RC2000 - Love it/Hate it

I can't make up my mind on this one. I've gotten used to the steering, I've tweaked it to get a good frame rate. the graphics are stellar, and the queasy feeling you get when getting up to serious velocities in close quarters is quite a rush. I can now slide the cars at will, and prefer the driving feel to the Screamer approach of CMR. But then along come the show-stopping flaws that ruin the experience for me. The "what the hell just happened" as a tiny clip of certain banks sends your car into an instant barrel roll. I could live with this, as I have seen the freak accidents in rallies before, but these come just a little too frequently in RC2000. Yeah, I know... improve my driving. But even if I drive carefully, the lame damage model ruins it for me. If I broke something in GPL, I knew why. If I break something in RC2000, it seems it is because a certain sequence of random numbers and lookup tables aligned in the proper way. Cut a corner and damage your.... clutch?!?! What the...? Broken gears are the rule, not the exception in this game. Last time I spectated the Tall Pines Rally in Canada, there were two gearbox problems in the whole field. I drop gears at the rate of one per stage, and it has nothing to do with my driving style. I dropped 3rd gear in the 3rd stage of Wales, so I tested it out. Drove at 60kph in fourth gear for the whole 4th stage. I lost that gear. Driving around town for groceries cooks a straight-cut gear?!?! C'mon magnetic fields, what were you thinking? Tires puncturing because they are "used up"? Sure, there are random breakdowns in real rallies, but if I had a car prepared with the same care as those in RC2000, I'd start shopping around for a new race shop. I'm sure there are some fabulous sim drivers out there who can complete the championship without these mechanical gremlins, but for me, an above average simmer, I am finding the championship mode hopeless, not because I can't finish it, but because there is no sense of cause and effect. Guess I'll stick to the time-trials and single rallies for now. Stephen

I like this game, very much... for the first five stages. I never seriously finish a rally beacause I get bored during the 6th stage! btw. is it realistic to have a dry gravel and snow stage after each other without service time in between? I hate the tyre choice. // Johan

I am not just touting our product, but this game just rocks with our RS shifter. EVERYONE here at work is playing with it. The shifter just helps you get so much into the game. We get so involved that we just slam the stick into the gears. Very satisfying. The RS Shifter really makes the game a totally different game. Raymond ACT LABS

Anyone nknow any good websites about this game? -- --Matt Cowger --He who has the power to conceal his grief is --stronger to combat it than he who complains. --George Sand | I like this game, very much... for the first five stages. I never | seriously finish a rally beacause I get bored during the 6th stage! | | btw. is it realistic to have a dry gravel and snow stage after each | other without service time in between? I hate the tyre choice. | | // Johan

I agree with you Steve. Although I hadn't gone to the extend that you did (shopping trip etc) and I certainly don't class myself as an above average sim driver, but after the initial amazement at the graphics and playing with the sound patches was over, I was more than p...d off when hitting a tree at full speed and being able to drive away. I suppose that's the reverse of your experience, but the inaccuracy is the same. It seems that the game, despite all it's sophistication, has a pre-determined damage sequence, regardless of who, how or what you drive. Surely it wouldn't have taken that much to include the same type of realism that GPL offers in relation to cause and effect? Vincent

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>I can't make up my mind on this one. I've gotten used to the steering, >I've tweaked it to get a good frame rate. the graphics are stellar, and >the queasy feeling you get when getting up to serious velocities in close >quarters is quite a rush. I can now slide the cars at will, and prefer >the driving feel to the Screamer approach of CMR. But then along come the >show-stopping flaws that ruin the experience for me. The "what the hell >just happened" as a tiny clip of certain banks sends your car into an >instant barrel roll. I could live with this, as I have seen the freak >accidents in rallies before, but these come just a little too frequently >in RC2000. Yeah, I know... improve my driving. But even if I drive >carefully, the lame damage model ruins it for me. If I broke something in >GPL, I knew why. If I break something in RC2000, it seems it is because a >certain sequence of random numbers and lookup tables aligned in the proper >way. Cut a corner and damage your.... clutch?!?! What the...? Broken >gears are the rule, not the exception in this game. Last time I spectated >the Tall Pines Rally in Canada, there were two gearbox problems in the >whole field. I drop gears at the rate of one per stage, and it has >nothing to do with my driving style. I dropped 3rd gear in the 3rd stage >of Wales, so I tested it out. Drove at 60kph in fourth gear for the whole >4th stage. I lost that gear. Driving around town for groceries cooks a >straight-cut gear?!?! C'mon magnetic fields, what were you >thinking? Tires puncturing because they are "used up"? Sure, there are >random breakdowns in real rallies, but if I had a car prepared with the >same care as those in RC2000, I'd start shopping around for a new race >shop. >I'm sure there are some fabulous sim drivers out there who can complete >the championship without these mechanical gremlins, but for me, an above >average simmer, I am finding the championship mode hopeless, not because I >can't finish it, but because there is no sense of cause and effect. >Guess I'll stick to the time-trials and single rallies for now. >Stephen

Except it still won't address the weak damage modelling that has gears dropping like snowflakes on the Welsh night stages. Unless MF can release some patched code to allow us to hold it into gear... Stephen : I am not just touting our product, but this game just rocks with our : RS shifter. EVERYONE here at work is playing with it. The shifter : just helps you get so much into the game. We get so involved that we : just slam the stick into the gears. Very satisfying. The RS Shifter : really makes the game a totally different game. : Raymond : ACT LABS

It seems to me that there is a correlation between damage and driving. Not letting go of the accelerator when shifting causes gear damage. On the other hand, driving in the grass also causes damage to the gearbox, as well as everything else. This part I do not understand. Well, it seems natural that your suspension, stearing and exhaust would take a beating, though. The most annoying part, in my opinion, is the fact that the car flips over and rolls for quite a while when cutting a corner to hard, but stops momentarily when hitting a log sideways, or hitting a gate. Hitting a log in such a way should cause the car to spin, while crashing into the gates should result in a broken fence or a flip-over. Jon