Conference oass::racers

    	All of you DOS (or OS/2, heh heh) users take note:
    
    Microprose's "World Circuit" is an absolute joy to run.
    Your get to design the car...brake balance, tyre firmness,
    downforce (front/rear), gear ratios, etc.
    
    All 16 courses are represented, from Phoenix to Adelaide.
    There are switches to turn on/off:
    
    1) Automatic Braking
    2) Automatic Transmission
    3) Auto-facing (after spinning out)
    4) Indestructable car (go the wrong way ;-)
    5) Best driving line
    6) Suggested Gear
    
    If you'd ever consider buying a computer game, take heed.
    
    PS- The docs REALLY suck, but that's incidental. If anybody buys
    it and has trouble with the 'copy' protection, drop me a line.
    

Road & Track's Grand Prix Unlimited
has about the same features, plus a full course editor so you can modify
the course to fit your desires.  I went out and bought a joystick just for
the game.  In addition, there is a "contest" mode that will keep your times
and compare them against others, and 5 levels (Novice..Pro) that you can run 
against.  The simulator "drives" other cars at a performance that is a
percentage of the actual race speeds depending on the performance level you
have set. (Novice is about 1/2 speed).  You can choose the circuit and the year
(89, 90 or 91) and it will set the track conditions for you (including rain).

    Just a quick note:
    
    I have have both World Circuit and GPU...and World Circuit wins hands
    down!
    
    								-mike-
    
    								

    Now don't laugh, but I like Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo.
    It's not realistic, but it is racing.  My favorite part is just
    running qualifying laps, trying to shave a couple of hundredths off
    my previous best time.

Re: Note 962.4 by CSC32::M_BLESSING 

>    Now don't laugh, but I like Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo.
>    It's not realistic, but it is racing.  My favorite part is just
>    running qualifying laps, trying to shave a couple of hundredths off
>    my previous best time.

I'm sicker still -- I like the Michael Andretti Gran Prix game on 8-bit 
Nintendo.  You've hit it on the head...shaving hundredths is the kick.  If 
your previous best on a circuit is 1:19.39 , then 1:19.38 makes your day...

I gotta get a real racecar...

I saw a game for NES yesterday that looked like you played a casino and
depending on your winnings got different types of cars.  It didn't look like
they had any realistic courses though.  Forgot the name....

Dave

Yesterday I bought this game for my NES.  It was only $15 so I was a bit
spectical, but evidently this store was trying to get rid of their 8 bit NES
games.

Overall the game's not too bad.  You can run practice laps on any of the 16
Grand Prix tracks, choose between an automatic or manual (3 speed) gearbox, but
the 'game' is to do the entire 16 race curcuit.  You get 1 qualifying lap and if
you make the field you have a 5 lap race.  The minimum position in the race you
have to maintain keeps getting higher as you get further into each race.  If you
drop below that position, you drop out.

If you spin or drive onto the grass your tires wear and the handling gets worse.
 You can pit to change them and then the handling really improves.  The race
tracks themselves aren't too bad, for 15 bucks....  You can pretty much maintain
full throttle in 3rd gear (325kph) all around the Monaco track....:-)

I've mainly been using the automatic gearbox so far, but I noticed the manual
one give you an extra 10kph on the top end (325 vs 335).

I haven't done a complete 'season' yet, but last night I finished 4th in the
first two races and then proceeded to be 'terminated' in two, DNQ in 2 and then
crashed out of the 7th....

Dave

    A demo of the new IndyCar Racing simulation will be available sometime
    this week from the Papyrus Publishing BBS (617) 576-7472. This will be
    the most advanced auto racing simulator available. If you like World
    Circuit...you'll love IndyCar Racing...
    
    								-mike- 

    I picked up IndyCar Racing at Computer City in Framingham last night
    ($39.95) and installed it on my system.  The minimum requirements are:
    386DX25, 4MB RAM, and 15MB of free hard disk space.  It started up with
    no problems using the config.sys I use for World Circuit.
    
    I spent about 3 hrs playing the game last night.  My first impressions?
    Compared to World Circuit, IndyCar racing has: 
    
    1. comparable sound 
    2. comparable frame rate (on my 386DX33) 
    3. comparable resolution 
    4. less stable graphical image (the scenery and cars keep "dithering") 
    5. wider angle of view (i.e., viewed through a wider angle lens) 
    6. much greater choice in car/engine configuration and set-up (the view
       moves around the car and zooms in on the parameter being changed, 
       e.g., the right rear tire for a camber change on the right rear tire
    7. better joystick configuration options 
    8. more information available on the instrument panel (real-time readout 
       of tire temperatures) 
    9. superb and lengthy instant replays (that's probably why you need 4MB 
       of RAM) 
    10. less effective driver aids 
    11. tremendously detailed course graphics (e.g., the NHIS logo on the
        backstretch wall); grass, pavement, and wall texture, etc. can be
        switched on/off to accomodate your CPU
    
    Much of this reflects three years of advances in the state of the art.
    However, much to my disappointment, I didn't find the car or the
    tracks as drivable as in World Circuit.  I'm having a difficult time
    putting my finger on why, but I think it has to do with #4 and #5 above. 
    To show rotating and turning front wheels, the angle of view has been
    made too wide.  Yes, it looks very much like the in-car cam, but that 
    camera distorts the perspective.  Cars dart toward and away from you. 
    Also, the images of other cars are not very stable.  Neither is the
    image of the track which makes it difficult to find reference marks.
    
    The tracks are not as accurately modeled as I expected them to be. 
    For example, the Festival Chicane at Portland is a right-left-right
    detour off the main straight.  If you go straight, you can rejoin the
    track.  In the game, the left side of the chicane is defined by a
    concrete wall.  Also, the fast chicane at the end of the back straight
    has wide, painted apex curbs.  In the game, there are no curbs to
    reference against.
    
    I'm going to spend a few more hours this weekend trying to get the used
    to the game and will enter an update.
    
    Bjorn.
    
    P.S.  Listed under "Additional Programmers:" is a person by the name of
    Bruce McCulley.  I wonder if he is one of the former moderators of this
    notesfile.    
       
                                   

Has anyone tried the Nigel Mansel World Championship (or something like
that) Super Nintendo game?

I looked at it in the store, and it has F1 courses.

Anyone know of a Super Nintendo game with Indy courses?

Thanks,

Jim

Seeing the requirements listed as 386, 4MB RAM, etc, got me thinking.  How do
you drive?  Do you need another board installed?  Which leads to what is the 
optimal board?  I have just recently started using a PC for something other than
spreadsheets and word processors.  Is there a game/sound board combo?  What 
about the joystick, wheel, or whatever is required?  Are there features to 
watch for (or watch out for)?  Is there a notes conference where such PC things 
are discussed (especially for non-technical, non-programmer types)?

Thinking about some games for a 4 year old.

Thanks,

Jeff

re: Nigel Mansell game

I happened to rent the regular NES version of it last night and spent about 
45 minutes playing it.  The graphics aren't much better than the Ferrari game 
I have, but that's probably the limits of NES more than anything.

You get to pick one race to play, the whole season or you can 'Learn with 
Nigel' on any track.

Picking one race lets you qualify and then race.  You always seem to qualify 
and there are only 12 drivers total - I ended up in 12th place on the grid 
each time....  You get to pick automatic or 6 speed, hard, soft or rain tires 
and degree of wing 5, 10 or 20 degrees.  You can pick one setting for 
qualifying and a different setting for the race.

You don't as long as a view out the front as you do with the Ferrari game, so 
the turns come up quicker.  The only 'handling' the car has is understeer.  I 
have not figured out how to spin the car, and I doubt you can.  The tires do 
wear out and there is a little graphic bar that shows you the grip level.

The view is from the cockpit so you see the hands move the steering wheel and 
the front wheels turning.

The tracks are somewhat accurate, although you can go through the hairpin at 
Canada at about 200kph....:-)  The turns are more realistic than my Ferrari 
game, because I can take that same turn at 335kph on that game!

The 'Learn With Nigel' part is interesting.  You pick the curcuit and an 
arrow in front of the car shows you the proper line.  There is a graphic of 
Nigel's head and he has a few choice phrases:

Stay on the racing line
Avoid trackside object (haybales)
Brake before the turns
Pit for new tires
(maybe one more...)

I have until tomorrow night to return the game, so I will play it a few more 
times, but I don't think I will go out and buy it.

Dave 

    Went out last weekend and bought an F1 game for my new Sega (whole
    point of getting SEGA is for raceing games..) It lists 12 circuits
    (Interlagos, San Marino, Barcelona, Monaco, LeCastellet/Paul Ricard,
    Silverstone, Hockenheim, Canada/Montreal, Estoril, Adelaide, Monza,
    Spa-Francorchamps), you can choose 1 or two players, Turbo (which seems
    to increase accelaration, but the Top Speeds don't vary! and can select 
    low, meduim or high-downforce wing settings, hard, medium or soft
    compound tires and auto or 6-speed shifting. The course layouts seem
    pretty accurate, but the elevations appear incorrect, especially
    Hockenheim. Backgrounds aren't as accurate as some games I've seen; it
    seems odd racing at Monaco w/o a harbour or buildings. So far, it's
    pretty entertaining (maybe I'm just easily amused!) And I find my neck
    gets stiff after 3-4 hours of test sessions (the Mika Hakkinen
    syndrome?); must be poor posture or all those G forces....other cars
    are on circuit when you practice (I'm still at novice level). They seem
    colored to represent other F1 teams; frankly one of the Bennetons
    (probably Patrese!) is good at blocking/shutting the door...The
    wing-settings and tire compounds make a notable change in handling, and
    you have the option to pit during the 9-lap practice sessions to alter
    tire compounds. Maybe Michael A should've gotten a little SEGA time
    before buying his Concorde tickets....after all; I'm going from
    circuit-to-circuit but living in the Statrs, and my wife isn't getting
    on my team's nerves!
    Pete
    

Hi,

I received IndyCar Racing as a gift from my wife (after dropping a few hints!),
I love what I've seen so far.  Note, I've never played World Circuit so I
cant compare the two, but as a newcomer to Racing Simulators I find this
pretty exciting and fairly realistic - and I dont even have a soundboard (yet).

It's real hard to drive competively initially and the amount of car setup 
options seem bewildering, but that's what I'd expect and am looking forward to 
making progress over many months to come.  I'm at the point right now where I
still manage to wipe out 2 or 3 other drivers during the pace lap (what do they
expect if they keep slowing down??) - but as I have the "No Damage" option on
that only serves to give me a better placing at the end ;-)

Great fun - I'd recommend it.  By the way, I have a 486DX, 33 mhz - runs great.

Martin 

A friend who has both says the Indycar game is better than the World 
Circuit. I haven't tried World Circuit yet but Indycar is good. It's 
supposed to be written by the same people who wrote the Indy 500 game 
that I like but this is better. It comes with a bunch of different 
courses:
	Long Beach
	Michigan
	Milwaukee
	Laguna Seca
	Nazareth
	New Hampshire
	Portland
	Toronto

I've only run a few courses and have spent most of my time at Laguna 
Seca. It's easy to put the car on the pole at Michigan. I can't get 
within three seconds of the pole at Laguna Seca (my best is 1:16.4. I
think the pole is 1:12) and I haven't kept the car on the track for an
entire lap at Portland. 

I've run it on three different PCs. 33MHZ 386, SVGA, no sound card,
50MHZ 486, SVGA, no sound card and my brothers 486 Local Bus SVGA,
sound card. The graphics are much better on the 486 system than the
386. You can read the billboards on the side of the track. The sound
card made a tremendous difference as well. First of all, you can hear
your engine and tires which help you control the car. You can also
hear the other cars around you.

Some of the things you can change on the car are:
	Brake bias
	Front Swaybar stiffness
	Rear Swaybar stiffness
	Brake balance
	Turbo boost
		(all above adjustable from cockpit)
	Front and rear Wing angles (.05 degree increments I think)
	Shock firmness
	Tire pressure
	Tire camber
	Amount of fuel in tank
	Degrees of Steering Lock-to-lock
	Tire Stagger
	Gears (This is the only thing I haven't changed yet)

I'm still running with auto-shifting and auto-braking. I use a 
slightly modified Flying 2000 yoke. A better yoke would certainly 
help. Then I'd think about manual shifting and braking.

Great game! Now all I need is a 486 with a sound card and a new yoke.

Glenn

    I spoke to someone on the Papyrus technical support line yesterday
    about a problem that I've been having with the IndyCar Racing game. 
    While in a menu, the game would start sequencing through the
    selections.  It got to be quite a challenge to time the hit on the RETURN
    key to get the selection I wanted.  It turns out that you can use
    either the cursor keys, joystick, or mouse to make the menu selection. 
    What was happening was that the joystick wasn't completely centered;
    the solution is to simply wiggle the joystick until the sequencing
    stops.
    
    The Papyrus person said that the remaining IndyCar tracks will be
    available in Spring 1994.  A NASCAR version is also in the works for
    late next year.
    
    This game seems to have been designed as a significant upgrade of the
    their Indy 500 game with little or no benchmarking against World
    Circuit.  That's too bad, since a game incorporating the strong points
    of both games would be great.  Perhaps World Circuit II will be that
    game.  BTW, after not playing the game since just after I bought it, I
    won my first race yesterday (autoshift, indestructable) at NHIS and got
    to see the YOU WON graphics: a series of scenes that you have to hit
    RETURN to sequence through.  As soon as I crossed S/F, music replaced
    the car's sound and the car became very difficult to drive; I had a
    tough time making it back to the pits.   This game really needs a 486
    to play properly, especially during a race.
    
    Bjorn

      Hello , out there has any body heard anything about wc2 yet i am
    dying to try it. All i heard was it was going to have as much detail as
    indy car racing ,but will still have the same handelling as #1. If
    anybody out there has any findings about it please leave a Message.
    
    
        -FRED-
    
      

I found this in the UK_CARS conf, but due to the nature of Pathworks 
Conferencing, when I extracted it to a file on my PC, it didn't bring any of 
the header info along.....

Dave

---------------- 

   Hi all,
 
    For the rally and computergame fans.
 
    Last week I bought the games RALLY from Network Q.
    This is a simulation of the RAC rally. All the 35 stages are there.
    You can choose from 4 different cars and can select your type of tires.
    And then you can drive.
 
    The BIG FUN of this game is that your navigator helps you via text or
    via the SOUNDBLASTER. So the navigator talks: "LONG STRAIGHT", "RIGHT
    HAIRPIN", "LEFT 7" etc.
 
    Price (in Holland) 20 Pound (60 guilders).
 
    Greetings,
 
    /-/ Henk. (who_loves_rallying)

We bought Michael Andretti's World GP (NES 8 bit) game for $15 over the 
weekend.  It's *much* better than the Ferrari game I have.  I even tried a 
little 'left foot braking' with it.  Applying both the brake and gas simply 
keeps the car going at the same speed - it might be useful as I get more 
experience.

When you practice in 1 player mode you get to see the course layout, but if 
you go to two player mode, the whole screen it taken up with the two displays.  
So, you better know the course before going into two player mode.

The one part of this game that isn't better than the Ferrari game are the 
pits.  On the Ferrari game there is a pit lane you can drive down and back 
onto the track.  On this game, you simply have to run over a pylon marked 
'Pits' on the side of the track.  The pit workers change the tires and then 
you are left off the course and simply drive over the curbing back onto the 
course.  You don't get to accelerate down pit lane or anything like that.

Dave

Found a use for left foot braking!  On some long constant radius turns (like 
the one before the pit straight in Mexico), you can set the wheel and then 
accelerate until the car starts sliding and then press the brake with an other 
finger and you'll stay right on the edge of adhesion!

Dave

  I found the ordering info for that RALLY game for PCs:
  
  Accolade, Inc.
  5300 Stevens Creek Boulevard
  San Jose, CA  95129
  800-245-7744
  
  Price should be around $40.
  
  Dave

I finally ran across this game in a store and I bought it, for only $19.95.  I
have a 386/33 at home so I will try it there in the coming days.

It looks like a fun game though!

Dave