ive just got back from london, and ive read some of the previous posts
regarding gp3......
personally, i was amazed, 20 -30 fps on a non accelerated p600 with full
graphical detail, (i wonder what gpl would be?)
ive got 8 pics on my digital camera, but i cant get the ***y thing to
connect to my pc tonight, ill try again tomorrow.
I tried the sit down cabinet version first. 4 cars, start 4th, drive
two laps, Looks like the 98 season (and thats what all the promo stuff has
been saying as well). The cabinet used the great f1sim pedals (thats what
they looked like to me anyway, and i own a set myself), but, despite being
advertised as force feedback compatible, the wheel was your standard
analogue wheel (probably one of the special upgrades that you can buy from
the f1sim people). So i drove my 2 laps. The wheel wasnt set up as i like
it (my settings for gp2 are - all aids off, no steering help, no low
sensitivity zones etc - max realism), so it did seem as if it was 'helping
me along' abit. Real f1 cars have extreme amounts of grip, and when the go,
the generally go quickly, i applied too much accel out of the chicane past
the tunnel on my first lap, and spun about 40 degrees before clouting the
barrier, no canned spins (and ive never seen a canned spin in gp2, play gp2
after your played gpl, and you realise how good the engine is for a car with
grippy tires and LOADS of DOWNFORCE - dont forget that (alot of people seem
to discount the gp2 physics as the car fell like its bolted to the road -
well i say, watch a real f1 car go through high speed corners(silverstone or
spa), is it slippin an a slidin? not visibly, now watch the movie grandprix
with jim rockford, the cars were always*** out, as replicated in gpl.
So try to understand that the gp2 phys was pretty good. After gpl, i found
that i could find the limits of front and rear adhesion, slip angles and the
like, and hang the back end out comming out of corners quite succesfully,
its way harder to do than in gpl....). Without the correct settings for the
wheel, i found it hard to notice if the phys had been tweaked that much,
but one thing i did notice is that the vertical plane now seems to be
modelled v accuratelly, as i drove into the jordans rear tire, pitching the
nose of my car upwards, and i saw a woman driver (well, what can i say...)
roll the car.....not bad at all.......I also cut the chicane after the
tunnel on my second lap, and got flagged like in gp2, with the engine revs
lowered for a short time, I would have prefered to have received a black
flag or other warning from the marshals, and maybe a stop go penalty/10
second penalty, that blew my race....
The***pit didnt move around as much as gpls (not a bad thing) and ive seen
posts from people who dont like the idea of a moving wheel, well the real
ferrai f1 wheel costs around 20000 (according to murray walker) it contains
a big lcd screen, as well as other displays and (i think) engine management
stuff (so if theres a problem with that, they just replace the wheel, didnt
they do that in france this year?), i thought it looked supurb. Whats tghe
matter, dont you want accuracy?
The sound seems to have been lifted right out of gp2 (not a really bad
thing, it was quite real sounding...although something new would have been
nice). Cant wait for force feedback, cant wait for 3dfx/d3d support,
network support, and the box sitting next to my computer. Spring 2000,
heres to waiting (leftfield play in the background as white horses crash all
around...i could *** a pint....)
any questions, comments???
i hope to have the pics up soon....i dont recommend a certain 'colours a
calling you' digital camera, it eats batteries.....
I also had a look at the mclaren, ferrari and jordan full size f1 cars, the
mclaren***pit is a bit sparse, the ferrari must have all its weight around
the steering wheel. . I want all three....
I played Gran tourismo 2 on the playstation as well, thought it looked very
similar to its predecessor, and the arcade handling needed refinement....but
good
Perfect Dark (N64) looks and plays brilliantly (better than goldeneye, and
thats phenominal)
No n3 (as far as i could see....couldnt find havas/sierra/papyrus, but
talked to the distributors about it)
pez
>no canned spins (and ive never seen a canned spin in gp2, play gp2
>after your played gpl, and you realise how good the engine is for a car with
>grippy tires and LOADS of DOWNFORCE - dont forget that (alot of people seem
>to discount the gp2 physics as the car fell like its bolted to the road
If you haven't seen a canned spin in GP2 then obviously you're
unlikely to see them in GP3 :-)
You've maybe never seen a four-leaf clover either, don't they exist?
Cheers!
John
