SODA Off-Road Racing

discussed in 725 posts, 1997-2012 · overall tone positive

Posts per month

Timeline

1997-02-28 PC Gamer printed the first screenshots of Papyrus's 1960s Formula One sim and SODA Off-Road Racing. post post
1997-03-31 Papyrus detailed SODA Off-Road Racing, a Windows 95 off-road sim developed by Software Allies for fall 1997, with I-Force support and a track designer. thread post post
1997-06-19 At E3, Microsoft showed CART Precision Racing, and Papyrus privately showed SODA Off-Road Racing and a NASCAR manager game. post post post
1997-08-29 Papyrus released a beta demo of SODA Off-Road Racing, and a beta demo of Ubisoft's F1 Racing Simulation that required 3dfx appeared on a French magazine CD. post post
1997-10-21 SODA Off-Road Racing arrived at retail. post post
1998-02-05 Papyrus cancelled the promised 3dfx patch for SODA Off-Road Racing. post post

Key threads

Papyrus producer details SODA Off-Road Racing 1997-03-14 · 20 posts
Answering questions, Papyrus producer Steven Travers said SODA Off-Road Racing would be a new Windows 95-native engine supporting I-Force force-feedback controllers, with three vehicle classes, and that it was being developed by Software Allies. His curt reply to a demand for more than six online players drew criticism, and Jim Sokoloff noted that Papyrus staff read nearly every post. Travers defended his tone, saying developers face endless demands.
Delayed 3Dfx patch for SODA Off-Road Racing 1997-11-18 · 47 posts
Users asked about the 3Dfx patch for SODA Off-Road Racing promised before release. Papyrus said by e-mail it was still in the decision-making stage, and producer Steven Travers had reportedly said early 1998. Some refused to buy until it arrived, while John Wallace argued that SODA was fun and ran acceptably without acceleration, leading to a long frame-rate argument.
Sierra's track editor is for SODA Off-Road, not NASCAR 2 1997-03-22 · 46 posts
A poster thought Ken Williams' column promised a NASCAR 2 track editor, but producer Steven Travers clarified it was the track designer shipping with SODA Off-Road Racing. Travers said SODA would have no paint kit but real sponsors, a cockpit view, a fall release and a demo no earlier than August. David Gary attacked the decision, leading to a bitter exchange with Travers and others.
SODA Off-Road Racing marked down to $12.99 1998-01-19 · 27 posts
Posters reported that Babbage's and Software Etc stores nationwide were selling Papyrus's SODA Off-Road Racing for $12.99. One poster called it garbage, but others defended its realistic physics and track editor. Steven Traver thanked supporters and said experienced off-road racers had praised the physics.
SODA Off-Road Racing's frame rate problems 1998-02-17 · 23 posts
A player complained SODA Off-Road Racing ran slowly without 3Dfx support. Others praised its driving model but agreed the frame rate and graphics hurt it, and noted the 3D patch had been cancelled, which Joe McGinn saw as a sign the game had no future. The thread drifted into Papyrus's Reno air racing project and old racing games.
Looking for a hardware patch for SODA Off-Road Racing 2002-02-19 · 20 posts
Tony Kelley asked whether anyone had made a 3dfx or Direct3D patch for Papyrus's SODA Off-Road Racing, which only supported Rendition cards and software rendering. Posters recalled that Software Allies developed it and Steven Travers produced it, while Monster Games' Dave Pollatsek thought Shawn Nash did the programming. No patch was known, and the demo ran poorly on some modern cards.

Busiest threads

Delayed 3Dfx patch for SODA Off-Road Racing (23 posts about it)
Sierra's track editor is for SODA Off-Road, not NASCAR 2 (20 posts about it)
SODA Off-Road Racing & 3Dfx (12 posts about it)
Looking for a hardware patch for SODA Off-Road Racing (11 posts about it)
SODA more Realistic than GP2/F1RS/N2/ICR2? (11 posts about it)
Eric Busch's hands-on report of Grand Prix Legends (10 posts about it)
SODA Off-Road Racing marked down to $12.99 (8 posts about it)
SODA Off-Road Racing's frame rate problems (8 posts about it)
Re: offroad racing game (7 posts about it)
Re: SODA / Gripped FF Question (7 posts about it)
SODA Off-Road Racing 3Dfx or D3D support? (7 posts about it)
SODA Off-Road Racing and acceleration (7 posts about it)
SODA notes: epilogue (7 posts about it)
What off-road racing sims are available??? (7 posts about it)
SODA demo - any ideas? (6 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
1997	284	97	54	positive (+0.25)
1998	234	93	22	positive (+0.44)
1999	96	51	6	very positive (+0.66)
2000	46	29	1	very positive (+0.87)
2001	10	5	1	positive (+0.50)
2002	32	13	1	positive (+0.50)
2003	11	10	0	very positive (+1.18)
2004	4	2	0	positive (+0.50)
2005	1	1	0	very positive (+1.00)
2006	4	2	0	positive (+0.50)
2007	1	1	0	very positive (+1.00)
2012	2	0	0	mixed (+0.00)