Spirit of Speed impressions - full game

Yesterday I was able to play the full Spirit of Speed game. I hated the demo so much, I didn't expect anything from the final release. But... I got a little bit (just a little bit!) surprised. First of all, the game was unplayable, when driving with the AI (ten cars) the framerate got unbelievable bad, I think I got a framerate of 2 or three when the AI was driving near me. This was so bad, I couldn't believe that it was due to my system not being fast enough. I have a PII 450, and dual Voodoo II card. I tried to run the game with my Viper 550 card, and everything run very smooth. I disabled one of my Voodoo cards, but then Sos didn't run at all. Oh well, a patch for this will come soon I guess. First the bad points (which we allready know from the demo): - the game is really arcade - the deadzone is waaay to much - engine sounds could have been better - the physics suck compared to gpl But there are some good points: - Some superb tracks. Driving on the old Monza is great. A little bit of the banking is used, not the full banking as I would have expected, but the track is fun to drive. Tripoli is beautiful and Avus is great, with an unbelievable steep banking. I didn't try all the tracks yet, but they really look superb. - I had a 5 lap race on Tripoli, and I simply had great fun. The AI is very agressive, even on easy mode, they have no problem in bumping you from behind and driving you off the road. On the other hand, you can ram them from the sides too, which really is great fun. - I liked the force feedback. It's not realistic, but the wheel shakes constantly, you really feel like driving an old, unreliable car. At the end of the race last night, my car allmost was wrecked, and the wheel shaked so much, I really thought my LWFF would fall apart every moment... - Allthough the engine sounds could have been better, they're not that bad. And with an sblive, the surround sound is great. I would give anything for surround sound like this in gpl... - You can make pitstops, changing tires, fuel, oil. Well, all in all, I really liked this game, i had great fun in the race I had last night. The demo disappointed me so much, I didn't expect this. Don't expect it to be a sim, don't expect good physics, but you can expect fun races. I hope some patches will come out, fixing the Voodoo 2 problems, fixing the deadzone problem, and perhaps making the physics a little bit more realistic too. Don't hang on too much to this preview, maybe the rest of the world will still hate this game, but I'm surely gonna buy this the day it will be in the stores! Andre

Do they allow for changing the steering from its ridiculously non-linear state to linear?? Does it support split-axis pedals? Even an arcader would support these options of it were competently programmed. The steering is just wild--it's programmed NOT to simulate any vehicle known to humankind. Marc.

In the 'bad points' list I mentioned the bad deadzone. I ment what you're saying. I believe a big deadzone is the same as non-linear? To clear things up, what I mean is that you have to turn the wheel quite a bit before the car even starts to steer. It takes some getting used to, and even while it's badly done, after a while you'll be able to steer quite normally. But this really has to be fixed in a patch. And nope, no split-axis. I forgot that one on the bad points list, sorry :) Andre

Cool! Thanks for sharing your impressions, Andre -- I really liked the track in the demo, and if the others are as nice, I might pick up the full version just to do a "drive-around" at each one. If someone can develop some third-party utilites like we've seen for SCGT to improve the physics and such, SoS might turn out to be interesting after all. -- JB

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>Yesterday I was able to play the full Spirit of Speed game. I hated >the demo so much, I didn't expect anything from the final release. >But... I got a little bit (just a little bit!) surprised. >First of all, the game was unplayable, when driving with the AI (ten >cars) the framerate got unbelievable bad, I think I got a framerate of >2 or three when the AI was driving near me. This was so bad, I >couldn't believe that it was due to my system not being fast enough. I >have a PII 450, and dual Voodoo II card. >I tried to run the game with my Viper 550 card, and everything run >very smooth. I disabled one of my Voodoo cards, but then Sos didn't >run at all. Oh well, a patch for this will come soon I guess. >First the bad points (which we allready know from the demo): >- the game is really arcade >- the deadzone is waaay to much >- engine sounds could have been better >- the physics suck compared to gpl >But there are some good points: >- Some superb tracks. Driving on the old Monza is great. A little bit >of the banking is used, not the full banking as I would have expected, >but the track is fun to drive. >Tripoli is beautiful and Avus is great, with an unbelievable steep >banking. I didn't try all the tracks yet, but they really look superb. >- I had a 5 lap race on Tripoli, and I simply had great fun. The AI is >very agressive, even on easy mode, they have no problem in bumping you >from behind and driving you off the road. On the other hand, you can >ram them from the sides too, which really is great fun. >- I liked the force feedback. It's not realistic, but the wheel shakes >constantly, you really feel like driving an old, unreliable car. At >the end of the race last night, my car allmost was wrecked, and the >wheel shaked so much, I really thought my LWFF would fall apart every >moment... >- Allthough the engine sounds could have been better, they're not that >bad. And with an sblive, the surround sound is great. I would give >anything for surround sound like this in gpl... >- You can make pitstops, changing tires, fuel, oil. >Well, all in all, I really liked this game, i had great fun in the >race I had last night. The demo disappointed me so much, I didn't >expect this. Don't expect it to be a sim, don't expect good physics, >but you can expect fun races. >I hope some patches will come out, fixing the Voodoo 2 problems, >fixing the deadzone problem, and perhaps making the physics a little >bit more realistic too. >Don't hang on too much to this preview, maybe the rest of the world >will still hate this game, but I'm surely gonna buy this the day it >will be in the stores! >Andre

>A little bit >of the banking is used, not the full banking as I would have expected, >but the track is fun to drive. How did they do this? From the maps of Monza I've seen, I don't understand how you could use part of it without using the whole thing. glen

Look at this map: http://www.spiritofspeed1937.com/html/monza.html It goes like this. After the 2nd lesmo, you follow the road, and before the parabolica (which you don't ride in Sos) you turn 90 degrees to the left and then 90 degrees to the right. Then you ride the second part of the banking. There's a chicane on the banking, which you have to take in first or second gear, so you're actually only a few seconds on the banking. Andre

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>>A little bit >>of the banking is used, not the full banking as I would have expected, >>but the track is fun to drive. >How did they do this? >From the maps of Monza I've seen, I don't understand how you could use part of >it without using the whole thing. >glen

the track configuration from 1935-1938 had the drivers making a 90 deg left halfway down the back straight as you head toward parabolica. then you made a 90 deg right back onto the banked oval. ref. to the guinness guide to int'l motor racing book. btw the 1937 winner was rudy caracciola at 78.954 in the merc w125.

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>>A little bit >>of the banking is used, not the full banking as I would have expected, >>but the track is fun to drive. >How did they do this? >From the maps of Monza I've seen, I don't understand how you could use part

of >it without using the whole thing. >glen

in short: an excellent arcade game good, I had always wanted a classic arcade game !!

I think the idea of an arcade racer with accurately-depicted historical aspects is great. NFS features VERY realistic-looking cars, and the trackside scenery is beautiful, but the driving model is weak and the tracks just can't hold my interest, so the appeal of the game escapes me. Something like that, though, with realistic-looking cars, great trackside scenery, AND realistic-looking tracks COULD be interesting to me, though, even though I prefer sims over arcade racers. Just my $0.02. -- JB

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>in short: >an excellent arcade game >good, I had always wanted a classic arcade game !! >> Yesterday I was able to play the full Spirit of Speed game. I hated >> the demo so much, I didn't expect anything from the final release. >> But... I got a little bit (just a little bit!) surprised. >> First of all, the game was unplayable, when driving with the AI (ten >> cars) the framerate got unbelievable bad, I think I got a framerate of >> 2 or three when the AI was driving near me. This was so bad, I >> couldn't believe that it was due to my system not being fast enough. I >> have a PII 450, and dual Voodoo II card. >> I tried to run the game with my Viper 550 card, and everything run >> very smooth. I disabled one of my Voodoo cards, but then Sos didn't >> run at all. Oh well, a patch for this will come soon I guess. >> First the bad points (which we allready know from the demo): >> - the game is really arcade >> - the deadzone is waaay to much >> - engine sounds could have been better >> - the physics suck compared to gpl >> But there are some good points: >> - Some superb tracks. Driving on the old Monza is great. A little bit >> of the banking is used, not the full banking as I would have expected, >> but the track is fun to drive. >> Tripoli is beautiful and Avus is great, with an unbelievable steep >> banking. I didn't try all the tracks yet, but they really look superb. >> - I had a 5 lap race on Tripoli, and I simply had great fun. The AI is >> very agressive, even on easy mode, they have no problem in bumping you >> from behind and driving you off the road. On the other hand, you can >> ram them from the sides too, which really is great fun. >> - I liked the force feedback. It's not realistic, but the wheel shakes >> constantly, you really feel like driving an old, unreliable car. At >> the end of the race last night, my car allmost was wrecked, and the >> wheel shaked so much, I really thought my LWFF would fall apart every >> moment... >> - Allthough the engine sounds could have been better, they're not that >> bad. And with an sblive, the surround sound is great. I would give >> anything for surround sound like this in gpl... >> - You can make pitstops, changing tires, fuel, oil. >> Well, all in all, I really liked this game, i had great fun in the >> race I had last night. The demo disappointed me so much, I didn't >> expect this. Don't expect it to be a sim, don't expect good physics, >> but you can expect fun races. >> I hope some patches will come out, fixing the Voodoo 2 problems, >> fixing the deadzone problem, and perhaps making the physics a little >> bit more realistic too. >> Don't hang on too much to this preview, maybe the rest of the world >> will still hate this game, but I'm surely gonna buy this the day it >> will be in the stores! >> Andre