I guess I've kinda been waiting for a good off-road racing sim. IMHO,
this could be the one. I've been playing the demo all morning, and
after tweaking the car, and learning the track ... I must say I'm
impressed. This is the first off road sim that I've tried that
actually gives you a "feel" for what's happening to you and your car.
The best part is : This game supports the Verite chip !!!
The graphics, disregarding that the frame rate is slow, are very good.
If you've ever tried Need For Speed 2, you will know what I'm talking
about. In NFS2, the ground seems to float in front of you. Sometimes
the road doesn't look like it's moving under your car. It doesn't
give you the impression of speed. I've not tried this demo without a
Rendition chipped video card, but SODA's graphic representation of
movement and speed are great. I'm optimistic about the frame rate.
Papyrus has done a good job with ICR2, and Nascar2. I don't see any
reason why they would not be able to get this game running as good, if
not better. I noticed while playing the demo, that there is not
anti-aliasing happening, nor is there any translucent dust. ICR2,
with both of these features turned on, has a screaming framerate
compared to SODA's beta demo. Call me silly, but I beleive that the
framerate of this game will be much better -- when the finished
product is released.
It took me a while to get the feel of the car. It was only when I
remembered watching off road racing in person, that I realized that
the cars were supposed to slide sideways through the corners. I've
been playing ICR2 too much. In that game, you never want to be
sliding whatsoever. In SODA, it's no big deal -- as long as you get
the hang of countersteering continuously. Once you do, you are in for
a great time. Powering through the corners, drifting all four wheels
... ahhh ... it feels great.
Another note. In an apparent attempt to FORCE you to play with the
setup of the car: Papyrus has once again dealt us a crappy hand. The
stock setup of the car sucks. As the stock setups sucked in Nascar
and the ICR games.
After a few hours, I came up with this ... try it, as it may work for
you too.
150hp
Medium Tread
5.8% camber
Front Spring 132%
Rear Spring 130%
Front Shock 130%
Rear Shcck 108%
Weight -0.06m
Reverse 0 to -20
1st 0 to 26
2nd 16 to 39
3rd 25 to 62
4th 36 to 88
Steering Lock 22.4 degrees
As you should notice, the greatest change I made was in reversing the
front and rear spring/shocik rates. I also added some weight to the
rear, and removed some negative camber. This resulted in a less
oversteered car, that was much more predictable through a powerslide.
I also reduced the steering. All of these adjustments were made
because I felt that the stock setup was FAR too twitchy, and prone to
spinning out. The gearing, in it's current setup is not what I'm
really happy with ... It's my next project. ;)
I would imagine that this setup of mine will change ... as I get
better, and can fine tune the car to my driving style ever more.
As it is, however, I'm awaiting this game's release. Period.
***********************************************
In order to respond by email, expand the "pdx"
to "portland" in my address.
I thought maybe it was my puter causing the frame rate trouble......It is
quite bad compared to nascar2 and icr2.......Im with you in hopes that
Papyrus takes care of the problem before the full version comes out.
Racer-Murray
