rec.autos.simulators

Hi guys, I haven't posted to this newsgroup in awhile, been busy racing
and Quaking and just being a general sloth.  But for what it's worth, I
was at E3 earlier this year and was extremely impressed by the above
game.  Microsoft's CART was a nice change of pace from the Papyrus and
Microprose sims and it promises to be the sim we'll be talking about
here in the near future provided it's still on schedule.  In trying it
out, the first thing that was interesting was the 3D nature of the
view.  Instead of having your head fixed to look straight ahead, as you
round a corner the view shifts to look toward the exit of the turn.
This is probably the most innovative use of 3D in a driving sim I've
seen and it will most likely start popping up in all racing sims after
it.  It gives the driver an excellent field of view, somewhat
disorienting at first, and allows you to see trouble further down the
speedway.

As for the physics and car models I didn't get to play for longer than
10 minutes but it felt as good as ICR2 did at the very least.  I wasn't
able to flatfoot it around Homestead which was the track they were
demoing at the show.  I also had a bit of a push that sent me into the
wall a couple of times.  The control they had set up was a Sidewinder
(?) joystick from Microsoft themselves but without force feedback.
Overall the model of driving felt "realisitc" enough (keep in mind I've
never driven a real Indycar so who knows).

I got a glimpse of all the set up screens and it looks like the garage
junkies will have plenty of stuff to fiddle with.  There were menu after
menu of alterations that could be made although at the show I doubt a
lot of it was functional yet.  Looks promising though.

If you don't believe me, take this with a grain of salt, if you do, keep
your eyes open for this sim.  It's the most promising one on the horizon
for me and should be out long before we see Grand Prix Legends.  Sierra
didn't have that on the show floor for the general jokers like myself so
I don't know how good it will be.  Although, I did speak to one of the
Papyrus guys that said he's driven it and it offered a lot more in the
control department than Nascar 2.  He mentioned that the real physics
model with it's dynamic suspension made the experience much more
difficult but once he realized how it "feels" like a real car, it was
easier to grasp.  He said mid 98 for that also.  I would guess more like
fall or X-mas.  Oh, one more thing, for all you sprint car fans,  I
asked why Papyrus ignores this viable and popular form of racing.  Being
from Central Pennsylvania I can visit Wms. Grove, Lincoln, you name it.
In fact I live in Reading where one of the greatest dirt tracks USED to
be.  Anyway, he scoffed at the idea, and said "we've got SODA coming
out, that has the buggies so it's close enough"  I almost fainted.
BUGGIES!  Who was this guy?  Turns out he was a salesman and not a race
fan except for Nascar and Indycars.  Ticked me off though.  How long
must I wait for a WoO sim.  *sigh*

As for me, my name is Dave Long and I represented A-Z Video at E3.  Just
a local video store but I get an invite too. ; )  Decided to take my
vacation with my wife and drive to Atlanta.  Stopped at many places on
the way and had a great time.  Show was too corporate for me though.
I've never seen so many suits with no clue what it is they are selling,
all in the same place.  It's incredible that anything decent is released
anymore.

Dave Long

I too was at E3, and no offense or anything, but I thought that shifting
view was very poorly implemented and basically looked like crap.  A couple
of the Papy guys I hung out with had similar feeling towards this 'feature',
and we all agreed that it really needs to be an option that the driver could
toggle on or off.  Aesthetics aside, the main problem I saw (as is also
evident in a couple of the screenshots that have been posted) is that as you
begin to enter the turn and your view shifts towards the apex of the turn,
it basically eliminates the ability for you to see your outside mirror and
pretty much everything on that side of your car.  For an example of this
see:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/precisionracing/cart/art/screenshots/c...
pg

--


http://ebusch.akorn.net

Jim Getzen

<<Instead of having your head fixed to look straight ahead, as you
round a corner the view shifts to look toward the exit of the turn.
This is probably the most innovative use of 3D in a driving sim I've
seen and it will most likely start popping up in all racing sims after
it. >>

Oddly enough, the ancient (1987) EA sim "Ferrari Formula 1" had this
very same feature, to the extent that when you were in a REALLY tight
turn (like Rascasse at Monaco), you couldn't see ANY part of your own
car at all. I thought it was pretty cool at the time...
--
Bart Brown

Give Gas Until You See Hell, Then Break!

% Hi guys, I haven't posted to this newsgroup in awhile, been busy racing
% and Quaking and just being a general sloth.  But for what it's worth, I
% was at E3 earlier this year and was extremely impressed by the above
% game.  Microsoft's CART was a nice change of pace from the Papyrus and
% Microprose sims and it promises to be the sim we'll be talking about
% here in the near future provided it's still on schedule.  In trying it
% out, the first thing that was interesting was the 3D nature of the
% view.  Instead of having your head fixed to look straight ahead, as you
% round a corner the view shifts to look toward the exit of the turn.
% This is probably the most innovative use of 3D in a driving sim I've
% seen and it will most likely start popping up in all racing sims after
% it.  It gives the driver an excellent field of view, somewhat
% disorienting at first, and allows you to see trouble further down the
% speedway.

The moving view of the driver going through turns was done in Electronic
Arts (I believe) Formula 1 product Ferrari F1 years ago.  I found it
very disconcering, I hope there is an option to turn it off.  Also Grand
Prix Legends by Papyrus will offer this feature along with I believe
head going up and down over the "crests".

--
**************************** Michael E. Carver *************************
     Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./.  [-  < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Michael --

Wasn't it a gas (so to speak!) to have the entire car disappear in a
tight corner? Weak as that sim was by current standards, for the time it
was a pisser. Here's a confession: I played the thing for nearly a year
-- and won fairly regularly -- before I figured out that I could change
the boost level (who reads manuals?) from the default 6 to "Ferrari Hand
Grenade" 9. After that, it was just too easy to win...
--
Bart Brown

Give Gas Until You See Hell, Then Break!

% >
% >The moving view of the driver going through turns was done in Electronic Arts (I believe) Formula 1 product Ferrari F1 years ago.  I found it very disconcering, I hope there is an option to turn it off.  Also Grand Prix Legends by Papyrus will offer this feature along with I believe head going up and down over the "crests".>>

% Michael --

% Wasn't it a gas (so to speak!) to have the entire car disappear in a
% tight corner? Weak as that sim was by current standards, for the time it
% was a pisser. Here's a confession: I played the thing for nearly a year
% -- and won fairly regularly -- before I figured out that I could change
% the boost level (who reads manuals?) from the default 6 to "Ferrari Hand
% Grenade" 9. After that, it was just too easy to win...

There were some very nice features in this sim.  I particularly enjoyed
the dyno and wind tunnel testing features.  
--
**************************** Michael E. Carver *************************
     Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./.  [-  < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I too spent a LOT of time with that game. Amiga only, wasn't it. One
feature I do miss is that changes in the garage between sessions took up
valuable time. (SHould I put a new engine in? That old one has 20 minutes
on it<g>. Do I have time to change gear ratios? etc.)