I've just finished my second run of the RC demo stage. The
biggest impression I'm left with is that -regardless of what has been
claimed- RC is still very much the direct descendant of Magnetic
Fields' earlier rally titles.
The driving model is very similar to that of RAC Rally,
though not quite as ridiculous as International Rally Championship's.
I realize that the demo car (Seat Ibiza) is FWD and that my judgment
is clouded by the forced use of the keyboard, but it did not feel as
if I could slide the car around corners properly. The car feels
weightless and seems to float rather than slide through corners. In
this respect, Colin McRae Rally is superior in my opinion. Of course
there are a lot of people out there who believe that RAC Rally remains
the finest rally simulation to date. If you are one of them, then the
driving model of RC should be very familiar to you. I just hope (for
my sake, at least) that the demo is locked in some sort of arcade
mode.
On the plus side, the graphics and sound are pretty good. The
stage is long and looks nice (though not as photo-realistic as the
early screenshots would indicate) if somewhat texture-repetitive.
Like the earlier Magnetic Field games, though, the stage suffers from
a restrictive driving zone. RAC/IRC drivers will be familiar with the
wall of foliage/wall of dirt effect. I'd say more but ymenard pretty
much has the stage modelling problems covered in his post.
Car exterior graphics are very pretty and detailed (RC's Ibiza
Evo2 puts CMR's Ibiza Evo1 to shame!). Dirt accumulates as the stage
wears on but there's no damage to be seen in this demo. As for the
car interior, I agree with what Joe Marques had to say about it. Much
nicer than CMR's headcam, though.
The car sounds are OK. Engine noise is a bit artificial-
sounding, though not worse than most games. RC's designers seem to
have taken a page from the Codemasters game by adding the sound of
gearbox whine (though the pitch is wrongly linked to speed rather than
RPM-just like in CMR). The sounds of the driving surface are not very
good. The sound of driving over dry dirt is like that of sandpaper on
wood. Sliding through gravel also sounds unconvincing, unlike CMR's
spot-on sound effect.
My favorite part of the game is the co-driver. The voice
acting isn't too great (sounds too calm and unshaken, much like Nicky
Grist's oddly-uncharacteristic voice in CMR), but the pace notes are
the most detailed yet seen in a rally game. People who've seen and
heard in-car footage of McRae/Grist should feel right at home.
Final disjointed notes: Wheelspin is modelled, but
simplistically. Can't do donuts. No handbrake (moot point as there
are no corners tight enough to warrant its use). The entire driving
area is depressed relative to its surroundings (i.e. you're driving in
a trench of varying depths the whole way through)! Spins feel canned
as the rear-end breaks away once the car exceeds a specific yaw angle
(almost always under braking). No evidence of independent suspension.
No Escort WRC?
Overall, I am not as e***d about this game as I once was.
Based on the demo, RC will NOT be the GPL of rally games, despite the
hype of some folks on this newsgroup. I doubt if it can even be the
CMR of rally games... Short stages be damned, bring on CMR2, I say!
Martin
Nigel Mansell RIP!
Hi,
you forgot, it's only a ALPHA DEMO, so the game probably and surely
evolve
since then !!!.
Bye Coco
Quoted text (63 lines)
> I've just finished my second run of the RC demo stage. The > biggest impression I'm left with is that -regardless of what has been > claimed- RC is still very much the direct descendant of Magnetic > Fields' earlier rally titles. > The driving model is very similar to that of RAC Rally, > though not quite as ridiculous as International Rally Championship's. > I realize that the demo car (Seat Ibiza) is FWD and that my judgment > is clouded by the forced use of the keyboard, but it did not feel as > if I could slide the car around corners properly. The car feels > weightless and seems to float rather than slide through corners. In > this respect, Colin McRae Rally is superior in my opinion. Of course > there are a lot of people out there who believe that RAC Rally remains > the finest rally simulation to date. If you are one of them, then the > driving model of RC should be very familiar to you. I just hope (for > my sake, at least) that the demo is locked in some sort of arcade > mode. > On the plus side, the graphics and sound are pretty good. The > stage is long and looks nice (though not as photo-realistic as the > early screenshots would indicate) if somewhat texture-repetitive. > Like the earlier Magnetic Field games, though, the stage suffers from > a restrictive driving zone. RAC/IRC drivers will be familiar with the > wall of foliage/wall of dirt effect. I'd say more but ymenard pretty > much has the stage modelling problems covered in his post. > Car exterior graphics are very pretty and detailed (RC's Ibiza > Evo2 puts CMR's Ibiza Evo1 to shame!). Dirt accumulates as the stage > wears on but there's no damage to be seen in this demo. As for the > car interior, I agree with what Joe Marques had to say about it. Much > nicer than CMR's headcam, though. > The car sounds are OK. Engine noise is a bit artificial- > sounding, though not worse than most games. RC's designers seem to > have taken a page from the Codemasters game by adding the sound of > gearbox whine (though the pitch is wrongly linked to speed rather than > RPM-just like in CMR). The sounds of the driving surface are not very > good. The sound of driving over dry dirt is like that of sandpaper on > wood. Sliding through gravel also sounds unconvincing, unlike CMR's > spot-on sound effect. > My favorite part of the game is the co-driver. The voice > acting isn't too great (sounds too calm and unshaken, much like Nicky > Grist's oddly-uncharacteristic voice in CMR), but the pace notes are > the most detailed yet seen in a rally game. People who've seen and > heard in-car footage of McRae/Grist should feel right at home. > Final disjointed notes: Wheelspin is modelled, but > simplistically. Can't do donuts. No handbrake (moot point as there > are no corners tight enough to warrant its use). The entire driving > area is depressed relative to its surroundings (i.e. you're driving in > a trench of varying depths the whole way through)! Spins feel canned > as the rear-end breaks away once the car exceeds a specific yaw angle > (almost always under braking). No evidence of independent suspension. > No Escort WRC? > Overall, I am not as e***d about this game as I once was. > Based on the demo, RC will NOT be the GPL of rally games, despite the > hype of some folks on this newsgroup. I doubt if it can even be the > CMR of rally games... Short stages be damned, bring on CMR2, I say! > Martin > Nigel Mansell RIP!The thing is..
We don't buy that excuse from developers anymore. We have had way too many
of those company telling us "No actually it's only an old version of the
game engine in the demo, wait until the full title". They make us pay 50$
and we actually see it's not really better in the full version. If they
cared about us they would show us a serious demo so that we can appreciate
and JUDGE on how the full version will be. Why do you think people warez
the full versions here ? It's because some developers don't pay attention
to their demos, so the only way we don't throw money out of the window on
poor product is to full-test them before, even if it's illegal. Or trust
some review on r.a.s., which is why we are here :)
--
-- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard>
-- 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."
