GP2: Impressions and somewhat review.

I just unwrapped my copy of WORLD CIRCUIT: GRAND PRIX II, that I received from Gabe Turk at Spectrum for evaluation. WOW. Let's start with the SOUND. You can smell the clutch burning!!! GRAPHICS: Move over NASCAR II, and INDYCAR II. Photo realistic comes to mind. You GOTTA see Monaco...I crashed several times looking out at the Villas on the hills. Talk about the Boat Harbor, there's boats in the Harbor. BEST GRAPHICS of any racing sim...NO QUESTION. CARS: Looks like a choice of FARARRI, WILLIAMS, LOTUS...etc...etc. Seems you pick your car when you pick your team, 10 to 14 teams, I fergit exactly, but PLENTY to choose from. Two driver slots per team, and of course, you can edit the team name and driver's names. TRACKS: Looks like we lost Mexico and Phoenix, but gained Pacific, 16 Circuits in all. Talk about GRAPHICS. The tracks are STUNNING. Did I mention the "groove" sound that your tires make when you cross over the curbs...you know that "ribribribrib" sound, and it comes from the SPEAKER that is on the side of the car that has the tire off the track. Dopler...shit, this is awesome. SEtups...I'll leave that to you experts, but it looks like you have MORE control of the setup of the car than you did in F1GP. Braking ratios, gear ratios, tire selection, suspension, etc. Did I mention the "CLUTCH" sound when shifting gears... TRACKS: You NOT have to re-learn the tracks that you know from the old version. The tracks are the same...surprize. I found that my cues were all there and I was turning some respectable times first time out. At Monza I was near my previous times. The WALL of death is still there at Hock...the *** area is still a transmission killer at Monaco...but you will remember the power braking spots quickly, me thinks. At least I am/did. Did I mention the engine sounds....FANTASTIC...PERIOD. TIRES: You have to take it easy on startups. You can, and I suspect will, burn off quite a bit of ***, and don't forget to look out the rear view mirrors (one on each side) to bear witness to it. The smoke plumes are fantastic. Did I mention the *** burning sound...HEHEHEHE Options...If you need more options than this call for therapy. You can adjust ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. Sound, video, detail, names, dates, measurments...etc..etc...etc. Did I mention the statistical log that the data logger keeps of you laps...that can be review in GRAPH form... Oh, then again there is the HOT LAP tape that you can record. There are too many features to mention, but here are some. Realistic teams, drivers and sponsers. Great 3D effects on the graphics. Selectable FAILURE modelling. Trans, oil leaks...etc. Full race strategy planning, pre-planned pit stops. Did I mention the way the car shakes, rattles and rolls when you get off the racing surface. WARNING: stay off the dirt, it is a killer on the undercarriage and it is a pain to get off of the dirt. If you must spin...do so near the grass...hehehe SVGA...resolution...STUNNING, GORGEOUS. CHEATS: All the F1GP "aids" are there, for those of you (us?) who are lilly livered, at least at the start. YOu wanna know something, this sim is MORE FUN than NASCAR and INDYCAR, it allows you to get in and TEAR UP SOME ASPHALT. BUT, it has all the realism that you could want as well. You can (and I will) turn off all the niceity things and go for it, if you wish. But you can just jump in and start racing as well. It has a great level of choice. CONTROLLERS...you can configure ANY type of control known to man. PERIOD. I setup my THRUSTMASTER T2 controls in NO TIME and was out on the track at MONZA just like that. It has the ability to store up to 8 different controller configurations....I said 8. Did I mention the music...really good music...I know, who cares, but it is really good racing music. Ah, what about the FRAME RATE. TOTALLY adjustable. TOTALLY. I fear that the 486 boyz are gonna be driving this thing too. I was hoping for an "elitest" type thing for us power users, but this thing can be completely adjusted for frame rate. On my machine I'm getting the MAX with the MAX. Bottom line...MUST HAVE, that's M U S T H A V E. Get your sleeping bag, go down to the local software place and camp at the door... GET IT as soon as you can it is going to be a winner. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION. Above based on a P6 200, Matrox Mill 4 meg, 32 megs ram running from DOS. Have fun, I'm am... JEB in Vegas (actually Monaco...hehehe)

Are you kidding? When you arrive at the chicane preceeding Hockenheim's Ostkurve, I think you may have a little surprise.....I know I did! Several tracks have changed, not a lot, but just some corrections and updates since GP1. Cheers! John PS - Try taking Adelaide's Senna "S" in sixth gear as we used to do on GP1! _________________________________ __ _____| |_____ __ ________| |__| :| John Wallace | |__| |________ \ :| |::| :| Team WW Racing TSW | |::| | / > :| |::| :|_________________________________| |::| | < / :|__|::|____/ * Sim Racing News * \____|::|__| \ /______:/ \::/ http://sneezy.dcn.ed.ac.uk/simnews/index.htm \::/ \._____\ http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/~harmon/simnews

It's not really Doppler _at all_. The "Doppler-effect" means that the sound of something that is moving *towards* you will have a higher pitch (?) than the same sound when it is *moving away*. This because the soundwaves are compressed-stretched out. Think about an ambulance with his siren and the difference in sound when it comes at you or drives away from you. Just to put it straight :-) Enjoy the game (even without Doppler) "Gravity doesn't exist; the Earth sucks!"

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> >TRACKS: You NOT have to re-learn the tracks that you know from > >the old version. The tracks are the same...surprize. > Are you kidding? > When you arrive at the chicane preceeding Hockenheim's Ostkurve, I think > you may have a little surprise.....I know I did! Several tracks have > changed, not a lot, but just some corrections and updates since GP1. > Cheers! > John > PS - Try taking Adelaide's Senna "S" in sixth gear as we used to do on > GP1!

I'm finding that my basic driving style vis a vis my setup has not changed greatly from the previous version. I do recognise that there are some differences in the tracks, some subtle, some not, but overall I would say I know these tracks and had no problem getting within 5 to 10 seconds of my previous times, without the benefit of my previous setups. So I can't say that the tracks are entirely new. Of course excepting the two new additions, Pacific and the new European track. They are just pretty familiar to me. Now the setup system...that's pretty new and a lot different in my view. JEB in Vegas

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>I just unwrapped my copy of WORLD CIRCUIT: GRAND PRIX II, that I >received >from Gabe Turk at Spectrum for evaluation. >WOW. >Let's start with the SOUND. You can smell the clutch burning!!!

Sounds like a Murray Walker quote to me! -- Mark Dyball

View a car from a trackside camera and listen when it passes... Great Doppler-effect. :-) -- Lennart Gr?nlund http://www.pip.dknet.dk/~pip2351/

>>Enjoy the game (even without Doppler) >View a car from a trackside camera and listen when it passes... Great >Doppler-effect. :-) OK. I've experienced it also in the mean time. But I was at least partly right because he referred to the kerb-sound :-) "Gravity doesn't exist; the Earth sucks!"

Sorry for posting this 5 times, but this newsserver.... Oops! This makes it five! Well, I better go now :-) Jo "Gravity doesn't exist; the Earth sucks!"

But then again, how should he experience Doppler when car and driver are travelling at the same speed? :-)))))) -- Lennart Gr?nlund http://www.pip.dknet.dk/~pip2351/

>>Enjoy the game (even without Doppler) >View a car from a trackside camera and listen when it passes... Great >Doppler-effect. :-) OK. I've experienced it also in the mean time. But I was at least partly right because he referred to the kerb-sound :-) "Gravity doesn't exist; the Earth sucks!"