GTR revisited

[Skybird]

I did myself a favour yesterday (open shops in Münster city on Sunday...) and got GTR-2. Some may remember that I wrote a brief "review" thread on the first GTR, two years ago. I will prepare a new one and post it in the game forum. I let you know. If you are into serious and realistic racing sims, you will hate to miss this one, think it is the new king. It is better than the first GTR in every regard, plus it is no longer Starforce-infested.

[Godalmighty83]

but a steering wheel set-up while not required is a major help.

trying to play through a keyboard is a pain.

[Skybird]

Racing without a wheel? That makes as much sense for as flying without a stick... GTR is no simplified fun racer, but very complex in physics, and race events. A wheel naturally is a must.

[Skybird]

It was in autumn 2004, I think, when SimBin released „GTR“, which soon was recognized to be the reference for realistic racing simulations. I bought it and wrote a longer thread about, kind of a subjective feedback, or review. Back then, I did not know what starforce was about. Since then, I have newly set up my system and at that occasion did not reinstall GTR (and SH3 as well) again. The meanwhile published GT Legends also did not find mercy before my eyes, for it also came with StarForce. But Atari being the new publisher now, they red the signs of time and abandoned Starforce. Time for an update on the first GTR thread, then!

The tracks have increased from 10 to 15, some of which come in two or three different versions, making a total of 32 tracks. However, the modding community already is in high gears and a plentitude of additional tracks of equal or even better quality already have been released – and more is to follow. I have already installed Le Mans, which runs fine and is incredibly detailed. My beloved Nordschleife is in the final working phase and will be released soon – by what has been shown in videos and screenies, it promises to be the best Nordschleife that so far has been released in any racing sim.

I haven’t counted them, but the developer says that over 140 cars are included. How great a field of driver can be depends on your hardware. With a field of 16, I had mostly fluid and absolutely playable frames at a resolution of 1024, 32 bit, no AA or AF, with this hardware: P-IV, 3 GHZ, 1 GB RAM, FX5900XT, Audigy 2, Sidewinder FFB Wheel, and CH ProThrottle (for needing the many switches). the sim is fully playable and a lot of fun on that kind of system. But I will not hide that a bnetter system will make it look even better. The developer recommends graphic boards with 256 MB of RAM. (minimum spcs call for 64, so my nVidia board is right in the middle: 128 MB)



Most obvious improvements

Fluid day-night-cycle. Dynamic weather. Additional playmodes. Finetuned AI. Finetuned physics and damage model.



Graphics

Are significantly improved. Textures are sharp and precise, cars look great, tracks are done with plenty of details and enabling you to recognize the place easily. Day-and nicht-cycle are beautifully drawn, with wonderful sunlight effects, with smooth transitions, also interacting with the dynamic weather changes. I'm in love with the braking lights of cars (and red lights in general): they look hypnotizing and extremely realistic :lol: Speed of daylight-cycles can be increased to up to 60x. So, you really can race around the clock. Nightraces actually are worth to be done now, for different to GTR-1 they now come with car lights that actually are of use and enable you to see what you need to see of the track in able to race it at high speed in pitch black (i found the night race at Spa impossible to drive in GTR). However, for the sake of frames, the ambient light effects, from light masts for example, are limited. Doing a 24 hour race now makes sense, and is fun, when speeding up the day-night-cycle. There are plenty of other additional special effects. Weather effects also are far better than in the first part, and softly fade in and out. However, rain really puts your frame counter under stress.



Sound

Has been great in GTR-1, and is of the same quality level in GTR-2. Much has been taken over. Tires, engines, environment, SFX, other cars really turn the virtual world to life.



AI

Has been perfected in two major fields. First, AI drivers are more human and intelleigent now, and second their aggressiveness at standard level (of four possible levels) is just about right – you don’t get Kamikazes, but should be prepared for an occasional gentle touching by other cars. However, turn up the aggression level, or hit somebody so often that he turns angry, and the sim partially could turn into a wargame. Very well done, they really got the balance exactly how it should be. I label this as the best driver AI I have ever seen in any racing sim. AI driver’s perfect driving has been toned down a bit – and I think that is a good thing, compared to the first part.



Physics

Has been the trademark of the first sim, and the developer claims they again got improved a bit. You also have the MoTec data analysis software again (the interpreter must be downloaded from the real-world MoTec company for free!), the virtual car reads out internal data in the same data format like the real cars, so you really use the original professional tool from reality here! And it is quite complex. I admit, I am fascinated, but can not make much use of it – I know too little about cars. Technology fetishiosts should find a paradise here.



Other things

The immersion in cockpit is superb. You can finetune plenty of options concerning visuals, sounds, but also concerning realism. For example the amount of virtual head movement towards the apex of a turn when entering a corner. Really, plenty of options, you should be able to finetune the sim exactly like you want to have it. Plenty of driving aids that can be toggled. Try to find a sim that gives you such a convincing illusion to actually sit in a racing car and battle it out on the track, chances are you will search in vain. Some tracks must be unlocked by according successes in the championship – this gaming element was unneeded, but it also does not really hurt, for you can easily unlock all stuff by entering an empty file and naming it as SDNDTG.DYN – et voila.



Issues

I have tested this beauty for only two days, so don’t expect me to speak the final word here. I have had no CTD and no show-stopping errors. The only thing that I noticed is that occasionally the LCD display freezes – you then toggle light on and off, and then it works again. Really, it is the only thing I have noticed so far. But I have noit driven on all tracks, and have not tried all cars :)



Conclusion

This one is a winner. It feels super, it looks super, and it sounds super. I rated GTR as the successor to Nascar 2003, and say that this one is even better, with more realistic and complex physics and better AI, graphics, sound and immersion. I went back to Nascar 2003 when I shelved GTR (Starforce), and had plenty of additional mods and tracks for the Papyrus classic. I know it well, and I love it, really. But there is not a single argument left for me to go back to it, now that GTR 2 is here. I have had so many beautiful “dogfights” on the track in the last 48 hours, side-by-side duels, so much tension, duel and drama, and occasionally spectacular accidents (due to my mistakes…) as well as such an absorbing feeling of sitting in a car and being out there with 15 other racers in a living always changing environment that this game would be worth it for me to pay even twice as much money for it. The many options to finetune the sim, the three basic levels of realism that additionally effect how easy or how difficult the car is to be driven, make this title more accessible and more interesting for a wider audienbce then the first GTR. When it comes to realistic, complex racing, for me it is this one, and Richard Burns Rally, which also is of top class realism (and according difficulty) – and then nothing. In forums I red that some people think the physics and difficulty have been toned down, and nthat they cannot enter a spin even when trying – I think, they just did not switch to maximum realism settings. It is great fun and gives you the chance to focus on the dogfighting alone when driving with lower settings, the car still reacts believable, but is more forgiving. But the highest settings with all driving aids disabled is a challenge and calls for good setups (highly complex matter!). I often spent as much time fighting the track and the car that had a will of it’s own, like I spend time fighting the opponents who were tough, but human, and not unfair.
If racing is for you, don’t miss this one. It is the new reference, imo. (I must say, though, that I do not know rFactor).

[Konovalov]

AI

Has been perfected in two major fields. First, AI drivers are more human and intelleigent now, and second their aggressiveness at standard level (of four possible levels) is just about right – you don’t get Kamikazes, but should be prepared for an occasional gentle touching by other cars. However, turn up the aggression level, or hit somebody so often that he turns angry, and the sim partially could turn into a wargame. Very well done, they really got the balance exactly how it should be. I label this as the best driver AI I have ever seen in any racing sim. AI driver’s perfect driving has been toned down a bit – and I think that is a good thing, compared to the first part.

If what you say is correct then purchasing this sim is a no brainer. :up: I'm sold. :yep:

[Skybird]

If you do not know what and who MoTeC is, go to this site:

http://software.motec.com.au/release/

download the file

i2pro

and install it (harmless, really!).

It comes with a video (running automatically at first startup) illustrating all screens and options. You will see quickly that you have left the realms of PC games here and entered the land of professional data analysis. This feature is what sets GTR apart from every other racing sim's setup options.

[Skybird]

AI

Has been perfected in two major fields. First, AI drivers are more human and intelleigent now, and second their aggressiveness at standard level (of four possible levels) is just about right – you don’t get Kamikazes, but should be prepared for an occasional gentle touching by other cars. However, turn up the aggression level, or hit somebody so often that he turns angry, and the sim partially could turn into a wargame. Very well done, they really got the balance exactly how it should be. I label this as the best driver AI I have ever seen in any racing sim. AI driver’s perfect driving has been toned down a bit – and I think that is a good thing, compared to the first part.

If what you say is correct then purchasing this sim is a no brainer. :up: I'm sold. :yep:

Well, I enjoyed duelling the AI drivers very much. Like I set up the sim it exactly matches my level of driving skills and racing abilities now.

[Skybird]

Two more things.

If you are in doubt that your system can handle this - there is a demo available - it made me going for this beauty.

The modders already deliver wonderful track work. I found another version of the nordschleife, which alone is wortjh it to me to own this sim. It is hard on frames however. BUT -I have downloaded half a dozen tracks, almost all of them are wonderful driving, sometimes with as much or even more scenery like the default tracks (Interlagos for example), others with little less scenery - and boosting my frames by an incrtedible 50-100% !!! If the default tracks bring your rig down to it'S knees, then chances are you will find tracks that can comeponsate for that. Road america, Easternridge as just two example. The latter is almost spartanic, but has a most wonderful flow of turns and almost no straights - it is like flying. Just short time, and alreayd such fantastic work available - it seems modders are heavily commited to this one.

the MoTeC software needs some manual adjustment before it works, but the info is out on the web, or I can tell you.

[SUBMAN1]

One more thought - it doesn't happen to support Act Labs 7 gear + reverse gear shifter does it? I still have my old Act Labs FF wheel and I think these things still sell on ebay for high $$$.

-S

[Skybird]

I don'T know, subman. Is that device so old that it is gameport-connected? If so, I do not know hot GTR2 handles gameports. However, I use a also not too fresh sidewinder FFB wheel, which also is not listed in the ingame-option's available default FFB wheels - it runs perfectly by manual configuration.

Please, guys, do not take my text above as a "review" - just a very subjective comment from a fully satiyfied customer. I did not follow the testing standards and demands to fully examine the sim - what I would do when planning to write a review, like for Tokyo Express or steel bests Pro.

So please, do not buy on basis of my opinion only. Try the demo, read other reviews as well.

SimHQ's third and last part of their own review of it is released. Jens Lindblad and me agree that this is an outstanding title, but we differ on some detail. He does not like the AI and thinks it is too downgraded, I think it is nice. He thinks the damage model is too inconsistent, while I saw the damage I produced being in line with what healthy reason would expect. And so on. Nevertheless he also says: highly recommended.

The sim has extremely poor and incompetently done documentation. A chapter healdine "Graphics" saying something like "here you can adjust ingame graphics", while there are 1-2 dozen options some of which are not self-explanatory, is a waste of paper. They should have spend the pages they had on some really needed stuff: setup principles, MoTeC installation and getting it to properly run, and so on. There even are no pdf that cover the gap. This should not stop you, you nevertheless will be able to launch the sim on your own, and for the criticised aspects, third-party documents are available (for example a list is included in the third part of the simHQ review).

I stick to my own subjective opinion, and must say I take extreme pleasure from racing with this. Beside Richard Burns Rally this is the best virtual car(s) I ever have felt under my lower bottom, and the modding community is phantastic. the even have started to chnage physiocs files, so that we can expect to see oldie-mods, other racing classes etc beside the usual new tracks and cars.

[SUBMAN1]

I don'T know, subman. Is that device so old that it is gameport-connected? If so, I do not know hot GTR2 handles gameports. However, I use a also not too fresh sidewinder FFB wheel, which also is not listed in the ingame-option's available default FFB wheels - it runs perfectly by manual configuration.



No - It's USB - but the gear shifter kicks butt when games support it:

http://www.tomshardware.pl/consumer/20020524/images/actlabsvolant.jpg

http://www.tomshardware.pl/consumer/20020524/images/actlabspedalier.jpg

http://www.tomshardware.pl/consumer/20020524/images/actlabsshiffer.jpg

http://www.tomshardware.pl/consumer/20020524/images/actlabsaxe.jpg

http://www.tomshardware.pl/consumer/20020524/images/actlabscartouche.jpg

[stabiz]

I agree, this is the best racing sim ever. The mods make it even better! (Of course)

Here is a video from a custom championship race at Anderstorp:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOwLyhdkHxE

[stabiz]

This is what it looks like if you loose your head and get killed :rotfl::

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1iB4p0w-nso

[Sailor Steve]

:o :o :o
Wow! I like the damage modelling. I've seen so many race games in which damage doesn't seem to exist; or at least it's not visible.

[stabiz]

I agree, but it could be better. Some times it looks just amazing, whilst other times it looks daft.

To me damage is an important part of any racing simulator, since its - yes - a simulator.

I always play with 200% damage, because I like the fact that if I screw up, the race is over. A gentle nudge could give me a flat, etc, etc. (This is "fun" in heavy rain! :D )

But try it out, sailor steve! Its a great game!

[stabiz]

HOLY ....! The Nordschleife is now released for GTR 2 by some very talented modders.

Vid where I eventually die horribly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMzq1EkgWTs

[Sailor Steve]

I love seeing the Nurburgring modelled! It looks great! I only wish it had been a long shot instead of a close-up when you went through the Karusel. And the Schwalbenschwantz.

I still have my copy of Grand Prix 2 (and the original Grand Prix, but it's pretty bad) and I love those tracks. Most newer GP sims are only for consoles, and I can't afford to buy one right now.

Great stuff.:sunny:

[stabiz]

Yes, but you are not missing out, sailorsteve. The last good F1 game was released in 2001, I think. (F1 Challenge 99-02) ALL the GP titles to consoles suck hard.

A nice race at Monza:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6O_3aeHD_c

[flyingdane]

Man this is sick..."I Love GTR2 Its like "DOG" To The bone, YO!!:rock:

[stabiz]

GTR2 just keeps getting better. E90 WTCC launched:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=42JgafG8M4g