Spirit of Speed 1937: oh dear.... (long)

Is there anyone else out there who has bought Spirit of Speed 1937? If so, are you as disappointed as I am? I was looking forward to this game after seeing screenshots in a PC *** magazine. I'd liked the 1950s part of Monaco Grand Prix 2, and was hoping to "drive" classic cars on real tracks. I wasn't expecting anything as "realistic" as the GPL driving model and expected something similar to Toca2 in the balance between realism and arcade. I had played the demo (and was dissapointed) but I often find the finished game to be better than the demo (Toca2 is an example of this) - not so here. The tracks are impressive. As far as I can tell, the tracks are realistic and great attention has been put into the detail. The art design and tannoy music evoke the 1930s atmosphere. However, the game appears unfinished. There are bugs and annoying aspects that seem to indicate a lack of thought. I just hope that a patch is forthcoming and will rewrite a lot of the game. I was starting to wonder whether I had a test version that had been accidentally shipped, but I doubt that... I am running the game on a PIII 600 with Voodoo 3 and Soundblaster Live. My "issues" with the game are: The menu system seems cumbersome and unfinished. For example, every time you save a game you have to type in the name. Even clicking on the previous saved file with the name you want does not automatically prevent the game calling it Saved Game. You have to type in the file name each and every time to avoid it being called Saved Game. One of the cars (the Napier Railton) is missing from the championship selection screen - you can drive it in a single race but cannot drive it for a season. Replaying a race more often than not hangs the game up and the only way out is to Ctrl-Alt-Del. When the replay does work, you only have one choice of camera (external) to watch the race. Not good for reviewing what you did right and wrong on a lap.You also cannot fast forward and rewind, etc. The game also locks up for a second or two at certain points around a track. I have often found myself on the grass verge due to this happening. It seems to happen most often when driving under bridges. It happens a lot at Donnington Park. If you finish the race in a good position, a newspaper will display details. However, you can still hear your car travelling on in the background and hear it come off the track with a bang. This ruins the feeling of winning or doing well. Sometimes, the game will not register the fact that you have driven into the marked pit "box" and does not display the tyre, gas, oil screen. I intially thought that perhaps I was not lined up properly, and then spent the rest of the race driving back and forth into the pit to get the display to show. This has happened on different tracks. When in the pits and with the tyre, gas, oil display showing, the computer cars will often drive into or through your car. When the game has finished replacing the tyres, there will be a bang and your car is catapulted away from the pits - a delayed impact it would seem. Out of the pits, the computer cars will not do much in the way of trying to avoid hitting the player car. There is virtually no damage model. The engine will blow up if you are in a spectacular crash or you change from a high gear down into first, but thats about it. The driving model is unaffected by crashes, bits do not come off the car and the whole effect is very toy-like. The difficulty settings are a mystery to me. As far as I can tell, the computer cars are unaffected by having the difficulty set to Easy, Medium or Hard. Instead, the number of laps for the race is reduced! For example, Tripoli on Easy is 10 laps, on Medium is 5 laps, and on Hard is 3 laps! If you want to do a large number of laps on a track, you have to forego the championship and play it as a single race. Using a particular car in a championship season has with it a specific goal or scenario. For example, driving the Alfa Romeo Bimotore (one of the fastest) has the goal of winning the championship. Selecting a slower car, for example, the ERA Remus, and you will be given a more modest target, for example, 7th in the championship. At the end of the season, you do not get details of the last race's standings. It goes straight into a comment on how you did in relation to that season's scenario and then the final standings. An another annoying aspect of the game is the lack of basic statistics. It only presents the fastest lap for each driver in the race. It does not do the same for qualifying - it only gives your grid position. If you want to keep a note of your best lap time you have to pause the game before it goes back to the menu and jot it down on a piece of paper. The game does not have a "high score" table of best laps or anything similar. Some of the above are bugs, some are due to lack of functionality for want of a better word. This is the first time I have been compelled to complain online about a racing simulation... I was looking forward to the game, but feel let down. The whole impression is of a game rushed out, and unfinished. Any comments from those who have also bought the game would be appreciated. Cheers, Carl

<Valid criticism snipped> appreciated. I too had been looking forward to this game, having been an enthusiast of the period for years, reading books like Chris Nixon's Silver Arrows, and watching the video tapes of the era. Unfortunately all your points are valid, and worse, the tracks are pastiches of the original tracks rather than the real thing. The computer cars are no fun to drive with and the cars handling is decidedly weird - I know I have no experience of a 30's car, but they behave in a certain way on the films, and this isn't it. The tyres are the wrong profile, the sounds are not authentic etc. etc. I think I'm going to return my copy:-( - Michael

I haven't seen the game yet, but am willing to believe all you say from previous posts here. As to the Napier Railton however, this car in the period would only have taken part in races at Brooklands, and not the wider championship. It had a dirty great aero engine and was not great at going round tight corners. Maybe this is not a bug?? Steve >Is there anyone else out there who has bought Spirit of Speed 1937? If so, >are you as disappointed as I am? >One of the cars (the Napier Railton) is missing from the championship >selection screen - you can drive it in a single race but cannot drive it for >a season.

On Wed, 24 Nov 1999 22:16:46 -0000, "Carl Gavin" >Is there anyone else out there who has bought Spirit of Speed 1937? If so, >are you as disappointed as I am? Yes - nice idea and nice in parts, but sooooooooooo many annoying issues combined overwhelm any enjoyment possible. Was this playtested? Incidentally, I'd love some of those brakes and tyres on my GPL car - even a Bimotore behemoth stops quicker than anything in GPL and takes corners at 180kph that would have any car in GPL off into the scenery - that's with more weight and less tyre. Quite remarkable. It also suffers from "button syndrome", where there is a very helpful traction control feature if you use your shift buttons as gas and brake, and a very unhelpful "on/off" throttle with massive wheelspin if you use a proper analog control. Cheers! John

Stephen, Thanks for the info. I feel better about the Napier being missing from the championship selection screen. I will have to try it out to see if it has been modelled with the characteristics you mention. Carl > I haven't seen the game yet, but am willing to believe all you say from > previous posts here. As to the Napier Railton however, this car in the > period would only have taken part in races at Brooklands, and not the wider

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> championship. It had a dirty great aero engine and was not great at going > round tight corners. Maybe this is not a bug?? > Steve > >Is there anyone else out there who has bought Spirit of Speed 1937? If

so, > >are you as disappointed as I am? > >One of the cars (the Napier Railton) is missing from the championship > >selection screen - you can drive it in a single race but cannot drive it > for > >a season.

Carl, I had time to look up the stats on the Napier. 24 litre Napier 'Lion' aero engine arranged in three banks of four. It appeared in '33 at Brooklands and competed until '37. It holds the outer circuit lap record in perpetuity at 143.44 mph. It still races in VSCC historic events. Steve >Stephen, >Thanks for the info. I feel better about the Napier being missing from the >championship selection screen. I will have to try it out to see if it has >been modelled with the characteristics you mention.

Hi, I am found of GPL, and just leaned Spirit of Speed 1937 is now available. It seems to me it has more or less the same kind of spirit GPL has. Tru ? What do you think about it ? It is worth to buy it, or to stay running GPL ?? Thanks Hnic

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> Carl, > I had time to look up the stats on the Napier. 24 litre Napier 'Lion' aero > engine arranged in three banks of four. It appeared in '33 at Brooklands and > competed until '37. It holds the outer circuit lap record in perpetuity at > 143.44 mph. It still races in VSCC historic events. > Steve > >Stephen, > >Thanks for the info. I feel better about the Napier being missing from the > >championship selection screen. I will have to try it out to see if it has > >been modelled with the characteristics you mention.

>It seems to me it has more or less the same kind of spirit GPL has. Tru ? No. GPL is a very realistic simulation. SOS is not only unrealisic, but not even a good arcade game IMO. Joe McGinn _________________________ GA-Sports Writer http://www.ga-sports.com/