rec.autos.simulators

According to adverts (UK) this game is out tomorrow (27/9).
As the previous release wasn't very exciting, at least not by modern
standards :-) , does anyone out there have any information about this
newcomer.
Anyone seen a demo or seen any reviews?.
I might as well find out about the game before buying it!.

Steve

North East England

  Basically it follows 28 stages of the Network Q RAC Rally with a choice
of 6 cars (including the Subaru, Ford, VW - I can't remember them all - I'm
working from memory). The stages include varying weather conditions (snow,
rain etc.), and track surfaces that make a difference to the driving style
required. The game can be run in VGA or SVGA, but since it seems to run fine
on my P133 in SVGA with the viewpoint set to far (VERY important to be able
to see where you're going), I haven't used VGA. The framerate is pretty good
on my system in SVGA - certainly perfectly useable in my opinion - but one
persons perfect framerate is anothers jerky nightmare. The graphics are good,
but not up to NFS standards - but then this is a rally game, the length of
the stages precludes too much scenery change. You get the choice of view from
in the car (my choice) or outside the car.

  There are several modes of play including championship, several levels of
arcade mode, and individual. There are other cars to race against in the arcade
modes (and even if you pass all the cars at the start, other cars miraculously
appear in front of you!), and the stages are split up into sections with a time
limit for each section. In championship mode it's just like the real thing - you
don't see other cars very often, and you can repair damage at service points
between certain stages, with a time limit, and an amount of time to repair
certain bits of the car (with a damage meter for each).

  The main faults of the game include an ability to bounce off the scenery
to gain time, but incur very little damage. It's very difficult to roll the
car. I've also found that the gearbox starts to lose gears when the damage
meter only shows it to be slightly damaged. Replacing the gearbox fixes this -
but you can only replace the gearbox once during the rally. This may just be
the way I'm driving and the fact that I've only used auto-gears so far.

  Is it fun? Well I think so, but you've got to like the idea of a rally game
to enjoy it. If you're just after a plain and simple fun driving game NFS is
a better bet, but if driving on your own for most of the time down challenging
and differing trails sounds like a fun break from GP2 then you'll probably enjoy
Network Q RAC Rally Challenge.

  These, of course, are just my opinions. Many may disagree.

Mike Excell

I've seen a demo level available on a magazine cover disk
recently.  I think there is a (large) download version as well
at the PC Release List.

John

--
John Hartridge              | Crosfield Electronics Ltd,
ext 3282                    | Three Cherry Trees Lane,

The game :- It is not bad at all, I think.  You might have seen it from
the box what it looks like in the game. The graphics is no where near
Sega Rally.

The car drives like the car in Sega Rally.  Since you can drive on
different surface (off-road, mud, or tarmac), you car behaves
differently, which is good.  

You can flip the car over as well by hitting the side of the road
(sometimes it is not apparent why it flips).  The car looks a bit awful
when flipped, you will know what I mean if you see it - nothing like
what you get in Need for speed.  

Like Need for speed, you can not dent the car at all (may be this is
only in the demo).

There is only one track in the demo, and you are always in the pine
forest which is a bit boring after a while.  But because I don't follow
Rally, I don't know how this compares to real life.

The CC cars are a bit like the ones in Sega Rally, very slow and a bit
blind.  They are not challenging to pass unlike GP, or Nascar ...

A good point is you can adjust you car (not in the demo though), so you
can improve your overall time.

I played on a P166 with 32 M Ram running Win95.  It runs fine.  But not
so sure about running on my 486 Dx4-100 at home.

I will buy this game because it is a new idea from the GP2, and Indycar,
where you always have to perfect you line to a track to get the best
time.  In this game you just drive wildly on a track that you won't be
so familiar with.  It is fun, but I think from the demo I saw, there are
still things to be worked on to really make it a vintage game.

It won't replace my favorite GP2.

Jeff

Oddly enough, they are also marketing the new F1 management game from
Software 2000 called F1 Manager but there's not a single mention of it on
the website...

Ian

PS If I remember correctly the RAC demo is 16 meg big (yup, 16 MEGABYTES)
and not only that but the site is sloooooowwwwwwww :-)

Jeff

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________