rec.autos.simulators

Any texture in any game will look blocky if you get close enough to it.  So
try to stay on the course.  And I really don't care what some "warez"
version is like.

Hi,

Before i start...yes.i read the warez version might be 7 week old
code..if so  i don't expect the release to be much much different
except for some details like sounds...
I drove with all aids off...that includes no steering aid.

So what makes GP2 the best F1 sim ever?...it was for quite a long time
but still?!...
I know F12000 has a few big downsides but where it concerns simulating
a car's behaviour F12000 beats GP2 with ease...
I don't call myself an expert but F12k got bashed by a lot of
people...and GP2, including it's physics engine, is still getting
raved about.

I got the warez version of GP3(i'm not the patient type)...and i like
all others hoped for big things...but it's not what i expected by
far:(
The original poster was correct as far as i'm concerned...it's not
worthy of the '3'...but just a '2.5'
All the menus..everything...it's all the same...

Car feels like it's on rails...floor it and drive superfast laps
without any problem, if you know the circuit you'll qualify #1 in a
few rounds...the cars feel totally dead...

I think the  canned spins are still there aswell as far as i can
tell(saw someone else's comment he thought they were gone)
Yes..you can catch the back when it starts sliding but the window is
*extremly* small.
Very unlike GPL and F12K where you really can have a major back
brakeout of which the in-spin behaviour is influenced by what you do
with the throtlle and go 'owwww...i just catched it'
In GPL and to a lesser extend in F12k it's allmost an art to catch the
back..in GP3 it seems to be just a case of immediatly release the
throttle completly and you'll be fine....there seems to be no counter
responce of the car from doing that except the back twitching back
nicely to 'center'...no nice smooth slight back sliding powering out
of a corner

And call me a nitpicker...but it still has the 'i'm waiting for the
green light in #1 gear and i have full throttle but the car won't go
untill the light hit green'
Ok..no showstopper but man after 4 years of developement i'd expect
the freedom to jumpstart and get a black flag...

There's the wet weather...well...as much as i'd like this wet weather
in GPL it does nothing for me in GP3 because the car behaviour doesn't
feel right anyways...so why bother driving it in the wet.

GP2 was awesome for it's time, but along came GPL and along will come
Nascar4(high hopes for that one to) and WCS ain't to far off.
GPL now 2 years old goes way beyond what GP2 did concerning the
physics...
And 2 years later comes GP3 which i'm sorry to say i see as a pure GP2
resell.

A few positive things , AI is *way* way better in GP3  then in F12k...
GP3 gfx engine ain't to great but there are no big annoyances like the
'popup' that's in F12k...

My feeling is really it's GP2 with wet weather and new gfx...and
better AI...
GP3 will give a better overall experience i guess compared to
F12k...with the excellent(sofar) AI and the wet weather, but if you
buy  a sim like this for the physics of the car and you don't care
about AI cause all you wanna do is race online against humans(another
sad absence in GP3) then GP3 ain't to hot.......

Call me a bastard for trying the warez version for all i care...but
i'm glad  i didn't find this out after i got the original...i've
bought enough depressing 'hype' games allready....and in europe we
don't have the nice return policy they have in the stated...once you
buy something you're stuck with it.
i'll cancel my pre order tomorrow:(((

Who are "they" ?

JoH

------- The best way to accelerate a Mac is 9.81 m/s2 --------
--------------------------------------------------------------

You really should finish your primary-school education before taking on the
role of "reviewer".
See......most people who read the opinions of others like to think that the
author has  a brain that has developed somewhat from that of a foetus.
--
Regards,
Bruce Kennewell,
Canberra, Australia.
---------------------------

I've tried all of the sounds for GPL, I'm back to the original except for
the BRM ;)

--
Ian Parker
"Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy."

<email invalid due to spam>

If it's just a re-hash of GP2, how can you say it will be the best F1
sim on the market with competition like F1WGP and F12K?  Frankly, the
F1WGP demo feels a LOT like a very-nicely updated version of GP2, with
EXCELLENT graphics -- and the "jump in and drive" replay feature goes a
long way towards making that a VERY nice little racer in its own
right.  Compare GP3, which seems to break NO new ground and (as far as
we've seen so far) seems to have inferior graphics, and it sounds to me
like a losing proposition all around.

If GP3 is just a repackaged version of GP2 with poorly-done 3D
graphics, then we should be able to find it in a few months in the
bargain bins, right next to all the $9.99 copies of OF1R and Al Unser
Jr. Racing.

Forget anything I've ever said about Papy resting on its laurels -- if
this is true about GP3, then Mr. Crammond's laurels must have bedsores.

-- JB

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

"Imperfect?"  If this review holds any bearing at all on what the final
product is going to be like, then "inferior" may be more appropriate.

-- JB

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

  That's not true. Look at Unreal and Powerslide. It's relatively old
technology to have differing levels of detail based on distance to observer.
Looking forward to the demo, from which I'll make my purchasing decision.
Just can't trust reviews.

Bendito;

Microprose said yesterday that a demo is unlikely.
Plus distance abstraction is still a very useful feature, and is used well
in many games including GP2 and GPL.

Yes.

J. P. Hovercraft

<snip>
<snip>

We do in the UK - aren't there any EBs in the Netherlands?

--
David. (GPLRank handicap: +2.68)
"After all, a mere thousand yards - such a harmless little knoll,
really."
(Raymond Mays on Shelsley Walsh)

<snip>

Um. So (thanks for the line of argument, Bruce) you'd think it was fine
to "borrow" a preview car from the Motor Show, provided you'd put down
an order? I think not.

--
David. (GPLRank handicap: +2.68)
"After all, a mere thousand yards - such a harmless little knoll,
really."
(Raymond Mays on Shelsley Walsh)

   If there's no demo, then I'm not buying it. Period. A demo is the only
way I can make a reliable judgement on whether the game is worth purchasing.

   What do you mean by distance abstraction? The same thing I meant by
levels of detail?

Bendito;

Maybe it's you who should back away from the computer....back away and
realize that just MAYBE Geoff Crammond isn't the second coming of
christ.....realize that MAYBE Grand Prix 3 won't be "the shit."

Having played the warez version all I can say is, the released version
better be WAAAAAY better than this warez one.  In fact, I hope it's a
completely different game and that maybe this was just the proposed
shareware version or something.  After playing it for about  an hour
(not much, I know), the first thing that came to mind was Daikatana,
as in..."I waited several years for THIS!?"  It just looks and feels
so much like GP2, it's scary.  This may have been ok three or four
years ago, but not now (in my opinion at least).  Just some things
I've noticed that have turned me off right off the bat.  The cars, or
rather the movement of the cars.  They don't appear to be firmly
planted on the ground.  For example...at Monaco, when the cars are
rounding the Loews hairpin and going downhill, they sort of "sink"
down the hairpin.  The road goes downhill, but instead of the cars
following the change in elevation, they stay straight and level which
makes the front wheels appear to be off the ground....just like World
Circuit and GP2.  Another is the way in which all tracks kind of look
the same.  For example, it seems that every track uses the same style
of curbing, only different colors, unlike F1 2000.  In F1 200 for
example, some of the curbing at Spa is very wide and very pronounced.
In GP3, all the curbing is the same....flat strips about 3 inches
wide.  Also, everything appears to be flat and smooth.  In F1 2000,
you got the feeling of driving on uneven pavement as the car would
bounce up and down while going down the straights.  In GP3, it looks
as if you're driving on glass....no imperfections in the surface
whatsoever.  Another thing which irks me is the lame ass penalty
system.  Cut the track and you get a black flag, which equates to you
abitrarily being reduced to 35mph for 15secs or so, rather than
actually having to come into the pits for a stop and go.  Again, just
like GP2.  And what if there is a car on the track and you have to cut
the track to avoid it.  Bam!  Penalty.  It's sort of like being black
flagged in N3 for speeding down pit lane when you happen to spin
through it because of an accident.  And then there are the canned
spins.  They appear to still be around.  I can induce a spin, let go
of the wheel, and most of the time the cars comes to rest facing the
exact same direction.  Eerie!  There's more that underwhelms me (like
the sound), but I've gone on too long as it is.

With that being said, I know this is a warez version, and when the
release comes out, I'll probably buy it on sight, if only because this
warez release can't possibly the final, or even close to the final (at
least I hope not).  But I must admit I am nevertheless disappointed,
especially after all the hype.  

Maybe because people actually expect some advancements to be
made...some significant advancements.  When something is in the works
for THREE YEARS, I think people start to think, "wow, it's been in
development for three years...they must really be doing something
special over there,"  not, "yeah, I know it'll be just like
GP2.....but Its gonna have TCP/IP!!!"  After trying the warez release,
it makes you wonder what went on in the four year span between GP2 and
GP3.  Maybe the first three years, they were just debating whether it
should be called "Grand Prix 3," or "Grand Prix III."  It's kind of
depressing, really.  I mean, Falcon 4.0 was in development for quite
some time as well, but after playing it, it's easy to see why it took
so long to release it.  Grand Prix 3 on the other hand (or was that
Grand Prix III), just makes you scratch your head and go, "what the
f#$k?"  Kind of like Daikatana.