Well, this is a VERY different beast than Redline and Moto Racer. The
readme file claims this is the "The Most Accurate Motorbike Simulation
Ever Made", and for the PC platform that's probably true. This game is
worth a look because it is the first serious attempt at a realistic
motorcycle racing sim.
First, let me get the bad point out of the way, so you won't be overly
diappointed by it when you see the game:
- The graphics of the game are disappointing, unfortunately in terms
of BOTH frame rate and quality, on my P200 with a Monster 3D 3Dfx
card. The bikes don't look bad, and have nice driver animation, and I
think even the trackside objects aren't bad, but the bitmap backrounds
(mountains and sky) are ABYSMAL, the worst I've seen in years. Low-res
blobs so ugly that they are really distracting. Note that you can't
really see this one their web site screen shots, because all these
shots are taken to show as little background bitmap as possible, just
a bit of sky - the overall graphical effect in the game is not what
you would expect from looking at those screenshots. It wouldn't bother
me if the frame-rate was up there, but it's not. (Note: you'll have to
adjust for optimal draw-ahead distance on your system with F9 and
F10). I hope the graphics engine will get some more tuning before the
sim ships, and they need to replace those low-res background bitmaps.
On a related note, there are only two graphical views, but don't even
bother trying the external camera view, unless you have at least a PII
300. Slide show city. Fortunately this is a minor flaw, as the defualt
***pit view (yes, a real***pit view where you can see the bike
under you) seems quite well done and it works well.
Now the good:
- This really is the first attempt at a realistic racing sim. It's the
first game where you can realy feel the difference with the manual
transmission option, as you get a good kick of acceleration when you
gear up.
- The handling seems pretty good. There's a racing line option, and
it's not hard to under or oversteer just like in serious car racing
sims. I quickly had to learn to use downshifting AND braking to get
the best lines and cornering speeds.
- I tried to pull one corner TOO hard, downhifting and accelerating
for power, and the wheels slid out from under me and I went for a
slide (right into the pits!).
- There's a nice sharp chicane on the demo track, and you have to slow
down quite a bit for it. Though with a bit of practice, I managed to
keep it as high as third gear by cutting the lines on it just
perfectly back and forth. This felt very realistic.
- Despite the sometimes low frame-rate (not as bad after I adjusted
draw-ahead), the game somehow has a pretty good sensation of speed. It
seems to drop frames rather than slow the action, and somehow the lost
frames don't seem to affect the handling all that much.
A couple other minor bad points I just remembered:
- Biker collisions don't seem to be enabled (presumably an option in
the final sim?). Going backwards on the course I can pass through them
like ghosts.
- The friction and speed loss when you hit the dirt on the shoulder
seems quite exagerated. It's like the bike is bogged down in a foot of
mud. That's kind of annoying.
The bottom line: would I buy the game, if released in it's current
state? Yes I would, despite normally being a frame rate freak. The
driving feel is that good. If your at all interested in a realistic
sim, this one is worth the download. Just don't expect too much from
the graphics.
Joe
Hi,
Ok sounds good but where did you get it? URL please :-)
Mike
> Hi,
> Ok sounds good but where did you get it? URL please :-)
> Mike
Try this:
ftp://ftp.avault.com/win95/castrol.zip
Hope that helps ya!
--
Chuck Kandler #70
K&S Racing
Need for Speed Racing
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/3794
Indycar driver, Craftsman truck driver, Virtual airline pilot, Flight
Simulator scenery designer, Webmaster, Auto technician, father &
husband....Who has time?
says...
I too hate it. Won't buy it if they leave this arcade feature in.
That is correct gearing for a World Superbike or GP bike.
You only need to start once, so low gearing is useless.
The slowest section of most tracks is tight 40-60mph corners, which will
put you right in the torque band in first gear.
--
Regards,
Ian Firth
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Diversions Software - Game Development - http://www.divsoft.com
Home of Prairie Dog Hunt PRO '97 - DS Sporting Clays
\
I don't consider that an issue. The trees and stuff aren't that
great but the driving er, "riding" feel is pretty good--much like
F1RS, What is really annoyijng is the again, F1RS slowdown anywhere
off the track surface. That is not real world and stinks. I also
don't understand the gearing. 1rst gear goes to 100 mph and has no
torque off the line. Seems a tad tall to me.
I played with the cfg setting to increase the number of laps in the
demo but there is an overriding time limit imposed that cuts you out.
I have a PII 300 with a Pure 3d 3dfx card and it screams with no
apparent dropped frames or slowdown. That's with all the stuff on.
This one has promise.
Jeff
