Which Auto Sim to Buy?

I'm a casual fan of auto racing sims, which I like to play at the arcade. I'd love to get a good one for my PC, but don't know what to buy. I've looked for a FAQ for this newsgroup but can't find one, and I've read through most of the newsgroup, so please forgive me if this is an over-asked question. Hardware requirements aren't a concern, since I've got a 300 Mhz Pentium II w/ 64 Meg RAM. I'm interested in a game with some depth (adjustable car configuration, variety of tracks, etc.), realistic driving response, and perhaps most important, great Internet multi-player support (easy to do, good performance and reliability, and a large number of online users any time of the day or night). I'd like to know what other features most people find important (since I'm not very familiar with these games), and which sims people recommend based on my wants and their own opinions. I'm hoping the response will be more than a "My game is better than yours!" thread. :-) Thanks for your help! Jeff Carey

Thanks for the feedback! I downloaded a demo for NR2, but haven't been able to get it to run under Windows 95. The readme file indicates that it will only run if I reboot to DOS mode, but that doesn't seem to work for me either. Seems strange for a recently released game not to support Windows 95. Does the full retail version run under Windows 95? Have you had problems? I should have mentioned my operating system in the original post, but I forgot. Jeff

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>No doubt in my mind that Nascar Racing 2 is the best >On Sun, 11 Jan 1998 21:01:08 -0500, "Jeff Carey" >>I'm a casual fan of auto racing sims, which I like to play at the arcade. >>I'd love to get a good one for my PC, but don't know what to buy.

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No doubt in my mind that Nascar Racing 2 is the best On Sun, 11 Jan 1998 21:01:08 -0500, "Jeff Carey"

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>I'm a casual fan of auto racing sims, which I like to play at the arcade. >I'd love to get a good one for my PC, but don't know what to buy. I've >looked for a FAQ for this newsgroup but can't find one, and I've read >through most of the newsgroup, so please forgive me if this is an over-asked >question. >Hardware requirements aren't a concern, since I've got a 300 Mhz Pentium II >w/ 64 Meg RAM. >I'm interested in a game with some depth (adjustable car configuration, >variety of tracks, etc.), realistic driving response, and perhaps most >important, great Internet multi-player support (easy to do, good performance >and reliability, and a large number of online users any time of the day or >night). >I'd like to know what other features most people find important (since I'm >not very familiar with these games), and which sims people recommend based >on my wants and their own opinions. I'm hoping the response will be more >than a "My game is better than yours!" thread. :-) >Thanks for your help! >Jeff Carey

Man I gotta say try CPR its so much fun on the zone connex are great and you can communicate with other drivers while in your car too cool!! Aloha, Mike > On Sun, 11 Jan 1998 21:01:08 -0500, "Jeff Carey" > >I'm interested in a game with some depth (adjustable car configuration, > >variety of tracks, etc.), realistic driving response, and perhaps most > >important, great Internet multi-player support (easy to do, good performance > >and reliability, and a large number of online users any time of the day or > >night). > >Jeff Carey

The demo is quite buggy, and is nothing like the retail version of N2. N2 runs fine under Win95, but runs better IMHO under DOS mode...The one advantage to running under Win95 though, is that you could participate in the online TEN series called NROS (NASCAR Racing Online Series), racing packs of other crazed, and desperate human drivers at any of the tracks included. Worth every penny. Cheers! Marc

Yes Jeff totally free and wait till you visit! Nice folks some chat type rooms for bench racing plus the race rooms someone always seems to be there. Yes sim does look awesome and with your system should run quite nice. Aloha, Mike P.S. I read at the Apex site that you can even try the demp at the zone but you will be limited to only 2 players instead of 8 and only 4 laps at the demo track Laguna Seca. Hope to see you there!

> I'm interested in a game with some depth (adjustable car configuration, > variety of tracks, etc.), realistic driving response, and perhaps most > important, great Internet multi-player support (easy to do, good performance > and reliability, and a large number of online users any time of the day or > night). This is an easy one: Nascar 2 and the NROS. I've been jumping back and forth amongst all the top driving sims for quite some time, trying to decide which I want to stick with... I think I've settled on MS CPR for solo play and N2 for online play. If you have a preference for open-wheel racing, of course, you'll want to stick with CPR; but if it's Internet play you're looking for, go with N2. Just to give you a random sample (it's 1:00am EST), there are currently six racers on the Zone running a grand total of two races. There are almost 200 people running NROS! That's pretty much how it goes... I often find the Zone empty; never seen less than 20-30 on NROS. Funny, given that the Zone is free and the NROS requires a membership to TEN. In regards to connectivity and field size, I routinely run great 20 player races on NROS, whereas the zone supports a max of eight, I believe, and I've been in 4-player races with hideous latency problems. I'll keep trying the Zone (and I love CPR), but based on your criteria, the choice should be obvious...you won't be disappointed! Sean

Sean, Thanks for your reply. I been avoiding multiplayer games that require a subscription to TEN or one of the other online multiplayer services, but I'll check out TEN's subscription rates. Can I play multiplayer N2 without subscribing to TEN (is TEN just a "meeting place")? Jeff >> I'm interested in a game with some depth (adjustable car configuration, >> variety of tracks, etc.), realistic driving response, and perhaps most >> important, great Internet multi-player support (easy to do, good performance >> and reliability, and a large number of online users any time of the day or >> night). >This is an easy one: Nascar 2 and the NROS. I've been jumping back and forth >amongst all the top driving sims for quite some time, trying to decide which I >want to stick with... I think I've settled on MS CPR for solo play and N2 for >online play. If you have a preference for open-wheel racing, of course, you'll >want to stick with CPR; but if it's Internet play you're looking for, go with >N2. Just to give you a random sample (it's 1:00am EST), there are currently six >racers on the Zone running a grand total of two races. There are almost 200 >people running NROS! That's pretty much how it goes... I often find the Zone >empty; never seen less than 20-30 on NROS. Funny, given that the Zone is free >and the NROS requires a membership to TEN. In regards to connectivity and field >size, I routinely run great 20 player races on NROS, whereas the zone supports a >max of eight, I believe, and I've been in 4-player races with hideous latency >problems. I'll keep trying the Zone (and I love CPR), but based on your >criteria, the choice should be obvious...you won't be disappointed! >Sean

On Sun, 11 Jan 1998 21:01:08 -0500, "Jeff Carey" >I'm a casual fan of auto racing sims, which I like to play at the arcade. >I'd love to get a good one for my PC, but don't know what to buy. I've >looked for a FAQ for this newsgroup but can't find one, and I've read >through most of the newsgroup, so please forgive me if this is an over-asked >question. Given your hardware, these are my recommendations, in order of preference... On-line racing : NASCAR Racing 2 (NROS - the best by far) F1 Racing Sim (via "Where To Race" on Kali) CART Precision Racing (via The Zone) Off-line racing : F1 Racing Simulation NASCAR Racing 2 Indycar Racing 2 Grand Prix 2 SODA Off-road Racing CART Precision Racing Beware that some of the above are really "pure sims", which do not lend themselves well to being easy to drive. If you are looking for something fun but manageable I'd recommend... Arcade : F1 Racing Simulation (good arcade mode) Grand Prix 2 CART Precision Racing Hope it helps, and please let me know if you have any questions. Cheers! John

>I been avoiding multiplayer games that require a >subscription to TEN or one of the other online multiplayer services, >but >I'll check out TEN's subscription rates. TEN is really very reasonable, $39.95 for 3 months of unlimited online racing. That equals $13 bucks a month, well worth it in my mind. Yes and no. You can play N2 online for free with Kali or Heat, but it is very frustrating quality-wise. NROS on TEN is the deal, you get what you pay for. -/- Walk Walker

My $.02: If you want a fun driving game with free network play then check out pod by Ubisoft. Great gfx and fun gameplay. They even have their own servers for network play for up to 8 simul. players. Loads of fun, but not a sim. Arcade all the way, but mucho coolo nonetheless. Bill -------- "NASCAR is the Professional Wrestling of Motorsport." -Me-

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> Sean, > Thanks for your reply. I been avoiding multiplayer games that require a > subscription to TEN or one of the other online multiplayer services, but > I'll check out TEN's subscription rates. Can I play multiplayer N2 without > subscribing to TEN (is TEN just a "meeting place")? > Jeff

It's worth noting that internet play for racing sims is a VERY tricky situation. It's not like Quake or similar action games where net lag is "just one of them deals". If you experence net lag in a racing game, you more than likley crash. That's why you need super specialized optimsed play, which you get from Nascar2 NROs on TEN. Kevin This article was posted from <A HREF="http://www.slurp.net/">Slurp Net</A>.