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Ok, I was tired when I posted this so here's some details on what is
good and bad about the sim.
1. Graphics
If you like F1 2002, you might like these. The default LOD bias
causes the cars to deres literally 5 feet in front of you. As Ed
Solheim pointed out in another thread, the rear view mirror makes it
look like cars are literally on top of you. The graphics feature the
same flicker as the ISI F1 games, regardless of the FSAA level you
use. The textures remind me of SCGT, i.e. cartoony, dark, and
oversaturated. The car models aren't bad, but the cars seem much
longer than a real WC stock car.
The damage modelling is seriously humorous. Hitting something on the
side, like the wall, will cause the side to dent in a'la Nascar 2002
but also puts a big gray hole in the car. Best I can tell there's no
damage to the hood or roof. I've backed the car into the wall at
over 100mph and the bumper dented a bit, I was disappointed after
being used to the way N2002 smushes your bumper all the way to the
axle. The nose damage looks wrong, after taking a few hits at the
front the car starts looking like a shart, as you have this middle bit
that sticks out with big dents on either side that, in real life,
would be impossible because of the chassis and engine block being
there.
N2002 wins this category hands down, especially in terms of texture
realism and graphical clarity. It also runs 30 frames per second
faster on my machine with full detail at 1280x1024x16 than NT2003
does. NT2003 does get bonus points for attempting to include some
classic cars, but who wants to drive Cale Yarborough's early 80's #28
car with "Cale" written on it instead of Hardee's.
The wheel/hands are ugly and can't be removed in-game. However you
can comment out the lines that define these in the vehicle.gen file
and everything looks much much better...except that the default
***pit camera feels like you have your face pressed against the
windshield, but YMMV.
2. Sound
Most of the menu music is horrible, the single saving grace being
Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" which I wish would just loop.
The commentators at the beginning of the race sound like they were
recorded in my bathroom. Actually, I've done recordings in my
bathroom and they were of higher quality. For some curious reason,
they've left out the driver introductions, so when the game does the
standard F12k2 scroll through the field, you're left with an awkward
silence. Thankfully, this is preferable to hearing more of the
announcing.
Driving, the engine sound is far inferior to N2002. The tire sounds
are far inferior to N2002. For the engines it seriously sounds like
they sampled a chainsaw and ran it through some cheap plate reverb,
it's that bad.
3. Layout/Presentation
The menus are horrible. Thankfully on the track selection screen
there are drop down boxes you can access to select the track, but most
things are laid out completely illogically and/or a pain to find.
Selecting a driver (you have to use one of the real cars, there's no
paintshop included or option to simply drive as yourself) requires
going through a list with all of the drivers, which is a time
consuming process.
The rest is pretty much straight from F1 2002, with different icons
and maybe slightly different on-screen placement.
The race weekend is annoying. There is no option to use a short pace
lap, even with auto pace lap turned on, so at a place like the Glen be
prepared to spend 5-10 minutes on a pace lap before putting in even a
short race. Speaking of auto pace lap, if auto pace lap and/or auto
pitting are enabled, the game gives no warning that it's going to
return control to you. Just suddenly the spotter yells "GO GO GO" and
you're sitting there scrambling for your wheel.
The fighter jets screaming overhead at every single track are cheesy.
On the other hand, I really felt like having sex with my cousin at
that point, so it could be what they're going for.
Replays are done F1 2002 style, so nothing to comment there. If
you've played an ISI game, you know what it's like.
4. Track Modelling
Apparently Pocono is 4 or 5 lanes wide, doesn't require any braking,
and is paved in concrete. Apparently the esses and the outer loop at
the Glen are banked about as much as Bristol, at least with the little
bit of banking Bristol has in this game. Seriously appalling. The
off-track details are of course just as bad, but you can't really
expect much when the actual track surfaces are so far off.
Speaking of track modelling, unless there is a change in banking at
the apron, you can drive it without a penalty. Just ran some really
quick laps at Tally without venturing above the yellow line.
If you're played a Papy NASCAR sim, or even watched a race or two on
TV, be prepared for a shock the first time you take the car on the
track. Throw everything you know about the line of the tracks out the
window, you won't need 'em here.
5. Physics
First, I'm using super-high frequency physics, which can be changed in
the PLR file. The standard are similar, as in F1 2002, while the
flaws in the engine tend to be exaggerated somewhat.
Just like F1 2002, a car that should be on the edge of traction at
high speeds is glued to the track. If you do use your brakes here,
which I recommend since there's no engine braking to speak of, don't
worry about applying them until you're near the apex. Turn 1 at
Pocono can be taken flat out until you near the apex, same with the
turns at Bristol, Dover, and Martinsville.
Apparently the reason drivers spin at Bristol is because of the cracks
in the concrete. I never noticed that before. It must be tough
flooring it there when the car wants to spin because the rear wheels
are 6 inches off the ground every time your drive over a seal.
As in F1 2002, make sure you keep the framerate above 60. The
polygon-based physics are touchy as always, and if those poor attempts
at high-frequency bump modelling send you 6 inches off the ground at
60 fps, they'll have you sailing into the grass at 20 fps.
GPL and N2002 win hands down at capturing the feel of a car on the
threshold of friction (so does Dirt Track Racing 2, of all the
surprises). To some it may feel like a hovercar, I suppose, but I'd
also guess that a car that is on the edge of control is going to feel
more like a bug skittering on the surface of the water than a tank
glued firmly in place until a rumble strip causes the rear end to snap
around. I'm probably wrong tho. As in F1 2002, the sensation of
weight transfer is minimal. While this may be acceptable in a
ground-hugging stiff-as-carbon F1 car, it feels completely out of
place in the hulking behemoths in this game. There is very little
indication of what the car is doing in terms of weight transfer, which
imho makes the sim harder to drive than N2002, at least when putting
the car on the edge. Thankfully, harder in this case doesn't mean
more realistic.
Controller configuration is as bad as F1 2002. An amusing note is
that the speed sensitivity slider doesn't go below 10% in the menus,
but it does register as 0% if you check your PLR file.
Jason
