Well, a friend of mine bought himself ICR2 for Windows95 for his birthday so I
just had to go over and have a look. Here are some specifics about the
hardware:
Matrox MGA Millenium w/4MBWRAM; BIOS 2.0
SoundBlaster16 Value
Thrustmaster Formula T2
I have mixed feelings about the Windows 95 version. Driving around on the
Cleveland track, I noticed that at some places the frame rate was reaching
69fps. An UNBELIEVABLE number--I say unbelievable because it looked much
slower than the 30fps reported by the new DOS version. I'm not sure what the
problem is exactly, but the graphics are very choppy--it will run fine for 2-3
seconds and then start messing up again. It is possibly a driver problem, but
there are some other strange things as well.
For one, the sound the engine makes as it revs is very notchy. It reminds me
of a video game from the early '80s as it almost sounds like a musical scale.
In addition, when you shift up, the sound seems to bog down, almost like the
car sprouted a CVT or something. Then the controls seem slow to respond,
although I think this is probably a byproduct of the slow graphics.
On the plus side, the new menus, car setting editor, paint shop, and replay
viewer are vast improvements over the DOS version. You can now set up your
entire car from one screen with no drilling down through menus to find the
right choice. A huge improvement is also made by letting you prioritize all
of the graphic options which are set to auto. This is a great feature!
Now on to the DOS version; this is, I assume, the same version that we will be
getting with THE PATCH. The first thing I noticed is that as the DOS version
starts up, it still claims that it is version 1.0.0. Hmmm. Not to worry,
there are several differences, but, unfortunately, they are not all good. The
first thing you notice is a snappy new intro screen. Then it's on to the
demo, where the cars now run around the circuit on Belle Isle.
There seems to be some problem with having a mouse driver loaded in DOS when
you try to set the ICR2 controls. All other devices are ignored in favor
of the mouse. This is a new bug, which, personally, I'm very surprised to
see. It is blatantly obvious. So much so, that it is listed in the readme
file on the CD-ROM. You must first comment out the line in your autoexec.bat
which loads the mouse driver and then set the controls.
Another change is a mandatory frame rate counter in the lower left corner of
the screen. It is very informative, but once you have your graphics options
cofigured to a comfortable setting, it would be nice to turn it off.
The master warning light on the dash now lights up every time you rev the
engine to 13,000rpm or higher. This implies that all three engines have
redlines at 13,000rpm, although Rick Genter said that the Ford and Mercedes
redline at 13,200rpm and the Honda at 13,500rpm. Also, when you have less
than 5 gallons of fuel, the light stays on all the time anyway, so it doesn't
really matter.
A few things about the replay have changed, too. The color of all the text
superimposed on the replay has been changed. The camera angle indicator is
now a light blue or light gray color. The driver information and timing have
been changed to a difficult to read dark blue. One of the craziest things is
that some of the camera angles have been renamed: nose is now front wing,
gearbox is now rearwing, and the forward-looking view previously known as
rearwing has been humorously renamed 'roof'. The last time I checked,
IndyCars didn't have roofs.
The driving model: I couldn't really tell much difference. I couldn't
get within 1.5 seconds of my best time at Cleveland, but I also didn't have my
setting file, so I don't know if it was the driving model or the setup.
However, the new qualifying setups seem pretty competitive. I did manage to
best my fastest lap at Milwaukee by 2mph, so maybe something has changed. Or
maybe the new QualAce setup is just 2mph better than mine.
Well, I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but I'm willing to answer any
questions you might have.
Clark Archer Speed Tribe
IVGA #3920 1996 Lola Honda Firestone
Yes, yes, yes! The same as others have said, and now as you stated, I
have witnessed the same effects on my system. It's too bad...
Hit ALT-J and version 1.0.1 shows up at the bottom right hand of the
screen with the JOYSTICK ON or OFF message.
Or DOSSTART.BAT if you're loading after shutting down Windows 95 to
run in MS-DOS mode. But yes, that mouse driver problem was driving me
crazy until I realized that every control when I tried to set it was
coming up with one of the mouse axes and not my joystick. So I did
what you mentioned here (comment out the MOUSE.EXE line) and then I
could set the controls ok.
Saw that and laughed. Roof...oh, well, similiarities for NASCAR fans?
No, you did great. You caught a lot of the little inconsistencies.
Now to see if the traction and yellow flags have been fixed...at least
they're in the README.DOC/TXT files.
The new Paintkit is cool, though!
Thanks for the report. It will help a lot of people who paid $54.95
to get the patch, that's for sure. Marketing at Sierra is pretty
savvy to delay the on-line release of DOS version 1.0.1 to see how
much money they could grab from those who ordered or went out and
purchased the new package (like me...I just had to see the Windows 95
interface for myself despite the reviews of the performance, to which
I will agree 100%...) But do I return it now that I've seen it for
myself? That is the $54 question....
KS
>For one, the sound the engine makes as it revs is very notchy. It reminds me
>of a video game from the early '80s as it almost sounds like a musical scale.
>In addition, when you shift up, the sound seems to bog down, almost like the
>car sprouted a CVT or something. Then the controls seem slow to respond,
>although I think this is probably a byproduct of the slow graphics.
Sounds more like Windows95 "lumpy multitasking", which us just what I
expected (and feared) would happen when you tried to put a simulation
on Win95.
Joe
Thanks for an excellent and detailed description of the new
updates/programs. After hearing it, my suspicions seem to be correct-
the new DOS version actually has some features that are *less* good
that the old one. Consequently, I am hoping they don't require us to
send the CD back to get the update- sending the front cover of the
manual (or even the whole manual) would be much preferable. If they
are desperate to have the CDs back, I suppose I could back up my old
CD (it only used 12 meg, I think), but that is a pain- and they have
no use for the CDs that I can think of.
It is nice to see the Sierra/Papyrus engineer Scott Marison posting
around here to try to get people's Win95 versions working better. Be
sure to check for his posts if you are having troubles.
Quoted text (62 lines)
>Well, a friend of mine bought himself ICR2 for Windows95 for his birthday so I >just had to go over and have a look. Here are some specifics about the >hardware: > Matrox MGA Millenium w/4MBWRAM; BIOS 2.0 > SoundBlaster16 Value > Thrustmaster Formula T2 >I have mixed feelings about the Windows 95 version. Driving around on the >Cleveland track, I noticed that at some places the frame rate was reaching >69fps. An UNBELIEVABLE number--I say unbelievable because it looked much >slower than the 30fps reported by the new DOS version. I'm not sure what the >problem is exactly, but the graphics are very choppy--it will run fine for 2-3 >seconds and then start messing up again. It is possibly a driver problem, but >there are some other strange things as well. >For one, the sound the engine makes as it revs is very notchy. It reminds me >of a video game from the early '80s as it almost sounds like a musical scale. >In addition, when you shift up, the sound seems to bog down, almost like the >car sprouted a CVT or something. Then the controls seem slow to respond, >although I think this is probably a byproduct of the slow graphics. >On the plus side, the new menus, car setting editor, paint shop, and replay >viewer are vast improvements over the DOS version. You can now set up your >entire car from one screen with no drilling down through menus to find the >right choice. A huge improvement is also made by letting you prioritize all >of the graphic options which are set to auto. This is a great feature! >Now on to the DOS version; this is, I assume, the same version that we will be >getting with THE PATCH. The first thing I noticed is that as the DOS version >starts up, it still claims that it is version 1.0.0. Hmmm. Not to worry, >there are several differences, but, unfortunately, they are not all good. The >first thing you notice is a snappy new intro screen. Then it's on to the >demo, where the cars now run around the circuit on Belle Isle. >There seems to be some problem with having a mouse driver loaded in DOS when >you try to set the ICR2 controls. All other devices are ignored in favor >of the mouse. This is a new bug, which, personally, I'm very surprised to >see. It is blatantly obvious. So much so, that it is listed in the readme >file on the CD-ROM. You must first comment out the line in your autoexec.bat >which loads the mouse driver and then set the controls. >Another change is a mandatory frame rate counter in the lower left corner of >the screen. It is very informative, but once you have your graphics options >cofigured to a comfortable setting, it would be nice to turn it off. >The master warning light on the dash now lights up every time you rev the >engine to 13,000rpm or higher. This implies that all three engines have >redlines at 13,000rpm, although Rick Genter said that the Ford and Mercedes >redline at 13,200rpm and the Honda at 13,500rpm. Also, when you have less >than 5 gallons of fuel, the light stays on all the time anyway, so it doesn't >really matter. >A few things about the replay have changed, too. The color of all the text >superimposed on the replay has been changed. The camera angle indicator is >now a light blue or light gray color. The driver information and timing have >been changed to a difficult to read dark blue. One of the craziest things is >that some of the camera angles have been renamed: nose is now front wing, >gearbox is now rearwing, and the forward-looking view previously known as >rearwing has been humorously renamed 'roof'. The last time I checked, >IndyCars didn't have roofs. >The driving model: I couldn't really tell much difference. I couldn't >get within 1.5 seconds of my best time at Cleveland, but I also didn't have my >setting file, so I don't know if it was the driving model or the setup. >However, the new qualifying setups seem pretty competitive. I did manage to >best my fastest lap at Milwaukee by 2mph, so maybe something has changed. Or >maybe the new QualAce setup is just 2mph better than mine. >Well, I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but I'm willing to answer any >questions you might have.>>Well, a friend of mine bought himself ICR2 for Windows95 for his birthday so
>>I just had to go over and have a look.
[SNIP]
[SNIP]
Has the dreaded traction bug and yellow flag bug been fixed? *fingers crossed*
--
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+------------------++------------------------+------------------+
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