Downloaded the Thunder Demo after dinner, got kids to bed & fired it up.
I actually like the track texture for Talladega, looked pretty realistic.
Cars looked good too, although I noticed a lot of mipmaps slamming in & out.
Very obvious & distracting.
Default steering sensitivity was WAY too low for my tastes. Had to turn
almost full lock to take tri-oval. Tinkered around a bit more with settings
& finally got a good feel for the car.
AI were a bit....timid? I could lean all over them through the turns & they
would back right off. I detest Talladega from nr2002 online, so I decided
to try really rubbing & check out damage model. The AI were absolutely
nailed down to the road. Used all the tricks from sierra.com. I couldn't get
anyone out of shape, let alone wreck. I pinned Bobby Labonte against the
backstretch wall at 190 and just PINNED him against it....nothing. Did the
old dirt track move of turning down onto Mark Martin's back
bumper....nothing. Buckshot Jones himself would not be able to wreck these
guys. I couldn't even get MY car out of shape (yes...all driving aids were
off). Hmmm. It's like the Bizarro NR2002 driving model.
I like the TV style coverage...not too "simmish", but I still liked it. Oh
yeah, where is my spotter, anyhow? Never said anything at all. Not in the
Demo? Do the MRN guys say anything in the full version besides the pre-race?
I thought EA did all that play by play stuff on their console racers.
Overall score after 1 hour of play - 70%.
+ Nice Track textures
+ Decent Car Graphics/Models
Adequate sound & FF effects
- "pussy" AI
- Damage? What Damage?
Not motivated to see much else in this game. I was thinking about picking up
Thunder to play around with during holidays (have some vacation time coming
:) )but the demo talked me OUT of it. I'm not saying it's terrible...but
it's not that good, either.
P4 @ 2.4 Ghz
Radeon 9700 Pro
256 RAM
Uninstalling in 5...4...3....2....
Jeff
Seems a multiplayer version of the demo would spark more interest here.
--
Mike Grandy
www.precision-racing.com
"Jeff Leonard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
> Downloaded the Thunder Demo after dinner, got kids to bed & fired it up.
>
> I actually like the track texture for Talladega, looked pretty realistic.
> Cars looked good too, although I noticed a lot of mipmaps slamming in &
out.
> Very obvious & distracting.
>
> Default steering sensitivity was WAY too low for my tastes. Had to turn
> almost full lock to take tri-oval. Tinkered around a bit more with
settings
> & finally got a good feel for the car.
>
> AI were a bit....timid? I could lean all over them through the turns &
they
> would back right off. I detest Talladega from nr2002 online, so I decided
> to try really rubbing & check out damage model. The AI were absolutely
> nailed down to the road. Used all the tricks from sierra.com. I couldn't
get
> anyone out of shape, let alone wreck. I pinned Bobby Labonte against the
> backstretch wall at 190 and just PINNED him against it....nothing. Did
the
> old dirt track move of turning down onto Mark Martin's back
> bumper....nothing. Buckshot Jones himself would not be able to wreck these
> guys. I couldn't even get MY car out of shape (yes...all driving aids
were
> off). Hmmm. It's like the Bizarro NR2002 driving model.
>
> I like the TV style coverage...not too "simmish", but I still liked it. Oh
> yeah, where is my spotter, anyhow? Never said anything at all. Not in the
> Demo? Do the MRN guys say anything in the full version besides the
pre-race?
> I thought EA did all that play by play stuff on their console racers.
>
> Overall score after 1 hour of play - 70%.
>
> + Nice Track textures
> + Decent Car Graphics/Models
> Adequate sound & FF effects
> - "pussy" AI
> - Damage? What Damage?
>
> Not motivated to see much else in this game. I was thinking about picking
up
> Thunder to play around with during holidays (have some vacation time
coming
> :) )but the demo talked me OUT of it. I'm not saying it's terrible...but
> it's not that good, either.
>
> P4 @ 2.4 Ghz
> Radeon 9700 Pro
> 256 RAM
>
> Uninstalling in 5...4...3....2....
>
> Jeff
>
>
Dull, Dull, Dull, Dull.
--
Some Call Me Tim
