Ratbag

discussed in 494 posts, 1998-2006 · overall tone positive

Dirt Track Racing 1999

Posts per month

How the mood changed

Starts at zero. Every post that spoke well of them moves the line up, every critical post moves it down (weighted −2 to +2).

Press releases

Key threads

• Leadfoot verdicts and Ratbag compatibility problems 2001-06-26 · 25 posts
  Opinions on Ratbag's Leadfoot split between fun value at $20 and criticism of its recycled engine and online code. Several users reported D3D and 3D sound problems with newer video and sound cards across Ratbag titles, while Lannie Schafroth insisted they ran well and offered help; a South African noted the game was not available there.
• Mockery over delayed Sprint Cars demo and ad sales 2000-09-16 · 21 posts
  A sarcastic post mocked Ratbag and publisher WizardWorks for apparently selling advertising space in the delayed Dirt Track Racing: Sprint Cars demo. Users were annoyed that Ratbag's Chris Bevan had promised the demo 'this week' and it had not appeared, while JB defended Ratbag as constrained by its publisher. Don Wilshe of games-advertising.com said he could have sold more ads but hit a firm cutoff.
• ECCI wheel and pedals, grounding claims and Don Wilshe 2003-09-10 · 40 posts
  A question about ECCI's new wheel and pedals turned into ribbing of Don Wilshe over a grounding-wire fix for static he had promoted, which one owner said did nothing for his TSW pedals. Schooner accused Wilshe of soliciting positive reviews for Ratbag games, which he denied while promoting their dirt racing titles. Later posters defended the $600 to $1,000 ECCI controllers as lifetime-quality hardware.
• Ratbag's Leadfoot goes gold and hits stores 2001-05-23 · 24 posts
  Posters reported that Ratbag's off-road racer Leadfoot had gone gold and was appearing in shops. Tom Pabst said he had created its engine sounds and had driven it for a year, calling it great fun, while ymenard criticised its wide, fictional stadium tracks, leading to a testy exchange. Others noted a 3D sound bug with SB Live cards and compared it with SODA Off-Road Racing.
• NASCAR 2002 Daytona lap times by time of day 2002-05-16 · 37 posts
  Don Wilshe asked why Daytona night and cloudy laps were slower than day laps in NASCAR Racing 2002. Chad Rogers explained that night races are run with July temperatures, and temperature dominates. The thread turned into a hostile exchange where Wilshe accused Papyrus beta testers of bias, and John Simmons, Mitch_A and others insulted him and questioned his credentials.
• Wish list of driving games not yet made 2001-12-03 · 55 posts
  Ice D asked what kinds of driving games had not yet been made. Suggestions included rallycross, hillclimbs, Formula Ford and F3, Aussie V8s, short-track asphalt ovals, a 24-hour Le Mans online sim, the Mille Miglia, a NASCAR team-management game, a land speed record sim, a SODA Off-Road Racing sequel and a remake of the original Need for Speed's Alpine course. Others pointed to existing titles covering some ideas, such as Dirt Track Racing: Sprint Cars.
• Ratbag's dirt track late model and sprint car sim announced 1999-07-14 · 22 posts
  A poster noticed news of a late model and sprint car racing game from Powerslide developer Ratbag, due in November 1999. Fans debated whether its figure-8 track belonged in a serious sim, and a poster apparently from Ratbag said figure-8 was a side feature and the focus was on simulation. Much of the thread became reminiscences about real figure-8 racing at short tracks such as Riverhead.
• Calls for Papyrus to make sims beyond NASCAR 1999-08-27 · 63 posts
  A poster urged Papyrus to make a late-1970s turbo-era F1 sim on the GPL engine instead of another NASCAR title. Many agreed and suggested separating tracks from cars so any car could run on any track, while NASCAR fans defended stock car racing and others noted Sierra's business case favours NASCAR in the US. The thread became a long and sometimes snide oval versus road racing argument.
• NASCAR Racing 3 versus Ratbag's Dirt Track Racing 1999-09-05 · 36 posts
  John Bodin asked NASCAR fans whether they were more excited about Ratbag's Dirt Track Racing than NASCAR Racing 3. Many were keen on DTR's new classes and career mode, and a Ratbag poster confirmed it would include an online spectator mode. A debate followed over whether paid, centralised services like TEN beat free matchmaking such as VROC.
• Debate over the Dirt Track Racing demo's physics 1999-11-07 · 34 posts
  Ron Ayton said the Dirt Track Racing demo felt more like driving a speedboat than a car, and several agreed. Others, including beta testers, said the full game's setup options and physics made a big difference and explained how to throw a dirt car into a slide. Remco Moedt withdrew his claim that Ratbag was targeting arcade players after it was explained that the demo used fixed setups.
• Newcomer asks why Don Wilshe draws so much criticism 2003-12-06 · 26 posts
  A newer reader asked for background on the frequent mocking of Don Wilshe. Regulars cited his long history in the group, the hotlaps setup-stealing allegations, the delayed Rally Racer TV project and alleged attempts to arrange favourable reviews for Ratbag titles. Don Wilshe replied that he had only asked for good, truthful reviews, and Schooner and J.D. Ellis pushed back with links to earlier posts.
• Console versus PC sims: World of Outlaws Sprint Cars 2002-05-21 · 40 posts
  RB praised Ratbag's World of Outlaws Sprint Cars 2002 on PS2 as rivalling Papyrus's PC sims. This set off a long console-versus-PC debate: some argued consoles were killing true sims and that Gran Turismo was not a sim, while Nick, JM and BH defended GT and console racers as legitimate driving simulations.
• Do NR2002 setups handle differently online and offline? 2002-04-10 · 52 posts
  Tom Pabst asked why the fixed fast setup felt very different online than offline. League racers such as Bill Bollinger of Team Brickyard confirmed that cars are looser online and said they build separate online setups, an issue going back to NASCAR Racing 2. Others felt no difference, and theories ranged from frame-rate-linked physics updates and netcode overhead to slow connections, with no consensus.
• Debate over pessimism about GP3's missing features 2000-03-14 · 43 posts
  Imar de Vries questioned the pessimism about GP3, while many posters criticised its reported lack of force feedback and internet play as behind the times. Jan Verschueren objected to treating Geoff Crammond as a guarantee of quality, and David G Fisher argued that GPL's online play had been poor anyway, drawing accusations of trolling. Some speculated that IPX LAN play could be used online via Kali.
• iRacing news on laser-scanned tracks 2005-12-02 · 38 posts
  Chad Rogers linked iRacing's news about accurately scanned tracks using point-cloud technology. Some remained bitter over iRacing's legal action against modders, while others debated whether more accurate tracks would add realism given missing motion cues. The thread drifted into Papyrus versus newer sims, brake modelling, and the naming of the World Series.

Busiest threads

• Leadfoot verdicts and Ratbag compatibility problems (13 posts about it)
• Mockery over delayed Sprint Cars demo and ad sales (10 posts about it)
• Re: Sprint Car Racing-------AVOID---they screwed it up! (9 posts about it)
• Anybody else Ratbag fan? (7 posts about it)
• ECCI wheel and pedals, grounding claims and Don Wilshe (6 posts about it)
• Sprint Car Racing? (6 posts about it)
• Re: Tracks in DTR Sprints (6 posts about it)
• Ratbag's Leadfoot goes gold and hits stores (5 posts about it)
• RATBAG DTR II & WOO II SPRINT CARS REVIEWERS WANTED - Don Wilshe (4 posts about it)
• DTR2...got it yesterday...won't open until I hear from you that it is good! (4 posts about it)
• NASCAR 2002 Daytona lap times by time of day (4 posts about it)
• Wish list of driving games not yet made (4 posts about it)
• Another questionable Ratbag decision (Leadfoot) (4 posts about it)
• The Ratbag / WW distinction (4 posts about it)
• Re: Sprint Car Racing on TNN during Outlaw race (4 posts about it)

Sentiment by year

Who talked about them most

John Bodin · 45 Don Wilshe · 42 MadDAWG · 32 (unknown) · 25 ymenard · 18 jbo.. · 11 Bendito · 9 (unknown) · 9 Ryan Mitchley · 8 David G Fisher · 8 Jan Verschueren · 7 Larry · 7 Colin Harris · 7 Tom Pabst · 6 Schooner · 6 JM · 6 Tim O · 6 Kenneth Verburg · 6 Rod Smelser · 6 Bruce Kennewell · 6

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