Rally Championship

Magnetic Fields/Actualize · released 1999 · discussed in 2,304 posts, 1996-2012 · overall tone positive

Posts per month

Timeline

1999-08-14 Hasbro Interactive acquired Europress, which brought Rally Championship into its line-up. thread
1999-08-31 An alpha Rally Championship demo leaked online. Europress released official demos with force feedback support in late September. post post post
1999-11-19 Europress/Magnetic Fields' Rally Championship was released in Europe, a day after Australia. post post

Key threads

Mobil 1 Rally Championship impressions 2000-03-22 · 34 posts
A magazine's five-star review of Mobil 1 Rally Championship prompted discussion. Owners praised its graphics and stage modelling and noted frequent patches, while Remco Moedt, David Karr and others criticised its physics, force feedback and random damage. David G Fisher defended it vigorously, which led to comparisons with GPL's lack of patches.
Settings and mods for Mobil 1 Rally Championship 2001-02-26 · 26 posts
Jagg sought mod sites and physics settings for Mobil 1 Rally Championship, and Marc Collins shared realism-oriented config settings. Posters compared it with Colin McRae Rally 2, finding RC more sim-like but with narrow-looking roads and oddly effective brakes, and pointed to a configuration manager tool.
Best rally game on PC or console 2003-02-08 · 25 posts
Asked for the best and most realistic rally game, most posters named Rally Trophy for PC. Others recommended Mobil 1 Rally Championship for its long stages, Colin McRae Rally 2, Rally Championship 2000 for modern cars, WRC II Extreme on PS2 and Rallisport Challenge for fun rather than realism.
Identifying Mobil 1 Rally Championship and rumoured sequel 2002-08-29 · 24 posts
A user asked what game an old Rally Championship demo became; posters identified it as Mobil 1 British Rally Championship (also sold as Rally Championship 2000), praised its stages and graphics, and noted it was hard to find in North America. Andreas Nystrom claimed Magnetic Fields was making a sequel, which others doubted since the developer's site said it no longer produced games, though he insisted he had talked to the programmer.
Could the N4 or NASCAR Heat engines model rally driving? 2001-05-16 · 23 posts
A poster asked whether the NASCAR Racing 4 or NASCAR Heat physics could be used for a realistic off-road sim. Replies debated whether the Papyrus engine models small surface bumps, with ymenard saying it could handle any motorsport but is not open, and J. Todd Wasson describing bump-map support in his own engine. Mobil 1 Rally Championship and Papyrus's SODA Off-Road Racing were praised, and the thread ended discussing who designed the VW Beetle.
Rally sims with snow conditions 2000-07-12 · 23 posts
A poster asked for a rally sim with snow and good physics. Rally Championship, Rally Masters and Colin McRae Rally were recommended, but most agreed none had excellent physics. A dispute followed over whether Rally Championship's handling was realistic, with David G Fisher citing reviews and others citing real rally drivers.
Colin McRae Rally 2 compared with Mobil 1 Rally Championship 2001-02-18 · 23 posts
A user asked how Colin McRae Rally 2 compares with Mobil 1 Rally Championship. Respondents described CMR2 as a cross between arcade and sim with excellent car detail, while some considered Rally Championship (RC2000 in Europe) the better simulation. Later posts dealt with CMR2 stuttering, with DMA settings suggested as a fix.
New screenshots of Rally Championship 1999-04-18 · 22 posts
Fans were impressed by new screenshots of Magnetic Fields' upcoming Rally Championship sequel, but some worried that the physics would not match the graphics. David G Fisher said realism was the developers' top priority and confirmed cockpit views and internet play, and a poster reported the release had slipped to August.
Is 1999 a poor year for racing sims? 1999-06-17 · 21 posts
Kai Fuller argued that GPL's weak sales had led publishers to back away from realistic sims, making 1999 disappointing. David G Fisher countered that Rally Championship, GP3, MGPRS3 and new Papyrus NASCAR titles were coming and that GPL sold poorly mainly because of its 1967 setting. Yves Menard dismissed some of those titles as old engines or vaporware, Hena Hakkinen reported a rumour that GP3 had slipped to 2000, and Fisher and Menard argued over what counts as vaporware.
Colin McRae Rally 2's limited damage model 2001-03-10 · 20 posts
A user found Colin McRae Rally 2's damage model nearly non-existent. Others explained damage is cumulative and must be enabled, noted rally games are forgiving because players leave the road so often, and recommended Mobil 1 Rally Championship, whose damage can be tuned.

Busiest threads

Has GPL spoiled players for other sims (20 posts about it)
Mobil 1 Rally Championship impressions (20 posts about it)
Colin McRae Rally reaches US; compared with Rally Championship (16 posts about it)
Rally Championship 2000: praise and doubts about physics (14 posts about it)
PowerSims names Dirt Track Racing 1999 Sim of the Year (14 posts about it)
Are GPL fans rude and intolerant? (13 posts about it)
** Rally Championship 2000 Patch Released!!! ** (13 posts about it)
Ian Lake's review of Rally Championship 2000 (13 posts about it)
How many racing sims do you have installed? (12 posts about it)
Rally sims with snow conditions (12 posts about it)
RC2000 3-Axis for LWFF and Thrustmaster F1 (11 posts about it)
A GPL fan's first impressions of F1 2002 and GTR2002 (10 posts about it)
Identifying Mobil 1 Rally Championship and rumoured sequel (10 posts about it)
Colin McRae Rally 2 compared with Mobil 1 Rally Championship (10 posts about it)
Is Rally Championship 2000 a real simulator? (10 posts about it)

Sentiment by year

Each post that discussed the sim was rated from −2 (very negative) to +2 (very positive).

Year	Posts	Positive	Negative	Tone
1996	7	3	3	mixed (+0.00)
1997	152	56	15	positive (+0.35)
1998	64	21	11	positive (+0.27)
1999	664	223	136	positive (+0.21)
2000	856	341	121	positive (+0.37)
2001	285	114	38	positive (+0.34)
2002	177	78	24	positive (+0.43)
2003	51	18	0	positive (+0.55)
2004	30	16	1	very positive (+0.67)
2005	10	5	3	positive (+0.20)
2006	3	3	0	very positive (+2.00)
2008	2	1	0	very positive (+1.00)
2009	2	2	0	very positive (+1.00)
2012	1	1	0	very positive (+2.00)