TOCA disappointment

I don't know about you lot but while I think TOCA could be fantastic, as a lot of people obviously think, there are some major problems. First is the graphics : While I only have a P133 with Righteous you would expect to get a perfectly smooth game with low detail, even though the graphics aren't that great anyway. But no, there are moments of severe slowdown and even speedup on certain corners. I don't see how they can really be taking too much advantage of the 3DFX card when you look at how well other titles do in the frame rate dept. Secondly, the controls are awful. Constant attempts at recalibration never work so you end up steering one way to go straight. The trim wheels on the joystick help, but it shouldn't need that really eh? Then it decides to weave all over the show and never go in a straight line. Maybe I should just get the Playstation version... Scoops

How much memory do you have? Memory makes a big difference. I ran 32mb before, but had to run high detail only, now with 64mb i can run Very high detail and still keep the same level of smoothness. Maybe you should get a new joystick. Sounds like your one is dying a slow death, or you haven't calibrated in Win95 . -- Nathan Wong http://www.nectar.com.au/~alfacors - Super Touring - Alfa Romeo - - V8Supercars - CART -

I agree about the graphics - F1RS and Ultimate Race Pro shows what can be done with 3Dfx. The graphics on TOCA stink. BTW I have 128MB RAM, P200MMX and the graphics still suck! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Chris's Atari ST Pages: http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/chriscox/home.shtml ICQ: 8646365 -----------------------------------------------------------------

> Secondly, the controls are awful. Constant attempts at recalibration never > work so you end up steering one way to go straight. The trim wheels on the > joystick help, but it shouldn't need that really eh? Then it decides to > weave all over the show and never go in a straight line. Maybe I should > just get the Playstation version... Regarding the weaving - I found that too much speed on some track sections could cause instability. I think this is part of the car handling characteristics. Remember they are not F1 cars and do not stick to the track as well. -- Andrew Fielden.

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> I don't know about you lot but while I think TOCA could be fantastic, as a > lot of people obviously think, there are some major problems. First is the > graphics : While I only have a P133 with Righteous you would expect to get a > perfectly smooth game with low detail, even though the graphics aren't that > great anyway. But no, there are moments of severe slowdown and even speedup > on certain corners. I don't see how they can really be taking too much > advantage of the 3DFX card when you look at how well other titles do in the > frame rate dept.

Well maybe you must stop wining about speed and stuf and get yourself a Pent 200MMX or better with more RAM. Do you have a 3DFX card, well perhaps not so get yourself one and see the improvement!!!!! Your joystick is dying - I would suggest you use the keyboard - you won't get as frustrated and handling will be much easier!!!

>Secondly, the controls are awful. Constant attempts at recalibration never >work so you end up steering one way to go straight. The trim wheels on the >joystick help, but it shouldn't need that really eh? Then it decides to >weave all over the show and never go in a straight line. Maybe I should >just get the Playstation version... You think the joytick control is bad, you should try a Thrustmaster T2 - it has the worst control I've ever seen! Doesn't really work at all to be honest (the steering leans badly to the left). The TOCA people claim their patch fixes this problem, but it does NOT. Joe

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> >Secondly, the controls are awful. Constant attempts at recalibration > never > >work so you end up steering one way to go straight. The trim wheels > on the > >joystick help, but it shouldn't need that really eh? Then it decides > to > >weave all over the show and never go in a straight line. Maybe I > should > >just get the Playstation version... > You think the joytick control is bad, you should try a Thrustmaster T2 > - it has the worst control I've ever seen! Doesn't really work at all > to be honest (the steering leans badly to the left). The TOCA people > claim their patch fixes this problem, but it does NOT. > Joe

A friend of mine and I have had *no* problems whatsoever with our T2s and Toca. Calibrated nicely, works nicely. You have a US version? Matt

>You have a US version? I'm not sure which version it is, as the store I bought it from sometimes carries imports. But I downloaded the latest patch, and the game just basically doesn't work with my T2 (all other Win95 racing games do). Joe

When I first bought Toca I used the keys and found the game extremely frustrating, but then trying to control a car with digital controls is pretty foolhardy. I invested in a T2 and found I had a completely different game. It is superb, I had absolutely no problems whatsoever in setting up the T2 to work with Toca and it works like a dream. I have the UK version of both Toca and the T2. As for the playstation version, it's ***with a capital C. I suggest that if you are having trouble with weaving it's you own imcompetence or that you are trying to drive the car from the external view, I mean, that's natural isn't it? Sitting in mid air behind and above a car travelling up to 147mph and trying to control it, mmm... Charlie P.S. I have just finished the championship having won every race using a T2 so it can't be that bad.

It plays great with a TM GP1 wheel from in the car. You can recover from skids and really work the traffic. It is a lot more fun than trying to tiptoe around GPL like some of the guys in this newsgroup. I find that the Renault is the fastest car for my driving style. The Honda would lose its rearend too easily. The Audi is too slow.

>What view are you guys using to race with? >I can drive fine from inside the car, but it weaves like a *** if I >try to use an outside view! I've tried all the views. With the inside 3D***pit the control bugs are plainly evident - you can see the graphical wheel leaning/lurching to the left even when the T2 is perfectly centered and still. The problem is the game is twitchy enough control that this makes the cars undrivable - I can just be driving down a straight and suddenly it will lurch left and spin out. Joe

>I suggest that if you are having trouble with weaving it's you own >imcompetence or that you are trying to drive the car from the external view, Nope. The game clearly has bugs with the T2, though apparently not on all systems. It's painfully obvious inthe 3d***pit view, the one that draws the wheel and everything - the graphical wheel will constantly lean/lurch to the left, even when the T2 is perfectly centerered and smooth (even if the car is at a complete stop). This is with the latest TOCA patch. Joe

>Secondly, the controls are awful. Constant attempts at recalibration >never work so you end up steering one way to go straight. I have the same problem - it steers to the left all the time. This has only happened after I installed Creative Labs new 8meg Voodoo 2 card. I uninstalled TOCA (directX version) and the reinstalled it so it would install the voodoo version, and after that, the steering was pulling to the left all the time. My F1Sim steering wheel and pedals is correctly calibrated under win95, so I've no idea what the problem is, and it works ok on other games. -- To reply, remove nosmeg from e-mail address.

> >Secondly, the controls are awful. Constant attempts at recalibrati > on > >never work so you end up steering one way to go straight. > I have the same problem - it steers to the left all the time. This h > as > only happened after I installed Creative Labs new 8meg Voodoo 2 card

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> . > I uninstalled TOCA (directX version) and the reinstalled it so it > would install the voodoo version, and after that, the steering was > pulling to the left all the time. > My F1Sim steering wheel and pedals is correctly calibrated under > win95, so I've no idea what the problem is, and it works ok on

other > games. I have an F1 Sim and TOCA and they both work fine together? have you set it up correctly? (Calibrate the wheel in win95, make sure you set it up as a *game car controller*, and try turning off *poll with interrupts* then start the game and select the wheel). 8?) *Peter* 8-)

My machine has 80mb Ram so I think there is enough there, it also meets the minimum requirements as stated on the box of TOCA. I have already stated that I have a 3D card too. Bearing all this in mind, what I was trying to say was the game was a disappointment. Racing games are all about smoothness in order to provide you with anything like a good racing experience. Toca falls short of this in my opinion. Spending another 100 just to play one game should never be a viable option unless you are rich or plain stupid. Compare the graphics to F1RS or even Motoracer and I believe they fall far short while delivering a poorer game experience. My joystick is just fine thanks as it works fine with every other game apart from Toca. Besides, I have played it on a steering wheel and the problem persisted. Scoops

>I have the same problem - it steers to the left all the time. This has >only happened after I installed Creative Labs new 8meg Voodoo 2 card. >I uninstalled TOCA (directX version) and the reinstalled it so it >would install the voodoo version, and after that, the steering was >pulling to the left all the time. That's several people experiencing it on this newsgroup alone (it happens with my T2 wheel/Monster 3D 3Dfx/P200 too). Pretty sad. Joe

>I have an F1 Sim and TOCA and they both work fine together? have you >set it up correctly? (Calibrate the wheel in win95, make sure you set >it up as a *game car controller*, and try turning off *poll with >interrupts* then start the game and select the wheel). Mine was OK (using DX5 install) until I installed the V2 card, and now it pulls to the left. It's installed OK under Win95, and other games that use it via windows are OK (except Psygnosis F1 which can't see it at all!). I've even installed the patch and there's no difference. ;o[ I'll disable 'poll with interupts to see if that makes any difference tho'. Thanks. -- To reply, remove nosmeg from e-mail address.

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><BR> >>I have the same problem - it steers to the left all the time. This has<BR> >>only happened after I installed Creative Labs new 8meg Voodoo 2 card.<BR> >>I uninstalled TOCA (directX version) and the reinstalled it so it<BR> >>would install the voodoo version, and after that, the steering was<BR> >>pulling to the left all the time.<BR> ><BR> >That's several people experiencing it on this newsgroup alone (it<BR> >happens with my T2 wheel/Monster 3D 3Dfx/P200 too). Pretty sad.<BR> ><BR> >Joe<BR> ><BR> ></HTML>

I had the same problem with TOCA after installing new drivers from Canopus for the Pure 3D. I had to steer left to go straight while all other sims worked great. I cured it by uninstalling the game, loading the newest Direct X drivers from Microsoft ( not from the TOCA CD ) and re-installing the game. It runs pretty well now, although TOCA will still crash my system on starting the game about 5% of the time. Don

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> >I suggest that if you are having trouble with weaving it's you own > >imcompetence or that you are trying to drive the car from the external view, > Nope. The game clearly has bugs with the T2, though apparently not on > all systems. It's painfully obvious inthe 3d***pit view, the one > that draws the wheel and everything - the graphical wheel will > constantly lean/lurch to the left, even when the T2 is perfectly > centerered and smooth (even if the car is at a complete stop). This is > with the latest TOCA patch.

I agree with Joe on this...mine pulls to the left as well. This is with a TSW and TM ACM game card. This rig works perfectly in every other driving game (except the F1RS demo) and is properly calibrated in Win95. I've tried setting up custom controls to fix the problem (as a wheel, as a joystick, polling off, polling on, the works). The patch did nothing to improve the situation. Email to Codemasters went unanswered. -- Neil Yeatman Ajax, Ontario, CANADA

>I agree with Joe on this...mine pulls to the left as well. This is with >a TSW and TM ACM game card. This rig works perfectly in every other >driving game (except the F1RS demo) and is properly calibrated in Win95. >I've tried setting up custom controls to fix the problem (as a wheel, as >a joystick, polling off, polling on, the works). The patch did nothing >to improve the situation. Email to Codemasters went unanswered. Exactly as my experience. Codemasters obviously doesn't give a shit, so that's the last game I'll be buying from them. Joe

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> >I agree with Joe on this...mine pulls to the left as well. This is with > >a TSW and TM ACM game card. This rig works perfectly in every other > >driving game (except the F1RS demo) and is properly calibrated in Win95. > >I've tried setting up custom controls to fix the problem (as a wheel, as > >a joystick, polling off, polling on, the works). The patch did nothing > >to improve the situation. Email to Codemasters went unanswered. > Exactly as my experience. Codemasters obviously doesn't give a shit, > so that's the last game I'll be buying from them.

Well, just for kicks I downloaded a fresh DX5 (thanks to whoever posted the link), resinstalled it and recalibrated using TM's ProPanel. The steering in TOCA works just great now! Let's see if I can improve some of my lap times... -- Neil Yeatman Ajax, Ontario, CANADA

>Well, just for kicks I downloaded a fresh DX5 (thanks to whoever posted >the link), resinstalled it and recalibrated using TM's ProPanel. Can you repost the link where you found the "fresh" copy? Might as well give it a try. Joe

>http://microsoft.com/directx/default.asp Thanks, I'll download it tonight and see if it fixes TOCA for me. I'll post the results here. Joe