I've been very fortunate to receive a prerelease of this sim. I've been
running this sim for 2 days now and here are MY OPINIONS and nobody elses.
This is an incredible sim, the graphics and depth of perception are better
than anything else. The sounds are excellent. Here is a list of some of the
features:
Tires smoke when accelerating to quickly or locking up of wheels.
Gear shift sound is great!
Great stereo sound.
More choices on setting up your car than I know what to do with!!
Modem play works great. Last night OZ and I ran for over 2 1/2 hours without
a problem.
Frame rate is very good on my system, a P133 with 32Mb RAM and Diamond
Stealth 64 with 2Mb VRAM. I run with all details on EXCEPT sky in SVGA.
Great feeling of control as far as steering, braking and accelerating.
Great damage simulation. Lost a wheel and the car even seemed to lean abit.
When in the sand you see chunks flying as your wheels spin trying ot get out,
and it's really tough to get out.
The rearview mirrors are fantastic, you can control how much detail they
display right down to the texturing.
AI seems very good, but still early to tell. They seem very aggressive.
The HOT LAP replays are stunning, almost like watching a real TV replay!
You can graph the performance of your car, the HOT LAP replays also contain
all data logged during the lap, then you can chose what you want graphed.
This will be great for those who really want to finetune their setups and
evaluate their driving performance. You can graph things like, RPM, Brakes,
Gear changes, Speed, Turning, suspension, and more I can't remember.
I ran up on another cars tire and appeared to be airborne for a couple of
seconds!! I have not flipped completely... yet, not sure if that's possible.
Debris on track.
Black flagged if you try to "cut corners". The black flag appears on the
screen and restricts your speed for a period of time.
Here are the ONLY negatives I have seen, and these are VERY MINOR:
Smoke looks pixilated when up real close.
One of the indicator lights is missing for the Auto Braking help aid, it
still functions, but the light on the dash indicating it's on or off is
missing.
Debris on track does not seem to be "real". There was a tire sitting in the
middle of the track and I ran right over it with no effect.
Pit speed is enforced by the computer, meaning it won't allow you to exceed
the 50MPH speed limit.
IN SUMMAEY:
If you are into driving sims, run don't walk to buy this when it appears at
your local stores. I can't comment on the manual as I only received a xerox
copy of what looks like an incomplete manual. If I can answer any questions
you have about this sim please let me know and I will do my best to answer
them.
MadMikey
"Sin City Boyz"
PS And I am not in anyway employed or compensated by Microprose or Spectrum
Holobyte for my comments. They asked for my honest opinions, good or bad, and
that is what I have expressed.
