TOCA: First Impressions

Hi, Just got my copy of TOCA for the PC and I thought I'd post my comments. I've played the game for a couple of hours now and my first impressions are as follows: 1. Not a simulation There is no option to change any car settings, except manual or automatic shifting. 2. Arcade style gameplay Only Donington GP and Silverstone National are available at the start of the game. To unlock the other tracks you need to progress in the championship. You progress according to the points you score in each race. You have to score 20 points per meeting to progress and points are awarded according to championship rules (15-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1). This means you have to finish on average 3rd in both races to progress. 3. Relatively high difficulty There are no driver aids such as autobraking, best line, etc. The absence of best line is a major loss in my opinion as none of the tracks have been accurately modelled in a sim in recent years (Geoff Crammond's Revs is the only one that comes to mind). This means that the tracks are going to take a long time to learn, particularly for those who don't see much British racing on TV 4. Tracks accurately modelled I'm very impressed by the two tracks I've been able to race on so far. For example, the entrance to McLeans at Donington includes the infamous bump which throws the car off balance. Silverstone's new sections are highlighted by a change in surface texture. Can't wait to race Brands and Thruxton. For those wondering, Brands and Oulton Park are only included in their short configurations as the full circuits weren't used in BTCC '97 (have to wait for GPL for a Brands Hatch GP model) 5. Cars are _very_ responsive Its extremely tricky to control the cars using the keyboard. Despite owning an old GP1 I've always been a keyboard driver, but its much easier to use the wheel in TOCA. The weaving that I (and others) experienced in the demo seems to have disappeared, although that might be down to my settings - I've got digital throttle and brake and analogue steering set up, with sensitivity set to low. However, Super Tourers are very twitchy cars anyway, steering response has to be fast to wrestle them through corners. 5. Performance I've got a Cyrix P166+, Righteous 3d, 32mb of RAM. With this configuration I need to set low detail, high resolution to get an acceptable framerate. I'm upgrading my CPU shortly (P200MMX) so I should be able to provide a comparison. I would not like to play this game without a 3d accelerator. Overall, the game seems to have potential, although I would have preferred an option to set up the car. I think the arcade style progression is probably going to***a lot of people off too. 8/10 Cheers, Alan Head ************************* Screamer 2 homepages: http://www.feature.demon.co.uk/games.htm ----------------------------------------- Grand Prix Legends (from Papyrus) page http://www.feature.demon.co.uk/gpl/gpl.htm __________________________________________

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>Hi, >Just got my copy of TOCA for the PC and I thought I'd post my >comments. >I've played the game for a couple of hours now and my first >impressions are as follows: >1. Not a simulation >There is no option to change any car settings, except manual or >automatic shifting.

Yep, just brought it too. Seems a little silly there is no setup options This is utter, utter crap. This is a huge flaw in the game, and i can't even begin to describe how ripped off i feel at this. Codemasters go rot in hell. Not such a bad point- there are subtle hints to the racing line- tire marks, etc It's joystick on wheel time, yes. 9/10 for game 0/10 for implemtation and the ***arcade progression.

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>Alan Head >************************* >Screamer 2 homepages: >http://www.feature.demon.co.uk/games.htm >----------------------------------------- >Grand Prix Legends (from Papyrus) page >http://www.feature.demon.co.uk/gpl/gpl.htm >__________________________________________

Ok, I'm very interested in buying this *if* it compares up to the Playstation version (sorry to swear!). If it's a straight port, I can't wait to load it up with my T2 wheel... one of the shortcomings on the PS was that the car was to responsive on an analouge joystick, and the digital controllers were a pain in the arse. But if gameplay wise it's identical, then I would have to say this is a very good game. Not quote a NFS (the original one) but very close. And I'd say it's not too far from a simulation - I wouldn't go as far as to call it an out-and-out arcade game. The braking and acceleration and distinct changes in the cars handling are all quite good, and the tracks I've tried are spot on (I've driven round Donnington, and it's identical). I would say "Get the demo, see if you like it, don't consider it without 3dfx, and get a quality joystick/steering wheel". Cheers, and have fun! Dan

I've *heard* the PSX is better graphically, which, based on playing the 3dfx demo, seems easy to believe. IMHO, the demo was't that good in the graphics dept.

Ok, I went back to EB today and got a refund on my Playstation, and got the PC version (I tried the demo; it knocks the socks of the PSX version). Got it home, installed it, and the fuggin' thing won't even run! It says "Not enough memory, close down some applications". Well, hey Codemasters, I'd love to, but apart from Toca there's nothing running in my 64Mb system.... so what gives!? I'll be telephoning support on Monday but if anyone has an immediate solution to this, I'd love to hear it. Cheers, Dan

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>>Hi, >>2. Arcade style gameplay >>Only Donington GP and Silverstone National are available at the start >>of the game. To unlock the other tracks you need to progress in the >>championship. You progress according to the points you score in each >>race. You have to score 20 points per meeting to progress and points >>are awarded according to championship rules (15-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1). >>This means you have to finish on average 3rd in both races to >>progress. >This is utter, utter crap. This is a huge flaw in the game, and i can't even >begin to describe how ripped off i feel at this. Codemasters go rot in hell.

Yep, TOCA is just like another Codies release this year, a gem with a very visible flaw which greatly reduces it's value. Jonah Lomu rugby was the first decent rugby computer sim. It played great on the PS and felt 'just right'. However, Codies decided that they would hard code the length of the match to a maximum of 5 (count em) minutes. That's 2.5 minutes each way. For me at least that destroyed the game totally. This unlocking business has no place in a serious arcade racer. This company only seems to be able to aim for the under 12's in their approach to software. They are a two bit budget house and always will be. Just as I could have cried over the way they destroyed JLR, I feel the same about TOCA. Why. Why. WHY dammit?