rec.autos.simulators

why is rfactor

Remco Moed

why is rfactor

by Remco Moed » Sun, 21 Aug 2005 22:12:49

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 03:51:36 -0700, "Jeff Reid"


>One of the first racing games to have server based online play was
>NFS4 (High Stakes). Almost all NFS4 online play was done with collision
>off. Most NFS5 (Porsche Unleashed) play was done with collision off.
>These games didn't simulate drafting so it wasn't an issue. Lag was
>never an issue, because there were no collisions between cars (just
>objects). Wreckers didn't exist. Personally, I found the collision
>off online racing to be just as enjoyable as collision on racing
>with the newer games of today. The racing can be closer when you
>can drive right through the car ahead of you. In the case of
>NFS4 and NFS5, it was handled well because you could see the dash
>and through the windshield of any car you were driving through.

Hmm, that's not racing, that's social hotlapping.

Cheers!

Remco

Jeff Rei

why is rfactor

by Jeff Rei » Sun, 21 Aug 2005 22:37:31

You're correct, it is social hotlapping, but it can be fun.

One thing that collision off racing allows is tracks with
a single line. In the case of NFS4, the game had very
narrow lines (shortcuts through rocks, pillars, or trees)
which had to be used to get the best lap times. For this
game, collision off made sense. Part of the draw of NFS4
was it's fast pace combined with very narrow lines you
had to get just right (or end up crashed).

Other than super speedway racing on NR2003, cars usually
spread out pretty quickly on most racing games, so the
collision factor isn't much of an issue after the first
few turns of a race. Another exception would be a F1
type street course, where almost all of the passing
takes place in the pits, probably wouldn't be fun.

Byron Forbe

why is rfactor

by Byron Forbe » Sun, 21 Aug 2005 23:33:16

    Rule 1 of sim racing - never trust the other bloke OR his connection (or
the internet for that matter).

    If I'm to the outside of anyone I normally try to have a minimum of half
a car width between us - more like a whole car width. :)


Mitch_

why is rfactor

by Mitch_ » Mon, 22 Aug 2005 01:19:36

Maybe thats why I never became a GPL freak like many here.  (Though I did
enjoy it for a short time)

I have a hard time calling it "fun" to see the field wrecked on the first
lap of a race.  "Annoyed": describes my feeling better than fun.

Thats the norm on just about any non league online race nowadays.  Whether
GPL. NR200 GTR LSF it doesnt matter.

The GTL AI is better than 90% of todays sim racers anyway.

Mitch


lampposts on my way up to *** square.  I was laughing

Andrew MacPhers

why is rfactor

by Andrew MacPhers » Mon, 22 Aug 2005 16:22:00



> The GTL AI is better than 90% of todays sim racers anyway.

I haven't had chance to get to grips with the GTL demo yet, but last
week I did dig out GPL65 for the first time in a while and got sucked
into an offline race accidentally, purely by the fact I'd forgotten how
good the AI is to race against. I know GPL is past its sell-by date in
many ways, but the overall racing experience still has much to offer the
virtual petrol-head.

Andrew McP


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