Nascar Revolution - More revulsion

Who cares what you say, your a total ***

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>A few more comments about Nascar Revolution: >1) How fast am I (or my engine) going? >When you have finally settled into your***pit view, even though >it seems as if you are traveling at about 30% of your actual speed, >you discover that you cannot accurately read your tach since it is >hidden behind your wheel and also there is no 'speedometer' option. >Either of these would make it much easier to setup your car, etc.. >The only way to get a speed or accurate tach reading is to drive in >either the external (from the rear) arcade view, or in the front, >dashboard-less view. REALLY bad....... >2) Why am I suddenly in slow motion? >I don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but after a few >races, the whole thing slows down. The voices and sound are fine, >but everything else is sort of in slow motion. I suspect that it has the >same type of *memory leak* that has plagued Microprose Falcon 4.0 >since it's release. I have a well-tuned system with 128MB and a >200MB fixed length swapfile, so the hard drive isn't paging or >anything like that, it just gets slow. All tasks but Explorer killed from >the Task Manager prior to running, etc. If you exit the game and then >restart the game, the same slowdown is still in effect. A system >shutdown/reboot takes care of it for 3 or 4 short races.... >3) Why is my steering wheel being forced to one side? >Occasionally, in Nascar Revolution, my ACT LABS Force RS will become >turned to one side or the other, after a crash. After physically forcing it >to the center and driving a half-lap or so, it centers itself. This will

occur

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>after hitting the wall, or other hijinx. At first I thought it was just the >damage model, bent control arm or whatever, but I turned off damage and >the same thing occurs. With damage on or off the thing fixes itself within >a short time. I don't know if this is a fault with my wheel, the drivers it >uses or with Nascar Revolution. Since the wheel is in daily use and has >worked flawlessly from the start in several other sims/games, I suspect >there is a problem with NasRev. Your mileage may vary. >4) Still whining about the driving 'model': >I still can't comprehend how they think that this game has any kind >of believability in it's driving model when you can be traveling 180 MPH, >on a straight and quickly turn your wheel from lock-lock, back and forth, >and you will just swerve, not spin. I think this is the worst thing I have >seen about this game and it's 'driving model'. I have tried all settings >on the steering slider, but the problem persists. It is as if the steering

has >normal sensitivity in the middle of it's travel but as it is turned past that

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>point it has no effect at all. >5) Why is the AI guy gunning for me? >Has anyone else seen the AI have an accident or pit and then return to >the track? Sometimes they come back at *supernatural* speed, probably >500MPH, launching directly at your car. Usually I have been at speed when

this

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>happened so I have been able to avoid them. They zip out VERY quickly. You >can also see this jerky speedup behavior in the replays. Your own car will >even do it occasionally, in replay.... >6) What is that obnoxious sound in the replay? >When you do an external view replay, and your car is whizzing by, >guess what? The engine sound is *steady*. Your eyes see the car zip >by on the screen, but the sound doesn't pan from side to side. It is >as is if your ears are still in the***pit and your eyes are on the

external

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>view. VERY disconcerting on some tracks, particularly those with long >straights. Talladega comes to mind. >7) Why does this thing take so much disk space? >Well, EA thought it would be cool to drop 68MB of .MPG video on your system >when you installed Nascar Revolution. You know, the ones with Benny, and >so forth. The opening video is 20MB. EA gave you no choice as to whether to >have these videos play from your HD or your CD. >Also, if you have tried saving one of the incredibly short replays, you >will find that it is 5MB or more. YOW!! >Folks, this thing is a turkey. I _really_ wanted to like it, even if the >driving model wasn't stellar, but it is FAR from likeable. >Mine goes back. >-- >// rrevved posts from mindspring dot com

>Who cares what you say, your a total *** Nice one "The Rodster"!That is pretty cool. Are you sure they don't call you "The Rick"? Hey rrevved, thanks for the comprehensive review. It was just what I needed to determine if Nascar Revolution is worth my purchase. After playing the demo, I did not think it would be, but your review sealed it for me. I'm sure "The Rodster" is just some newsgroup troll, but I just wanted you to know your comments are greatly appreciated. Don Chapman

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>>A few more comments about Nascar Revolution: >>1) How fast am I (or my engine) going? >>When you have finally settled into your***pit view, even though >>it seems as if you are traveling at about 30% of your actual speed, >>you discover that you cannot accurately read your tach since it is >>hidden behind your wheel and also there is no 'speedometer' option. >>Either of these would make it much easier to setup your car, etc.. >>The only way to get a speed or accurate tach reading is to drive in >>either the external (from the rear) arcade view, or in the front, >>dashboard-less view. REALLY bad....... >>2) Why am I suddenly in slow motion? >>I don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but after a few >>races, the whole thing slows down. The voices and sound are fine, >>but everything else is sort of in slow motion. I suspect that it has the >>same type of *memory leak* that has plagued Microprose Falcon 4.0 >>since it's release. I have a well-tuned system with 128MB and a >>200MB fixed length swapfile, so the hard drive isn't paging or >>anything like that, it just gets slow. All tasks but Explorer killed from >>the Task Manager prior to running, etc. If you exit the game and then >>restart the game, the same slowdown is still in effect. A system >>shutdown/reboot takes care of it for 3 or 4 short races.... >>3) Why is my steering wheel being forced to one side? >>Occasionally, in Nascar Revolution, my ACT LABS Force RS will become >>turned to one side or the other, after a crash. After physically forcing

it >>to the center and driving a half-lap or so, it centers itself. This will >occur >>after hitting the wall, or other hijinx. At first I thought it was just the >>damage model, bent control arm or whatever, but I turned off damage and >>the same thing occurs. With damage on or off the thing fixes itself within >>a short time. I don't know if this is a fault with my wheel, the drivers it

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>>uses or with Nascar Revolution. Since the wheel is in daily use and has >>worked flawlessly from the start in several other sims/games, I suspect >>there is a problem with NasRev. Your mileage may vary. >>4) Still whining about the driving 'model': >>I still can't comprehend how they think that this game has any kind >>of believability in it's driving model when you can be traveling 180 MPH, >>on a straight and quickly turn your wheel from lock-lock, back and forth, >>and you will just swerve, not spin. I think this is the worst thing I have >>seen about this game and it's 'driving model'. I have tried all settings >>on the steering slider, but the problem persists. It is as if the steering >has >>normal sensitivity in the middle of it's travel but as it is turned past >that >>point it has no effect at all. >>5) Why is the AI guy gunning for me? >>Has anyone else seen the AI have an accident or pit and then return to >>the track? Sometimes they come back at *supernatural* speed, probably >>500MPH, launching directly at your car. Usually I have been at speed when >this >>happened so I have been able to avoid them. They zip out VERY quickly. You >>can also see this jerky speedup behavior in the replays. Your own car will >>even do it occasionally, in replay.... >>6) What is that obnoxious sound in the replay? >>When you do an external view replay, and your car is whizzing by, >>guess what? The engine sound is *steady*. Your eyes see the car zip >>by on the screen, but the sound doesn't pan from side to side. It is >>as is if your ears are still in the***pit and your eyes are on the >external >>view. VERY disconcerting on some tracks, particularly those with long >>straights. Talladega comes to mind. >>7) Why does this thing take so much disk space? >>Well, EA thought it would be cool to drop 68MB of .MPG video on your

system >>when you installed Nascar Revolution. You know, the ones with Benny, and >>so forth. The opening video is 20MB. EA gave you no choice as to whether to

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>>have these videos play from your HD or your CD. >>Also, if you have tried saving one of the incredibly short replays, you >>will find that it is 5MB or more. YOW!! >>Folks, this thing is a turkey. I _really_ wanted to like it, even if the >>driving model wasn't stellar, but it is FAR from likeable. >>Mine goes back. >>-- >>// rrevved posts from mindspring dot com

I guess MOST of us that understand the difference between a Simulator and a game that BARELY deserves requiring two quarters to play it are ***s. You can go ahead and put me on your "A" list Rodster. Icer Snip - rrevved's opinion of Nascar Revolution.. G. Patricks

"You're" I think you'll find. Cheers! John PS - *Plonk*

>>Who cares what you say, your a total *** >Nice one "The Rodster"!That is pretty cool. Are you sure they don't call you >"The Rick"? No, it's spelled with a silent "P" ;-) Cheers! John

Infant.

The Rodster wrote Pot, Kettle, Event Horizon. *PLONK* Welcome to the Usenet, my friend. -= Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard/Nas-Frank> -= NROS Nascar sanctioned Guide http://www.nros.com/ -= SimRacing Online http://www.simracing.com/ -= Official mentally retarded guy of r.a.s. -= May the Downforce be with you... "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Thanks for the reviews, rrevved. The Rodster, I'd plonk you, but stupidity at the extreme degree to which you take it can often be amusing, and I don't want to miss anything good. :) Brett

>I suspect that it has the >same type of *memory leak* that has plagued Microprose Falcon 4.0 >since it's release. I have a question - are these games written in assembly language or C? Because if it's the latter there's no excuse whatsoever for a memory leak. Even 7-8 years ago when I was heavily into C programming there were superb automated checking/debugging tools that could find almost any memory leak/error. I can only presume these tools have improved since then. Joe

>Who cares what you say, your a total *** Wow, I'm impressed by the clarity of your cogent argument. Joe

Ahh I see the idiots are still chiming in. I got your Plonk right here mother ***er!

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>Thanks for the reviews, rrevved. >The Rodster, I'd plonk you, but stupidity at the extreme degree to >which you take it can often be amusing, and I don't want to miss >anything good. :) >Brett >>Who cares what you say,

Um, oh yes Joe. They are written with COM in assembly language. <g> If a game is written to support DirectX you are going to see it written in VisualC++ 5 or 6 (i.e. C++, not C..although DirectX does support C style interface headers). Why? DirectX is totally a COM based API. Granted, some people have created the appropriate headers, etc to use it in VB and Delphi and there is JDirectX or something API by MS for MS' Java. But its probably safe to assume that its either of the two latest C++ compilers from MS that the game was written in and compiled with.

If anyone still following this thread has, or will ever have children, be aware. Pay attention to them, do not ignore them, or they may end up to be A Rodster one day. Sorry to get off topic. :) Brett [mindless blather snipped]

>Ahh I see the idiots are still chiming in. Yes you are aren't you? Joe

Now I know i'm an *** cause you inferred it "Cuntster", but i'm pretty sure i'm not an idiot... Sorry about the spelling, maybe I AM an idiot after all! Icer G. Patricks

>Who cares what you say, your a total *** Hey listen here dork. The game is total shit. Even if he is an *** the game still sucks... And nothing can change that. -- Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes. cisko [AT] ix [DOT] netcom [DOT] com

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>>Who cares what you say, your a total *** >"You're" I think you'll find. >Cheers! >John >PS - *Plonk*

YES!!!! Hey you actually made me laugh with that plonk :-) -- Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes. cisko [AT] ix [DOT] netcom [DOT] com

No need to drop to his level!

Your right, but think about it. If someone reads my spelling error chances are every time they see "Rodster" they will be thinking.... another name. But it was beneath me and for that I feel bad... G. Patricks

The Plonk ***, plonks you !

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>If anyone still following this thread has, or will ever have children, >be aware. Pay attention to them, do not ignore them, or they may end >up to be A Rodster one day. >Sorry to get off topic. :) >Brett >[mindless blather snipped]

The Plonk ***, plonks you ! >>Ahh I see the idiots are still chiming in. >Yes you are aren't you? >Joe

The Plonk ***, plonks you ! >No need to drop to his level!

The Plonk ***, plonks you !

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>>No need to drop to his level! >Your right, but think about it. If someone reads my spelling error >chances are every time they see "Rodster" they will be thinking.... >another name. >But it was beneath me and for that I feel bad... >G. Patricks

The Plonk ***, plonks you !

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>>>Who cares what you say, your a total *** >>"You're" I think you'll find. >>Cheers! >>John >>PS - *Plonk* >YES!!!! >Hey you actually made me laugh with that plonk :-) >-- >Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes. >cisko [AT] ix [DOT] netcom [DOT] com

The Plonk ***, plonks you ! Oh and your a COMPUTER NERD! .......You Dork

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>>Who cares what you say, your a total *** >Hey listen here dork. The game is total shit. Even if he is >an *** the game still sucks... And nothing can change >that. >-- >Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes. >cisko [AT] ix [DOT] netcom [DOT] com

The Plonk ***, plonks you ! You Dork

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>>>Who cares what you say, your a total *** >>"You're" I think you'll find. >>Cheers! >>John >>PS - *Plonk* >YES!!!! >Hey you actually made me laugh with that plonk :-) >-- >Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes. >cisko [AT] ix [DOT] netcom [DOT] com

On Thu, 18 Feb 1999 17:48:50 -0600, "Greg Cisko" >Hey you actually made me laugh with that plonk :-) Mmm, it's all down to comic timing ;-) I'm happy my one and only *plonk* raised a smile! Cheers! John

Plonk *** : Newsgroups: rec.autos.simulators Subject: Re: Nascar Revolution - More revulsion Date: 19 Feb 1999 17:41:28 GMT Organization: AT&T WorldNet Services Lines: 10 NNTP-Posting-Host: 12.70.21.224 X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.1 X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 The Roadster : Newsgroups: rec.autos.simulators Subject: Re: Nascar Revolution - More revulsion Date: 18 Feb 1999 15:08:17 GMT Organization: AT&T WorldNet Services Lines: 96 NNTP-Posting-Host: 12.77.154.186 X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.1 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 This goes to the AT&T WorldNet Services abuse group. Have a nice day ! -= Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard/Nas-Frank> -= NROS Nascar sanctioned Guide http://www.nros.com/ -= SimRacing Online http://www.simracing.com/ -= Official mentally retarded guy of r.a.s. -= May the Downforce be with you... "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

>The Plonk ***, plonks you ! >Oh and your a COMPUTER NERD! .......You Dork The least you could do is come up with your own shit and stop ripping me off. Hey ever hear of a "Plonk *** Slap" for the Plonk ***? :-) -- Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spamming hordes. cisko [AT] ix [DOT] netcom [DOT] com

> Um, oh yes Joe. They are written with COM in assembly language. <g> If a > game is written to support DirectX you are going to see it written in > VisualC++ 5 or 6 Which is going to be a problem. VC isn't terribly good at heap management and though it may not technically leak as such, (ie when you close the program and provided that you have freed up all your resources there will be no reportable leak), the heapsize will gradually grow as you allocate and free memory. To get around this you either have to write your own malloc or new or use a 3rd party heap manager like SmartHeap. There's nothing about COM that requires the use of any particular language. COM (component object model) is purely a specification for a dynamically loaded object model. COM actually differs quite radically from the object model in C++ in many ways eg in its support for inheritance. There is nothing to prevent you interfacing to COM through assembly code. I'm fairly confident that TOCA2 uses a lot of assembly code and that definitely uses DX6. I would imagine that many even most real time games would optimise key areas of code in assembler. There's no point writing menu screens and the like in assembler (a maintenance nightmare) but key calculations around the central engine may well be written in inline assembly code to up the processing rates, minimise memory usage, reduce cache misses etc etc. Hmm. Quite possibly. It's been a while since I used Borland C++, since we, like good sheep everywhere, use MSVC, but when I last used Borland C++ it had the legs on Visual C++ in many key areas. I hate that Microsoft can rewrite the spec of C++ and ***y well get away with it. I gather that Watcom C++ is pretty good as well. Cheers, Paul

Looks like you changed your name Rodster. Nice try. Keep changing. Mike Grandy Proud Member of Precision Racing Team Powered by Extreme Competition controls The Plonk ***, plonks you !

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>If anyone still following this thread has, or will ever have children, >be aware. Pay attention to them, do not ignore them, or they may end >up to be A Rodster one day. > >Sorry to get off topic. :) > >Brett > > >[mindless blather snipped] >

Don't you just love these clowns that are afraid to use their real names. They can mouth off but can't take the heat. Just made my killfile, guess it's time to change your name again. Mike Grandy Proud Member of Precision Racing Team Powered by Extreme Competition controls Ahh I see the idiots are still chiming in. I got your Plonk right here mother ***er!

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>Thanks for the reviews, rrevved. > >The Rodster, I'd plonk you, but stupidity at the extreme degree to >which you take it can often be amusing, and I don't want to miss >anything good. :) > >Brett > > > >>Who cares what you say, >> >

You are a sad, sad, little boy there Rodster,er, EA Rulse, er, Plonk ***. Whichever you prefer to use at this particular time... BTW... You _are_ traceable :) -Larry > Ahh I see the idiots are still chiming in. > I got your Plonk right here mother ***er!

Practically everything is written in C or C++ these days, probably with some inline assembly. No one in their right mind would code one of these things in Assembly, though it _would_ be an earth-shattering game if they did :) -Larry

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> I have a question - are these games written in assembly language or C? > Because if it's the latter there's no excuse whatsoever for a memory > leak. Even 7-8 years ago when I was heavily into C programming there > were superb automated checking/debugging tools that could find almost > any memory leak/error. I can only presume these tools have improved > since then. > Joe

Won't work. This guy is using several names here. I'm convinced of There is a pattern... -Larry > The Rodster, I'd plonk you, but stupidity at the extreme degree to > which you take it can often be amusing, and I don't want to miss > anything good. :)

LOL! -Larry > No, it's spelled with a silent "P" ;-) > Cheers! > John

> Practically everything is written in C or C++ these days, probably with > some inline assembly. > No one in their right mind would code one of these things in Assembly, > though it _would_ be an earth-shattering game if they did :) With todays optimizations done by C/C++ compilers you would have to try real hard to make a piece of code a lot faster in Assembly... definitely not earth-shattering regarding speed, if at all probably because of its terribly delayed release. l8er ronny -- Your mouse has moved. Windows must be restarted for the change to take effect. Reboot now? |\ _,,,---,,_ I want to die like my Grandfather, ZZZzz /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ in his sleep. |,4- ) )-,_. ,\ ( `'-' Not like the people in his car, '---''(_/--' `-'\_) screaming their heads off!

> With todays optimizations done by C/C++ compilers you would have to > try real hard to make a piece of code a lot faster in Assembly... Hmm, not sure about that. Sure, anyone can write bad assembler, but the functionality of standard code is inevitably going to be generalist because the compiler has no idea why you are doing what you are. In assembler you can write exactly what you want it to do. C++ is always going to be slower that C or assembly because of the increased indirection. No earth-shatteringly slower, but slower notheless. COM is always going to be a slower method of invoking functionality because of the run time linking. Yes modern compilers are producing quicker code than there predecessors but it tends to be much larger code.and if therefore slower to load, which will give the perception of slowness. Here is an interesting story, that parallels what I am saying: The machine which was used to crack the German WW2 Enigma code and I think was called Colossus, was made up largely of moving parts. Relatively recently the same logic was ported to a compiled program on an early Pentium machine. Astonishingly, Colossus was faster! This was because it was tailored to crack the Enigma code and nothing else where as the Pentium is an all purpose generalist machine. The same generalist versus specific argument applies to assembler versus C/C++. Absolutely, I never want to write any assembler ever again. Love the cat.... Cheers, Paul