Pysgnosis F1 on ITV GP Coverage - What Setup's Running?

For this season's races, ITV are using F1 to show the punters the layout of the track. Melbourne looked quite ordinary (but it is pretty characterless in real-life), but yesterday it was Brazil, and the detail was stunning. All the gradients were there, as were the banking and the off-camber turns. Does anyone know what machine spec is running that? It looked to be doing around 15 fps in 640x480. Could this be the killer title that makes me take the plunge and buy a 3D board? And who cares if it is arcade-like as the general concensus of opinion suggests? With the courses that accurate, it should make a good blast when I cannot be bothered with GP2's full realism. Ken -- #include <disclaim>

Here's the scoop as best as I know it. F1 is a 3d accelerator REQUIRED game. That's why it was so smooth. In fact, the 15fps you were seeing is due to the way PAL displays images (this was explained to me in news.3dfx.titles) so the actual game will have that same detail but run at 30fps, not 15 as you saw. To really take advantage of this title, purchase any of the 3dfx related cards. They're cheap now, and fast. In fact, I hedge a bet that after playing an accelerated game on a 3dfx, you will have a hard time going back to unaccelearted games. Just my opinion, and I'm waiting for this title also (and waiting for the D3d patch for I76 'cause I am having a really hard time going back). Dean Olmstead

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> For this season's races, ITV are using F1 to show the punters the > layout of the track. Melbourne looked quite ordinary (but it is pretty > characterless in real-life), but yesterday it was Brazil, and the > detail was stunning. All the gradients were there, as were the banking > and the off-camber turns. > Does anyone know what machine spec is running that? It looked to be > doing around 15 fps in 640x480. Could this be the killer title that > makes me take the plunge and buy a 3D board? > And who cares if it is arcade-like as the general concensus of opinion > suggests? With the courses that accurate, it should make a good blast > when I cannot be bothered with GP2's full realism. > Ken > -- > #include <disclaim>

Yep. I'm on 3Dfx and there ain't noway I'm going to give this up. But when is Formula 1 coming out? -- Kulvinder Singh Matharu

(SNIP my own BS) > Yep. I'm on 3Dfx and there ain't noway I'm going to give this up. > But when is Formula 1 coming out? > -- > Kulvinder Singh Matharu I think it's planned for a May release, although I'm not completely sure. Dean Olmstead

The ITV F1 runaround is running on a Pentium Pro 200 with a Monster3D, but RELAX, this is just overkill (I wanted it to look as fast as possible). I think that it loses quite a bit of framerate due to the video convertor. You will probably see much better results on a P166 with a conventional monitor setup. As for the release date, as far as I'm aware it will be at the end of April. Mark Craig (Lead Programmer F1 PC) The above views and opnions are my own and in no way reflect the views of my company 'Bizarre Creations' or our publisher 'Psygnosis'

Darn right. F1 is great. The Playstation version has 2 modes - Arcade (great for newcomers and laughing at the outrageous shortcuts and shunts you can produce) and a Simulation mode which feels good and needs some practice to get good at. Sure its not as detailed a sim as GP2, but it is great fun and looks fab. If the PC version's frame rate is near the Playstation's and the graphics are higher res then it'll be a winner. A big thankyou to Mark Craig, the F1 lead programmer for PC , for participating in this newsgroup - it's always good to get the real scoop.

Hiya Ken! Psygnosis (or Bizarre Creations) "F1" runs on both Voodoo 3dFX and Rendition based 3D cards, and also on Direct3D if you don't have a 3D card. I tried the 3dFX version which was gobsmackingly gorgeous and 30fps in SVGA, and from chatting with the team the Rendition one is equivalent (I haven't seen this since it wasn't finished when I last visited). The Direct3D version was noticably slower than the 3D versions (obviously) but the frame rate could be cranked up if you're willing to sacrifice some detail. Take a look at the Flash-3D 3dFX board. Less than 120 here in the UK and ideal for this game. If you thought Brazil looked nice wait till you see Hockenheim and Adelaide with the trees and inclines. Lovely! Cheers! John PS - Did you know I'm now staying about 200m from you? I moved house over to Newington!

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> > Does anyone know what machine spec is running that? It looked to be > > doing around 15 fps in 640x480. Could this be the killer title that > > makes me take the plunge and buy a 3D board? > Hiya Ken! > Psygnosis (or Bizarre Creations) "F1" runs on both Voodoo 3dFX and > Rendition based 3D cards, and also on Direct3D if you don't have a 3D card. > I tried the 3dFX version which was gobsmackingly gorgeous and 30fps in > SVGA, and from chatting with the team the Rendition one is equivalent (I > haven't seen this since it wasn't finished when I last visited). The > Direct3D version was noticably slower than the 3D versions (obviously) but > the frame rate could be cranked up if you're willing to sacrifice some > detail.

A PC mag (Gamer?) said that slowdown and popup still was evident on a P166/3Dfx at Monaco when running at less that full detail. Has performance been over hyped? Where did you get to play it, and was there a framerate counter? I've seen Flash 3D for 130 quid (sold out), what's your source? I'm disappointed with rendition. Mark Reading, UK

On Wed, 02 Apr 1997 23:41:15 GMT, "Mark Craig"

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>The ITV F1 runaround is running on a Pentium Pro 200 with a Monster3D, but >RELAX, this is just overkill (I wanted it to look as fast as possible). I >think that it loses quite a bit of framerate due to the video convertor. >You will probably see much better results on a P166 with a conventional >monitor setup. >As for the release date, as far as I'm aware it will be at the end of >April. >Mark Craig (Lead Programmer F1 PC) >The above views and opnions are my own and in no way reflect the views of >my company 'Bizarre Creations' or our publisher 'Psygnosis'

Thanks for the info. I've got some quotes from Psygnosis from one of the 3Dfx web sites where they talked about future support for 3D hardware. Good stuff. I read somewhere that Formula 1 will support in-car "cockpit" view but I've also read somewhere that it will be "behind and above" view. Who's right? -- Kulvinder Singh Matharu

: :> Does anyone know what machine spec is running that? It looked to be :> doing around 15 fps in 640x480. Could this be the killer title that :> makes me take the plunge and buy a 3D board? : :Hiya Ken! Hi John! Long time no talk. :Psygnosis (or Bizarre Creations) "F1" runs on both Voodoo 3dFX and Yes, I should have said Bizarre, not Psygnosis (and it's a damn site easier to spell!) :Rendition based 3D cards, and also on Direct3D if you don't have a 3D card. :I tried the 3dFX version which was gobsmackingly gorgeous and 30fps in :SVGA, and from chatting with the team the Rendition one is equivalent (I :haven't seen this since it wasn't finished when I last visited). The :Direct3D version was noticably slower than the 3D versions (obviously) but :the frame rate could be cranked up if you're willing to sacrifice some :detail. : :Take a look at the Flash-3D 3dFX board. Less than 120 here in the UK and :ideal for this game. If you thought Brazil looked nice wait till you see :Hockenheim and Adelaide with the trees and inclines. Lovely! Sounds great - just a few more weeks to wait... :Cheers! :John : :PS - Did you know I'm now staying about 200m from you? I moved house over :to Newington! Oh gawd, there goes the neighbourhood! Ken PS: Yesterday I signed away my life savings <g> to go to Monaco next month - 3 nights in Nice and a grandstand seat by the chicane past the tunnel :-) -- #include <disclaim>