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Rec.Autos.Simulators Archive

TOCA review

13 posts by 9 people · 03 Dec 1997 - 10 Dec 1997

Phil 03 Dec 1997#385397
I've just downloaded Codemasters demo of their new racing sim TOCA Touring Car Championship from [link lost in import: /'s] stunning. It's about time someone did a non-rally based European-style tin-top sim and they've excelled themselves. The realism is exceptional, especially with the animated driver's hands. The sound is ultra realistic and there is great attention to detail eg. the demo is of Donnington Park and you can see planes coming in to land at East Midlands Airport nearby, plus reflections of the car's lights on the track when it's wet. Another nice touch is the the way the other cars make errors and spin off (at least they do in easy mode) - too many driving sims have perfect oppenents which isn't realistic. On the negative side though, the demo suffers quite a bit from poor frame rate in high resolution mode, even with detail turned down (I run a P200,32Mb,3DFX). Having said that, it still looks great in lo-res. Another thing, I don't know if it's just my setup but I can't keep the ***y car in a straight line - it seems that the joystick loses it's X-axis null-zone and leaves you constantly correcting and weaving down the straights - I have two (new) joysticks, both by Logitech and they both do it. I've never had this problem before - does anyone else out there have the same difficulty ? I'm contacting Codemasters for advice. Based on the demo, I'd give it 8/10. Phil
wsiegle 03 Dec 1997#385398
i get a great framerate .... 200pp 32m 3dfx....
Mike Moxo 04 Dec 1997#385570
I have the same problems with keeping the car straight and so do other people I know using the demo and I promise its not the beer...... >I've just downloaded Codemasters demo of their new racing sim TOCA Touring >Car Championship from http://www.tou[link lost in import] and it's stunning. It's...........................etc
Nick Totor 04 Dec 1997#385571
<<I have the same problems with keeping the car straight and so do other people I know using the demo and I promise its not the beer>> My problem has been similar, but possibly a little different. I can keep the car straight, but can't turn. I have to turn my wheel a great deal to get even a little response from, the car. When it does turn, it goes nuts. Using the***pit view, I can follow the driver's hands when I turn the wheel and it takes quite a while. It's like the car turns all at once. Gearshifts and brake/throttle changes are near instantaneous, however. Is this similar to what you all are seeing? Nick _______________________________________________________________ #6, #99 & #94 in the quest for the Cup Owner, 1994 Ford SVT Mustang Cobra #728 My home away from home... [link lost in import] _______________________________________________________________
Joe McGinn 04 Dec 1997#385572
Quoted text (7 lines)> My problem has been similar, but possibly a little different. I can keep >the car straight, but can't turn. I have to turn my wheel a great deal to get >even a little response from, the car. When it does turn, it goes nuts. Using >the***pit view, I can follow the driver's hands when I turn the wheel and it >takes quite a while. It's like the car turns all at once. Gearshifts and >brake/throttle changes are near instantaneous, however. Is this similar to >what you all are seeing?
Nope, turning is quite natural qwith my T2 wheel. If anything it's overly sensitive - until I got used to it it was hard to keep the car on the road, because it turned so quickly. Joe
Nick Totor 05 Dec 1997#385738
<<Nope, turning is quite natural qwith my T2 wheel. If anything it's overly sensitive - until I got used to it it was hard to keep the car on the road, because it turned so quickly.>> I've gotcha' now. I realized my problem was that I said I had a digital wheel instead of an analogue wheel. I assumed that my T2 was a digital wheel. I always thought it was. As soon as I did, the steering responded... almost too much. It was difficult to make steering corrections without them being too much. Donnington is a fairly quick track and small steering input seemed over-boosted. Is there any remedy for this in the full version of the game? Nick _______________________________________________________________ #6, #99 & #94 in the quest for the Cup Owner, 1994 Ford SVT Mustang Cobra #728 My home away from home... http://ntotoro.home.mindspring.com/ _______________________________________________________________
R.D. 05 Dec 1997#385739
>i get a great framerate .... 200pp 32m 3dfx.... I have the same setup except I've got 64 meg and TOCA screams, This is THE BEST arcade racer I've ever seen. I will purchase it, even if I have to pay the extra bucks and buy it from across the pond :) Bob
Joe McGinn 05 Dec 1997#385740
> I've gotcha' now. I realized my problem was that I said I had a digital wheel >instead of an analogue wheel. I assumed that my T2 was a digital wheel. I always >thought it was. As soon as I did, the steering responded... almost too much. It was >difficult to make steering corrections without them being too much. Donnington is a >fairly quick track and small steering input seemed over-boosted. Is there any >remedy for this in the full version of the game? Yup, practice. ;-) Seriously, they do have a solid physics/driving model in the game, so the "practice" isn't as bad as you might think. The steering is tight, but the car weight/movement and skid recovery do have a nice, realistic feel to them. Play the demo for a couple nights, and you'll by flying. Maybe even try driving in the rain - in some ways it's easier to slide around some of the tight corners when it's wet. Maybe try the behind-the-car view until you're comfortable with the steering. Joe
24479 05 Dec 1997#385741
There doesn't seem to be steering help you get on some games (e.g. GP2) so steering does seem very sensitive if you're used to playing these kind of games - it's more realistic though. Anyway, somewhere in the controller setup of the TOCA demo you can change the sensitivity.
Bryan Bla 05 Dec 1997#385742
On 3 Dec 1997 19:10:31 GMT, "Phil" >On the negative side though, the demo suffers quite a bit from poor frame >rate in high resolution mode, even with detail turned down (I run a >P200,32Mb,3DFX). Having said that, it still looks great in lo-res. Erm the 3Dfx does'nt have a low res mode (Well not in TOCA anyway. Are you sure that its using this and not some stinky S3 card that you may have as your primary device. Bryan
Joe McGinn 05 Dec 1997#385743
>Erm the 3Dfx does'nt have a low res mode (Well not in TOCA anyway. Yes it does, the game calls it "Medium" res and runs it in 512x384. Boosts the frame rate quite nicely. Joe
Bryan Bla 08 Dec 1997#386183
>>Erm the 3Dfx does'nt have a low res mode (Well not in TOCA anyway. >Yes it does, the game calls it "Medium" res and runs it in 512x384. >Boosts the frame rate quite nicely. >Joe Just to avoid any confusion, I know 3Dfx TOCA supports MEDIUM res but what I meant was that it does'nt support LOW 320x240. Unless It's using some other 3D card as the display device. Bryan.
: I have the same problems with keeping the car straight and so do other : people I know using the demo and I promise its not the beer...... I am using Sidewinder 3D Pro and can keep the car straight. It is because it uses optical tracking. I think any other analog device will have the same problem. It is just like the case in Sega Rally. However, I still need to use the lowest sensitivity. Bernard Shum

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