New NFS3 demo out

A new NFS 3 demo is available from avault. I'm downloading it now, haven't tried it yet. Hopefully the car physics are improved from the first demo: ftp://ftp.avault.com/win95/nfs3demo.zip Joe

>A new NFS 3 demo is available from avault. Just tried it out ... it has random weather/AI/game type settings, and has the Corvette as the car. The physics and driving model is still horrendous, it feels like the car is floating, and ramming a cop side-on at 100 mph does nothing to his car, just stops you like hitting a brick wall. The ony thing that might save this game is that the car files are editable - by adjusting the turn grip and downforce multipliers I was able to make it feel at least *sort* of like driving a car. The downforce multiplier is actually kind of interesting, as it seems to perhaps be a way of changing the gravity level - jumps seem somewhat more realistic. Of course, to make finish this edit you'd need to increase the car's power as well, something I don't know hoe to do yet. Joe

>The physics and driving model is still horrendous, it feels like the >car is floating, and ramming a cop side-on at 100 mph does nothing to >his car, just stops you like hitting a brick wall. Played the demo a little more, and noticed another flaw - the physics of all car collisions are hopelessly unrealistic. For example, just being tapped lightly from behind always sends you into a random, wild spin that has nothing to do with your steering or direction (your steering has no effect when in one of these "fake spins", you can't countersteer until it's done spinning). This seems to be a cheat to make it easier for AI-deficient cops to catch you. Either that or they were too lazy to implement physics-based spinning, so they just hacked it. Either way it's extremely annoying. Joe

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>>The physics and driving model is still horrendous, it feels like the >>car is floating, and ramming a cop side-on at 100 mph does nothing to >>his car, just stops you like hitting a brick wall. >Played the demo a little more, and noticed another flaw - the physics >of all car collisions are hopelessly unrealistic. For example, just >being tapped lightly from behind always sends you into a random, wild >spin that has nothing to do with your steering or direction (your >steering has no effect when in one of these "fake spins", you can't >countersteer until it's done spinning). This seems to be a cheat to >make it easier for AI-deficient cops to catch you. Either that or they >were too lazy to implement physics-based spinning, so they just hacked >it. Either way it's extremely annoying. >Joe

Augh! It is really depressing to hear this! I would love to have a race type game of this sort, but with at least some level of realism! It reminds me of that stupid game at the arcade, Rock Hill or something like that where you are racing in San Fransisco. The other cars are only there to run into you, you must find cheats in order to win, and you can jump several 1,000 feet in the air. What I would give for a game like NFS3, if it were more realistic. SLG (All spelling errors are intentional and are there to show new and improved ways of spelling old words. Gramatical errors are due to too many English classes/teachers)

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>>The physics and driving model is still horrendous, it feels like the >>car is floating, and ramming a cop side-on at 100 mph does nothing to >>his car, just stops you like hitting a brick wall. >Played the demo a little more, and noticed another flaw - the physics >of all car collisions are hopelessly unrealistic. For example, just >being tapped lightly from behind always sends you into a random, wild >spin that has nothing to do with your steering or direction (your >steering has no effect when in one of these "fake spins", you can't >countersteer until it's done spinning). This seems to be a cheat to >make it easier for AI-deficient cops to catch you. Either that or they >were too lazy to implement physics-based spinning, so they just hacked >it. Either way it's extremely annoying.

Sigh... Do what I did and quit the demo, load up NFS SE and do a head to head race between two Corvettes in the Alpine track. This helps get the bitter taste out of your mouth somewhat. Seriously, though, what a huge disappointment it is when my last hope for the game is crushed like this. I wouldn't mind the vague feel of the steering so much if it meant being able to slide the car semi-realistically (as in Screamer 2/Screamer Rally). As it is, the current driving model (an exact copy of the Playstation's "arcade" driving model, by the way) ranks just below Interstate '76's. You can slide the car, yes, but recovery has nothing to do with how you adjust your steering or throttle. In fact, using the handbrake (as opposed to lifting off the throttle or braking while turning) gives you a quicker recovery from slides! That's unlike any handbrake I've ever used, though I've never tried a handbrake turn at 80mph in the dry... Some people might tell you to wait and try the "simulation" mode of the full game. From my experiences with the Playstation version "simulation" is even worse than "arcade". If you're familar with the simulation mode of NFS2/NFS2SE then you should expect more of the same (i.e. severe fishtailing when trying to exit a turn with power on, canned spins as you described, etc.) However, if someone with the warez version can prove me wrong, please speak up! For now I don't even want to talk about the "improved" cop AI, the differences of wet weather driving, collision detection, or the whole dashboard issue! With every demo of NFS3 I seem to move closer to getting Gran Turismo or waiting for Speedbusters. Of course, GPL will probably help me forget all this when it comes out! Martin Nigel Mansell RIP!

>>>The physics and driving model is still horrendous, it feels like the >>>car is floating, and ramming a cop side-on at 100 mph does nothing to >>>his car, just stops you like hitting a brick wall. I can`t understand how they can***this up. I still find the 3do version of NFS the best of the lot. NFS3 may look gorgeous but it plays terrible. Paul

I drove the release version today and as far as I could tell l the physics were spot-on, much better than the demo. Peter >>>>The physics and driving model is still horrendous, it feels like the >>>>car is floating, and ramming a cop side-on at 100 mph does nothing to >>>>his car, just stops you like hitting a brick wall. > I can`t understand how they can***this up. I still find the 3do version >of NFS the best of the lot. >NFS3 may look gorgeous but it plays terrible. >Paul