ICR2 patch (1.02) & LongBeach

Hello all, After installing the 1.02 PATCH, I'm seeing a problem at LongBeach! As the AI cars are pulling out of their pit stall and coming down pitroad, they turn left into the wall on the left side of pitroad and stay on the grass area where all the trees are between pitroad and the track! Anyone else seen this? It happens every time I race there! I checked the new LONGBCH.TXT file and it's the same as the original as far as I can tell but after that I copied the original LONGBCH.DAT file from the CD and the problem went away. This would indicate that the new LONGBCH.DAT file is wacky! Right? Also, after e-mailing Sierra Tech Support to try and find out info on the PATCH (this was the other day, before I DL'd it from the internet)A guy by the name of Bob responded to me today and said "the patch hasn't been released yet". OK, now I'm confused!?!? Sal V.

: After installing the 1.02 PATCH, I'm seeing a problem at LongBeach! As the : AI cars are pulling out of their pit stall and coming down pitroad, they turn : left into the wall on the left side of pitroad and stay on the grass area : where all the trees are between pitroad and the track! Anyone else seen : this? It happens every time I race there! I checked the new LONGBCH.TXT : file and it's the same as the original as far as I can tell but after that I : copied the original LONGBCH.DAT file from the CD and the problem went away. : This would indicate that the new LONGBCH.DAT file is wacky! Right? I am not sure if the problem is in the .dat file or the .txt file. They did make a change the .txt file relating to the pits. You might want to try loading the patched .dat file and the original 1.00 version of the .txt file. If this makes things behave, let us know. : Also, after e-mailing Sierra Tech Support to try and find out info on the : PATCH (this was the other day, before I DL'd it from the internet)A guy by : the name of Bob responded to me today and said "the patch hasn't been : released yet". That's because Sierra hasn't released the patch yet. It may be that some employee of Papyrus mistakenly put the patch file in the wrong directory on Hawaii. It sorta just leaked out, like the Pentagon Papers ;-) Well, that's the story and I'm sticking to it! If you ask me again, I'll just say I can't recall... : OK, now I'm confused!?!? : Sal V. -- **************************** Michael E. Carver ************************* Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./. [- < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I too noticed this wacko feature happening.. an AI car was driving on the grass inbetween the two walls along pits straight and then proceeded down the straight and hit the corner at the end and bounced off the wall with no damage.. Oh well, maybe its just a bug at the beginning.. ??

[snip] : I too noticed this wacko feature happening.. an AI car was driving on : the grass inbetween the two walls along pits straight and then : proceeded down the straight and hit the corner at the end and bounced : off the wall with no damage.. Oh well, maybe its just a bug at the : beginning.. ?? Nope the AI can pull this off any time they come out of the pits. I think they are trying to avoid the radar guns for pit speed violations ;-) -- **************************** Michael E. Carver ************************* Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./. [- < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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> Hello all, > After installing the 1.02 PATCH, I'm seeing a problem at LongBeach! As the > AI cars are pulling out of their pit stall and coming down pitroad, they turn > left into the wall on the left side of pitroad and stay on the grass area > where all the trees are between pitroad and the track! Anyone else seen > this? It happens every time I race there! I checked the new LONGBCH.TXT > file and it's the same as the original as far as I can tell but after that >SNIP.... > I didn't explain this correctly! What I did to get LONGBEACH working

correctly was to copy ALL OF THE ORIGINAL LONGBEACH FILES from the CD back into the longbch directory to overwrite what the 1.02 patch had written. In other words I just put the old 1.0 files back into Longbeach and the AI cars now drive down pitroad correctly. Meanwhile I don't know what I'll be missing from the 1.02 Longbeach but I guess it'll be traction for one thing. I don't care after seeing all of the AI cars driving through the grass & trees. Anyone else seen this or what??? thanx, Sal V.

!> !> > !> > Hello all, !> > !> > After installing the 1.02 PATCH, I'm seeing a problem at LongBeach! As the !> > AI cars are pulling out of their pit stall and coming down pitroad, they turn !> > left into the wall on the left side of pitroad and stay on the grass area !> > where all the trees are between pitroad and the track! Anyone else seen !> > this? It happens every time I race there! I checked the new LONGBCH.TXT !> > file and it's the same as the original as far as I can tell but after that !> >SNIP.... !> > I didn't explain this correctly! What I did to get LONGBEACH working !> correctly was to copy ALL OF THE ORIGINAL LONGBEACH FILES from the CD back !> into the longbch directory to overwrite what the 1.02 patch had written. In !> other words I just put the old 1.0 files back into Longbeach and the AI cars !> now drive down pitroad correctly. Meanwhile I don't know what I'll be !> missing from the 1.02 Longbeach but I guess it'll be traction for one thing. !> I don't care after seeing all of the AI cars driving through the grass & !> trees. Anyone else seen this or what??? !> !> thanx, !> !> Sal V. I have not seen Long Beach AI cars DRIVING on the grassy area, but I HAVE seen them *parked* there, in ICR2 Version 1.0.0. I have briefly played the 1.0.2 version and seem to remember seeing a lot of cars in the grassy area, but didn't take the time to investigate. ken

I have done some checking on the Long Beach longbch.txt file. The changes made to this file only seem to relate to the spacing of the cars on pit road. It does not seem to have any bearing on the behavior of the AI cars using the grass between the outside pit walls. The really odd (bad) thing about this is the date stamps on the files. LONGBCH.DAT was last modified/patched 3/25/96. The txt file was patched 6/5/96. For this bug to sit around plainly visible for 3 months and not be addressed for such a bally-hooed patch is beyond me. Not only was this supposed to be a major patch (7 months in the making), it was to be the next major step in the release of the DOS/Win95/Mac version. Then again, I guess it wasn't really a major patch since it was only a move from 1.00 to 1.01! -- **************************** Michael E. Carver ************************* Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./. [- < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I'll say it was a major patch- it was the patch that destroyed Papyrus' and Sierra's reputation for many here. Both the wait for it, and the realization that apparently nobody really paid attention peoples complaints for 8 months at Papyrus. This was a true "patch job." It sure seems IndyCar Sim fans lost when Sierra bought Papyrus. The local software salesman I talk to says that from their point of view, IndyCar sales amount to almost nothing, and thus we are totally expendable. NASCAR will probably be given proper attention, because it is a real seller, for NASCAR racing popularity reasons. As I see it, the path the history of Papyrus has taken seems to be this. Papyrus originally intended to make the greatest IndyCar sim, started with Indy 500 the Sim. They did moderately well in sales, and so moved on to ICR, figured out that to really go all the way with the IndyCar sim, they needed to make a truly saleable product, something with mass appeal... and came up with NASCAR. That made them secure to go ahead with their quest, the ultimate Indy sim, ICR2... finally got toward the end of that project, and pressure of corporate buyout began, and the rest is what we see today. The bottom line seems to me to be that Papyrus was founded on an indycar dream, and, ironically, got bought out finally because NASCAR did so amazingly well, and now that Indycar dream gone. But I think we can be sure NASCAR will be well supported, and if the new Microsoft-like corporate malaise Sierra has set Papyrus ever relaxes, Papyrus might indeed finish that "NASCAR2." On the other hand, it may be in Sierra's best interest to just keep the copyright on NASCAR and make sure nobody else makes anything similar, so it can with no effort just continue to collect NASCAR profits for the next 2 or so years it will be valuable. You see that a lot in the music buisness; corporate suffocation of bands they sign. I think they'll definitely do this with IndyCar; they clearly have no reason to make ICR sims, and they have the legal power to make sure nobody else makes them. All so they can collect the meager income from ICR2, squeezing whatever is left in the sponge.

[snip] : On the other hand, it may be in Sierra's best interest to just keep : the copyright on NASCAR and make sure nobody else makes anything : similar, so it can with no effort just continue to collect NASCAR : profits for the next 2 or so years it will be valuable. You see that a : lot in the music buisness; corporate suffocation of bands they sign. I : think they'll definitely do this with IndyCar; they clearly have no : reason to make ICR sims, and they have the legal power to make sure : nobody else makes them. All so they can collect the meager income from : ICR2, squeezing whatever is left in the sponge. You mean like getting the suckers to fork over $15.00 to "upgrade" to the something they were promised would be had for free? It is sad, but I think alot of what you had to say has merit. The real core of the original Papyrus Design Team was Indycar enthusiasts. The only real hope we have is that CART can continue to expand their TV market over the next couple of years. Just a few years ago NASCAR wasn't as big as it is now (though it was for me). NASCAR has made GIANT strides in marketing itself. Hopefully CART can take lessons from what NASCAR has done. This way Sierra can make their "bean-counter" decisions and really support their Papyrus Design Team in producing the "dream" IndyCar simulation. Of course by then Papyrus may have been Dynamix'ed. Sierra had better be careful. Take a look at the F1 simulations coming out this fall. They may have a corner on the USA racing sims at the moment. But they could very well loose this lead if they don't clean up their act now. -- **************************** Michael E. Carver ************************* Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./. [- < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=