Just picked up Midtown Madness today and I have a few thoughts and
impressions.
First let me say I don't regret this purchase, in fact the more a play it,
the more I like it. I do however have a few grips. (I'll get to the good
stuff a little later)
Gripe 1: The controls. I have a MS FF wheel, so naturally I set my
controller as "wheel" in the dialog. Well, this was so hard to control I
might as well been using the keyboard.. WAY too non-linear. I messed with
all the sensitivity settings and nothing seemed to help this. After a while
I decided to use "joystick" instead of "wheel". This proved to be MUCH
better. So for those of you having the same problem try it out. Maybe its
just something with my set-up.
Gripe 2: Cops. Why do they only chase me? They never seem to chase anyone
else. Maybe I just need to play longer. I also don't think its very nice of
them to force me into on-coming traffic either.. but I'll let that slide.
Gripe 3: Physics. Now I know this isn't GPL, nor do I ask it to be, but I'm
having a hard time getting used to the behavior of the cars. The bug seems
to be the easiest to control so far. I messed with the "realism" settings
for handling and at full real it hardly feels real to me. I must say about
half way seems to be the most fun so far. Again I am not trying to compare
this with a sim, I just think maybe it could be better.
Gripe 4: Sound. More specifically engine sound. Why does the Cadillac sound
like a Semi? I was disappointed with almost all the engine sounds in this
game. The rest of the sounds are decent, I especially like the light crush
of the parking meters.. kinda like a wine glass shattering under a napkin.
Gripe 5: Crazy drivers. When waiting at a stop light (cruise mode) its not
unusual to see someone come flying up from behind and slam into someone. I
guess this should be a gripe.. maybe just an oddity. It does keep it
interesting.
OK, now the stuff I do like:
Goodie 1: Graphics seem very good to me. Very smooth at 800X600 full detail
on my P2 300 Creative voodoo 2. Nice weather effects, visually anyway.
(can't tell very much effect on road grip in the rain or snow though)
Nighttime headlights look a little goofy, but better than most I have seen.
Cars all look pretty good. When cars get dented and widows get cracked they
see to use texture maps to show the damage rather than deform the polygons,
but it looks good to me. Wheels do go flying when you hit something hard
enough. Nice smoke effects when your engine has about had it as well.
Goodie 2: Menus. Simple and fast, the way it should be.
Goodie 3: Track errrrr City. Lots of short cuts, ever through buildings.
Cool jumps too, If you're into that sort of thing. When racing you can take
any path to a check point you like.. no invisible walls or any of that crap.
Seemed a little smaller than I expected, but I had very high expectations so
maybe that's my fault.
Goodie 4: Force feedback. After solving, (well lets say "making usable") my
controller problems, the force feedback seems to work well. Be warned if you
knock a wheel crooked you will be vibrated to death the rest of the ride.
You get feedback on track surface as well, cobblestone street for instance.
And of course when you wreck you will get a nice jolt.
Well, that's all I have for now. Like a said I just picked this up and
thought I'd share my $0.02
The gripes I had were pretty minor and if your looking for a little
deviation from GPL I recommend it. Don't expect the cars to handle the same
though. (I don't think any of us did though did we?) Overall a strong
arcader.
Hi Big Dog,
Have you tried it on the Zone yet? The Cops and Robbers seems like
capture the flag and should be pretty fun! MTM had good 'net play. I'm
just wondering how many drivers you can get online.
Thanks,
Jason.
> Just picked up Midtown Madness today and I have a few thoughts and
> impressions.
> First let me say I don't regret this purchase, in fact the more a play it,
> the more I like it. I do however have a few grips. (I'll get to the good
> stuff a little later)
--
Jason Monds
theCLAPPER in Kali
"My other car is a Ferrari"
http://members.home.net/gpl.mondsj/gpl/ - My combined gas/brake setups
(Remove 'no spork' when replying)
hey fellas, just wanted to know what the contents of the box are and also
where and how much you paid for it.
thanks
R
Contents of the Box are 1 CD and lots of Cardboard. Thats it. The manual is
a small CD insert.
I got mine at EB in Raleigh, NC for the amazing low price of $34.99. (I feel
like an appliance salesman)
>hey fellas, just wanted to know what the contents of the box are and also
>where and how much you paid for it.
>thanks
>R
I don't think they have set it up in the Zone yet. Can't seem to find it.
it,
Quoted text (16 lines)
>Hi Big Dog, >Have you tried it on the Zone yet? The Cops and Robbers seems like >capture the flag and should be pretty fun! MTM had good 'net play. I'm >just wondering how many drivers you can get online. >Thanks, >Jason. >> Just picked up Midtown Madness today and I have a few thoughts and >> impressions. >> First let me say I don't regret this purchase, in fact the more a playQuoted text (9 lines)
>> the more I like it. I do however have a few grips. (I'll get to the good >> stuff a little later) >-- >Jason Monds >theCLAPPER in Kali >"My other car is a Ferrari" >http://members.home.net/gpl.mondsj/gpl/ - My combined gas/brake setups >(Remove 'no spork' when replying)There is no Zone room yet. It usually takes a couple weeks.
I met up with some people in the MTM2 room and we played
Cops and Robbers for SIX HOURS!!!! What a blast! I am so
burned out right now...up until 2 AM...
