is either
Bullshitting, or Cheating.  The damage model is VERY effective in the
long term. Strugling thru the dark snowy stages, with lights that keep
flickering, a gearbox that keeps jumping out of gears - when you've
already lost 2nd and 3rd. THEN I lost a wheel - Lucky for me, I had a
good first 5 stages - and finished it 6th.  That was SOOOO
entertaining.  WHAT A GAME!!
Get it!?!?  It's about entertainment - which for most people is what GPL
is not.

So - can we all stop this shitty Sim / Arcade thing - it's GAMES we're
playing...GPL - is a GAME that has physics that are difficult to handle
- it's not a SIM. A sim is a big box on 6 axis hydraulics called a '747
training simulator' and costs several million pounds.  An arcade is
something you go down the mall / motorway service station to play. A
game is something you shove in your CD-ROM drive / Playstation / N64 /
Dreamcast / Mac(!?!) etc... and Play....

SHIT _ that's a long one.

Doug

Regards Mike
On Wed, 24 Nov 1999 12:01:33 +0000, Douglas Ellison

Sorry for you but I've just completed the welsh rally in 2nd position with
all gears functioning. It's all about control, I like the game, but I will
be bored within some weeks.

YES - it's not ultra-real physics...nothing is. It's a game. It looks
amazing - stage two on the Welsh rally has the best lighting effects I
have EVER seen, be it in-game or front end graphics. It's a GAME. The
damage model is fine for me. Frankly, when I'm stonking toward a gate at
120 mph in my Megane, and a bump in the road pushes me straigh into the
right hand gate post - I don't want to be kicked out the rally
classified dead. Anyone here who's completed the Welsh Rally with all 6
(or 7 in the Megane, my fav. car) gears stil working is either
Bullshitting, or Cheating.  The damage model is VERY effective in the
long term. Strugling thru the dark snowy stages, with lights that keep
flickering, a gearbox that keeps jumping out of gears - when you've
already lost 2nd and 3rd. THEN I lost a wheel - Lucky for me, I had a
good first 5 stages - and finished it 6th.  That was SOOOO
entertaining.  WHAT A GAME!!
Get it!?!?  It's about entertainment - which for most people is what GPL
is not.

When something is based on a very realistic physics model and works just
like the real thing it's a sim.

So - can we all stop this shitty Sim / Arcade thing - it's GAMES we're
playing...GPL - is a GAME that has physics that are difficult to handle
- it's not a SIM. A sim is a big box on 6 axis hydraulics called a '747
training simulator' and costs several million pounds.  An arcade is
something you go down the mall / motorway service station to play. A
game is something you shove in your CD-ROM drive / Playstation / N64 /
Dreamcast / Mac(!?!) etc... and Play....

SHIT _ that's a long one.

Doug

Jeroen

OK, I bought RC2k (alias Mobil Rally Championship) in the UK because I
thought the Demo looked georgous, and by turning up the low-sensitivity
zone on my MSFF profile setup, it handled quite nicely.

Backgroud - I have GPL, and played in for 10 - 12 months loving it - but
got bored after that time because it's not as fun as I used to find it -
the physics model is all well and good - infact it's very good - but I'm
sick of loosing races because of locking up wheels going into
Parabolica.  I also have TOCA 2 - which I love - it's quality
entertainment. I know people claim the FWD Physics is questionable - who
cares, it's damned close, entertaining racing on circuits that I've been
too, and know well - I love it.

Surely the point is entertainment. All these titles, along with SCGT,
Viper Racing, Grand Touring (is Grand Touring any good - saw it for 10
- might buy!) and so on - THEY'RE GAMES...forget Sim / Arcade - they're
GAMES...written to SELL. They sell because they're ENTERTAINING for the
common man / woman.

Hence, games like CMR, TOCA / TOCA 2, GP2, sold like hotcakes (very
well) because they're entertaining titles with accesable racing
performance.  GPL missed out because it's too damned difficult for most
people. I've introduced GPL to many people, given them a go on my
respectable machine (P3-500, 128 Mb Ram, 16Mb Voodoo Banshee, MSFF) but
most of them can't get half way around Spa without spinning off,
screaming, and then saying "F**K it - let's play TOCA 2"

GPL isn't fun to the average person. It's a pseudo-*** that some
people desire that lets them enjoy GPL.

So - in search of something different - I took the plunge with Rally
Championship. That was 2 days ago, and I've slept a total of 2 hours
since!

YES - it's not ultra-real physics...nothing is. It's a game. It looks
amazing - stage two on the Welsh rally has the best lighting effects I
have EVER seen, be it in-game or front end graphics. It's a GAME. The
damage model is fine for me. Frankly, when I'm stonking toward a gate at
120 mph in my Megane, and a bump in the road pushes me straigh into the
right hand gate post - I don't want to be kicked out the rally
classified dead. Anyone here who's completed the Welsh Rally with all 6
(or 7 in the Megane, my fav. car) gears stil working is either
Bullshitting, or Cheating.  The damage model is VERY effective in the
long term. Strugling thru the dark snowy stages, with lights that keep
flickering, a gearbox that keeps jumping out of gears - when you've
already lost 2nd and 3rd. THEN I lost a wheel - Lucky for me, I had a
good first 5 stages - and finished it 6th.  That was SOOOO
entertaining.  WHAT A GAME!!
Get it!?!?  It's about entertainment - which for most people is what GPL
is not.

So - can we all stop this shitty Sim / Arcade thing - it's GAMES we're
playing...GPL - is a GAME that has physics that are difficult to handle
- it's not a SIM. A sim is a big box on 6 axis hydraulics called a '747
training simulator' and costs several million pounds.  An arcade is
something you go down the mall / motorway service station to play. A
game is something you shove in your CD-ROM drive / Playstation / N64 /
Dreamcast / Mac(!?!) etc... and Play....

SHIT _ that's a long one.

Doug

On my second try at the a7 championship, I got 3 firsts, two 2nds and
a 6th :) I won the championship :)

I did lose a wheel on the last stage of the pirelli rally, but other
than that, my car allways got to the end :) Even if I did barrel roll
it once or twice :o)

Ian

Andre

Just my $0.02 though.

Jan.

I was very happy to see that rc2000 is so difficult. CMR is quite
easy, so was Toca 2, these games, allthough fun to drive, weren't
exactly a challenge to win. But it'll take quite some time before I'll
win my first rc2000 championship!

Andre

On Thu, 25 Nov 1999 10:17:20 +0100, Jan Hovius

Beers and cheers
(uncle) Goy

I'm sure many people will be thrilled to know I only mentioned GPL in
passing in my upcoming review. ;-)

Joe McGinn
_________________________
GA-Sports Writer
http://www.ga-sports.com/

:)

McKafre

None Of Your Business escribi en mensaje

To each their own. However, just because something is difficult doesn't
mean it isn't fun.  To me there is more of a sense of achievement when
becoming good at a game that at first play would seem almost impossible
to do so.  That's where the longevity comes in.  If I play something
that I can immediately do well at, without really trying, then I'm sure
that I'm going to lose interest in that game pretty fast and just by
calling something a GAME doesn't degrade the experience for me in any
way.  It doesn't mean that I shouldn't be entitled to put a lot of time
and effort into it if I so choose.

Games can take many forms, not just on a computer.  If you look at any
major sport, be it football, baseball, soccer, tennis, pool, snooker,
golf etc, all these could be said to be just games.  One thing is for
sure though, none of them are easy to become good at.  And yet people
spend a major part of their lives playing these "games" and not
necessarily getting anywhere near the level of those at the top, but
would you put them down for wanting to do so.

So, when you've just laid out another $xx dollars on the latest and
greatest racer yet to hit the PC, chances are I'll still be playing Gpl.
Have fun. :-)
--
Peter Ives
(AKA Ivington)

Nah, I do pretty good :)

Ian