I just read an article about the upcoming EA release of its new "NASCAR
Thunder" for PC........under new developership at Tiburon (using the ISI, F1
series engine). I don't recall the URL (didn't save it)....but you can find
it off the Team Lightspeed website and read it for yourself.
Promising? Sure.....and maybe the "hype" isn't all empty this time. Seems
they are targeting the Papy *** of the NASCAR titles........right or
wrong.....Papy has left themselves vulnerable I think....but that's another
story.
What did catch my eye was three words: Track editor included!
Now.....what would be perfect is to have it say, "Track editor, 3D car
editor and physics model editor.....included." If we had that, we'd have
caught up to the flight sim community and we could stop having to wait for
"this or that" title to be released....only to be disappointed once again
from one aspect or another (the WSC story is a classic example). The
*** sim racing community needs their own racing sim....period. It is
my opinion this will not hurt sim racing PC title sales....it will enhance
it. At least, that has been the case in the flight sim community for some
five years now. People interested in casual PC ***......don't want
*** simulation "games" anyway. A few of those.....migrate to become
full time, *** hobbyist.....whether it be flight sims, personal shooter
sims......or racing sims. The vast majority of sales.....are to the casual
gamers...and it will always remain that way, IMHO.
Somebody is going to figure this industry out........put out a good
"universally modifiable" racing sim.......charge some type of a subscription
fee for "official" hacks and updates (probably gleaned from the "best of the
best" sim community hackers, artists and programmers...and share some
revenue with them - finally!).....make a killing (deservedly so, IMHO) and
make me very happy.
How about you guys?
Regards,
Tom
PS: Here's all the things I do now......that I'm growing tired of doing (I
just want to race in a couple of good weekly leagues.....do a few pick up
races now and then with buddies....and have time to actually practice):
1. Installing a new racing sim title that is junk (then finding someplace
to keep it in case somebody makes a hack that makes it good....just in
case).
2. Building computers so a racing sim will look good, have decent frame
rates and be enjoyable to drive
3. Upgrading hardware on the computers I build....sometimes only a few
weeks later.
4. Searching for a controller that feels like real-world racing
controls.....and works in all sims (the same).
5. Throwing away old controllers that didn't work for more than a few
weeks.
6. Throwing away old controllers that worked great.....but not in any
current racing sim I like.
7. Constantly searching for updates and hacks on the Internet.....so I
can enjoy the current sim I'm playing around with.
8. Uninstalling hacks and updates that are junk.......but the "author"
thinks they are great.
9. Reading discussions about frame rates......and video cards.
10. Reading ras posts about: "What video card should I buy?"
11. Constantly searching the Internet for articles to stay
"educated".....on which video card I should buy.
12. Watching two different (and talented) racing sim hacker groups.....do
incompatible work on the same sim......trying to compete with each other.
13. Make "multiplayer" work on 8 different sims.
14. Keep up to date on what leagues are available for me to participate
in......on 8 different sims.
15. Waiting for "official patch" releases....so a promising sim I bought
three weeks ago....will actually work right.
16. Racing against AI cars that will run in to me.....unless I'm going
exactly the same speed they are.
17. Racing against 10 AI cars....so my frame rates stay above 30
FPS....even though I built the fastest computer in the world.....three weeks
ago!
18. Paying $500 for set of racing pedals.......that cost $100 to
make......and that work just like the $50 plastic set I threw away last
week.
19. "Fdisk-ing" anything....because my favorite racing sim doesn't work
right.
20. Installing "car sets" on a developer's sim title.....that look like the
real-world race cars in the series it is supposed to simulate.
I could go on and on.....but I'm getting tired of posting on ras. I just
want to race!