Rally Masters (Infogrames) - First impressions....(long)

I've just bought this one, (yesterday) and here are my first impressions of Rally Masters (Infogrames): The installation was easy, it did not insist on using Directx7 (I'm still using Directx6) and started ok first time and seems to run well on my system, Abit BH6 m/b with Celery 300@450, V3 2000@175Mhz with 128Mb PC100 ram. There is a "show frame rates" option, and with most graphic stuff on I got an average 54fps. Graphics: As is expected nowadays, the graphics are pretty cool, with all the usual effects, dust smoke, fog, skidmarks, etc. The car gets progressively dirtier as you race, and there are headlights and brake lights too. The trackside scenery is ok, fairly detailed, with recognisable peeps at the roadside, rather the blurred effects you get with some games. The cars visibly deform when crashed, and headlights stop working if broken. Nice flameouts from the exhaust too! When racing, or watching replays, you can choose various views, from two arcade views (above and behind) to a bonnet view, an in-car cockpit view, and a bumper view. Replays also have a tv cam view. I saw no major slowdowns when things were busy on-screen either? Sound: Background sound in the menus is ok, but gets repetitive after a while. The in-game sounds are ok, car sounds are pretty good, with a throaty growl to most cars, and a nice popping effect when changing gears, lifting off the throttle, etc. The in-car sound and tv view sound, differs from the arcade view racing sounds. Options: Graphics can be tweaked, by turning on or off the level of detail, and the various effects to aid performance on lower spec pc's. Sound can be adjusted too, for volume, and the various sounds can be turned on or off, car effects, environment, speech, etc. Cars can have auto or manual gears, and various cars and tracks can be chosen as well as the various modes of play, There is also a difficulty setting. Game play: Various modes of play are available, from time trials using any car on any track, to single races (against three other cars) to a full championship season, to the "Race of Champions", where 2 drivers in identical cars race against each other on a split track (in a figure of eight). This mode (race of champs) is brilliant, racing one other driver in the same car on the same track, and its very hard to tell who is winning due to the two "lanes" and the figure of 8 track configuration, until the first car has crossed the line. Some cars/tracks are locked until you have won a few races, But, I'm sure a cheat will be along shortly though.... I haven't found a "ghost lap" type option yet though? Various weather modes and track surfaces are here too, rain, snow, gravel, tarmac, etc. The cars available are many and varied, from a 200bhp buggy to a 500bhp Audi (and I'm sure there are many "hidden" cars too!) Tracks appear to be fairly short, and there are quite a few of them based on a few countries, UK, Sweden, USA, Gran Canaria, etc. Each country appears to have short and long tracks, and they can be reversed too, so quite a few configurations are possible. You can drive away from the *track* in some places, but not far? and the game does suffer from invisible *walls* in some places, and each track has various hedges, walls, fences, etc which define most of the track edges. Car Handling: Overall, pretty good I think. The cars seem responsive, and each car handles differently, the 200bhp buggy is almost like a go-kart that can be thrown around, whereas, the 500bhp Audi has to be eased around the tracks due to the enormous power, or it just spins and slides all over the place, losing time. the handling appears better than say, RC2000, there is no major slow down when on grass, or when you hit minor objects, and the cars can be hand brake turned, or slid around corners using throttle control, (Pendulum turns) and the brakes appear ok too (not too harsh). The damage model does not appear to affect the cars handling too much with minor shunts, although, after serious abuse or many hard crashes, the cars performance does slow down. It seems impossible to blow the engine up? The differing road surfaces also felt different to drive on. The set-up options, which are very few, did not appear to have *too* much of an affect on the cars handling? Consisting of only the gear ratio type, the suspension type, and a tyre choice. The handling is good, and is more "arcade" than "sim" I would say, (you can in some cases, bounce off the scenery and carry on pretty much unaffected?) but the game is still very enjoyable. Multiply: Apparently up to 8 peeps can race via the net or lan. I haven't tried either yet, but will try on-line racing as soon as I can find someone else to race with. The AI cars/drivers seem to be fairly aggressive, I raced them on *easy* level and found I could beat them after a few laps, but if they are close to you, they will barge straight into you to get past! Overall: Good graphics, good sound, good car handling, lots of cars, tracks, and other options to play with. It is much better having a rally game where you actually *race* against other opponents, rather than the "race alone against the clock" type rally games (RC2000 or RAC Rally, etc) and anyone that has watched rallying and seen the race of champs, will know how much fun it is, racing head to head like that! I like it, and am keen to try it on-line (anyone know of any on-line servers for this one?) I'd say its better than Colin McRae Rally, and RC2000. (Rally Champ 2000 has *slightly* better graphics, but the handling is not as good IMHO). 8-) *Peter* - http://www.cix.co.uk/~peterpc/home.html

Tony Rickard wrote: > > I prefer the handling in RM, although I think it probably overdoes the ease > of sideways driving, but I am happy to accept this - it does make the > replays look spot on though. I think in reality it should take more effort > to get a FWD car sideways. > While I agree that RM (at least in the demo) is a bit too tail happy, there is essentially not that much difference in getting a FWD or RWD or 4WD going sideways under braking, apart from the engine braking effects which do tend to oversteer the RWD and understeer the FWD cars, but this effect is not as strong, especially at higher speeds and higher gears. There is also posible difference in weight distribution, but this does not necessarily correlate with the type of getting the power down. It is only upon acceleration where the differences really come into play. -Gregor

Nice review - agree 100% :) I think the RM vs RC2000 debate is VERY close. Split fairly evenly between the preference for the two. Most definately a place for both on rally fans hard drives (Rally Masters providing the quick fix, RC2000 for the long long sessions) I prefer the handling in RM, although I think it probably overdoes the ease of sideways driving, but I am happy to accept this - it does make the replays look spot on though. I think in reality it should take more effort to get a FWD car sideways. I also prefer the track widths in RM - easy to slide the car WITHIN the track rather than outside of it - but probably more a reflection of my lack of skill. I would suggest RC2000 needs more effort to get it "looking like it does on telly" but I expect it is capable whereas RM you can just dive in. Incidentally dedicated servers are available by downloading a master server list and adding them to your address book folder. www.techweb-design.com/rallymasters/RMServerList.zip Cheers Tony <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8dp47e$5hb$[email hidden]... > I've just bought this one, (yesterday) and here are my first impressions > of Rally Masters (Infogrames): ><snip>

> > I prefer the handling in RM, although I think it probably overdoes theease > of sideways driving, but I am happy to accept this - it does make the > replays look spot on though. I think in reality it should take more effort > to get a FWD car sideways. > > I also prefer the track widths in RM - easy to slide the car WITHIN the > track rather than outside of it - but probably more a reflection of mylack > of skill. I can get my street FWD car sideways at will on any surface other than dry pavement. In the snow I've been able to shock the hell out of passengers who didn't think it was possible by turning donuts. Work on your skills. :) Kevin F. Gavitt

"kevingav" wrote > > > > > I prefer the handling in RM, although I think it probably overdoes the > ease > > of sideways driving, but I am happy to accept this - it does make the > > replays look spot on though. I think in reality it should take moreeffort > > to get a FWD car sideways. > > I can get my street FWD car sideways at will on any surface other than dry > pavement. In the snow I've been able to shock the hell out of passengerswho > didn't think it was possible by turning donuts. > > Work on your skills. :) >Er... I thought that was MY point :) It requires a degree of technique rather than just turning in. Simply dialling in more steering will give understeer, to promote oversteer requires a more aggressive approach to unsettle the rear end. I am suggesting RM is programmed to make this easier than reality to improve accessibility. Not suggesting I lack the required skills (as if) Tony Tony

> Incidentally dedicated servers are available by downloading a master > server > list and adding them to your address book folder. > > www.techweb-design.com/rallymasters/RMServerList.zip Ta for the info..... 8-) *Peter* - http://www.cix.co.uk/~peterpc/home.html

On Sat, 22 Apr 2000 17:51:19 GMT, Jay J wrote: >Can you please tell me what the spec's are on the bottom of the box? P233, 32 MB RAM, Windows95 or 98, D3D-card with 4MB, 4x CD >Also, for me this one if very important! How much drive space does it >require? Min install vs. regular or full installs???? I choosed "custom install", no videos, no music -> about 17 MB. >And... Their website is VERY slow, and leaves a lot of information out when >you go to the games spec's. Indeed, very bad one. Berthold

On 21 Apr 2000 08:41:18 GMT, [email hidden] wrote: >There is a "show frame rates" option, and with most graphic stuff on I >got an average 54fps. Where can I find this option? I've looked around, nothing found. Berthold

Can you please tell me what the spec's are on the bottom of the box? Required and Recommended hardware, drive space, ram, video, sound, etc, etc.. It appears to support 3d Audio but which formats? For instance I've got a SoundBlaster Live X-Gamer. Also, for me this one if very important! How much drive space does it require? Min install vs. regular or full installs???? Thank you for the info as it looks like if I want to buy this game it will be over the internet, and I won't get a chance to look over the spec's beforehand. And... Their website is VERY slow, and leaves a lot of information out when you go to the games spec's. Thanks again! Jay J

Cool! Thanks for the info, that's even better news!!! Only 17 megs eh? Great! I saw the new 24 Hours of LeMans game and it's minimum spec's required something like 650megs of HD space!!!! I thought, shit... You must be kidding me! I'll have to go out and buy another hard drive if I want to run it :-( Jay "Berthold Josephs" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8dt1o1$921$[email hidden]...

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> On Sat, 22 Apr 2000 17:51:19 GMT, Jay J wrote: > > >Can you please tell me what the spec's are on the bottom of the box? > > P233, 32 MB RAM, Windows95 or 98, D3D-card with 4MB, 4x CD > > >Also, for me this one if very important! How much drive space does it > >require? Min install vs. regular or full installs???? > > I choosed "custom install", no videos, no music -> about 17 MB. > > >And... Their website is VERY slow, and leaves a lot of information out

when > >you go to the games spec's. > > Indeed, very bad one. > > Berthold

On Sat, 22 Apr 2000 21:42:40 GMT, Jay J wrote: >Cool! Thanks for the info, that's even better news!!! Only 17 megs eh? >Great! I've been surprised too. Maybe it's because it is/will be released for playstation too. Berthold