First impressions of GP500 demo

I've tried the GP500 demo for a couple of hours now, and it's tremendously fun! The physics seem quite good and the bike feels very nice. The bike does wheelies in low gears even when the rider is leaning forwards while under braking the backwheel might lift off if you brake too hard. What really made it for me though was the wobbles on corner exit if you were pushing a bit too hard, way cool! The track in the demo is Mugello which is a very enjoyable track, although I would have preferred to have Brno :-) In particular there are a series of fast corners at the far end of the track which are very much fun! From how much I know the real Mugello it seems fairly accurate although it's perfectly smooth in GP500 (no bumps, the real track is known to have quite a few) and doesn't appear to have any camber. Also there doesn't seem to be much details around the track, makes it hard to pick out brakingpoints. The graphics looks nice although a bit dark in my opinion, looks like there's a storm brewing up, and not much like a sunny Italian summer... Like in SBK the riders falls off the bikes in accidents, which is cool although (at least in the demo) they don't run back to the bike, but is just placed back on track. The engine sound is much better than the one in SBK IMO, it's really a screaming 2 stroker :-) All bikes appeared to use the same noise though, or at least very similar ones. The bikes probably handle quite differently, but I haven't driven enough to notice it yet except for the different topspeeds :-) Haven't had much time to check out the ai riders yet, as I'm too slow yet :-) But I'm still having very much fun as the bikes are very much fun to ride on their own as well :-) -- Arne Martin

You liked the sounds? I found that the volume wasn't high enough (even after I cranked the master volume in the game to the max value). Also, don't tell me you prefer this whiny little bike sound to SBK? I prefered the Ducati engine sound from SBK. At least, it had some growl factor. I'm no bike expert, but they don't really sound like 500 cc bikes... more like mini bikes! What I did like was the graphics and nice little touches such as the bikers hands working the clutch and brake levers. Philster

Quoted text (12 lines)

> > The engine sound is much better than the one in SBK IMO, it's really a > > screaming 2 stroker :-) All bikes appeared to use the same noise though, > > or at least very similar ones. The bikes probably handle quite > > differently, but I haven't driven enough to notice it yet except for the > > different topspeeds :-) > You liked the sounds? I found that the volume wasn't high enough (even > after I cranked the master volume in the game to the max value). Also, > don't tell me you prefer this whiny little bike sound to SBK? I prefered > the Ducati engine sound from SBK. At least, it had some growl factor. > I'm no bike expert, but they don't really sound like 500 cc bikes... > more like mini bikes!

I didn't think the sounds in GP500 were better sounding, just that they sound much more like real 500cc bikes than the sounds in SBK sounds like superbikes :-) Of course twostrokes sound horrible, and GP500 has done a wonderful job of recreating that sound :-) I think the graphics were too sparse... There should be a lot more details around the track, where are all those trackinvading Rossi fans? :-) The hands are cool though, and I like to be able to run it at 1024x756 at a smooth framerates, but I would have liked to have something to look at at that high framerate... -- Arne Martin

>You liked the sounds? I found that the volume wasn't high enough (even >after I cranked the master volume in the game to the max value). Also, >don't tell me you prefer this whiny little bike sound to SBK? I prefered >the Ducati engine sound from SBK. At least, it had some growl factor. >I'm no bike expert, but they don't really sound like 500 cc bikes... >more like mini bikes! Dude, you are comparing a 916cc four-stroke V-Twin to a 500cc two-stroke V-4. They couldn't sound more different in RL. If you expect the two games to sound alike,then that is only your ignorance showing. Eric

>Dude, you are comparing a 916cc four-stroke V-Twin to a 500cc two-stroke V-4. >They couldn't sound more different in RL. If you expect the two games to >sound alike,then that is only your ignorance showing. Philster, Let me apologize for the tone of that post. It was much ruder than you deserved. FWIW, the sounds of both SBK and GP500 seem fairly realistic for the bikes that they are modeling, IMO. Eric

Quoted text (13 lines)

> >Dude, you are comparing a 916cc four-stroke V-Twin to a 500cc two-stroke V-4. > >They couldn't sound more different in RL. If you expect the two games to > >sound alike,then that is only your ignorance showing. > Philster, > Let me apologize for the tone of that post. It was much ruder than you > deserved. > FWIW, the sounds of both SBK and GP500 seem fairly realistic for the bikes > that they are modeling, IMO. > Eric

No problem... I'm not a motorcycle expert anyway. I just thought the engine sounds were louder in SBK. In GP500, I had to crank the volume very high to get any type of sound. And the engine sounded like what we call a "gazou" in french... If they sound like that in reality, I don't know. It's sounds "weak" lol! Philster

Agree totally ! Andrew

Quoted text (11 lines)

>You liked the sounds? I found that the volume wasn't high enough (even >after I cranked the master volume in the game to the max value). Also, >don't tell me you prefer this whiny little bike sound to SBK? I prefered >the Ducati engine sound from SBK. At least, it had some growl factor. >I'm no bike expert, but they don't really sound like 500 cc bikes... >more like mini bikes! >What I did like was the graphics and nice little touches such as the >bikers hands working the clutch and brake levers. >Philster