Getting more and more annoyed with GP3

At first, I was thoroughly disappointed with GP3. The out-dated graphics, the bugs left over from GP2, the sound, all the usual stuff people complain about here. But people also said "it grows on you". So I gave it a second change. And indeed, I found myself playing it more and more and I was actually starting to like it. But... the more I started seriously playing it, the more bugs and overall weird things I encountered and the more I became annoyed with it. I've now almost reached the point where I will try to return it and get my money back. I've tried to race a couple of races now and not a single race has gone by without really weird stuff happening - making it impossible for me to finish the race. An example: During qualification I managed to get on pole. With 4 minutes left, I figured I'd just go out on the track practicing a bit. On my wheel's display it said I had still 2 laps left. Well, I drove one lap and suddenly noticed I dropped from P1 to P22. I had no idea why. I didn't get a black flag, I hadn't been off track, I didn't crash nor anything else. Back in the pits, I looked at the monitor and I had no timed laps. I had to start the race from P22. Another example: During another qualification I was ready to leave the pits. When the monitor went aside, it took my car with it! It just spun my car around until I was facing the other way in the pits! And I've also encountered some weird AI in the game. Cars that run you off the track for no reason at all, on the straights, in corners - everywhere. They just run me off the track as if I'm not there! Anyway, I could give numerous other examples. Fact is, it looks as if this game was never tested at all and Crammond did a piss poor job creating a "new" version of the GP series. Thanks for letting me rant.

On Wed, 09 Aug 2000 20:52:24 +0200, Ben Dover <[email hidden]> wrote: <snip>

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> >But people also said "it grows on you". So I gave it a second change. >And indeed, I found myself playing it more and more and I was actually >starting to like it. But... the more I started seriously playing it, the >more bugs and overall weird things I encountered and the more I became >annoyed with it. I've now almost reached the point where I will try to >return it and get my money back. >

<snip> Never had GP2 so not really disappointed by GP3. However I agree with you that it grows on you in both good and bad ways. It is pretty fun and looks nice on my V5/p733 but the more I play the more glitches I see and they do indeed start to annoy. I run it at 2xaa at 1280x1024 and it is fantastic but if I want to drop the res to 1024 to get a bit more speed it actually is slower (higher PO). Also, the black line that flashes at monza when i cross the s/f is starting to drive me nuts. Furthermore, the time it takes to go from a controlled state to an uncontrolled state is really fast (which is probably acurate but quite a change from GPL). Actually, everything in this game happens fast which is probably its most realistic aspect. Finally, probably my biggest annoyance with the game is the lag in the FF engine and the FF dead zone in the middle 5-10% of my wheel (lwff). Any GPLer who has run FF with the wrong latency settings will know what I'm talking about--wheel starts acting like the tacoma narrows bridge. I've probably got a few more complaints up my sleeve, but all in all I really like the game. It has that special je ne c'est quoi--or whatever that french expression is for when you like something but can't explain why :-) Chris --who needs a setup for solitude that i can actually drive :-(

On Wed, 09 Aug 2000 20:52:24 +0200, Ben Dover <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>An example: During qualification I managed to get on pole. With 4 >minutes left, I figured I'd just go out on the track practicing a bit. >On my wheel's display it said I had still 2 laps left. Well, I drove one >lap and suddenly noticed I dropped from P1 to P22. I had no idea why. I >didn't get a black flag, I hadn't been off track, I didn't crash nor >anything else. Back in the pits, I looked at the monitor and I had no >timed laps. I had to start the race from P22.

I guess this is caused by the 12-laps-rule. If you have 2 laps remaining, you can only drive one lap out of the pits, and have to enter the pits at the end of the next lap. So you can't do a hot lap ... perhaps that was the problem? Anyway, the same thing happened to me a couple of times, but I'm not sure if I was on my 12th or 13th lap... >Another example: During another qualification I was ready to leave the >pits. When the monitor went aside, it took my car with it! It just spun >my car around until I was facing the other way in the pits! Come on, I can't imagine a reason why anyone would include a collision detection between that monitor sprite and your car. -Daniel

I agree on these annoying glitches etc. But what disappoints me most, strangely enough I hardly read anything about this in RAS, is the extremely poor multiplayer mode. Every self-respected game developer (especialy where competition is at stake) just _has_ to put a decent multiplay section (modem-modem, lan, internet) in its game nowadays. After GP1 and GP2 the least they could have done is to improve the multiplay section. This whole multiplayer programming is just a big laugh. We should be able to start race-servers which would allow up to 22 players to compete over the internet. Instead, I have to hook-up my old 33k6 to play a poor framerated game with my friend. Whereas I 've got this 80x faster cablemodem unused. Bah!

<[email hidden]> a �crit dans le message : [email hidden]...

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> On Wed, 09 Aug 2000 20:52:24 +0200, Ben Dover > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > <snip> > > > >But people also said "it grows on you". So I gave it a second change. > >And indeed, I found myself playing it more and more and I was actually > >starting to like it. But... the more I started seriously playing it, the > >more bugs and overall weird things I encountered and the more I became > >annoyed with it. I've now almost reached the point where I will try to > >return it and get my money back. > > > <snip> > > Never had GP2 so not really disappointed by GP3. However I agree with > you that it grows on you in both good and bad ways. It is pretty fun > and looks nice on my V5/p733 but the more I play the more glitches I > see and they do indeed start to annoy. I run it at 2xaa at 1280x1024 > and it is fantastic but if I want to drop the res to 1024 to get a bit > more speed it actually is slower (higher PO). Also, the black line > that flashes at monza when i cross the s/f is starting to drive me > nuts. Furthermore, the time it takes to go from a controlled state to > an uncontrolled state is really fast (which is probably acurate but > quite a change from GPL). Actually, everything in this game happens > fast which is probably its most realistic aspect. Finally, probably my > biggest annoyance with the game is the lag in the FF engine and the FF > dead zone in the middle 5-10% of my wheel (lwff). Any GPLer who has > run FF with the wrong latency settings will know what I'm talking > about--wheel starts acting like the tacoma narrows bridge. I've > probably got a few more complaints up my sleeve, but all in all I > really like the game. It has that special je ne c'est quoi--or > whatever that french expression is for when you like something but > can't explain why :-)

In French, It's "je ne sais quoi" !! :-)) Nice try !! > > Chris > --who needs a setup for solitude that i can actually drive :-( >

<[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8mviho$i8u$[email hidden]...

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> Sais it ain't so. > At least I _knew_ that I didn't _know_ :-) > ----------- > I remember a trip to Germany a few years back and I brushed up on my > high school "Deutsch" before the trip. Tried speaking it in Germany and > everyone, after wincing, replied with "I speak English...could you > repeat that". > > Chris > --who, while somewhat Canadian, exhibits a truly American respect for > the languages of the world. >

I know the feeling. My first year in Switzerland was very humbling, mostly because everyone was so damn nice and immediately switched to English. This is partly because the Swiss would rather speak English than switch to High German (as opposed to Swiss German). With a certain Canadian pride (is there such a thing?) I can say that most of my business meetings are now in Swiss German and I can hold my own, so if a knucklehead like me can do it, anyone can. Stephen

Sais it ain't so. At least I _knew_ that I didn't _know_ :-) ----------- I remember a trip to Germany a few years back and I brushed up on my high school "Deutsch" before the trip. Tried speaking it in Germany and everyone, after wincing, replied with "I speak English...could you repeat that". Chris --who, while somewhat Canadian, exhibits a truly American respect for the languages of the world. In article <gdFk5.2217$[email hidden]>, "Erwan" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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> > <[email hidden]> a �crit dans le message : > [email hidden]... > > On Wed, 09 Aug 2000 20:52:24 +0200, Ben Dover > > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > > > <snip> > > > > > >But people also said "it grows on you". So I gave it a second

change. > > >And indeed, I found myself playing it more and more and I wasactually > > >starting to like it. But... the more I started seriously playingit, the > > >more bugs and overall weird things I encountered and the more Ibecame > > >annoyed with it. I've now almost reached the point where I willtry to > > >return it and get my money back. > > > > > <snip> > > > > Never had GP2 so not really disappointed by GP3. However I agreewith > > you that it grows on you in both good and bad ways. It is pretty fun > > and looks nice on my V5/p733 but the more I play the more glitches I > > see and they do indeed start to annoy. I run it at 2xaa at 1280x1024 > > and it is fantastic but if I want to drop the res to 1024 to get abit > > more speed it actually is slower (higher PO). Also, the black line > > that flashes at monza when i cross the s/f is starting to drive me > > nuts. Furthermore, the time it takes to go from a controlled stateto > > an uncontrolled state is really fast (which is probably acurate but > > quite a change from GPL). Actually, everything in this game happens > > fast which is probably its most realistic aspect. Finally, probablymy > > biggest annoyance with the game is the lag in the FF engine and theFF

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> > dead zone in the middle 5-10% of my wheel (lwff). Any GPLer who has > > run FF with the wrong latency settings will know what I'm talking > > about--wheel starts acting like the tacoma narrows bridge. I've > > probably got a few more complaints up my sleeve, but all in all I > > really like the game. It has that special je ne c'est quoi--or > > whatever that french expression is for when you like something but > > can't explain why :-) > > In French, It's "je ne sais quoi" !! :-)) Nice try !! > > > > > Chris > > --who needs a setup for solitude that i can actually drive :-( > > > >

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